Praying the Psalms over our kids: The key to building Godly Families
This week we’re praying for godly families. More specifically, we’re praying for our families to be built on the foundation of Jesus. In Psalm 127, Solomon very pointedly reminds us that even our best work and greatest successes are nothing if the Lord isn’t in them.
The key to building godly families comes in the day by day and week by week decisions of choosing Jesus instead of chasing after earthly success, financial gain, and the other things this world so often points us to.
Jesus talked about building our foundation on rock so that the storms of life won’t destroy our homes. Let’s pray today for our families to be storm-proof so that we can share the gospel effectively to a world so desperately needing the good news.
Can’t wait to pray with you this week!
In this with you,
Cynthia Yanof | Pardon the Mess
P.S. We would be so grateful if you’d consider sharing Pardon the Mess with a friend. Encourage those you know and love to join us in praying each week by forwarding this email or sending a link to the show. Thank you!
Pardon the Mess is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual guidance to help you grow into the perfectly imperfect parent you want to be visit www.ChristianParenting.org
Cynthia’s 3 Lies to Stop Believing in 2023
Did you grow up believing certain things like I did? Things like . . .
- You can’t swim for an hour after eating
- Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis
- Swallowed gum stays in your stomach seven years
- Crossed eyes will get stuck that way
These aren’t monumental to our belief systems, but it turns out they really aren’t even true.
We all have things we’ve bought into from our culture, our internal narratives, or even our families. Although the examples above are fairly silly, there are more significant lies we may believe that can impact our parenting, our faith walks, and our identity.
Today I’m getting personal and sharing three of the lies I’ve been prone to believe in my own life (don’t worry, they are deeper than the ones listed above). Although these lies began as fairly harmless, they snowballed into an underlying philosophy that needed to be called out and examined with a lens of biblical truth.
Take a few minutes with me today to consider the three lies we all need to stop believing in 2023.
P.S. If you enjoy Pardon the Mess will you take a minute to share it with a friend? There’s no better way to encourage others than to share biblical truth with them. Parenting is hard so let’s help others walk the parenting road together.
Praying the Psalms over our kids: The key to living with failing
Failure fast tracks growth.
This is a principle I’ve learned very personally at various times throughout my life. In the midst of what we may perceive as a failure—God shows up and names it success.
That’s exactly why we’re considering failure as we’re praying for our kids this week. Yes, there are places where our kids will fall flat on their face from poor decisions, and we need to pray they will repent and turn back to God. But sometimes our kids simply “fail,” and often what the world calls failure is actually God’s road to Kingdom success.
If we’re in it for the long game of parenting, we’ve got to get comfortable when our kids fail, knowing God is willing and able to use all things to grow them into who he designed them to be.
Can’t wait to pray with you this week!
P.S. We would be so grateful if you’d consider sharing Pardon the Mess with a friend. Encourage those you know and love to join us in praying each week by forwarding this email or sending a link to the show. Thank you!
How to human with Carlos Whittaker
If you haven’t been introduced to Carlos Whitaker, today’s your day! Carlos is a dynamic author, speaker, storyteller, and hope dealer who is in high demand as a podcast guest. You’re about to see why!
Our conversation today surrounds his new book, How to Human. We’re considering what it looks like to get back to the very basics of who God created us to be. Living in a world filled with anxiety, broken relationships, and divisiness has caused us to lose touch with each other. . . and with God.
Tune in today as Carlos and I explore our humanity through the eyes of Jesus and consider practical ways to recalibrate our lives.
Resources from today's show:
How to Human by Carlos Whittaker
Human Hope podcast with Carlos Whittaker
She is Confident in Healthy Relationships
Praying the Psalms over our kids: The key to living with purpose
Thirty-eight times in Ecclesiastes Solomon refers to our lives as “hevel.” Solomon is trying to paint the picture that our lives are just a vapor, here one moment and gone the next. Knowing this means we have the opportunity to stop chasing the things on earth and instead pursue God above all else and live for the eternal.
This is our prayer for our families this week. That we can appreciate the brevity of life and live intentionally and interruptible as families. We’re also praying our kids learn to live purposefully knowing their hope is in the Lord, not in wealth, popularity, or status.
Join me this week in asking God to teach our kids to define success the way God does. Each day is a gift, so let’s use our time wisely.
P.S. We would be so grateful if you’d consider sharing Pardon the Mess with a friend. Encourage those you know and love to join us in praying each week by forwarding this email or sending a link to the show. Thank you!
The three questions your kids are asking with Kara Powell
I’ve got to be honest here–today’s show is so enlightening that I’ve been quoting Kara Powell everywhere I’ve been speaking since we taped this conversation.
Kara is Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute, and based on her extensive research and knowledge she’s sharing the three pivotal questions our kids are asking. (Spoiler alert: these are some of the same questions many of us are still asking as adults.)
Combining research and biblical truth, Kara gives us practical ways to speak into these three questions while considering the unique characteristics marking this next generation. She also has a few great ways to give our kids a “sticky faith” that follows them all throughout adulthood.
Take a few minutes to listen today, because Kara’s research combined with biblical truth is the perfect combination for answering your kids' deepest questions.
Resources from today's show:
3 Big Questions That Shape Your Future by Kara Powell
She is Confident in Healthy Relationships
Praying the Psalms over our kids: The key to our desires
The things we desire the most direct our days and determine our priorities. Knowing this, it’s important to get it right when it comes to what we desire and how we spend our lives fulfilling our deepest wishes.
This week we’re praying that our kids desire the things God desires for their lives. Psalm 37:4 is arguably one of the most powerful verses God has used in my life to date (I’ll share more on today’s podcast), because he taught me how incredible our lives can be when our victories, achievements, and successes line up with His.
Join me in praying this week for our kids to dig deep to find God’s plans and desires for their lives, pursuing those things at all cost.
Lots to pray for this week. Don’t miss it!
P.S. We would be so grateful if you’d consider sharing Pardon the Mess with a friend. Encourage those you know and love to join us in praying each week by forwarding this email or sending a link to the show. Thank you!
Brave Enough to be Broken with Toni Collier
Toni Collier is with us today talking about the brokenness we feel in this world and how to work through it in our own lives as well as the lives of our children.
I had never met Toni before this conversation, and we had an instant connection that I’m sure you’re going to feel too. She’s vulnerable and authentic in the hardest places she’s faced in life, and also hilariously funny and wise. Here’s a few of the topics we cover:
- Narratives we believe that keep us from healing
- Knowing the difference between being a fan of Jesus versus a follower
- Affirming our kids in the very midst of their brokenness
- Overcoming the need to appear perfect
And a little behind the scenes tidbit: Toni recorded this conversation in her car on the side of the road because she was late after a dentist appointment. You would never know because she is on 🔥, but it made for some hilarious banter.
Resources from today's show:
Brave Enough to be Broken by Toni Collier
Still Coloring Podcast with Toni Collier
Praying the Psalms over our kids: The key to Prayer
Did you pick a word of the year for 2023?
I don’t always do it, but this year I knew “pause” was my word because it kept coming to my mind whenever I would hear someone else mention their own word. The last few months I’ve felt the Lord lay it on my heart that I needed to learn to slow down and wait on him. Said differently, I need to learn to “pause” before . . . . .
I speak
I judge
I accept
I respond
I plan
I react
I engage
I assume
Isaiah 30:18 says, in part, “blessed are those who wait on the Lord.” So if blessing comes from waiting on God, I’m pretty confident that my year of “pausing” won’t go to waste.
This also goes along perfectly with Psalm 66 and our focus on praying for our kids to communicate well with the Lord. We’re not only praying they take all of their needs to Jesus, but also that they learn to wait on him and allow God to work in their lives before moving forward in their own plans. It’s “pausing” so that God can do the things that only God can do.
Lots to pray for this week, so “pause” for a minute and pray with me!