Parenting the Heart of Your Child

10/21/24 • 41 min

Wholehearted—Loving God With All Your Heart

Christy and Melanie talk with special guest Dr. Joshua Straub about parenting the hearts of our children through helping them share and process emotions. Hint: it has a lot to do with how we talk about and work through our own emotions!

Josh takes most pride in his role as a husband and dad. He and his wife Christi are the co-founders of Famous at Home (including the Famous at Home podcast),a treasure trove of resources to equip men, women, and children to become everything God has called them to be. With extensive backgrounds in counseling, both Josh and Christi aim to lead people home—acting not just as coaches, but also spiritual directors and pastoral guides. Josh & Cristi have written multiple books, including three children’s books, What Am I Feeling?, What Do I Do With Worry?, and What Do I Do with Anger? to help parents foster emotional awareness in kids.

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Start a Podcast Club! Grab a friend (or two or three) and listen to the podcast and then have a conversation about it. We’ll always include some discussion prompts in the show notes.

Discussion questions:

Read Proverbs 22:6. How does what you heard today help you better understand this verse?
How are you talking about emotions with your kid(s) currently? What is working well? What feels challenging? How/where might you need some help?
What did you learn today about creating a “safe” environment in your home so that your children (of any age feel) comfortable to talk about emotions and maybe even sin? What is one way you can begin to implement/grow this idea of being a “safe house” in your own home?
Spend some time in prayer:

Ask God to help you be mindful of who you are becoming as an adult and how that is shaping your parenting. Ask God to help you grow in love and affection for your kids and their hearts, and to help you find helpful and healthy ways to manage your own stress so that you can model that for your kids.
Take a moment to specifically pray over the hearts of your kids. You could even use the words of Proverbs 3:1-8 as a part of your prayer.

And check out the October #2 Bonus Episode! We have a panel of moms representing a variety of ages and stages of motherhood; they share stories and personal experiences of how they have learned to parent the hearts of their children. Note: MomLife members have special access t

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Editing: Angela Edwards
Music: "Another Successful Day" Music by Bohdan Kuzmin

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Wholehearted—Loving God With All Your Heart

Sign up for The MomLife Monthly, our monthly email newsletter at momlife.org.
Sign up for a MomLife group near you! Or, join our virtual MomLife group, or sign up to participate as an individual (or with a friend). momlife.org/get-connected
Start a Podcast Club! Grab a friend (or two or three) and listen to the podcast and then have a conversation about it. We’ll always include some discussion prompts in the show notes.

Discussion questions:

Read Proverbs 22:6. How does what you heard today help you better understand this verse?
How are you talking about emotions with your kid(s) currently? What is working well? What feels challenging? How/where might you need some help?
What did you learn today about creating a “safe” environment in your home so that your children (of any age feel) comfortable to talk about emotions and maybe even sin? What is one way you can begin to implement/grow this idea of being a “safe house” in your own home?
Spend some time in prayer:

Ask God to help you be mindful of who you are becoming as an adult and how that is shaping your parenting. Ask God to help you grow in love and affection for your kids and their hearts, and to help you find helpful and healthy ways to manage your own stress so that you can model that for your kids.
Take a moment to specifically pray over the hearts of your kids. You could even use the words of Proverbs 3:1-8 as a part of your prayer.

Previous Episode

Wholehearted Emotions

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Wholehearted—Loving God With All Your Heart

Wholehearted Emotions

Christy and Melanie talk about what it means to love God with all of our heart, specifically with our emotions. We all have feelings about feelings—they are both good and uncomfortable. Emotions can at times feel overwhelming, complicated, and difficult to control. But as we turn our hearts (and emotions) toward God, we choose to look to him to help wisely guide everything that we feel because we trust that he’s in it with us, directing us toward what is best for us.

Listen in as we talk about what it looks like to submit our heart to the protection of the wisdom and guidance of God, which helps us to acknowledge and express our emotions in a healthier way.

Sign up for The MomLife Monthly, our monthly email newsletter at momlife.org.
Sign up for a MomLife group near you! Or, join our virtual MomLife group, or sign up to participate as an individual (or informally with a friend). momlife.org/get-connected
Start a Podcast Club! Grab a friend (or two or three) and listen to the podcast and then have a conversation about it. We’ll always include some discussion prompts in the show notes.

Discussion questions:

Discuss the stigma around emotions. How do you hear the people around you talk about women and emotions?
How do your children see you process emotions? How do you think this has an impact on them?
Read Proverbs 3:5-8, Proverbs 4:20-23. How are these words encouraging [or challenging] to you?
What would it look like for you to wholeheartedly submit your feelings to the wisdom and guidance of God?
What did you hear today as a next step that you could take toward Jesus and emotional health? Make/keep counseling appointment, spend regular time in scripture and prayer (maybe reading Psalms daily), do something creative, practice generosity, move your body, get outside, take a break from screens...
Spend some time in prayer, expressing to God your biggest feelings right now.

Recommended resources for Wholehearted series: momlife.org/wholehearted.

Next Episode

Soul Care

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Wholehearted—Loving God With All Your Soul

Soul Care

Do you feel pulled in a thousand different directions? Tired? Worn out? Burned out?

Christy and Melanie are joined with special guest Debra Fileta to talk about how we can look to the example of Jesus to discover how to best care for our souls in order to receive renewed energy, purpose, and strength from the Lord.

A little more about Debra: Before anything else, Debra says she is a woman in love with Jesus. That love has been the driving motivator propelling her forward in her pursuits as a wife, mother, licensed professional counselor, speaker, and author. Her newest book is Soul Care: Find Life-Giving Rhythms, Live Restored, Discover Unspeakable Joy, Avoid Burnout. She is the host of the podcast Talk To Me: The Debra Fileta Podcast, founder of the Debra Fileta Counselors Network, and a regular contributor at Relevant Magazine and Crosswalk.com.

Sign up for The MomLife Monthly, our monthly email newsletter at momlife.org. This month we’re including a free printable to walk you through various ways in which your soul might best experience connection with God!
Sign up for a MomLife group near you! Or, join our virtual MomLife group, or sign up to participate as an individual (or with a friend). momlife.org/get-connected
Start a Podcast Club! Grab a friend (or two or three)—listen to the podcast and then have a conversation about it. Find discussion prompts in the show notes below.

Discussion prompts for today's episode:

How might you be feeling depleted right now?
Read Psalm 31:7, Ephesians 3:17-19, and John 10:10. What do you think it means that God cares for your soul and desires to fill you with all the fullness of his love?
Which of the rhythms of soul care do you need to give more attention to? Take this soul care quiz to help you identify your greatest need and make a plan to begin caring for your soul today!
Based on what you heard today, what is one step you can take to move toward rest, connection, healthy boundaries, savoring the present, or tuning into your emotions all for the sake of caring well for your soul?
Spend some time in prayer. Ask God to help you take inventory and ownership over the places where you feel depleted. Ask him to help you honor your limited capacity and look to him to fill in the gaps with his immeasurable love and power.

Recommended resources for Wholehearted series: momlife.org/wholehearted

Recommended resources for Advent: momlife.org/Advent