Moms Take Ten

It is our one-year anniversary!!! Thank you for listening to Moms Take Ten and for supporting this podcast. If this podcast has been a blessing to you, will you take a minute to rate and review it? That will help more mamas find encouragement through this podcast. Thank you! I am taking a break from our usual foster and adoption interviews to share something that I have been thinking about. Every...

I have a sensitive and intense kiddo. One who has pushed me to learning and growing in ways I didn't realize I would as a parent. As I have looked for support to help me parent him well, I found Connected Families. Lydia Rex, my parent coach from Connected Families and one of the teachers of the new course, Sensitive and Intense Kids, joins me today to discuss the challenges and the hope of raisin...

The Shunammite Woman's story is found in 2 Kings 4 and 8. Her story teaches us the value of hospitality. The word can make us cringe or feel guilty as we look at our messy house, busy schedules, or rambunctious children. Hospitality doesn't have to be a big, elaborate, pinterest worthy event. Listen in to learn more about what hospitality, biblical hospitality, is like, and how we are all called t...

I had so much fun making this episode because I was joined by my husband, Jonathan Stoyko. Coming from a posture of honoring our marriage and our spouse, Jonathan and I discuss ways that we invest in our marriage. Of all the friendships that we can and should be pouring into, this one is the most important. Take sometime this week to have a listen and then to invest in your marriage as well. Happy...

I hear from so many mamas, especially those in the foster and adoption world, that they need other mamas to come alongside them for friendship, support and encouragement. The forming and cultivating of those friendships takes work, and oftentimes we mamas let other things get in the way. The reality is, we need each other. So let's talk about ways we can prioritize our friendships to grow our vill...

Laura Hernandez is a bio and adoptive mama of ten kiddos. Three of her children joined her family through the foster care system and all three have fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Laura shares some of her journey through adoption and diagnoses, and the daily commitment she makes to love and care for her kiddos. Laura has a heart to come alongside mamas who are also facing FASD diagnoses,...

Bathsheba's story is a difficult one for me. It is full of pain and injustice. Out of the suffering, God blessed Bathsheba with a son that would love and serve the Lord, respected his mother, and who was part of the lineage of Christ. While not our ultimate source of joy or hope, God often uses our children to encourage us. They are our life's work, after all.  Bathsheba's story is found in 2 Samu...

Do you ever feel like a switch gets flipped in your body that turns something off? That's how I have felt the past few months. I want to share with you where I am at and some truths from God's word that I find encouraging. If I sound a little funny in this episode, it is because I just had gum surgery. I tried to plan ahead but it just didn't happen! Oh well. This is life :-)   Verses referenced:...

A stirring as a child that grew into a desire as a college student and became a reality as an adult. Join Kim Johnson and I as she shares her story of adopting and what she has been learning through that experience.

With Christmas in less than a week, it is only fitting that this month's Moms in the Bible episode focuses on Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her life was changed in an instant, yet she handled it with such grace. Beginning with humble acceptance, the Lord brought her to a place of rejoicing at what he had invited her into. Allow her story to move you to a place of rejoicing at what God has invited you...

In this episode, Chef Kibby, of Cooking is Connecting, shares how inviting children into our kitchens can help meet the hunger they have for connection. It is not easy to allow our children to help us cook. I can attest to that! Chef Kibby highlights the mental shift we can make as parents that prioritizes the connection with our children.  Want to learn more about Chef Kibby? Find him on Instagra...

Joining me for today's episode on foster care and adoption is Amy Goodman, the wife of Heritage Church 's Pastor Skylar. She is a bio mom and an adoptive mom through domestic infant adoption. Her journey was one of learning to trust in God's faithfulness and to be faithful herself to do the just the next right thing. As her and her husband were faithful to do the next thing, they began to see how...

We often think of play as a child's thing. Parents who don't particularly enjoy building with legos, playing with dolls, or putting on costumes can find the idea of play to be tedious. Joy Wendling, host of the podcast Playfully Faithful Parenting , challenges that definition of play. Listen in as she discusses what play really is, the different ways we are wired to play, and how we can make our h...

Hannah's story is a familiar story to us, especially for those of us who have wrestled with fertlity. Yet, while her story is similar to previous moms that we have studied there is one key difference--her relationship with God. Hannah learned to bring the Lord her anguish and despair and lean in to his sovereignty. Her story invites all of us to do the same. Her story can be found in 1 Samuel 1-2....

Music is a fun, powerful way to connect with our children! Tricia Little, a music therapist, talks with us about the ways music builds connection with our children as well as how we can utilize music throughout our day. Whether you enjoy singing or not, there are tips in here for you! Learn more about me at https://www.lyssastoyko.com/ Want to say hello? Follow me on Facebook and Insta @lyssastoyk...

I am so excited for this new miniseries that starts on Monday. It is a 3-part series focused on connecting with our children. We will talk about connecting through music, through play and through cooking. Our children crave connection with us, and it is connection that helps them grow, develop, learn, and hear us when we teach and correct. This series is full of practical ways that we can connect...

Hosting with Safe Families for Children was prompted by her own experience with struggle and single parenting. In this episode, AnnaMaria shares a little of her personal experience and what she has learned in her time volunteering with and now working for Safe Families. Interested in learning more about Safe Families? Visit https://safe-families.org/   You can also listen to episode 28, Foster Car...

I had the privilege of attending the Replanted Conference for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The theme of the conference was "And". It seemed confusing at first and then became so powerful as the speakers unpacked its significance.  Our lives are filled with, lived in, the "and". Some of those we like. Sometimes though, our "ands" feel oppositional, as though they should not go together, ye...

The episodes this month have touched on various forms of loss, and with loss comes grief. Kiah Enriquez, a licensed clinical social worker, joins us in today's episode to dialogue about loss and grief---what grief is, what prompts grief, and what we can do when we find ourselves experiencing it. Some Grief Resources from Kiah: Grief Share is a Christian/Biblical-based grief support offered through...

One of only two books in the Bible dedicated entirely to the story of a woman, the book of Ruth is short and powerful. It is a beauty from ashes story, beginning with such sorrow and ending with much joy. At the heart of it is a relationship between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law. In their relationship, we see the power of God at work in our pain. He does not leave us to bear it alone but...

I wanted to follow up our episode on Monday, I Am Not Ashamed Of My Child, with a conversation about Occupational Therapy. As I explored that option for my son, I came to discover that there is a lot of confusion about what occupational therapy is and who it is for. Joining me for this episode is my friend Laura Gonzalez who is an occupational therapist. She brings her expertise to this conversati...

Our son's first year of school was a little rough. Just three weeks into it, and already we were getting talked to by his teachers about his behavior. While appreciative of their insight, my insecurities flared up and caused trouble in our home. God graciously intervened and taught me how to stop feeling ashamed of my child and to start advocating for him. Looking for the beauty that God has place...

Grab a tissue for this foster care and adoption episode. Natalie Stage, a good friend of mine, so graciously joined me to share her hard but beautiful story of adoption. Both of us were in tears multiple times as we re-walked her journey and remembered God's goodness even in the hard.  Learn more about me at https://www.lyssastoyko.com/ Want to say hello? Follow me on Facebook and Insta @lyssastoy...

Has there ever been a time when your child was struggling and you made things worse with your impatience? I have definitely had many of those times. It is like we drag them into this crazy cycle that leaves us both exhausted and exasperated. By God's grace, we can get out of that cycle!  Verses Referenced: Psalm 103:13 As a father shows compassion to his children,      so the  Lord  shows compassi...

The mother of one of the most famous men in the Bible. Found in Judges 13-15, Mother's story calls us to have faith, simple faith, in the Lord. Listen in to this episode of Moms in the Bible to learn how we can grow in simple faith. Learn more about me at https://www.lyssastoyko.com/ Want to say hello? Follow me on Facebook and Insta @lyssastoyko Email me at momstaketen@gmail.com Help other mamas...