Growing Home Together Podcast

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

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

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

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

Raising our two sons has been one of the most rewarding journeys of our lives. If you have boys of your own, you know that parenting sons comes with its own unique set of blessings and challenges.

One skill we strive to help our sons build is the ability to overcome the lies they encounter in life. We want to help them better understand what’s true and false about who they are, what’s really important in life, and where God is when things get hard.

That’s why we were so grateful for the opportunity to chat with today’s guests, Erin and Jason Davis. They’re the authors of Lies Boys Believe, a book that helps kids understand the truth of the Bible using strategies taken straight from Erin and Jason’s experiences raising four sons.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How to use narratives from the Bible to counteract the lies society has told your son
• Tips for working the Word into daily life in a way that helps your sons appreciate the stories of Scripture
• Why grounding your sons in the truth of the gospel will help them identify lies for themselves
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/erin-jason-davis-88

Our son entered middle school this year and he is growing in all sorts of new and fun ways! He outgrew his shoe size, his appetite is bigger, he’s grown a wider circle of friends, and he’s definitely sleeping longer and longer hours. Along with that growth, his desire and appetite for screen time is growing bigger too!

Honestly, navigating our son’s screen time isn’t a new challenge to us. We’ve wondered for years how to set good boundaries so that screen time could be a blessing and not a burden as he grows.

That’s why we are glad to have our guest on the show today, Arlene Pellicane. She is the author of Screen Kids and is here to help us all navigate screen time with our kids.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How technology has been designed to be addictive
• The importance of managing your own screen time
• Practical tips for putting limits on screen time as a parent
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/arlene-pellicane-87

The goal of our ministry has always been to help you care for the soul of your family and help you nourish relationships that keep God at the center of your home.

We know that many couples desire the closeness and encouragement of sharing their faith with their husband or wife. Instead, they feel a painful sense of disappointment when their spouse isn’t stepping into the role of spiritual leader as they expected. It can feel lonely and like you are single-handedly trying to teach your children about Jesus and deepen your family’s spiritual walk.

That’s why we are so glad to welcome today’s guest, Dana Che Williams, to talk about what it really means to lead your family spiritually and how couples can find peace in this area of their marriage. Dana is a wife, mom, speaker, marriage coach, and the host of the Real Relationship Talk podcast.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• A definition of spiritual leadership
• What it looks like to be unequally yoked in your marriage
• The impact of cultivating a deep relationship with the Lord
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/dana-che-williams-86

Before you got married and into the first year of marriage, you probably spent hours dreaming about what your life would look like together. But today those dreams may feel far out of reach. Your marriage may have settled into a predictable routine that seems impossible to get out of. You may even feel like you're stuck in a rut and have lost your sense of excitement for what the future could hold for you as a couple.

We’ve heard this from many other couples and even felt it at times in our own marriage. But the truth is you still have many exciting years ahead of you! They can be full of exciting adventures and dreams if you take the time to talk with your spouse and dream together.

This is why we are so excited to have our good friends, Kathi & Roger Lipp, on the show today. They know what it is like to dream together and make those dreams become a reality. Kathi is a popular author and speaker as well as a marketing and writing coach. She hosts the popular Clutter Free Academy the Podcast! and the Writing at the Red House Podcast.

Kathi and Roger are also homesteaders who traded their life in the city for the mountain life in California.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Practical tips for discussing your dreams
• The importance of knowing your limits and triggers
• How chasing after a dream can bring out the best in you
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/kathi-roger-lipp-85

I take you to be my wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.

Whether it’s been one year, ten years, or 25 years since you uttered those vows, we can all agree that they have and will be tested! We all experience some kind of disappointment, loss, or pain. And even though we’ve vowed to walk through hard times together, grief can take a toll on our marriage, causing us to question how to communicate about the deep loss we feel, how to best support each other in grief, and even how to maintain our faith when life circumstances just don’t make sense.

Chuck & Ashley Elliott are popular speakers and workshop leaders, a pastor and a counselor who hold numerous psychoeducational certifications. After walking through miscarriage and grief in their own lives, they authored their new book, I Used to Be ___: How to Navigate Large and Small Losses in Life and Find Your Path Forward. Chuck and Ashley are here today to help us understand how grief can actually draw us closer to God and each other.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How everyone responds to grief differently
• The role “Switch Theory” can play in our outlook during hard times
• Practical tools for navigating grief together
• And so much more!

We hope you find this conversation insightful and valuable in your own relationship!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/chuck-ashley-elliott-84

Words are powerful! They have the potential to tear down our relationships or build them up. Ever since I (Joanna) was a young girl, I loved words. I would spend hours writing stories and poems. When I went to college, it just made sense to pursue a major in communications. Even though I took numerous writing and even a public speaking class, I was never taught was how to talk to people with kindness and express my thoughts in a way that protected other people’s hearts.

If we are honest, we all could use some help understanding the power of words to impact our relationships. That’s why we are excited to have Sarah Molitor with us. Sarah is a wife, mother of seven kids, and the author of Well Said: Choosing Words that Speak Life, Give Grace, and Strengthen Your Faith and Family. You may know Sarah from her thriving social media community at Modern Farmhouse Family.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The power words carry in our relationships
• How God can sometimes do more in our lives when we hold our tongue
• Common pitfalls our words can lead us into
• And so much more!

This conversation was such an honor, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/sarah-molitor-83