Episodit
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Join Sonja and Julia for one last episode about the beginnings and endings of seasons. :) We love you all, thank you for listening in.
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I turned 51 the other day, and it was hard. For some reason 50 seemed easier than 51. Today I talk about what I would tell myself I was 25 again. Can you think of what YOU would say if you could go back and talk to your 25 yourself? It's important to think about how God changes us and heals us through the years, and as women we should think of how far God has brought us as we get older. It's good to remember all the amazing lessons you learned along the way as we recognize we're getting older. Join me in the conversation today–what would you tell your 25 year old self?
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Puuttuva jakso?
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It's so hard to be on the sidelines when your high schooler is doing all the "lasts" you do as a senior. It's possibly even harder to wait for that first phone call (or even just a text) from your college freshman who you haven't seen in a month. Today I'm asking how you're doing with these changes and listing crucial ways to cheer your child on as they step into adulthood in these next few years.
I know how hard it is to see them in these new transitions, and sometimes it can be difficult to know how to support them without getting in the way of their big year. What do you do when they're having a rough day? Or having a bad attitude about school? Is there a healthy way to help your college kid find what they need at school? Join me as I discuss all these common questions on today's episode and empathize with the mamas that are on the sidelines for these big life moments in their child's life.
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How do you know if He is speaking to you? Sonja and Julia discuss the mysteries of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. While Julia is hesitant to say she knows how to listen to the Holy Spirit, Sonja discusses the experiences in her own life that have lead her to understand His voice. Are you listening? Are you looking for the nudge?
There's a bit of a disagreement on today's episode about whether or not the Holy Spirit is speaking to us using a voice. Is it just about feeling? How do we actually hear from Him? These are few of the things we discuss together.
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“I can’t describe how different he had become in that time when he realized he was different.” Jennifer Ouderkirk joins us today to tell her story of how God transformed her life when she had her son, Brandon, who was born with learning disabilities. She shares the heartbroken experiences God taught her during that time and how she learned to teach Brandon that God doesn't make mistakes. We as moms want to be able to fix the problem, we want to protect our children from difficult things, but we don't always have that choice. We must be able to let go of the control and allow God to give us the grace He gives so freely, but it may just take everything we as moms have.
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My 3 son-in-laws join me on today's episode! It was a blast to talk about what mother-in-law stereotypes I fill, how first impressions can be deceiving, and what it's like being a part of a close knit family. Are you a mother-in-law now or getting ready to become one soon? There's so many ways to have a good relationship with your son-in-law or daughter-in-law and here's just a few insights into my past experiences and what my son-in-laws have to say about how I've managed so far.
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The fall season is just around the corner and that used to mean "back to school," but now it just means... what? For the empty nester, fall means something different than it meant all those years of school supplies, new clothes, and a new calendar.
What does it mean for the empty nester now and how can we mitigate the depression that might start to creep up as we think of what used to be (or having to say goodbye to our college-age kids)? Sonja discusses some practical tips to make this next season more bearable and even enjoyable!
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Sonja travels back in time to when she was in high school and reminisces of the 80s and what it was like going to a small Christian school as a teenager. Between an awful car accident that changed her freshman year of high school to a wonderful youth pastor and his wife who mentored her, we had a lot to discuss today! We hope you're encouraged by our discussion on how you can make a difference–and how every moment really matters in those formative years.
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Do you feel absolutely stuck over a decision you're making right now? Everyone has hard decisions to make and oftentimes it feels like you can't win either way, but what if we had a blueprint for making those kinds of decisions with confidence? Today Sonja discusses what we can do on a practical level to use our heart, our head, and our gut in our decision-making process to stop the constant back-and-forth.
There are seasons when you feel like you can't make a difficult decision, and instead of giving you empty promises that "whatever decision you make will be okay", Sonja guides you through a way to make decisions using all 3 of your centers of intelligence.
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What's expected of you when your daughter or son is having a baby? When should you help them out and when should you give them their space? All these questions (and more!) run around in your head when you become a grandma. It's a whole different ballgame with a different set of boundaries. We have Ashli Prieskorn, Sonja’s daughter, to help us with this discussion on expectations for the birth and beyond. How do we communicate with our children about THEIR children?
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For mothers and daughters (and sons), the engagement and wedding process is a tricky one riddled with highs and lows. JennaLyn Dalton, Sonja's youngest daughter, joins us today to tell her story of how she came to the decision to move up her wedding date by almost 8 whole months and what her relationship with her parents looked like on that journey.
Have your sons or daughters considered long engagements? If so, what are the pros and cons? We dive into the many challenges that come along with deciding when to get married and how to have conversations about it.
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Moms, we must be aware of how we treat our adult children! Are we passive aggressive, do we guilt them into doing things we want them to do, do we manipulate and manuever situations to get the outcome we desire? An even better question: how do we know if we're doing this?
Today we talk about what it means to depend on your kids for your happiness and how that feeds into the way you act toward them and love them. It's time to wake up and be the best mom we can be to our adult children.
Good Boundaries and Goodbyes book link
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Everything in your bones says that you are on YOUR kid's side when they are having problems with their spouse. Your heart wants to instantly think that it's your daughter- or son-in-law's fault and that your child is the innocent party in whatever marital problems they are having. Today we consider what it looks like to be a supportive and loving parent to a child who is going through marital issues. Everyone goes through difficult seasons, and it's up to you decide how you're going to treat your kids as they walk through life's rough journeys. What is a healthy, Godly way of responding to your child and their spouse?
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"We have an army of forgotten moms trying to navigate their changing roles with their adult children... and don’t know where to turn." Do you feel forgotten as a mom of adult children? There were all these resources for moms when you were a mother of little toddlers, but now the help and community seems few and far between. Today we tackle an article written by Pamela Henkelman that gives some amazing advice on how to encourage "the forgotten moms" in the thick of parenting adult children.
When you don't know where to turn, we've got you. Listen in today to hear our take on a wonderfully written article.
The Forgotten Moms Article: https://www.pamelahenkelman.com/blog/f1f5riui0r7al80gdh68wvy1pg3jiw
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"It may have seemed disappointing to us at the time–my papa who I saw only a few times a year–shushing us chatty little girls to read a book. But it made me wonder what all the fuss was about? Did it really matter that much, reading the Bible and praying?" Julia gets on the podcast to give a child's perspective on how a parent's relationship with God can impact a child's life whether or not they see it as helpful in the moment. She discusses the importance of having a relationship with the Lord, and how she came to naturally make a habit of reading the Bible through different examples in her life.
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I confess I had a fight with Kevin very recently that reminded me of who I used to be and how far God has brought me since then. It's something I want not only all of my listeners to hear, but especially my 3 daughters. God can fill your life with redemptive grace, amen? Today I talk vulnerably about the imperfections that I still face even today, and I do a deep dive into some of my health struggles and what I've been working through for most of my life. There are such hard things that happen, and it's crazy to think about how God brings you through it all.
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Don't look back at the end of the summer and say you didn't do anything! Let's dive deep into how to have the best summer ever with these 5 intentions. Sonja and Julia discuss 5 ways (we won't call them goals, we promise!) in which we can be productive and fun this summer without getting too caged in. Sonja talks about "fluid documents," how to set intentions, and make the best of your summer no matter if you're an empty nester or in your 20s. Join them for this fun discussion around summertime productivity.
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What do you do when your kids want nothing to do with your faith? The hardest journey to tread is being a Christian parent to an unbeliever. Your heart aches for them, your desire is that they would hear the truth and know it, but you don't know how to handle the day-to-day reality. How much time do you invest in them, what does it look like to love them well, am I enabling them when I help them? There are so many questions that go through your mind, and Sonja discusses some possible steps to take when walking this hard road.
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Motherhood is not an easy road, and it starts to look different as your kids grow older. Sonja and Julia discuss what it actually takes to have good relationships with your adult kids (and with your parents as adult children). If you're wondering how to have thriving relationships with you adult children, you have to be willing to put in the work and grow yourself to become the mom that your kids want to be around when they're older. So, what DOES it take? It's not an easy job to be a mom of adult children, and if you're looking for some insight to communicate well, listen in to hear what Sonja has found to be true in her own life with adult kids.
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Mother's Day is not always all it's cracked up to be. Sonja and Julia discuss the history of Mother's Day and why it started in the first place and they ask the question who is Mother's Day really for? Is it still for the mothers who have become grandmas? Is it necessary at all? We dive into the woes of Mother's Day as well as what it SHOULD look like for those mamas who are in the trenches with little ones.
- What expectations should one have for Mother's Day if your kids are out of the house
- Why are sermons on Mother's Day the same every year?
- Mother's Day as a hard day for some
- What mothers can do to have a wonderful day with their families
- Näytä enemmän
