How can we hope to have children who are steady, kind, and resilient in an increasingly hostile culture? It starts with what mom and dad model at home. On this episode Jay is joined by Pastor Ken Castor for a discussion on modeling healthy identity, communication, and kindness in our homes to prepare our children for the challenges of a word that wants to label Christian morality as hate.

As you listen you’ll be encouraged to notice the way you handle feedback and criticism in your home. You’ll learn the importance of missionary loving your neighbors, especially if you disagree with them. Finally you’ll be reminded to keep your hope rooted in Christ rather than giving in to the anger, angst, and volatility of our society in this upcoming election season. In each of these circumstances, Ken brings us back to scripture as our foundation and guidebook.

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Bio: Dr. Ken Castor is the Next-Gen Pastor of Wooddale Church (Eden Prairie MN) and author of Grow Down: How to Build a Jesus-Centered Faith and the editor of the Make a Difference Youth Bible (NLT). You can interact with him at www.kencastor.com

Resources mentioned:

www.kencastor.com

https://makeadifferencebible.com/

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Summer break is a great time to catch our breath and decompress. If we are intentional, the break is also an amazing opportunity to inspire our children with awe and wonder at their Creator God. Jay is joined this episode by Rita Diapoules, the director of Children’s Ministry at Covenant Fellowship Baptist Church. Rita helps walk us though little intentional activities we can do throughout the summer to deepen our children’s appreciation for their Creator.

In this episode Jay and Rita talk about intentional use of the mornings, reading and devotion times, and using a simple prayer calendar to guide children in noticing different aspects of creation and their Creator. They also talk about using vacations and service times to grow together as a family in the Lord.

**Be sure to check out the prayer calendar and activities guide created by Rita that accompanies this podcast.

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Bio

Rita Diapoules is the wife of Mark and mother of two young children. After spending fifteen years as a public school teacher (and Palm City Elementary Teacher of the Year) Rita now co-leads the children’s ministry at Covenant Fellowship Baptist Church while raising and teaching her daughters.

Resources mentioned:

Download the Summer Prayer Calendar here: https://bit.ly/45bIaAh

Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!

Support Let’s Parent on Purpose as we help families thrive though the gospel: https://letsparentonpurpose.com/support/

**Be sure to check out our new discussion guide to help you make the most out of this episode. [Go to Discussion Guide]

What do you think about when you think about God? Is He distant, uncaring, weak or unjust? Or is He good, near, powerful, just, and loving? Every person has a story they tell themselves about God, and we continually feed this story.

Today Jay shares how we have a choice in what we choose to feed in our story about God. He then shares how those choices tend to have control over us in ways that we don’t expect. The story you tell yourself about God will affect how you handle temptation, trials, and tragedies. Will sin become a coping mechanism or an evil to avoid? It all depends on the story you are feeding yourself about God.

This principle also holds true in the story we tell ourselves about other people. You can make or break relationships based on the internal story you create and then seek to prove through your interactions. If you are stuck in a bad story, listen and hear how Jay shares two powerful antidotes that can change your story.

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Resources mentioned:

Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!

Support Let’s Parent on Purpose as we help families thrive though the gospel: https://letsparentonpurpose.com/support/