Making Hesstory

This week Brian and Katie continued the conversation on the purpose of boundaries. Boundaries exist to protect values, and values are revealed by what we say "yes" to. Therefore, the goal is not to establish boundaries, because every day we say "yes" to spending our time, energy, and money. Rather, the goal is to evaluate the boundaries that have already been established, and reassess whether or n...

This week Brian and Katie discuss the purpose and necessity of establishing boundaries in our relationships. Boundaries can either be a life-giving, relationship-strengthening, and resource-protecting tool, or it can be something that we construct for the sake of building a life that is centered around selfish desire and an unwillingness to be inconvenienced or uncomfortable. Join us this week as...

Have you ever considered the relationship between our thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and experiences? On this episode Brian and Katie discuss something called the belief-expectation cycle, and why it's important that we actively pursue the development of healthy beliefs and expectations. Too often people allow their beliefs to be formed solely on the basis of their experiences, but if we're to l...

This week Brian and Katie discussed a potentially sensitive topic - childbirth. Katie shared her experience with giving birth to all three of their kids, and they discussed their belief about God and what they believe was His intended design for childbirth. The purpose of this episode is not to shame or minimize the reality of anybody's experience in childbirth. Rather, it is an invitation for wom...

Two things that our kids desperately need are freedom and boundaries. The trick is finding the right balance between the two, because too much of one without the other will create problems. Too much freedom without boundaries and your home will become a place of chaos, where the parents are weak and permissive and the kids are in charge. Too many boundaries without freedom and your home will becom...

Join Brian & Katie as they discuss the difference between demanding and requiring certain behavior from our kids. The temptation is to demand that which we desire, but the problem with this approach is that it leads to fear, control, and intimidation. The alternative to demanding desirable behavior from our kids is to require it from them. It's not bad to want kids who are respectful, responsi...

Join Brian and Katie Hess as they explore what makes kids so good at being kids, and what they need from their parents in order to grow up and mature out of their childish ways. Unfortunately, there are many parents who hold their kids to a higher standard of maturity than they're willing or capable of modeling themselves. For the sake of our kids, we need to become as whole and healthy as we poss...

Brian and Katie discuss the three types of consequences - natural, logical, and illogical. If you have kids, they're going to make mistakes. They're going to fail. They're going to do things that you wish they wouldn't do. One of the best things we can do for our kids when they fail or make a mistake is create an opportunity for them to learn and grow, and one of the best teachers our kids will ha...

Don’t listen to this episode with your kids unless you want them to learn the anatomically correct words for all of their body parts! Brian and Katie continue the discussion on the reality that people and relationships require freedom of choice, and the role that consequences play in the development of responsibility and intentionality. If we want our kids to grow up to become healthy, responsible...

Too often parents feel that it's their responsibility to control their kids in an effort to eliminate the potential for mistakes and bad choices that their kids could make. Unfortunately, this parenting model is likely to do more harm than good. When parents make an effort, whether knowingly or unknowingly, to control their kids, they end up preventing them from developing the ability to control t...