Raising Sinners

It’s the MOST WONDERFUL time of the year!!! It’s Christmastime! And we’re celebrating hard over here at Raising Sinners!   The story of Jesus’ birth seems to come alive every year at this time as parents, grandparents, friends, and family tell the story from Luke chapter 2.   Every time we open God’s word to read the account, it seems like it refreshes itself and becomes anew.   That’s the truth o...

December is here and we are excited over here at the Raising Sinners Podcast! We celebrate BIG!!! On this episode you’ll hear us share some favorite memories of days gone by, traditions we began with our own children and fun things we continue to do with our grands.     For the Christian parent, the month of December is full of opportunities to point our children and community to Christ.   So, we...

Today our guest, Katy Boatman, chats with us about her new devotional for boys, “You Can Trust.” We were fascinated listening to Katy discuss how she landed on this writing project.  (You’ll have to listen to find out…☺)   Preteen boys have a lot of thoughts spinning through their curious minds each day.  But too often, their “what-if” questions are rooted in fear and anxiety as they try to find t...

Coach Paige Tonz is our guest today on the show! Paige is a Girl Athlete Confidence Coach.  She played softball for what seems to be her whole life, became a D1 athlete and hated to lose! Does this sound like anyone you know???   If so, listen in and hear how Coach Paige won the war in her mind, with the help of Jesus Christ, and learned how to let go of a results-based performance mindset and to...

Today we are doing things a little different! Lisa recently joined Steph Thurling, the Executive Director of Christian Parenting, on her podcast THE CHRISTIAN PARENTING PODCAST to share her heart for resources for kids to grow their faith and her new devotional MY TIME WITH GOD written with her friends from our partner ministry, First15.     In a recent survey done by Christian Parenting and First...

We cannot contain our excitement for you to hear this conversation.  James Mckinney joins us this episode to talk about his new (and first!) book, Navigating the Teenage Dating Years.  We all have thoughts about our own dating paths, and for the most part, don’t want to replicate those with our own kids.  ☺  So, what to do? Go with the culture? Do what everyone else is doing? Tell them to wait unt...

Anger in parenting is common.  We get frustrated with ourselves, our kids, and we lose it sometimes…a lot of times.  And then the cycle of remorse, regret, guilt kicks in.  We’ve all been there.     Natalie Hixson is our guest today to tackle this hard and sensitive subject.  And she does it with humility and vulnerability.  Natalie is a wife, mother, auntie, and certified professional life coach...

Chris Sasser joins us today.  We’ve had Chris on before and he’s extremely wise and helpful in discussing real life topics, like performance and how to parent against the mentality of EVERYTIHNG IS A PERFORMANCE! We’re our kids’ parents, not their agents. ☺    Chris is the pastor of family ministries at Port City Community Church in Wilmington, NC and author of the book, “Bags.”  (If you haven’t r...

UPDATE: Hopefully you’ve listened to part 1 of this discussion with our friend, Caitlin Fechner.  We’d highly recommend you listen to part 1 before diving in with us for part 2.     We surveyed parents a few months ago about where they stood with regards to allowing (or not allowing) sleepovers for their kids.  The reviews were heavy on the “no way” or “family only” but there were quite a few pare...

We surveyed parents a few months ago about where they stood with regards to allowing (or not allowing) sleepovers for their kids.  The reviews were heavy on the “no way” or “family only” but there were quite a few parents landing on “yes, they’re fun and such a great childhood memory!” And they are and were!    In the internet age, information is coming at us at lightning speed.  So, we know more....

SUMMER is a great time to play catch, isn’t it? We can take a breath and enjoy life at a slower pace.  That’s exactly what we plan to do over the next few weeks! The Raising Sinners Podcast will be re-playing some of our favorite episodes (and yours!). Today we’re talking CHANGE. Join us for our final RE-PLAY this summer as we discuss seasons of change with our friend Debbie Stephens.  Stay cool!...

SUMMER is a great time to play catch, isn’t it? We can take a breath and enjoy life at a slower pace.  That’s exactly what we plan to do over the next few weeks! The Raising Sinners Podcast will be re-playing some of our favorite episodes (and yours!). This week Lauren Chandler will be joining us (again ☺) to talk about her book, PRAISE HIM! We absolutely LOVED our visit with Lauren.  Grab a coffe...

SUMMER is a great time to play catch, isn’t it? We can take a breath and enjoy life at a slower pace.  That’s exactly what we plan to do over the next few weeks! The Raising Sinners Podcast will be re-playing some of our favorite episodes (and yours!). This week, we’ll be talking FRIENDS with our friend, and mom squad member, AMY PIERSON! Don’t overthink making friends – for yourself or your kids!...

SUMMER is a great time to play catch, isn’t it? We can take a breath and enjoy life at a slower pace.  That’s exactly what we plan to do over the next few weeks! The Raising Sinners Podcast will be re-playing some of our favorite episodes (and yours!). First up…EXPERIENCING GOD WITH RICHARD BLACKABY! Dr. Blackaby was just incredible to talk to.  He made us feel so at ease and we loved his stories...

Teaching our children to be selfless and think of others first is a big parenting goal always looming in the backs of our minds, but seriously, it’s hard in the day-to-day moments of life to really instill this into our children’s minds and hearts.  Our society says worry about yourself! Focus on yourself! Take care of yourself! ME ME ME!    But the scripture is clear, “So he answered and said, yo...

It’s May and summer is quickly approaching.  We thought it would be fun to take a minute, and a breath, and dream about having a simple summer. Our friend Rebecca Rapp-Salas joins us and shares how her family keeps it simple.  It’s funny but keeping is simple takes planning, intentionality, and grit.  Keeping it simple isn’t that simple after all! ☺   What is a simple summer? It’s recognizing the...

Our longtime friend Cheryl Scruggs joins us today to talk marriage, parenting and THRIVING!    Cheryl and her husband, Jeff, are biblical counselors and founders of Hope Matters Marriage Ministry.  Their book, “I Do Again” chronicles their story of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. They are passionate about seeing marriages changed, made whole and reconciled to God’s plan.  Cheryl and Jeff have t...

It’s Holy Week and our favorite week to talk with our friend, and resident theologian ☺, Susie Hawkins.  She co-authored the book, “Passover for Christians” and helps us understand how to “enter the story” as Believers in Christ during this week of remembrance and celebration.     This weekend is the most momentous weekend in the history of the world.  As Christians, we commemorate Jesus’ death du...

Public? Private? Homeschool? What is a parent to do?   Mandy Hayes from THE MOM SQUAD joins us today.  Mom to 3 daughters, she and her husband Marcus live in the Houston area, are in ministry and are treating this decision as a yearly one.  Because they are in ministry, Marcus is lead pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in The Woodlands, TX, they have lived in several places, and they’ve chosen sc...

Our guest today is Elizabeth Urbanowicz.  Elizabeth is a follower of Jesus Christ who is passionate about equipping kids to understand the truth of the Christian worldview.  She holds a B.S. from Gordon College in Elementary Education and Spanish, an M.S.Ed. from Northern Illinois University in Literacy Education, and an M.A. in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. Elizabeth began her prof...

How old it too young for a cell phone? That’s the question we’re asking today, and we’re joined by Becky Leach, Mom Squad member, and mom to Brady, Charlotte, and Landry, 14, 12, and 8. Becky shares their experiences, guidelines, contracts, rules, and all the things! It’s a lot y’all.  As you know, this is a loaded topic and HOT BUTTON, but we talk about it anyway! Cell phones aren’t going anywher...

Friends.  Whether you are 8 or 58, making friends can be tricky.  Especially today when we are living in a false reality world called “social” media.  We have more “friends” than ever, but are experiencing depression, loneliness, and isolation more than ever, too.     Amy Pierson, mom to Eva, Isaac, and Benjamin, shares her personal experiences as a new mom in a big city, and how she helps her chi...

We had such a great conversation with Sara Chinakwe talking about her new (and first!) book, You Come from Greatness!   Sara is a wife, mom, teacher, ministry leader and author. Sara loves to encourage women and children to pursue God’s purpose and embrace their God-given identity.  This calling led her to write her first book and share stories of men and women whom God has used to impact our worl...

Happy 2023!!! We made it!!!   We’re hitting the ground running into 2023 with a slate of fun, interesting, important episodes for parents of all ages and stages! We hope you’ll join every other week as we share new episodes of RAISING SINNERS.  Our prayer, as a team, is that we encourage, share hope and provide community for parents who love Jesus, want to draw closer to Him, and raise kids to fol...

It’s the MOST WONDERFUL time of the year!!! It’s Christmastime! And we’re celebrating hard over here at Raising Sinners!    The story of Jesus’ birth seems to come alive every year at this time as parents, grandparents, friends, and family tell the story from Luke chapter 2.  Every time we open God’s word to read the account, it seems like it refreshes itself and becomes anew.  That’s the truth of...