Episode 89: How to Restore a Joyful Spirit in Your Home—with Tama Fortner

Episode 93: Coming Together as a Blended Family—with Sabrina McDonald

When we got married over 30 years ago, we learned right away that growing a strong relationship would be a never-ending process. In our years together, we keep blending our personalities, habits, and the good and bad in our backgrounds so that we can love each other well and accomplish the oneness that God designed for marriage.

For couples who marry after divorce or the loss of a spouse, they face even more layers of grief and complexity to grow a strong relationship. That’s why we are so glad to welcome Sabrina McDonald on the podcast today to help us understand the challenges of building a blended family.

She is a writer and speaker with expertise in marriage and family counseling. Sabrina has been a contributor to national ministries like Focus on the Family and FamilyLife. She is the author of her latest book, A Home Built from Love and Loss: Coming Together as a Blended Family. For anyone facing the challenges of blended families, this book offers practical advice and spiritual guidance to find hope amid grief.

Sabrina shares with us:

• The challenges of a blended family
• Tips for maintaining a relationship with all your children
• Different ways grief can manifest
• And more!

We hope you find value in this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/sabrina-mcdonald-93

Episode 92: How to Help Your Kids Cope with Anxiety—with Kelly Boprie

This week on the podcast, we're revisiting an excellent conversation originally shared in 2021. Anxiety remains a challenge for many children and families (including ours). While you’ll hear references to COVID-19 in this episode (as this was recorded in the height of shutdowns), the practical tips for anxiety are well worth revisiting so we can better support our kids in their challenges.

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/kelly-boprie-92/

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We don’t need the experts to tell us that anxiety is a very real and growing struggle for children today. It touches nearly every family we know, and moms and dads are feeling discouraged and helpless in the face of their kids’ emotions.

That’s why we’re thrilled to welcome an expert therapist and mom of two to the podcast today. Kelly Boprie provides therapy for kids who face struggles with anxiety and depression, trauma and eating disorders. In her practice, she guides children through the transformative work of overcoming difficult emotions and behavior. This episode provides a wealth of practical help for parents by teaching us:

• How to recognize anxiety issues in your kids at all ages and stages
• How to discern the difference between a temporary struggle and a mood disorder
• The ways anxiety affects your kids’ ability to function and thrive
• Simple stress-management skills you can teach your kids to move them from panic to peace
• The importance of managing your own anxiety as parents
• How to teach your kids to name and express their emotions
• Knowing when and how to seek professional help for your child
• The impact of faith on our fears

Episode 91: Connection is the Key to Healing Your Child's Heart—with Jenni Lord

Adopting our youngest son through the foster care system ten years ago was truly one of life’s greatest gifts. But one thing we didn’t fully understand as we looked forward to a bright future with our beloved little boy was just how much trauma a child suffers when they’re separated from their birth parents.

Like many foster and adoptive parents, we are on a constant learning journey and are always looking for better ways to support our son through the unique struggles he experiences. That’s why we’re so grateful that Jenni Lord was able to join us for this candid conversation.

Jenni founded Chosen—an organization committed to empowering parents and fostering children’s trauma recovery. Chosen connects families impacted by the child welfare system with the resources and support they need to move from hurting to healing.

Jenni shares:

• How trauma impacts the brain, body, and behaviors of youth in foster care
• How prioritizing connection over correction can strengthen your parenting
• The importance of creating safe spaces for your child to open up
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/jenni-lord-91

Episode 90: How to Overcome Differences in Your Marriage—with Kari Trent Stageberg

There’s a common misconception that it's always the big things—like dishonesty or infidelity—that cause marriages to fall apart. But the truth is, many marriages experience death by a thousand cuts as small areas of misalignment add up over time.

Every marriage has its squabbles, clashes, and little flare-ups of friction. Over our more than 30 years together, we’ve certainly had our fair share of moments where our mindsets didn’t quite match up.

We’ve all been there at some point, and that’s why we were elated to chat with today’s guest, Kari Trent Stageberg. Kari is a wife and a mom of two little boys. With her dad, she runs a nonprofit called Strong Families, and she’s also the author of The Merge for Marriage, a book designed to help couples stay on the same page in spite of all the ways they may be different.

In this conversation, Kari shares:

• How to work together with your spouse towards the same goal even if you use different approaches
• Tools for resolving conflict, nurturing connection, and bringing joy back into your relationship
• Why today’s world creates unique challenges for modern marriages and how to overcome them
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/kari-trent-stageberg-90

Episode 89: How to Restore a Joyful Spirit in Your Home—with Tama Fortner

We all have wish lists in life—wishes for bigger houses, more quality time with our spouses, or even just a simple wish for better weather.

While there’s nothing wrong with dreaming, we find our spirits dragging when we grow too preoccupied with the parts of life we wish would change. When this mindset takes over, it can prevent us from finding joy in the present.

So what’s the solution?

Our inspiring guest, Tama Fortner, is here to help us find out. Tama is a best-selling writer who has published and contributed to many books that are inspirational for all ages. Her newest book, Everyday Joys Devotional, invites us to experience God in our real day-to-day lives. Tama was moved to write this book during a time of great personal struggle. When her hope was scarce, she asked God for help, and He gave her a strength that empowered her to restore a joyful spirit to her heart and her home.

Tama shares with us:

• How to start seeing His divine presence even in the ordinary moments of life
• Advice for setting a positive tone of joy and trust in your household
• The secret to holding happiness even during the “in-betweens” of life
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/tama-fortner-89