Thankful Homemaker: A Christian Homemaking Podcast

Encore Episode: Celebrating a Christ-Focused Christmas

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.
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker

EP 48: Cultivating Gentleness

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?
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker

Encore Episode: Putting on an Attitude of Love in Our Homes

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.
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
 

Encore Episode: Taming Our Tongues

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.
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
 

Episode 47: Simple Ideas for a Christ Centered Thanksgiving

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 
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
 

Encore Episode: What Does Self-Discipline Look Like in Our Homes?

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:
Spend time with the Lord daily
Take care of the tasks that are most difficult early in the day.
Make sure you finish what you start.
Take the time to get organized - one room at a time.
Learn to deny yourself.
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker

Encore Episode: Is Your Smartphone Changing You?

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.
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
 

EP 46: Our Need for Contentment

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
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
Follow Thankful Homemaker on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest
 

EP 45: Our Best Parenting is Done by Prayer

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.
Show Notes:
“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.
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
Follow ThankfulHomemaker on Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram
 

EP 44: Dealing With Our Sins of Jealousy and Envy

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
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
 

EP 43 Hope for Imperfect Parents

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.
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
Visit Thankful Homemaker on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest
 

EP 42 Some Titus 2 Encouragement Along the Way

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. 
Resources:
Homemaking Matters: Living for God's Glory in the Ordinary
Thankful Homemaker Blog
Free Resource Library
For the rest of the show notes and resources mentioned visit Thankful Homemaker
Thankful Homemaker Facebook Group