Over A Cup

Let’s LOOK together:

Listen

John 10:1-16

Observe

Open

Prayer–Take time to sit quietly with God, pray, and worship him.

Keep

Let’s LOOK:

L - John 6:32-40 & 47-51

O - Bread - back then it was more nourishing. Think of the artisan and whole grain breads today. Interesting to note that many cultures have a bread type food as a main staple of their culture: bread, tortillas, pasta, fry bread…

• It is needed for life.
• He gave his life for us. Acts 2:38 tells us: 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• We remember each Sunday by eating the Lord’s Supper - Communion. Throughout the OT we see God giving the people celebrations to help them remember. The same is true for the Lord’s Supper. We need help remembering. 

O - Prayer….

K - Spend time with Jesus today. Don’t let Satan trick you into thinking you’re too busy to spend time with Jesus. You’re too busy NOT to spend time with him.

• Can be listening to the Bible
• Do just a verse - might use the memory verses I give to newsletter subscribers each month 

Resources:

So often we feel as if we're walking in darkness. In John 1 Jesus is described as the "true light" who gives light to everyone. Then throughout the rest of John, we see Jesus live out what it means to "be the light." In this episode, learn

• How Jesus is the light

• Why Jesus being the light matters to Moms today

• How we can be the light

Resources:

If you’re like my family and struggle to find a place in your life for Bible Study because you’ve never tried before or you’ve tried and failed. Listen to this month’s Over A Cup podcast episode.

• Learn to choose a Bible study habit that fits you

• Decided how to make it tiny

• Discover where to insert it in your day so it has sticking power

• Decided how to fight distractions

• Celebrate because you earned it!

As I explain in the podcast, this method helps more than any other I’ve tried, even when given my toughest task–cleaning my kitchen! 

Tiny Habits Recipe: 

When I do….. I will do…. I will celebrate by…..

Resources

So many of us feel overwhelmed by our schedules. They are cluttered with so many tasks and to-dos that we feel exhausted and overwhelmed. 

Listen this month as I share the steps I just went through to move my schedule from chaos to calm. You can begin this process by the end of today! 

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

1. List it all out

2. Pray about your list

3. Choose what to keep, delegate, or release

What do you do when your kids are fighting, again? How does the Spirit meet us in those moments? Listen in as Christie Thomas and Tara L. Cole share what they are learning and how the Spirit can help us in the middle of our daily lives as moms. 

They also give many ideas for how to focus your family on Jesus in the season your family finds themselves in right now.

Show Takeaways: 

• Practical tips for how to help your children grow in the fruit of the Spirit

• How to be a peacemaker vs a peacekeeper 

• How to release the parenting shame and think through your doover 

Show Links:

What do we do when our children struggle with their identity and image? Where do we turn? We turn to the truth and what God says about them. 

In this episode, we dive deep into five foundational prayers based on God’s Word. Learn how to pray for our children’s:

• Self-worth

• Image

• Fruitfulness

• Values

If you want these “Foundation Prayers” as lock screens for your mobile device, go to taralcole.com.

I recently got that text from a friend. “Your son hurt my son….” 

No one ever wants that text. Even if our kids fight with their siblings, we hope they will control themselves in public, especially with good friends. 

Thankfully, it was resolved quickly and all friendships (adults and children) are still intact, but how do we help our children develop lasting character? Self-control and all the others? 

This month’s episode helps to answer those questions and more. My guest Kimberly Amici is a Family Culture Coach and co-host of the Build Your Best Family podcast. Through our conversation you’ll learn: 

• How to begin to create a family culture in your home
• What family culture looks like practically 
• 5 questions to ask as you develop a family culture 

If you find this episode helpful, connect with Kimberly at:

One of the exciting things about parenting is watching our kids develop interests and explore their giftings. On this episode of Over a Cup, Tara talks to Monica Swanson, author of Boy Mom, about fostering our children’s unique interests and how we can continually lead our kids to scripture. These two moms get very practical about how they have creatively supported their children’s interests, set healthy boundaries for their kids, and provided resources that they love to use that connect them to God’s bigger story.

• Learn about Monica’s journey to allowing her kids to follow their interests
• Listen to how she is developing her own faith and passing it on to her kids.
• Discover the many children’s Bible resources and tips Tara and Monica share to encourage your kids to love God’s word and invest in it themselves.

Have you ever wanted to help your kids memorize scripture? Or wondered if it is worth it? In this cultural moment, memorizing scripture and applying it can be life-changing for our children. On this episode of Over a Cup, Tara walks you through some simple yet very practical ways to engage scripture with your kids that will make a meaningful impact on their lives. Listen in as Tara reads another chapter from her book “Everyday Prayers for the School Year.”

Show Takeaways:

•       Listen in as Tara reads a chapter from her book “Everyday Prayers for the School Year”
•       Learn about practical ways to use scripture with your kids that will make a difference!
•       Discover how you can help form your children’s self-worth through the Word of God.

Show Links:

Welcome back to the Over a Cup Podcast, as we go through this season, we're covering the five topics that are in my new book, Everyday Prayers for the School Year. We pray over friendships, their character, their gifts, their schoolwork, and we pray over our students' relationships with their teachers which is exactly what today’s episode is about. So whether you're a homeschooling parent or a public school parent, or somewhere in between, Pre-K to college, I've got you covered.

Show Takeaways:

• Listen in to hear helpful ways to pray over your child’s and your own relationship with their teacher
• Discover my background with teaching and how that impacted my heart for teacher and students
• Why good communication with teachers is imperative to a good relationship and how to be effective at communicating with your child’s teacher

Show Links:

Over A Cup welcomes back author, podcaster, and speaker, Michelle Diercks as we focus on our kids, prayer, and school year this season.  Michelle is a mother of two boys,  and shares some sage advice for communicating and guiding our children through situations no one plans for.  She also shares how she has instilled the love of being in God’s word and how it has impacted her boys and their relationship with God. 

 *Warning, mature topics are discussed in this episode.  

Show Takeaways: 

• Learn helpful phrases to guide your children in conversations they may have with peers
• Discover ways to help kids stay faithful from second grade until twenty
• Listen in to hear how to keep lines of communication open with our kids through the teen years

Show Links:

Welcome to another episode of the Over a Cup Podcast. I am so glad you're here this month. My guest is Mary Carver. 

Mary is a writer and a podcaster, her podcast The Couch with Mary Carver talks about the intersection of faith and pop culture. She’s also a mom and a wife. And she has a new book coming out called Prayers From the Parking Lot and it is for moms who find themselves in the parking lot, either kind of trapped while they're waiting on their kids or maybe just hiding out from their kids, getting a few extra minutes of quiet in the minivan before they go inside back to the chaos.

In this episode, we discuss motherhood, parenting, and specifically helping our kids navigate friendships. 

Show Takeaways: 

• Listen in to hear the importance of how we as parents can pray over and help our children navigate friendships.
• Discover how Mary did this in her own life and what she’s learned. 
• Learn some practical ways to help your children navigate friendships no matter what their age. 

Show Links:

Show Notes:

Welcome back to another episode of the Over a Cup Podcast, and welcome to season three. This season is all about praying God's word over your children's school year. So whether you have children or grandchildren, this is pretty much for any age and stage. 

My first guest is Brooke McGlothlin from Million Praying Moms. Brooke is really the one who taught me how to pray God's word over my children so she is a perfect fit for our first guest of the season.

Show Takeaways: 

• Listen in to hear Brooke’s story of how she started praying God’s work over her kids.
• Learn how Brooke has used God’s word to pray over her kids, and how you can too.
• Discover resources to start praying over your kids. 

Show Links:

I am excited to share with you the wisdom of Terri Wilson, a mom mentor from my own life as we discuss the power of hindsight.  Terri shares ways she guided her children into their own relationships with God by growing her relationship with God.  

Listen in for practical encouragement from a mom that’s been there. 

Show Links:

During some seasons of life, it seems like this world has gone crazy! The chaos in our personal life or the world around us can be overwhelming and distract us from God. 

That was Melody’s life in early 2020 and she, like all of us during that time, wondered where to turn. She found her comfort in intercessory prayer. It might sound like a big, fancy term, but it simply means interceding on behalf of another. Taking one another to Jesus’ feet. 

However, instead of stopping her busy life as a homeschooling mom and homesteader, God showed her how to pray and intercede even as she went about her day. Love that! 

If you feel weighed down by life and wonder if there is time to pray amid the interruptions and distractions, this episode is for you! 

Resources:

Bad things happen to good people. I wish it wasn’t true. I wish I could tell you, like Job’s friends in the book of Job, that God blesses the righteous and doesn’t allow hard things to happen. But it just isn’t true. 

As Amy Anguish shares in this episode, even in those hard times, there is hope. God walked her and her husband through 6 years of infertility and gave her the ability to comfort hurting women in a way she wasn’t able to before.

If you’re going to infertility, loss, or sickness, find hope in Amy’s story of walking with God through those times when you can only say, “Why God?” 

Resources

During those times when we feel like we’ve been sucker-punched when our feet have been kicked out from under us, there is hope! Joy is possible.

Listen in as Gina L. Smith shares how she learned to find joy when life took an unexpected turn, and how she continues to seek God’s joy in her everyday life. 

In this episode learn how to:

• Turn venting to lamenting 
• Remember God’s Faithfulness
• Thank him for how he will be faithful
• Find Biblical Joy

Resources

Mom’s are weary. There are so many burdens we and others place on ourselves and our schedules. Sometimes I feel like the Cat in The Hat balancing his pile of stuff as he stands on the ball. Can you relate? 

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith can relate, too. In this podcast episode, she shares how her book Sacred Rest came from such a time in her own life. As the mom of two littles, one day she plunked them down in front of the TV and laid down in her foyer flat on her back! I don’t want to give away the whole story (you’ll have to listen in!), but from that low place, she began to discover there are actually seven types of rest. 

Her message here and her books have helped me so much on my own rest journey over the past 18 months. Come listen in and learn how Moms can find true rest even in the middle of their crazy busy lives! 

Resources:

Service. We know we should serve others. We want to serve others, but sometimes we don’t know where to start. OR we serve in our community, church, and schools, but we feel more burnt out than blessed. 

Join me in this episode as Shanna shares how we and our families can serve from a place of strength and find joy in serving others, and how we can serve in the places that God places us in the middle of our busy day. Best of all she reminds us to give ourselves grace! 

Resources

Do you struggle with the woulda, shoulda, couldas in your life? I know I sure do. There are so many choices that I’ve made as a mother that I wish I could take back. But as Amber reminds us in this episode, we need to give ourselves and our kids grace. We need to remind ourselves of God’s grace and that His expectations of us are often different from our own. 

This episode falls in a season where I’m learning I need to give myself grace. I recently discovered that the exhaustion I’ve been fighting the last year isn’t a quick fix. There is no magic pill that will make it go away. So as I learn how to stop fighting the exhaustion and to work within the limits God has for me right now, I’m slowing down the podcast release times. I’ll have this episode and one more to release this fall. Then I’m going to take a break until January. 

If you want to stay connected during this time, I’ll still be showing up here in your inbox each month and in our OverACup Patreon Community. Those will be the very best places to connect with me over the next few months. 

If like me, you need to learn to give yourself grace during this season of your life, pull up a chair, and join me as Amber shares her story.

Resources:

As Moms it is so easy to become discouraged and feel like what we’re doing doesn’t matter. We long to see the fruit now, but all we see are tiny baby sprouts. 

In this episode, Shonda helps us to remember that motherhood is a ministry. Despite what other positions God may have called you to in this season, our primary ministry and focus is our children. 

Join me as Shonda reminds us: 

• To trust God with the hearts of our kids
• That we need to give ourselves and our kids grace
• Discouragement will come, but God is faithful

Resources

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5, ESV)

Ever wonder how the OverACup podcast got its name? In this one year Anniversary episode, hear “the rest of the story.” 

I share how my Mom’s influence saw me through an abusive childhood and instead of running away from God taught me to run to Him. 

In this episode…

• Learn the power of a mother’s influence
• Where the “OverACup” name comes from
• How you can begin to grow your own relationship with God today

Resources

Do you want to pray for your kids but you’re unsure where to start? Do you struggle to find the time or what to pray? 

Brooke shares her journey to becoming a praying mom. When her boys were young, she came to the end of herself, and God taught her to turn to Him and pray His word back to him.

In this episode learn how to:

• Begin praying for your kids today
• Pray God’s Word
• Overcome barriers to prayer

Resources

“Deal bountifully with your servant,

    that I may live and keep your word.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

    wondrous things out of your law.”

Psalm 119:17-18, ESV

Sometimes the best way is the simplest way. This is also true of Bible study. This week learn how to keep it simple by studying the Bible using the 5 Ws and H that you learned about in grade school. 

Don’t believe me? In this episode, study Matthew 8:23-27 with me in less than 10 minutes! 

Resources

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” James 1:25, ESV

We know Bible study is important, but when you open your Bible are you left wondering where to start? Or if you’ve been studying it for years, do you struggle to dig deeper into the stories you know well? 

Join me this week as we learn about the LOOK Bible study method! It’s easily adaptable to the season of life you’re in. Whether you’re short on time or have all the time in the word, you can study God’s word!

Resources

“I have treasured your word in my heart

so that I may not sin against you.”

Psalm 119:11, CSB

We all want to develop a lifetime of faith in ourselves and those we love, but it starts with getting into God’s Word. 

In this month's episode, learn the simple practice of how to memorize scripture quickly and easily, even if you’ve failed in the past! 

Resources:

Oftentimes in life, we become discouraged and want to quit. Life gets too hard, and we wonder where we can go to resign. However, instead of waving the white flag, we instead need to lean into God and into His Spirit inside of us. 

In this episode:

• Learn where your true strength comes from
• Discover where our true joy comes from
• Be reminded the victory is assured

Resources

One of the biggest fears of many soon-to-be parents is that they might have a special needs child. Cherry was the same before God blessed her with Zachary, her son on the autism spectrum.

Through her God Story, Cherry not only encourages parents with special needs children to lean into God’s plan for their child’s life, but she encourages all of us to embrace who God made our children to be. 

In this episode learn how to: 

• See the good in hard circumstances
• Be our kid’s champion
• Let go of our expectations for our children
• Trust God with our kids and their future

Resources:

“I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.” 2 Tim. 1:5

“Where can a mother go to resign?” Have you ever felt this way? Like one more load of laundry, dishwasher load, or argument between siblings will be the end of you. 

Me too, friend! Those are the days when I need to remember to focus my eyes on Jesus and remember what he says about this all important job. It can be hard to find hope and meaning in the middle of our messes, but it is there! In our homes, we have the ability to influence generations and it isn’t a responsibility to be taken lightly. This is the most important job you’ll ever do! 

In this episode learn what the Bible says about mothers and how a mother’s influence, example, and words matter so very much to our children! 

Resources:

Please Note: The audio in this episode is distorted in places on my side. Augh! But the conversation was so good and Esther's story so encouraging, I didn't want you to miss out! So here it is, as Esther says, sometimes we just need to "wash over it with grace." I hope you still enjoy it! 

Ever feel like you’re about to have a nervous breakdown? Everyone who’s lived through the last year, I see you raising your hands. (*wink)

In this month’s God Story, Esther Goetz shares how 15 years ago she actually did have a nervous breakdown in the middle of being a mom and an “Estergizer Bunny,” as her kids lovingly called her. During that time, God revealed his plan for Esther in the form of butterflies that reminder her to slow down and accept the metamorphosis He was doing in her.

In this episode learn how:

• God can show up despite our weaknesses
• He transforms us in the waiting
• He gives us grace in the trenches

Resources

Do you feel guilty because you can’t always get up at 6 am for 30 minutes with God? Do you struggle to connect with God in the “right” way? 

I’ve got a secret. There is no right way. 

There are many ways to connect with and abide in God throughout our day. Depending on our lifestyle and season of life, we might need to change our expectations. And that’s okay! 

In this episode learn to:

• Release the quiet time guilt
• Be present with God
• Focus on God during different seasons
• Abide with God right where you are

Resources

This month Laura shares the story of her modern-day miracle when she survived a terminal diagnosis by the power of God.

After coming face-to-face with death, Laura shares how her relationship with God shifted from knowing God was there to now spending time with Him throughout her day. She also explains the importance and power of community and praying for each other. 

Resources:

We often hear Satan’s lies telling us we’re not enough, not doing “it” right, not…. Fill-in-the-blank. One of the best ways to fight those lies is to use God’s truth. Jesus even gives us this example in Luke 4 in the wilderness when he faces Satan. 

Memorizing God’s Word might seem tedious or something better for kids in Sunday School, but it can be a powerful tool to fight the lies, discover sin, and help us grow to be like Jesus.

In this episode learn: 

• Why memorizing scripture is important
• How to be consistent 
• How to invite our families 
• How to prepare for success 

Resources:

Sometimes we go through times of brokenness due to sickness and death. When we go through those seasons of loss, Sara reminds us that we can grieve differently. We have hope because of Jesus! 

Here she helps us learn how to champion hope and gives practical ways to live out that hope! I just loved talking to her and hearing her intentional, practical, loving approach to remembering our loved ones in special ways.

In this episode learn how: 

• To be a hope champion
• To remember and celebrate loved ones
• To identify and process grief 
• To connect with God during times of grief 
• To help our children through times of grief

Resources

Do you sit down to a family Bible study and your kids roll their eyes? Do they wiggle and run around when you try to read devotional? 

We know that getting our kids into God’s presence is essential to helping them develop a lifetime of faith, but we worry when they resist and struggle. God doesn’t want us to be anxious. He gives us hope! 

In this episode learn how to: 

• Ask God for his help
• Focus on Jesus ourselves
• Invite our Kids into Jesus’ presence

Resources

Do you struggle to find time with God in the middle of your crazy, busy life? Are you running on fumes and wondering if there is hope for a deep relationship with God? 

There is! Join Christie Thomas and me as we discuss how to deepen your relationship with God even during the business of life. 

In this episode:

• Learn creative ways to read the Bible
• Discover how prayer can be a lifesaver 
• Get permission to be flexible 

Resources

Is one of your New Year’s resolutions or goals to spend time with God? Have you tried it before and struggled to be consistent and show up? 

Me too! In the ever-changing seasons of life, it can be hard to find what works in my time with Jesus and be consistent in it. This week’s episode is all about helping us make a plan and show up for our quiet time with Jesus. Join me! 

In this episode, learn how to:

1. Find your why
2. Where to start 
3. Make it tiny
4. When to do it
5. Prep your space
6. Celebrate your success! 

Resources

We know prayer is important, but it can be so hard to find the time to focus throughout our busy days! The laundry piles up, the dishes begin to stink, we trip over toys and socks and wonder if we’ll ever catch up. It’s like shoving snow in a snow storm! 

These tasks that might at first take us away from the throne of God can be the things that bring us to him. Learning to pray while doing my chores has changed my attitude about many of my daily tasks and given me more time to abide in Jesus. Win-win! 

In this episode learn how to turn those times of complaining and frustration into times of worship and prayer with God.

Resources:

"Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light on my path." Psalm 119:105, NIV

During the Christmas season, it can seem like we’re being pulled in so many directions that we don’t have a moment of quiet to ourselves much less to slow down and get into God’s word.

Listening to the Bible is a great way to get God’s word in your heart as you go throughout your day. This is one of my favorite ways to connect with Jesus and I think you’ll find it helpful, too!

In this episode learn great tools and resources to help you to get started listening to your Bible today! 

Resources:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6, NIV

With the year we’ve all had, we can struggle to focus on the good. It’s easier to see what is going wrong than what is going right. 

God knew that for us to lift our eyes to him it would take a sacrifice of praise. We would need to give thanks. 

In this episode learn:

• How giving thanks helps us overcome anxiety
• How giving thanks helps us focus on God
• Quick, practical ways to give thanks 

Resources

Right now as our kids boomerang in and out of distance learning or have transitioned completely to homeschooling, emotions can run high as we all make adjustments. There can be many tears from them and us! 

It leaves us wondering, how do we navigate these adjustments and handle the emotions in healthy ways? 

In this episode learn:

• How to Value emotions during the chaos
• Healthy ways to talk about and walk through feelings 
• Tips for adjusting to new routines 
• How to handle our many responsibilities 
• How to pause in Jesus’ presence

Resources:

The sunlight streamed through the playroom window as I settled into my favorite chair. The smell of coffee greeted me like an old friend and I reached for my Bible. Then I heard it. The patter of little feet on the wood floor. My quiet time I had longed for was cut short once again. 

As busy moms, how do we find time to meet with Jesus, even in the middle of our busy days? How do we prioritize our relationship with God with a to-do list a mile long and surrounded by family? 

In this episode learn how to:

• Prioritize time with Jesus
• Discover creative ways to spend time with God
• Be intentional in your time with God
• Connect with Jesus through Tiny Habits

Resources

So many times right now life seems chaotic and out of control. How are we to hold to God during those times when we feel like everything is slipping away? How are we to find time with him when we are overwhelmed? 

This week Stacey Thacker shares how she clung to God even when her husband had a sudden cardiac arrest and her daughter was diagnosed with an illness that led to regular doctor visits. Through it all she stuck close to God, but not in a way you might expect. 

In this episode learn:

• How to see God even during the storms
• Why prayer is so important in our lives
• Practical ways to cling to God during the chaos
• How we can guide our children into a relationship with Jesus

Resources

Exhaustion can zap our strength to pour into our families, ourselves, and our relationship with Jesus. When we can barely tuck our kids into bed at night, how are we supposed to read our Bible or spend time with God?

There is hope! In this episode, we dive deep into those things that cause exhaustion--to-do lists, physical health, depression, children, and more!-- and find practical ways to get our minds and bodies the rest we so desperately crave. 

In this episode learn how to:

• Focus on what is most important
• Find help for physical exhaustion and depression
• Develop healthy self-care 
• Handle bickering and resistant children
• Lean into God’s Spirit and find strength

Resources

Have your plans been turned upside down? Did your hopes for 2020 vanish with the coming of COVID? Find hope as Doris Swift shares her God Story about how she learned to lean into him, especially when life didn’t go as planned.

In this episode learn how God...

• Grows us through unexpected circumstances 
• Cares about the details in our lives
• Equips us for his plan for our lives
• Meets our needs at exactly the right time

Resources

Kim Wahl shares her God Story of when she found her 8 yr old daughter unresponsive from a diabetic coma. Through that time, her family learned how to focus on Jesus despite the chaos around them.

During this time of quarantine and crazy school schedules related to COVID, it can be so easy to let the challenges distract us from Jesus. Kim teaches us how to rise above the storm and place Jesus at the center.

In this episode learn to:

• Trust Jesus through the storms
• Find peace in His presence 
• Discover clarity in the chaos 

Resources

As a deer pants for flowing streams,

    so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

    for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 42:1-2, ESV

Like the writer of Psalm 42, do you desire to meet with God, yet you struggle to fight off all the distractions in your day? Do you begin your day with the best of intentions but find them quickly pushed aside by mounds of laundry, kid interruptions, or even Facebook scrolling? 

Join me this week as we learn how to intentionally plan for those distractions that keep us from God and find ways to help them draw us to him instead.

Learn tips and resources to fight distractions like: 

• Kid interruptions
• Social media scrolling
• Exercise guilt
• Anxious thoughts

Resources

There are so many questions and unknowns this school year. It can cause us to feel stressed and overwhelmed. But there is hope!

In the middle of the questions and the fear, we can lift our eyes to the one who has the answers. We can focus our gaze on Jesus.

In this episode learn:

• My story of moving from dread to delight
• How God can give us hope
• Practical tips for focusing on Jesus