Episode 70-- Friends, this may be one of the most important episodes I’ve ever recorded on the podcast. This is an episode that every parent, and probably every young adult and teen needs to hear. Please listen and then share with everyone you know who could benefit from it.

This episode is part 1of this conversation. Part 2 is coming next week where I go through some of the most important things John and I talked about, and I go into them with a little more depth. In part 1, this episode, John Begeman tells his story of pornography exposure as a child that led to years of addiction, shame and hiding. But then he shares the story of the healing he is walking in now as a man in his 20s, free from the bondage porn held in.

John also shares how his parents handled this issue of pornography exposure and addiction in his life—what didn’t help and what did. He is very honest, and I believe what he shares is incredibly helpful and important for every parent to hear.

You can’t see it because this is audio and not video, but I cried through this entire episode. I cried for John, for his mom, for every child that is exposed to porn and suffers as a result, and for every mom that finds her child has been exposed to porn and has to navigate the fear and hurt that comes from that. I cried for all of us and the way porn is devastating and destroying lives. This episode is raw and real and honest, but ultimately it is hopeful. YES! There is hope still in the darkness. There is always hope because there is always the love of God, which is bigger and stronger than any darkness.

And my hope is that with this episode and then with the next, you will feel empowered with tools to make the best choices to help your kids and yourself, wherever you see yourself in this story. John’s testimony as well as the resources he mentions will be such a great help. I pray this episode is a blessing to you and I am so grateful for John and the work he’s doing to help set people free.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Find Pure Desire Ministries here

Find Summit Ministries here

Find my book It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here

Find Hopeful Mom here

Find the 7 Pillars workbook and groups here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

When her ideal life as a stay-at-home mom didn’t pan out the way she hoped, Julia Ubbenga found herself pleading with God. Instead of the extra time with her kids that she’d been dreaming of, she felt more like a time stuff. And as she prayed to God about this, she read Luke 12:21, “be rich in what matters.” This planted a seed in her heart, knowing that something in her life around possessions needed to change.

Through a series of more learning and growing, Julia embraced minimalism where she got rid of 75% of her family’s things, downsized to a smaller home to reduce debt, and she and her family haven’t looked back. In this process, Julia realized that she needed to declutter her outer home but also her inner home—her heart.

She and I discuss the question: what is cluttering up our heart? What do we, and others, use, consume, buy, or do to fill that void?

Julia’s book, Declutter Your Heart and Your Home: How a Minimalist Life Yields Maximum Joy, made me face some uncomfortable truths about my own possessions. It was really eye opening and helpful. I really loved talking to Julia about those revelation, her book and so much more in this episode, and I know you will love listening to it!

If you loved this episode and you love this podcast, will you consider leaving a review?

It really helps the podcast grow and helps other people find it easily. Just go to your favorite podcast platform and leave a rating or a review, or both! Thanks so much!

Where you can find Julia:

Get Julia’s new book here

Find Julia’s website here

Find Julia on Instagram here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

As soon as I saw the title of the upcoming book by Dr. Thom Rainer, I knew I had to have him on the show. He told me right away to call him Thom and it was easy because he’s friendly and down to earth. But his newest book, “The Anxious Generation Goes to Church” is anything but down to earth. It is a compelling, well researched and fascinating look at what our kids are navigating with church involvement while growing up in a tech saturated world.

And while it would be easy to believe kids nowadays really aren’t interested in church, Thom’s research shows something different. He has found that kids today are interested in spiritual things and are longing for a place to belong. Inviting them to church is not something we should be afraid of. Rather, it should be at the top of our list of things to do to reach the hearts of today’s youth. And if it’s our own kids we’re talking about, Thom’s advice is that we model showing up for church and actually being involved in church. That is the best way for our kids to care about being part of church—by seeing that we care.

You will find this conversation encouraging and hopeful. Thom is a loving father and grandfather and his wisdom and kindness felt like a warm hug to me. I loved having him on the show and you will love hearing him share. Go pre-order his book today so you can read it as soon as it hits the shelves. You won’t be disappointed!

Where to find Thom:

Pre-order Thom’s new book here

Find Thom’s website, Church Answers, here

Where to find Greta:

Find Greta’s new book here

Find Greta’s website here

Find Greta’s other books here and here

Find Greta on Instagram here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Well, cue all the tears, team. This episode is full of them.

It felt like it was time for a life update, so this episode catches you up on all the big happenings and some of the littler ones too.

The biggest one is our eldest son’s engagement to the love of his life, and a girl he’s known since they were both 5. It’s the sweetest story and I loved sharing some of it with you in this episode.

The rest of the episode is full of other life updates—trips and conferences where maybe we’ll get to hang out! And also, yes, why I changed my Instagram handle after 10 + years.

There is a lot here and you’ll want to check the show notes to links for all the things.

As always, thanks for listening and being a part of my community. It means the world!

Links mentioned in this podcast episode:

Find out more information about Forest Home Family Camp here. Mention my name for the 1st time family discount!

Message Greta to get tickets to the Literature Soirée or with questions here. (scroll to bottom of page)

Find out more about Greta’s women’s walking retreat through the Cotswolds here

Make sure you are keeping up with Greta and her new Instagram handle here

Check out Greta’s beautiful new website here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

It's almost summer, so let’s talk about one of my favorite ways to pursue intentional connection with our kids and friends—having a book club! Reading books together has been one of the most connecting activities for me since I was a little girl and my mom read aloud with me. It has remained that in my life until now, as I have read books with my kids and with my friends. And then what has taken our reading together to the next level is to celebrate the books we’ve read together by having a book club meeting/celebration—you can call it what you want. These book club celebrations have been a huge part of my kids’ childhood. They have loved them! And still do. And the book club I have had with my own friends for 12 years is still going strong and bringing me so much joy!

Book clubs are a way to take reading to the next level and make it feel more special. Invite friends! Make fun snacks! Dress up! Or just gather some friends to sit around the picnic table, have some popsicles or iced tea, and talk about the book you read together. No matter how you do it, being intentional about gathering to read a book together and then celebrating it will be a gift in your life. And I am inviting you to try it this summer!

Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:

My book, Adventuring Together, that has a whole chapter with instructions for a kid or mom book club and book lists. Find it here.

My friend Ainsley’s inspiring Wild + Free book about book clubs. Find it here

Find some Instagram posts about our kids book club here, here,here, here and here, and the famous Hobbit book club here.

Find some Instagram posts about our moms book club here, here, here and here.

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Read less

Friends, I was on the verge of tears, or actually crying, for this whole episode. The conversation is so dear to my heart, and it is so important. I wish I never had to share this information with you, but since I do, I am so glad I get to do it with today’s guest, Rosie Makinney. I’ve wanted to have Rosie to be on my podcast before I ever even had one! That’s just how much she inspires me; how much I admire her and how deeply I appreciate the work she does. She is a mother, wife, podcaster, speaker, author, the founder of the organization, Fight for Love. And in this work that she does, Rosie is indeed a fighter for love, for marriages and for women.

Rosie’s work is two-fold: fighting to educate women about porn use/addiction in the lives of their partners or husbands in order to provide preventative help, and fighting to come alongside women whose partners or husband’s porn use/addiction has caused great hurt and destruction in their lives. Both aspects of her work come out of the pain of her own story with two men who had porn addictions, one who was unrepentant and didn’t see it as a problem and one who admitted a problem but needed help to break free of it. In both cases, Rosie’s compassion and love for women who are suffering greatly due to their partner or husband’s porn use grew and she knew she had to do something to help these women. She let God give her pain purpose and so many women, including myself, have benefitted from Rosie’s courage, vulnerability and wisdom.

You will find this episode to be so full of practical, helpful information. If you are walking through this very thing in your marriage, you will feel seen and understood. We hope you will realize you are not alone. If this is not your story, we hope you will listen anyway, because it is the story of a sister, a friend, a neighbor, a daughter, or a women that sits next to you in church, and she needs your support. Get educated and grow your compassion so you can share both with a woman who is hurting, yourself or someone else.

This episode is very dear to my heart, and I am so deeply honored I get to share it with you. I am so deeply honored I get to share Rosie and the incredibly important work she does with you. Please listen and share this episode. It matters so much. The freedom is worth it!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Find your 4 steps for help with a partner/spouse and their porn use/addiction here

Find the Fight for Love Facebook group here

Find Pure Desire Ministries here

Find Pure Desire groups for porn users/addicts here

Find Pure Desire groups for betrayed spouses here

Find Called to Peace here

Find Greta’s book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn, here

“Of one thing I am perfectly sure: God’s story never ends with ashes.” Elisabeth Elliot

Where you can find Rosie:

Find Rosie’s website here

Find Rosie’s book here

Find Rosie’s podcast here

Find Rosie on Instagram here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

My guest today is Eryn Lynum: master naturalist, author, bible teacher, home schooling mom, and podcast host. Friends, she’s incredible! And this episode with her is just so fun! We had the best time talking about nature and seeing God at work there.

Eryn’s love of nature and God’s word have taught her much about the importance of pursuing rest. But this learning actually began when Eryn was a young teen. At the age of 14, Eryn learned that she had a potentially life-threatening disease that required rest to keep her alive. This started Eryn on a journey of learning to manage the stress and anxieties of life in a way that was healthy and holy.

In this episode, Eryn talks about her new book, The Nature of Rest: What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living, and how it is the story of all she’s learned about rest from her own life journey, to studying creation and God’s word. Eryn is a joy to talk to. She is a wealth of fun and fascinating nature knowledge, as well as a wise guide to biblical living. I love this episode, and I know you will too!

Be sure to get Eryn’s new book today! You can find it right here.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Find Eryn’s new book here

Find Eryn’s first book here

Find Eryn’s website here

Find Eryn’s podcast here

Find Eryn on Instagram here

Find more about Awana programs for kids here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Today’s guest, Josh Thurman, has a pretty remarkable bio—from being a dad to 6 to a Navy Seal, he’s one amazing guy. But one of the things he’s very proud of and we can all be very grateful for, is his involvement as a co-founder in a brand-new company called Angel Q.

Angel Q exists to keep kids safer online by using AI as a buffer and guide while kids are online. Unlike other browsers that have no built in safety features, and that are constantly serving up more and more content for kids, Angel Q curates a child’s time online to not just keep them safe from problematic and dangerous content, but also to bring their time online to a natural end after a reasonable amount of time.

This episode is full of a lot of really important information for parents to be aware of. From the predatory nature of the tech industry, the growing rates of depression for teen girls, and the ways AI can be used for good to keep our kids safe, even though that felt confusing to me at first. I came away from my first, and now my second, conversation with Josh feeling so incredibly impressed by what Angel Q is doing to protect my kids and yours.

And listen to this! Angel Q has given my listeners the incredible opportunity to get an entire year subscription for free! Just use the code : FOUNDERSFREEYEAR

This is a limited time offer so take advantage! I can’t stress enough how important this tool could be for your family.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Learn more about Angel Q here

Sign up for Angel Q here (don’t forget to use the free code!)

Learn more about Josh here

Find Angel Q on Instagram here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org