What we eat is a major determinant of our bodily health and much more. The right approach to food nourishes us in many ways and is a central feature of a flourishing household. Join Sofia and me in discussing just how food can be an ‘instrument’ of crafting a truly good life in our home. Features suggestions from Wendell Berry and our own kitchen.https://life-craft.org/
Wifery refers to something beautiful that every woman is called to be as well as to a very concrete art at the heart of life in the home. The richness of the term comes from the richness of what it is to be a woman. This lecture defines, explains, and inspires, offering concrete action steps for rediscovering and enacting the art of being a woman, especially in the amazing form this takes at the heart of a home.https://life-craft.org/
How we bury our dead expresses our basic view of life. But we have lost our traditions of burial, and so our lives are impoverished. Renewing how we bury our loved ones is part of renewing life in our home. Join Sofia and me in discussing principles and concrete ways we can reclaim this essential practice of human life.https://life-craft.org/
If motherhood demands all, can there still be space for anything else? Does being a good mother mean having no personal projects? Nell O’Leary shares her journey of discovery about what motherhood demands. Join Nell and me in discussing how the ‘oblation’ of motherhood actually calls for an appropriate diversity of pursuits.https://life-craft.org/
Husbandry names the heart of what every man is called to be; it also names a very concrete art that is the foundation of life in the home. The richness of the term comes from the richness of what it is to be a man. This lecture defines, explains, and inspires, offering concrete action steps for rediscovering and enacting the amazing art of being a man.https://life-craft.org/
One of the hardest things to understand is even harder to enact. Authority and submission are essential to marriage, and yet today we have a cacophony of voices attacking and defending what often are caricatures of reality. Join Sofia and me in considering this key to getting marriage right.https://life-craft.org/
A very difficult part of intentional parenting is knowing what to focus on. Specific goals allow for more focused and fruitful labors. Sofia and I made a list of 5 things we know we want to instill in our children. Join us as we discuss them and share suggestions for how to go about cultivating them.https://life-craft.org/
All men and women can be stewards and have the joy of ‘taking care’ of things. It is written deep within our nature. No prior experience necessary. Join Sofia and me and discover how every home can be a homestead, regardless of your background and the color of your thumb.https://life-craft.org/
Now more than ever, our children need grandparents in their lives; indeed, it can make a profound difference. Are we doing all we can to facilitate this? Join Sofia and me as we look at challenges and opportunities from both sides—how parents can invite grandparents to a more central place in the home, and how grandparents can step up to their God-given place in their grandchildren’s and children’s lives.https://life-craft.org/
Crafting the good life together calls for a shared vision. But what if spouses disagree, or one spouse isn’t really engaged in the same way? This happens quite often and need not induce panic. Join Sofia and me in discussing what all of us must face to some degree. Working through this challenging situation can be yet another means of growing ourselves and our relationship.https://life-craft.org/
What does a man really ‘propose’ in a marriage proposal? What is the project, if she accepts, that they set out on together? Our understanding and practice of ‘household’ has been eviscerated, so it’s no surprise spouses often don’t know what can really unite us, until death parts us. Join Sofia and me as we unfold the lost notion of household in its astounding richness and concrete practicality—including for the unmarried. This provides a foundation for many of our other podcast discussions...
Nothing is more important to parents, and nothing will demand more of us. Parents can’t assure that children will make good decisions, but we can be intentional about doing our part. The first place to look is in ourselves and our marriage. Join Sofia and me as we consider a few specific principles for orienting homelife around its central mission—giving our children the best start we can.https://life-craft.org/
Feeling overwhelmed is common, especially in households today, so we need to have a strategy for addressing it, for our own sake and for those we love. Join Sofia and me as we make some distinctions and seek principles for a better approach. This gives an opportunity to rethink roles in the household and discover a path to deepening the marriage relationship.https://life-craft.org/
Getting married we assume we’ll have a great friendship. Yet often it doesn’t turn out as we hoped, or it seems harder than it should be. In this episode, Sofia and I turn to an ancient wisdom about the nature and kinds of friendship and apply it to marriage. Any true friendship is a masterpiece requiring we understand what we’re seeking and how to forge it. This is true in spades of what can be the greatest of friendships, marriage. Join us as we discuss this central life-challenge, share so...
Though we parents know it is our responsibility, things our children so need to hear from us—about chastity, dating, and marriage—are often not addressed, or not at the right times. This leaves our children vulnerable and unprepared for key challenges, and it deprives us of one of the best contexts to deepen our relationship with them. A better approach to ‘sex education’ treats it as integral to forming children in virtue. John and Sofia discuss when and how to have great conversations with ...
Is woman as heart of the home an outdated and misleading stereotype, or is it what we should be striving for? In a postmodern age, can or should a woman’s place in the home be like it was in the pre-Industrial Revolution home? John and Sofia ask hard questions and offer some nuanced angles as they discuss this singularly important issue. In the end it’s not about theory, it’s about practice. Today, in the world in which we live.https://life-craft.org/
Our annual pig slaughter addressed fundamental issues we didn’t even know we had. Indeed, it has become a kind of microcosm of the life we try to make in our home. In this episode Sofia and I share our experience of raising and slaughtering pigs and reflect on how it has been for us a key feature of our homesteading, providing a work that connects us to our bodies, to one another, and to the earth. Whether or not raising and harvesting pigs is high on your list, we think you’ll appreciate a d...
We want Sunday to be different in our home. But where do begin? There are so many forces working against our making Sunday what we know it could be. John and Sofia take a principled but concrete and practical approach, from liturgy and prayer to family read-alouds and walks. Sunday can be not only the most important day but also leaven for the rest of the week. It can be the starting point and cornerstone of renewing life in our home. Join us! https://life-craft.org/
Save the Date! Join John and Sofia Cuddeback on March 19th, for the launch of "The Intentional Household," a LifeCraft Podcast, where we take a dive into the radical renewal of homelife, from crafting the personal relationships at its heart, to planting time, porch time and prayer time.We can thrive in these trying times, but it demands we rediscover and re-examine time-tested principles, and be intentional in applying them today.https://life-craft.org/
"Should we homestead?" This burning question of our time reveals our deep need in an increasingly dis-connected society to re-connect both with the people around us and with the earth. John and Sofia Cuddeback propose a distinction that can be the key to thinking clearly about this issue. All of us can and should practice homesteading in one sense; but we might not buy twenty acres and a cow. Join us, as we seek to sort this out. It will take us to the foundations of making any ho...