The MAVEN Parent Podcast

There’s been a lot of upheaval in education over the last few years. As a result, many families have considered homeschooling their children. However, with little to no experience, parents may have a lot of questions and concerns that hold them back. In this episode, Brett & Erin answer the top ten homeschool questions, in order to help you decide whether or not you can and should homeschool your...

We’re raising a generation of “fragile” kids. They have difficulty with the regular struggles of life. They define themselves by their negative experiences. And then they blame others for their struggles. As a result, they’re anxious and depressed. So how do we raise RESILIENT kids, who embrace life with confidence? Brett and Erin interview Dr. Kathy Koch about her new book entitled Resilient Kids...

Our lives are filled with so much clutter. We often absorb the cultural pressure to consume more material possessions. What does scripture say about “treasures on earth?” How do we re-orient our lives to treasure the things of God and His Kingdom over our possessions? In this episode, Brett and Erin survey some key biblical passages and then lay out practical steps to eliminate the material posses...

It’s a new year and many of us are motivated to outline new year’s resolutions, set new goals, and make big plans. But how do we do so successfully? What can help keep us from setting goals this month and giving up on them next month? In this episode, Brett and Erin discuss a biblical view of planning and offer some practical steps that can help parents and families submit their goal-setting to th...

As we approach the New Year, it's common for people to set goals and make resolutions. However, it's also important to consider what God's will is for our lives as we make these decisions. In this talk, Brett offers biblical teaching on how to discover and know God's will and encourages listeners to think carefully about what it means to be in God's will as they set goals and make plans for the co...

During Christmas, families are inundated with all kinds of holiday messages. Some are true and good, while others are false and undermine our focus on the incarnation of Jesus. For parents, this is a key time to “narrate” those messages for our kids. By doing so, we help them notice and become aware of the distractions. In this episode, Brett and Erin walk through some Christmastime examples. In a...

Equipping and discipling kids effectively in today’s world requires that we have some basic understanding of the culture they’re growing up in. Recently, Brett spoke at a church in Southern California, examining the current cultural mindset and how it shapes our kids and us. The “expressive individualism” that Brett discusses can have profound consequences for our children and students.

The meaning and significance of Christmas are easily muted or lost amidst the busyness and consumerism of the season. By the time Christmas morning arrives, we’re tired and unfocused and left to feel guilty that maybe we didn’t give Jesus His proper place during the holidays. So how can we slow down the Christmas season and cultivate homes where “Jesus is the reason for the season” is not merely a...

Live your truth. Be who you are. Follow your heart. These cultural mantras may sound positive and even enlightening, but they unhinge us from reality and leave us empty. In this episode, Brett and Erin are joined by Alisa Childers to discuss her new book, Live Your Truth and Other Lies. Alisa identifies some of the most prominent lies of our culture and how we can navigate them with our children a...

Brett and Erin are joined by special guest Alisa Childers to discuss her book Another Gospel? and the challenges of Progressive Christianity.

How our kids “hang out” nowadays is a lot different than when we were growing up. Instead of going outside to play or spending time face-to-face, they constantly chat over text or play video games online while talking to friends with a headset. But should we let them? If so, how much of their socializing should be mediated through screens and technology? Does socialization through technology have...

Most parents feel ill-prepared to manage their kids’ use of technology and protect them from a myriad of harms. So we solicited parents’ specific questions on technology for this podcast episode. How do monitor and protect kids who are more tech-savvy than their parents? What are the best parental online tools? What about parents who don’t see eye-to-eye on how to manage technology? What are some...

What are examples of the kind of manners we should teach our kids? How do manners have an impact on the character development of our kids? What are some practical tips for effectively teaching our kids manners? Brett and Erin get practical in this episode.

Should parents emphasize the teaching of manners? Are manners that big of a deal in the larger scheme of parenting? How does a Christian worldview inform our view on manners? In this episode, Brett and Erin discuss the oft-neglected topic of manners.

Today MAVEN joins forces with the Colson Center’s Strong Woman podcast! Brett and Erin sit down with John and Sarah Stonestreet to discuss humanity's origin story and the implications for men, women, and our families. Amid cultural confusion about what a woman is, John and Brett give practical advice for how to navigate transgender ideology for ourselves and our kids.

How can parents inoculate their kids from the false ideas of the surrounding culture? How do we prepare ourselves for the questions and conversations we will inevitably have to have with kids? And what’s the result if we don’t talk about culture with our kids? In this episode, Brett and Erin collect a few parenting tips on navigating culture with our kids from John and Sarah Stonestreet.

In this episode, Brett & Erin take some time to respond to questions from our listeners. They address some follow questions from a recent podcast (“Should We Get Rid of Kids’ Sunday Schoo?”) about implementing ideas for kids’ discipleship in the local church and in a couple’s Bible study. Brett and Erin provide some very practical advice. They also address an objection from a listener regarding wh...

God has designed every human being in unique and wonderful ways, and that includes our kids. So how do we discover those things that are special about our children? How can we be intentional in encouraging our kids in their uniqueness? Brett and Erin discuss these questions and offer practical tips.

It seems like parents are bombarded with discouraging news headlines every single day. So how do we navigate a world of bad news? How do we think carefully and Christianly about the latest study or negative news story? Brett and Erin discuss a couple of recent headlines and show how we can think our way through them.

So often our first impulse is to take our parenting questions straight to the internet. We’ll ask Siri or Google answers to our questions. But is finding information online the same as gaining knowledge and wisdom? Are there better, more biblical sources that we should first consult? Brett and Erin discuss how scripture points us to true sources of wisdom for our parenting journey.

Is it a real possibility that your kids will have a dramatic NEGATIVE impact on your Christian faith? Are you tempted to compromise God’s moral standards because your kids are? Are your kids catechizing you? Brett and Erin discuss how our kids’ struggles with God can slowly erode the faith of the adults who love them.

Scott Klusendorf is one of the top pro-life apologists in the nation. Brett & Erin sit down with Scott to discuss his personal story, how he got into pro-life work, the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Roe v. Wade and how to equip the next generation to defend the life of the unborn.

What changes can we make in our local churches, to more effectively teach and train our children and youth? Brett & Erin share a number of practical ideas about how we can do church with our kids and raise expectations for their discipleship.

Is it good that our churches are largely age-segregated? Does our modern way of doing church actually hinder the discipleship of our kids? Brett & Erin share some key insights from their involvement in a church plant in Southern California, that will challenge current thinking about how we do church with our kids.

How do we teach our kids about an abstract idea like the nature of truth? How do we instill in them a commitment to the truth? Brett and Erin outline very practical steps parents can take to train their kids in truth.