Moms Take Ten

After Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel and told she would be having a son, she headed out to see her cousin. Elizabeth, the angel had said, was miraculously pregnant in her old age. It was this pregnancy that the angel pointed to to encourage Mary to believe. In this episode, we look at how Mary's time with Elizabeth impacted her and brought about the beautiful prayer song that we now refer t...

For the rest of December, we are going to look at the stories of two mamas very closely related to Christmas--Elizabeth and Mary. Somehow, as we have gone through the Moms in the Bible series, we have never done an episode on Elizabeth! She is one of my favorites. Her life is a testimony of God's goodness, faithfulness and power to Mary, and to us today. Help other mamas find encouragement through...

Adoption is joy and grief, loss and gain. Every member of the adoption triad experiences it differently, and even experiences it differently in different seasons of their life. My guests today, Lisa C. Qualls and Jodi Jackson Tucker, can attest to this. Lisa is a birth, adoptive, and former foster mom. Jodi is an adoptive mom. In their own lives, and in their ministry to other adoptive parents, th...

Did you know that discipline can be playful? That doesn't mean we aren't taking it seriously or we are letting our children "get away" with their misbehavior. Amanda Erickson, of Flourishing Homes and Families, says that playfulness actually engages our children in the way they learn best which makes our discipline more effective. Rather than entering into a power struggle, we can build connection...

Have you ever faced a need that seemed so great and you wondered how it would ever be met? What did you do? Where did you turn? For two women in Scripture, they sought the help of a prophet of God. In both situations, it was through their faith-filled actions that the answer came. Be encouraged by their stories to not fear what God calls you to but to join him in the work he wants to do in and thr...

Have you ever hurt others out of your own hurt? Or harmed those who were supposed to protect? I think all of us who are honest about our parenting, or life in general, would say yes to both of those questions. We've yelled, spoken harshly, shamed, criticized, missed an opportunity to comfort or help through a struggle... In this episode, I share how the Lord gently spoke those questions to me when...

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Replanted Conference. It was a wonderful few days spent in community with other foster/adoptive/kinship/host families and under great teaching! The theme this year was "Worth It," leaving us to decide what punctuation to use. Where are you at in your foster and adoption journey? Would you say "Worth it!" or "Worth it." or "Worth it?" or "Worth it X"? To...

In your moments of stress, who is God to you? Have you stopped to think about that before? Most of us could answer from the Scriptures who God is--kind, just, loving--but in our moments of stress, we might be seeing him in a completely different way without even realizing it! In this episode my guest Tara Prevo explains the difference between God-concept (what we know about him) and God-image (how...

Do you ever struggle with trusting a babysitter, daycare provider or coach with your child? I do! When I think about how young I was when I started babysitting, I'm amazed that anyone trusted me! Hannah is a mom in the Bible who knew what it meant to place her child in someone else's hands. And what is amazing is how she rejoiced when she did it. Not because of the physical hands receiving her chi...

I don't know about you, but my heart has been heavy with the struggles of parenting--both my own and those of ones dear to me. There are so many challenges, so many questions and uncertainties. Proverbs 3:5-6 says that when we trust in the Lord he will make our paths straight. So why are things so hard? In this episode, we will take a look at what straight paths mean and how adjusting our expectat...

The journey to adoption, and even in adoption, has not been easy for our guest today. Luisa Wendt knows the pain of loss and the confusion of dreams unment. Yet through it all, Luisa declares God to be faithful and testifies to his good work in her life. She encourages all of us to hold onto hope that God is at work and his plan is so much better than we could imagine. Luisa and her husband Jarret...

Do you know who God says you are? Do you believe what he says? Our beliefs around our identity impact how we live and how we parent. My guest, Pam Thompson, walks us through an exercise of releasing the wrong views of our identity that we've been holding onto and reclaiming who God says we are.  Pam is a Connected Families certified parent coach. You can learn more about her coaching and upcoming...

Naomi knew suffering. She had endured famine, moved to a different nation, lost her husband and sons, and found herself widowed in a foreign land. And still she professed faith in the Lord of the Israelites. Ruth had a front row seat to faith in the midst of hard through Naomi's testimony. It wasn't a picture perfect life that moved her to believe in the Lord. It was the raw honesty of Naomi and h...

Have you ever despaired at your own sinfulness? Especially when it impacts your children, your family? I know I have. One night I found myself furious with the Lord for not changing me fast enough, not working in me well enough. We were intended for different, for better, for more! Romans 8:18 speaks to what is to come and 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 gives hope for the right now. I hope this episode enc...

Catherine Lindloff, a Family Coach with Safe Families for Children, joins me in this conversation. Her story shows how the Lord can use our homes to further his kingdom and share his love. Through her years of hosting and working in this space, Catherine has learned what a privilege it is to be used by the Lord in his work, and the relief that it is to release the control and the responsibility to...

Moms Take Ten is back for another year! Summer break was wonderful but I am excited to be back with you Mamas talking about Jesus, motherhood, foster care and adoption. This episode is an invitation to join a grace-filled community. To say no to the drive for perfection, the comparison and judgement, and the shame, and to embrace the work of God in all of our lives. Will you join us? Follow me on...

Tara Edelschick and Kathy Tuan-MacLean, authors of the new Bible study by Intervarsity Press called  Moms at the Well , join me for a conversation on the moms of the Bible. If you have been around Moms Take Ten for a while, you know that we love talking about these women! Tara and Kathy remind us why moms matter and how we can learn from the women found in scripture. They also highlight two of the...

Susan TeBos is an adoptive mama and author of the book "We've Been There: True Stories, Surprising Insights, and Aha Moments for Adopted Teens." She encourages us that even in the hard and we don't see it, God is working. There is so much that he wants to do in and through us in our family. Parenting children from hard places and who have experienced trauma is not easy but there is good to be foun...

May is National Foster Care Month. We heard last week from Annika about her experience in the foster care system. This week, we will hear from Judy Maldonado who is a host parent with Safe Families for Children. This organization comes alongside families in crisis or lacking community resources, providing safe spaces for their children and support for the families so their futures are stronger and...

Did you know that May is National Foster Care Month? At Moms Take Ten, we seek to raise awareness of foster care and adoption every month. In this month's episode, I was honored to be joined by Annika Marek-Barta. She is a young woman who grew up in an abusive home and entered foster care in her teens. Having aged out of the system, she was adopted in her twenties by a family from her church. Thro...

I don't know about you, but it seems like sibling conflict has greatly increased since spring break. From minor annoyances to full fledged hurts, it can be hard to know how to navigate the conversation. Katie Wetsell, a fellow Connected Families certified parent coach, joins me today to talk about the Connected Families' peace process: Calm, Understand, Solve, and Celebrate. These steps guide us a...

Following on the heels of my conversation with Erin in last week's episode, the life of Samson's mom reminds us that God, not us, is responsible for our children's salvation and walk with him. She did what she was supposed to do. She followed the commands he gave her. Things should have worked out, right? And yet, she had to watch as he made choice after choice that she didn't understand. That wou...

Listen in on a conversation between myself and my friend Erin Muehlfeld regarding our children's salvation. Recently I saw some content on Instagram that emphasized the importance of our children's salvation, which as believers in Christ that is absolutely something we care deeply about, but it was discussed as something that parents could make happen. Statements like, "If my kids get into Harvard...

I was challenged by Proverbs 3:27-28 to consider how often I withhold good from my children through the no's that I say. I feel like I have been in a rut lately, and when I get tired or insecure or stressed, I say no a lot more frequently. I'm not actually thinking about my child, or what is good for them in that moment. I'm more often thinking of myself, or not really even thinking at all. The Sc...

Speaking from the perspective of one who grew up in kinship care, is a birthmom in an open adoption, and is also a kinship adoptive mom, Raquel McCloud brings so much to this conversation. Her life has not been easy, and there continue to be challenges to navigate. While she acknowledges the grief in that, she also highlights the hope and healing as well. As she puts it, "You can endure hard thing...