Sunshine in my Nest

It can feel difficult to raise kids of faith when culture has lost its Christian moorings. Jennifer wants to introduce us to nine women of faith and discuss how they kept their faith vibrant through historical Christian practices! This will help us foster our own families of faith.

What does it look like to be transformed by the gospel? We can’t make ourselves new, or shine our light. As humans, we become more like what we are around. If we set our minds on things from our old nature, we become calloused and more like that. When we stand in awe of what he has done and who he is we become more like him.

We may be tempted to think the New Testament is the most important part of the Bible, but Courtney shows us how the Bible from garden to glory can transform us.

Maybe you’ve been praying, and it feels like you're begging. Maybe the situation you’re living through has really gone off the rails or feels like it has dragged on too long. You believe if God was going to answer, he already would have. Pray that God will put his patience in your own heart, no matter how impossible things seem. This chapter isn’t the end of the story he is writing for you!

SHOW NOTES:

Have you struggled with infertility or infant loss, or have you walked through it with someone from your community? We want so badly to find or be comfort in pain but can feel at a loss to know how. Lauren and I talk about what it feels like to be the one walking through, and also how to be there for someone walking through infertility and infant loss.

This doesn’t mean a believer will never experience anxiety. We see all through the Old Testament people of faith wrestling with anxiety and intrusive thoughts of doubt. What separates you out as a believer is you have the Holy Spirit in you to strengthen you as you speak truth to your anxieties and intrusive thoughts.

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You want a cozy home, but you don't have a big budget. A few simple tweaks can go a really long way! Myquillyn encourages us first to observe our spaces. Then, look at the decorating trinity of "seating, lights, and storage". From there we can ditch the clutter and add the layers that make it cozy and our own!

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Invite someone whose style you love to come and make suggestions for your space. When you visit someone's home observe what is working well, and compliment them on welcoming others in!

The supernatural outcome of being in the vine and pouring out love is the purest kind of joy! So ask him to produce this fruit in you!

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Many people haven't read a book since they finished their college classes, because the process of cramming for tests kept them from ever wanting to learn that way again. How can we delight in learning and keep our kids from facing burn out?

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Invite someone else to join you in something you're good at, or ask them to teach you about something they love!

Beg God to make his love real to you. Then ask him to put love in your heart, so that you can see even difficult people and situations the way he sees you. He will grow love in you!

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Laugh your way to better habits as the founder of the 1000 Hours Outside movement Ginny Yurich tells us the story of her early motherhood. We discuss why kids being outside is so important, and practically how to do it even when no one else is.

Not all years of parenting look the same, and we must first notice that the way we did things 5 years ago may not work for us now. Melissa Kruger talks us through how to analyze what will work best for us in the teen years, and how we can prepare for them now with our little kids.

Today we talk about what it looks like to look for hope in a season of pain and despair. Amber Haines resigned from the dream position at her church because of abusive leadership. In the process, she and her family lost their community too. Amber points us to the participate with those signs of hope even when daily life is a struggle.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Invite a friend to join you in a mundane task, and name what is painful together.

We think of church history through the lens of monolithic culture. Jerome encourages us to go back in history further than the protestant reformation and discover the colorful mosaic of church history.

I realized again because serve Jesus my time and effort can't be stolen. Every hour is already his. He uses my life in acts both domestic tasks, volunteer projects, and writing to bring his kingdom and for his glory, and somehow also my own joy. 

My life cannot be stolen because it's already bought and paid for, and he does beautiful things with everything he is given!

SHOW NOTES:

Can you find beauty in the brokeness of your body even in the middle of a chronic illness diagnosis? Cassandra tells us about what she's learning about relying on Christ and humbly accepting help in the middle of a life-altering medical event.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Ask a hurting friend, "What does support look like to you right now?"

When we are to give to one another everything good within our power submission becomes a joy. We are wholeheartedly dedicated to the good of the other. In healthy relationships, as we press to give one another the best, we are met with equal resistance to be given the best, and the love of God is shown as we live together in love.

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It's easy to believe God is self-absorbed, or not present at all. Alexandra Hoover talks us through what it looks like to trust God day in and day out. She grew up with the odds are stacked against her and has had moments she was left wondering how she would get back up. She believes resilient faith is possible, and wants you to have it too!

Writing down what God has done for you and telling others helps strengthen our memory of his goodness. Our joy as believers doesn’t rely on being given everything we want but on the reliability of God’s nearness. In times of hardship, recounting the ways God has been good to you in the past, can help you meet even the hardest of trials with joy.

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We often think that if we do the right things we can get the result from God that we want, but most of us as we walk through life start noticing that things don't add up the way we thought they would. Kristen LaValley and her husband worked in full-time ministry when they unexpectedly experienced job loss, infant loss, and she witnessed a murder.

Join us as we discuss what it looks like to have faith when everything seems to be going wrong.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

What is the kindest thing someone has done for you when you're discouraged?

When I started focusing on what Jesus had done for me it changed the way I thought about my life. The words I replaced them with were “He is transforming me daily to nurture as he nurtures." “Your home is not a shrine to your good taste, but a place of welcome." “God's Spirit will guide my words.” The freedom from changing my scripts caused me to be more thoughtful and wise as I moved forward. 

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How would it change the way we live if we saw ourselves as trees instead of machines? The words we use about our lives and stages of life matter. Today Joy Clarkson and I talk about seasons for roots and the ones for fruit. No matter what season you are in you can flourish.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Ask a friend "If you were a tree what season would you be in?" The answer may surprise you!

The goal of our reading isn’t to “get through,” but to remember and apply. If reading God’s word isn’t bringing delight, blessing, and transformation, then maybe we have found our value in making it a competition to do the most, or on the other side maybe it’s become something unnecessary to our existence. His word doesn’t return void, so read what you have brain retention for, and be formed by him.

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Elisabeth Elliot’s voice was a fixture voice for thousands of living rooms through her 13-year daily radio show. After her husband Jim Elliot was killed on the mission field her best-selling book was the inspiration for the faith of three generations.

She was a prolific author and one of the few prominent female voices of the church of her time. She was a purity culture and traditional gender roles icon for thousands of women. Her words, and expressed views at that time have been polarizing for many Christians. I’ve since learned her true story was more complex than any of us knew.

What I learned is God doesn't want us to just come to him in those big moments, but the small ones. The breaths of prayer when struggling with temper. Or a small prayer when remembering someone we love who is grieving or ill.

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Our kids do something wrong and we respond in anger or start monologing. Abbey walks us through what it looks like to plan ahead for the struggles our kids encounter. Having just one phrase that we use every time protects us from responding in ways we regret, and helps defuse the situation.

Take to your community:

Hey, can we more toward complimenting the work God is doing in our kids rather than "Good job" or "You're so cute"?

It’s easy to think corruption, false teaching, and spiritual abuse in the church are new. Through letters like this in the New Testament, we know that isn’t true. By studying these letters, we are given the tools to handle the pain of betrayal by people in the church.

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If we live long enough, we will experience the pain of losing someone we love. In this episode, Whitney Pipkin and I talk about what it was like for her to lose her mom. We discuss what's helpful for friends to do during this time, and what isn't helpful. We also cover a theology of death, and how to find the God of comfort in that pain.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Don't feel pressured to add "but it's fine" to the end of your explanation of grief! If you have a friend who has lost someone, go be with them, but don't rush them to a happy ending.

The peace he leaves us isn’t deadness inside. It’s not toxic positivity or political power. But rather a sure reliance that he has done so far what he has said he will do.

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It can feel hard if not impossible to find community when we are also trying to parent kids, and yet we know that our kids need a solid community around them. Today Holly and I talk about how to find healthy community and how to see child-rearing as a vocation to which parents are called that requires them to develop the skills of apprenticeship and invitation. She also locates raising children firmly within the context of the church.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Invite a friend to meet in a neutral space!

This verse is a reminder that the goal of believers isn’t to get everything out of life that we can or to collect a show room that celebrates our good taste. But to value souls made in his image.

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Joy Prouty is the videographer for JJ Heller's music videos and a beautiful lifestyle photographer. Today we chat about what it looks like to slow down and cherish the littlest moments of our life through the lens of a camera.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Share a photo of a past version of yourself with a friend this week. Open yourself to conversations of where life has taken you over the years!

Many of us endure pain that is the consequence of our actions. We repent and find forgiveness, but that doesn’t always mean our circumstances change. What we can know from this verse is that God is with us even in that kind of pain. He is a reliable place to put our hope.

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Have you vowed to read through the Bible in a year only to fizzle out somewhere in Exodus or Leviticus? Or you've finished your reading and realized you don't remember anything you read? Today seminary trained, Amy talks about her favorite tools for studying the Bible.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Text a friend and ask, "What has God been teaching you? Not just through what you read, but in life?"

You can have hope in suffering, because what we see it brings is a deeper and more full understanding of who God is. Ask the hard questions, because he is big enough to handle and answer them.

SHOW NOTES:

Do you feel stressed by all the demands the new year seems to bring? Everyone is talking about their new programs and goals, and yet we are still exhausted from the marathon of December and Christmas. What does it look like to assess where we are and gently lean into a new week instead of trying to tackle a whole year?

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Identify who your inner circle is and choose to prioritize them this year.

For lots of us, this year holds a lot of unknown big decisions. How I find God's will in all that can be hard. It can fill us with dread of the unknown or excitement for what God will do.

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The past 5 weeks have been a pause to remember what Christ has done, and an invitation to carry that knowledge into the new year with us. To worship is a sacrifice and demands discipline. But when we live with what God has done for us in view it transforms the way we live. When we live a life transformed by his love it gives us and those around us into what God’s coming kingdom will look like.

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If the weeks leading up to Advent have been a slow build in anticipation, this is where it bursts forth revealing with joy what he has done! God’s plan which was a shadow in the Old Testament is now fully revealed in the coming of the Messiah.

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As we manage our expectations with our family and friends this time of year it's easy to end up frustrated and angry. The more we understand how loved we are, the easier it is to proactively love those who are put into our lives.

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Have you ever had anxiety build up to the point where you feel like vomiting all the time?

We still groan and grieve, but now not without hope. On the night that this verse was sung, God pulled back the curtain on his power.

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Have you ever had an hour that just wouldn't end? The story of Christmas starts long before a baby is born in a manger. It starts with a garden and a man and a woman who live in perfect communion with God.

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It's easy to spot in children, but am I guilty of complaining too? The goal of this verse is to remind us that there is something bigger we give our lives to than getting our own way. The way we endure suffering and inconvenience is the testimony we have to the world.

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We can learn to trust God is by recording the times that he has faithfully met our needs in the past. If you’re a new believer, ask Christian friends, or you can read stories of other believers.

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The Old Testament serves, in part, as a testimony to the character of God. We can know that God sees our pain. Even though our world doesn’t reflect this reality yet, we know he will make all things new!

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We are tempted to think that the God of the New Testament is the one who is loving and forgiving, but at his heart he longs to restore a relationship with us offering us grace for a new morning even at the end of a long day.

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Have you felt called to do good globally, but functionally that lifestyle is out of reach? Amy DiMarcangelo and I are suburban moms who both want to live with a heart of service to people in need in our own communities. Join us as we brainstorm how to live out Christ's call without relocating our families.

TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Text a friend and ask, "Have you ever seen someone live out missions well? How do they do that?"

Text another friend who inspires you to let them know you're grateful for their example.

The Psalms are a collection of poetry and songs that provide us with a beautiful template for honoring God in our human emotions! As God's child, you can know that he sees YOU. He is there with YOU in this exact moment and stage of life!

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There's a lot of loaded language when it comes to putting on and taking off our beliefs, but today Lore Wilbert and I talk about what it looks like to imitate Jesus in his response to doubt. We share a bit of our own struggles that lead us to ask if God is good and end with a conversation about how to give and take in real friendship.

When Jesus offers himself as the bread of life he is offering to bring fullness and hope to your heart and life.