Building Strong Homes: Blueprints to Strengthen Your Faith and Family podcast

Cynthia Tobias was on my bucket list since before I started this podcast because of the work she's done teaching about the strong-willed child. Her book, You Can't Make Me: But I Can Be Persuaded, was a key influence in helping me raise my strong-willed daughter, Elise. Before I knew how to handle her stubborn temperament, I would frequently end up frustrated and in a puddle of tears. But once I l...

Molly Stillman has lived the type of life that when shared, people stop in their tracks and ask, "Wait, what happened?" Molly's mother, Lynda Van Devanter Buckley served as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War and wrote the bestselling memoir,  Home Before Morning . When Molly was seventeen, Lynda passed away after an eight-year battle with an autoimmune disorder due to her exposure to Agent Orang...

Christy Braddock has struggled with shame from a teen pregnancy and years later, abortion. The guilt became a heavy weight to carry. Christy got pregnant at 15 and gave her baby up for adoption. Then at 21 she became pregnant again, but this time she decided to keep the baby and get married, thinking this was her second chance to raise a child. But because her marriage was so dysfunctional she mad...

As we've entered the last week of May, I remember how crazy this time of year is for those who have school-aged children. I know a lot of parents are in what many call Maycember. The chaotic final days of the school year entail so many parties, ceremonies, graduations, proms, concerts, teacher appreciation gifts and sports tournaments. It can also bring lots of anticipation, with kids looking forw...

Liz Cobo says that nothing has deepened her faith and changed her walk with Jesus like studying the Bible. Studying God's Word literally changed her life. Things that were once important priorities aren't anymore. Things that were once afterthoughts are now at the top of her list.  Scripture is God's self-revelation and is available to anyone willing to take the time and make the effort to read an...

I don't know about you, but in my home the laundry room is considered one of the most important rooms. It's command central. When my kids were still at home it was also a disaster on most days. Oh, it might be clean for a few brief hours, but then when everyone started slinging off boots and muddy clothes, you'd never know I'd darkened the door that day. Many days the frustration of laundry, picki...

Husband-and-wife music duo, Kenny and Claire Hilliard both grew up in the upstate of South Carolina before God took them the long way around to finally settle in Nashville, TN.  In 2015, during Kenny's tenure as a senior pastor and worship leader in Asheville, North Carolina, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Shortly after successful surgery to remove the tumor, Kenny received a second diagnosi...

When my kids were teens, I shared with both of them that I used to curse—a lot. You should have seen the expressions on their faces as their jaws dropped, and eyes grew wide with disbelief.  "Not you Mom! I don't believe it!" I was pleased that I had to convince them otherwise, glad that I'd decided when they were both very little that my speech needed to change. That, and the Holy Spirit got ahol...

Mary Marantz knows how fear can hold us back. Even though she was able to leave the musty single-wide trailer of her childhood in West Virginia and make her way to Yale Law School, she always carried the fear that she would be found out. Even though she had worked hard and earned every grade and scholarship she received she thought others saw her as an imposter. So, she strove to be the best at ev...

When I started this podcast, my two best friends, Frieda Younts and Julie Bagwell, graciously agreed to be my first interview. We wanted to help other women find and experience friendship like ours, because good, godly friends can have an amazing impact on your life, as we all can testify. One of the things Frieda said during that interview describes the foundation of our friendship. She said, "We...

Christian comedian Kerri Pomarolli knows what's it like to feel hopeless. After she and her comedian husband divorced, she didn't think anyone would want to hire her for Christian events again, so she holed up in her bedroom and hid under the covers, binge-watching all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, drinking coke and eating a balanced diet of M&M's and salt and vinegar potato chips. Becoming...

As I pondered the topic for this week's kitchen table episode, the same thing kept coming to mind. An important question I'd like to ask you: What's the bravest thing you've ever done? When I first thought about that question several things immediately came to mind. Quitting my job as an architectural draftsman and buying a flower shop with my sister-in-law with neither of us having had any backgr...

Jessica Ronne has endured more heartache than most can even fathom. She found out when she was pregnant with her second son that he'd had a stroke in utero and would be profoundly disabled if she carried him to term. She and her husband made the decision to carry him to full term and let God handle the details. Lucas does have those disabilities, but Jess and her husband never wished they'd made a...

Hey listeners! I'm popping into you podcast feed with a surprise! Starting now, I'll be releasing solo episodes every other week to share some of my life experiences and Jesus moments with you! I'll still be doing interviews but thought it would be fun to be able to talk directly to you about my struggles and triumphs. And I'm calling these episodes The Kitchen Table. So why the kitchen table? I'm...

Melissa Huray lived a life of hopelessness as a former alcoholic who struggled with addiction from the time she was a child. First it was sugar and junk food. Then, because her father was an alcoholic and she saw him go to alcohol to diffuse many situations, she believed alcohol was the magic cure for all of her troubles. But instead of finding healing in the bottle, she found herself in a hopeles...

Does God care about the little decisions you have to make every day? The Bible is full of spiritual wisdom. But does God provide specific direction for real-world questions? Questions like Is this the right job? and Which college should my child attend? The answer is a resounding yes. And in this episode, you will discover how to access God's divine wisdom in any situation. Jane Glenchur had no co...

Hi listeners! Welcome back to the podcast! This is season 5 (can you believe it?) and episode 117! I took a few weeks off to enjoy my family over the holidays and to spend some time on a few exciting things I have in the works, so I appreciate your patience as I took a break from putting out the podcast. But now we're back and there are a lot of exciting episodes coming up in this season and I can...

Merry Christmas Y'all! I know as this episode drops it Thanksgiving week but since Thanksgiving is so late this year, I wanted to get a head start on Christmas! I've got my tree up already so I can enjoy it longer and I'm not sad about that at all! Haha. Another reason I wanted to go ahead and release this episode is because I'm sharing some Christmas traditions, and you may want to implement some...

If you listened to my podcast episode this past June, Fear is a Liar , you heard me talk about a couple in our church whose testimony made me decide to keep going with this podcast. When I was ready to shut it all down their story made me want to keep going so that others will have a place to share their own amazing God stories so together, we can help others to keep building strong. You wouldn't...

Have you ever had a life changing moment? A tragedy, unexpected diagnosis or sudden loss that left you feeling alone, confused or in despair, wondering what to do next? When Wendy Rickard's husband fell into a utility area, dropping twenty feet on his head, she began to question God. He survived, but his brain injury meant her family lost the father and husband they depended on for everything. The...

Y'all, I've had Sophie Hudson on my bucket list of guests since before I started the podcast! She's the co-host, along with Melanie Shankle, of the Big Boo Cast podcast as well as the voice of the Boo Mama blog (she shares in this episode how that name came to be!) and author of several of my favorite books. She's a southern girl from Alabama who loves her family and her football but mostly she lo...

You wouldn't expect a bout with breast cancer and a heart transplant would lead to a better marriage, but that's exactly what happened for Anthony and Mary Mabry. In 2018, before Mary's breast cancer diagnosis, their marriage was difficult. But Anthony was there for Mary through six rounds of chemo, losing her hair, a double mastectomy and 20 rounds of radiation. Finally, she was cancer free, and...

Hey listeners, I just wanted to take a few minutes to address some things I've been hearing about and thought I'd share a few thoughts that I hope are encouraging to you through this little bonus episode. Right now, our country is one of the most divisive states we've been in since before the civil war. Our world has been turned upside-down where good is bad and bad is good and no one seems to kno...

Please be aware that this content is not suitable for young children. George Carneal grew up in the '70s, raised by a Southern Baptist minister in the ultra-conservative Bible Belt where his world revolved around the church, country fried chicken and trying to fit in with other boys. As disco music pulsated through the speakers in his bedroom, he plotted his escape from the misery and boredom of S...

What a pleasure it was to interview Mart Green, son of Hobby Lobby founder David Green, to talk about his family's philosophy of faith and generosity. Mart is such a down-to-earth guy who happily shares the secret to Hobby Lobby's success. I loved hearing the fun and practical ways Mart and his family celebrate each other and minister to those around them. Money isn't the only way to bless people...