When you are intentional about marriage and faith, things can turn out really good! When you come across a family with a bunch of young adults thriving in their faith, work, and passions, you can’t help but want to ask the parents: “Ok! What is the secret?” (Right?) And for good reason: Yes we can learn through mistakes and struggles, but I vote that it is even better to learn from those who have had successes! Melissa and Jonathan Brown are some of those people. They have raised, discipled, and homeschooled 7 children, most of whom are now adults. They have also worked with CRU (Campus Crusa ..read more

A better perspective on the challenges of parenting, and life. Our most trying moments as a parent can quickly spiral into discouragement, hopelessness, and sometimes even resentment toward God or your family—partly because our culture has conditioned us to believe that anything this hard can’t possibly be good for us. If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “Why me, Lord?” today’s podcast guest will resonate with you. Abbie Halberstadt, (homeschooling) Mom to 10…with two sets of twins in the mix – understands toddler tantrums, mealtime melees, and the backseat blowups. Yet, she has lived out a ..read more

Raising and Homeschooling Boys into Godly young men Since this podcast was originally called “The Boy Mom Podcast”, I know that I have a lot of boy mommas in my listening audience!  Though I plan to cover girl-parenting topics in the future as well, I think you will all enjoy hearing from Durenda Wilson — Mom to 8 (five boys!) author, podcaster, and someone I consider a virtual mentor — as she shares from her new book, Raising Boys to Men. Durenda has homeschooled all of her kids, and now with grown children (and a bunch of grandchildren) she has a lot of wisdom to share.  In t ..read more

Note from Monica: I am just coming home from an afternoon at the beach. And I must say: Today I felt spring in the air! That is — Hawaiian spring. Now, there’s a good chance you’ve heard me complain note that we do not have “seasons” in Hawaii, and in fact, this thing of not having seasons (specifically autumn?) may be one of the very few complaints I have about living on this island. However, after nearly 23 years of calling this place home, I do sense a shift in each season. Not like what some of you experience; it is subtle. But I’ll take what I can get! Well, a love for seasons is only on ..read more

Final chapter of Raising Amazing with bonus resources and a book giveaway! Who do you want your kids to learn from about: sexuality and gender, cultural issues, politics…and all the rest? I think most of us would say that we — the parents — are the best people to lay a foundation for all of these topics.  Yet, it is easy to put these (sometimes awkward!) conversations off.  And when we do, our kids are likely to learn about them from their peers or the internet before we get to it. In today’s episode I am encouraging you to “Set the first tracks”; To talk about things before they ar ..read more

Practical ways to quit being anxious, outsource your worries, and have more joy. Would you say that joy (defined as a deep sense of well-being, regardless of circumstances) is something you live with daily? Brant Hansen joins us to tell us that this is not only possible, but promised to all who follow Jesus. In fact, through Christ, we can start to see the world in a more childlike, humble, and optimistic way. Brant and I are talking about his book: Life is Hard, God is Good, Let’s Dance, and I absolutely LOVE this conversation. We talk about how we can “outsource our worries”, what it m ..read more

Combining reality, with theology, (and a dash of humor!) Today’s guest, Cynthia Yanof is the friend we all want. She is honest, encouraging, and hilarious. She shoots straight and stays humble. I am so glad she poured all of these things into her new book: Life is Messy, God is Good. In today’s conversation Cynthia and I talk about parenting (she has college age down to first-grade children!) fostering and adoption (so much respect!) church life (Cynthia knows her stuff!) Mom-friends, and so much more. We talk about some of the lies in our culture and how we can speak truth to ourselves. Cynt ..read more

How to become an apprentice of Jesus. Best selling author, teacher and Pastor, John Mark Comer, is with us to talk about his newest book: “Practicing the Way”, which explores the concept of being an apprentice of Jesus. John Mark explains that to practice the way of Jesus, we must: “Be with Jesus, become like him, and do as he did” (the subtitle to the book.?)  In this conversation we talk about the difference between being merely a “Christian” (which can mean all kinds of things today!) and an apprentice. John Mark points out that we are all being “formed” – all the time — whether we kn ..read more

Raising Amazing Chapters 12 and 13, with bonus resources If screentime is a challenge in your home (pretty sure that is most of us!) then this episode is for you! Today we’re talking about how we can be intentional about screens, sports, hobbies, and all the ways kids spend their days!  – From Chapters 12 and 13 of my book: Raising Amazing: Bringing up Kids Who Love God, Like Their Family, and Do the Dishes Without Being Asked! We start by zooming out on our kids’ days, and considering the time they spend at school, in sports, doing other activities. There is no doubt that in the bu ..read more

Principles for raising boys (and girls!) from a wise mentor. Having a solid mentor in your life is a true gift; mentors offer us wisdom from their life experience and help us navigate all that we face. If you don’t have a mentor in your life, I encourage you to pray for, and seek one out. But I am also thankful that we live in a time when we can have “virtual mentors”, people we may not know in real life but who we can glean wisdom from all the same! Rhonda Stoppe is one such mentor, and today she is on the podcast offering a whole lot of wisdom and grace. In this episode, Rhonda and I are es ..read more