Thankful Homemaker: A Christian Homemaking Podcast

With the holiday season before us, many of us may find ourselves around people who can be a challenge to communicate without it turning into a heated discussion. We may be the ones challenging to communicate with. As I pondered the topic of speech seasoned with grace and truth, one area that came to my mind is when I've messed up, and someone overlooked it and offered me grace. They didn't feel th...

My heart doesn't tend to go towards giving thanks during the difficult circumstances in my life. Honestly, my heart doesn't automatically go to giving thanks even in the good times of my life. I’m reminded in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that giving thanks in all things is God's will for us Ingratitude is a sin that fails to acknowledge God as the giver of all things. Gratitude is an attitude that honors...

Have you ever been kind to someone outwardly, all the while you were harboring bitterness or anger towards them on the inside? What about thinking the best of others? I fight a critical spirit, and it's an area I continually pray for the Lord to work in my heart to not judge the motives of others. God's work of sanctification comes about by continuing to change us more into the image of Christ. Ou...

How do we determine what is the best use of our time? We know amid the mundaneness of our days, the work the Lord has given us in our homes matters for eternity. God has a purpose in all things. There is no secular work in Christ; all is sacred. As homemakers, we desire to be productive and accomplish much in the time we’re given. It feels good when we check those tasks off our to-do lists and the...

What does it look like to live a fruitful life in the empty nest years?  What do I do now? What does my day to day life look like? Am I needed anymore? These are questions that raced through my mind as the empty nest season approached and was quickly upon me. I don't have all the answers, but I desire to share some thoughts with you on lessons the Lord has taught me and what He continues to teach...

Most of us have been impacted by the writings of Charles Spurgeon, whether it’s through books, his sermons or even the many quotes we come across as we scroll through our social media feeds. Susannah Spurgeon is probably not as familiar to us except for the knowledge that we know she was married to Charles. My first introduction to Susannah’s writings was in a favored devotional of mine called Sea...

Fasting is a way to show the Lord we enjoy Him more than His gifts. It turns our focus on Jesus because we know He is the only one who can satisfy our spiritual hunger. We desire to be filled with the Lord. You can find all podcasts on the Spiritual Disciplines in this series here . The two books I'm utilizing the most for the series are Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life  and Habits of...

We are called in Ephesians 4:29 to respond with words that give grace, encourage, and build up. This includes those hard moments when our kids are sinfully disobedient. If my motives to correct are focused on my pride or being inconvenienced, then it's not going to come out in a way that is going to be in the spirit of Ephesians 4:29. Resources: Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Or...

What is evangelism? The dictionary definition defines it as the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness. So evangelism is the announcement, proclamation, and preaching of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), which is the good news of and about Jesus Christ. It is a verbal message. As Christians, we are all called to be God’s mouthpieces. Along with being salt and li...

As I am now over half a century old, I wanted to share some of the thoughts that go through my mind as I look back over the years of my marriage and raising our family.  There are so many good memories and things I wouldn't change, but there are many things I wish I would have grasped at a younger age.   If I could go back here are some of the most important things I would like to tell my younger...

Spiritual journaling is a way to slow our lives down and ponder deeply over the events of the day. In my life journaling has helped me to grow spiritually by discerning my thoughts and motives. It has shown me areas where I need to give thanks and praise to the Lord. My journaling time has reminded me of situations or people I need to be in prayer for. Journaling is an excellent time for me to see...

Prayer is simply talking to God. As believers, we have access to God the Father through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Prayer reminds us we are dependent on God for every aspect of our lives and we grow in that relationship by communing with Him in prayer. Donald Whitney reminds us in regards to the spiritual disciplines that prayer is second only to Bible intake in the order of importance. P...

We're continuing in a series on the Spiritual Disciplines and today's episode is on Bible Study. We're going to talk about the benefits, explain some basic Bible study methods, share some resources to help you get started digging into the Word. Jerry Bridges says in regard to God’s Word - "Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth." *I stated in the podcast the next episode in the Spiritu...

We all want to grow in our walk as Christians. We've talked about how often we read God’s Word close the book and forget what we’ve read. We can blame our memories or our intelligence or our age, but the reality is it has more to do with our method than our abilities. Today's podcast episode is going to address areas that are important to our growth as believers: Meditation on God's Word and Scrip...

We are continuing in a series here at the podcast on the Spiritual Disciplines. On today's episode, we are going to discuss the importance of reading God's Word along with some practical helps to implement it into our days. We have a God that we can know and meet with and because of that, we should meet with God on a regular daily basis. My hope is by the end of the podcast today that we would all...

We're starting a new series here at the podcast on the spiritual disciplines. Today's episode is introducing us to what they are and the vital role they play in our sanctification as believers. In this series, we’re going to talk about why we need to practice them and share practical biblical ways how we as followers of Jesus Christ can pursue Christlikeness through these means of grace.  The mean...

How many times do we give thanks to the Lord for the ministry He has given us at home. Are we thankful for the mundane everyday moments or are we are only thankful when we think we are doing “great” things for the Lord? We live in God's home. He owns it. He has gifted it to us and given us the job of stewardship over it. He's put us in charge, and we are responsible to Him. As believers, it should...

I'm re-sharing a previous episode I need to re-listen to this time of year. I'm praying it will be an encouragement to you today. We are already nearing Christmas Eve and plans that I had to bake or buy or clean haven’t all been finished.  There are gifts I wanted to purchase or send that didn’t happen.  There are cookies I wanted to bake that I didn’t get too and areas I wanted to tidy at home th...

Every Christmas season I look forward to reading the account of the birth of Christ in Luke together as a family on Christmas morning. I'm amazed at Mary's faith.  What must have gone through her mind when Gabriel approached her?  How did she process the news that she and Joseph were to raise the Son of God?  What depths of sorrow did she endure while watching her Son die a horrific death on a cro...

Many times in my walk as a believer I have heard and read the term "abide in Christ" and didn't have a full understanding of what that meant. I know abide means to remain in, and I pictured it as a state of resting in Christ. Studying through John 15 has been a help to me in grasping fully what our Lord meant as he walked and talked with His disciples on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. Pictur...

It’s not the gingerbread houses or cookies or special meals that will have the most impact on your family. It is the attitude of your heart. It is them seeing the Gospel lived out in your day to day life – even in the midst of busy seasons. As the busy Christmas season is upon us we can find ourselves all wrapped up (literally wrapping too) in planning, cooking, cleaning, shopping, decorating, min...

We live in a world where it can be quick to pass judgments instead of seeing the best in others. We can find ourselves expressing our opinions harshly when we differ from one another. Watching debates between Christians online when there is a disagreement makes me cringe a bit when I see the responses towards one another not gentle and kind. Disagreement is inevitable, but there is a way as believ...

How can we as believers "put on" an attitude of love in our homes? What does it look like to "put off" sinful responses and attitudes and "put on" God-honoring attitudes? I'm hoping today to encourage you that as believers we can "put on" attitudes and behaviors that are God-honoring. If we are in Christ, He has equipped us to do so through His presence within us and through our intake of God's tr...

On this podcast episode of Thankful Homemaker, we're talking about how our tongues can get us into so much trouble. We tend to have many words. Many times we're not careful with our words and say things that are slanderous, or gossip or sadly at times even malicious. This should not be for women who love the Lord and are loved and known by Him. Let's encourage each other today to speak words that...

I know as women we can get caught in our to-do lists and forget to give thanks in and through all things – even in the gift of preparing to serve others with the hope of pointing them to the One who we truly have all things to be thankful for! give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18 My hope today is to simplify your holiday plan...