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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

Raising Kids in a New Generation with Bethany Adkins

September 20, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Raising Kids in a New Generation with Bethany Adkins

00:00 / 34:03

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 byone 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

Discovering Wisdom from the Moms of the Bible with Sharon Wilharm

September 6, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Discovering Wisdom from the Moms of the Bible with Sharon Wilharm

00:00 / 33:27

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

An Honest Discussion on Mom Guilt with Take Heart

August 23, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

An Honest Discussion on Mom Guilt with Take Heart

00:00 / 55:26

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 , J esus: 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

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

Transitional Motherhood with Meg Glesener

June 28, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Transitional Motherhood with Meg Glesener

00:00 / 33:00

With eight children ranging from teenagers to parents themselves, Meg is no stranger to the bittersweet and beautiful transitions through motherhood. Throughout her entire journey, she has tried to not lose sight of the fact that God gave her these children to prepare them for adulthood, which means eventually they leave (which is a good thing!). Meg encourages finding accountability, prayer, and mentor groups to help you get through the rough spots and remember you are not alone in this motherhood journey. She discusses the transitions that range from setting all of the rules and providing everything for your children, all while teaching them to set boundaries and help them set up their own rules as they enter adulthood. The biggest thing she’s learned however in her entire motherhood path is that while her job as a mom is important, her most important job is being a child of God.

Jude 1:24 – To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy

Resources:
Podcast Website: www.lettersfromhomepodcast.com
Moms in Prayer

Identity and Idols in Motherhood with Merritt Onsa

June 14, 2021 by Jenna No Comments

Bridge of the Faithful

Identity and Idols in Motherhood with Merritt Onsa

00:00 / 43:11

Related Episodes: Marriage Marriage the Priority in Motherhood with Glori Winder, 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

Merritt Onsa’s journey to motherhood was unconventional. After bouts of infertility, she and her husband decided to pursue embryo adoption (check out an episode here on this as well). Like many mothers who have been through infertility, she entered this part of her life with expectations and hopes of how motherhood would look. Of course, it hasn’t quite gone that way. Like all women, and especially moms, she has learned that she needs to work on finding her true identity as well as identify her idols in motherhood. God has been so gracious in that and reminded her that she doesn’t have to measure her motherhood by anyone else’s. God has His own plan for hers and yours.

Merritt is passionate about helping women find their God-shaped dreams. Please note: she does not say God SIZED but God SHAPED. That includes finding our identity, God’s purpose in our lives, and help give us the tools to achieve them. Merritt believes in you and loves to remind you that God promises to finish the work that He began in us. Look below for her resources!

Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

Resources:
Website: https://www.merrittonsa.com/
Podcast: The Devoted Dreamers Podcast
Facebook: @merritonsa
Instagram: @merrittjo

Page 1 of 312 3 »

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

Raising Kids in a New Generation with Bethany Adkins

Discovering Wisdom from the Moms of the Bible with Sharon Wilharm

An Honest Discussion on Mom Guilt with Take Heart

From Empty to Adopted with Paralympic Swimmer Jessica Long

Transitional Motherhood with Meg Glesener

Identity and Idols in Motherhood with Merritt Onsa

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