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© 2023 Bridge of the Faithful
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Each episode of Bridge of the Faithful will focus on an aspect of the word "faithful." We will work together to define what God's faithfulness means, what faithfulness on our end looks like, and the amazing blessings we receive when we truly understand the both of them.
64 Episodes
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Originally Christie was studying science, but God directed her toward children's ministry and helping parents build a firm foundation of faith in their children's lives. Her most recent endeavor has been the Mother-Son Prayer Journal, where she dug deep in understanding God's faithfulness throughout the chronological life of David. Along the way, she learned so much about his life and the trustworthiness of God's promises. As a mom herself, Christie has learned that making God a priority always reaps good fruit. However, she also realizes that as a mother, life will not always look structured and picture-perfect. She has learned to do things in the timing that she's given and to give herself grace, God will always bless her effort!
Yulia Shubina grew up in Central Asia in an area closed to the Gospel. However, through miracles and hard work, she received a Christmas Box at the age of 9 through Samaritans Purse. That gift started a journey where God pursued her and saved her. Now, Yulia lives in the United States and works with Operation Christmas Child. Yulia has a unique perspective as she recounts the story of how a box goes from your house to the utmost corners of the Earth, and how God does amazing things through the sacrifices of His people.
Operation Christmas Child sends millions of boxes to children worldwide to supply needs, fun surprises, and most of all the knowledge of a God who loves them and gives hope. Yulia is one of many who have grown to know Jesus as her personal savior through the wonderful sacrifice of families willing to send them gifts. Yulia has a wonderful story that helps us see an intimate view of what God can do through a Christmas box. "Because when God is involved, there is always more."
One fateful night, Jen was involved in a tragic accident that caused the death of a motorcyclist. This accident sent her down a path of depression and questioning. In one moment all of her relationships, life plans, and faith changed. When trying to find support for this kind of trauma, she found that there were really no support groups for people on her side of the accident. True to God's faithfulness, He proved that He could still use her in big and impactful ways through her ministry and podcast Accidental Hope.
Her passion in life is to free people from the bondage of guilt and shame related to their accidents, to remind them that God is still good and did not choose this situation for them, and above all: that there is ALWAYS hope when God is involved, even in the darkest of places.
Former pediatric nurse, Bethany Adkins knew that God was telling her it was time to make a change. Like many...
Some examples of Biblical Mom stories that have inspired Sharon Wilharm are Mephibosheth's nurse (who only has one verse!), Rizpah, and of course Mary. While she doesn't necessarily feel that all of the mothers are "exactly like her," she has been amazed at what we can learn through their experiences. It has become clear that the people and stories of the Bible are intentionally put there by God, no matter how short or obscure they seem, and that we have a lot that we can learn from them, especially the women of the Bible.
Amy Brown, Carrie Holt, and Sara Clime are all special needs moms, and they are no strangers to mom guilt! With diagnoses ranging from behavioral disorders to terminal illness of their children, they've had to learn to find the balance of the everyday family needs, extra therapies, and appointments, to realizing that they just can't do it all.
One major point that we all need to learn to believe is that God does not tack guilt on us. Jesus states that he didn't come to condemn us, but Satan tries to keep us from that truth and steal God's redemptive power in our lives. As moms, we tend to tell ourselves our failure stories over and over again. However, when we learn to focus on the truth and our true value and identity as the moms that God chose specifically for our families, we will finally be able to allow God to walk us through our mom guilt and into the peace that God has overcome it all.
Motherhood is hard. Actually, the more I dig deeper into motherhood, the more I realize how much of a battleground it truly is. Satan hates motherhood, and sadly, a lot of times he is successful at getting me to hate it as well. The more I've shared, the more I realize how trapped so many of us mamas are in the lies: that motherhood is too hard; that we are alone; that we've messed up too much for redemption; that we don't deserve rest; that God doesn't care about the unique struggles that we are facing as parents. I felt (and still often do) lost, confused, betrayed, much like the Israelites at the Red Sea and the Disciples during Jesus' nap on the turbulent boat. I found myself, like them, asking "God, don't you care?!"
And then I remembered, God never leaves ashes and pain as the ending of the story. He showed me that He is indeed working. The seeds I'm sowing now in tears will be harvested someday with songs of joy.
Jessica Long was adopted from Russia after her young mother couldn't handle the medical needs of her fibular hemimelia. This sent Jessica into a long journey of understanding her identity and God's plan for her life. And then she found swimming. As her success grew, her identity began to be based on her ability to perform in the pool. At the age of 15, just five years after she started swimming, she won her first of many Paralympic gold medals. This began her journey of sponsors, success, and fame. But none of that filled her the way that she hoped, she continued to feel empty. Until the age of 21, where God finally got a hold of her heart, showed her what it truly meant to be adopted into His family, and the peace and safety she can find there.
Julie Parido has always had a passion for learning scripture. Now, that passion includes planting scripture into the heart of her own children. From juggling time as a busy mom to meeting the differing developmental needs of all of her children, Julie has built a list of resources and practices that work for her family. Her own projects include using art to memorize scripture, creating family devotional time, and using specific verses to help with discipline and building moral constructs. While she like all moms is far from perfect, she has worked hard to build the foundation of teaching her children the wisdom and devotion of the beautiful Word of God.
With eight children ranging from teenagers to parents themselves, Meg is no stranger to the bittersweet and beautiful transitions through motherhood. Throughout her entire journey, she has tried to not lose sight of the fact that God gave her these children to prepare them for adulthood, which means eventually they leave (which is a good thing!). She discusses the transitions that range from setting all of the rules and providing everything for your children, all while teaching them to set boundaries and help them set up their own rules as they enter adulthood. The biggest thing she's learned however in her entire motherhood path is that while her job as a mom is important, her most important job is being a child of God.
Merritt Onsa's journey to motherhood was unconventional. After bouts of infertility, she and her husband decided to pursue embryo adoption. Like many mothers who have been through infertility, she entered this part of her life with expectations and hopes of how motherhood would look. Of course, it hasn't quite gone that way. Like all women, and especially moms, she has learned that she needs to work on finding her true identity as well as identify her idols in motherhood. God has been so gracious in that and reminded her that she doesn't have to measure her motherhood by anyone else's. God has His own plan for hers and yours.
It's always easy to get distracted by our motherhood with all of the needs, expectations, and time that our children take. For those of us that are married with children though, we need to make sure that we are keeping our husbands above our children (even though this may not be the easiest or most popular opinion). Glori Winders is no stranger to the struggle of juggling marriage with her motherhood. After the real estate crash in 2008, Glori and Tim Winders went from having everything to almost losing all of it. However, because marriage was always the highest on their priority list, they were able to build tools and a strong foundation for God to work with even in this stressful time. Glori shares some of these tactics as well as her own struggles in her motherhood journey, reminding us that God truly does love us and care about us, and loves to lavish His blessings on us.
Being a special needs mom is one of the absolute hardest and most rewarding jobs in the world. Julie Holmquist and I have a lot in common with our struggles in being moms of special needs sons, ranging from our dreams of cleaner houses to our identity issues in this journey. Remembering that having a special needs child isn't a punishment to either the parents or the child is key to our perspective and changes the way that we see our situations. Special needs moms also struggle with embarrassment/shame and isolation, we want to remind all of you mamas that you are not alone! We don't know about the future of our typical kids any more than we know about our special needs kids. And it is so very clear that God placed them in our families to be a blessing and be blessed by us, and only He can give us the strength to do that.
Expectations as a mom are always hard to navigate. They became even harder for Brianna Heida when she became a stepmom. Even while struggling with identity issues, she found that God's faithfulness never wanes.
Annie had what she thought was a good life: married with two beautiful girls, until one day "a bomb went off" in her soul. After her husband left, Annie struggled with trying to adjust to life as a single mom. After surviving through the teen years, learning how to do things one step at a time, her daughter suggested how she had a lot to give in terms of helping other single moms get through. That conversation ignited her passion to mentor other single moms, to make sure they truly believe that they don't have to do this alone. All of her wisdom comes from the God who gave her the gift of children, and her heart's desire is to honor God with the gifts He gave her.
Michael Card is a Christian Singer-Songwriter whose life goal is to know and understand as much about Jesus as is humanly possible. From his surprise leap into songwriting to his current journey of researching Jesus' life, He's learned that God always gives you the life you should have asked for instead of what you think you want. Throughout his life, he's found that "our creativity is like romance, it's always a response to the beloved, the one who makes your heart resonate."
Cara Harvey is no stranger to struggling in motherhood. From the thought "I just don't know what I enjoy anymore" to burnout from fatigue, she knew she needed a change. After realizing she needed a reset with her expectations and goals, she started Purpose Driven Mom to help other moms find themselves again. She sees it as a mission to help our kids understand what healthy and thriving motherhood can really look like.
Winfree is no stranger to motherhood struggles. She battles internally to lead like Jesus, and she has found immense peace in the fact that we are promised that we don't have to do it alone! She has had to redefine joy as more of a recognition of God and goodness, satisfaction in Him; not on circumstances and met expectations. Even when God's answer to her prayers were the exact opposite of what she asked for, He still proved His faithfulness, and that His answers are never wrong.
Becky Kopitzke is a normal mom, with normal struggles. One day she realized: every mom has struggles, and every mom has flaws. She decided to be brave and share hers. Specifically, we discuss how God is stronger than our mistakes, and how He meets us and loves us there. Sometimes that means God convicts us, which Becky considers an indication that she's near to God. She also considers the conviction and invitation God extends for us to draw near to Him. Other times it includes God's discipline, which can be painful but is always loving. Her advice to help us succeed and grow in motherhood includes intentional presence, an anchored identity, honesty, and above all, GRACE
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