Whatever Is Excellent with Leanne Tuggle

You can be around church for years and still wonder, “How do I actually hear God?” That question gets very real when you’re trying to make a decision, fight anxiety, or sort out whether a thought is wisdom or just noise. We sit down for a personal conversation about prayer and spiritual discernment with someone who’s shaped our family for decades: my mom, a steady prayer warrior who has learned to...

Your child’s question can land like a pop quiz you did not study for: Can I sleep over there? When do people start dating? Why can’t I have a phone? What about Halloween? What do we do when friends believe something different? I walk through how I try to answer those moments without panic by building clear personal convictions ahead of time.  I start by drawing a bright line between biblical convi...

Holiday stress doesn’t usually show up all at once. It stacks up quietly, one “yes” at a time, one unplanned expense at a time, and one more late night that leaves you running on fumes. After a simple monthly marriage meeting and a gentle reminder to stay on budget, we zoom out to a bigger, steadier idea: Christmas preparation is really about stewardship. If God has entrusted us with resources, th...

A messy house can make you feel like you’re failing, even when you’re working hard all day. We’re pushing back on that pressure by naming a better target for Christian homemaking: not a perfect home, but a faithful one. When the goal becomes loving and serving the people God has entrusted to you, routines stop feeling like a scoreboard and start feeling like support. We talk about wisdom, creativi...

Culture is loud about what “success” should look like, but the heart knows when something doesn’t fit. I sit down with my friend Sarah, a military spouse and mom of three boys, to talk about homemaking, motherhood, and how God’s design for women reshapes what a meaningful life really is. We get practical and personal about why staying home can be a calling, not a consolation prize, and how faithfu...

The culture has a lot to say about women and the home, but most of it leaves us either defensive, exhausted, or quietly ashamed. I want to start somewhere steadier: what Scripture actually says home is for, and why our longing for it might be pointing to something deeper than cozy fall feelings.  Part 1 of my For The Love Of The Home mini-series builds a biblical vision of the home as a place of b...

September flips a switch for a lot of us. The pace changes, the cozy months show up, and we start craving a clean slate that’s more than new school supplies and a fresh calendar. We’re kicking off season seven with a grounding reminder from Philippians 4:8 and a simple message that cuts through the noise: God does extraordinary work through women who faithfully embrace excellence in the ordinary....

Church can feel like something we attend or something we build. That difference matters more than we think, especially for our kids. I share a personal story that starts with a 13-year-old begging to join a mission trip and coming home with one clear takeaway: knowing the “right answers” is not the same as learning how to share a real testimony that points to Jesus. From nursery volunteering to he...

A new school year can feel like a fresh start, but it can also bring a fresh wave of chaos if we try to wing it. We want something better than frantic mornings and frazzled afternoons, so we’re sharing the practical planning process we use to build a calmer, more peace-filled home. Think of it like a simple playbook: a few repeatable rhythms that reduce decision fatigue, increase consistency, and...

Middle school hallways can feel like a daily referendum on who your kid is and where they belong. As a parent, that pressure hits me too, especially when the loudest cultural messages say truth is whatever you feel in the moment. I talk through why an identity in Christ is not just comforting language, it’s an anchor that can steady our kids when friendships shift, trends change, and “live your tr...

Summer boredom has a way of sneaking up on us. One minute we’re optimistic with big plans, and the next we’re staring down sibling squabbles, restless kids, and the temptation to hand over a screen just to get a quiet moment. I share a different option that’s both simple and surprisingly powerful: go outside, even when it’s hot, even when it feels inconvenient, even when you don’t have a big yard...

A teen with a smartphone is not just holding a device, they’re holding a doorway. I invited Jean-Marie to share how her family approaches technology with two teenagers, and the conversation gets real fast: addiction-like design, online grooming risks, and the quiet ways algorithms shape what our kids believe about themselves. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re being “too strict” or not strict...

The internet didn’t just change childhood, it changed what childhood gets exposed to. Many of us grew up thinking pornography was something you had to intentionally seek out, yet today kids can stumble onto explicit content through pop-ups, ads, streaming platforms, or a simple image search. That reality can make a parent’s stomach drop, but avoiding the topic doesn’t protect our kids. I’d rather...

Your to-do list can look holy and still be powered by anxiety. We talk through one of the most misunderstood Gospel moments, Jesus in the home of Martha and Mary, and why the real issue is not service but worry. Martha isn’t “the bad one” and Mary isn’t “the better one.” Jesus holds both with compassion, then gently names what’s happening under the surface: a heart that is anxious and troubled abo...

Raise your hand if you have a “big feeler” in your house or if you are one yourself. Strong emotions can be beautiful and God-given, but when feelings take the driver’s seat they start making decisions they were never designed to make. I’m unpacking a simple anchor that has helped our family: emotions are indicators, not dictators. We get practical and a little nerdy about how the brain works, inc...

A swollen lump. Years of fatigue and infections. Two biopsies that said “benign.” Then the diagnosis flips everything: thyroid cancer, a fast second surgery, and the question so many of us whisper when fear is loud what do I do now? We invited our dear friend Whitney to tell the story from the inside, not as a highlight reel but as a real cancer journey shaped by waiting, uncertainty, and the dail...

You can love your home and still be called to leave it. We talk about what it looks like to move every few years as a military family and refuse to let constant change turn you cynical, rushed, or numb. Instead, we choose a simple mission: leave a place better than you found it, not through perfection, but through presence, service, and steady faith when life keeps shifting.  We share the real emo...

The phrase “you only have 18 summers with your kids” can hit like a warning, and if you already feel stretched thin, it can trigger instant guilt. I wrestle with that tension and share a better way to hold the idea: not as panic, but as accountability that helps us slow down and choose what matters before the season slips away. We get practical about building an intentional summer rhythm that fits...

Summer can feel like the best kind of slow and the most exhausting kind of loud at the exact same time. Longer days, bored kids, extra meals, constant interruptions, and the quiet pressure to “make it magical” can leave you overstimulated and behind before lunch. We want something better than survival mode, so we’re sharing a practical way to build a summer routine that supports peace, flexibility...

Plans change fast, but God’s faithfulness doesn’t. I sit down with Denise, a pastor’s wife of five decades, to talk about what it really looks like to walk with Jesus daily when life refuses to fit a neat timeline. From rural Missouri to unexpected ministry moves, Denise’s story keeps circling back to one steady truth: the God who calls us can be trusted, even when we’re waiting far longer than we...

Aging shows up in tiny ways before it ever shows up in big ones: the font gets bigger, workouts need more recovery, sleep can still leave you sore, and the mirror starts telling the truth louder than it used to. While I’m walking through a beauty study with my daughter during our monthly discipleship tea time, I realize the conversation isn’t just for her. It’s for me too, right here at forty, lea...

Mom guilt can feel like a permanent background noise, but not all guilt is the same and that difference changes everything. We’re opening Season 6 of Whatever Is Excellent by digging into what mom guilt is, where it comes from, and why so many of us wear it like a badge of honor even when it’s quietly draining our joy. I share a personal story about leaving for a work trip with an eight-month-old...

Some moments feel so ordinary you almost miss them, until you realize you’re living inside an old prayer. I share one of those “time stands still” scenes from my own home and why it matters even more because it came after a season of depression and deep sadness. That contrast opens up a bigger question: what does it look like to celebrate God’s goodness when life is not easy, not clear, and not wh...

Want a picture of legacy that’s honest, practical, and warm enough to taste like blueberry muffins? We sit down with our neighbors, Mike and Diane, a couple married 54 years and following Jesus for more than four decades, to explore how ordinary days can shape a family for generations. From the first welcome with a pan of brownies to a lifetime of small choices—prayer at dawn, Scripture at breakfa...

When the news cycle feels relentless and your to‑do list won’t quit, what does it really look like to live with resurrection hope? We explore a grounded, practical faith that faces anxiety and weariness without flinching, anchored in the promise that death is defeated and God keeps His word. From Jesus’ words in John 16 to the strong assurance of John 10, we trace how Scripture reframes our days:...