The Greta Eskridge Podcast

In this episode I got to talk with the wonderful Lyndsey Mimnagh of Treehouse Schoolhouse. Lyndsey and I talk for a bit about home schooling and then we get to the heart of the episode, celebrating Christmas with our families in meaningful and intentional ways. This episode is full of inspiration and ideas, but also there is a lot of grace for the mom who might feel overwhelmed by Christmas when she’s in a tough season. Lindsey offers fun and creative ideas, but she’s also great at providing simple and practical ways for any family to have fun at Christmas. There are so many ideas for Christmas this year and next. I came away inspired and I bet you will too.  Where to find Lyndsey: Find Lyndsey on her website here Find Lyndsey on Instagram here Find Lyndsey on You tube here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Get 15% off all products from the Treehouse Schoolhouse shop here  *Use the code GRETAESKRIDGE15 Find Greta’s cinnamon roll recipe here Find The Legend of the Candy Cane book here Find An Orange for Frankie book here Find The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey here Find the “Favorite Things” party details here Find the “If You’re Sad at Christmas” post here  Some of my favorite quotes from this episode: “We need to see something pretty that helps us strive toward something and at the same time we need to know how to do it. I want to be a place that provides both.” Lyndsey Mimnagh “We can see who God has designed our children to be when they play.” Lyndsey Mimnagh “School doesn’t have to be in a classroom. School doesn’t even need to be in a home. School can be outside!” Lyndsey Mimnagh “If you missed the start date of advent, you can start on whatever day of December you’re on! This is the freedom we need as we celebrate Christmas.” Greta Eskridge “Wherever you are at this moment in December, it’s OK to say, I am going to put some of these ideas into practice this week. It’s not too late!” Greta Eskridge  “If you are in a season where it feels heavy and hard, and you have circumstances that don’t lend themselves to doing all the Christmas things, that is OK. But also, if you are in a season where you can, or you are a person who finds doing all the crafts and Christmas activities life giving, that is OK too. We can be in both places at different times.” Greta Eskridge “What kids want and need is a calm and peaceful mom.” Lyndsey Mimnagh “Even if I want to be the Pinterest Christmas mom, if that comes at the expense of my peace, then it is not worth it for me.” Lyndsey Mimnagh “You have the freedom to do as much or as little as you can mange this Christmas because the focus of Christmas is Jesus and that is what we want to bring our kids back to over and over again.” Greta Eskridge  The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org   

Don’t forget to pre-order my new book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity. This is the book you need to give you all the tips and tools for keeping your kids safe from the danger and damage pornography can cause. And most importantly, this book will help you feel confident and comfortable having some of the most challenging conversations with your kids. Pre-order it today, right here! What a perfect time to talk to my friend Alyssa Bethke about her new book, When Doing it All is Undoing You: Meeting God in Your Unmet Expectations. The Christmas season feels so full of to-do lists and activities and many, many expectations that are impossible for us to meet and that leaves us feeling like we’re letting down others and often feel let down ourselves. Alyssa shares her own journey of coming to a place of being undone and what it looked like to draw near to Jesus and His care for her when she began to tend her heart. We also talk about the importance of travel, having novelty and wonder in our lives, and peeing in the woods! So take a deep breath and settle in to be encouraged by this episode. I know you’ll come away from this episode feeling refreshed.  Where to find Alyssa: Find her and her husband Jeff’s website here Find Alyssa on Instagram here Find Alyssa’s book here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Matt 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Ann Voskcamp’s gratitude journal here  Some of my favorite quotes from this episode: “When I go for my walks, I try to notice one thing that is different or new. It helps me be less distracted and more present, to put away my phone and to ask myself what do I see and what do I feel?” Alyssa Bethke “Being an observant person, a curious person, a person who finds joy in your every day are powerful and important things to make a part of our everyday life.” Greta Eskridge “I felt like it was my responsibility to make sure everyone around me was OK.” Alyssa Bethke “I think you need a season of caring for your heart.” Alyssa Bethke “The goal of life is not to be free of pain but to be more and more intimate with the Lord, and letting Him see us through the pain rather than keep us from the pain.” Alyssa Bethke “It’s OK to come undone and come to the end of ourselves because that is where God does His best work in our lives.” Alyssa Bethke “I wanted to live in my ideal life not my reality, but when we are honest with God He will meet us in our reality.” Alyssa Bethke “God always meets us with such grace and kindness. It’s His kindness that leads us to repentance.” Alyssa Bethke “We have to ask ourselves, ‘who or what are we doing all this for? What is my legacy? What do I want to leave behind?’” Greta Eskridge “Every day I go for a 30 minute walk, without my phone, and I’m going to talk to God. And I ask myself, ‘where have I felt God’s presence and where have I not felt God’s presence’? This was such a time for me to tend to my heart and commune with Jesus.” Alyssa Bethke “The world is telling you all these things you need to be and do and that is going to leave you disappointed. But instead, by tending your heart and going to Jesus you’re going to find the antidote to that anxiety and stress and disappointment.” Greta Eskridge “There is always wonder to behold so go on a wonder hunt!” Alyssa Bethke The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Where to Find Corrie: Find her website here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Find Corrie Ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place here Find out about visiting Corrie’s grave here Read about when Davy and I visited Corrie Ten Boom’s grave here Find the graphic novel Corrie ten Boom’ story here Find Good Book Mom’s reviews and book lists here Find the Christmas Mice book here Find the Promises Made, Promises Kept book here Find the Manger in Danger book here Find the A Wonderous Mystery book here Find the Little Pilgrims Progress book here Find the Little Christmas Carol book here Find The Best News of All book here Find the Shooting Stars book here 

Happy Thanksgiving my friends! I am delighted to share a Thanksgiving tradition I’ve had for the past 6 years with you today. Every year the day or 2 before Thanksgiving I share a post I wrote years ago detailing a Thanksgiving misadventure I had with my kiddos that involved an overturned Trader Joe’s grocery cart and myself and two of my kids sitting in the middle of the grocery aisle crying. It was rough. And it felt so symbolic of the weary season of motherhood I was in at the time. I wrote the piece to remember that moment, but even more to remember that weariness. I don’t ever want to be smug towards a mom of littles who is stretched so thin and just needs to be seen and heard. So this essay is for you if you are in that season now, or if you need to remember it. I am with you in both those places. I hope you enjoy hearing me read it! And if you’d like to read it yourself, you’ll find it right here. Thanks for listening and sharing! The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

I truly loved this conversation with my long time internet friend, Elizabeth Ensor. Elizabeth is so inspiring to me. She is intentional in her role as a wife, mother, home educator, a creative and as a woman. She wants to make the most and the best with what she has, and she is doing it! In this episode Elizabeth shares with us about the guide she created to glean wisdom from mothers farther along the path than we are. After Elizabeth’s mom passed away, Elizabeth missed being able to talk to her mom with questions and really she had a yearning for godly wisdom from seasoned mothers. So she made what she was looking for! Learn all about this resource she made. She tells us more in today’s episode.  Where to find Elizabeth: Find her website here Find her Seasoned Moms guide here Find her on Instagram here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Find the Seasoned Moms Interview Guide here  Some favorite quotes from this episode: “My mom was always right there and very intentional about what we did.” Elizabeth Ensor “Her approach to motherhood and life has inspired me and every good part of me is from her!” Elizabeth Ensor “There is this idea in the business world, this 3 percent rule that if you invest back into yourself, you set money aside, then you are going to grow as a person and a leader. So even as a mom and home educator, we may not be bringing in a lot, but our emotional health and wisdom runs the home.” Elizabeth Ensor “Every seasoned mom just tells me to enjoy it. Enjoy your kids.” Elizabeth Ensor “Wisdom is mentioned in the Bible over 200 times and we are commanded to seek it.” Elizabeth Ensor “We need to have the humility to say, ‘I don’t have this all figured out and I need some help and wisdom from someone farther along than me and someone whose children I admire. Those are the people I want to learn from.” Greta Eskridge “The investment you make, not just in your children but in yourself as a mom, to raise your children well is valuable.” Greta Eskridge  “Whatever season I am in, I want to fully enjoy it.” Greta Eskridge  “We need to be heard in the moments when it’s hard and then we need to be reminded to really celebrate, even when it’s hard, because the seasons don’t last forever.” Greta Eskridge  

I am thrilled to introduce today’s guest to you. Barrett Johnson is the founder of a ministry called Imperfect Normal Families Only. Barrett is just like the title of his ministry, so real and so approachable. I loved talking with him. In this episode we talk about Barrett’s newest book, Disciple Them Like Jesus: Leading Your Kids the Way Christ Led the Twelve. We discussed what discipleship is and how we can disciple our kids. As a dad to 5 and grandparent to 8, Barrett is full of practical and Godly wisdom for raising our kids to know and love Jesus better. I found his book and our conversation so helpful. Please be sure to listen to the end of this episode as Barrett shares a current battle he’s facing and yet manages to encourage mightily. I’d be so grateful if you’d join me in praying for him.  Resources: His website here His Instagram here His book here His courses here My new book here  “We’re all imperfect, normal families and we serve a God who loves us that way!” Barrett Johnson “The Bible is full of principles, guidelines, directives and stories about what is important to God. And that is training people up to know who Jesus is and join Him on His big agenda to redeem humanity. The Great Commission says to ‘go and make disciples’.” Barret Johnson “If making disciples is important to God, why wouldn’t we be doing that in our homes?” Barrett Johnson “Discipleship fundamentally is learning to walk in the ways of Jesus and join Him in His plan. Live out Ephesians 5:1. Be imitators of God.” Barrett Johnson “Since our kids imitate us, we need to imitate God.” Greta Eskridge “When we walk with God, He helps us discern and see what is really going on in the heart of our child. Not just their behavior, but what is happening in their heart.” Barrett Johnson “We need to model to our kids how to pursue relationship with Christ.” Greta Eskridge “When your kid comes to you and confesses something you can say to him, ‘we’re going to run together to the arms of God’.” Barrett Johnson “Deeply connected relationships with our kids do not happen automatically or accidentally.” Greta Eskridge “I am finding joy and wonder in lots of little things that I would have neglected before my current circumstance. I am saying, ‘God, show me the good things in this day that you’ve given me.” Barrett Johnson   The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

*Don’t forget to pre-order my new book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity. You can get your copy here! And would you consider leaving this podcast a rating and writing a quick little review? A sentence or two would be so great and helpful. You can leave one here. Both of these things would be so helpful to me in spreading the word about my mission to help families create connection in a disconnected world. Join me!  Today I am so excited to welcome homeschool grad and young author, the wonderful Millie Florence! This was my first time meeting Millie, but we share some friends and life experiences, so it felt like we were old friends right away. Millie has multiple middle grade novels out in the world, and her newest novel, Beyond Mulberry Glen comes out in January of 2025. I loved talking to Millie about this new book, about home schooling, about creativity, writing, publishing and more! I know you’ll love this conversation too. Enjoy!  Where to find Millie: Her website here Her newest book here Her Instagram here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Pre-order goodies here Brave Writer (a home school writing program) here Honey Butter (Millie’s first book) here Ingram Spark (self-publishing book distributor) here Waxwing Books (Millie’s publisher) here   Some favorite quotes from this episode: “Home school is customizable.” Millie Florence “My mom wanted our home school to be directed by the things we delighted in.” Millie Florence “There was never a time in my life when I didn’t want to be a writer.” Millie Florence “You’re never going to be ready. You just have to do it.” Sarah Mackensie “Look at what you have and use that to the best of your ability.” Millie Florence 

I am delighted to introduce you to today’s guest, my friend Alicia Hutchinson. Alicia and I have been online friends for a long time, and I have enjoyed learning from and have been inspired by her through those years. Alicia is a home schooling mom of 4, the founder of the Learning Well Community and the Learning Well Journal. She is not afraid to go deep and in fact, she’d much rather go deep than waste time with small talk. As a result, we dive deep right away in this podcast episode where we talk about a lot of things, but especially focus on home schooling in the high school years. I know you will enjoy this episode! Where to find Alicia: On her website here In her home school journal here On Instagram here and here Resources mentioned in this episode: Some favorite quotes from this episode: “Hard things are not bad things, and sometimes they’re the best things!” Alicia Hutchinson “The growth that happens from 14-18 is phenomenal and I would not miss that for the world.” Alicia Hutchinson “High school is like the frosting on the cake!” Alicia Hutchinson “There is a fear that comes with keeping kids home in high school but we don’t have to give into that.” Greta Eskridge “I can’t teach my kids physics, but I bet I can find someone who can!” Greta Eskridge “Everything you say yes to, you are saying no to something else.” Alicia Hutchinson

Don’t forget to pre-order my new book!  Get your copy of It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn—A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity clicking on the title of the book.  Today’s episode is extra fun because it is my first episode with a guest from outside the Untied States. Meet Dave Boden, my friend from England! Dave is also the husband of one of my dear friends, Leah Boden, who is also known as Modern Miss Mason. Dave and I thought it was great fun that he was a guest on my show before Leah was. We sure had a great time together in this episode. I especially loved talking to Dave about his heart for reaching the next generation for Christ. Whether you have teens in your life or will one day, this episode will remind you that teenagers and young adults are craving meaning and purpose in their lives and we can help them find that through Jesus. I know you’ll love this conversation.   Where to find Dave: On Substack here His website here On Instagram here His book Like or Follow here His book Parallel Faith here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Get a discount on bulk orders of Dave’s book Like or Follow from 10 of Those here  Some favorite quotes from this episode: “The heart of my family is all about the next generation. That is what we’re passionate about. We’re captivated by reaching the next generation.” Dave Boden “If we’re open to teens and we don’t think the worst of them, we’ll see they’re such incredible people. At that time of life, they’re so excited about the world and they have ideas and questions and they want to learn.” Greta Eskridge “Discover how Jesus can reframe your world with hope and purpose.” Dave Boden “A part of our call as Christians is to leave our Christian bubble, bridge the gap and go where people are.” Dave Boden “There are three questions every person has: who am I, what am I here for and where do I belong? Young people are asking these questions and searching for the answers.” Dave Boden “Jesus is a real person who answers the real questions in our lives, but the places young people are searching won’t necessarily lead them to this answer.” Dave Boden “Your kid might be pretty good at attending church. But the goal of Christianity is not to church people. The goal of Christianity is to help people become like Jesus.” Dave Boden “So for me the end result is how Christ like are my children becoming? And how can our children become Christ like if they don’t know Christ?” Dave Boden “Young people are looking for adventure. They’re looking for a sense of purpose. They are looking to right wrongs. And they’re longing for hope.” Dave Boden “Teen don’t want to just be told about their faith. They want to go out and do it!” Dave Boden “We’re meant to be inspired by Jesus and then go out and do inspiring things with Jesus! That message is incredible for teenagers! It helps them know they’re called to a great destiny.” Dave Boden “Let’s rebel against low expectations! Jesus has incredible expectations for all His disciples.” Dave Boden “Parents are so scared of the teen years. And I just tell them that it is an amazing time! Just like they were incredible humans when they were babies and toddlers and preschoolers, they’re incredible humans when they’re teenagers!” Greta Eskridge  “We should say to teens, “look at all you can do as a young person of faith!” Greta Eskridge  “As parents we need to support our kids as they make their faith their own. And a lot of times that looks like saying, “yes, you can have your friends over to sit around and talk about God. I’ll make snacks.” Greta Eskridge  The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

This is your reminder to pre-order my new book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: a Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity, today!  I have been asked to write this book for years and now, I have! Your pre-orders are tremendously helpful in growing the reach this book will have. I need your help in getting this book into as many hands as I possibly can, so pre-order and share away! You can pre order It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here  In today’s episode, I get to talk with my friend Amber Johnston. Amber is a wife, a home-schooling mom to 4, a world traveler, author and speaker. She is also a world changer! One of the things that has most impressed me about Amber in my years of knowing her is the way she sees something that needs to be done and she does it. This is the way she changes the world. It is inspiring and hopeful. We talk about this and so much more in this episode. You are sure to enjoy it.  Where to find Amber: Find Amber’s website here Find Amber’s first book, A Place to Belong, here Find Amber’s second book, Soul School, here Find Amber on Instagram here  Where to find the books mentioned in today’s episode: Find Soul School here Find The Read Aloud Family here Find Honey for a Child’s Heart here Find Honey for a Woman’s Heart here Find Honey for a Teen’s Heart here Find Book Girl here Find Read for the Heart here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: “The freedom of home schooling is one of, if not the best parts of home schooling. Even as a kid, I recognized the beauty of the freedom of home schooling.” Greta Eskridge  “My husband originally suggested home school and I burst out laughing. It was literally the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. Then I joined a home-schooling group and that changed everything for me becau was in constant community.” Amber Johnston “Those moms gently and consistently told me I was the best. They spoke truth into me and built me up and that made all the difference.” Amber Johnston “My kids were always visitors to someone else’s stories and that was something we had to radically change.” Amber Johnston “You know your kids and you know what makes their learning come alive. That’s a beautiful part of home schooling.” Greta Eskridge “If there is a book you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” Toni Morrison “Don’t complain. Don’t talk about it. Be about it!” Amber Johnston “I am really proud to have that work not just for home school moms but into perpetuity and into society and to be able to say there was a point in time when these authors and illustrators were given their flowers and really focused on.” Amber Johnston  The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Reminder to pre-order my new book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: a Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity, right now and it will arrive at your door step March 4, 2025! You all have been asking for this book for years and I have been praying I could write it for years and now, I have. Please go ahead and pre-order it now as that is tremendously helpful in the reach this book will have. And then share the heck out of it, OK? I’ll need your help in getting this book into as many hands as I possibly can. You can pre order It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here  Today’s episode is part 2 of my conversation with Anna and Nathan Sutherland. Today I get to speak with Nathan and our conversation it going to enlighten and inspire you! Nathan and his wife Anna are the founders of Gospel Tech, an organization that exists to equip families to use tech in a God honoring way in a tech saturated world. Rather than painting all tech as bad, Anna and Nathan want to help families talk about tech, communicate the gospel and connect the hope in the gospel to the use of tech. It is a beautiful mission and they are doing it so well!  In an effort to get more of this message into the hands of more people, Nathan wrote the book, Gospel-Centered Tech: Raising Faithful Followers of Christ in a Digitally Distracted World. This book will enlighten and inspire you to push forward in using tch in the best way possible with your family—a way that honors God. Yes, you can honor God with your tech use! Nathan’s book and our conversation is honest and helpful and it is also hopeful. That is such an important element whenever we talk about tech use and screen time. It is not all doom and gloom! I know you are going to love this episode like I did.  Where to find Nathan: Find Nathan’s book here Learn more about Gospel Tech here Follow Gospel Tech on Instagram here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: “There are two kinds of tech: tool tech and drool tech. Tech that helps us build is on the tool side and tech that helps us consume is on the drool side.” Nathan Sutherland “Drool tch comes to the table with it’s own goals. It wants to take our time and our focus and our money. And until we understand that, we’re going to wonder why we keep fighting with our family. We’re never going to understand why it’s always Fortnite and never Microsoft Word.” Nathan Sutherland “We aren’t perfect in our tech use. But the goal isn’t to be perfect. The goal is to be humble enough to recognize we need a savior and that applies to our tech too.” Anna Sutherland “We need to know understanding what operant conditioning is so that we can have compassion for our kid when they’re stuck in the loop of social media or a video game.” Greta Eskridge “Technology isn’t fair. It’s designed to increase engagement and build habits. That is not an accident. They’re using a mind bending amount of data to give you things you didn’t even know you wanted. And to make you think you need things that you never wanted.” Nathan Sutherland “The definition of addiction is when you give up what you need to get what you want.” Nathan Sutherland “When we understand how tech works it gives us the opportunity to come to our kids with compassion and grace and understanding rather than the frustration we often resort to.” Greta Eskridge “Dumb phones are great!” Greta Eskridge  “Porn is bombastic now. I don’t know if the porn I saw in 7th grade even counts as porn anymore. I’m not 100% sure that we adults understand what kids are experiencing from their pocket device or their friend showed them on the bus.” Nathan Sutherland “It’s not about porn proofing. It’s about equipping them to make the best choices. It’s about not being afraid to bring it up with them. It’s about not being afraid to answer their questions. These are all things we can do to help our kids be resilient in this world that is saturated with porn.” Greta Eskridge  

I shared some big news at the start of this episode: my new book is available for pre-order! That’s right, you can go pre-order my next book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: a Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity, right now and it will arrive at your door step March 4, 2025! I am just overjoyed to be sharing this book with parents and giving them the tools they need to talk to their kids about a subject that can feel daunting, uncomfortable, scary, painful or just too difficult. Or maybe a mix of all of those things. I am here to help! You all have been asking for this book for years and I have been praying I could write it for years and now, I have. Please go ahead and pre-order it now as that is tremendously helpful in the reach this book will have. And then share the heck out of it, OK? I’ll need your help in getting this book into as many homes as I possible can.  Pre Order It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here  And now, for the rest of today’s episode:  I get to speak with Anna Sutherland and our conversation it going to inspire and excite you! Anna and her husband Nathan are the founders of Gospel Tech, an organization that exists to equip families to use tech in a God honoring way in a tech saturated world. Rather than painting all tech as bad, Anna and Nathan want to help families talk about tech, communicate the gospel and connect the hope in the gospel to the use of tech. It is a beautiful mission and they are doing it so well!  In alignment with that mission, Anna just wrote a book called The Graceful Disconnect:  25 Days to a Quieter Heart in a Tech Saturated World. In this episode I get to talk with Anna and Nathan, but really focus on Anna’s book. Next week you’ll get to hear from Nathan and his book! Anna’s book is a challenge, but it is a doable challenge. And an inspiring one that most of us, if we’re honest, need to take part in. I can’t wait for you to learn more as you listen.  Where to find Anna: Find Anna’s book here Learn more about Gospel Tech here Follow Gospel Tech on Instagram here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *“Moms, this is why I am writing to you. As much as we’d like to turn a blind eye to that screen time number that pops up (our own and our children’s) we simply cannot. We are fools if we think the conditions of our hearts aren’t impacted by what we digitally consume.” Anna Sutherland *“Most conversations take at least seven minutes to really begin.” Sherry Turkle *“The car is a space where we default to isolation. What if, instead, it became a place for conversation and connection?” Anna Sutherland *“You can speak a common language because you share the time in the car instead of everyone doing their own thing.” Greta Eskridge  *“Even as a kid, I recognized there was a break in connection when people put their headphones on.” Greta Eskridge *“We’re playing the long game as parents. We want these kids to launch and to be successful adults. Our job is teach them how to do that. Life is a parenting opportunity.” Anna Sutherland *“Tech is the easy default because we don’t have to deal with our kids. But easy is not the goal.” Anna Sutherland *“My grandma was a stay-at-home mom and her ministry was cookies. That’s attainable. I can make cookies! And she prayed for us every day and it’s incredible to have that kind of prayer covering. She made a difference for the kingdom.” Anna Sutherland  Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast. And I’d be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating and a short review of the podcast. Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  I love you guys! Greta  

What a fun and important episode this is. A few weeks ago I shared a photo on Instagram introducing our son William and his new girlfriend, Georgia. The response was full of joy and excitement for William and Georgia but also for our whole family, as this was something to celebrate. There were also a lot of questions from my Instagram followers. They wanted to know details like: how old are our kids when we let them start dating, how do set up healthy boundaries with dating, how did I feel about “losing my sons” (spoiler alert—I’m not losing them!) and so many more questions. So I decided to turn it all into a podcast episode and here we are! I can’t wait for you to listen and to get a glimpse at the beautiful and good way God can uses dating in our kids’ lives to bring them toward Him and toward pursing relationships that are honoring to Him and to one another.  The two books mentioned in this episode can be found here: Chasing Love: Sex, Love and Relationships in a Confused Culture by Sean McDowell Outdated: Find Love That Lasts When Dating Has Changed by Jonathan “JP” Pokluda  If you enjoy this episode, will you please consider sharing it on your socials? Or text it to a friend? Sharing my podcast is so helpful and I deeply appreciate it! And I also always appreciate podcast reviews. Have you left one on iTunes yet? I’d be wildly grateful if you leave one today. Thanks, team! Love, Greta 

This episode is a really special one. I am delighted to introduce you to today’s guest, John Fort. John is the director of Be Broken Ministries, which exists to help individuals and families move from sexual brokenness to wholeness in Christ.  John is also the author of several books, including Honest Talk—a New Perspective on Talking to Your Kids About Sex, which we talk about today. John vulnerably and courageously shares his story of sexual and pornography addiction and how God has redeemed his story to give him a purpose driven by hope and healing.  I loved talking with John!  He is full of wisdom, reassurance and, there’s that word again, hope. He encourages parents to be honest with their kids about their own sexual past and then shows us how to do it. I read his book cover to cover in a few days and I can’t encourage you enough to get your own copy. But start by listening to this episode and getting to know John better. You’ll be so glad you did!  Find John here: Be Broken Ministries Find John’s books here: Honest Talk—a new perspective on talking to your kids about sex Father-Son Accountability : Integrity Through Relationship  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *”I was a little afraid to get into this work but God kept shutting all the other doors. It was like He said, “I didn’t bring you out of this for nothing.” John Fort *”There is so much freedom in honesty.” Greta Eskridge  *”Look at what God did! He did it for me and He can do it for you.” Greta Eskridge *”If parents would be brave enough to tell their own story then their kids would be able to say, ‘oh you do understand!’ and then they could talk.” John Fort *”He realized at that moment that he was not too broken to be loved by his parents or by God. For the first time he felt a surge of hope that he had someone to talk to about sex and maybe his father could help him. That event , just hearing his father’s sexual story became the turning point for this young man to actively engage in his own journey to sexual wholeness.” John Fort *”My problem had nothing to do with sex. I was using pornography and other sexual things to deal with emotions I didn’t know what to do with.” John Fort *”The days I looked at pornography as a teenager were the days something bad happened and I didn’t know what to do with that.” John Fort *”If in our house we never talk about body parts, we never talk about anything, that gives the silent message that it’s not OK to talk about these things.” John Fort *”We surveyed a bunch of teenagers and asked why don’t you talk to your parents about sex. They had two answers: ‘I’m afraid my parents won’t understand my past’ or ‘I’ll get in trouble for what I say or even what I ask.’” John Fort *”Your story is simply a way to show them it is OK to talk about these things.” John Fort *”We can pretend its not happening or we can just talk about it.” Greta Eskridge  *”You don’t even know what your kids are dealing with until you ask. And the older they get the more often we have to ask them what they’re seeing and what they’re hearing.” John Fort *”People are looking for help for their addictions and hope for their broken hearts. They want living water. If we run away or become judgmental or uncomfortable any time we see sexual pain, we will miss the greatest opportunities to enter the pain of their sexual brokenness and share the love of Jesus Christ.” Julie Slattery *”Emotional resilience is connected to sexual wholeness.” Greta Eskridge  *“We think that telling our story is going to make our kids not respect us, but the opposite is true if we do it well.” John Fort  Thank you so much for listening and being a part of my show! I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a rating and review of the podcast if you haven’t already. I appreciate each one of you. Keep chasing joy! Greta The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org 

I am so excited to welcome my friend Anjuli Paschall to my show! Anjuli is a real life friend of mine and this episode reflects that. We laugh and cry together easily, share stories, and if we had cups of tea or coffee in our hands, it would feel like you had joined us as we hung out together in a coffee shop.  One of the things I appreciate so much about Anjulu is that she doesn’t try to fix everything with some cliché sentiment. Instead she listens intently and asks how I feel, thus inviting me to take my feelings to God instead of pushing them away. She is also not afraid to be vulnerable and through that she invites me into intimacy with her again and again. She is the kind of friend you want on the other end of the phone, text or across the table. Anjuli is a fellow author. She and I have walked through writing 3 books together! Her latestes book is called Feel—a Collection of Liturgies Offering Hope for Every Complicated Emotion. This book is like having a conversation with Anjuli. You’ll feel seen, heard, and loved as you go through the book. It is a beautiful book and unlike anything I have ever seen. Our conversation will give you a glimpse of the book and all it has to offer. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!  Where to find Anjuli: Get Anjuli’s newest book, Feel, here Find Anjuli on Instagram here Find Anjuli’s website here Finds Anjuli on Substack here Get Every Moment Holy book here  Some of my favorite quotes from this episode: “It takes time to look at your feelings, all of them, as an invitation to look at what your heart is trying to tell you.” AP “Feelings are an invitation to wholeness, growth and intimacy.” AP “The relationships that are the nearest and dearest to our are the ones where we can be vulnerable and share our true feelings.” AP “God can hold it all.” GE “God wants to be with us where we are.” AP “He wants to heal us not to fix us—not just be better, do better, feel better.” AP “God cares about what we feel, but He cares more that we become--whole, loving children of God who reflect His son.” AP “We can hold both the good and the hard at the same time and they don’t cancel each other out!” GE “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.” Washington Irving “God made us feelers and we don’t have to be afraid of the feelings that He put in us.” GE   

I am so excited to share the final episode of my “Back to Home School” series with you today. (Don’t worry, though, there will be other home school episodes in the future. They’ll just be intermingled with other topics.) In this episode I am diving into some of the home schooling questions you asked me on Instagram. I couldn’t answer them all, but I covered quite a few. And I promise to come back and answer more some time soon!  Here are links to some of the things I mentioned in this episode.  I hope you find them helpful! Want to have me speak at your event, conference, church, for your home school group, womens’ retreat or in some other capacity, get more information about booking me  here Find my Home School 101 Story Series on Instagram here Find all the home school articles on my blog here I talk about home schooling in high school and in college in episode 24. Listen to it here Learn more about high school transcripts here Learn more about Hamborg Academy of Art, in person and online art classes from one of our favorite art teachers here Learn more about home schooling and dyslexia in episode 25. Listen here Find Wild and Free bundles here Sign up for legal protection with a membership with Home School Legal Defense Association here Find Beautiful Feet Books curriculum guides here (they’re my absolute favorite!) Find Ambleside Online booklists here Read my book Adventuring Together to get fun back to school traditions (and lots of other ones as well) Get your copy here Give your kids a back to school copy of 100 Days of Adventure and dream up a bunch of fun adventures you can do together in the coming year. Get your copy here Read my blog post, The Early Years, here  Thank you so much for listening and being a part of my show! I appreciate each one of you. Keep chasing joy! Greta  

What a treat to have one of my earliest home school mentors on the podcast today. This is a powerful episode where we hear how Carole met God and how He led her to home schooling, which she initially thought was absolute insanity! Carole and I talk about the early days of home schooling when it wasn’t legal or illegal and so different than it is now. Hear how Carole’s son JJ has joined her in sharing the message of home schooling. What a dream that is! She shares books galore too. My favorite kind of episode! Carole Joy Seid is a joy indeed and you are going to love the encouragement and wisdom she brings from speaking on home schooling for 30 + years.  Here are the resources Carole recommends in this episode: Read and learn about home schooling’s pioneers: John Holt Dr. Raymond Moore Susan Schaeffer Macaulay Read their books: How Children Learn by John Holt Better Late Than Early by Dr. Raymond Moore For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay For the Family’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay  Here are the other books Carole recommends in this episode: The Common Rule—Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction Theology of the Body for Beginners The Least of These My Brothers  Father Arseny—priest, prisoner and spiritual father Little Britches series  Where to find Carole: Her website here Her seminars here Her podcast here Her Instagram account here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: “God doesn’t waste a thing.” GE “Home schooling was the farthest thing from my mind.” CJS “Home schooling is a huge liberty, and we don’t want to take it for granted.” CJS “It’s so thrilling to see the next generation of home schoolers carrying out the way of living that is so rich and blessed.” CJS “Sharing the message of home schooling has been the joy of my life.” CJS “The very first home school conference I ever attended was with Carole Joy Seid and it was absolutely transformational.” GE “You can home school with a bible, a library card and a math book.” CJS “High school and college is where your child’s theology makes up its mind.” CJS “If you’re tired, do something fresh and give yourself a grace package. Because that is what God gives to us.” CJS “Your goal is to get shining eyes!” CJS “The gift of home schooling for me has been all about freedom. The freedom to pursue education in the way that works best for our family, the way that works best for each kid and the way that works best for me as a teacher.” GE “Be the expert on your child.” CJS “Never stop reading out loud to your children.” CJS “The gospel needs to permeate everything you do.” CJS  Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast. And I’d be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating and a short review of the podcast. Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  I love you guys! Greta 

This is the third episode in my “Back to Home School” series and it is a great one! In this episode I got to talk all things home schooling with my friend, and fellow Christian Parenting podcast host, Monica Swanson.  Monica is a mom to four boys and lives on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. Monica home schooled all her boys, 3 of which have graduated, and is still home schooling her last one. She recently wrote a book called Becoming Home Schoolers, sharing the story of their home schooling journey, along with tons of other helpful ideas, information and inspiration. Monica and I had the best time talking together. You’re going to love our conversation and all the stories we tell. You’ll feel like you’re just hanging out with 2 of your friends. Come join the fun!  Places to find Monica: Her website her Her podcast here Her Instagram account here Her books here, here, here and here!  Here are some of my favorite quotes from this episode: “Home school kids have more time to pursue their passions.” Monica Swanson  “Home schoolers are prepared for the real world.” Monica Swanson “The number one reason we chose to home school is because I wanted learning about God, praying together, and reading the Bible together to be a part of their school experience because that is the most important thing you’ll ever learn.” Greta Eskridge  “There is no such thing as a neutral education.” Monica Swanson “Home schoolers are critical thinkers, they’re learners, they’re readers, and they know how to figure things out. Not every home schooler, of course. But a lot of them!” Greta Eskridge “It’s so tempting to have a whole curriculum for your 3 year old but if you just live life with your 3 year old and have him be a part of it, what you’re creating is a lifelong learner because you’re showing them that learning is happening all the time.” Greta Eskridge “Sometimes we forget how important it is to enjoy our kids. We get so caught up in what we feel like we have to do that we forget to enjoy our time with them or to enjoy them.” Greta Eskridge “The best is yet to come! The late teen and young adult years are so fun and it is the best reward.” Monica Swanson “It is painful joy to watch our kids fly. We’re excited for them and we have joy for them but there is pain there because things are changing.” Greta Eskridge “The home school lifestyle is not just a way to educate your kids but a way to get to know them and be involved in their lives.” Monica Swanson  

What a treat to introduce you to my friend, a person who has poured encouragement and support and wisdom into me, Carrie De Francisco.   Carrie is a mom to 2 homeschool graduates, she is a treasured voice in the home school community through her podcast, her books, her speaking engagements and her amazing videos on Instagram. She also provides encouragement for the moms of differently abled learners and especially for moms of dyslexic learners. The bottom line is Carrie will encourage you today, wherever you are on your home school journey.  This episode is full of a lot of helpful and practical tips for families that are home schooling dyslexic learners.  Here they are: *Have your child teach someone else something, or explain something they love *Spend way more time on your child’s gifts and talents than on the things they’re struggling with! *Use the dyslexic font for your computer *Use speech to text because it is not cheating! *Have your child read aloud the paragraph they wrote using speech to text and then help them edit as they read it aloud *Use Grammarly –its your writing tutor! *Use audio books (Audible, Hoopla, Libby are 3 great ones!) *This article breaks down a bunch of audio book options. Read it here. *Math U See is Carrie’s favorite math curriculum *Use colored markers, drawings or symbols to help them differentiate the words they’re learning and/or memorizing.  Places to find Carrie: Her website here Her podcast here Her books here here and here Her Instagram account here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *“Homeschool kids don’t just turn out OK. They can really flourish, even if it’s hard in the middle.” GE *“Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we’re doing something wrong, or that our home schooling wasn’t working, or that our kids are never going to learn. It just means it’s different. “ CF *“If your kid has dyslexia or dysgraphia or dyscalculia they are gifted. They are gifted in so many ways. They have so many gifts they are going to be better than OK!” CF *“The Lord created our kids to be learning machines and we just need to trust the process.” CF *“God is going to use this. We don’t know how and we don’t know when, but we can trust Him.” GE *“Listening to books is reading books.” GE *“According to a study from Harvard, the number one thing that helped kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia be successful was to have at least 1 person in their life who is their cheerleader. At least one person who was their encourager.” CF *“As their moms, we know they are super smart and super intelligent, they just don’t know it yet and it’s our job to show them.” CF *For all the things that technology brings that can be problematic, there are also wonderful parts of technology that helps people with things like dyslexia. It can give them an opportunity for success.” GE *“Spend way more time on your child’s gifts and talents than on the things they’re struggling with!” CF *“Our culture likes to celebrate success right now, not the long, slow, version of success that some kids achieve.” GE *“Tell your kids over and over, ‘I love that about you’” CF  

What a treat to spend the month of August talking all things home school in my new series Back to Home School. As a second-generation home schooler, I have loved home schooling for almost my whole life. Home schooling was an incredible gift to me as a student and now it is an incredible gift to me as a mom who is home schooling her kids. I share a little bit about my own home school journey in this episode and then jump into discussing the joys of home schooling in high school, as well as the early years. I hope you come away with the reminder that you are doing a good job wherever you’re at in your home-schooling journey. And I hope you’ll be inspired to cast a vision for homeschooling from kindergarten all the way through those beautiful high school years.  Here are some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Learn more about Home School Legal Defense Association here Home School High School: a Handbook for Christian Education by Carrie De Fransisco  Becoming Home Schoolers: Give Your Kids a Great Education, a Strong Family, and a Life They’ll Thank You For Later by Monica Swanson Learning Well community with Alicia Hutchinson Cloud 9 Adventure  James Eskridge’s first illustrated book with 1000 Hours Outside Include these life skills in high school—cooking, travel, finances, home repair, community service, household chores, child care, hospitality, event planning, navigating the doctor’s office, the DMV, filling out forms and paperwork…these are all things they should be learning and doing in high school. The Early Years a blog post by Greta Eskridge Home School 101 Instagram highlight by Greta Eskridge  Here are some favorite quotes from this episode: *”Being home schooled is one of the greatest gifts of my life.” GE *”Someday your kids will be the ones to say to you, ‘mom, dad, being homeschooled is one of the biggest blessing of my life.” GE *”There is no perfect educational system.” GE *”You are your kid’s first teacher.” GE *”You need to have a vision for your home school journey. You need to have a vision for where you want to end up.” GE “There are so many reasons to keep home schooling through high school. Some of my favorites are: freedom, flexibility, so much less social pressure, the ability to have solid biblical truth as part of their studies, and so much more time together in the last years they’re going to be home.” GE *One thing that holds parents back from wanting to home school their kid in high school is that they think their kids are going to miss out on what they see as really important things. But parents need to ask themselves, “is it important to my kid or is it important to me?’” GE *”Their high school experience is going to look different than yours because they are home schooled. But different doesn’t mean bad. It just means different.” GE *”You don’t need much to home school your kids. You can home school with a Bible, a math book and a library card”. Carole Joy Seid *”Home schooling is best when it is personalized to your family and all the ways you live and learn best.” GE “Find ways to inject joy into your home school.” GE