Moments Matter

Join Sonja and Julia for one last episode about the beginnings and endings of seasons. :) We love you all, thank you for listening in. 

I turned 51 the other day, and it was hard. For some reason 50 seemed easier than 51. Today I talk about what I would tell myself I was 25 again. Can you think of what YOU would say if you could go back and talk to your 25 yourself? It's important to think about how God changes us and heals us through the years, and as women we should think of how far God has brought us as we get older. It&ap...

It's so hard to be on the sidelines when your high schooler is doing all the "lasts" you do as a senior. It's possibly even harder to wait for that first phone call (or even just a text) from your college freshman who you haven't seen in a month. Today I'm asking how you're doing with these changes and listing crucial ways to cheer your child on as they step into...

How do you know if He is speaking to you? Sonja and Julia discuss the mysteries of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. While Julia is hesitant to say she knows how to listen to the Holy Spirit, Sonja discusses the experiences in her own life that have lead her to understand His voice. Are you listening? Are you looking for the nudge?  There's a bit of a disagreement on today's episod...

“I can’t describe how different he had become in that time when he realized he was different.”  Jennifer Ouderkirk joins us today to tell her story of how God transformed her life when she had her son, Brandon, who was born with learning disabilities. She shares the heartbroken experiences God taught her during that time and how she learned to teach Brandon that God doesn't make mistakes. We...

My 3 son-in-laws join me on today's episode! It was a blast to talk about what mother-in-law stereotypes I fill, how first impressions can be deceiving, and what it's like being a part of a close knit family. Are you a mother-in-law now or getting ready to become one soon? There's so many ways to have a good relationship with your son-in-law or daughter-in-law and here's just a...

The fall season is just around the corner and that used to mean "back to school," but now it just means... what? For the empty nester, fall means something different than it meant all those years of school supplies, new clothes, and a new calendar. What does it mean for the empty nester now and how can we mitigate the depression that might start to creep up as we think of what used to be...

Sonja travels back in time to when she was in high school and reminisces of the 80s and what it was like going to a small Christian school as a teenager. Between an awful car accident that changed her freshman year of high school to a wonderful youth pastor and his wife who mentored her, we had a lot to discuss today! We hope you're encouraged by our discussion on how you can make a differenc...

Do you feel absolutely stuck over a decision you're making right now? Everyone has hard decisions to make and oftentimes it feels like you can't win either way, but what if we had a blueprint for making those kinds of decisions with confidence? Today Sonja discusses what we can do on a practical level to use our heart, our head, and our gut in our decision-making process to stop the cons...

What's expected of you when your daughter or son is having a baby? When should you help them out and when should you give them their space? All these questions (and more!) run around in your head when you become a grandma. It's a whole different ballgame with a different set of boundaries. We have Ashli Prieskorn, Sonja’s daughter, to help us with this discussion on expectations for the...

For mothers and daughters (and sons), the engagement and wedding process is a tricky one riddled with highs and lows. JennaLyn Dalton, Sonja's youngest daughter, joins us today to tell her story of how she came to the decision to move up her wedding date by almost 8 whole months and what her relationship with her parents looked like on that journey. Have your sons or daughters considered long...

Moms, we must be aware of how we treat our adult children! Are we passive aggressive, do we guilt them into doing things we want them to do, do we manipulate and manuever situations to get the outcome we desire? An even better question: how do we know if we're doing this? Today we talk about what it means to depend on your kids for your happiness and how that feeds into the way you act toward...

Everything in your bones says that you are on YOUR kid's side when they are having problems with their spouse. Your heart wants to instantly think that it's your daughter- or son-in-law's fault and that your child is the innocent party in whatever marital problems they are having. Today we consider what it looks like to be a supportive and loving parent to a child who is going throu...

"We have an army of forgotten moms trying to navigate their changing roles with their adult children... and don’t know where to turn." Do you feel forgotten as a mom of adult children? There were all these resources for moms when you were a mother of little toddlers, but now the help and community seems few and far between. Today we tackle an article written by Pamela Henkelman that give...

" It may have seemed disappointing to us at the time–my papa who I saw only a few times a year–shushing us chatty little girls to read a book. But it made me wonder what all the fuss was about? Did it really matter that much, reading the Bible and praying?"  Julia gets on the podcast to give a child's perspective on how a parent's relationship with God can impact a child's...

I confess I had a fight with Kevin very recently that reminded me of who I used to be and how far God has brought me since then. It's something I want not only all of my listeners to hear, but especially my 3 daughters.  God can fill your life with redemptive grace, amen? Today I talk vulnerably about the imperfections that I still face even today, and I do a deep dive into some of my health...

Don't look back at the end of the summer and say you didn't do anything! Let's dive deep into how to have the best summer ever with these 5 intentions. Sonja and Julia discuss 5 ways (we won't call them goals, we promise!) in which we can be productive and fun this summer without getting too caged in. Sonja talks about "fluid documents," how to set intentions, and mak...

What do you do when your kids want nothing to do with your faith? The hardest journey to tread is being a Christian parent to an unbeliever. Your heart aches for them, your desire is that they would hear the truth and know it, but you don't know how to handle the day-to-day reality. How much time do you invest in them, what does it look like to love them well, am I enabling them when I help t...

Motherhood is not an easy road, and it starts to look different as your kids grow older. Sonja and Julia discuss what it actually takes to have good relationships with your adult kids (and with your parents as adult children). If you're wondering how to have thriving relationships with you adult children, you have to be willing to put in the work and grow yourself to become the mom that your...

Mother's Day is not always all it's cracked up to be. Sonja and Julia discuss the history of Mother's Day and why it started in the first place and they ask the question who is Mother's Day really for? Is it still for the mothers who have become grandmas? Is it necessary at all? We dive into the woes of Mother's Day as well as what it SHOULD look like for those mamas who a...

The small moments add up. Today, Julia reminisces about some of the moments that really stood out to her as a child... whether she knew the reason for why it stood out or not! She talks about the moments that really shaped her, encouraged her, and gave her confidence. What does it look like to to be faithful to your children and how can you implement that now? 

Middle school can be a huge transition, how do you prepare your child for something like that? Changes can be hard, and not every child reacts the same way. Sonja thinks back to yesteryear when she was caring for three elementary girls and gives us 5 simple ways to help your kids make smooth transitions. We talk about how to have productive conversations with your child about their thoughts and ex...

"Pray for rain in a season of rain. The Lord makes the rainclouds and He will give them showers of rain..." What does it look like to pray for rain in a season of rain? Sonja and Julia discuss a different way to look at being thankful for what you have in a season of blessing. We talk about what it looks like to take things for granted and how easily we can be apathetic towards what we h...

If you don’t already have good communication in your family it is difficult to start, but for the sake of your family and future generations it is vital. Sonja talks about how her and Kevin communicated the big things to their girls when the time was right and how they shared what they did. What does it look like to say the things we know we need to tell our children? We talk about how secrets can...

"You can't marry a man you just met."... or can you? Every mom will have that day when her adult child comes to her and tells her they made a decision–a decision she did not see coming. Have you had that day yet? Sometimes it's just laughable, but other times it can be painfully life changing when your adult child makes a decision you do not agree with... or a decision that see...