Over A Cup

If you’re like my family and struggle to find a place in your life for Bible Study because you’ve never tried before or you’ve tried and failed. Listen to this month’s Over A Cup podcast episode. Learn to choose a Bible study habit that fits you Decided how to make it tiny Discover where to insert it in your day so it has sticking power Decided how to fight distractions Celebrate because you earned it! As I explain in the podcast, this method helps more than any other I’ve tried, even when given my toughest task–cleaning my kitchen!  Tiny Habits Recipe:  When I do….. I will do…. I will celebrate by….. Resources Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg Join the monthly Newsletter for the Bible study and more! Blue Letter Bible app YouVersion app for kids YouVersion app Workshop: How to Make Bible Study Stick

Let’s LOOK together: Listen John 10:1-16 Observe V. 1-5: Shepherd  Follow because they know his voice – we must spend time with Jesus to know his voice Jesus leads them – he never asks anything of us that he hasn’t done himself (John 13) V. 6-10: Gate Back then sometimes the shepherd laid across the sheep pen at the gate. (https://ourdailybread.org/article/jesus-said-i-am-the-gate/) He was protecting his flock and only allowing in who and what he deemed best for them.  He also lets them out to find safe pasture and abundant life  Zoe life vs physical life (Empowered notes – Lori Varnell)  V. 11-13: Good Shepherd Sacrifices life for the sheep. He’s willing to give everything. V. 14-16: Good Shepherd He knows his sheep intimately  We can know him “just as my Father knows me and I know the Father.” Wow!  Bringing everyone together (us!) under him. Open Prayer–Take time to sit quietly with God, pray, and worship him. Keep If you’re not in God’s word regularly, start there. Join our online study at taralcole.com/join or in the show notes to get started. Start with us in the middle of John this month. There’s no such thing as too late! That way you can begin to know Jesus’ voice and follow him. If you are regularly in the word, excellent! Begin to decipher Jesus’ voice from the voice of the world and Satan (the adversary–as explained in a Bible Project video linked in the shownotes). When you hear you’re inner soundtrack, compare it to know what you know to be true from what you know of Jesus' voice. Does it sound like what you know of God? Or does it not?  Resources Join the online study - taralcole.com/join  Our Daily Bread “Jesus Said I am the Gate” article  Bible Project Video - The Sata and Demons - Understand Evil Spiritual Beings in the Bible

Let’s LOOK: L - John 6:32-40 & 47-51 O - Bread - back then it was more nourishing. Think of the artisan and whole grain breads today. Interesting to note that many cultures have a bread type food as a main staple of their culture: bread, tortillas, pasta, fry bread… It is needed for life. He gave his life for us. Acts 2:38 tells us: 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We remember each Sunday by eating the Lord’s Supper - Communion. Throughout the OT we see God giving the people celebrations to help them remember. The same is true for the Lord’s Supper. We need help remembering.  O - Prayer…. K - Spend time with Jesus today. Don’t let Satan trick you into thinking you’re too busy to spend time with Jesus. You’re too busy NOT to spend time with him. Can be listening to the Bible Do just a verse - might use the memory verses I give to newsletter subscribers each month  Resources: Learn about Ancient Bread University of Pennsylvania  Join the monthly Newsletter LOOK Bible Study method Youtube videos Abide book

So often we feel as if we're walking in darkness. In John 1 Jesus is described as the "true light" who gives light to everyone. Then throughout the rest of John, we see Jesus live out what it means to "be the light." In this episode, learn How Jesus is the light Why Jesus being the light matters to Moms today How we can be the light Resources: Get your copy of our John Bible Study Over A Cup Patreon LIVE Bible Study Ep. 46: How to Make Your Bible Study Habit Stick

So many of us feel overwhelmed by our schedules. They are cluttered with so many tasks and to-dos that we feel exhausted and overwhelmed.  Listen this month as I share the steps I just went through to move my schedule from chaos to calm. You can begin this process by the end of today!  Key Verse: Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” 3 Steps to Get Started List it all out Pray about your list Choose what to keep, delegate, or release Resources Join OverACup Newsletter - AND Get 5 Free Foundation of Faith Prayers Join the OverACup Patreon Community  

What do you do when your kids are fighting, again? How does the Spirit meet us in those moments? Listen in as Christie Thomas and Tara L. Cole share what they are learning and how the Spirit can help us in the middle of our daily lives as moms.  They also give many ideas for how to focus your family on Jesus in the season your family finds themselves in right now. Show Takeaways:  Practical tips for how to help your children grow in the fruit of the Spirit How to be a peacemaker vs a peacekeeper  How to release the parenting shame and think through your doover  Show Links: Fruit Full: 100 Family Experiences for Growing in the Fruit of the Spirit Little Shoots Deep Roots Bible Recap Blessings Challenge Soloman Says Daily Bread My Brother’s Keeper  Tiny Habits BJ Fogg OverACup Patreon Partners  

What do we do when our children struggle with their identity and image? Where do we turn? We turn to the truth and what God says about them.  In this episode, we dive deep into five foundational prayers based on God’s Word. Learn how to pray for our children’s: Self-worth Image Fruitfulness Values If you want these “Foundation Prayers” as lock screens for your mobile device, go to taralcole.com. Resources:  Everyday Prayers for the School Year Abide: 40 Ways to Focus on Jesus Daily Sacred Pathways for Kids  

I recently got that text from a friend. “Your son hurt my son….”  No one ever wants that text. Even if our kids fight with their siblings, we hope they will control themselves in public, especially with good friends.  Thankfully, it was resolved quickly and all friendships (adults and children) are still intact, but how do we help our children develop lasting character? Self-control and all the others?  This month’s episode helps to answer those questions and more. My guest Kimberly Amici is a Family Culture Coach and co-host of the Build Your Best Family podcast. Through our conversation you’ll learn:  How to begin to create a family culture in your home What family culture looks like practically  5 questions to ask as you develop a family culture  If you find this episode helpful, connect with Kimberly at: KimberlyAmici.com  Buildyourbestfamily.com Kimberly Amici-Instagram Want to find the resources we discussed? I’ve got you!  The Bible Recap Emotionally Healthy Relationships

One of the exciting things about parenting is watching our kids develop interests and explore their giftings. On this episode of Over a Cup, Tara talks to Monica Swanson, author of Boy Mom, about fostering our children’s unique interests and how we can continually lead our kids to scripture. These two moms get very practical about how they have creatively supported their children’s interests, set healthy boundaries for their kids, and provided resources that they love to use that connect them to God’s bigger story. Show Takeaways: Learn about Monica’s journey to allowing her kids to follow their interests Listen to how she is developing her own faith and passing it on to her kids. Discover the many children’s Bible resources and tips Tara and Monica share to encourage your kids to love God’s word and invest in it themselves. Show Links: Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble YouVersion App Adventures in Odyssey Boy Mom by Monica Swanson Raising Amazing by Monica Swanson The Character Training Course The Action Bible The Story by Max Lucado and Randy Franzee The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones The Biggest Story Bible Storybook by Kevin DeYoung NIV Dramatic Audio Bible In this episode, Monica and I share a lot of practical ideas to help you and your kids build a relationship with Jesus. If you need help making time with God a regular habit, please join our OverACup Patreon community for our Live Workshop on January 17th @ 1 pm, CST! This workshop will help you: Choose a habit based on how God uniquely made you Develop tiny daily habits that stick Celebrate your success to create lasting change The workshop will be recorded for Patreon Members to view later. Go to patreon.com/overacup to learn more!

Have you ever wanted to help your kids memorize scripture? Or wondered if it is worth it? In this cultural moment, memorizing scripture and applying it can be life-changing for our children. On this episode of Over a Cup, Tara walks you through some simple yet very practical ways to engage scripture with your kids that will make a meaningful impact on their lives. Listen in as Tara reads another chapter from her book “Everyday Prayers for the School Year.” Show Takeaways:       Listen in as Tara reads a chapter from her book “Everyday Prayers for the School Year”       Learn about practical ways to use scripture with your kids that will make a difference!       Discover how you can help form your children’s self-worth through the Word of God. Show Links: Over A Cup Patreon Partners Sharpen Your Sword Workshop School Year Resource Package 

Welcome back to the Over a Cup Podcast, as we go through this season, we're covering the five topics that are in my new book, Everyday Prayers for the School Year. We pray over friendships, their character, their gifts, their schoolwork, and we pray over our students' relationships with their teachers which is exactly what today’s episode is about. So whether you're a homeschooling parent or a public school parent, or somewhere in between, Pre-K to college, I've got you covered. Show Takeaways: Listen in to hear helpful ways to pray over your child’s and your own relationship with their teacher Discover my background with teaching and how that impacted my heart for teacher and students Why good communication with teachers is imperative to a good relationship and how to be effective at communicating with your child’s teacher Show Links: Mary Carver’s Episode Michelle’s Episode Everyday Prayer for the School Year

Over A Cup welcomes back author, podcaster, and speaker, Michelle Diercks as we focus on our kids, prayer, and school year this season.  Michelle is a mother of two boys,  and shares some sage advice for communicating and guiding our children through situations no one plans for.  She also shares how she has instilled the love of being in God’s word and how it has impacted her boys and their relationship with God.   *Warning, mature topics are discussed in this episode.   Show Takeaways:  Learn helpful phrases to guide your children in conversations they may have with peers Discover ways to help kids stay faithful from second grade until twenty Listen in to hear how to keep lines of communication open with our kids through the teen years Show Links: Michelle’s Podcast  Michelle’s Bible Study: Promised Rest Skit Guys ESV Bible with Commentary You Version  Prayer Journals by JL Gerhardt Prayers of Rest Podcast  The Bible Project *Affiliate links are used here. They don’t cost anything for you to use but help support this podcast. Thank you! 

Welcome to another episode of the Over a Cup Podcast. I am so glad you're here this month. My guest is Mary Carver.  Mary is a writer and a podcaster, her podcast The Couch with Mary Carver talks about the intersection of faith and pop culture. She’s also a mom and a wife. And she has a new book coming out called Prayers From the Parking Lot and it is for moms who find themselves in the parking lot, either kind of trapped while they're waiting on their kids or maybe just hiding out from their kids, getting a few extra minutes of quiet in the minivan before they go inside back to the chaos. In this episode, we discuss motherhood, parenting, and specifically helping our kids navigate friendships.  Show Takeaways:  Listen in to hear the importance of how we as parents can pray over and help our children navigate friendships. Discover how Mary did this in her own life and what she’s learned.  Learn some practical ways to help your children navigate friendships no matter what their age.  Show Links: Mary Carver Prayers from the Parking Lot The Bible Recap YouVersion One Year Chronological Bible The Chosen  Threadbare Prayers Veggie Tales What’s in the Bible Bible Gateway The Jesus Storybook Bible Minnow Kids ABC’s of the Bible

Show Notes: Welcome back to another episode of the Over a Cup Podcast, and welcome to season three. This season is all about praying God's word over your children's school year. So whether you have children or grandchildren, this is pretty much for any age and stage.  My first guest is Brooke McGlothlin from Million Praying Moms. Brooke is really the one who taught me how to pray God's word over my children so she is a perfect fit for our first guest of the season. Show Takeaways:  Listen in to hear Brooke’s story of how she started praying God’s work over her kids. Learn how Brooke has used God’s word to pray over her kids, and how you can too. Discover resources to start praying over your kids.  Show Links: Million Praying Moms Website Million Praying Moms Instagram Million Praying Moms Facebook Brooke McGlothlin Website Everyday Prayers for the School Year FREE Summertime Prayers Lock Screens

During the difficult days of mothering and training our children, we can often feel like we are alone in the fight.  Mom mentors offer listening ears, loving hearts, and encouragement as we journey through mothering.   I am excited to share with you the wisdom of Terri Wilson, a mom mentor from my own life as we discuss the power of hindsight.  Terri shares ways she guided her children into their own relationships with God by growing her relationship with God.   Listen in for practical encouragement from a mom that’s been there.  Show Links: Seeds Family Worship Steve Green Music Connect on Instagram Show Takeaways:  Listen in to hear why teaching our children to love God is the most important thing we can teach them.   Discover different ways to make the Word personal. Learn how to help our children through difficult times. 

During some seasons of life, it seems like this world has gone crazy! The chaos in our personal life or the world around us can be overwhelming and distract us from God.  That was Melody’s life in early 2020 and she, like all of us during that time, wondered where to turn. She found her comfort in intercessory prayer. It might sound like a big, fancy term, but it simply means interceding on behalf of another. Taking one another to Jesus’ feet.  However, instead of stopping her busy life as a homeschooling mom and homesteader, God showed her how to pray and intercede even as she went about her day. Love that!  If you feel weighed down by life and wonder if there is time to pray amid the interruptions and distractions, this episode is for you!  Resources: Good Notes app The One Year Chronological Bible YouVersion Blue Letter Bible Amanda Cook Music IHOP Prayer Room Maverick Music  Podcast Learn how to fight distractions and find the time to focus on Jesus in my conversations on the OverACup Podcast.  Books Find more abide ideas in my book Abide: 40 Ways to Focus on Jesus Daily. Discover how to help your kids connect to God in the special and unique ways he made them in my book with Christie Thomas Sacred Pathways for Kids.  Pray God's word over your child’s school year (no matter your schooling choice or child’s grade!) in my upcoming book releasing August 2, 2022, Everyday Prayers for the School Year. Pre-order today!  Patreon Partners This is my favorite place to be online! Every month we gather for a LIVE Chat where we pray together and have a mini-workshop that goes deeper into that month’s podcast topic. Patreon Partners also have access to Bible Studies, ebooks, and video series as part of their membership. I hope you join me. Click here to learn more: OverACup Patreon Partners.

Bad things happen to good people. I wish it wasn’t true. I wish I could tell you, like Job’s friends in the book of Job, that God blesses the righteous and doesn’t allow hard things to happen. But it just isn’t true.  As Amy Anguish shares in this episode, even in those hard times, there is hope. God walked her and her husband through 6 years of infertility and gave her the ability to comfort hurting women in a way she wasn’t able to before. If you’re going to infertility, loss, or sickness, find hope in Amy’s story of walking with God through those times when you can only say, “Why God?”  Resources Hannah’s Hope Priscilla Shirer Elijah Study Amy Anguish fiction books Hope Grown Faith Connect with Amy Anguish: Facebook Twitter Website: A Bit of Anguish

During those times when we feel like we’ve been sucker-punched when our feet have been kicked out from under us, there is hope! Joy is possible. Listen in as Gina L. Smith shares how she learned to find joy when life took an unexpected turn, and how she continues to seek God’s joy in her everyday life.  In this episode learn how to: Turn venting to lamenting  Remember God’s Faithfulness Thank him for how he will be faithful Find Biblical Joy Resources Abide 5 Day Challenge Million Praying Moms Everyday Prayers for Joy by Gina L. Smith Resources for 0-7 Kids Kay Authur- Precepts  Danna Gresh YouVersion app Revive our Hearts  Connect with Gina L. Smith:  Gina is an author, podcaster, and mentor mom for Million Praying Moms. Gina and her husband Brian have been married for more than three decades. They served as the on-campus parents at a Christian college for more than twenty years while Brian was a professor and dean of students. They mentored hundreds of college and seminary students as well as young couples over the years. Gina has a degree in Bible studies from Washington Bible College/Capital Bible Seminary. She has written for several organizations, including Million Praying Moms. She is also the author of Grace Gifts: Practical Ways to Help Your Children Understand God’s Grace. Gina and Brian have two grown children and reside in the metro area of Washington, D. C. Ginalsmith.com Gina L Smith Facebook Gina L Smith Instagram Gina L. Smith Twitter

Mom’s are weary. There are so many burdens we and others place on ourselves and our schedules. Sometimes I feel like the Cat in The Hat balancing his pile of stuff as he stands on the ball. Can you relate?  Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith can relate, too. In this podcast episode, she shares how her book Sacred Rest came from such a time in her own life. As the mom of two littles, one day she plunked them down in front of the TV and laid down in her foyer flat on her back! I don’t want to give away the whole story (you’ll have to listen in!), but from that low place, she began to discover there are actually seven types of rest.  Her message here and her books have helped me so much on my own rest journey over the past 18 months. Come listen in and learn how Moms can find true rest even in the middle of their crazy busy lives!  Resources: Sacred Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith Rest Quiz TedTalk “The Real Reason Why We Are Tired and What to Do About It” with Dr. Dalton-Smith Website for Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith Abide 5 Day Challenge

Service. We know we should serve others. We want to serve others, but sometimes we don’t know where to start. OR we serve in our community, church, and schools, but we feel more burnt out than blessed.  Join me in this episode as Shanna shares how we and our families can serve from a place of strength and find joy in serving others, and how we can serve in the places that God places us in the middle of our busy day. Best of all she reminds us to give ourselves grace!  Resources Youversion Bible App