Risen Motherhood with Laura Wifler

If you haven’t heard of Risen Motherhood, today is going to be a great day for you!

Laura Wifler is an author, podcaster, mother, and the co-founder of the amazing parenting resource, Risen Motherhood. She’s back on Pardon the Mess today helping us bridge the gap between the faith we pursue on Sunday mornings and the real-life parenting we face on Mondays. Said differently, she speaks into ways we can practically bring the Lord into all facets of our parenting.

Laura is also a mother to a child with disabilities and she encourages us to have meaningful conversations with our kids about disability, empathy, compassion, and God’s overflowing love for everyone. Her practical advice on helping our friends walk these roads well is important and something you don’t want to miss.

Can’t wait for you to hear this great conversation with Laura Wifler.

 

Resources from today's show:

Like Me by Laura Wifler

When I Talk to God, I Talk about You

 


Praying the Psalms over our kids: The key to God’s forgiveness

My youngest son, JB, is home from school today because I thought he was coming down with the same cold I’ve been struggling with all week. We kicked-off his “sick day” with a precautionary dose of Ibuprofen and breakfast in bed. By 8:10 a.m. I realized I had made a grave mistake in keeping him home. It’s been Ferris Bueller’s Day Off over here, and he’s Ferris and I’m the sickly sidekick friend trying to keep him from burning the place down.

 

But in this midst of his craziness I’ve noticed how quick he is to apologize. He loses his mind, apologizes, asks for forgiveness and moves forward with his next adventure. I love that he doesn’t overthink my forgiveness, wondering if I’m still angry or somehow going to think less of him or love him differently with each indiscretion.

 

It’s this same type of forgiveness (times a million) that God offers to each of us. It’s a forgiveness that extends as far as “the east is from the west” that we’re praying our kids will fully grasp and lean into with their Savior.

 

Let’s take a few minutes and pray for our kids to confess their sin so they can live fully in God’s overwhelming forgiveness. And then let’s also pray for this mom who should know better than to give a gratuitous day off to a kid with more energy than the sun.

 

 

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 advice to help you grow into the parent you want to be visit www.ChristianParenting.org


Talking Bruno Mars + praying with your kids with Erica Renaud

I’m guessing the title of today’s show caught your eye? Definitely not a title I’ve put together for a podcast show until today!

Yes, I recently went to see Bruno Mars with my hubs, and I can’t wait to weigh in on that a bit. But more importantly, Erica Renaud is joining us to chat about praying with our kids and how to get that rolling if it’s not a part of our regular routine.

Erica has a new book releasing soon that walks us through praying with our kids. Today she’s sharing some practical advice with us on how to physically engage in prayer with our kids, how to walk through unanswered prayer requests, and appropriate theology on prayer no matter the age.

We talk a lot about praying for our kids on Pardon the Mess, but today I’m excited to talk about praying with our kids. Don’t miss it.

 

Resources from today's show:

Pray with me: Help Your Children Engage in Authentic and Powerful Prayer

Erica Renaud

The Parent’s Guide to Social Media by Axis

The Christian Parenting Podcast

Pardon The Mess is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual advice to help you grow into the parent you want to be visit www.ChristianParenting.org

 


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