Christian Parent, Crazy World

“He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness sake.”   Our culture tells us that Jolly ole St. Nicholas is keeping a list, and he’s checking it twice. He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. So the gifts under our tree at Christmas are a direct result of how good or bad we’ve been throughout the year.   Is that how o...

There is a powerful and pervasive cultural myth being piped into our kids these days, and you are a bad parent if you don’t buy into it. The myth says that our kids can be whoever they want to be in life.   Is this idea BIBLICAL?   Is it TRUE or even REALISTIC ?   In this solo episode, Catherine tackles this topic head on to establish what is Biblical and what is cultural when it comes to the drea...

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. Util...

  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 secur...

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...

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 f...

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 sc...

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 conversati...

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 Ref...

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, Ki...

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 tha...

  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...

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 wa...

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 re...

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 Him...

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...

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 ident...

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. Doug...

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 ideolog...

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 es...

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 Lain...

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...

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 Ep...

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...

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 hea...