The Death of a Spouse and Single Parenting with Jonathan Pitts
Show Notes: When Pastor and Author Jonathan Pitts’ wife of sixteen years died suddenly, he found himself thrust into a season of grief while also trying to navigate as a single parent. His wife Wynter had been his ministry partner, chief counselor, as well as an incredible mom for their four girls. In this conversation, Jonathon shares his journey of grief, provision, hope, and community. He encourages those who are grieving or parenting alone, and also gives great council for two parent families in how to minister to single parents.
Guest Bio: Jonathan Pitts is an author, speaker and the executive pastor at Church of the City in Franklin, Tennessee. He previously served as the executive director at the Urban Alternative, the national ministry of Dr. Tony Evans. Jonathan has co-authored two books alongside his late wife, Wynter Pitts. He is also President and co-founder of For Girls Like You Ministries, an equipping and resourcing ministry for tween girls and their parents. Jonathan is the father of four daughters and was blessed with fifteen intentional years of marriage to Wynter.
Guest links:
The Journey Podcast - https://www.christianparenting.org/podcasts-post/bonus-more-parenting-encouragement/
My Wynter Season: Seeing God’s Faithfulness in the Shadow of Grief: https://amzn.to/3pSkrj2
Sponsor Affiliate: Hopegivers Stories of Hope Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-of-hope-with-dr-samuel-thomas/id1545599796
Parenting is Really Hard!
Before we have children, people tell us that parenting is really hard. But it’s not until you get into the midst of your parenting journey that you realize just how many challenges you face in building a thriving family. Jay talks about four factors that make parenting so difficult: 1) Your family is filled with sinful humans, 2) Mother Nature is trying to kill us, 3) The world is not helpful, and 4) You are in a spiritual battle. Once we’ve identified the myriad of challenges, Jay offers hope and encouragement from God’s Word in this installment of our Parenting Challenges series.
Sign Up for Things For Thursday Email: https://mailchi.mp/ad8281338869/lpopebook
Sponsor Affiliate: Hopegivers Stories of Hope Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-of-hope-with-dr-samuel-thomas/id1545599796
Defining Womanhood for Our Girls with Bethany Beal
It’s imperative that our daughters and sons have a solid understanding of identity, femininity, and beauty from a godly perspective! Author and speaker Bethany Neal joins me as we speak on crafting a definition and vision for biblical womanhood that will help our children through elementary, the preteen and teenage years, and all the way into adulthood. This conversation will not only give you a vision for Biblical Womanhood, but also specific language and vocabulary to help encourage your children along the path.
Bethany Beal is head-over-heels in love with her best friend and husband, David, and is the super proud mommy of Davey Jr. She is the cofounder of GirlDefined Ministries and is passionate about spreading the truth of biblical womanhood through writing, speaking, and mentoring young women. To her family and close friends, she is simply a tall blonde girl who is obsessed with iced lattes and can’t get enough of her sweet baby Davey Jr.
Connect with Bethany!
• The website: https://www.girldefined.com/
• The blog: https://www.girldefined.com/blog
• The books: https://www.girldefined.com/the-books
• The youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCww9VDOBh5hfnsN6pPE6NpA
• The podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-girl-defined-show/id1539982603
Sponsor Affiliate: Hopegivers Stories of Hope Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-of-hope-with-dr-samuel-thomas/id1545599796
The Oversized Influence of Dad with Dr. Ron Archer
Dr. Ron Archer shares his powerful life story and then addresses the incredible influence that a father has in a home. We speak to the level of spiritual gravity the dad has in comparison to the rest of the household members. Dr. Archer offers words of encouragement for spiritually engaged fathers: be present, be attentive, be affirming, be consistent, and be committed. He also encourages moms who parent with either spiritually passive or absent fathers on how to find and encourage godly male mentors in their children’s lives.
Bio: Ron Archeris a world-renowned inspirational speaker, business executive, and author. He has advised several U.S. presidents and trained top executives of multiple Fortune 500 companies, in addition to leaders in the military. His debut biography and life story of poverty, hardship, and overcoming all odds—What Belief Can Do—was published in February 2020, also from Salem Books. He has traveled the globe inspiring millions with his testimony and currently reaches more than 250,000 people a year through his speaking engagements.
Resources Mentioned
Ron’s TV Show Ask The Pastor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdSyou2aDxg&feature=youtu.be
Ron’s Book “The Power of One Man” : https://amzn.to/3icwuVs
Your Friends Determine Your Direction and Future
In the first episode of my new series on Parenting Challenges, I address the truth that “Our friends determine the direction and quality of our lives”. In a unique episode designed for parents to listen to with their children, we discuss how to identify toxic relationships, represented by the acronym MAD GAS (Manipulator, Addict, Deceiver, Gossip, Arguer, and Slug). We then determine the character qualities of a JET PACK friendship (Joyful, Encourager, Trustworthy, Peacemaker, Active, Christ Centered, and Kingdom Minded).
Resources Mentioned:
Sponsor Affiliate: The Hopegivers Stories of Hope Podcast
Focus on Your Systems, Not Your Goals
Every year we make goals that never happen. The problem is not our goals, it’s our systems. As the saying goes “your habits are perfectly suited to give you the life you have.” By learning to focus on our systems, we open the door for radical change in our spiritual life, families, and personal health.
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 207 Your Future Self Will Thank You With Drew Dyck
Episode 208 Cultivating Self Control In Your Children With Drew Dyck
Episode 209 Routines for Faith Formation In Our Children with Kenneth Kuhn
Sponsor Affiliate: The Hopegivers Stories of Hope Podcast
Routines for Faith Formation with Ken Kuhn
Faith is built through consistent, small interactions. My guest Ken Kuhn shares how to use meal times, bed times, and other regular routines to strengthen your child’s faith. Through regular questions, prayers of blessings and simple spiritual habits, you can slowly grow your children into the men and women of God who will be a blessing to the world.
Ken Kuhn is a Christian education specialist, former family ministry pastor, and coach who focuses on helping young families share Jesus with their kids from a very young age. He is the author of several resources that are intended for parents to use with their children, including the devotional prayer book May They Be Blessed.
Resources: May They Be Blessed Book Link Constant Source Website Link Family Devotional Link
Sponsor Affiliate:The Hopegivers Stories of Hope Podcast
Cultivating Self Control in Children with Drew Dyck
Author Drew Dyck is back to discuss encouraging self control and willpower in our children. We discuss the difficulties of inspiring self control in young people who do not yet see its merits. Drew shares practical strategies for strengthening self disciple and self control for our children with school, chores, and even their relationships with one another. We also discuss the importance of modeling these behaviors as the adults in our households.
Drew Dyckis an editor at Moody Publishers and the former managing editor of Leadership Journal. His work has been featured in USA Today, The Huffington Post, Christianity Today, and CNN.com. Drew is the author of Generation Ex-Christian, Yawning at Tigers, and Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science. He lives with his wife Grace, and their three children near Portland, Oregon. Connect with Drew at drewdyck.comor on Twitter @DrewDyck.
Resources Mentioned
- Website: www.hopegivers.org
- Website: drewdyck.com
- Twitter: @drewdyck
- Book: Your Future Self Will Thank You
If you find this podcast helpful, you can subscribe and click here to find past topics and free resources. Feel free to share with others, as well! If you would like to help support Let’s Parent on Purpose, you can do so by becoming a patron.
I send a weekly email called “Things for Thursday” and it includes things I’ve found helpful related to parenting, marriage, and sometimes just things I find funny! You can sign up for “Things for Thursday” by joining my newsletter on my homepage.
Thank you for your continued support of this podcast. If you have a prayer request or if you have a topic suggestion or question, please contact me at my email.
Your Future Self Will Thank You with Drew Dyck
We're starting off the New Year with a discussion on willpower and self-control and the Bible and science behind it, with author Drew Dyck.
Show Highlights
Drew Dyck is an editor at Moody Publishers and the former managing editor of Leadership Journal. His work has been featured in USA Today, the Huffington Post, Christianity Today, and CNN.com. Drew is the author of Generation Ex-Christian and Yawning at Tigers. He lives with his wife Grace and their three children near Portland, Oregon.
As we all prepare for the New Year, Drew reminds us, don't despise the small resolutions. Start with two or, even better, just focus on one. You only have so much willpower. Start small but consistent, and if you can power through that 30-60 days of habit formation, it will be cemented in your life. That's when you can start forming another habit. If you approach it in their incremental way, you'll have far more success.
Drew was moved to write his book because he realized that he himself needed to grow in the area of self-control. As he start reading about willpower and building healthy habits, he started wondering what he was reading could also help others, especially from the scripture perspective.
Where does scripture play in to self-control and willpower? Drew says, most secular self-help books can be effective, but they do not address one major thing: your priorities. As Christians, we want to have our faith and values, to love God and love our neighbor, as the core motivation for everything that we are doing, even the mundane things should be tied to their spiritual significance.
Drew also points out that though the scripture is filled with stories of struggle, of difficult things that we have to go through, God is always with us. This is not something we can do ourselves. We need the empowerment of God, striving with His spirit, not against it.
Try nailing down where you want to use your willpower by identifying your keystone habits. A keystone habit is one that is not only beneficial in and of itself, but a habit that is beneficial across the spectrum of your life.
For instance, nightly family dinners are observed to have benefits for marriages to last longer, kids to have better grades and more. Exercise is another keystone habit. You not only get healthier, but you also start eating better and your productivity will increase. Another keystone habit, just five minutes of prayer and meditation, can increase your self-control for the day. Bible reading and church attendance are other keystone habits.
Resources Mentioned
- Website: www.hopegivers.org
- Website: drewdyck.com
- Twitter: @drewdyck
- Book: Your Future Self Will Thank You
If you find this podcast helpful, you can subscribe and click here to find past topics and free resources. Feel free to share with others, as well! If you would like to help support Let’s Parent on Purpose, you can do so by becoming a patron.
I send a weekly email called “Things for Thursday” and it includes things I’ve found helpful related to parenting, marriage, and sometimes just things I find funny! You can sign up for “Things for Thursday” by joining my newsletter on my homepage.
Thank you for your continued support of this podcast. If you have a prayer request or if you have a topic suggestion or question, please contact me at my email.