As Christian homemakers, wives, and mothers, our days are often filled with countless responsibilities, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. In today’s episode, we’re diving into the practice of a brain dump—a simple tool that can help clear the clutter in our minds and refocus our hearts on what truly matters: serving the Lord and our families. We’ll also discuss how to pair this with a reliable task management system, enabling us to steward our time and responsibilities more effectively. 

As we walk through these practices together, let’s remember that our worth isn’t measured by our productivity or how perfectly we manage our homes. Our true worth is found in Christ alone. These tools are here to help us be faithful stewards of the time God has given us—not to strive for an impossible standard of perfection. 

Don’t forget to check out the free PDF handout that goes along with this episode to help you get started!

Head over to ThankfulHomemaker.com for full show notes on all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. 

Grab a copy of the free PDF Guide for this episode in our Free Library of Resources. 

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Gossip is a prevalent and poisonous sin that is often overlooked, but our words have the power to bring either death or life to our relationships. We are diving into what the Bible says about gossip, its consequences, and practical ways to guard our speech to build others up. We'll explore biblical principles and wise practices to resist gossip and use our words to reflect God's love and grace.

Head over to ThankfulHomemaker.com for full show notes on all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. 

Practical Ways to Cultivate Grace-Filled Speech

EP 67: Speech Seasoned with Grace and Kindness

EP 1: Taming Our Tongues

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Mary's humble and obedient servant-like approach inspires Christian homemakers to transform their homes into nurturing spaces of faith and trust, echoing her commitment to serve according to God's plan

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Luke (Reformed Expository Commentary by Philip Graham Ryken

2023 Christmas Gift Guide

All Christmas Posts & Podcasts

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Have you ever been kind to someone outwardly, all the while you were harboring bitterness or anger towards them on the inside? What about thinking the best of others? I fight a critical spirit, and it's an area I continually pray for the Lord to work in my heart to not judge the motives of others.

God's work of sanctification comes about by continuing to change us more into the image of Christ. Our motives need to be brought into obedience to God's Word if we desire to see real change in our lives.   As we take this time to spend in the Sermon on the Mount and in 1 Corinthians 13 my hope is it will get us pondering and asking the Lord to search our hearts and more specifically our heart motives on why we do what we do and how we judge the motives of others

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How do we determine what is the best use of our time? We know amid the mundaneness of our days, the work the Lord has given us in our homes matters for eternity. God has a purpose in all things. There is no secular work in Christ; all is sacred.

As homemakers, we desire to be productive and accomplish much in the time we’re given. It feels good when we check those tasks off our to-do lists and then the reality hits that most of them are back on it again tomorrow. It’s hard sometimes to determine how to prioritize our days and feel like we are getting things done.

How do we determine what to do next? I’ve quoted Elisabeth Elliot’s words to you often of “Do the Next Thing,” but what is the next best thing to do? How do we determine we are using our time wisely?

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What does it look like to live a fruitful life in the empty nest years?  What do I do now? What does my day to day life look like? Am I needed anymore? These are questions that raced through my mind as the empty nest season approached and was quickly upon me.

I don't have all the answers, but I desire to share some thoughts with you on lessons the Lord has taught me and what He continues to teach me in this season that I've grown to cherish much more than I initially thought I would.

Do you desire to flourish in your empty nest years? What about my younger readers? Please don't pass this one up because it will hopefully give you something to think about and to encourage you as you interact with the older women in your life.

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Most of us have been impacted by the writings of Charles Spurgeon, whether it’s through books, his sermons or even the many quotes we come across as we scroll through our social media feeds. Susannah Spurgeon is probably not as familiar to us except for the knowledge that we know she was married to Charles.

My first introduction to Susannah’s writings was in a favored devotional of mine called Seasons of the Heart. Susannah’s writings are appealing as Ray Rhodes Jr. explained so beautifully:

“for she brings her readers into her thoughts of her heart, as if she has poured a cup of tea for her guests, invited them to draw near to the fire, and engaged them in conversation. She respected her readers, treating them as friends.”

Reading Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, wife of Charles H. Spurgeon, has made me feel as if I just got to spend time with a dear friend and I didn’t want our time to come to an end. It is a well written, complete biography filled with historical records, personal writings from the Spurgeon’s and wonderful testimonies from family and friends.

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Fasting is a way to show the Lord we enjoy Him more than His gifts. It turns our focus on Jesus because we know He is the only one who can satisfy our spiritual hunger. We desire to be filled with the Lord.

You can find all podcasts on the Spiritual Disciplines in this series here. The two books I'm utilizing the most for the series are Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Habits of Grace. 

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We are called in Ephesians 4:29 to respond with words that give grace, encourage, and build up. This includes those hard moments when our kids are sinfully disobedient. If my motives to correct are focused on my pride or being inconvenienced, then it's not going to come out in a way that is going to be in the spirit of Ephesians 4:29.

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What is evangelism? The dictionary definition defines it as the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.

So evangelism is the announcement, proclamation, and preaching of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), which is the good news of and about Jesus Christ. It is a verbal message.

As Christians, we are all called to be God’s mouthpieces. Along with being salt and light to a lost world, we are called to open our mouths and share the good news—the best news we could ever share. 

Donald Whitney defines evangelism:

"It is clearly presenting Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to sinful people with the hope that they may see their sinfulness against a holy God and repent and put their faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation."

You can find all podcasts on the Spiritual Disciplines in this series here. The two books I'm utilizing the most for the series are Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Habits of Grace. 

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As I am now over half a century old, I wanted to share some of the thoughts that go through my mind as I look back over the years of my marriage and raising our family.  There are so many good memories and things I wouldn't change, but there are many things I wish I would have grasped at a younger age.  

If I could go back here are some of the most important things I would like to tell my younger self:

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Spiritual journaling is a way to slow our lives down and ponder deeply over the events of the day. In my life journaling has helped me to grow spiritually by discerning my thoughts and motives. It has shown me areas where I need to give thanks and praise to the Lord. My journaling time has reminded me of situations or people I need to be in prayer for.

Journaling is an excellent time for me to see areas of weakness and set spiritual goals and not always just spiritual but other areas of my life that need some help too. Maybe I need to be better disciplined in my internet habits, or my homekeeping or some of my relationships may need time and attention. This is a good time to evaluate all areas of my life.

God’s Word doesn’t specifically talk about journaling it is a spiritual discipline that many saints over the years have benefitted from and I think of how we have profited by the journals of the saints of the past. I think of the journals like the diary of David Brainerd by Jonathan Edwards, or George Mueller’s autobiography or Jim Elliot’s journal put together by Elisabeth Elliot. These are treasures we have of how the Lord worked in and through their lives. 

You can find all podcasts on the Spiritual Disciplines in this series here. The two books I'm utilizing the most for the series are Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Habits of Grace. 

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Prayer is simply talking to God. As believers, we have access to God the Father through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Prayer reminds us we are dependent on God for every aspect of our lives and we grow in that relationship by communing with Him in prayer. Donald Whitney reminds us in regards to the spiritual disciplines that prayer is second only to Bible intake in the order of importance.

Prayer is not demanding but we are coming before the Lord with open hands to what He knows is best for us. 

You can find all podcasts on the Spiritual Disciplines in this series here. The two books I'm utilizing the most for the series are Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Habits of Grace. 

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As we walk through Colossians 3:1-4, we will discuss the importance of setting our minds on things above, walk through what it means to live our lives hidden with Christ in God, and the transformative effect this can have on our earthly and eternal lives

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We're continuing in a series on the Spiritual Disciplines and today's episode is on Bible Study. We're going to talk about the benefits, explain some basic Bible study methods, share some resources to help you get started digging into the Word.

Jerry Bridges says in regard to God’s Word - "Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth."

*I stated in the podcast the next episode in the Spiritual Disciplines series will be on prayer, and it will be up on Tuesday, April 23rd instead of April 22nd. 

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We all want to grow in our walk as Christians. We've talked about how often we read God’s Word close the book and forget what we’ve read. We can blame our memories or our intelligence or our age, but the reality is it has more to do with our method than our abilities. Today's podcast episode is going to address areas that are important to our growth as believers: Meditation on God's Word and Scripture Memory. 

God desires us all to grow in the grace and knowledge of His Word, so we are all capable and equipped as believers by the work of Spirit of God in us.

We talked in our last episode on bible reading that we need to read the Word and hear the Word preached but just doing those two things doesn't always guarantee we will remember or be able to apply what we read. So then we briefly touched on meditating on the Word because this is where growth starts to come about.

Donald Whitney described it as:

“While hearing and reading plant the seed of Scripture into the soil of our souls, other disciplines are the water and sun God uses to bring the growth and fruit of Christlikeness in our lives.”

When we talk about meditation, please don’t get the image of a yoga class or some other kind of New Age practice. What the world describes as meditation is not what Christian meditation is. Again we are not emptying our minds, but in Christian meditation, we are filling our mind with God and His truth. 

Donald Whitney gives us a good definition:

"Let’s define meditation as deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture, or upon life from a scriptural perspective, for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer." 

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We are continuing in a series here at the podcast on the Spiritual Disciplines. On today's episode, we are going to discuss the importance of reading God's Word along with some practical helps to implement it into our days.

We have a God that we can know and meet with and because of that, we should meet with God on a regular daily basis.

My hope is by the end of the podcast today that we would all see and understand why we need to do this as those who are born again - first off if we’re in Christ God is our Father, and we are His children. I want to spend time with my Heavenly Father. I desire to know Him more because as I do that I get a clearer understanding of who I am in light of Him and it changes my perspective of the world as I begin to see all of life and the world through His perspective. This only comes about as I spend time with Him in worship, in fellowship and in the reading of His Word—which is the topic today. 

I can only come before God because of Jesus—He is the mediator between God and sinful man. If we’re in Christ, we have access to the Father, and we can meet with Him and know Him because of Jesus. 

Hebrews 4:16 tells us  - Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

John 17:17 tells sanctify them in truth - your word is truth. Jesus is praying for our sanctification the process of being made more and more into Christlikeness. It’s to be like Jesus. He is asking the Father to do this by the truth. What is truth? God’s Word is truth. We are sanctified by truth - God’s Word is truth, so we are sanctified by the Word of God. I could just stop here because that’s a pretty good reason enough for us to be in the Word on a regular daily basis. 

If you haven't listened to the first one in this series you can do that here - EP 52 Introduction to the Spiritual Disciplines

Show Notes:

Philippians 4:8 Questions to Help You Meditate on the Word:

-What is true about this, or what truth does it exemplify?

-What is honorable about this?

-What is just or right about this?

-What is pure about this, or how does it exemplify purity?

-What is lovely about this?

-What is commendable about this?

-What is excellent about this (that excels others of this kind)?

-What is praiseworthy about this?

~ Above Questions taken from Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life

Hebrews 4:16

John 17:17

2 Peter 1:20-21

2 Timothy 3:16

Galatians 1:12

2 Peter 3:15-16

Matthew 4:4

Nehemiah 8:1-4

1 Timothy 4:13

Luke 11:28

1 Timothy 4:7

Matthew 19:4

Mark 12:10

Philippians 4:8

Seeking Whatever is Good(Review of All That's Good by Hannah Anderson)

EP 52: Introduction to the Spiritual Disciplines

Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines by David Mathis

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney

Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Minds by Jen Wilkin

What is a Healthy Church Member? by Thabiti M. Anyabwile

Listen Up! A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons by Christopher Ash

The Daily Bible (NIV) Chronological by F. LaGard Smith

ESV Daily Reading Bible by Crossway

Reading Plan App 

Infographic: You Have More Time for Bible Reading than You Think

Develop a Daily Bible Reading Habit - Find Bible Reading plan options in this post

Robert Murray M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Elisabeth Elliot on Hints for a Quiet Time

Podcast EP 15: Prioritizing God's Word When Life is Busy

Women's Hope Podcast

YouVersion Bible App

Thankful Homemaker Facebook Group

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We're starting a new series here at the podcast on the spiritual disciplines. Today's episode is introducing us to what they are and the vital role they play in our sanctification as believers.

In this series, we’re going to talk about why we need to practice them and share practical biblical ways how we as followers of Jesus Christ can pursue Christlikeness through these means of grace. 

The means of grace or spiritual disciplines (Bible intake, prayer, and fellowship the three main areas and we’ll work through each of them more each episode) are ways the Holy Spirit conforms us more and more into the image of Christ. 

I have two primary resources in addition to scripture that I'm utilizing in this series, and they are Donald Whitney's book called, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines by David Mathis. I encourage you if you want to dig a bit deeper to grab a copy of both or one of these as we work through them together. 

Spiritual Disciplines we hope to cover in this series: Bible reading, Bible Study, Meditation, Prayer, Fasting, Evangelism, Journaling, Fellowship and Service. 

Romans 8:28

1 John 3:2

1 Peter 1:16

1 Timothy 4:7-8

John 14:6

Acts 2:42

Romans 8:29

Philippians 1:6

Philippians 3:8

John 17:3

Colossians 1:9-11

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney

Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines by David Mathis

Simplify Your Spiritual Life: Spiritual Disciplines for the Overwhelmed by Donald Whitney

The Disciplines of the Christian Life by Eric Liddell

Holy Helps for a Godly Life by Richard Rogers

Podcast EP 6: What Does Self-Discipline Look Like in Our Homes @Thankful Homemaker

The Center for Biblical Spirituality- Donald Whitney's Website (tons of helpful resources to dig into)

What are the Spiritual Disciplines @Desiring God

What are the Spiritual Disciplines @Got Questions

Thankful Homemaker Facebook Group

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How many times do we give thanks to the Lord for the ministry He has given us at home. Are we thankful for the mundane everyday moments or are we are only thankful when we think we are doing “great” things for the Lord?

We live in God's home. He owns it. He has gifted it to us and given us the job of stewardship over it. He's put us in charge, and we are responsible to Him.

As believers, it should make us work harder, and we shouldn't desire to escape from work or difficult situations because we know they are all with a purpose and we also know we are equipped to meet these situations in Christ.

Mundane tasks are what make up most of our days. Everything matters —all of life is sacred. Once we’re in Christ there is no separation of secular or sacred. Every moment is a holy moment that God has ordained.

Do we think biblically about our time and what we see as these seemingly mundane tasks? We don’t see many photos on social media of people folding laundry or washing dishes—there’s no special medals or awards for these tasks. This is where we need to continually ask the Lord to gives us a mindset of remembering that the mundane matters. It's in these moments that He is growing us in holiness. 

Marriage Series at Thankful Homemaker

G3 Conference

Cultivating a Heart for Missions in Your Family

Titus 2:3-5

Colossians 3:23

Colossians 3:17

1 Corinthians 10:31

Romans 12:1-2

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, Wife of Charles H. Spurgeon by Ray Rhodes Jr. 

Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home by Gloria Furman

Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp 

Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother by Carolyn Mahaney

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I'm re-sharing a previous episode I need to re-listen to this time of year. I'm praying it will be an encouragement to you today.

We are already nearing Christmas Eve and plans that I had to bake or buy or clean haven’t all been finished.  There are gifts I wanted to purchase or send that didn’t happen.  There are cookies I wanted to bake that I didn’t get too and areas I wanted to tidy at home that I didn’t even get close to doing. But I want to share with you today reminders that I’m talking to myself about what I am choosing. I’m hoping to help us keep our focus on the main thing this Christmas season.

You can read the full podcast here, but my hope is you will sit with me for just a few minutes of your day and listen in to the podcast and let me pour into you a bit.

Podcast EP 50: Lessons from the Life of Mary

Christ-Focused Gift Guide for the Whole Family

Christmas Love, 1 Corinthians Style

Podcast EP 9: Christ-Focused Christmas Celebration Ideas

Thoughts to Ponder as You Celebrate Christmas

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Every Christmas season I look forward to reading the account of the birth of Christ in Luke together as a family on Christmas morning. I'm amazed at Mary's faith.  What must have gone through her mind when Gabriel approached her?  How did she process the news that she and Joseph were to raise the Son of God?  What depths of sorrow did she endure while watching her Son die a horrific death on a cross?  There are many lessons we can learn from Mary’s life, but I want to share just ten today.

1.  Mary knew God's Word. (Luke 1:54-55)

2.  Mary was filled with the Spirit. (Luke 1:35)

3. Mary said "yes" to God's plan for her life. (Luke 1:38)

4.  Mary was quiet before the Lord and meditated on all He had done in her life. (Luke 2:19, Luke 2:51)

5.  Mary turned to Jesus for help when she had a problem to be solved. (John 2:3-5)

6.  Mary was a woman of worship.(Luke 1:46-47)

7.  Mary trusted in the Lord and waited on the His timing. (Matthew 1:19-20)

8.  Mary was a chosen vessel of the Lord. (Luke 1:30-31)

9.  Mary was a faithful servant. (John 19:25)

10. Mary knew Jesus was dying on the cross for her sins. (Luke 2:34-35)

Luke 2:19

Matthew 7:21

Romans 8:9-10

John MacArthur Study Bible

Mary of Nazareth@Revive Our Hearts

Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur

My Soul Magnifies the Lord: Meditations on the Meaning of Christmas by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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10 Lessons from the Life of Mary

Christmas Love, 1 Corinthians 13 Style

Podcast EP 9: Christ-Focused Christmas Celebration Ideas

Our Simple Family Christmas Traditions

Thoughts to Ponder as You Celebrate Christmas

How to Avoid the Comparison Trap this Christmas Season

Podcast EP 11: Serving with a Mary Heart in a Martha Season

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Many times in my walk as a believer I have heard and read the term "abide in Christ" and didn't have a full understanding of what that meant. I know abide means to remain in, and I pictured it as a state of resting in Christ. Studying through John 15 has been a help to me in grasping fully what our Lord meant as he walked and talked with His disciples on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Picture this; our Lord had just left the Upper Room in John 13 & 14 where He and the disciples shared a Passover meal together. During their time together in the Upper Room Jesus washed the disciple's feet and He dismissed Judas who would betray him (John 13). Now in John 15, they are headed in the darkness of the night to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus's timing in giving this teaching to his disciples was needed as they were going to face hard times ahead and this lesson is relevant to us today as we meet difficult days. So let's learn together what it looks like to abide in Christ, be a real disciple and bear fruit for our Lord. I'm working through  John 15:1-11 today. 

John 13

John 14

John 15:1-11

Galatians 5:22-23

Isaiah 53:3

1 Peter 1:8

Abiding in Christ: Becoming Like Christ through an Abiding Relationship with Him by Paul Chappell

John 15 Study Doorposts Blog

What Does it Mean to Abide in Christ?

Christ-Focused Gift Guide for the Whole Family

Christmas Love, 1 Corinthians Style

Podcast EP 9: Christ-Focused Christmas Celebration Ideas

Thoughts to Ponder as You Celebrate Christmas

Podcast EP 11: Serving with a Mary Heart in a Martha Season

Find the full show notes at the blog here - ThankfulHomemaker.com

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It’s not the gingerbread houses or cookies or special meals that will have the most impact on your family. It is the attitude of your heart. It is them seeing the Gospel lived out in your day to day life – even in the midst of busy seasons.

As the busy Christmas season is upon us we can find ourselves all wrapped up (literally wrapping too) in planning, cooking, cleaning, shopping, decorating, ministry activities and a multitude of other tasks that seem to come about during the Christmas season in addition to just the normal activities of life that we are dealing with.

I can lose focus and need to continue to pray to the Lord to remind me to have the heart of Mary and not get caught up with the attitude of Martha in all that needs to be done. I’m a very task focused person, and it’s how my mind works so I need to be intentional and prayerful to not miss the wonder of the Christmas season.

The Christmas season can be a time – a reminder to us to refocus - to again to think deeply about the realities of who Jesus is and what He has done for us.

Luke 1:28-29

Luke 2:19

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Philippians 2:14

Matthew 1

Luke 2

Isaiah 7

Isaiah 9

Micah 5

Matthew 25:40

Come Let Us Adore Him by Paul Tripp

Good News of Great Joy at Desiring God

Ever Thine Home

10 Questions to Ask at a Christmas Gathering

Jesus Unmasked by Todd Friel

Wretched.org

Answers in Genesis Christmas Cards

14 Simple Outreach Ideas with an Eternal Focus

Remember When Tractat Living Waters

Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper

ESV Giveaway Bibles

Celebrating Advent: Looking Back and Looking Forward

10 Simple & Practical Hostess Gifts

Christ-Focused Gift Guide for the Whole Family

Christ-Focused Christmas Gift Guide 2017

Podcast Ep 11: Serving with a Mary Heart in a Martha Season

14 Simple Outreach Ideas with an Eternal Focus

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We live in a world where it can be quick to pass judgments instead of seeing the best in others. We can find ourselves expressing our opinions harshly when we differ from one another.

Watching debates between Christians online when there is a disagreement makes me cringe a bit when I see the responses towards one another not gentle and kind. Disagreement is inevitable, but there is a way as believers that God’s Word lays out for us what that should look like.

There is the reality of being hurt by the words of others and instead of taking the way of meekness, we take the route of defending our rights.

Bringing it closer to home, how are your responses to those you are closest? What does a gentle spirit look like in the context of your marriage or with your children?

1 Peter 3:4

Matthew 5:5

Romans 8:28

Isaiah 41:17

Matthew 21:5

Matthew 11:29

Ephesians 4:29

Philippians 4:5

1 Peter 3:15

James 1:5

James 3:17

Cultivating a Gentle Spirit @Thankful Homemaker

What Does it Mean to Be Poor in Spirit? @Got Questions

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martin Lloyd Jones

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Sharing simple Thanksgiving planning and traditions to keep Christ at the center of your family’s celebration.

Head over to ThankfulHomemaker.com for full show notes

Thanksgiving Planning Course - Code THANKFUL for 25% off

Resources to Help Your Family Celebrate a Christ-Focused Thanksgiving

All Thanksgiving Resources at the Blog

Amazon Thanksgiving Book Recommendations 

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How can we as believers "put on" an attitude of love in our homes? What does it look like to "put off" sinful responses and attitudes and "put on" God-honoring attitudes? I'm hoping today to encourage you that as believers we can "put on" attitudes and behaviors that are God-honoring. If we are in Christ, He has equipped us to do so through His presence within us and through our intake of God's truth.

We're working through Ephesians 4:22-24 together today:

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

We have a new nature when we receive Christ and are born again – we become a totally different individual – we’re now a citizen of heaven

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation the old has gone the new has come.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

The apostle Paul reminds us throughout his epistles that we have a new nature. It affects our mind, heart, knowledge, wisdom, love, desires and every aspect of our being. According to God’s Word, we are new – transformed.

As believers, we now have a new nature. Our behavior is now able to match our new nature because Christ is in us. We are risen with Christ, and we should now behave in accordance with who we are.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Acts 7:58

Romans 3:12

1 Peter 2:1

Acts 12:21

Colossians 3:9-11

Philippians 2:12

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 4:1

Philippians 4:8

Galatians 5:22-23

Ephesians 5:2

1 Timothy 4:7-8

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

1 John 5:3

Martha Peace's "Put On, Put Off" Study

The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

Putting on an Attitude of Love in Your Home

Podcast Ep. 15: Prioritizing God's Word When Life is Busy

For the full Show Notes visit ThankfulHomemaker.com

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On this podcast episode of Thankful Homemaker, we're talking about how our tongues can get us into so much trouble. We tend to have many words. Many times we're not careful with our words and say things that are slanderous, or gossip or sadly at times even malicious. This should not be for women who love the Lord and are loved and known by Him. Let's encourage each other today to speak words that glorify and honor the Lord.

Colossians 4:6

Proverbs 141:3

James 3:2

James 3:8

James 3:9-10

Ephesians 4:31

Matthew 18:15

Galatians 6:1

Ephesians 4:32

Proverbs 10:19

Proverbs 31:26

Ephesians 4:29

Matthew 12:34

Colossians 3:15-17

James Online Bible Study by Jen Wilkin

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I know as women we can get caught in our to-do lists and forget to give thanks in and through all things – even in the gift of preparing to serve others with the hope of pointing them to the One who we truly have all things to be thankful for!

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

My hope today is to simplify your holiday planning a bit. 

So you’re getting this two weeks before Thanksgiving with the hopes it will be a help with maybe getting a bit more organized than you have in past years and also starting to think about how you can focus your day on the Lord.

I want you to be able to keep your family's and your focus on Christ and not get caught up in all the things on your seemingly long to do list. Thanksgiving should be a time of feasting on the abundant grace of God. 

I'm sharing below my simple planning for one of my favorite family traditions to celebrate together along with some bits of help at the end to keep the focus of the meal on Christ and Who we are truly giving thanks to. My hope always is to spark ideas in ways you can make much of Christ during your time together.

“Take a little time to make ordinary things extraordinary.”

~ Emilie Barnes 

For Complete Show Notes visit ThankfulHomemaker.com 

Colossians 3:15

Psalm 100

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Simple Planning Guide for a Stress-Free and Christ-Focused Thanksgiving Dinner-@Thankful Homemaker

Our Simple Thanksgiving Traditions- @Thankful Homemaker

Weekend Coffee Break {Thanksgiving Edition}- Some helpful links & resources - @Thankful Homemaker

Chocolate Pie Recipe- in this post

Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes

For Other Recipes Mentioned check out this post.

Getting Ready for Company Fast- @Thankful Homemaker

Podcast Episode 7: Getting Ready for Company Fast

Valley of Vision Prayer

History of Thanksgiving- @Got Questions

Conversation Starters

Ever Thine Home - What are you thankful for? Printable

The Valley of Vision: Book of Puritan Prayers by Arthur Bennett

Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas

Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Revive Our Hearts 30 Day Gratitude Challenge

Thanksgiving Pinterest Board - many more ideas, recipes, and coloring sheet links for kids

Thankfulness to God is a recognition that God in His goodness and faithfulness has provided for us and cared for us, both physically and spiritually. It is a recognition that we are totally dependent upon Him; that all that we are and have comes from God.

~ Jerry Bridges

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Self Discipline is essential to spiritual growth and it is useful in our lives in so many ways. Living lives that are disciplined means saying, “yes” to God in every area of our lives.

Jesus is our ultimate example of what it looks like to live a disciplined life. He chose both dependence and obedience to His Father. As Christians, we too are called to dependence and obedience to our Father.

Self-discipline is primary to our spiritual growth. In 1 Timothy 4:7 We are called to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. It means to exercise control over one’s self. It’s the ability to keep ourselves under control.

My Practical List:

1. Spend time with the Lord daily
2. Take care of the tasks that are most difficult early in the day.
3. Make sure you finish what you start.
4. Take the time to get organized - one room at a time.
5. Learn to deny yourself.

Scripture References & Other Resources Mentioned:

1 Timothy 4:7

Galatians 5:22-23

John 15

1 Peter 1:13

Ephesians 4:14

1 Corinthians 7:22

Matthew 6:24

Matthew 11:30

Romans 6:22

Ephesians 2:8-10

Ephesians 5:15-16

Ecclesiastes 3

1 Corinthians 10:31

Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot

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On today’s Encore Episode, we’re going to talk about our cell phone use and discuss whether we master our cell phones or do they master us. This podcast was on my mind because of two recent posts at Tim Challies blog on the use of our phones. I recently read the book, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing Youby Tony Reinke and it was a challenging read.

I’m going to share with you some of what I took from that book to get us started, some thoughts on Tim Challies posting about him going back to a “dumb phone” and as we close today some questions for us to ponder from a quiz Tim Challies posted online called Are You Addicted to Your Phone? At the close, I share some ways I desire to make changes with the use of my phone in my life. 

"We check our smartphones about 81,500 times each year, or once every 4.3 minutes of our waking lives."

~ Tony Reinke

I'm working on a series on marriage for the podcast in the future, and I hope to get my husband on the podcast with me so we can do a few together.I’d love you all to “meet” him. I love listening to him and learning from him. The Lord has given him much wisdom and truly being around him makes me want to be more like Jesus, so I’m thankful to get to have him share here with you all.

2 Corinthians 3:18

12 Ways Your Phone is Changing Youby Tony Reinke

Are You Addicted to Your Phone? (Take a Quiz to Find Out)- @Challies

I Want to Buy Your Cheapest Phone- @Challies

12 Steps to Living Smartphone Smart- @Tony Reinke at Lifeway

Don't Waste Your Mornings- @Thankful Homemaker

Podcast Ep. 6: What Does Self-Discipline Look Like in Our Homes

More Resources from Tony Reinke:

12 Tips for Parenting in the Digital Age- @Desiring God

Why We Should Escape Social Media (And Why We Don't)- @Desiring God

Know When to Walk Away (A Twelve-Step Digital Detox)- @Desiring God

Going Deep on Our Smartphone and Social Media Habits- @Desiring God

For the Full Show Notes and Resources visit ThankfulHomemaker.com

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The hope on today's episode of contentment is to remind us today how rich we are in Christ and that we will find our satisfaction in Him and Him alone.

I want to open with the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

~ Philippians 4:11-12

As I've been meditating on Philippians 4:11-12 on contentment I'm reminded that there isn't a program where we can automatically be contented people. No 5 Steps to Contentment or Learn to be Content Retreat Weekend. Contentment in our walk as believers is learned, just as Paul learned it, so do we as we walk this walk with the Lord. It does not come naturally to us. We know deep down the secret to contentment is to keep our eyes on the Lord in every situation. It's when we take our eyes off Him is when we fall into this sin.

“So what does contentment mean? It is an inner sense of rest or peace that comes from being right with God and knowing that He is in control of all that happens to us.”

~ Steven J. Cole

I've noticed there aren't many books on Christian contentment and a classic is one by Jeremiah Burroughs called The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. The title made me pause and think how well he defined contentment as a rarity even in our life as believers. It is a rarity, and usually, we walk in a spirit of discontentedness.

“Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”

~ Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

“We have here an account of Paul's learning, not that which he got at the feet of Gamaliel, but that which he got at the feet of Christ.”   ~ Matthew Henry

“These are both hard lessons to learn; I do not know which is the more difficult of the two. Probably it is easier to know how to go down than to know how to go up. How many Christians have I seen grandly glorifying God in sickness and poverty when they have come down in the world; and ah! How often have I seen other Christians dishonoring God when they have grown rich, or when they have risen to a position of influence among their fellow-men! These two lessons grace alone can fully teach us.”      ~ Charles Spurgeon

The excerpt below from Lydia Brownback's book, Contentment: A Godly Woman's Adornment:

“Contentment won't be found in changing the things we don't like about our lives, which is what the author of Hebrews is telling us.

In his words, we find why contentment is possible, even when we lack our heart's desires.  We can be content with our lives exactly as they are today because God has promised he is always with us.  Our problem really isn't that we need something we don't have; our problem is that we don't find God to be enough for us.  Many of us can't even comprehend how God can meet us in our empty places and satisfy us fully.  We are open to the idea, but we just don't see how it's possible.

Sometimes we get a wrong idea about how God satisfies us.  He doesn't come to us on our terms, taking the role of a surrogate for the things or relationships we lack.  He comes in place of those things, giving us something even better.  The whole reason we can't resonate with the words of Hebrews 13:5  is that we are bound up in the things of this life and our desires for them.  If we would just look away from those, we would find that God delights to fill up our empty places with joy, peace, guidance, love security and communion with him through his Spirit.  Once we get a taste of that we find that it is no second-best consolation prize.  We will find it to be better, richer, fuller than any earthy relationship or material blessing.

We can find this for ourselves by guarding against focusing overly much on what this world offers.  We can–and should–certainly enjoy the material things God gives us, but only if we hold them loosely.  It is the love of this world's blessings, the focus on getting them, that is the problem, not the blessings themselves.

We don't need anything more than what we have right now, today, in order to be content.  The Bible says so; therefore it must be true.  The choice is ours.”

Philippians 4:11-12

Philippians 4:13

1 Corinthians 15:10

Hebrews 13:5

Matthew 6:33

Learning Contentment

Practical Steps to Overcome Self-Pity

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

Contentment: A Godly Woman's Adornment by Lydia Brownback

A Surprising Ingredient in Christian Contentment- @Desiring God

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God’s Word reminds us:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

~ John 15:5

“apart from me you can do nothing” is a continual reminder that I am utterly dependent on the Lord to do anything. There are many things I can do without dependence on Christ, but the reality is I have achieved “nothing” in God’s sight.

This is so true in the raising of our children.

Our children are a gift from the Lord, a heritage, a reward (Psalm 127:3) and they are ever so precious to the Lord and us.  Caring for our children is an immeasurable responsibility but one as believers we are not left alone in or to fend for ourselves.  We can cry out to the One who created all things and is the only One who can redeem them.

I have learned over the years that I am helplessly dependent on the Lord. I can’t parent on my own. I can’t do anything on my own. As parents, we can’t change the hearts of our children. Only the Lord can change their hearts.

This truth should continually bring us to our knees in prayer, but many times we find ourselves thinking we can do this on our own. As a parent of now adult children, I can share that these are the more difficult years of life as the decisions and the difficulties they face are much more challenging than when they were young.

“It didn’t take me long to realize that I did my best parenting by prayer. I began to speak less to the kids and more to God. It was actually quite relaxing.”  ~ Paul Miller, A Praying Life

God does a much better job of being God than I do.

Children are fully dependent on parents for everything. As we get older, we become more and more independent. We need to be reminded to go back to living as dependent children. Living as a dependent child to the Lord in the everyday moments of life is the best example we can give to our children.

The prayer below is from Setting Their Hope In God: Biblical Intercession for Your Children page 193

“Eternal God,

Let my precious children rejoice in the Word, through whom all things were made.  May they seek life only in Him.

Praise be to Your name for causing them to receive Him and believe on His name, for giving them the right to become Your children.  Open their eyes to the glory of the Word, the glory of Your only Son, full of grace and truth.  From His fullness let them receive grace upon grace–the grace and truth that come through Jesus Christ.  Help them to do what is true and come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been carried out in You.

Help them not to judge by appearances, but instead to judge with right judgment.  And when they thirst, let them go to Christ and drink.  Let them follow closely after Him always, so that they will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  Make them abide in His Word as true disciples so that they may know the truth and be set free by it (John 1 & 8).”

“I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” ~Martin Luther

“What makes a heart upright and what makes prayers pleasing to God is a felt awareness of our tremendous need for mercy.”  ~John Piper

“Prayer is bringing your helplessness to Jesus.”  ~ Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life

John 15:5

Philippians 4:6-7

Romans 8:28

John 5:19

John 5:30

Luke 5:16

Matthew 18:3

Mark 10:14-15

Luke 10:21

Praying God's Word Over Our Children

Podcast Ep 23: Seasons of Waiting

A Praying Life: Connecting With God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller

Setting Their Hope in God: Biblical Intercession for Your Children by Andrew Case

Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney

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Today's podcast episode is a topic we probably don’t find ourselves talking about with others because it can be a bit uncomfortable but it’s one I know we all deal with —it’s addressing our sins of jealousy and envy.

It just seems no matter where we are in life we can always find ourselves sinfully comparing ourselves to others. I would think at my age and life stage this would be over, but sadly it's not. How often do I find myself in my head comparing the circumstances of my life to others – too many!

Even though it may be just in my head, it's still a sin, and it may seem subtle, but it's not – all sin is an offense against God and one we must continue to do battle with.

When we find ourselves dealing with jealousy comparing ourselves to others or envious of others, it's like we're saying to God that we're not satisfied with what He's given us.

“If we are to successfully combat the temptations to envy and jealousy, we must mentally bring God into the picture. We must remind ourselves that He determines not only what abilities we have but also the degree of those abilities and the blessing He will bestow on their use.”  ~ Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins

Jerry Bridges, in Respectable Sins, a book I most highly recommended you read, describes jealousy of “intolerance of rivalry.” He shares there are legitimate times to express jealousy, like when someone is trying to win your spouse away from you. Our God declares Himself to be a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). Our jealousy becomes sinful when we become afraid someone is going to be more successful or honored over us. King Saul's jealousy over David (Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousand – 1 Samuel 18:7) is an example of Saul's jealousy over David because honor was given to David and not him. At that moment he saw him as a rival and jealousy took root.

Envy is defined by Jerry Bridges as:

“the painful and oftentimes resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by someone else. Sometimes we want that same advantage, leading to the further sin of covetousness. And sometimes we resent the other person having something we don't have. But we don't just envy people in general. Usually, there are two conditions that tempt us to envy. First, we tend to envy those with whom we most closely identify. Second, we tend to envy in them the areas we value most.”

Exodus 20:5

1 Samuel 18:7

Romans 1:29-33

Galatians 5:19-21

Psalm 103:10

Philippians 4:12

Hebrews 13:5

Romans12:2

Romans 12:5

Romans 12:10

Philippians 4:11-12

Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

Messy Beautiful Friendship: Finding and Nurturing Deep and Lasting Relationships by Christine Hoover

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How many imperfect parents out there? Raise your hands. I’m hoping all my parents out there raised their hands. We are going to experience failure in our parenting – it’s not an option but a reality in our lives on this fallen earth.

Don’t we all find ourselves at times sure that we’ve ruined our children? How many times have we yelled, acted rashly in our correction and the list of mistakes and sinful responses towards them we’ve made over the years sadly goes on.

We’re going to fail – and in saying that it doesn’t mean our failure shouldn’t affect us. I know we all are saddened by the times we’ve caused hurt in any way to our children, and this isn’t a podcast to just give us a pass to the failures we’ve caused our children.

We need to seek the forgiveness of our children, repent to the Lord of wrongs we’ve caused to them and to the best of our ability and by the grace of God avoid hurting them in the future when possible.

We must remember always that we are sinners’ parenting sinners. Sin affects every one of our relationships.

Romans 7:18-19 is true in my role as a parent just as it’s true in my relationship with all others on this earth.

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

We are not perfect—we already know this.

Remember that it is God’s grace that transforms our lives and the lives of our children – it’s not our perfect or more likely imperfect parenting.  He is the only One that has the power to transform their hearts and minds.  This doesn’t mean we don’t strive to set a pattern and routine for our homes that directs the hearts of our children towards Him.  It is our duty as parents to train up our children in His ways but we can’t trust that our parenting is going to save them.

Romans 7:18-19

Ephesians 6:1-4

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Matthew 19:25-26

John 6:37

1 Corinthians 15:10

Romans 3:23

Psalm 119:11

Matthew 18:22

2 Corinthians 12:9

Parents, Require Obedience of Your Children 

God's Blessing Does Not Depend on Our Performance

Podcast Ep 20: The Blessings of Loving Our Children

Podcast Ep 18: Putting on an Attitude of Love in Our Homes

Parenting: 14 Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul Tripp

Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus by Elyse Fitzpatrick

Free eBook - Motherhood Delighting in Our Children by Marci Ferrell

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The rest of the show notes are at ThankfulHomemaker.com 

As we start getting back into fall and a routine (as we talked about last week at the podcast), I wanted to share a bit of encouragement for all of us today. Who doesn't like to be encouraged?

Our time today is just a reminder that no one out there has it all together. We are a continual work in progress in the Lord's hand. If I shared only what I had mastered on this podcast, it would be non-existent ;).

So today listen in and be reminded that no one has a perfect marriage, family or home while living on this fallen earth but that doesn't mean we just throw in the towel and stop trying. I'm reminded and reminding us today of God's Word to persevere and work heartily as unto the Lord, and this includes my normal day to day life of caring for a home and family.

In the spirit of Titus 2, I want to be an encouragement in the areas of loving our husbands and children, being keepers of our homes, being self-controlled and submissive to our husbands so God's Word will not be reviled.

We need to share our struggles but not leave each other there. But we need to spur one another on to love and good deeds. My hope always is to point one another back to Christ and to live by and abide in His Word.

My greatest comfort in this world is that Jesus Christ is enough.  He is enough on the days when everything goes wrong and on the days when it seems that everything is falling apart. 

Come listen in with us today.

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2 Timothy 3:16-17

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Homemaking 101 Series: Getting Dressed

Are You Kind to Your Husband?

What's for Dinner?

Weekly Home Blessing

18 Ways to Be Your Husband's Helper

Busyness is Not Godliness

Podcast Ep 32: Preparing Our Families for Sunday Morning Worship

Battling Our Sins of Envy & Jealousy

Podcast Ep 28: Dealing with Our Anxiousness and Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)

How to Resist Gossip

Homemaking Ministries Online Conference - The Deep Dive Summit

Thankful Homemaker Facebook Group

Jesus' words have authority because He is God. Whether it was the original hearers of the Sermon on the Mount or present-day readers of the Bible, we cannot argue or disagree with the teachings in this sermon because they are the direct words of God

Matthew 7:28-29:

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Head over to ThankfulHomemaker.com for full show notes.

Hi-Contrast Hymn Book (Get 10% OFF your entire order when you purchase two books or more with promo code 10OFF2.)

All episodes in the Sermon on the Mount Series on the blog

Spotify Sermon on the Mount Playlist

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Martyn Lloyd Jones

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Thankful Homemaker Merchandise

Are you struggling with getting back into a routine after the summer months? I know for us our summer months are a bit more spontaneous and flexible so I'm out of a daily routine quite often.

Summer brings a sense of unpredictable days in our home. We don’t always have a regular schedule, and we’re on the go or outside more than usual so we may find our inside tasks take a back seat and our regular routine schedule doesn’t happen as often as it does in the fall, winter and even spring seasons.

For me, I’m not sure why this is because I’m not even dealing with kids in school anymore but it just seems to be a rhythm in my life too in this season.

I love to be open to spontaneous adventures and not get caught up in what needs to be done at home because I’ve learned over the years - the reality is – it always gets done.

I do still get things accomplished in the summer, and my home is still running pretty smooth – it’s not a total disaster, but I have to share – I honestly miss the regular routines I’m used to. I am a creature of habit. I don’t find myself deep cleaning or de-cluttering or overly organizing anything. For some reason, I tend to drift towards those chores in the fall and winter months.

So listen in as we talk about what it looks like on getting back into a routine after summer.

Brilliant Life Planner

iBloom Planner

Living Well Planner

Homemaking 101 Series: The Routines of the Day

The Joy of a Morning Routine

The Peacefulness of an Evening Routine

Podcast Ep 21: The Routines of the Day - Making the Most of Your Morning and Evenings

Menu Planning 101

Podcast Ep 12: Simple Menu Planning Tips

Homemaking 101: My Daily, Weekly, Monthly Tasks

Podcast Ep 16: Simplify Your Housekeeping with a Cleaning Schedule for Your Home

Podcast Ep 27: Planning Our Days as Homemakers

How I Plan my Days

Bringing Order to Our Homes

Podcast Ep. 14: Simple Tips for a Clutter-Free Home

Podcast Ep. 29: Where to Begin When You're Overwhelmed in Caring for Your Home

Grab your Free Weekly Menu Planning PDF

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Sex is a beautiful gift from God. As Christian’s we have God’s permission to enjoy sex within our marriages – God invented it. We can learn not just to enjoy it but delight in intimacy with our husbands

Martha Peace shares:

The physical union of husband and wife is designed by God to meet God-given desire for companionship, to protect the husband and wife from temptation, and for the mutual giving and receiving of great pleasure and joy between the husband and wife. Companionship is strengthened by the private, intimate, physical bond of a married couple.

Even as Christians we can too easily let the world or other voices in the church give us our view of sex when it has to come from God’s Word. God’s Word is sufficient in all ways and especially and even in our sexual relationship with our husband.

Thankful Homemaker on Instagram

Homemaking Ministries 2018 Online Conference - The Deep Dive Summit

Marriage Series at the Blog

My Favorite Resources on Sex and Sexual Intimacy in Marriage

The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective by Martha Peace

Intended for Pleasure: Sex Technique and Sexual Fulfillment in Christian Marriage by Ed Wheat

Intimate Issues: 21 Questions Christian Women Ask About Sex by Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus

When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey

Rekindling the Romance: Loving the Love of Your Life by Dennis & Barbara Rainey

A Celebration of Sex: A Guide to Enjoying God's Gift of Sexual Intimacy by Dr. Doug Rosenau

Strengthening Your Marriage by Wayne Mack

The Intimate Marriage: A Practical Guide to Building a Great Marriage by R. C. Sproul

My Abortion story & Why I Counsel at Abortuariesat Thankful Homemaker

The Devilish Puppet Master of the Word-Faith Movementsermon at Grace to You on False Prophets

Weekend to Remember from Family Life Today

Podcast Ep. 35: Marriage Series #2 - To Love Their Husbands at Thankful Homemaker

Podcast Ep. 17: What it Looks Like to Cherish Our Husbands at Thankful Homemaker

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For all the show notes, quotes and resources head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

We're going to discuss in today's podcast about how well we communicate with our spouses. God created us as relational beings so we are designed to communicate not just with Him but with one another. Because we're created in God's image, our communication within our marriages should be one of intimacy, beauty, and harmony. 

Communication is a huge part of our lives together. We share all of life together in our marriages and home should be a place where we can be vulnerable, open and honest with one another regarding all areas of our lives.

We're going to break the show today down into three areas: Listening well, our day-to-day communication and dealing in a God-honoring way with conflict.

Because of Jesus, we can have homes where we communicate with grace and peace. Our tongues can be tamed by the gospel – Jesus came to set us free. We are new creatures in Christ.

For the show notes and resources mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com 

We are continuing in our marriage series on the podcast, and this is the second half of the episode on submission. If you didn't get a chance to listen to the first one where my husband joined us you can do that here. I highly recommend it before listening in to this one.

My husband shared last week on the theology of submission, and I'm continuing on today on what submission in marriage is and what it isn't.

When we are living out the beautiful doctrine of submission the unbelieving world around us will take notice. They will see wives respecting and loving their husbands.  Peace and joy in our homes.  Wives who talk about their husbands with honor and respect.  Wives who look to their husbands for guidance and leadership and are true helpers that come alongside them in the advancement of God’s Kingdom.  They will see marriages filled with genuine love and affection.

My hope today in our time together is to give you the practical application in our everyday lives of what submission in marriage looks like and what it doesn’t look like. Please know that when I am sharing with you, it does not mean I have this area of my life mastered.  I am still a learner, and God continues to teach me much.  Let’s pray that with the Lord’s help we can all be more obedient to God’s ways and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior.

For the show notes and resources mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

We're continuing on in our marriage series and podcast episode 37 is part one of a two-part episode in the series on submission. I'm a bit excited to have my husband joining us today and he's going to work through with us what is the theology of submission. You can find all the podcast episodes in the marriage series here. 

We're camping in the text of Ephesians 5:22-24:

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

That’s the Christian wedding text that everybody wants their pastor to use for the ceremony but after the wedding cake, it becomes a real struggle in its application! It is a text often quoted, usually misunderstood and misapplied and creates a lot of unnecessary tension in a marriage. And that is why it is critical for us as married couples who are followers of Jesus, His disciples, to grasp this properly and obey its teachings. And so what we should attempt to accomplish in our short time together is the theology embedded in this principle of submission; that is, what does God mean in His command for wives to submit to their husbands?

For the show notes and scriptures mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

We’re continuing in our series on marriage at the podcast, and episode 36 is on respect.  So far we've covered God's Design for Marriage and Our Role as Women, Loving Our Husbands, and today we're talking about what does it look like to show respect to our husbands.

What is respect? How is it defined? The dictionary defines it - A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

We are called by God to respect our husband’s position of headship in the home, and as we do this, we are honoring God first and foremost. God has called them to this position, and He has called us to respect their position.

God has called our husbands, just like us, to be like Christ. One way we do this is by submitting our will and humbling ourselves before the Lord and taking the place of a servant in our homes. Christ is our ultimate example of a loving, respectful servant.

This is only going to come about when we get a right view of who God.  God is worthy of my trust and loyalty and respect and submission (please take a listen to Podcast Ep 31 on The Supremacy of God). This is part of His plan. The apostle Paul started out the verses here in Ephesians 5:22-33 with love and submission and he ends them here in Ephesians 5:33 with love and respect.

For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit ThankfulHomemaker.com

We’re continuing in a series here at the podcast on marriage. Each episode can stand alone, but they are meant to be listened to together. Last week we talked about God’s Design for Marriage and Our Role as Women. We touched briefly on areas of submission, respect, and love. Today we’re going to start by seeing what God’s Word has to say about loving our husbands.

I struggled with titling the episode, so I borrowed it from scripture from Titus 2:4 passage that we are to be taught by the older women “to love their husbands.”

Before we dig into that passage, I want to work through with you on what is love?  Love is a necessary factor in our marriages. If we don’t have love for one another there’s going to be a lot of issues in our marriage. Without love in our marriages they’re going to be difficult to endure, any problems in the marriage will be difficult to overcome, as time goes on when we live in a relationship where there is no love the relationship is going to begin to fall apart. We’re not going to like each other very much or have any desire to be near one another, and it is just a dangerous place to be.

God’s Word is clear on the importance of love in all our relationships and especially in our marriages.

In a most familiar passage - Matthew 22:37-40 states:

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

We stated last week that our husbands are our closest neighbors. When love is talked about, do we understand what it truly is or what it means when God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves?

We married our spouse because we loved them. Now that we’ve been married a bit we can find ourselves acting very unloving at times or maybe a lot of times and wondering what happened? We can’t exhaustively cover today what real love is, but I do desire to work through on what God’s Word says because He’s given us a clear idea of what real love is in His Word.

For the show notes and resources mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

I am so grateful to be back at the podcast and excited about this upcoming series on marriage. I've enjoyed my study time for this series and this first one is foundational because it lays out from God's Word His design for marriage and what our role is He has called us to as women.

As we dig in together today if you can sit with a Bible handy that would be a help as we're covering a lot of verses. They are all listed below so you can go back and refer to them later. Genesis 2:18-25 is my main text in understanding God's design for marriage.

My husband is going to join in on the podcasts on submission and I'm looking forward to working together with him on this series. We've been married over 32 years and consider ourselves continual learners in our walk with the Lord and in our marriage. The Lord has grown us in our love for Him and in that, in our love for one another. I have said it before but my Doug makes me want to be more like Jesus.

For the complete show notes and resources mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

Loving our Husbands

Respecting Our Husbands

Submission (two-part series)

Communication

Intimacy

Homemaking Ministries Conference - Deep Dive Summit

The Creation of Woman- John MacArthur Sermon

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

God of Creation by Jen Wilkin

Strengthening Your Marriage by Wayne Mack

ESV Study Bible

John MacArthur Study Bible

Podcast Ep 17:  Cherishing Our Husbands

Podcast: Loving Our Husbands- Women's Hope Podcast

Who Am I by Jerry Bridges

Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney

Love Has a Price Tag by Elisabeth Elliot

A Picture-Perfect Marriage- Tim Challies

For the complete show notes and resources mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about our cell phone use and discuss whether we master our cell phones or do they master us. This podcast was on my mind because of two recent posts at Tim Challies blog on the use of our phones. I recently read the book, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke and it was a challenging read. 

I’m going to share with you some of what I took from that book to get us started, some thoughts on Tim Challies posting about him going back to a “dumb phone” and as we close today some questions for us to ponder from a quiz Tim Challies posted online called Are You Addicted to Your Phone? At the close, I share some ways I desire to make changes with the use of my phone in my life. 

Also, I have an announcement that I’ll be taking a short hiatus from the podcast but will be back with the regular weekly podcast sometime in early July.I’m working on content currently for the next Homemaking Ministries Conference coming up this fall – it’s my favorite online conference, and I hope you’ll join us again if you have in the past and if you haven’t yet I hope you will. There will be more details to come on it this summer.

I'm working on a series on marriage for the podcast in the future, and I hope to get my husband on the podcast with me so we can do a few together.I’d love you all to “meet” him. I love listening to him and learning from him. The Lord has given him much wisdom and truly being around him makes me want to be more like Jesus, so I’m thankful to get to have him share here with you all.

You can find the show notes and resources mentioned at ThankfulHomemaker.com 

How many times does Sunday morning roll around and you find your heart in a state of chaos instead of calm to worship the Lord?  How many Sunday’s do you arrive at church and realize you haven’t taken the time all week to pray for your pastor or your church family? I want to share with you some simple steps we can take to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our families for Sunday morning worship to the Lord.

The hope today is to get you to understand the purpose and the mission of the local church and then to move on toward how we can proceed with some simple steps to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our families for Sunday morning worship to the Lord.

For the show notes and resources mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

My husband and I have been attending the G3 Conference in Atlanta since 2017. I want to share some of my favorite aspects of the conference (with the hope you’ll put it on your list for 2025) and provide some helpful resources so you can benefit from the conference at home.

G3+ App - sign up here and use the code MARCIG3PLUS for two months free.

Head over to ThankfulHomemaker.com for full show notes

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On today’s episode, I’m sharing with you a message that I shared at our church's recent women’s retreat. Our time together at the retreat was spent learning about the attributes of God. I started the weekend off sharing about the Supremacy, Eternality, Self-Sufficiency, and Self-Existence of our most awesome God and I wanted to share what I learned with you all here today.

It has been said that what comes into a person’s mind when he or she thinks about God is the most important thing about him or her.

When we have a high view of God, it will lead to holy living, worship, evangelism, and service. I hope to spark within you today a heart’s desire to study more about this wonderful God we love and are known by.

When we gain a better understanding of Who God is, we will be better equipped in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Every area of our life and worldview is influenced by who we understand God to be.

When we speak of God's attributes, we are talking about those characteristics that help us to understand who He truly is.

We will never be able to fully grasp the depth of God’s character, but I hope we can get a bit more of a glimpse in our short time together today.

For the show notes and resources mentioned head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

The need for self-control is clear in God’s Word. There is much said about it. We live in a world where we are tempted daily to overindulge and live outside our boundaries. We live in a world that is dominated by “self” – Self-centeredness, self-pity, selfishness, self-deception.

Wayne Barber shared: What’s the middle letter of the word sin? What’s the middle letter? What’s the middle letter of the word pride? Now, you take those two things out—which by the way, the cross does—then you don’t even have a word. When you say yes to Him, you’ve just crucified the “I,” the flesh.

Proverbs 25:28 says, "like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit." This proverb gives us a picture of a city with its walls broken down and is utterly defenseless as a picture of what happens when our wall of defense. Our self-control is gone, and we’re not able to battle the sinful desires that wage war against our soul.

Self-control means to master our emotions instead of being mastered by them. It is the ability to control oneself and in particular our emotions and desires or the expression of them in our behavior – especially in difficult situations.

For the show notes and resources mentioned in the podcast head to ThankfulHomemaker.com

I’m sharing today from a post I wrote quite awhile back called Where to Begin When You're Overwhelmed, and it was dealing with our home keeping. It’s been a very controversial post and people either have a love or hate relationship with it. I’m hoping you all are in the love camp today because I’m not a fan of being in the hate camp.

Before we begin, I want to lay out a statement here that I want you to remember as we walk through this. What I’m sharing is going to look different in every home. I don’t know all the battles or circumstances in your home from health and illness difficulties or various trials you’re dealing with. This may not be the season of your life for you to listen to a podcast on this topic right now.

I’m never talking about perfection or Stepford wives or making an idol out of your homekeeping or whatever your thinking because as soon as you write a post or share a podcast about this topic of homekeeping that’s where the conversation tends to go.

This isn’t about having a Martha Stewart lifestyle in your homemaking. It is about the heart of a homemaker who loves the Lord and desires to love and care for her family well because of the God she serves.It is out of a heart of love and thankfulness because she has been redeemed. Thank you, Jesus!

This also does not mean you don’t do anything outside your home or saying you can’t work outside the home or have any employment. I work for my husband’s business and have ever since my kiddos were young.  In my past - I’ve worked outside the home and inside the home and still work inside the home as a homemaker and for my husband’s business. This is not a SAHM vs. working mom podcast. This is for all Christian women in whatever season of life you’re in.

I want to chat with you today as if I’m talking with my daughter – (Hello My Amberif you’re listening) and encouraging her in the role the Lord has called her to as laid out in Titus 2:3-5

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Getting some foundational understanding of why we are called keepers of our homes will be an encouragement in itself not to be overwhelmed in your homekeeping, but I hope to set your mind on things of the Lord and His ways today.

For the show notes and resources mentioned please head to ThankfulHomemaker.com