The Seven Longest Yards with Chris and Emily Norton
Life changed for Chris Norton in an instant, going from a talented college football player to a quadriplegic with a 3 percent chance of ever moving or feeling anything below his neck.
But, with determination and hard work, Chris proved his doctors wrong four years later by walking across the stage to receive his college diploma.
Emily Norton knew from a young age that she was called to help struggling children through mentorship and possibly even foster care. What she could not anticipate was the journey she was about to start as she helped Chris work through his physical challenges and goals while facing her own battle with anxiety and depression.
Don’t miss today’s episode of Pardon the Mess as Emily and Chris candidly share the ups and downs of their journey, including the road to adopting five beautiful girls and fostering seventeen children—and counting.
Chris and Emily encourage us to cling to the Lord in the hard places of life and to work hard and defy our seemingly impossible situations. Their words can’t help but remind us of the promise that in all things God works for his good for those who love him and have been called according to his purposes (Romans 8:28).
Chris and Emily are remarkable and can’t help but encourage you to find joy and courage in the hard places, trusting the Lord as he refines us for his glory.
Links for today's podcast:
Chris Norton’s Graduation Walk
Chris and Emily Norton’s Wedding Walk
French Fries and Clean Suits with Cynthia Yanof
This week on Pardon the Mess we’re going to places we’ve never been before.
You’ve heard Cynthia Yanof interview guests each week as we talk parenting, but today there’s no guest. It’s Cynthia unplugged!
Cynthia talks candidly about the places where the Lord has worked in her life the last several years, and encourages us to live for the higher purposes of God. She reminds us to be careful not to let the mundane trump the mission in our life, and challenges us to live interruptable.
Bonus: She share the best parenting advice she’s ever received!
Today’s episode will no doubt make you laugh while challenging you to make the most of every day for the Lord - because the Lord has mighty plans for each of us and there’s no time to waste when the days are short.
Thanks for listening!
Links for today's podcast:
Christian Parenting Prayer Journal
Book referenced:
Nothing to Prove: Why We Can Stop Trying So Hard by Jennie Allen
Scripture referenced:
Ecclesiastes 1:1, 1:11, 12:8, 12:13-14
James 4:13-14
Deuteronomy 31
Joshua 23
1 Samuel 12
1 Kings 2:2-4
John 15:19
1 Corinthians 10:5
Esther 4:13-14
Acts 17:26
Open Hands Willing Heart with Vivian Mabuni
Vivian Mabuni describes herself as an Asian American Christian woman, wife, mom, and cancer survivor. Having the opportunity to visit with her on Pardon the Mess this week, I agree that she is all of this and so much more!
Vivian grew up culturally Buddhist before coming to Christ in high school. She talks candidly about being the only Christian in her family and the impact her cancer diagnosis had on both her family and her faith.
Vivian’s life mantra has become “Open hands, willing heart,” which is also the title of her book. She is passionate about helping others find the courage to live all out for the Lord, trusting his character so completely that we’re willing to be surrendered to whatever plans he has for our lives.
My favorite part of the interview was talking with Vivian about the importance of embracing the “Plan B’s” in our lives and how oftentimes the Lord’s very best for us shows up when we let go of our own Plan A. We also talk about raising kids who are surrendered to the Lord and the importance of holding them loosely so the Lord can have the only real grip on their lives.
Vivian Mabuni is a gift and her words will encourage you to look at your faith journey in a different light.
Thanks for listening!
Links for today's podcast:
Christian Parenting Prayer Journal
Out of Ashes to a Life of Hope with Christina Meredith
I first heard Christina tell portions of her story on the Today show several months ago. I was initially captivated by her unabashed sharing of the gospel on national television. But, even more than that, her hope in the Lord and her passion for foster care reform were visibly stirring during the interview that day. I knew we had to talk with her on Pardon the Mess.
Christina Meredith endured years of physical abuse at the hands of her mother before entering the foster care system as a teenager. After graduating from high school, Christina ended up homeless and living out of her car as she tried to make ends meet. Praying every day for the Lord to give her a new hope, she had no way of knowing that, within a few short years, she would be crowned Miss California.
Today, Christina is the author of her first book, CinderGirl, as well as the founder of a nonprofit organization that advocates for foster care children. She shares her difficult story with vulnerability while encouraging each of us to consider our part in helping the least of these around us.
Christina’s story will strengthen your faith as she reminds us that only the Lord can take our places of doubt, discouragement, and pain and turn it all for good. Practically speaking, it’s a great reminder that when we do the smallest things for those suffering around us it makes a big impact.
Spoiler alert: she has an amazing story near the end of the podcast about how Tim Tebow’s dad prayed daily with her in high school.
Don’t miss this one!
Links for today's podcast:
Holy In The Ordinary with Melanie Shankle
Melanie Shankle is the New York Times bestselling author of Sparkly Green Earrings, The Antelope in the Living Room, Nobody’s Cuter Than You, and Church of the Small Things. Melanie lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and daughter. She has the gift of being able to write humorously about the seemingly ordinary things of life while pointing to God in the midst of it.
Melanie talks to us today about parenting her daughter, Caroline, and how she’s realized the small things end up being the big things and the importance of just showing up in our parenting. We laugh about parenting teens, dealing with social media, avoiding the traps of comparison, and letting your kids do it on their own (even when we can do it better).
Melanie is funny, relatable, and authentic, and she will encourage you to stay the course (and laugh a lot) on the journey of parenting.
Link from today's podcast:
What have you done for the Lord lately? with David Green
David Green is the seventy-seven-year-old founder of Hobby Lobby and our guest this week on Pardon the Mess. Mr. Green began his retail journey many years ago with a six-hundred-dollar bank loan for a frame business he operated out of his garage. The Lord grew that little start-up into a multibillion-dollar craft business that we know today as Hobby Lobby.
Mr. Green shares a great word for us today, talking about the legacy his parents left him by modeling a deep generosity and commitment to faithfully giving back to the Lord. His parents worked hard to be sure they raised kids committed to the Lord, evidenced by his mom following up his successes by asking, “What have you done for the Lord lately?”
His parents were faithful in the small things of parenting, ultimately making a big difference in Mr. Green’s life and how he runs his company today.
In today’s interview, we talk about the importance of modeling our faith well for our kids, how Mr. Green and his family strive to run Hobby Lobby guided by a higher biblical standard, and what it looks like when you decide you won’t compromise your faith—even when it may cost you everything in business.
I was so touched by this interview that I wrote an article about Mr. Green last week. His words are such a great reminder that we don’t know what we don’t know when it comes to raising our kids. Mr. Green’s parents had very little of what this world counts as material success, but they raised their family to know Jesus and live strong in their faith.
In doing so, they had no way of knowing they were raising a future billionaire who would someday take on the United States government in litigation because of his deep commitment to God’s word.
Parenting in a sexualized culture with Noel Bouché and Aszia Pearson: Part 2
Today on Pardon the Mess, we continue the conversation with Noel Bouché and Aszia Pearson of the pureHOPE organization about sex. Well, about more than that . . . but ultimately that’s the topic of the day.
pureHOPE aims to equip Christians to experience and model God’s love, purity, and justice in a sexualized culture. As related to our parenting, Noel and Aszia talk candidly about the importance of speaking always and often to our kids about sex, reminding us that we want their knowledge in this area to come from a biblical perspective, not from the loads of other sources that will inevitably try to inform them.
This is the second of a two-part series we are sharing with pureHOPE. Our goal is to be informative, practical, and biblical when it comes to a subject that many of us are less than comfortable discussing.
There’s something in this for everyone, so join in on the discussion!
Parenting in a sexualized culture with Noel Bouché and Aszia Pearson: Part 1
"Let’s talk about sex, baby."
If you’re a product of the 1990s and have a little bit of Salt-N-Pepa wherewithal, you might have just gotten that reference. If not, I apologize.
Today on Pardon the Mess, we have the great privilege or talking with Noel Bouché and Aszia Pearson of the pureHOPE organization about sex. Well, about more than that . . . but ultimately that’s the topic of the day.
pureHOPE aims to equip Christians to experience and model God’s love, purity, and justice in a sexualized culture. As related to our parenting, Noel and Aszia talk candidly about the importance of speaking always and often to our kids about sex, reminding us that we want their knowledge in this area to come from a biblical perspective, not from the loads of other sources that will inevitably try to inform them.
This is the first of a two-part series we are sharing with pureHOPE. Our goal is to be informative, practical, and biblical when it comes to a subject that many of us are less than comfortable discussing.
There’s something in this for everyone, so join in on the discussion!
Eat cake, be brave with Melissa Radke
It’s May and, let’s be honest, who couldn’t use a good laugh to accompany the millions of events crammed in these final days as we wrap up another school year? Today’s episode of Pardon the Mess gives you just that – a good laugh, but with so much more.
Melissa Radke and her husband, David, talk to us about the crazy way the Lord has taken their own plans and dreams and turned them upside down, landing a story so unplanned that only God could author it.
Melissa is “that” friend we all love to laugh with about the wacky stuff in parenting and the absurdity we all buy into along the way. She’s the mom behind the viral videos “Signs” and “Red Ribbon Week,” with over 140 million views. And now the Radke family is looking forward to the release of their reality TV show, premiering May 4th on the USA network.
Beyond just being downright hilarious, Melissa candidly shares about the struggles in their marriage, the values they esteem as they parent their two kids, and leaves us with a good reminder that God has a plan bigger and better than anything we can dream up.
Get ready for some big energy with lots of laughs!
Links from the Show: