Keeping Christ at the center of the Christmas season is always a challenge. The hectic pace of life intensifies during December, and often our focus shifts to the never-ending list of responsibilities and chores to complete before the big day.   Strategically celebrating Advent is a wonderful way to keep Christ central in all the commotion of gatherings, parties, concerts, baking, and buying. Utilizing Advent calendars, candles, and books help us to focus on the magnitude of what Christ...

  Biblically parenting a child who struggles in their sexuality requires resting on a bedrock foundation of truth while always operating in a spirit of love, humility, and surrender to Christ. We must never deny God’s truth, but a child struggling in this area must first be completely secure in their parents’ unconditional love. Focusing on the relationship is paramount. That relationship is secured by practicing unconditional love, the same love that God gives to us.   What can parents do...

A Christian can struggle with any number of attractions or temptations, including same sex desire and gender confusion. But should a Christian consider that struggle to be part of their identity? Should who we are attracted to or how we feel about our bodies be central to our being? Is our sexuality an immutable characteristic like our race or ethnicity? In other words, should we should claim our sexuality as part of our essence?   And if we do, what are the ramifications of this conclusion...

Statistics show that one in five Gen Z children are identifying somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum. One in five. Parents must realize that all of our children are dealing with this issue, because even if our kids aren't personally struggling in their sexuality, their friends are. This issue affects every parent and every child.    The church needs to have a loving and truthful approach for families facing this issue.   One of the largest and most influential churches in the United States,...

There is a question that many Christian parents never ask God. Catherine and her husband didn’t ask God this question for the first two decades of their marriage, despite attending church weekly, tithing, going so small groups, and having daily devotionals. That question is:   WHAT DOES GOD WANT MY FAMILY TO LOOK LIKE?   We often seek God about where we should work, live, and go to church, what school our kids should attend, and how to raise our children—but many parents never ask God how...

When it comes to blowing up at our kids, it’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when. It happens to the best of us. But often the inciting incident isn’t the real issue because the thing that sets us off isn’t the root of the problem. We’ve got to dig up the root if we want to get rid of the bitter fruit.   In this episode, Catherine continues her encouraging and incredibly practical conversation with Kirsten Vossler, a mother of 9 and host of the The Rejoicing in Motherhood Podcast....

As a Christian parent, you can never have too many resources! Hear compelling segments from three fascinating LifeAudio shows hosted by Christian homeschooling moms and discover a new podcast you'll love!  Subscribe to the featured shows below & listen to more of their episodes! Empowering Homeschool Conversations with Peggy Ployhar: https://apple.co/3rStaIj / https://sptfy.com/P4uL  Real Refreshment with Rachael Carman: https://apple.co/400Tq00 / https://sptfy.com/P4uJ  Homeschooling...

Let’s be honest… sometimes we blow it as parents. We lose our temper and fly off the handle. It is vital that we know how to reset when we do. All the hard work we do as parents to strategically establish a solid spiritual foundation for our kids will be severely comprised if our relationship is broken.   Catherine’s special guest in this episode is a pro on the parenting front. With nine kids, Kirsten Vossler is devoted to mothering full-time, and she imparts her hard-earned wisdom weekly...

There are some sins that seem unforgivable… and yet God forgives. But He doesn’t forgive because those sins are okay. He doesn’t brush those sins under the rug and say, “I’ll let it slide this time, but try your best not to torture, rape, or murder anyone again.”  That is not God’s response to these heinous acts.   So what is His response?   His response is the cross. His response was to take that sin upon Himself and pay the price so that every heinous act is punished. Every sin is paid...

  Deconstruction is a growing trend within evangelical circles. With a majority of Christian kids leaving the faith after they leave the nest, the number of young people sharing stories of how they are dismantling their faith is on the rise. Many of these stories have inaccurate or incomplete depictions of God.   Richard Dawkins opens the second chapter of his New York Times best-selling book The God Delusion describing the God of the Old Testament as “arguably the most unpleasant...

Brokenness is a reality of life. We all experience it. Something breaks each and every one of us, usually many things. But God promises to use our brokenness to find beauty in this world.   Catherine continues her heart-warming conversation with Andy Howard, a father who received a devastating diagnosis with his first child that broke him. As we heard in the last episode, Andy’s daughter Peyton was born legally blind with 10% brain function. As a baby, Andy was told that she would never...

It is so hard when God’s answer is no—for us and for our kids. There are times in our lives when we pray and we fast and we hope for a miracle and we speak the Word of God over a situation in our lives—and God is still faithful—but He doesn’t give us the answer we hoped for. The answer we prayed for. The answer that this person might have gotten and that person might have gotten, but for some reason we didn’t.   Catherine’s special guest in this episode has walked that path. A devastating...

The LifeAudio Podcast Network is thrilled to announce that Hearing Jesus for Kids is now available on all podcasting apps!  Sometimes people think that the Bible is just for adults, but God actually wants kids to know about Him and encourages parents to raise faithful families. So, on Hearing Jesus for Kids, your children are going to be able to learn all about God’s Big Story and how he shows Himself to us through the Bible. Host & Children's Pastor Rachael Groll is excited to help your...

One prevailing question burns at the heart of each generation—one question keeps them up at night. Understanding this question helps us know how to reach people of every age, especially our kids.   For the Baby Boomers, people born in the 40s, 50, and 60s, that question is:   What is TRUE?   Like the great philosophers of old, this generation was preoccupied with truth.   For Gen X, born between 1965 and 1980, that question is:   What is REAL?   This generation invented reality TV...

Where does discipleship in the home start? Do you use a particular curriculum or a new Bible study or is there a check list that gets the job done? All of those things can be helpful, but they aren’t where discipleship starts. Discipleship needs to begin with a spiritual truth that so many parents miss because often they don’t know it themselves.   That truth is identity.   Understanding our identity in Christ is central to our walk with God, which makes it central to our parenting and...

There isn't a more stressful job in life than raising children to be God-loving, God-fearing, competent, motivated, responsible adults. After all, that is the goal. A large part of that process, we don’t have control over. But there are parts that we do. There are habits we can employ that will reduce stress and promote peace in our parenting.   Catherine’s guest in this episode is Elizabeth Andreyevskiy, a stress coach for Christian moms and host of the Emotionally Healthy Legacy Podcast....

According to recent Barna research, reconciling a good God with an evil world is the number one barrier to the Christian faith for the next generation. As parents, if there is an obstacle to our kids’ faith, we need be prepared with some answers.   Catherine’s special guest for this episode is eminently qualified to help us reconcile any difficult question concerning the Christian faith. Dr. Douglas Groothuis is one of the great apologetic voices in the world today. He is the author of 17...

Woke ideology is everywhere. You can’t escape it. As parents, we need to understand exactly what it is so we can help our kids to understand it. That means we need to know where it came from and where it is going.   Catherine wraps up this two-part series on Woke by digging into the history of Woke philosophy:   Who were the major players? What did they believe? How did they introduce Woke ideology to the West? What tools do they use? What is the ultimate goal of Wokeism?   Catherine...

Woke ideology permeates our culture. It has saturated our airwaves—sung in our songs, read in our novels, acted out in our films, espoused by our educators, preached by our politicians, and even (re)written into our history.   But what exactly is woke, and what makes it so powerful?   Catherine begins a new two-part solo series on woke ideology by looking at the long view of history to properly establish the platform it rests on. After all, you can’t de-platform something unless you...

At some point, every parent will have to work through a crisis with their kids. Whether their child deals with a substance addiction or battles an eating disorder or questions their sexuality or walks away from the faith, parents need encouragement and strategy to work through these difficult seasons.   Joining Catherine again to discuss parenting through the hard times is best-selling author Laine Lawson Craft. Laine’s brand new book, The Parent’s Battle Plan: Warfare Strategies to Win...

Statistics show that a majority of Christian kids are leaving the faith when they leave the nest. That means a majority of Christian parents are parenting a prodigal child. Support for those walking through the prodigal journey is one of the greatest needs for parents in the body of Christ today.   Where does the prodigal parent start?   Joining Catherine to discuss parenting prodigal children in a two-part series is bestselling author Laine Lawson Craft. Laine’s brand new book, The...

Do you wake up anxious first thing in the morning? Is your mind racing with thoughts of what you need to get done today and what you failed to do yesterday? If this is a pattern for you, we challenge you to break the morning cycle of worry with prayer! In this episode preview from Teach Us to Pray, host Christina Patterson shares what to pray in the morning for a worry-free day.   Discover More Episodes of 'Teach Us to Pray' with Christina Patterson: 3 Signs God Is Trying to Get Your...

May is mental health awareness month, and more families than ever are battling challenges in this area of health. Catherine and her special guest, Peyton Garland, dive deep into the topics of OCD, anxiety, and depression in this episode to offer unique insights, education, and encouragement to weary parents.   Peyton has a powerful testimony of how God is using a mental health disorder in her life for her good and for His glory. Having dealt with obsessive compulsive thoughts since early...

In this episode, Catherine continues her riveting conversation Blake Howard, the committed church kid raised in a Christian home who struggled with same sex attraction from a very young age. Then, tragically, Blake was molested and bullied in school for acting gay. So after high school, he became gay. He was also addicted to drugs and was doing drag to receive the love and affirmation that his heart longed for. Blake shares this part of his testimony in Episode 59.   Now you will hear the...

We've all heard the story of a kid in the church youth group who is now on a destructive path. Many parents are living this story. Sometimes the lessons we teach our kids don’t stick. The faith we hand down doesn’t become their own. They have outside influences that erode the foundation that us parents seek so diligently to build.   In this episode, Catherine shares a cautionary tale of a young man who was raised in the church, in the Bible belt, and yet he chose a very destructive path....