Growing Home Together Podcast

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

From the time we had the first of our five children, some of our most special moments were snuggling up to read books together. And some of those stories became like familiar old friends as we read them over and over until the kids could probably recite them by heart.

We found so many gifts in reading together with our kids – the quality time, our children’s enjoyment of language and artwork, and many sweet life lessons contained in the stories.

We found a kindred spirit in a love of reading in our guest, Valerie Ellis. She is an author, speaker, certified teacher, and mom. Valerie knows the power of a story to connect children to their families and to the love of God. We are excited to hear about her latest children’s book and how through this story we can help our kids to share the joy of Christmas this year.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How God created us to learn through stories
• Tips to engage all ages in reading
• Ways to connect reading to our faith
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/valerie-ellis-82

We got married young and it felt like we were launching out of a starting gate with other couples we knew who got married around the same time. As the years have gone by, one of the hardest things to hear is when one of the couples we care about has fallen to sexual sin and some have even chosen to get a divorce.

It’s a sad reality that many marriage partners struggle against the pull of pornography. This sin is wreaking havoc on the trust and intimacy of the marriage relationship. Based on statistics, it’s a sure thing that some couples listening here or sitting next to us in church are walking wounded because of this sin that is damaging their marriage.

That’s why we are so grateful to have Dannah Gresh join us for this episode. She shares her own story of heartbreak and marriage in her book, Happily Even After. Dannah is the co-host of the Revive Our Hearts podcast, a speaker, a best-selling author, and a wife who has experienced the power of God to redeem her marriage.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The physical and neurochemical impacts of pornography
• Why this is not an issue exclusive to men
• Hope for healing and redemption
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/dannah-gresh-81

Many of us have the perception that prayer is a one-size-fits-all aspect of our faith with God. We may think that we are getting it wrong or failing that aspect of our Christian life.

We believe that prayer is a deeply personal practice. It is an essential way to invite God’s power and wisdom into our lives, marriages, and relationships with our kids.

We are so excited to welcome Janet McHenry back to the podcast today. Janet is a national speaker who has authored 27 books, including PrayerWalk and her newest title, Praying Personalities: Finding Your Natural Prayer Style. Janet serves on the California leadership team for the National Day of Prayer and she has been helping others build their lives on prayer for over 20 years.

In this episode, Janet is sharing how, just like our personalities are unique, how we connect with God through prayer should be unique too! It’s not about doing it right or wrong, it’s about praying in line with how God has created us. Janet’s perspective will definitely grow our hope and confidence in prayer today.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The connection between our personality and our prayer
• Examples of prayer styles from Scripture
• The four praying personalities
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/janet-mchenry-80/

Most couples have encountered situations where they feel stuck. Maybe there’s a recurring area of conflict. Or a pain from the past that keeps showing up in the present. Maybe you wish your spouse would utilize your love language more, or that the two of you would be more unified in your parenting.

No matter the area of your marriage that feels stuck, the good news is that change in your marriage is possible! The Bible says when we seek God through prayer, He will do something new in our lives.

We are excited to have Jodie Berndt back on the show with us. She is the bestselling author of the Praying the Scriptures book series, which includes her latest book, Praying the Scriptures for Your Marriage. Jodie has been a trusted speaker, Bible teacher, and prayer warrior for 30 years, and she’s here to give us a word of encouragement in our marriages.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How to start a habit of prayer with your spouse
• The ways prayer can powerfully strengthen your relationship
• Practical guidelines for hard conversations
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/jodie-berndt-79

We are keeping it real today! You’ve likely heard us say that we are committed to quality time as a couple. Even when our kids were small, once a month we would scrape together whatever money we had left in our budget to pay a sitter to make sure we got quality time together.

Date night has always been a big deal for us, but lately these last months we’ve fallen out of our routine. It’s felt like a struggle to find time alone together where we can have conversation and fun! We are definitely feeling the effects of not being able to get quality time together.

To help us get back into our routine, we want to invite you along as we take a deep dive into conversation cards and how they can help you build intentional connection time with your spouse.

Rob and I share:

• How intentional time can benefit you as a couple
• Practical ways to use conversation cards
• A real life conversation prompted by conversation cards
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/conversation-cards-78/

Did you know that we’ve been parents for over 30 years? We can still remember holding each of our children as newborns and feeling overwhelmed by our love for them. But we also had many fears about raising our children in a world that is so broken and full of dangers. While we knew we couldn’t change the world, we did have hope that our children would grow resilient, full of faith in God, and able to cope with whatever life throws their way.

That’s what we all hope for as parents, isn’t it? We want our kids to be strong, brave, and emotionally prepared to face the world. But how can we raise kids who will be strong and resilient when we still know we have areas to grow as parents? To help us answer this question and more, we are excited to welcome Lauren Gaines to the podcast.

Lauren is an author, speaker, teacher, and mother. She is the creator of Inspired Motherhood, a thriving online community for moms to find practical tools to raise spiritually and emotionally healthy kids. Lauren also holds a master’s degree in school psychology and is about to release her first book, Unshakable Kids.

Lauren shares with us:

• The best way to increase our child’s resilience
• Why we should be thinking about our thoughts
• How our brains are constantly learning
• And more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/lauren-gaines-77/

I have to be honest with you. This month is just giving me all the excuses to lay awake at night and worry about my kids. I have one that is headed into middle school and it’s just so easy to spiral into worrying about his friend group, how he is going to manage academically, and what kinds of influences might drag him down this year. Not to mention we have a daughter who is moving away to college for the first time.

I think we would all agree that parenthood brings one worry after another. But how do we tell when our worry is something more? How do we recognize when we have a mental health issue with anxiety? And if we do, how do we cope as moms and dads? How does it affect our faith in God?

To help us answer these questions is my guest, Courtney Devich. Courtney is a former human resources professional who is using her leadership skills to manage her three kids as a stay-at-home mom. She has authored a new book called Mama’s Got Anxiety: But It’s Not Going to Steal Her Joy. In this book, Courtney shares her story and so much insight to encourage moms who struggle with anxiety or depression.

Courtney shares with us:

• The difference between “mom worry” and anxiety
• If anxiety should be considered a faith issue
• How to help your kids understand anxiety in age-appropriate ways
• And more!

We hope this conversation helps you navigate worries and stressors in your everyday life!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/courtney-devich-76/

Recently, I (Joanna) have been meditating on the story of Abram and Sarai in Genesis 12. In the story, Abram becomes afraid that someone will murder him because his wife, Sarai, is so beautiful. It can seem like a pretty crazy story. But it shows how we can look at our spouse's assets and view them not as gifts, but liabilities.

In this episode, Rob and I want to look at why we can struggle to celebrate our spouse's strengths, skills, talents, and qualities that make them special. In our own marriage, we encountered moments where the character we love about our spouse is also the thing that costs us something. For me, it was when Rob’s passion for learning inspired him to pursue a master’s degree. However, that also meant it would cost us a lot of time and money. For Rob, it is when my gift of hospitality causes stress and takes him out of his comfort zone to open our house to others.

Do you see your spouse’s differences and talents as an asset or a liability? Join us as we discuss the ways we can view our spouse’s gifts and how to see them as an asset to the relationship.

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/asset-liability-75/

Recently, I (Joanna) have been meditating on the story of Abram and Sarai in Genesis 12. In the story, Abram becomes afraid that someone will murder him because his wife, Sarai, is so beautiful. It can seem like a pretty crazy story. But it shows how we can look at our spouse's assets and view them not as gifts, but liabilities.

In this episode, Rob and I want to look at why we can struggle to celebrate our spouse's strengths, skills, talents, and qualities that make them special. In our own marriage, we encountered moments where the character we love about our spouse is also the thing that costs us something. For me, it was when Rob’s passion for learning inspired him to pursue a master’s degree. However, that also meant it would cost us a lot of time and money. For Rob, it is when my gift of hospitality causes stress and takes him out of his comfort zone to open our house to others.

Do you see your spouse’s differences and talents as an asset or a liability? Join us as we discuss the ways we can view our spouse’s gifts and how to see them as an asset to the relationship.

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/asset-liability-75/