LOVING LIFE AT HOME - Christian Marriage, Biblical Parenting, Creative Homemaking, Purposeful Living

The best laid plans sometimes go awry. How should we respond when that happens? That's what we're discussing on Loving Life at Home this week: What should one do when things don't go as planned? Show Notes VERSES CITED: - Proverbs 16:9 - “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”  - Matt 10:29-31 - “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” -James 4:13-15 - “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’  Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’”  -Philippians 2:4 - “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” - Proverbs 17:22 - “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”  - Philippians 2:3 - “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:8-24 - "But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.  For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him...." RELATED LINKS: - Episode 23: A Hill Country Christmas - Thai Lucky Sushi Bar - Yanaguana Gardens & Playground - Pioneer Museum of Fredricksburg - FBC Mainstreet Bethlehem in Burnet, TX  

It's Thanksgiving week, so I'm counting my blessings, and my 12 children are right up there at the top of the list. Another thing I'm grateful for? The fact my husband didn't cut my childbearing years short by getting a vasectomy, though he definitely considered it at one point. Listen to this week's episode to hear why, and to learn what stopped him from going through with it.  Show Notes: VERSES CITED:  - Colossians 1:16-17 - "...all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." - Hebrews 1:3 - "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word." - Revelation 4:11 - “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” - 1 Corinthians 8:6 - "...there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all things came and through Whom we live." RELATED LINKS: - More than Meets the Eye - this is the book by Richard Swenson that made such an impression on my husband (I don't think I gave the title in the podcast) - Always Open: 5 Reasons I Love Having My Tubes Intact - my response to an article from the other side of the issue, written by a woman who was grateful to have hers tied - Postponing Motherhood: At What Cost? - my review of Holly Grigg-Spall's Sweetening the Pill

This week on Loving Life at Home, I'm tackling a question about early education for preschoolers: What can a mom of multiple toddlers do to make sure her little ones are getting what they need? Those were pressing thoughts on my mind, too, when I was a young mom, and in today's episode, I'm sharing the advice a wise mentor gave me at the time. It served me and my children well and will hopefully do the same for you and yours! Show Notes RELATED LINKS: - Laying the Foundation for a LIfetime of Learning - 50 Picture Books Every Child Should Read - Cultivating Creativity in Young Children - Raising Kids Who Love to Read - Keeping Toddlers Occupied - 50 Chapter Books to Read Aloud to Your Family - Choosing Curricula Your Children Will Love

Explore practical tips for handling a 'Jekyll and Hyde' husband with compassion and understanding. Discover how to identify stressors that trigger mood swings and learn the importance of tracking patterns. Gain insights into reacting positively, focusing on strengths, and the power of prayer. Jennifer shares her wisdom on addressing issues during calm moments and emphasizes self-examination in the marital dynamic. Tune in for encouragement and actionable advice that fosters a peaceful home life.

Explore insightful strategies for overcoming negative thoughts and embracing positive change. Discover how scripture can guide you in battling fear and worry through faith and prayer. Learn practical steps for managing anger, combatting pride, and resisting temptations. Count blessings to overcome jealousy and find freedom from bitterness through forgiveness. Embrace your worth in Christ while replacing unbiblical thoughts with the truth of Scripture. Each tip empowers you to renew your mind and foster a healthier mindset.

Today is my mom's 87th birthday, and this episode is in her honor. I'm immeasurably blessed to have the mother God gave me, and have learned so much from her over the years. Today I'm sharing 8 crucial things my mom did right, so you can benefit from her good example, too. Show Notes: VERSES CITED: - Proverbs 31:15 - “She rises while yet it is night....”  - Proverbs 31:17 - “She sets about her work vigorously....”  - Proverbs 31:25 - "She is clothed with strength and dignity...." - Proverbs 31:26 - "She opens her mouth with skillful and godly wisdom...." - Proverbs 31:27-31 - “She looks well to how things go in her household...." - James 5:16 - “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” - Ephesians 5:22 - “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” - Ephesians 5:33 - “...and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” - Colossians 3:8 - “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” - John 15:13 - “Greater love has no one than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends.”  - Philippians 2:3-4 - “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind...." - 1 Peter 4:9 - “Show hospitality to one another without complaining.” - Ecclesiastes 12:12 - “...excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.” - Proverbs 9:18 - “Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives." - Proverbs 3:24 - “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” - Hebrews 10:24-25 - “…not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some....” - 1 Peter 3:15 - "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to....” - Romans 12:15 - "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." RELATED LINKS:  - Free Printable Prayer Guides - EP 1: How to Find a Good Mentor - EP 38: Making the Most of Your Child's Learning Style - Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich   STAY CONNECTED: - Subscribe: Flanders Family Freebies -(weekly themed link lists of free resources) - Instagram: follow @flanders_family for more great content - Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life (parenting tips, homeschool help, lots of free printables!)  - Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home  (encouragement in your roles as wife, mother, believer)          

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Does getting ready for the holidays feel burdensome or overwhelming to you? In Episode 63 of Loving Life at Home, we're discussing strategies to steer clear of stress, side-step the hustle-bustle, and enjoy a merry, meaningful, and blissfully peaceful advent season. Show Notes RELATED VERSES: - Philippians 4:6 - "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." - Romans 14:5 - "One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind." - Proverbs 6:6-8 - "Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise. Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest." LINKS MENTIONED: - Episode 2: tips for getting along with difficult or demanding family members - 6 Steps to a Stress-Free Holiday Season - source material for this podcast - Our Family Christmas Letters - all our past annual updates plus tips for creating your own - Our Christmas Card Assembly Line - one of my families all-time favorite traditions - Simple Bucket List - poll your family members on the top few things they don't want to miss - 6 Fun Ways to Count Down to Christmas - including the Christmas books we traditionally read - 50 Fun Things to Do With Your Family This Christmas - we just pick and choose from this list - Rakuten - a fantastic FREE cashback program which has saved me a bundle over the years - How to Install the Rakuten Browser Button - this will automatically alert you when cashback is available - Shifting Christmas Focus - my full answer to the mom whose entitled kids were driving her crazy - Large Family Gift-Giving - a more detailed answer to one mama's inquiry on this topic - Super Stocking Stuffers - a list of some of the small gifts we've put in our kids' stockings over the years - Smart Ideas for Turning Trash into Treasure - some of the recycled art projects our kids have enjoyed  - Elfster - gift exchange app - Thinking of Others at Christmas - brainstorming ways to be a blessing to others at Christmas - Taming the Toy Box - includes list of most worthwhile, lasting toys and how to keep them organized - Age-Appropriate Chore Chart - a good starting place for incorporating your children's help   STAY CONNECTED: - Subscribe: Flanders Family Freebies -(weekly themed link lists of free resources) - Instagram: follow @flanders_family for more great content - Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life (parenting tips, homeschool help, lots of free printables!)  - Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home  (encouragement in your roles as wife, mother, believer)        

Despite the fact the world proclaims with one loud voice, “You are enough!” that has never been the way it has played out in my life. And do you know what? It’s liberating to admit that fact. Join me today as we discuss why we should reject that self-affirmation for the lie it is. Show Notes VERSES CITED: - John 10:10 - "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life...." - Romans 3:23 - “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” - Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” - 1 Corinthians 1:25 - "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God...." - James 1:5 - "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives to all generously & without reproach...." - 2 Corinthians 5:21 - "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become...." - Ephesians 1:7-8 - "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with...." - Romans 8:29 - "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...." - James 1:4 - "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” - Revelation 5:12 - "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive... honor and glory and praise!” - Ephesians 2:4-5 - "We were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is..." - 2 Corinthians 3:5 - “Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from...." - Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift...." - Romans 9:16 - “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” - Philippians 2:13 - "... it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." - Philippians 1:6 – “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion....” - Romans 6:13 - "...offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life...." - 1 John 1 8-9 - "...If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us ...."   RELATED LINKS: - I Am Not Enough (& Why It's Liberating to Admit It) - blog post I wrote in 2017 - Confession of an Unlikely Convert - book by Rosaria Butterfield (her personal testimony; published in 2014) - The Gospel Comes with a House Key - another great book by Rosaria Butterfield (2018) - Another Gospel? - must-read book by Alisa Childers (2020) - Live Your Truth - another wonderful book by Alisa Childers (2022) - M is for Mama – such an encouraging read from my friend Abbie Halberstadt (2022) - Hard is Not the Same Thing as Bad – an even better book by Abbie (2023) - You Are Not Enough (& That's Okay) - book by Allie Beth Stuckey (2020)   STAY CONNECTED: - Subscribe: Flanders Family Freebies -(weekly themed link lists of free resources) - Instagram: follow @flanders_family for more great content - Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life (parenting tips, homeschool help, lots of free printables!)  - Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home  (encouragement in your roles as wife, mother, believer)  

We've all said or done things that we later regret, sometimes profoundly so. But where does regret come from, and how are we supposed to handle this tangle of negative emotions? That's our topic for this week's episode of Loving Life at Home Show Notes VERSES CITED: - Romans 8:28 - "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love...." - Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will...." - Proverbs 31:10-31 - "...She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it...." - Proverbs 13:12 - "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." - Hebrews 12:1-2 - "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus...." - 1 Corinthians 7:17 - "...each person should live as a believer in whatever situation...." - Philippians 4:11-13 - "...I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am...."  - Romans 10:9 - “If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe...." - Matthew 11:28 - “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." - James 1:2-3 - "Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials...." - Job 1:21 - "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” - Job 2:10 - "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and not accept adversity?”  - Ephesians 4:31-32 - "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away...." - Mark 4:19 - "but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires...." - Ephesians 4:30 - "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed...." - 1 Thessalonians 5:19 - "Do not quench the Spirit." - 1 Peter 2:1 - "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." - Romans 6:12-13 - "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof...." -  Philippians 4:6 - "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving...." -  1 Peter 5:7 - "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." - Isaiah 29:16 - "...Can the pot say to the potter, 'You know nothing'?" - Galatians 5:13 - "But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." - Philippians 2:3-4 - "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard...." - Proverbs 14:12 - “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” - 1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us....” - Psalms 103:12  - "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." - Romans 8:1  - “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Proverbs 14:12 - “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way....”  - 1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and...." - Psalms 103:12 - "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west." - Philippians 3:9- "...not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ...." - Romans 8:1 -“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ....” - Luke 12:26 - “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? So, if you...." - Matthew 6:25-30 - "Do notworry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or...." - Joel 2:25 - "I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten...." - Genesis 50:20 - "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good...."   RELATED LINKS: - Forgiving Others Fully and Freely - Podcast Episode 11 - On Miscarriage -- Help for Hurting Hearts - Podcast Episode 49 - What Men Intend for Evil - a poem I wrote during a difficult season - My Books - you can find most of the books my husband and I have written here or here - Family Matters - archives of the newspaper column I wrote for several years - Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe - a free printable prayer guide - Praying for Your Wife from Head to Toe - another free printable prayer guide - 31 Scriptures to Pray over Your Husband - yet another free printable prayer guide - 30-Day Respect Challenge - my free, month-long email series for married women - 30-Day Love Challenge - my husband's free, month-long email series for married men   STAY CONNECTED: - Subscribe: Flanders Family Freebies -(weekly themed link lists of free resources) - Instagram: follow @flanders_family for more great content - Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life (parenting tips, homeschool help, lots of free printables!)  - Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home  (encouragement in your roles as wife, mother, believer)        

Grandparent's Day is coming up, so this week we're discussing how to cultivate a closer relationship between grandkids and grandparents, including things parents can do to facilitate the connection. Show Notes VERSES CITED: - James 5:16 - “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  - Philippians 4:6 - “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” - Proverbs 17:6 - "Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers." RELATED RESOURCES: - Praying for Your Grandchildren - A Free Printable Prayer Guide