Related Episodes: Raising Kids in a New Generation with Bethany Adkins, Discovering Wisdom from the Moms of the Bible with Sharon Wilharm, Secret Confessions of a Mom who Wants to Quit, Planting Scripture in Young Children with Julie Parido, Transitional Motherhood with Meg Glesener, Identity and Idols in Motherhood with Merritt Onsa, Making Marriage the Priority in Motherhood with Glori Winders, Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist, Surviving as a Single Mom with Annie Quinnell, Restoring Joy in Motherhood with Winfree Brisley, The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith, The Fight for Relationships , Jesus: The Rest in our Busy, Identity: What You’re Not, Identity: Unveiled

Life for Christie has not gone in the trajectory that she originally planned. Originally she was a college student studying science, but God directed her toward children’s ministry and helping parents build a firm foundation of faith in their children’s lives. Her most recent endeavor has been the Mother-Son Prayer Journal, where she dug deep in understanding God’s faithfulness throughout the chronological life of David. Along the way, she learned so much about his life and the trustworthiness of God’s promises.

As a mom herself, Christie has learned that making God a priority always reaps good fruit. However, she also realizes that as a mother, life will not always look structured and picture-perfect. She has learned to do things in the timing that she’s given and to give herself grace, God will always bless her effort!

A big thing Christie learned in her study of David’s life was that no matter if he was in the high of his faith or the valley of disobedience, God proved that He is always faithful.

Psalm 34:1-8 – I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.
² I will glory in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
    he delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;
    their faces are never covered with shame.
⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
    he saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
    and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Resources:
www.littleshootsdeeproots.com
Quinn Books
Mother Son Prayer Journal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristieThomasLittleShoots
Instagram: @Christie.Thomas.Writer

Related Episodes: Here I Am, Send Me, From Empty to Adopted with Paralympic Swimmer Jessica Long, The Next Right Thing, Mini Episode:Waves of Hope, You’ve Got Talent, Faithful Obedience, Trust and Faithfulness, 5 Loaves and 2 Fish

Yulia Shubina grew up in Central Asia in an area closed to the Gospel. However, through miracles and hard work, she received a Christmas Box at the age of 9 through Samaritans Purse. That gift started a journey where God pursued her and saved her. Now, Yulia lives in the United States and works with Operation Christmas Child. Yulia has a unique perspective as she recounts the story of how a box goes from your house to the utmost corners of the Earth, and how God does amazing things through the sacrifices of His people.

Operation Christmas Child sends millions of boxes to children worldwide to supply needs, fun surprises, and most of all the knowledge of a God who loves them and gives hope. Yulia is one of many who have grown to know Jesus as her personal savior through the wonderful sacrifice of families willing to send them gifts. Yulia has a wonderful story that helps us see an intimate view of what God can do through a Christmas box. “Because when God is involved, there is always more.”

1 Thessalonians 5:24- The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Resources:
Build a Box online, Click HERE!
Operation Christmas Child: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
What to Put in a Box: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/

Related Episodes: Here I Am, Send Me, From Empty to Adopted with Paralympic Swimmer Jessica Long, The Next Right Thing, Mini Episode:Waves of Hope, You’ve Got Talent, Faithful Obedience, Trust and Faithfulness, 5 Loaves and 2 Fish

Yulia Shubina grew up in Central Asia in an area closed to the Gospel. However, through miracles and hard work, she received a Christmas Box at the age of 9 through Samaritans Purse. In that beautiful purple plastic box (which she still has 20 years later), she was delighted with beautiful new toys and supplies and heard for the first time of a loving God through another little girl who gave her a note telling her so. This box was the seed of a 7-year journey that led Yulia to salvation.

Operation Christmas Child sends millions of boxes to children worldwide to supply needs, fun surprises, and most of all the knowledge of a God who loves them and gives hope. Yulia is one of many who have grown to know Jesus as her personal savior through the wonderful sacrifice of families willing to send them gifts. Yulia has a wonderful story that helps us see an intimate view of what God can do through a Christmas box. “Because when God is involved, there is always more.”

Revelation 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Resources:
Build a Box online, Click HERE!
Operation Christmas Child: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
What to Put in a Box: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/

Jen Eikenhorst has experience as a C.A.D.I. – causer of accidental death or injury. One fateful night, she was involved in a tragic accident that caused the death of a motorcyclist. This accident sent her down a path of depression and questioning. In one moment all of her relationships, life plans, and faith changed. When trying to find support for this kind of trauma, she found that there were really no support groups for people on her side of the accident.

Obviously, this even changed how she thought about herself. She had to “come back to the place of learning who God says I am,” and learn to hear her shepherd’s voice over the lies. True to God’s faithfulness, He proved that He could still use her in big and impactful ways through her ministry and podcast Accidental Hope.

People began to notice the hope that Jen was radiating and cultivating with fellow C.A.D.I.s and was even featured in a New York Times article discussing this topic. Her passion in life is to free people from the bondage of guilt and shame related to their accidents, to remind them that God is still good and did not choose this situation for them, and above all: that there is ALWAYS hope when God is involved, even in the darkest of places.

2 Timothy 1:7 – For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Resources:

Podcast: Accidental Hope
Facebook: Accidental Hope
Instagram: @accidentalhope
Accidental Impacts: www.accidentalimpacts.org

Former pediatric nurse, Bethany Adkins knew that God was telling her it was time to make a change. Like many women, she fell into the trap of thinking that her worth can through her degree, a job, and everything that our culture pushes people to do. It became a tug of war on her heart, and God was telling her it was time to stop.

Bethany and her husband Corey found a passion for helping other Millennial parents and adults break the stigma of the “lazy millennial” and get tools with raising the next generation. Through her new book, the My Why Journal, she helps parents work with helping kids learn to ask good questions and where to find answers. Through this dialogue and intentional conversations, she believes that our conversations with our kids, no matter the age, affect our relationships with them and how they relate to culture.

Romans 12:12-23-

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty

Resources:
Website: www.bethanyadkins.com
Book: My Why Journal
Podcast: Millennial Mission
Instagram: @bethanyandcorey

Throughout her studies for her podcast All God’s Women, Sharon has gleaned so much wisdom from the women of the Bible. Sharon agrees that there is “nothing more humbling than raising a child.” The study of the Proverbs 31 woman is what started her passion for further understanding what God wants to teach us through the women of the Bible, ranging from completely obscure to the most well-known.

Some examples of Biblical Mom stories that have inspired her are Mephibosheth’s nurse (who only has one verse!), Rizpah, and of course Mary. While she doesn’t necessarily feel that all of the mothers are “exactly like her,” she has been amazed at what we can learn through their experiences. It has become clear that the people and stories of the Bible are intentionally put there by God, no matter how short or obscure they seem, and that we have a lot that we can learn from them, especially the women of the Bible.

Sharon is a podcaster, filmmaker, radio host, and Bible teacher whose passion is to help other women better understand the Master Storyteller and all that he has done for us.

Luke 2:19 – But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Resources:
Website: www.sharonwilharm.com
Podcast: All God’s Women
Instagram: @sharon_wilharm
Facebook: @sharonwilharmpodcasthost

Related Episodes: Secret Confessions of a Mom who Wants to Quit, Planting Scripture in Young Children with Julie Parido, Transitional Motherhood with Meg Glesener, Identity and Idols in Motherhood with Merritt Onsa, Making Marriage the Priority in Motherhood with Glori Winders, Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist, Surviving as a Single Mom with Annie Quinnell, Restoring Joy in Motherhood with Winfree Brisley, The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith, The Fight for Relationships , Jesus: The Rest in our Busy, Identity: What You’re Not, Identity: Unveiled

Amy Brown, Carrie Holt, and Sara Clime are all special needs moms, and they are no strangers to mom guilt! With diagnoses ranging from behavioral disorders to terminal illness of their children, they’ve had to learn to find the balance of the everyday family needs, extra therapies, and appointments, to realizing that they just can’t do it all.
One major point that we all need to learn to believe is that God does not tack guilt on us. Jesus states that he didn’t come to condemn us, but Satan tries to keep us from that truth and steal God’s redemptive power in our lives. As moms, we tend to tell ourselves our failure stories over and over again. However, when we learn to focus on the truth and our true value and identity as the moms that God chose specifically for our families, we will finally be able to allow God to walk us through our mom guilt and into the peace that God has overcome it all.

John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Resources:

Take Heart website: https://takeheartspecialmoms.com/
Take Heart podcast
Take Heart Facebook Page
Take Heart Instagram

Amy J Brown website: https://www.amyjbrown.com/
Amy’s Facebook
Amy’s Instagram

Carrie M. Holt website: https://carriemholt.com/
Carries’ Facebook
Carrie’s Instagram

Sara Clime’s website: https://saraclime.com/
Sara’s Facebook
Sara’s Instagram

Related Episodes: Planting Scripture in Young Children with Julie Parido, Transitional Motherhood with Meg Glesener, Identity and Idols in Motherhood with Merritt Onsa, Making Marriage the Priority in Motherhood with Glori Winders, Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist, Surviving as a Single Mom with Annie Quinnell, Restoring Joy in Motherhood with Winfree Brisley, The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith, The Fight for Relationships , Jesus: The Rest in our Busy , Identity: What You’re Not , Identity: Unveiled

Motherhood is hard. I definitely am not able to “enjoy every moment” that many people lovingly offer as advice to moms with children at home. Actually, the more I dig deeper into motherhood, the more I realize how much of a battleground it truly is. Satan hates motherhood, and sadly, a lot of times he is successful at getting me to hate it as well. I have found it to be incredibly freeing to discuss this openly, to admit my faults in hopes that others can relate and feel less alone (and selfishly, so that I feel less alone as well). The more I’ve shared, the more I realize how trapped so many of us mamas are in the lies: that motherhood is too hard; that we are alone; that we’ve messed up too much for redemption; that we don’t deserve rest; that God doesn’t care about the unique struggles that we are facing as parents. I recorded this episode in the middle of one of my deepest, darkest moments as a mom. I didn’t know what God was doing, or even where He was. I felt (and still often do) lost, confused, betrayed, much like the Israelites at the Red Sea and the Disciples during Jesus’ nap on the turbulent boat. I found myself, like them, asking “God, don’t you care?!”

And then I remembered all of the work I’ve done for this podcast over the past 3 years. God never leaves ashes and pain as the ending of the story. So this episode is a raw, honest, unscripted confession of many of the things I’ve battled as a mother. In the end, like all of the amazing stories of God’s faithfulness, He showed me that He is indeed working. The seeds I’m sowing now in tears will be harvested someday with songs of joy.

Psalm 126:5-6 – Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Related Episodes: Jesus: The Rest in our Busy , Identity: What You’re Not , Identity: Unveiled, When “No” means “Yes” with Michelle Watson, Facing the Red Sea, Is God Still Faithful in the Valley?, An Interview with Grace Norman

Jessica Long’s story begins in Russia, where her 16-year-old mother placed her for adoption when she couldn’t manage her medical needs. Jessica was born with fibular hemimelia, meaning she was born without one of the lower bones of her legs. Meanwhile, in the US, the Long family had tried for 11 years for another baby and knew that God had called Jessica to be that member of her family.
Jessica grew up with a loving Christian family, going to church and hearing the word of God. However, the juxtaposition of loving her adopted family, pain from her disease and subsequent surgeries, and feeling abandoned by her birth mother made it hard for her to understand God’s love and “plan for her life.”
And then she found swimming. As her success grew, her identity began to be based on her ability to perform in the pool. At the age of 15, just five years after she started swimming, she won her first of many Paralympic gold medals. This began her journey of sponsors, success, and fame. But none of that filled her the way that she hoped, she continued to feel empty. Until the age of 21, where God finally got a hold of her heart, showed her what it truly meant to be adopted into His family, and the peace and safety she can find there.

Psalm 46:5 – God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

Resources:
Jessica’s Team USA page: https://www.teamusa.org/usparaswimming/athletes/Jessica-Long
Instagram: @jessicatatianalong

Related episodes: Transitional Motherhood with Meg Glesener, Identity and Idols in Motherhood with Merritt Onsa, Making Marriage the Priority in Motherhood with Glori Winders, Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist, Surviving as a Single Mom with Annie Quinnell, Restoring Joy in Motherhood with Winfree Brisley, The No Judgment Zone: Honest Motherhood with Becky Kopitzke, Anchored Motherhood with Tina Smith, The Fight for Relationships , Jesus: The Rest in our Busy , Identity: What You’re Not , Identity: Unveiled

Julie Parido has always had a passion for learning scripture. Now, that passion includes planting scripture into the heart of her own children. From juggling time as a busy mom to meeting the differing developmental needs of all of her children, Julie has built a list of resources and practices that work for her family. Her own projects include using art to memorize scripture, creating family devotional time, and using specific verses to help with discipline and building moral constructs. While she like all moms is far from perfect, she has worked hard to build the foundation of teaching her children the wisdom and devotion of the beautiful Word of God.

Psalm 92:14 &15 – They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

Resources:
Instagram: @julieparido
For Toddlers: Seeds Family Worship, The Rizers, God’s Wisodm for Little Girls, God’s Wisdom for Little Boys , Raising Christian Kids Podcast
For Preschoolers: Kids Read Truth, Laugh and Grow Bible, YouVerson Kid’s App
For Elementary Age: The Purpose Driven Life for Kids, Bible Prophecy for Kids