WEBVTT 00:02.521 --> 00:05.003 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey guys, and welcome to the Christian parenting podcast. 00:05.123 --> 00:11.627 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm your host, Steph Thirling, and today I'm joined by the wonderful Jessica Smart for a conversation every parent needs to hear. 00:12.187 --> 00:15.289 [SPEAKER_01]: We're diving into what it really means to build a strong family. 00:15.589 --> 00:19.591 [SPEAKER_01]: Not a perfect one, but one grounded in love, grace, and connections. 00:19.671 --> 00:28.777 [SPEAKER_01]: So we'll talk about navigating sibling dynamics, creating a nurturing home, embracing your kids' unique personalities, and why prayer is so essential to it all. 00:29.453 --> 00:35.357 [SPEAKER_01]: If you've ever felt overwhelmed as a parent, you who are not alone in this episode is full of hope and practical encouragement. 00:36.137 --> 00:39.620 [SPEAKER_01]: Jessica's newest book is called Come On Home, and it's all about this topic. 00:39.680 --> 00:42.442 [SPEAKER_01]: So if this resonates you, I suggest that you go check out her book. 00:42.782 --> 00:44.003 [SPEAKER_01]: I have links to it in the show notes. 00:44.343 --> 00:50.707 [SPEAKER_01]: I mentioned at the end, but it's a cozy book and reading it is like a big hug in the encouragement that you sometimes need as a mom. 00:51.368 --> 00:56.631 [SPEAKER_01]: And just a reminder, if you're enjoying these conversations, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe, so you never miss an episode. 00:56.971 --> 00:57.732 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, let's get started. 01:03.389 --> 01:05.431 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey Jessica, welcome to the Christian parenting podcast. 01:05.771 --> 01:07.873 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, thank you so much for having me. 01:08.073 --> 01:17.642 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm really excited to kind of just get going, talking about building strong families in the solid home that kids just want to be at and come home to and we're going to get right into that. 01:17.822 --> 01:21.265 [SPEAKER_01]: But first, tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do. 01:21.605 --> 01:22.666 [SPEAKER_01]: And of course, your family too. 01:22.886 --> 01:23.367 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 01:23.607 --> 01:26.730 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I live in North Carolina. 01:27.495 --> 01:30.857 [SPEAKER_00]: In a family farm, you can call it a compound that is fine. 01:30.897 --> 01:31.717 [SPEAKER_00]: We've embraced it. 01:31.798 --> 01:34.939 [SPEAKER_00]: So I have my two sisters across the street and my parents. 01:35.159 --> 01:44.925 [SPEAKER_00]: We bought some land about ten years ago and there are ten kids running around and lots of chickens and lots of cats and it's very dirty. 01:45.245 --> 01:47.086 [SPEAKER_00]: But this is our life and we love it. 01:47.146 --> 01:48.107 [SPEAKER_00]: So I homeschool. 01:48.227 --> 01:52.209 [SPEAKER_00]: I have a sixteen year old, a fourteen year old, those are boys and then a ten year old daughter. 01:53.009 --> 01:56.070 [SPEAKER_00]: Um, and yes, right books a little bit. 01:56.110 --> 01:58.912 [SPEAKER_00]: That's about all I can fit in sometimes do the laundry. 01:58.932 --> 02:01.373 [SPEAKER_01]: No, some we all sometimes do the laundry. 02:01.813 --> 02:02.813 [SPEAKER_01]: Right exactly. 02:02.833 --> 02:07.555 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I love that you just call the compound like I feel like everyone's talked about doing that. 02:07.735 --> 02:09.396 [SPEAKER_01]: Like I've talked about seeing with my sisters. 02:09.596 --> 02:11.336 [SPEAKER_01]: I've talked about doing it with my friends. 02:11.356 --> 02:13.417 [SPEAKER_01]: Like let's not just buy a compound and do it together. 02:13.577 --> 02:14.378 [SPEAKER_01]: Like how fun is that? 02:14.618 --> 02:16.018 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it really is. 02:16.198 --> 02:21.540 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I would say like, you know, it's amazing if there's a best of times it's the worst of times. 02:21.580 --> 02:26.242 [SPEAKER_00]: Like it really does bring out your struggles and you can't like hide things. 02:26.302 --> 02:30.704 [SPEAKER_00]: So you have to like we have all manner of differences and disagreements. 02:30.784 --> 02:34.025 [SPEAKER_00]: But one thing that I really value about my family is that we 02:34.505 --> 03:01.272 [SPEAKER_00]: do talk about things and you know it's not that we agree a hundred percent of the time but that if something's upsetting we can say you know hey you were kind of snippy like what's wrong with you or whatever and trying to help model that for the kids as well so I always seem like it is amazing you know it's the more time together brings out you know all the stuff but it really truly is like the biggest gift like just that the kids can grow up together and just be kids so 03:01.692 --> 03:02.493 [SPEAKER_01]: I am grateful. 03:02.653 --> 03:06.355 [SPEAKER_01]: So my younger sister, I'm the middle of three girls. 03:06.455 --> 03:09.237 [SPEAKER_01]: And my younger sister lives really close to us just a few miles away. 03:09.317 --> 03:11.619 [SPEAKER_01]: My older sister lives in Florida. 03:11.679 --> 03:12.439 [SPEAKER_01]: We're in Minnesota. 03:12.799 --> 03:17.422 [SPEAKER_01]: But when my older sister comes to visit, like all tenders tend to tend little grandkids too. 03:17.603 --> 03:20.244 [SPEAKER_01]: They're all together and spend just like a solid week together. 03:20.264 --> 03:22.806 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's just so good for their relationships and their hearts. 03:22.886 --> 03:24.467 [SPEAKER_01]: Like they just love being together. 03:24.487 --> 03:26.688 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm sure they would love it too if we all just. 03:27.829 --> 03:29.051 [SPEAKER_01]: We're together all the time. 03:29.432 --> 03:33.517 [SPEAKER_00]: But those vacations, I was going to say those vacations are so important too. 03:33.617 --> 03:40.646 [SPEAKER_00]: And I talk about that in my book, like obviously this is a luxury that some people might want to do might not want to do, but everyone can't. 03:40.806 --> 03:41.447 [SPEAKER_00]: And so yeah. 03:42.270 --> 03:44.052 [SPEAKER_00]: you know, we didn't grow up with that. 03:44.252 --> 03:50.317 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not what my experience was, but we're still super close to our cousins, because when we got together, it was like, cousin camp. 03:50.497 --> 03:52.539 [SPEAKER_00]: Like the parents prioritized it. 03:52.679 --> 03:59.165 [SPEAKER_00]: And so there are definitely ways that you can, you know, maximize that and still like super value it. 03:59.225 --> 04:01.087 [SPEAKER_00]: I love that they love getting together. 04:01.287 --> 04:01.487 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 04:01.943 --> 04:02.905 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they really do. 04:03.025 --> 04:03.787 [SPEAKER_01]: It's so sweet. 04:03.847 --> 04:06.732 [SPEAKER_01]: And we try to get them have all have their own special time. 04:06.772 --> 04:08.215 [SPEAKER_01]: It does create. 04:08.275 --> 04:13.445 [SPEAKER_01]: I think it does help create a closest not only just in our extended family, but in our family of five, too. 04:13.868 --> 04:17.890 [SPEAKER_01]: Like my family just because they see how much we value family and how important it is. 04:18.530 --> 04:21.632 [SPEAKER_01]: And also what a gift siblings can be as you get older too. 04:21.832 --> 04:24.533 [SPEAKER_01]: That is not the relationship doesn't end when you all leave the house. 04:24.853 --> 04:25.974 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, absolutely. 04:26.294 --> 04:35.078 [SPEAKER_00]: And I know you wanted to get into that, but that is like a for having technique I loot I use with my children is like, Hey, do you like hanging out with your cousins and they're like, 04:35.638 --> 04:40.184 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like, well, if you're a giant jerk, like, she's not going to want to hang out with you when you grow up. 04:40.544 --> 04:45.690 [SPEAKER_00]: So you need to start work, which heads up, like, we struggled as kids also. 04:45.790 --> 04:46.992 [SPEAKER_00]: So it does come around. 04:47.012 --> 04:49.635 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of time to mend those fences, but we don't need to get into all that. 04:49.715 --> 04:55.682 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just always like, hey, you gotta start now if you want your cousins to be friends with their cousins. 04:56.002 --> 05:07.353 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, well actually, I mean, we might as well just talk about it because I told you I want to talk about sibling dynamics because we were talking about just like building a strong home and you say strong families don't have to be perfect. 05:07.654 --> 05:14.981 [SPEAKER_01]: So obviously that means there's fights that go on in siblings fight parents fight cousins fight, you know, like all those things happens. 05:16.103 --> 05:16.363 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know. 05:16.383 --> 05:18.664 [SPEAKER_01]: And when my kids fight, I have two, I have three. 05:18.684 --> 05:21.925 [SPEAKER_01]: I have two that fight way more than any other combo. 05:22.005 --> 05:24.806 [SPEAKER_01]: I feel like they, and then one gets really frustrated with them. 05:24.826 --> 05:25.827 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, like it's a whole thing. 05:26.167 --> 05:30.548 [SPEAKER_01]: And I just feel like it makes my whole house feel off when they're fighting. 05:30.988 --> 05:38.611 [SPEAKER_01]: And I do sit some of the same things that you do is, hey, do you want to have the same relationship that I have with my sisters or dad has with his brother? 05:38.671 --> 05:39.912 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, because that starts now. 05:40.052 --> 05:43.273 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you can't treat each other terribly all the time now and expect to be close. 05:44.013 --> 05:49.138 [SPEAKER_01]: When you're adults because that relationship is is beginning now and you have a long way to go, but it is current now. 05:49.859 --> 05:54.383 [SPEAKER_01]: How do you how do you manage sibling fights in your home to create closeness? 05:54.584 --> 06:01.070 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I have a whole bunch of tips I've tempted to grab my book, you know, come on home to how to build a strong family. 06:01.563 --> 06:05.464 [SPEAKER_00]: And one whole chapter is on that because it is so important. 06:06.085 --> 06:08.105 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I would say three things. 06:08.185 --> 06:14.768 [SPEAKER_00]: The first thing is to kind of watch for dynamics that maybe you're not seeing initially. 06:14.968 --> 06:21.310 [SPEAKER_00]: Like I think we have in our head just to be perfectly blunt who we think is like the good one and who's the annoying one. 06:21.510 --> 06:23.171 [SPEAKER_00]: And it maybe changes throughout life. 06:23.511 --> 06:33.455 [SPEAKER_00]: But like we have in our head when we walk into a room and they've had a fight, we're already coming to the table with some predispositions about what we think probably happened based in the past. 06:33.855 --> 06:41.097 [SPEAKER_00]: And so one thing that God really convicted me of in our little journey is that I was having a difficult time with one child. 06:41.177 --> 06:48.140 [SPEAKER_00]: And I realized that like this child was waking up with several strikes against them that I was just holding. 06:48.460 --> 06:50.301 [SPEAKER_00]: And so realizing what that 06:50.881 --> 06:53.643 [SPEAKER_00]: felt like for them was really eye-opening. 06:53.783 --> 06:54.884 [SPEAKER_00]: Like how would I like that? 06:55.204 --> 06:55.804 [SPEAKER_00]: I would hate that. 06:55.824 --> 06:55.924 [SPEAKER_00]: Right. 06:56.545 --> 06:57.625 [SPEAKER_00]: And they're not dumb. 06:57.706 --> 06:58.366 [SPEAKER_00]: Kims aren't dumb. 06:58.406 --> 06:59.867 [SPEAKER_00]: They pick up that. 07:00.067 --> 07:11.735 [SPEAKER_00]: So, back to my first point, like what I would say is to really like watch with new eyes, what's happening with your kids and truly try to see if there's somebody who's walking around self-righteous, like 07:12.455 --> 07:24.398 [SPEAKER_00]: always blaming others or subtly starting things, you know, out of the corners that maybe then there is the one that always is annoying, but they've been provoked and some of them are sneakier than others. 07:24.638 --> 07:38.522 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you really want to know what might be happening is to ask like a grandparent, I said in the book, I got so desperate that I asked my mom and mother-in-law, which actually I recommend because, wow, that was interesting. 07:38.662 --> 07:40.563 [SPEAKER_00]: They were not seeing things the same way I was. 07:41.303 --> 07:48.846 [SPEAKER_00]: And so the kids that I was feeling annoyed with, they were like, you might want to kind of think through like how you're you're viewing this. 07:49.207 --> 07:55.049 [SPEAKER_00]: So looking at new eyes with everything, making sure that kids aren't waking up with a couple strikes against them. 07:55.369 --> 08:01.132 [SPEAKER_00]: And then praying, like letting the Lord really show you things, I think he loves to answer those prayers. 08:01.232 --> 08:02.833 [SPEAKER_00]: That is the kind of prayer I think he loves. 08:02.853 --> 08:04.253 [SPEAKER_00]: So like, I don't know God. 08:04.493 --> 08:05.374 [SPEAKER_00]: Some things off here. 08:05.394 --> 08:06.474 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how to fix it. 08:06.514 --> 08:07.435 [SPEAKER_00]: I've tried everything. 08:07.575 --> 08:07.955 [SPEAKER_00]: Show me 08:08.375 --> 08:09.255 [SPEAKER_00]: like what's happening. 08:09.755 --> 08:17.037 [SPEAKER_00]: But then I would say the next step is to let it be known to your kids that this is not going to be it is not okay. 08:17.557 --> 08:19.398 [SPEAKER_00]: We are no longer going forward this way. 08:19.478 --> 08:24.379 [SPEAKER_00]: We are not going to be one of those families that kids are clawing each other's eyebrows out all the time. 08:24.619 --> 08:25.560 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not us. 08:25.780 --> 08:26.540 [SPEAKER_00]: We love each other. 08:26.740 --> 08:30.301 [SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of different ways you can handle that, but in our house. 08:30.881 --> 08:37.786 [SPEAKER_00]: One thing I've made it clear is you're not going to be a jerk to your siblings and then have this like happy little social calendar, right? 08:37.806 --> 08:52.916 [SPEAKER_00]: These are the people my mom was so good at saying the people in your family are the hardest to love and they're the most important to love and that's a life lesson by the way that like is never going away because there are those people that like have these successful lives and they're going to jerks at home. 08:53.276 --> 08:56.358 [SPEAKER_00]: So what that looks like for a kid is like hey 08:56.854 --> 09:01.621 [SPEAKER_00]: If you've been kind of mean or just even if you are having problems, maybe it wasn't all you. 09:02.222 --> 09:07.369 [SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to just like slam the door and go play with the neighbors for three or four hours in the day. 09:07.770 --> 09:12.316 [SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to I'm not going to cart you to your little activities like the most important thing. 09:13.077 --> 09:17.759 [SPEAKER_00]: Coming from God is that we love the Lord with all our heart and love our neighbors as ourselves. 09:17.919 --> 09:18.619 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not happening. 09:18.779 --> 09:19.720 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to fix it right now. 09:20.140 --> 09:23.241 [SPEAKER_00]: And when we take it seriously, I think they start to take it seriously. 09:23.581 --> 09:29.864 [SPEAKER_00]: And then there's all kinds of fun, you know, ways that you can motivate siblings like paying for them to. 09:29.884 --> 09:33.285 [SPEAKER_00]: I had my two that were the ones that kind of didn't get along. 09:33.325 --> 09:35.326 [SPEAKER_00]: Like you were saying, we're home alone. 09:35.346 --> 09:38.027 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I'll go or like with me, but the other room's gone. 09:38.431 --> 09:48.137 [SPEAKER_00]: So I said, if you can play Monopoly for one hour, and at the end of it whoever's the winner has a good attitude and whoever's the loser has a good attitude, I will take you to Chick-fil-A. 09:48.497 --> 09:49.358 [SPEAKER_00]: I am not above that. 09:49.498 --> 09:50.959 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, they gave him a look at this. 09:50.979 --> 09:53.220 [SPEAKER_01]: I feel like everyone cries in Monopoly anyway. 09:53.867 --> 09:55.027 [SPEAKER_00]: I know, evenly. 09:55.247 --> 09:57.048 [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like it did work. 09:57.388 --> 09:59.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Like setting that expectation. 09:59.629 --> 10:02.209 [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it's, I don't think that's bribing. 10:02.249 --> 10:04.950 [SPEAKER_00]: Like we all do things for motivation, right? 10:05.210 --> 10:05.550 [SPEAKER_00]: Totally. 10:05.590 --> 10:07.150 [SPEAKER_00]: So bribing is a different thing. 10:07.310 --> 10:08.731 [SPEAKER_00]: That's not, that's not what I'm saying. 10:08.751 --> 10:10.311 [SPEAKER_00]: So those are just a few ideas. 10:10.431 --> 10:11.792 [SPEAKER_00]: It definitely is hard though. 10:11.852 --> 10:15.853 [SPEAKER_00]: I do, especially where we're recording this in the summer that can be kids are bored. 10:15.893 --> 10:16.933 [SPEAKER_00]: They're at each other's throats. 10:17.333 --> 10:22.684 [SPEAKER_00]: But kind of just like dealing with it as a mom, not suppressing it and just like get out of here. 10:22.744 --> 10:23.686 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to deal with it. 10:23.786 --> 10:26.271 [SPEAKER_00]: Like really being like, this is not okay. 10:27.439 --> 10:29.720 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to really solve this with the word. 10:29.940 --> 10:30.160 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 10:30.501 --> 10:35.663 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, and I feel like what you're saying with Plain Monopoly, like it sounds kind of like bribing and maybe there's an element to that for sure. 10:35.683 --> 10:39.645 [SPEAKER_01]: Like I get that, but there's also just that's just encouraging them to practice. 10:39.965 --> 10:41.326 [SPEAKER_01]: And we practice everything in life. 10:41.386 --> 10:50.511 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we shouldn't, I don't know if it's fair to expect that they just know how to be nice to their siblings, especially one set of kind of oil and water, just by the way, got made so literally. 10:50.831 --> 10:53.793 [SPEAKER_01]: So giving them opportunities to practice isn't bad. 10:53.893 --> 10:55.334 [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe it feels like you shouldn't have to. 10:55.534 --> 10:57.935 [SPEAKER_01]: But again, we're not supposed to be perfect families. 10:59.216 --> 11:00.056 [SPEAKER_00]: No, I love that. 11:00.497 --> 11:01.097 [SPEAKER_00]: I totally agree. 11:01.357 --> 11:01.537 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 11:01.877 --> 11:04.959 [SPEAKER_01]: And I do love what you said about not letting them just go off and play with friends. 11:05.039 --> 11:06.360 [SPEAKER_01]: I say that to my two all the time. 11:06.380 --> 11:08.081 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, you cannot have a play date today. 11:08.201 --> 11:09.982 [SPEAKER_01]: Like you woke up fighting with your brother. 11:10.142 --> 11:11.583 [SPEAKER_01]: Like I'm not going to call your friend now. 11:11.963 --> 11:12.403 [SPEAKER_01]: Like that. 11:12.684 --> 11:13.944 [SPEAKER_01]: You need to fix this first. 11:14.044 --> 11:18.307 [SPEAKER_01]: But it is harder because I would love to just send them away when they're fighting. 11:18.587 --> 11:19.688 [SPEAKER_01]: You're like, yeah, I'll go for friends. 11:19.728 --> 11:20.669 [SPEAKER_01]: Please get out of my house. 11:21.469 --> 11:22.070 [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly. 11:22.470 --> 11:23.391 [SPEAKER_00]: No, you nailed it. 11:23.431 --> 11:31.738 [SPEAKER_00]: And I love that you admitted that because I think so much of like good parenting is making choices that actually annoy everyone. 11:32.018 --> 11:36.882 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, they don't get it that it would be easier for me to just not deal with this. 11:37.763 --> 11:45.125 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so this is just a little pep talk and encouragement for the moms who are out there doing the hard work that is needing to be done. 11:45.145 --> 11:49.347 [SPEAKER_01]: I know and sometimes the best choices are the ones that are the most painful for us. 11:49.507 --> 11:53.708 [SPEAKER_01]: For sure, like taking away that play date, taking away a sleepover or even a birthday party. 11:53.728 --> 11:57.409 [SPEAKER_01]: Like I've had to take away a birthday party before and I'm like, I don't want to do this. 11:57.750 --> 12:03.231 [SPEAKER_01]: However, like I have to in order to be a good parent and like teach you these, you know, it's all hard. 12:03.992 --> 12:04.912 [SPEAKER_01]: All just doing our best. 12:05.601 --> 12:13.794 [SPEAKER_01]: And we're just doing our best with who we are and who God wired us to be and our kids to be fortunately and unfortunately all our kids are so different. 12:13.874 --> 12:19.483 [SPEAKER_01]: And so you feel like you nail it with one and then you try the same thing with another and it just doesn't work and you have to start again. 12:19.844 --> 12:20.485 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's hard to. 12:21.553 --> 12:24.134 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, but you also talk about that a little bit in your book. 12:24.234 --> 12:35.079 [SPEAKER_01]: It's just being honest about who you are in the capacity that you have in the situation that you're in and being kind of self-aware in shaping your family culture and how you parent your kids. 12:35.179 --> 12:38.720 [SPEAKER_01]: So do you kind of how or how do you think about like, okay, this is who I am. 12:38.740 --> 12:39.841 [SPEAKER_01]: This is who got made me to be. 12:39.881 --> 12:41.101 [SPEAKER_01]: This is what I have available to me. 12:41.441 --> 12:44.263 [SPEAKER_01]: How do I parent and create a strong family with that in mind? 12:45.303 --> 12:56.225 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so in the beginning of come on home, I kind of talk about like laying the foundation because there's things that we need as parents first before we can build this strong family culture. 12:56.285 --> 13:09.388 [SPEAKER_00]: And so like your health and when I say health, I don't just mean like, do you have like an autoimmune disorder that you're not treating all those certainly that's fun, but just the holistic picture of you is going to affect the family. 13:09.408 --> 13:12.729 [SPEAKER_00]: And I talk about how moms are the thermomit 13:13.169 --> 13:14.451 [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, let's see, thermostat. 13:14.531 --> 13:19.878 [SPEAKER_00]: I always get it because I'm not a sciencey person, but we're not reading the temperature of the room. 13:19.918 --> 13:20.759 [SPEAKER_00]: We're setting it. 13:21.520 --> 13:30.592 [SPEAKER_00]: And so, you know, you can take that in the negative direction of like, well, I'm just going to take off and, you know, do all of this plush self care so that I'm in a happy place. 13:30.985 --> 13:38.131 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think that is a fair read of reality, but it is true that how we are doing affects how the home is doing. 13:38.371 --> 13:45.758 [SPEAKER_00]: So there's the first step, I think, I'm in trying to encourage parents to say, like, let's get a barometer of you in your life. 13:46.098 --> 13:50.882 [SPEAKER_00]: And this big job that God's called you to, of being a mom is going to ask a lot of you. 13:51.243 --> 13:53.284 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you totally stressed to the max? 13:53.345 --> 13:55.967 [SPEAKER_00]: Are there so many things in your life and on your plate that 13:56.267 --> 14:00.948 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't literally have the mental bandwidth to try to like troubleshoot your kids' problems. 14:01.048 --> 14:07.909 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, if so, I would say that's like maybe not great because God's called us to care for these people under our home. 14:07.949 --> 14:08.970 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a limited time. 14:09.010 --> 14:09.730 [SPEAKER_00]: It feels like forever. 14:09.750 --> 14:10.630 [SPEAKER_00]: It's so not forever. 14:10.650 --> 14:11.470 [SPEAKER_00]: It goes so quickly. 14:11.810 --> 14:16.331 [SPEAKER_00]: And so carving out that ability to be able to pour out. 14:16.691 --> 14:25.033 [SPEAKER_00]: And I talk about how so many times in my life, because I'm someone that says, yes, all the time, like I've had a sit down and be like, and I've gotten better to not saying yes to 14:25.680 --> 14:29.644 [SPEAKER_00]: of everything because in this season, I want to say yes to my kids. 14:29.984 --> 14:31.686 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to say yes to building a strong family. 14:31.906 --> 14:34.729 [SPEAKER_00]: No, it's not always just I'm sitting on a podcast here with you, right? 14:34.769 --> 14:37.211 [SPEAKER_00]: This is I think something God's called me to do. 14:37.551 --> 14:41.335 [SPEAKER_00]: So the capacity band with thing is the first thing I talk about. 14:41.688 --> 15:02.851 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we do talk about just like gifts because I just think it's so cool that God has gifted us all uniquely and we're to invest that I think in our homes and in our families and culturally you know seasonally we're in this like it's it's just not common for women to invest I think in their families or if they do sometimes they feel like 15:03.255 --> 15:07.417 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a waste or there's something else better or more like influential they should be doing. 15:07.497 --> 15:14.121 [SPEAKER_00]: And so one of my passions is just to encourage women to pour out what they have in their gifts for their family. 15:14.341 --> 15:24.866 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it is like just the whole Instagram culture is very like it feels like it's more important to produce this big event in this party and all the picture. 15:25.066 --> 15:31.650 [SPEAKER_00]: But what if what God's really doing happens, you know, when you are like making dinner for your kids, 15:32.192 --> 15:34.758 [SPEAKER_00]: your three kids, four kids, two kids, whatever. 15:34.818 --> 15:39.910 [SPEAKER_00]: Like no one's seeing it, but I grew up with strong women. 15:40.423 --> 15:42.683 [SPEAKER_00]: in my life who poured into their homes. 15:42.823 --> 15:44.404 [SPEAKER_00]: And they didn't, no one was watching them. 15:44.444 --> 15:47.564 [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't get any awards, but they poured into their families. 15:47.905 --> 15:49.745 [SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, they built a legacy. 15:50.105 --> 15:53.346 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, they have built something incredible with what they did. 15:53.546 --> 15:59.527 [SPEAKER_00]: So counterculturally, just reminding ourselves, like, let's use our gifts for our families. 15:59.667 --> 16:05.248 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever those things are, some of us are like super eventy and like birthdays and all that stuff. 16:05.844 --> 16:10.369 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of us are great cooking and some of us are really organized and scheduled. 16:10.730 --> 16:13.693 [SPEAKER_00]: And so what does it look like to use that on our families? 16:13.994 --> 16:17.258 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we're going through spiritual gifts that church right now. 16:17.938 --> 16:20.942 [SPEAKER_01]: And just it's like a sermon series or every week we're talking about. 16:21.406 --> 16:23.388 [SPEAKER_01]: like two, one to two spiritual guests. 16:23.728 --> 16:31.094 [SPEAKER_01]: And I love it because it's so helpful and just intentionally thinking about ourselves, like how are we made by God to serve his kingdom? 16:31.294 --> 16:32.855 [SPEAKER_01]: And we're not all supposed to be greeters. 16:33.135 --> 16:35.697 [SPEAKER_01]: And we're definitely not all supposed to serve in kids. 16:36.218 --> 16:39.460 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think the same concept applies to our family, right? 16:39.480 --> 16:44.584 [SPEAKER_01]: Because I have so many friends who are so organized and like they're, they have spreadsheets. 16:44.945 --> 16:49.148 [SPEAKER_01]: I was talking to someone recently who has a spreadsheet for when they go on family applications. 16:49.548 --> 16:51.711 [SPEAKER_01]: for who has to share a bed and who doesn't. 16:52.392 --> 16:53.514 [SPEAKER_01]: She has this whole thing. 16:53.934 --> 16:55.797 [SPEAKER_01]: Because she's like, I thrive on this. 16:56.118 --> 16:57.039 [SPEAKER_01]: My kids fight. 16:57.319 --> 16:59.683 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I was like, okay, I'm gonna make a spreadsheet and like that is. 17:00.988 --> 17:25.260 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, or beyond to be mom over here, but I love that that works for you and you know that about yourself and like I'm going to go bake some cinnamon rolls now, you know, like, but that probably sounds horrible for her and I just think it's embracing that and then also balancing it with the capacity aspect of yes, we're supposed to pour out from our families, but not from a place of emptiness or even just frustration or obligation or guilt. 17:25.620 --> 17:27.681 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think sometimes it's really easy to do that too. 17:27.882 --> 17:31.564 [SPEAKER_01]: So how do you think parents can like track that? 17:31.624 --> 17:35.406 [SPEAKER_01]: Like is there like a magical to figuring out like what is my capacity? 17:35.447 --> 17:36.047 [SPEAKER_01]: What are my gifts? 17:36.147 --> 17:38.008 [SPEAKER_01]: How do I use this without burning myself out? 17:38.228 --> 17:45.793 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I mean, this might be like weird, but I really think God has given us husbands for a good reason. 17:46.234 --> 17:51.357 [SPEAKER_00]: And so kind of coming to him and saying, you know, if you are married, like how do you feel like we're all doing? 17:51.717 --> 17:54.281 [SPEAKER_00]: Is there something you'd like me to be doing differently? 17:54.381 --> 17:56.243 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, do you feel like I'm thriving? 17:56.604 --> 18:01.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Those conversations are maybe hard and unnatural, but God has really blessed them in our home. 18:02.031 --> 18:07.758 [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I do want to say, like, as a counter to what you said, like, no, for sure we don't have to become spreadsheet mom. 18:08.799 --> 18:14.064 [SPEAKER_00]: I do think, unfortunately, being a mom, there's gonna be some things we're great at and some things we're not. 18:14.324 --> 18:17.927 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think God gives us the wisdom, like I don't love cooking. 18:17.947 --> 18:21.911 [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like I have to do it all the time because my son has food allergies. 18:22.151 --> 18:23.192 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't ever go out. 18:24.733 --> 18:29.258 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I was kind of just like punching my ticket, not putting my heart and soul in it. 18:29.619 --> 18:36.646 [SPEAKER_00]: And my kids just like, even passing comments kind of were like, oh, I wish you like, and that was really convicting to me. 18:36.726 --> 18:39.249 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not because I could be like, well, that's not my thing. 18:39.449 --> 18:40.550 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I'm not, I don't do that. 18:40.591 --> 18:41.211 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not good at it. 18:41.572 --> 18:43.554 [SPEAKER_00]: But that is a way that my kids are blessed. 18:43.774 --> 18:44.994 [SPEAKER_00]: I have high school boys. 18:45.294 --> 18:46.395 [SPEAKER_00]: They're starving all the time. 18:46.715 --> 18:52.716 [SPEAKER_00]: And when I make blueberry muffins, which I hate making a mess and you know, they are loved. 18:53.076 --> 19:03.558 [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, just I think like again, loving your neighbors yourself, looking at your actual family and being realistic like maybe you are not an extra and you're one of your kids are. 19:03.638 --> 19:07.679 [SPEAKER_00]: And so what it means to love them is to listen to that story of the dream they had. 19:08.139 --> 19:10.241 [SPEAKER_00]: when you were like, I'm going to die here on the couch. 19:10.301 --> 19:11.461 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's need this dream still. 19:11.662 --> 19:12.242 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, go. 19:12.282 --> 19:12.882 [SPEAKER_00]: No, go ahead. 19:12.902 --> 19:35.678 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think motherhood just stretches us so much in that capacity because like I have two boys and I grew up in two sisters and my dad was not like the huge sports dad and all of a sudden I am watching football and baseball all the time and like I have to hear about it in the stats and then I'm quizzed a lot like this is that's not it is not I mean, they don't they are just kind of like the running joke because that I feel like the quiz when I just don't know. 19:35.978 --> 19:45.224 [SPEAKER_01]: But it's like I have to sit there and watch these things even though I don't want to but it is what brings them joy and I have I am given joy by watching it with them. 19:45.604 --> 19:52.549 [SPEAKER_01]: And so even though may not be my preferred thing to watch on television, I am so happy to do that because they want to sit next to me and cut it up on the couch with me. 19:53.210 --> 19:59.574 [SPEAKER_01]: And I have learned a lot about sports may not have been my first preference, but of course I'm going to do it as a mom and it's a way that 20:00.154 --> 20:05.837 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it stretches you and it just humbles you a little bit because it's not about me as much as it would make me nice. 20:06.157 --> 20:08.438 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I love that that's a great example. 20:08.638 --> 20:24.306 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so what do you think is something that like would describe because the idea is like coming home, creating a home that is just strong and people want to come home to like what does that look like and how do we take the practical steps to doing that? 20:24.346 --> 20:25.687 [SPEAKER_01]: You kind of share some of those things. 20:25.847 --> 20:43.486 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, come on home and I love that phrase my mom used to say that to us like just you know if things were out of whack or you're out and you're having hard days you just be like, come on home and we'll figure it out like come on home and so and it's not about the building right like it's about the relationship to. 20:44.722 --> 20:48.506 [SPEAKER_00]: And we may not have kids that move to a giant compound, right? 20:48.606 --> 20:53.910 [SPEAKER_00]: But it's just producing a culture that they want to come home and that family is their safe place. 20:54.090 --> 20:59.115 [SPEAKER_00]: So, I mean, there's so many layers like I talk about like eight different things in the book. 20:59.775 --> 21:03.716 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to talk about like the home in particular, I talk about building a nest. 21:03.816 --> 21:06.697 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, like what's so cool is that it's personalized. 21:06.757 --> 21:11.578 [SPEAKER_00]: So that can feel stressful to me of like creating this magical. 21:11.658 --> 21:17.560 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, then like because you know decorating something after like work hard at some people are great at it. 21:17.960 --> 21:24.784 [SPEAKER_00]: But really, it's about loving the actual people in our home and thinking about, is this an inviting place to be? 21:25.124 --> 21:26.585 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, do they like to be here? 21:26.806 --> 21:28.306 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter if everyone else does. 21:28.747 --> 21:32.029 [SPEAKER_00]: But are they loved and served in this environment? 21:32.089 --> 21:33.690 [SPEAKER_00]: And people need different things. 21:33.750 --> 21:46.458 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, some people are like a cluttery, some people like it more structured, but just building a, you know, a, hey, then, because life is just really hard right now, like, and to be a kid and, you know, you can pay me to go back to school. 21:47.198 --> 22:01.225 [SPEAKER_00]: So I love the idea of like creating like this safe space where our kids can come in from the nonsense and the stress and know that whatever happened out there, you know, it's okay in here. 22:01.325 --> 22:05.687 [SPEAKER_00]: And we do that as moms is I think we set that culture and set that vibe. 22:06.107 --> 22:15.652 [SPEAKER_00]: Millions of different ways you can do it, but it definitely takes, it can look a lot of different ways, but they will all require attention and us giving of ourselves to make that. 22:16.284 --> 22:16.584 [SPEAKER_00]: home. 22:16.925 --> 22:19.649 [SPEAKER_00]: But I loved it again to our earlier conversation. 22:20.009 --> 22:21.371 [SPEAKER_00]: It looks so many different ways. 22:21.451 --> 22:32.507 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, my home doesn't look like my sister's home doesn't look like my mom's home, but I think we've all, you know, kind of created this space that loves our families most of the time, some of the time. 22:33.547 --> 22:33.727 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 22:33.907 --> 22:35.089 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, again, we're not perfect. 22:35.269 --> 22:36.430 [SPEAKER_01]: There are no perfect families. 22:36.551 --> 22:36.751 [SPEAKER_01]: Right. 22:37.031 --> 22:48.084 [SPEAKER_01]: But I think also, like I think it goes back to a lot of what we've been talking about is that the home, it may be physically being cozy, but that comes from curling up and watching sports together, eating blueberry muffins. 22:48.184 --> 22:50.167 [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't come from looking at 22:50.547 --> 23:05.938 [SPEAKER_01]: Pinterest and Instagram and finding like the perfectly decorated perfectly clean house all the time and we can get so caught up in that because it's just in our faces all day long is just this perfect home and that's what's going to make it wonderful and that's not that's not true. 23:05.978 --> 23:06.999 [SPEAKER_01]: That's probably might. 23:07.422 --> 23:09.802 [SPEAKER_01]: if you're really clean and really like decorating. 23:10.103 --> 23:11.883 [SPEAKER_01]: But if you don't, it might just be really stressful. 23:12.083 --> 23:12.363 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 23:12.463 --> 23:17.984 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think we've all been in homes where it looked pretty, but you didn't really feel welcomed. 23:18.244 --> 23:18.364 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 23:18.444 --> 23:21.225 [SPEAKER_00]: And conversely, I talk about my grandmothers. 23:21.585 --> 23:22.765 [SPEAKER_00]: She had a trailer. 23:22.785 --> 23:25.286 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was a mobile unit. 23:25.346 --> 23:26.886 [SPEAKER_00]: I guess trailers may be unfair. 23:27.246 --> 23:28.546 [SPEAKER_00]: But it was cluttered. 23:28.886 --> 23:30.246 [SPEAKER_00]: We loved being there though. 23:30.306 --> 23:32.847 [SPEAKER_00]: Like she just, she embodied like 23:33.277 --> 23:36.079 [SPEAKER_00]: She loved everyone of her great kids so much. 23:36.459 --> 23:37.860 [SPEAKER_00]: You knew you were welcome there. 23:38.160 --> 23:47.546 [SPEAKER_00]: And she, you know, she would go to Sam's club and get like a two gallon thing of sliced peaches, which those are not really great for you looking back. 23:49.167 --> 23:50.949 [SPEAKER_00]: But they were good. 23:51.969 --> 23:52.870 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, exactly. 23:53.535 --> 23:53.735 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 23:53.895 --> 23:54.836 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, and it wasn't. 23:54.916 --> 23:55.356 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 23:55.736 --> 23:56.257 [SPEAKER_00]: I know. 23:56.517 --> 23:56.877 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 23:57.337 --> 23:59.278 [SPEAKER_00]: So, but we loved being there. 23:59.679 --> 24:00.959 [SPEAKER_00]: And that was because of her. 24:01.160 --> 24:03.801 [SPEAKER_00]: She was a really loving person. 24:04.021 --> 24:05.922 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just, there's a lot of levels to it. 24:06.102 --> 24:10.845 [SPEAKER_00]: But I just love that God is so kind and I think he directs our steps. 24:11.025 --> 24:14.948 [SPEAKER_00]: If this is something we want to improve on, we want to make this family culture. 24:14.968 --> 24:21.712 [SPEAKER_00]: I think he honors that request and he'll show us what it looks like in this stage because we can't do everything. 24:22.352 --> 24:32.381 [SPEAKER_00]: life is overwhelming and there's seasons that you just are dragging along but he's so good and he can give us the not only the direction of what to do but the strength to do it. 24:32.561 --> 24:37.965 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, how has your dependence on God changed your motherhood and your home culture? 24:38.226 --> 24:39.607 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a really good question. 24:39.807 --> 24:47.193 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think it's changed everything about everything because I in particular and this is a chapter in the book but prayer 24:49.475 --> 24:52.937 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I feel like I've always been a Christian. 24:53.077 --> 24:56.418 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm grateful to say that, you know, it was baptized as a baby. 24:56.538 --> 25:00.000 [SPEAKER_00]: And just I don't remember a day that I wasn't walking with the Lord. 25:00.460 --> 25:06.042 [SPEAKER_00]: But prayer was always like, hmm, I feel like I should do it, but like, I don't know, I need to until I became a parent. 25:06.342 --> 25:08.543 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was like, I was desperate. 25:08.943 --> 25:10.244 [SPEAKER_00]: We needed something. 25:10.304 --> 25:11.385 [SPEAKER_00]: We needed help. 25:11.725 --> 25:16.947 [SPEAKER_00]: And so it took a very serious turn of like no Lord, like you need to show up here. 25:17.327 --> 25:37.885 [SPEAKER_00]: You need to give me love for this kid that I am not feeling or you need to bring healing like if you don't show up it's we're lost and so and there is not been a prayer he is not answered I mean and it doesn't look like what I've wanted always but he has just been so good and so I've learned I think I just have so much more of a like 25:38.265 --> 25:39.126 [SPEAKER_00]: God will show up. 25:39.406 --> 25:41.627 [SPEAKER_00]: If one lost, I can go to him, he will show up. 25:41.687 --> 25:42.207 [SPEAKER_00]: He will help. 25:42.387 --> 25:48.730 [SPEAKER_01]: And what would your kind of encouragement or advice be for parents who are listening and are like, I'm feeling a little bit stuck. 25:48.890 --> 25:52.832 [SPEAKER_01]: I need to rely on God a little bit more in this area, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. 25:52.892 --> 25:57.534 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, what can they kind of do practically or spiritually to kind of get over that little hurdle or bump? 25:57.594 --> 25:58.595 [SPEAKER_01]: They may be feeling right now. 25:58.835 --> 26:08.520 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think if you haven't taken a good long walk by yourself with no phone and no earbuds and maybe just don't even talk, just like walk outside. 26:08.741 --> 26:10.301 [SPEAKER_00]: Not on the treadmill, tread bones are terrible. 26:10.502 --> 26:18.946 [SPEAKER_00]: But somewhere outside where you can kind of detach and to kind of let yourself be quiet and then to present your request to the Lord. 26:18.966 --> 26:21.668 [SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, I know that is like so. 26:22.228 --> 26:23.528 [SPEAKER_00]: Christianese answer. 26:23.708 --> 26:28.750 [SPEAKER_00]: But I just haven't ever had that happen that he hasn't shown up in some ways. 26:28.810 --> 26:35.712 [SPEAKER_00]: Like I have crazy stories of how we've prayed about things and sometimes we pray and pray for years and nothing happens. 26:35.832 --> 26:39.773 [SPEAKER_00]: But there are plenty of times that I shouldn't say nothing happens. 26:39.993 --> 26:42.433 [SPEAKER_00]: The thing we were thinking would happen didn't happen. 26:42.833 --> 26:44.494 [SPEAKER_00]: But there are so many times that 26:44.974 --> 26:49.639 [SPEAKER_00]: just like committing it to God and asking for his direction like crazy things happen. 26:49.839 --> 26:56.186 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I've had that happen just even the summer several times where you're like, wow, that was like clearly the Lord. 26:56.786 --> 27:00.530 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you have a particular story you could share with us about that? 27:01.591 --> 27:02.813 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, let's think. 27:03.293 --> 27:05.896 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the most recent think 27:07.755 --> 27:21.591 [SPEAKER_00]: My oldest son is really gifted musically, so he's sixteen and we haven't ever given him lessons, but he just has this drive and taught himself to play in Singapore and is amazing. 27:21.831 --> 27:22.352 [SPEAKER_00]: That's so cool. 27:23.425 --> 27:46.271 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, really, but then recently he kind of has been like in a little bit of a funk and kind of like I don't really want to play and we were like I don't really know what to do about that because we can't say like we're paying for lessons because we're not like how are we going to handle this and just both of us feeling like you've clearly been given a gift like what do we what are we going to do and so we prayed about it like I said to 27:46.731 --> 28:03.532 [SPEAKER_00]: Todd my husband like we need to like actually sit down and legit pray like we haven't let's and two days later my son got a text from our pastor asking him if he could be involved in worship at church like a very specific ask that like 28:04.293 --> 28:08.319 [SPEAKER_00]: was really encouraging to him and my son was like, yeah, I'm super pumped to do that. 28:08.740 --> 28:09.862 [SPEAKER_00]: It was like a one eighty. 28:10.162 --> 28:18.595 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, to hurry to the point that we were like, we've literally just right about this, but and it doesn't always happen like that, but it was so clear of light. 28:18.991 --> 28:24.055 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, we had a problem, something wasn't working and the Lord just showed up. 28:24.716 --> 28:26.778 [SPEAKER_00]: And things like that happen all the time. 28:26.798 --> 28:34.824 [SPEAKER_00]: I think we, you know, just maybe don't allow ourselves to experience that because we don't really genuinely like pray. 28:34.844 --> 28:37.226 [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's such a cool example. 28:37.326 --> 28:43.071 [SPEAKER_01]: I love that story because it shows how God sees us and he hears our prayers and he wants to meet our needs. 28:43.413 --> 28:47.814 [SPEAKER_01]: but also how important community is and like just seeing kids. 28:48.154 --> 28:52.595 [SPEAKER_01]: Like that's so cool to have someone reach out to your child and be like, I want you to do this. 28:52.855 --> 28:53.416 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't love that. 28:53.736 --> 28:55.136 [SPEAKER_01]: Because that makes me feel special and needed. 28:55.156 --> 28:56.196 [SPEAKER_01]: That's just me saying. 28:56.256 --> 28:57.276 [SPEAKER_01]: You're exactly right. 28:57.717 --> 28:57.977 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 28:58.137 --> 28:58.337 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 28:58.717 --> 28:58.977 [SPEAKER_01]: Cool. 28:59.057 --> 28:59.597 [SPEAKER_01]: I love that. 28:59.657 --> 29:04.918 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, can you tell us how we can connect with you and about your book where we can find it? 29:04.998 --> 29:08.179 [SPEAKER_01]: Because I think people are probably gonna want to hear more and I'll link it and show notes. 29:08.439 --> 29:11.300 [SPEAKER_01]: Tell us how we can connect with you and find all of your resources. 29:11.547 --> 29:15.829 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so I'm over at Instagram at Jessica.spartsmart has two teas. 29:16.509 --> 29:21.192 [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, if you've been resonating with this conversation, you'll just love come on home. 29:21.372 --> 29:22.893 [SPEAKER_00]: That's my newest book. 29:22.973 --> 29:27.195 [SPEAKER_00]: My first book was Memory Making Mom about building traditions and then let them be kids. 29:27.275 --> 29:29.696 [SPEAKER_00]: And that'll be awesome if you could link those. 29:29.716 --> 29:35.579 [SPEAKER_00]: They're all great in different facets, but this come on home is just really, really special. 29:35.639 --> 29:38.060 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's really gonna resonate with people. 29:38.180 --> 29:38.700 [SPEAKER_00]: I think so too. 29:38.740 --> 29:39.841 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a very cozy book. 29:40.241 --> 29:42.203 [SPEAKER_00]: Like when you read it, it's very cozy. 29:42.483 --> 29:43.284 [SPEAKER_00]: So, yeah. 29:43.364 --> 29:44.285 [SPEAKER_01]: So, and the camera. 29:44.365 --> 29:47.208 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to go check out the cover because it's so cute. 29:47.829 --> 29:48.789 [SPEAKER_01]: It is really beautiful. 29:48.810 --> 29:49.570 [SPEAKER_01]: It is. 29:49.630 --> 29:51.352 [SPEAKER_01]: I was kind of admiring it today too. 29:51.432 --> 29:55.696 [SPEAKER_01]: So, I will link it all and hopefully people will go and connect with you and get their own coffee. 29:55.876 --> 29:56.777 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much. 29:57.158 --> 29:58.319 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, thank you for joining me. 29:58.339 --> 29:59.880 [SPEAKER_01]: I really appreciate all of your insight. 30:00.281 --> 30:00.561 [SPEAKER_01]: Awesome. 30:00.581 --> 30:01.382 [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for having me. 30:08.157 --> 30:09.559 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening today. 30:09.579 --> 30:15.645 [SPEAKER_01]: I hope that you're leaving this conversation with fresh encouragement and some simple steps you can take to strengthen your family. 30:16.026 --> 30:17.888 [SPEAKER_01]: Right where you are with what you already have. 30:18.558 --> 30:25.020 [SPEAKER_01]: Remember, a loving home doesn't require perfection, just intentional relationships in God's grace in the middle of all of it. 30:25.560 --> 30:29.902 [SPEAKER_01]: Don't forget that I have links to find Jessica in the show notes, so make sure you go there and check that all out. 30:30.482 --> 30:31.602 [SPEAKER_01]: May God bless you this week. 30:31.782 --> 30:34.343 [SPEAKER_01]: May your home be filled with peace, patience, and joy. 30:34.563 --> 30:40.525 [SPEAKER_01]: May He give you wisdom as you parent, grace in your imperfections, and deep connections with the ones you love the most.