Keeping My Sanity

As a mom, every day can seem exactly like the one before and the one before that. All of the tedious things we do can pick away at our patience and threaten our contentment. Above and beyond the tedium of motherhood comes the heavy burden of teaching our children to love God. I can sometimes feel so inadequate to impart rich biblical truth to my kids, yet that is exactly what I'm called to do.

If you feel the same inadequacies, remember you teach more by showing than by telling. Pray often with your children. Share your struggles openly with your children. Read scripture consistently to your children.

Establishing the priority of loving the Lord will make a far greater impact on their lives than leading a regimented theological survey. While theology is vital, let loving Jesus become 'ordinary' in your home.

Take a moment to consider what role you play in the lives of your children. You will be one of their most important mentors, no matter where they end up or what they accomplish.

What priorities are you demonstrating today in your 'ordinary'?

Pick up your copy of Devoted by Tim Challies. 

Trillia Newbell is a Christian author of several books—for young kids all the way through adults—that specifically talk about how diversity is a celebration of God's creation.

I grew up in a rural Midwest farming town. Diversity wasn't a topic we talked about often. It rarely came up simply because there wasn't really much in our lives or communities. But, that doesn't mean it isn't vital to discuss. In fact, downplaying the remarkable creativity God chose by not talking about diversity does great harm.

Trillia has authored several books on many topics—not just diversity. I have read several and have been blessed by each one. As I talk about in the episode, I was moved as a mom when I read her books to my boys. Find all of her titles on Amazon.

You can also pick up The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration that Trillia mentioned in the episode as a resource.

Have you ever had a moment when everything seemed to fall into place? Dreams you forgot you ever had were coming true in front of your eyes. Then...it all fell apart in an instant.

That's where we were in August 2017.

With a UHAUL full of everything we owned 30 minutes from our new home, we got a phone call would change everything.

More at keepingmysanity.com.

Through all of our naivety and poor choices, it has taken us nearly a decade to feel financially stable. We may not be where we'd like to be, but we're in a far better place than we were 10 years ago. Josh joins me on the podcast to talk about our financial journey from know-nothing-newlyweds to where we are today.

Neither Josh or I came into our marriage with much of a financial plan. Given the benefit of hindsight, we can't help but shake our heads and facepalm 🤦🏻‍♀️ at our naivety. Josh had just returned from Iraq, where he didn't need to think about finances. I had been living at home—also not considering finances. We got married without jobs or a clear budget—or any budget, really.

After a year, Josh landed a great job, but we still didn't take our financial situation seriously. We were making decent money, so we didn't have a reason for a budget—was our thinking.

The next job brought a severe salary drop, and we weren't quite prepared for what that meant. After a few months, budgeting became more than a 'good idea'. After several difficult choices, we were on a much better track toward financial stability. Things were still tight, but they were stable and we understood where our money was coming from and—more importantly—where it was going.

It has been an interesting journey from jobless newlyweds to self-employed business owners. Though we do have many financial regrets over the past decade, each of those mistakes has helped us build a more stable financial foundation for the future.

YNAB for the win!

When we started using YNAB regularly, it really transformed how we worked with our money. The ability to track utilities and bills over previous months and see every month's expenses broken down was incredibly helpful. Budgeting stopped being intimidating and started to almost resemble enjoyment.

Want to try YNAB? Get a free month.

God uses the daily struggles and sacrifices of motherhood to make us more like Christ.

There are many books on motherhood but not many that talk about how hard it is – physically, mentally, and spiritually – and what to do when you reach your limits.

When Liz Wann became a mother, she was unprepared for how hard it would be. In this book, she writes honestly about these deeply challenging aspects of motherhood and how God works through them to make us more like his Son.

“Coming to the end of who I was, and what motherhood was stripping me of, was a good thing that drove me to Christ and to the power that he supplies in every failure and weakness of motherhood.” Liz Wann.

This short, easy-to-read book encourages mothers to depend on Christ when they reach the end of themselves. They will find that God will supply what they need to cope with the daily sacrifices and challenges of motherhood, and that he will use these struggles to make them more like Christ.

Liz has been involved with the ministries of Risen Motherhood and Revive Our Hearts, writing about how God has been working in her life through the hardships of motherhood. Liz lives in West Philadelphia with her husband Josh and their three children. She is a regular contributor to desiringGod.org, Revive Our Hearts, and ERLC.com. She is also a content writer for Alistair Begg’s Truth for Life ministries and editor-in-chief at Morning by Morning. She can be found online at LizWann.com.

Preorder your book at The Good Book Company or Amazon.

A healthy lifestyle is sometimes the last thing we focus on after all of the other stress we face every day. Health is always a great idea, but seldom seems a practical goal to be reached. Dr. Jess Cummings, physical therapist extraordinaire, came on the show and talked through several practical steps for busy women that will lead towards a healthy, abundant life.

As a mom of three kiddos and owner of a small business, Jess knows what it's like to be busy. Her passion to help women build healthy lives shows through as she talks through achievable routines that you can start implementing today.

It isn't about working out for 60 minutes 4 times per week. It isn't about following a strictly regimented diet plan. It's about making purposeful choices that get you one step closer to the lifestyle you crave.

Jess and her husband, Tim, own Restore Thrive, a Kansas-based performance physical therapy practice and training facility. Restore Thrive works with clients well beyond symptom and pain management. They seek to develop training plans and routines that promote positive lifestyles ready to experience life to its fullest.

Restore Thrive online: https://www.restorethrive.com/

Restore Thrive on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restorethrive/

Restore Thrive on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restorethrive

Restore Thrive on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0fas-Ar2L_x2xqEACKho7g

The Healthy Kansas City Podcast

Here are some of things we talked about in the episode. 

Baby workout video: https://youtu.be/RLlGBR1_U1U

Cook Once All Week recipe book by Cassy Joy Garcia: https://amzn.to/3rZB8tB

Fed + Fit blog: https://fedandfit.com/about/

Perhaps you can relate to the constant urge I feel to be better than I am and the emptiness that follows. The pressing feelings of inadequacy started at a young age for me, as they do for others.

What started as an inability to fit into my sister’s hand-me-downs, grew into a pressure to fit into the crowd. I was an outsider with a desperate desire to be an insider. That stress grew as it seemed I could only make the bench on the varsity team. Come college, inadequacy dealt a crushing blow when I didn’t make the cut for the traveling music team.

Over and over and over again I came face-to-face with how ‘not enough’ I was. Each one of these experiences—and countless others between the lines—left a painful scar of rejection.

The feelings of, “Not quite good enough,” have never left; they just change as I pass through life stages. Now, I wipe back tears as I walk downstairs to an unclean kitchen after the third sleepless night in a row. I find myself hugging my children extra tightly as I apologize for overreacting and revealing my anger.

The same inadequacies are still there. They are still real. And they still hurt.

We put so much pressure on ourselves to perform that we lose sight of who we really are and what we should be doing.

But…

God didn’t make a mistake when He placed us exactly where we are today. He hasn’t left us to suffer alone through our insufficiency. 2 Corinthians tells us that weakness only reveals His great strength. “My grace is SUFFICIENT for you. My POWER is made perfect in WEAKNESS.”

Friend, let us therefore boast more gladly in our weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon us!

When we are tempted to berate ourselves for our failures, let’s remember that our insufficiency does not define us. Christ’s death defines me. My identity is not in what I can and cannot accomplish. My identity is the daughter of the King.

Be confident in these truths and share them with others. Make that the cool thing to do. Don’t beat yourself up over little mistakes.

Am I discouraged over my sin and failures? My God gives grace freely. Romans 3:24 “Justified freely by His grace”

Do I feel like I don’t match up to those around me? Christ’s death defines me. My identity is the daughter of the King.

• 2 Corinthians 10:5
• Ephesians 4:29
• Psalm 139:14
• 1 Corinthians 1:27-31
• 2 Corinthians 12:9
• 1 John 3:1

The Pastor and Pathological Self-Criticism by Jonathan Parnell via The Gospel Coalition – https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/pastor-pathological-self-criticism/

Ending the Cycle of Self-criticism by Erin Davis via Lies Young Women Believe – https://liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/ending-the-cycle-of-self-criticism/

Website: https://keepingmysanity.com/ep16

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinahorneck/ 

Raise your hand if you've ever thought or said something along the lines of, "I wish I could help, but I don't have anything to offer."

🙋🏻‍♀️

Remember that God doesn't ask us to change the world; He asks us to obey and trust Him—wherever He leads.

This is exactly where Michelle Triebold (podcast guest today) found herself.

About a decade ago, Michelle hesitantly agreed to travel to Liberia, West Africa, to help a nonprofit with some photography and marketing materials. Little did she know that the Lord had so much more in store for her. She and her husband have now adopted two children from Liberia, and Michelle only recently transitioned out of directing the nonprofit's adoption program in the country.

Now, Michelle partners with artisans in Liberia to sell their handmade goods to others around the globe at The Mango Tree Boutique. Each piece is handcrafted and packaged with a photo and note about from the artisan. It's truly, "Style with a Story". All proceeds go back into supporting the local artisans who create the beautiful pieces.

Michelle also leads a Facebook page and group called 'Prioritizing Home'. Her efforts there focus on monthly accountability challenges that encourage other moms to declutter and enjoy their homes. She'd love to have you join her group!

"Don't assume that you have nothing to offer until you know what it is that someone else needs."

Episode Links

• The Mango Three Boutique - https://themangotreeboutique.com/
• Prioritizing Home Facebook page

As a mom, I can exhaust myself trying to change my kids. It seems like they purposely disobey in the exact same way over and over again, just to test my patience. But, the more I focus on changing them, the more helpless I feel. What they need is Christ. Only He can cause true change. I have been called to pour over His word, bow before His throne, and to imitate Him as a model for my children to follow.

We are all about books in this house! We have hundreds of them, so narrowing it down for a single podcast episode was a challenge. Some on our shelves are just silly and entertaining, but we try to invest in books that give opportunity to show Christ through each page. So here are the top 8 books we use to start conversations with our kids that will direct them to the cross.

For all of the details and links to the books check out keepingmysanity.com/ep13.