christian Archives | Bridge of the Faithful

Building Deep Roots with Little habits with Christie Thomas

November 15, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Building Deep Roots with Little habits with Christie Thomas

00:00 / 31:50

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 , J esus: 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.
²I will glory in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

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

⁸Taste 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

Operation Christmas Child: The Story of a Box with Yulia Shubina

October 25, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Operation Christmas Child: The Story of a Box with Yulia Shubina

00:00 / 33:27

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/

Operation Christmas Child: The Story of a Child with Yulia Shubina

October 18, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Operation Christmas Child: The Story of a Child with Yulia Shubina

00:00 / 38:34

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.

Finding Hope and Faithfulness after an Inconceivable Accident with Jen Eikenhorst

October 4, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Finding Hope and Faithfulness after an Inconceivable Accident with Jen Eikenhorst

00:00 / 32:38

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

Secret Confessions of a Mom Who Wants to Quit

August 9, 2021 by Jenna 1 Comment

Bridge of the Faithful

Secret Confessions of a Mom Who Wants to Quit

00:00 / 54:21

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.

From Empty to Adopted with Paralympic Swimmer Jessica Long

July 26, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

From Empty to Adopted with Paralympic Swimmer Jessica Long

00:00 / 31:21

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

Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist

May 17, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist

00:00 / 40:46

Being a special needs mom is one of the absolute hardest and most rewarding jobs in the world. Julie Holmquist and I have a lot in common with our struggles in being moms of special needs sons, ranging from our dreams of cleaner houses to our identity issues in this journey. One major thing that helps in that is remembering the story from John chapter 9 where Jesus healed the blind man. When asked if he or his parents sinned, Jesus responded with “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him” (verse 3). Remembering that having a special needs child isn’t a punishment to either the parents or the child is key to our perspective and changes the way that we see our situations. Special needs moms also struggle with embarrassment/shame and isolation, we want to remind all of you mamas that you are not alone! We don’t know about the future of our typical kids any more than we know about our special needs kids. And it is so very clear that God placed them in our families to be a blessing and be blessed by us, and only He can give us the strength to do that.

Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Resources:
Website: www.stuffofheaven.com
Podcast: Kairos Moments
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julie.holmquist1
Facebook Group: Stuff of Heaven
Instagram: @julie_e_holmquist
Podcast Instagram: @kairosmomentspodcast

Created to Create: Storyteller Eric Mishne

July 11, 2020 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Created to Create: Storyteller Eric Mishne

00:00 / 34:58

As a storyteller, Eric is always looking for what speaks to him. Sometimes that inspiration comes from people he meets in line somewhere, other times it occurs through the conversations he has with close friends. To Eric, being created in God’s image means we are following in the steps of the very first Creator, and that is to be taken seriously as those are some very big shoes to fill. Through his multiple mediums and experiences, he has learned that the beauty of art is to see life through other people’s eyes. One of the biggest takeaways from his projects is that the freedom to do whatever you want is actually quite limiting; while having guidelines and restrictions actually have brought about his most rewarding work.

Eric is a professor at Cedarville University. He coaches the competitive speech team, and teaches courses in public speaking and communication. Among his creative endeavors are original theatre, short fiction and poetry, award winning short films, and the occasional acting gig. Eric is also a published communication scholar. He lives in Xenia, Ohio with his wife. All it takes to get his undivided attention is the prospect of a cup of coffee and a good story.

Building Deep Roots with Little habits with Christie Thomas

Operation Christmas Child: The Story of a Box with Yulia Shubina

Operation Christmas Child: The Story of a Child with Yulia Shubina

Finding Hope and Faithfulness after an Inconceivable Accident with Jen Eikenhorst

Secret Confessions of a Mom Who Wants to Quit

From Empty to Adopted with Paralympic Swimmer Jessica Long

Being a Special Mom of Special Needs Kids with Julie Holmquist

Created to Create: Storyteller Eric Mishne

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