WEBVTT 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:15.500 Motherhood, where sleep is a rumor and laundry 00:00:15.500 --> 00:00:18.019 is eternal. And somehow, we're supposed to be 00:00:18.019 --> 00:00:20.500 raising tiny humans through it all. We're here 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:23.339 to laugh at the chaos, cry when necessary, and 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:25.579 remind you that none of us actually know what 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:28.699 we're doing. This is No Manual, a momcast. Your 00:00:28.699 --> 00:00:30.559 mom friend group chat, but with microphones. 00:00:31.210 --> 00:00:34.049 Welcome back to No Manual MomCast. Hi, everyone. 00:00:34.130 --> 00:00:38.149 Welcome back to No Manual MomCast. Today, we 00:00:38.149 --> 00:00:41.289 are talking all about faith and incorporating 00:00:41.289 --> 00:00:45.130 faith into our kids' lives. But before we hop 00:00:45.130 --> 00:00:47.350 into that, Erica, do you want to share your mom 00:00:47.350 --> 00:00:50.799 moment of the week? Sure. So we've been starting 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.399 to do like, I guess you would just call it affirmations 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:56.840 with Lloyd. So usually we'll start and we'll 00:00:56.840 --> 00:00:58.979 say something like, Lloyd is smart. And then 00:00:58.979 --> 00:01:01.880 he continues with other characteristics. So Lloyd 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:05.099 is smart and he's strong and he's brave and he's 00:01:05.099 --> 00:01:08.579 kind. And no matter what, no matter like how 00:01:08.579 --> 00:01:11.939 many he covers, how many or how few, what order 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:16.340 he goes in, he always ends. with funny and he 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:19.500 always cracks himself up when he says lloyd is 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:21.500 funny so i'll have to get a recording of him 00:01:21.500 --> 00:01:24.219 saying this because it's so cute where i'm like 00:01:24.219 --> 00:01:27.579 lloyd is kind lloyd is brave lloyd is funny and 00:01:27.579 --> 00:01:30.640 he says it like that every single time and it's 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:35.560 super cute Yeah, just he's funny and he is funny. 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:38.760 And clearly like that's important to him that 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:41.219 he's funny. That's amazing. I love that. That's 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:44.480 so cute. Okay, my mom moment. This might be TMI. 00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:47.159 I was telling Erica about this before we recorded 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.159 because I was like, should I share this? I don't 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.540 know. So when Colt was born, he is a C -section 00:01:52.540 --> 00:01:56.739 baby. So I have a C -section scar. And every 00:01:56.739 --> 00:02:00.040 time Colt sees, can see my C -section scar, he 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:03.200 goes, mommy. I touch your scar. I touch your 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.840 scar. And I'm like, okay, buddy, that's fine. 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:09.379 Because he knows, he's realized, oh, that's where 00:02:09.379 --> 00:02:13.099 he was born from. And he thinks it's cool. And 00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:16.139 so I'm like, okay, yeah, that's fine. And the 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:18.620 last time he did that, he goes, mom, I touch 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.319 your scar, but I no touch your pee -pee. I no 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:23.719 touch your pee -pee. Like, yeah, buddy, please 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.099 don't touch my poopy. Don't touch that. Yeah. 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:29.080 At least he knows. I mean, that's good. Yeah. 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:32.500 I'm like, I don't know where that like association 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:35.060 or like where that came from. But I'm like, I'm 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:37.939 glad you're using like your discernment there 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:41.319 and know what's right and wrong. And so I just 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:42.879 thought that was funny. Hopefully that's not 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.340 TMI for this, but it's just reality of motherhood. 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:49.780 It is. Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty sure every mom 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:53.289 who has a kid. has experienced something along 00:02:53.289 --> 00:02:57.430 those lines. Yes, yes. Okay, so let's hop in. 00:02:57.509 --> 00:03:03.530 So we kind of had this episode idea. I think 00:03:03.530 --> 00:03:08.650 that us both being Christians, our faith is a 00:03:08.650 --> 00:03:12.030 huge priority in our lives and in our family's 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:18.009 lives. And with our kids now being two and one, 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:23.039 something that we are starting to incorporate 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.120 into their lives. And the hope is obviously for 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.879 it to like bleed down into their life and that 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:30.900 they would start to pick up on some of those 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:34.939 qualities and start to build their own faith. 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:39.300 So what have you done or what are you wanting 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:42.520 to incorporate, I guess, into your kids' lives 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:47.259 at this point to start building their own faith? 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:50.240 There's obviously we go to church every Sunday 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:53.400 and we're like, I'm not volunteering a lot with 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:55.479 church right now just because of time and capacity. 00:03:55.979 --> 00:03:59.240 Stuart plays drums. So we're like fairly involved. 00:03:59.500 --> 00:04:02.419 Dad is always there for at least two services, 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:05.580 if not more. He goes to church on Thursdays for 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:09.099 rehearsal. You know, we're very involved in that 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:13.599 capacity. And, you know, for us, it is something 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:15.759 that we like going to church is something that. 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:18.019 is just like kind of a non -negotiable in our 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:20.300 schedule. Obviously, like there are times, right, 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:22.500 you know, when we were potty training and Lloyd 00:04:22.500 --> 00:04:24.860 was still wetting his pants every single day, 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:28.480 we stayed home when, you know, if someone's sick, 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:31.139 especially like contagious sick, they stay home, 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:32.879 you know, to take care of others, especially. 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.379 But even on those days, I'll stream church. Obviously, 00:04:36.379 --> 00:04:39.000 we can't stream kids' church, but, you know, 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.170 we stream the main sermon and worship. Lloyd 00:04:44.170 --> 00:04:46.189 loves watching the music. And actually that's 00:04:46.189 --> 00:04:48.389 always kind of fun because since we're involved 00:04:48.389 --> 00:04:49.790 in the worship team, there's always at least 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:53.029 one person he knows in the video and he'll point 00:04:53.029 --> 00:04:55.769 them out, which is fun. So like, obviously that's 00:04:55.769 --> 00:04:58.769 the main thing on like a day to day. So we've 00:04:58.769 --> 00:05:01.170 just started doing memory verses with Lloyd. 00:05:01.610 --> 00:05:05.290 One of the things for both Stuart and I were 00:05:05.290 --> 00:05:07.509 like, we both feel like we know the Bible fairly 00:05:07.509 --> 00:05:12.680 well, but in a sense of like, I could tell you 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.360 a verse, but not necessarily where it is. And 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.500 I want to be better about that, which is part 00:05:17.500 --> 00:05:19.720 of why we're doing this. I'm memorizing these 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:21.980 verses with Lloyd, so it's not just like, hey, 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:25.120 here's your homework, kiddo. It's, hey, Mom and 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.579 Lloyd are doing this together, and my parents 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:31.339 who watch him once a week, they are helping us 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:33.639 with that as well. So we've started memory verses 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:39.279 for both of us, so that way he hopefully sees 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:42.339 it like, hey, Mom's doing this. And then, you 00:05:42.339 --> 00:05:44.160 know, we pray before meals. We pray before bed. 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:47.040 Yeah. I feel like that's, like, the main things 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:49.360 we're doing right now. Of course, it's hard when 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.639 they're this little. They're so little still, 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.680 yep. Like, I think a lot of it is just how we 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:56.699 live our lives to a certain extent, but that's 00:05:56.699 --> 00:05:58.839 mostly what we're doing right now. Yeah. Yeah. 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:01.420 That's great. We're doing a lot of that as well. 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:04.339 Like, both Michael and I work in ministry, and 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:07.540 so the reality is, like, our kids are just at 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:10.699 church a lot. Yeah. And a lot of the times, like, 00:06:11.019 --> 00:06:13.759 I mean, one of my biggest fears, they say pastor's 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:16.459 kids a lot of the times can be the ones that 00:06:16.459 --> 00:06:19.120 like stray away from the church or have the hardest 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.420 time with their faith or with religion. And so 00:06:22.420 --> 00:06:24.980 that's one thing that like I think we're trying 00:06:24.980 --> 00:06:28.000 to protect. And I don't know if we've like quite 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.259 figured out like how to protect that or anything 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:33.240 yet. But yeah, when I feel like when like one 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:35.079 of the things I'm trying to be conscious of is 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:37.459 looking back like, OK, so I grew up Christian. 00:06:38.029 --> 00:06:40.110 I've gone to church. I think my parents started 00:06:40.110 --> 00:06:41.889 going to church when I was maybe six months old. 00:06:41.949 --> 00:06:44.250 So for all intents and purposes, I've gone to 00:06:44.250 --> 00:06:46.550 church my whole life. And I was like a church 00:06:46.550 --> 00:06:48.629 kid. The church I grew up in, my dad was on the 00:06:48.629 --> 00:06:51.050 leadership team. My mom was on the events team. 00:06:52.300 --> 00:06:54.779 it was a load in load out church and my parents 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:56.680 were on those teams. So we were there early and 00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:59.879 we stayed late and, you know, like I was, I was 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:02.720 a church kid. And then the church rat now that, 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:05.180 you know, you and Michael work at, we started 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:08.199 going to when I was in high school and we obviously 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:10.060 didn't get super involved right away, but then 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:12.199 eventually my mom ended up being on staff and 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:15.540 I interned in off this. So like very, very involved 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:18.279 for a long time. That also means I've known a 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:21.569 lot of church kids and. Yep. their lives and 00:07:21.569 --> 00:07:23.269 their stories. And I think one of the things 00:07:23.269 --> 00:07:26.970 I've seen most consistently is, I guess it's 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:29.389 kind of like twofold is one just like kind of 00:07:29.389 --> 00:07:31.930 the Bible not being explained well. And then 00:07:31.930 --> 00:07:34.629 like, why would you follow something that hasn't 00:07:34.629 --> 00:07:36.149 been explained to you? Well, that doesn't make 00:07:36.149 --> 00:07:38.250 any sense. Like that's a fair logical point. 00:07:38.430 --> 00:07:42.069 But then I think the other and possibly bigger 00:07:42.069 --> 00:07:45.110 and more important thing for like pastor's kids 00:07:45.110 --> 00:07:49.800 is. Not seeing, like, seeing one person on stage 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:53.540 at the pulpit and another person at home in, 00:07:53.579 --> 00:07:56.180 like, a very hypocritical way, right? Where, 00:07:56.259 --> 00:07:58.259 like, as Christians, we're all hypocrites to 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:02.259 a certain extent in that we're all sinners. But 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:04.779 how you approach that, right? If it's like, hey, 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.439 listen, like... Yeah, we all mess up. And if 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:09.060 you're saying that from the pulpit and owning 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:11.319 it, it's very different than when you're putting 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:14.500 on this facade of my life is perfect and then 00:08:14.500 --> 00:08:17.000 you act completely different at home. And I think 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.720 in my experience, seeing pastor's kids and seeing, 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:24.660 again, lots of people who I grew up with, again, 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:26.120 who are church kids, whether their parents were 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.860 actually on staff or not, and seeing who stayed 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:30.639 with their faith and who hasn't, I think that's 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:32.559 a big part of it. It's like, okay, how is... 00:08:33.769 --> 00:08:35.929 Are mom and dad the same people everywhere they 00:08:35.929 --> 00:08:37.769 go? And obviously there are going to be things 00:08:37.769 --> 00:08:41.110 like, you know, I'm not going to have my breakdown 00:08:41.110 --> 00:08:43.669 in public. I will have it at home. Yeah. So, 00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:44.850 you know, there are some things that's like, 00:08:44.889 --> 00:08:47.889 yes, this is private versus public. But overall, 00:08:48.169 --> 00:08:51.529 like, are you trying to be the same person everywhere? 00:08:51.970 --> 00:08:54.509 And are you trying to emulate Jesus everywhere? 00:08:54.549 --> 00:08:57.230 Or is it just when people are watching? Yeah. 00:08:57.450 --> 00:08:59.769 Yeah. I think that's something like that our 00:08:59.769 --> 00:09:02.389 church actually does really well for the most 00:09:02.389 --> 00:09:05.789 part. And I think like one thing that we have 00:09:05.789 --> 00:09:07.970 to remember. So my husband is a youth pastor 00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:11.230 for middle schoolers and middle school is such 00:09:11.230 --> 00:09:16.289 a like identity shaping like time of these kids 00:09:16.289 --> 00:09:20.409 lives. And so I think like a lot of parents are 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:23.610 somewhat fearful in those like in that age. And 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:26.820 so Michael gets to kind of like. talk parents 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:29.840 off the ledge or is just like talking about this 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.019 topic a lot and how to incorporate faith into 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:36.840 their kids' lives. And like ultimately, so youth 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:41.500 group is one day a week. Sundays are, you know, 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:45.220 church. So we see like at church, we see these 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:49.059 kids for. a total of maybe like three hours a 00:09:49.059 --> 00:09:51.779 week. So I think like one thing as parents we 00:09:51.779 --> 00:09:54.200 have to remember is like, yes, church is there 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:57.840 as a tool, but like we as parents are the primary 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.279 disciplers. And so that can feel like a lot of 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:04.259 pressure. Absolutely. To a certain extent, it 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:06.100 should be. Yeah, it is a lot of pressure. Yeah, 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:09.840 it should be. It's a big deal. Like if your faith 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:12.360 is a big deal to you, it should be a big deal 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:14.860 as you incorporate it into your kids' lives. 00:10:16.250 --> 00:10:19.570 As our kids continue to get bigger and get older, 00:10:19.769 --> 00:10:22.350 I think I am starting to feel a little bit of 00:10:22.350 --> 00:10:24.789 pressure of, like, okay, how do I incorporate, 00:10:24.929 --> 00:10:27.649 like, Jesus into this conversation? How do I 00:10:27.649 --> 00:10:32.269 make sure I'm doing this whole thing right? And 00:10:32.269 --> 00:10:34.370 I don't know if there's fully a right way to 00:10:34.370 --> 00:10:37.370 do it other than just, like, exposure for our 00:10:37.370 --> 00:10:39.009 kids. I feel like it's one of those things where 00:10:39.009 --> 00:10:41.350 there are wrong ways, but there are not necessarily 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:45.370 right ways, if that makes sense. Yes. Yeah. I 00:10:45.370 --> 00:10:47.210 think like there are lots of options that like 00:10:47.210 --> 00:10:49.649 work really well. And then there are a few options 00:10:49.649 --> 00:10:51.990 that's like, oh, no. But like if you do this, 00:10:52.090 --> 00:10:54.570 it won't necessarily mean it's going to ruin 00:10:54.570 --> 00:10:56.809 it for your kid, but it's more likely to. Yeah, 00:10:56.830 --> 00:11:00.330 exactly. And so I was looking up some like just 00:11:00.330 --> 00:11:04.070 statistics about this topic in general or rather 00:11:04.070 --> 00:11:06.409 than statistics. It kind of gave me like these 00:11:06.409 --> 00:11:09.990 phases that kids like fall into. So like when 00:11:09.990 --> 00:11:13.309 you think about faith, each kind of age group. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:15.799 looks at faith a little bit differently so like 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:19.980 zero to five is all about trust and love so learning 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:23.799 like that god is safe and god loves me so those 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:25.919 should be like as parents those should be like 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:28.159 our main themes going into it and how to teach 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:30.480 our kids like not the time to teach about like 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:35.879 condemnation and hell yeah right right if you 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:40.379 are you know no uh no pressure but maybe like 00:11:40.809 --> 00:11:42.889 Swing it back around to just like Jesus loves 00:11:42.889 --> 00:11:44.730 me. Pause on that one. Yeah, right. And then 00:11:44.730 --> 00:11:47.929 so six to 10 is all about like wonder and stories. 00:11:48.230 --> 00:11:51.529 So like God made everything. The Bible is real. 00:11:51.669 --> 00:11:54.509 So kind of incorporating that into your conversations. 00:11:55.210 --> 00:11:57.629 And then middle school, like I said, is all about 00:11:57.629 --> 00:12:00.409 identity and belonging. They're trying to answer 00:12:00.409 --> 00:12:03.149 the question of who am I? Where do I fit? Where 00:12:03.149 --> 00:12:07.019 do I belong? And then high school is like. ownership 00:12:07.019 --> 00:12:09.899 so like is this my faith like actually trying 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:13.539 to nail down like what do I believe and is this 00:12:13.539 --> 00:12:17.500 my faith and so I think like that is like a base 00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:20.840 framework for us as parents you know no matter 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:24.960 what age your kid or kids are to like look at 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.299 this as a big picture of like okay this is these 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:31.700 are the core ideas that I can kind of tackle 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:35.759 and try to help them answer or remind them of. 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.360 And so I think like, as I think about our kids, 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:40.860 they're in like that zero to five range. One 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:43.340 thing like that I've been really trying to do 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:46.539 is just, we talk a lot about like that Jesus 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:49.200 loves us. Jesus loves us no matter what we do, 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.039 no matter what we say, Jesus is our best friend, 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:57.029 like all those. Yeah, we've been trying to do 00:12:57.029 --> 00:12:59.330 the like, Jesus loves you even more than mom 00:12:59.330 --> 00:13:02.549 and dad. Which is weird as a mom because I'm 00:13:02.549 --> 00:13:05.470 like, no, no one's allowed to love my kids more. 00:13:05.549 --> 00:13:08.730 But that's not true. It's hard to fathom because 00:13:08.730 --> 00:13:11.970 I'm like, no, nothing could love my kids more 00:13:11.970 --> 00:13:14.769 than I do. Yeah. So it's like, it's definitely 00:13:14.769 --> 00:13:17.070 a weird thing. Like, yeah, it's something that 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:19.370 I have to wrap my head around as I'm teaching 00:13:19.370 --> 00:13:22.929 this to my child, which is something I don't, 00:13:22.950 --> 00:13:25.720 I guess I just didn't expect. It's like logically 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.980 as a Christian, I know this, but feeling that 00:13:28.980 --> 00:13:30.840 and like actually believing it is different. 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:35.559 Yeah, absolutely. Those phases I think are super 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:39.259 cool to like know as a parent to again kind of 00:13:39.259 --> 00:13:42.480 know like, okay, how do we address this based 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.440 on like how my kid's brain literally works at 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:47.639 this stage in their life? Because I think a lot 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:50.669 of times we forget. where their brain is at and 00:13:50.669 --> 00:13:52.690 what they can actually handle and comprehend 00:13:52.690 --> 00:13:55.250 yeah so being able to yeah because it's not just 00:13:55.250 --> 00:13:58.649 like it's not just what we should be teaching 00:13:58.649 --> 00:14:01.909 them it's literally like a brain chemistry thing 00:14:01.909 --> 00:14:04.750 like what can they comprehend and understand 00:14:04.750 --> 00:14:06.590 like they're not going to understand from zero 00:14:06.590 --> 00:14:09.330 to five like like this is what what do i believe 00:14:09.330 --> 00:14:12.750 who yeah yeah exactly like what we talked about 00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:16.009 but it's really just kind of starting from the 00:14:16.009 --> 00:14:20.500 beginning almost and then adding in these extra 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:23.559 pieces and the depth to it and helping them figure 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:27.700 it out and I think for me like one thing that's 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:31.019 hard for me to wrap my head around is like no 00:14:31.019 --> 00:14:35.720 matter how much time and like not pressure but 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:38.679 just like how much we we push for this in our 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:41.840 kids lives like ultimately yeah the intention 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.879 ultimately like it's going to be their decision 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:49.549 yeah Whether they believe in God, whether their 00:14:49.549 --> 00:14:54.529 faith is something they want to hold on to and 00:14:54.529 --> 00:14:58.289 grow, no matter what we do, we can put all these 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:02.250 tools and pieces into place. Ultimately, it's 00:15:02.250 --> 00:15:04.750 going to be our kids' choice in the long run. 00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:07.889 And I think there's things we can do to help 00:15:07.889 --> 00:15:12.309 them navigate that. To me, that's like a really 00:15:12.309 --> 00:15:16.629 scary reality. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's 00:15:16.629 --> 00:15:18.490 so many things with that in parenthood, right? 00:15:18.590 --> 00:15:20.250 Where you're like, I want to hold on to the control 00:15:20.250 --> 00:15:22.990 of X, Y, or Z forever because I want to keep 00:15:22.990 --> 00:15:26.950 you safe. And this is just that on the grandest 00:15:26.950 --> 00:15:29.990 scale. You're like, I can't control everything 00:15:29.990 --> 00:15:33.519 even though I want to. to keep you safe. But 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.759 I can't like, this is a decision I literally 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:38.519 can't make for you, which is really hard. Yeah. 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:40.980 And that's one thing that like scares me the 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:44.279 most about like having pastor's kids is like, 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:48.399 I mean, my kids are at church usually at least 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:51.659 two to three days a week. I said like almost 00:15:51.659 --> 00:15:54.120 the overexposure, is that going to turn them 00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:56.860 away from it? Right. And I'm sure there will 00:15:56.860 --> 00:15:59.259 be like phases of that where they're like, no, 00:15:59.259 --> 00:16:01.940 mom, I don't want to go to church. Not again. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:08.259 But I think like it's such a scary reality for 00:16:08.259 --> 00:16:10.200 me to think about, like as they're getting older, 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.440 that it will become more and more their choice 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:16.019 of like what they actually believe as they're 00:16:16.019 --> 00:16:18.379 trying to figure out who they are and who they 00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:22.129 want to become. And I just hope and pray like 00:16:22.129 --> 00:16:24.889 that my biggest things are like, I hope that 00:16:24.889 --> 00:16:27.210 you're kind. I hope that you're caring and loving. 00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:30.710 And I hope that you're following Jesus. And that 00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:33.929 is like my biggest hope for their lives. And 00:16:33.929 --> 00:16:37.330 I think like the tools that we put in place now 00:16:37.330 --> 00:16:40.750 are affecting that more than we think. For sure. 00:16:40.850 --> 00:16:44.110 Yeah, I think we kind of just in general, not 00:16:44.110 --> 00:16:45.970 even faith specific, but obviously, especially 00:16:45.970 --> 00:16:49.379 with faith, we kind of. dismiss how important 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:52.019 the things they learn in these early years are 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:55.379 just because they maybe don't have specific memories 00:16:55.379 --> 00:16:57.379 like you know i think a lot of people are like 00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:00.320 well they don't remember like well yes but like 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:03.919 that doesn't necessarily mean anything like it's 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:06.680 still things are still instilled in them even 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:09.640 if they don't have a specific memory yeah so 00:17:10.250 --> 00:17:12.509 I think it's easy then to be like, well, they're 00:17:12.509 --> 00:17:14.069 not going to remember. So we'll just like wait 00:17:14.069 --> 00:17:16.509 till later. But then by then, I don't want to 00:17:16.509 --> 00:17:18.250 say it's too late because that's not the case, 00:17:18.269 --> 00:17:21.390 but it is harder, right? You know, it's stuff 00:17:21.390 --> 00:17:25.029 like, again, with other things like tantrums, 00:17:25.029 --> 00:17:27.930 it's much easier to like try to handle tantrums 00:17:27.930 --> 00:17:30.970 in a way at two where you're like, hey, you don't 00:17:30.970 --> 00:17:32.309 get what you want or you don't get everything 00:17:32.309 --> 00:17:34.750 you want when you throw a tantrum. That's much 00:17:34.750 --> 00:17:37.049 easier than being like, oh, well, he's two, so 00:17:37.049 --> 00:17:42.190 whatever. And then at seven or 10 or 15 or we've 00:17:42.190 --> 00:17:45.190 all met the person who's like 35 or 55 or whatever. 00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:47.089 And you're like, oh, no one told you no when 00:17:47.089 --> 00:17:49.009 you were two. That's where this all stems from. 00:17:50.529 --> 00:17:53.250 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And just to be able to 00:17:53.250 --> 00:17:55.930 teach those things and like teach faith from 00:17:55.930 --> 00:17:58.769 this age and go, hey, like here are the basics. 00:17:58.869 --> 00:18:01.660 You don't need all the details yet. and here's 00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:03.079 what you do need to know you need to know you're 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:04.900 loved and you need to know who loves you the 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:07.920 most and and that's it and that's what we'll 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.259 start with yeah it just made me think of like 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:15.200 when colt is having a tantrum and i'm having 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:19.880 like an anxious reaction to his tantrum he then 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:22.880 like plays off of that for sure and has some 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:26.250 type of anxious reaction or like the tantrum 00:18:26.250 --> 00:18:28.990 can last way longer than it needs to because 00:18:28.990 --> 00:18:32.349 of my reaction. And I think that like can be 00:18:32.349 --> 00:18:34.990 incorporated into our faith a lot is like the 00:18:34.990 --> 00:18:38.970 way our kids learn is like through experience. 00:18:39.009 --> 00:18:43.250 So like what we're reflecting and what we are 00:18:43.250 --> 00:18:46.960 showing is going to teach them more. More than 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:50.000 we know, even at the age they are at now. And 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.180 so, I don't know. I just kind of connected those 00:18:52.180 --> 00:18:54.980 two. Yeah, no, you're right. If we treat God 00:18:54.980 --> 00:18:58.279 like this scary entity who wants to punish us 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:01.099 and treat us badly, then they're going to pick 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:04.220 up on that. If they see church as this obligation 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:06.859 versus something that we want to be at every 00:19:06.859 --> 00:19:09.660 week, they're going to pick up on that. What 00:19:09.660 --> 00:19:12.160 do you think on just like a day -to -day basis 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.599 is hardest for you? Like as far as like our faith 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:20.500 and just, oh gosh. I would say like, it's hard 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:24.500 for me working in full -time ministry. Like there's 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:27.519 a hard separation already of like, this is my 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.920 workplace and this is where, you know, I go to 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.339 church and this is where my kids go to church. 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:36.740 And so I think like. especially on the weekends, 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.359 like when we have family time, it's hard for 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.480 me to like still keep that mindset of like, oh, 00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:46.220 I want to bring like spirituality and like faith 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:49.940 into our conversations. And so like in my head, 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:52.079 I'm like, no, I'm leaving work behind for the 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.440 weekend. For sure. And being with my family, 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:57.660 whereas like, yes, I can leave work behind, but 00:19:57.660 --> 00:20:00.910 I'm not leaving my faith behind. with it, if 00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:03.750 that makes sense. And so I think like even the 00:20:03.750 --> 00:20:05.910 little things are hard, are hard for me, like 00:20:05.910 --> 00:20:09.170 even just, you know, praying before bed, like 00:20:09.170 --> 00:20:11.529 that was one thing we had a really great habit 00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:16.170 with Colt for the longest time. And it's slowly 00:20:16.170 --> 00:20:19.529 become not as much of a habit anymore, but he 00:20:19.529 --> 00:20:21.410 like, we would pray with him every night and 00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:23.309 he would repeat it after us. So we're trying 00:20:23.309 --> 00:20:25.329 to like incorporate that back in. Cause I think 00:20:25.329 --> 00:20:28.440 he's like starting to. Like he's picking up on 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:30.299 things at church all the time. He comes home 00:20:30.299 --> 00:20:33.259 singing like the worship songs they do. And I 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:35.619 love that. And I'm like, okay, let's like, that's 00:20:35.619 --> 00:20:38.380 such an easy win to like keep incorporating throughout 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:41.900 our week. And I just like, I think when I get 00:20:41.900 --> 00:20:45.019 in work mode, I'm like, you know, I can leave 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:47.960 that stuff behind sometimes. So yeah, I would 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:49.680 say even just the little things like that of 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:52.180 like, you know, just reminding him Jesus loves 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:57.140 him and praying before meals, like those. easy 00:20:57.140 --> 00:21:00.900 wins yeah can be hard for me because I just forget 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:04.559 yeah I feel like similarly like this the small 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.779 stuff I'm like oh how often could I just like 00:21:06.779 --> 00:21:09.259 point this back to Jesus and I don't do that 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:11.400 well the other thing I don't know if you feel 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:14.799 this way but being a mom is so convicting of 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:17.539 like This sounds bad, like how terrible of a 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:20.480 person I actually am, I guess. Like that sounds 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:22.460 really. It's so easily pointed out. Yeah, that 00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:24.440 sounds super self -deprecating and that's not 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:26.680 entirely how I mean it, but just in the capacity 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:29.900 of like, okay, I want my kids to know what the 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:32.000 fruit of the spirit is. And the fruit of the 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.559 spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, 00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:36.519 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:40.220 -control. And like, I want my kids to know that. 00:21:41.080 --> 00:21:43.640 Like, honestly, anyone, even if you're not a 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:45.319 Christian, you're like, those are all characteristics 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:47.539 of someone who I want to be around. Like, just 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:49.759 genuinely. And so it's like, yes, I want all 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:52.000 my kids to have all those characteristics. And 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:55.200 then, like, I look at these and I'm like, whew. 00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:58.200 Like, how many of those do I not have? Like, 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.460 patience. That is not something I have, especially 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:04.339 in this phase of motherhood when there's lots 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:07.599 of no's and there's lots of. demanding what i 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.420 want right now and not a lot of listening not 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:13.799 a lot of listening yeah yeah gentleness depends 00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:16.559 on the day some days i'm like i am super gentle 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:19.839 and other days i'm definitely not yeah joy just 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:22.579 like being joyful even when days are tough like 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:25.460 i'm not good at that so like you know i look 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:29.480 at stuff like that and it's just like it's super 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:33.039 convicting looking inwards like oh Like I want 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:34.680 this for my kids, but I'm not displaying this 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:38.779 either. And so like I have to work on myself 00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:41.299 before anything is going to get through to them. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.019 Because again, otherwise it turns into this hypocritical 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:46.680 thing of like, well, you're supposed to do this. 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:48.319 Like, well, why am I supposed to do that if you're 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:52.160 not following those same rules? And again, we're 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:54.339 never going to do this perfectly. And obviously 00:22:54.339 --> 00:22:57.880 this is a really young age to teach that. eventually 00:22:57.880 --> 00:22:59.799 that is part of what we teach right it's like 00:22:59.799 --> 00:23:02.019 hey listen we're not going to do this perfectly 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:05.500 and that's not an excuse to do whatever you want 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:08.720 but that does give like but there is grace within 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:11.319 like hey you literally can't do it perfectly 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:15.160 even if you try or if you want to yeah I feel 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:18.819 that 100 % I feel like our kids and I'm sure 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:21.859 you're seeing this with Lloyd pick up on or mimic 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:26.680 a lot of what we do and things that I don't even 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:30.319 realize. You've never realized how many bad habits 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:32.859 you have until you have a kid copying you. Yeah, 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:35.480 and what was it the other day? I think I said, 00:23:35.539 --> 00:23:38.680 Michael and I were joking around, and I was like, 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:42.000 shut up. And Cole goes, shut up, Dad. And I was 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:46.680 like, no. Now that's a thing. Yeah, I'm like, 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:48.759 we really got to be careful with what we say. 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:52.809 And bringing it back to faith is like, have to 00:23:52.809 --> 00:23:56.269 be the reflection that we want our kids to show 00:23:56.269 --> 00:24:00.329 in their lives. And it goes back to like as simple 00:24:00.329 --> 00:24:04.450 as like reading our Bible or the gentleness that 00:24:04.450 --> 00:24:06.789 we show on a daily basis or the patience, like 00:24:06.789 --> 00:24:10.529 the fruit of the spirit. And I think that is 00:24:10.529 --> 00:24:14.250 a lot of pressure. And I think it's supposed 00:24:14.250 --> 00:24:17.730 to be, like you said, but it's... it's hard like 00:24:17.730 --> 00:24:20.789 especially in this like super demanding season 00:24:20.789 --> 00:24:24.509 of parenting at least for me like those are some 00:24:24.509 --> 00:24:27.890 habits that I'm I'm still working on and haven't 00:24:27.890 --> 00:24:32.349 like really nailed down like as far as my daily 00:24:32.349 --> 00:24:36.430 devotional and so like in a super demanding season 00:24:36.430 --> 00:24:38.670 of parenting it's hard to bring in those new 00:24:38.670 --> 00:24:41.789 like yeah well then there's stuff like that's 00:24:41.789 --> 00:24:44.349 one that's hard for me because I am actually 00:24:44.349 --> 00:24:46.309 really good at reading my bible almost every 00:24:46.309 --> 00:24:49.190 at least every work day awesome yeah partially 00:24:49.190 --> 00:24:51.849 just because i'll take like five minutes i don't 00:24:51.849 --> 00:24:54.509 do super long studies and but i do it before 00:24:54.509 --> 00:24:56.930 work because that's the only like 10 minutes 00:24:56.930 --> 00:25:00.809 i have to myself all day and then there's like 00:25:00.809 --> 00:25:04.230 this weird tension for me of like is should i 00:25:04.230 --> 00:25:05.910 be doing it when they're awake and they see me 00:25:05.910 --> 00:25:08.609 reading my bible but also like this is the time 00:25:08.609 --> 00:25:11.650 i have to myself to like really take it in so 00:25:11.650 --> 00:25:14.420 like What am I supposed to do here? You know, 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:17.220 because I do want like that peace and quiet to 00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:19.880 start my day with reading the Bible, even if 00:25:19.880 --> 00:25:21.880 it's just like four verses or something like 00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:25.240 that. But then that means my kids never see me 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:27.000 read my Bible because they're always asleep when 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:30.680 it happens. So that's like a weird thing. I'm 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:33.240 like, I don't think I'm like really doing anything 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:36.180 wrong. No. And of course, as a mom, you overthink 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:39.740 everything. Oh, yeah. Right. So like, is this 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:43.599 the... The wrong way to handle this. So that's 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:47.069 one. And then. For a while, we were pretty good. 00:25:47.150 --> 00:25:49.789 Lloyd has, I guess they both do. I'm sure you 00:25:49.789 --> 00:25:51.589 have the exact same Bibles because we got them 00:25:51.589 --> 00:25:54.990 from the child education at church. For a while, 00:25:55.009 --> 00:25:57.470 we were pretty good at trying to read stories 00:25:57.470 --> 00:25:59.609 with Lloyd from that. And actually, I think you 00:25:59.609 --> 00:26:02.430 do better now. But they are longer stories. So 00:26:02.430 --> 00:26:05.990 depending on age, their attention span isn't 00:26:05.990 --> 00:26:08.730 there. But that is one beef I have just in general 00:26:08.730 --> 00:26:14.819 is most kids' Bibles and Bible storybooks. Just 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:17.559 suck. Yeah. They're terrible. Like some of them 00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:19.960 are completely theologically inaccurate. Yeah. 00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:22.480 Like there have been a couple we've read that 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:24.660 Stuart and I were like. Like, wait, did that 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:27.980 happen? No. That's not how that went down. I'll 00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:30.460 have to see. I meant to grab it before we started 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:31.839 recording, but I don't know where it is, so I 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.059 can't grab it fast. But at one point we got these 00:26:34.059 --> 00:26:37.660 like mini little Bible stories. I think grandparents 00:26:37.660 --> 00:26:39.900 got them actually. And we knew that they were 00:26:39.900 --> 00:26:41.920 going to be like short condensed versions. That's 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:45.180 fine. But they're like two to three words a page, 00:26:45.380 --> 00:26:49.079 so they're very short. Okay. And the one that 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:51.680 sticks out to me the most is David and Goliath. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:53.759 Oh, yeah. Because it makes no mention of God. 00:26:55.339 --> 00:26:57.460 I'm like, okay, that's kind of weird. And then 00:26:57.460 --> 00:27:00.160 when it skips to the end, it's like, David killed 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.500 Goliath, and many years later he became king. 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:07.140 Like, technically that is all true. There's a 00:27:07.140 --> 00:27:09.180 lot missing there, though. Obviously, some of 00:27:09.180 --> 00:27:10.460 those things. Like, there's some holes in the 00:27:10.460 --> 00:27:14.079 story here. Let's, yeah. But that is just one 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:17.099 thing that, like, it honestly really bothers 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:19.480 me, partially because now as an adult, there 00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:22.920 are lots of historical context and facts and 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:25.380 information that I'm learning that I'm like, 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:29.160 oh, wow. If I had known this as a kid and I had 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:32.240 to learn this story accurately as a kid, and 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:34.640 not that I think anyone, like, I know my parents 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.339 weren't trying to, like, teach me the wrong story 00:27:37.339 --> 00:27:40.099 they were just going with what they had yep but 00:27:40.099 --> 00:27:42.000 yeah like there's certain just like facts and 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.019 you know context that's like if we were teaching 00:27:45.019 --> 00:27:48.240 this from the beginning that would make it easier 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:51.140 to believe or more interesting or you know just 00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:53.559 it changes your perspective on the story but 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:55.380 yeah that's one of my big things i'm like there 00:27:55.380 --> 00:27:58.119 there are very few kids bibles and kids like 00:27:58.119 --> 00:28:02.990 bible books that are accurate and that are well 00:28:02.990 --> 00:28:05.349 written for some reason it's really they're all 00:28:05.349 --> 00:28:08.069 like kind of poorly written if anyone listening 00:28:08.069 --> 00:28:10.109 knows of good ones please let me know i know 00:28:10.109 --> 00:28:12.130 right because lloyd loves books so that's part 00:28:12.130 --> 00:28:14.289 of his i'm like if we had some good ones we could 00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:17.349 read those all the time specifically if they 00:28:17.349 --> 00:28:21.089 featured cars characters that would help if jesus 00:28:21.089 --> 00:28:27.200 was a car and i mean there is the fact that In 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:29.440 the Cars movies that we see a car pope, which 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.339 means there's a car Catholic church, which means 00:28:31.339 --> 00:28:33.619 there had to have been a car Jesus. Amazing. 00:28:33.819 --> 00:28:38.720 Amazing. That's so funny. I feel like we often 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:42.859 will read that kid's Bible, and we always read 00:28:42.859 --> 00:28:45.319 the David and Goliath story. Different version 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:48.299 of your three. This one's very wordy. That one's 00:28:48.299 --> 00:28:51.720 actually pretty good. It's pretty good. It's 00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:53.940 very wordy, though, and it takes us a long time 00:28:53.940 --> 00:28:57.720 to read. He always wants that story. But I feel 00:28:57.720 --> 00:29:00.319 like starting with like little Bible stories 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:04.599 like that, like is really important. And I did 00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:08.119 a lot of chat GPT before this. So I loved this, 00:29:08.180 --> 00:29:11.000 like the three L's of faith. It's called the 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:14.720 three L's of faith at home. So and how to kind 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:17.680 of incorporate this. So the first one is to live 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:21.839 it. So like our example we talked about and how 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:25.609 we reflect Jesus. in our own lives. The second 00:29:25.609 --> 00:29:28.450 one is language it. So really just talking about 00:29:28.450 --> 00:29:31.690 God naturally. So I feel like this is one I can 00:29:31.690 --> 00:29:34.210 sometimes have a hard time with is just like 00:29:34.210 --> 00:29:37.690 talking about Jesus daily and like saying like, 00:29:37.789 --> 00:29:41.069 oh, like let's thank God for that. Or, you know, 00:29:41.069 --> 00:29:43.750 doesn't Jesus love you? Blah, blah, blah. And 00:29:43.750 --> 00:29:47.069 then the third L is to lead it. So creating rhythms. 00:29:47.089 --> 00:29:52.019 So like prayer, Bible. church and just incorporating 00:29:52.019 --> 00:29:56.180 that into our weekly life which is like for us 00:29:56.180 --> 00:29:59.960 obviously church is something that we are going 00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:03.940 to every single week and I think like for us 00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:06.859 going to church is a part of our work our work 00:30:06.859 --> 00:30:10.759 week right and so I I can imagine that it would 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:14.240 be hard with young kids if it wasn't like for 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:17.279 you guys you and Stuart like other than Stuart 00:30:17.740 --> 00:30:19.900 volunteering on the weekends and stuff but it's 00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:22.779 kind of a part of our work week yeah but whenever 00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:26.119 he has a week off or whatever like it's your 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:30.519 guys's choice to go right and you see the importance 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:34.460 and the value in it um and so it would be a different 00:30:34.460 --> 00:30:38.079 like experience for us i think if it was like 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:41.500 oh we're choosing you know which we would choose 00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:45.500 it but it would just be like a harder thing yeah 00:30:46.910 --> 00:30:50.130 Stuart had last weekend off, so he wasn't playing. 00:30:50.369 --> 00:30:54.130 And I mean, with our church. We do have the option. 00:30:54.150 --> 00:30:56.069 We have Saturday night services. So typically 00:30:56.069 --> 00:30:58.950 for us, if he has the weekend off, we go Saturday 00:30:58.950 --> 00:31:01.609 night. And that way we can have like kind of 00:31:01.609 --> 00:31:04.089 a Sunday where we have like no commitments or 00:31:04.089 --> 00:31:08.950 I can just have like a day. But it is really 00:31:08.950 --> 00:31:11.450 hard, especially if we didn't have Saturday nights. 00:31:11.450 --> 00:31:12.809 Because then you're like, okay, we still have 00:31:12.809 --> 00:31:16.069 to get up early. It's still, you know, getting 00:31:16.069 --> 00:31:17.990 kids out the door at a certain time and getting 00:31:17.990 --> 00:31:20.079 everyone dressed and blah, blah, blah. It's a 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:23.319 lot. And it is. And, you know, again, it's a 00:31:23.319 --> 00:31:24.980 choice that we, of course, would make even if 00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:27.720 Stuart wasn't there every week. But I kind of 00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:30.440 get why people don't, you know, not even if you're 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:32.839 like, hey, my faith is important, but like, I 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:35.519 don't want to go to church because. Or like we 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:39.019 could watch online. It's so easy to watch online. 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:41.460 I mean, there are times that you don't want to 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:44.369 do things just. in general in life even things 00:31:44.369 --> 00:31:46.289 that you know are good for you and you that you 00:31:46.289 --> 00:31:48.950 do want to do what you don't want to do you know 00:31:48.950 --> 00:31:51.490 it's kind of the thing of like we've all had 00:31:51.490 --> 00:31:53.369 the experience where like I know I need to shower 00:31:53.369 --> 00:31:55.789 and the thought of getting in the shower is like 00:31:55.789 --> 00:31:57.690 the impossible task and then you finally get 00:31:57.690 --> 00:31:59.369 in the shower and you're like I don't want to 00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:02.609 get out of the shower yeah yeah like oh I'm so 00:32:02.609 --> 00:32:04.769 glad or like working out it's like kind of the 00:32:04.769 --> 00:32:07.210 same thing like the motivation of yeah every 00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:09.150 time you do it you're like wow I'm glad I did 00:32:09.150 --> 00:32:12.160 it but yes I didn't want to do it you know i 00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:14.519 didn't want to put in the effort up front yeah 00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:18.769 yeah it goes back to creating those habits and 00:32:18.769 --> 00:32:22.329 rhythms for our kids. Like for us and our family, 00:32:22.369 --> 00:32:24.670 like going to church is a part of our weekly 00:32:24.670 --> 00:32:27.710 rhythm and there's, it's a non -negotiable at 00:32:27.710 --> 00:32:30.789 this stage of life. And so I hope like as our 00:32:30.789 --> 00:32:33.150 kids grow, like they see it not as a negative 00:32:33.150 --> 00:32:36.250 non -negotiable, but it's like maybe something 00:32:36.250 --> 00:32:39.230 they look forward to, or it's just part of our 00:32:39.230 --> 00:32:42.569 weekly rhythm. Like on Sundays we go to church 00:32:42.569 --> 00:32:46.319 and it just, it is what it is. I hope that's 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:50.200 like creating some brainwaves there. Yeah, it's 00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:52.619 like connecting. Something's connecting in their 00:32:52.619 --> 00:32:55.720 brain. Ultimately, like, yeah, church is such 00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:59.140 a small part of our week. And the rest of the 00:32:59.140 --> 00:33:01.559 week is like, as parents, we're the main disciples. 00:33:02.019 --> 00:33:05.720 And so I need to incorporate different aspects 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:10.019 of Jesus's life and just the knowledge of Jesus 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:13.349 into our weekly. our weekly rhythm yeah a little 00:33:13.349 --> 00:33:17.130 bit better that too yeah but it's so it's so 00:33:17.130 --> 00:33:19.410 interesting like as our kids are getting a little 00:33:19.410 --> 00:33:21.470 bit older where I'm like I'm starting to feel 00:33:21.470 --> 00:33:23.650 the pressure of that a little bit more yeah like 00:33:23.650 --> 00:33:26.250 you can really see what they're understanding 00:33:26.250 --> 00:33:28.809 now is part of it right or like when they're 00:33:28.809 --> 00:33:31.710 really little even though they are understanding 00:33:31.710 --> 00:33:34.799 a lot you can kind of like fool yourself into 00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:36.940 being like oh like they're too young to understand 00:33:36.940 --> 00:33:39.400 yeah um but then all of a sudden they start like 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:43.700 picking up on things like even lloyd knows present 00:33:43.700 --> 00:33:45.619 tense versus past tense and we're like we never 00:33:45.619 --> 00:33:48.019 taught him that like not specifically we just 00:33:48.019 --> 00:33:51.740 like use words properly that's the only way we've 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:55.140 taught him that is by using proper grammar and 00:33:55.140 --> 00:33:58.779 he has picked that up without like us intentionally 00:33:59.529 --> 00:34:01.609 explaining that so like clearly he's picking 00:34:01.609 --> 00:34:06.049 up on everything and yeah so now it's like oh 00:34:06.049 --> 00:34:08.389 no he is picking up he is picking up when we 00:34:08.389 --> 00:34:11.570 talk a certain way about you know about someone 00:34:11.570 --> 00:34:16.989 or to each other or to him about him yeah i feel 00:34:16.989 --> 00:34:20.750 like for every mom that's listening like whether 00:34:20.750 --> 00:34:24.619 your kids are young like ours or they're in high 00:34:24.619 --> 00:34:27.579 school or maybe even out of the house, like I 00:34:27.579 --> 00:34:31.920 hope that you know that it's not too late to 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:35.239 incorporate your faith into your relationship 00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:38.480 with your kids. And the ultimate way to do that 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:40.980 is through reflection of your own life. And so 00:34:40.980 --> 00:34:43.460 what are you showing in your daily life? What 00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:47.769 are you? doing to reflect Jesus in your own life. 00:34:48.030 --> 00:34:51.570 Because no matter what stage or phase of picking 00:34:51.570 --> 00:34:55.889 up on faith or religion they're at, I think that 00:34:55.889 --> 00:34:58.610 they can pick up on the way that you live your 00:34:58.610 --> 00:35:02.010 daily life. So I hope that's encouragement to 00:35:02.010 --> 00:35:05.429 you listening that it's not too late to incorporate 00:35:05.429 --> 00:35:08.349 your faith into your own life to then be a good 00:35:08.349 --> 00:35:12.690 example for your kids. I don't know. We don't 00:35:12.690 --> 00:35:14.250 really have a bow for this episode or anything. 00:35:14.849 --> 00:35:18.789 No, no. I think it's just like something that's 00:35:18.789 --> 00:35:22.179 been on my heart as our kids are getting. a little 00:35:22.179 --> 00:35:24.739 bit older and our faith is such an important 00:35:24.739 --> 00:35:26.719 part of our lives like we want to make sure that 00:35:26.719 --> 00:35:30.000 our kids know that and and that our kids know 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:31.780 that Jesus loves them and that's the most important 00:35:31.780 --> 00:35:34.860 thing and that no matter what you do or no matter 00:35:34.860 --> 00:35:38.179 what you say Jesus will always love you and so 00:35:38.179 --> 00:35:41.059 you as a listener same to you Jesus will always 00:35:41.059 --> 00:35:45.079 love you no matter what okay well anything else 00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:48.000 you want to add now that I can think of Oh, I 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:50.780 did think this was cool, actually, just to kind 00:35:50.780 --> 00:35:53.980 of tie a bow on it, that faith in kids isn't 00:35:53.980 --> 00:35:56.760 built through pressure. It's built through proximity, 00:35:57.059 --> 00:36:00.639 consistency and authenticity. And I think that's 00:36:00.639 --> 00:36:03.260 like, you know, ties it all together of what 00:36:03.260 --> 00:36:05.940 we said is like. And I think that's super encouraging, 00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:09.800 too, because again, like I think it is a lot 00:36:09.800 --> 00:36:11.639 of pressure and it's supposed to be being a good 00:36:11.639 --> 00:36:14.039 parent is supposed to be a lot of pressure. But 00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:16.400 I think we can kind of overthink that. if that 00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:19.539 makes sense. And a lot of times it is just really 00:36:19.539 --> 00:36:23.179 simple. And when it comes to faith, I think the 00:36:23.179 --> 00:36:26.260 challenging thing is if you don't have a good 00:36:26.260 --> 00:36:28.619 faith, then you're not going to set your kids 00:36:28.619 --> 00:36:32.780 up well. And that is maybe, at least for me, 00:36:32.820 --> 00:36:35.019 where the most pressure is. It's like, okay, 00:36:35.059 --> 00:36:38.519 I need to make sure this is real in my life versus 00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:42.849 just something we talk about. Yeah, like no matter 00:36:42.849 --> 00:36:46.730 how much I tell you that Jesus loves you, if 00:36:46.730 --> 00:36:49.550 I don't believe it myself, like how do I expect 00:36:49.550 --> 00:36:53.949 my kids to actually truly believe it too? So 00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:58.110 that authenticity is so important and so true. 00:36:58.349 --> 00:37:00.969 Okay, well, hopefully this is encouragement to 00:37:00.969 --> 00:37:04.550 you as you're... navigating this in your motherhood 00:37:04.550 --> 00:37:07.250 journey, no matter what phase of parenting you're 00:37:07.250 --> 00:37:09.710 in. But before we wrap up, do you want to share 00:37:09.710 --> 00:37:13.829 your win of the week? Sure. So we went to the 00:37:13.829 --> 00:37:15.929 playground last night, which actually it's been 00:37:15.929 --> 00:37:18.150 a beautiful week. Today's super cool. I mean, 00:37:18.170 --> 00:37:22.489 it's like 50 and cloudy. Yeah. It's been in the 00:37:22.489 --> 00:37:26.630 80s, almost 90. couple days this week um and 00:37:26.630 --> 00:37:28.730 so last night we went to the playground expecting 00:37:28.730 --> 00:37:31.610 like we knew it was cooling down but it was like 00:37:31.610 --> 00:37:34.369 50 by the time we got there and very cold um 00:37:34.369 --> 00:37:37.849 and none of us were dressed for that so and zeta 00:37:37.849 --> 00:37:40.030 like at one point she just like slipped and got 00:37:40.030 --> 00:37:41.710 hurt like you do at the playground like she was 00:37:41.710 --> 00:37:44.289 fine but she started crying and she was on the 00:37:44.289 --> 00:37:46.170 other side of the playground with stewart while 00:37:46.170 --> 00:37:49.650 i was with lloyd and lloyd immediately like zeta's 00:37:49.650 --> 00:37:52.130 crying i was like yeah i think she just you know 00:37:52.130 --> 00:37:54.639 she fell but you know dad's Dad's got her. It's 00:37:54.639 --> 00:37:56.820 okay. And then he was so worried. So finally 00:37:56.820 --> 00:37:58.840 I was like, do you want to go check on Zeta? 00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:02.920 Check on Zeta. I was like, okay. So we walked 00:38:02.920 --> 00:38:05.920 over to Stuart and Zeta and I was like, Lloyd 00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:07.940 just needed to check on his sister. And then 00:38:07.940 --> 00:38:09.579 he just like gave her a little kiss on the cheek 00:38:09.579 --> 00:38:14.260 and said, it's okay, Zeta. That's so cute. He 00:38:14.260 --> 00:38:17.360 was so worried about her. And he just had to 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:19.659 take care of his little sister, which. That's 00:38:19.659 --> 00:38:22.119 so cute. He's going to be such a good bit. Like 00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:24.519 he already is such a good big brother. But just 00:38:24.519 --> 00:38:27.460 like as she grows up, he's going to be like that 00:38:27.460 --> 00:38:31.480 protective big brother. We do. Nobody hurt my 00:38:31.480 --> 00:38:35.219 sister. Well, we do tell him like that is like 00:38:35.219 --> 00:38:38.400 if he hits her or if he's like hitting us or 00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:40.840 like we don't hit unless someone's hurting Zeta. 00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:43.630 You can if someone is hurting Zeta. We don't 00:38:43.630 --> 00:38:45.369 care what you do. You can do whatever you want 00:38:45.369 --> 00:38:48.769 to them. You protect your sister. Yeah, that's 00:38:48.769 --> 00:38:51.469 so sweet. Oh, my gosh. I feel like he was meant 00:38:51.469 --> 00:38:53.989 to be, like, a big brother. I mean, obviously, 00:38:54.070 --> 00:38:55.869 a big brother to a little sister because he's 00:38:55.869 --> 00:38:59.449 just, like, so sweet. So empathetic. Empathetic 00:38:59.449 --> 00:39:01.869 and wants to take care of her all the time. That's 00:39:01.869 --> 00:39:06.070 cute. What do you have? okay my win so i don't 00:39:06.070 --> 00:39:08.570 think i've talked about this before but so we 00:39:08.570 --> 00:39:11.469 live uh we have like a split level so we have 00:39:11.469 --> 00:39:14.250 stairs going up and stairs going down and we've 00:39:14.250 --> 00:39:16.610 never bought baby gates just because we would 00:39:16.610 --> 00:39:19.269 need like four of them and that's just expensive 00:39:19.269 --> 00:39:22.530 and so we just haven't and our stairs are like 00:39:22.809 --> 00:39:26.030 like it's like seven stairs each set if one of 00:39:26.030 --> 00:39:29.070 your kids falls down yeah they're gonna be okay 00:39:29.070 --> 00:39:32.489 yeah it will be terrible we had to buy four baby 00:39:32.489 --> 00:39:34.429 gates because we yeah i mean we don't have a 00:39:34.429 --> 00:39:37.369 split level but we also have like you'd fall 00:39:37.369 --> 00:39:40.230 down 16 stairs so yeah like yeah we gotta do 00:39:40.230 --> 00:39:44.059 that pretty pretty drastic but for us it's like 00:39:44.059 --> 00:39:45.739 if you go through the baby gate it's like you're 00:39:45.739 --> 00:39:47.940 almost immediately opening up another one so 00:39:47.940 --> 00:39:51.679 we just never did but my win is that cruise i 00:39:51.679 --> 00:39:54.980 feel like is finally confidently going up and 00:39:54.980 --> 00:39:57.920 down the stairs is that just such a relief yes 00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:01.670 because i'm like now i feel like i can turn my 00:40:01.670 --> 00:40:05.070 back for a second to grab something or do something 00:40:05.070 --> 00:40:09.190 and not just fear for the fact that Cruz is gonna 00:40:09.190 --> 00:40:11.929 just like fall down the stairs knock on wood 00:40:11.929 --> 00:40:14.190 hopefully that doesn't happen that's happening 00:40:14.190 --> 00:40:18.690 right now yeah right so I yeah my win is just 00:40:18.690 --> 00:40:22.230 like I can let him kind of do his thing if he 00:40:22.230 --> 00:40:24.369 wants to go up or down and just kind of watch 00:40:24.369 --> 00:40:27.510 him rather than like running to try to like brace 00:40:27.510 --> 00:40:30.889 him as he's going up or down and that is like 00:40:30.889 --> 00:40:33.929 just such a relief like you said yeah that's 00:40:33.929 --> 00:40:37.269 so nice yeah that's great oh yeah well thanks 00:40:37.269 --> 00:40:40.409 for tuning in today guys hopefully yeah hopefully 00:40:40.409 --> 00:40:42.510 this was encouragement to you hopefully you learned 00:40:42.510 --> 00:40:46.130 a little something and we would love any advice 00:40:46.130 --> 00:40:49.510 that you guys have on incorporating faith into 00:40:49.510 --> 00:40:53.769 your child's life and If you know of any Bible 00:40:53.769 --> 00:40:56.530 stories that are great for toddlers to read, 00:40:56.610 --> 00:41:00.090 let us know. And yeah, follow us on Instagram 00:41:00.090 --> 00:41:03.030 at nomanualpodcast. And we'll see you next week. 00:41:03.210 --> 00:41:06.070 See you next week. Well, that's enough oversharing 00:41:06.070 --> 00:41:08.690 for today. If you enjoyed hanging out with us, 00:41:08.750 --> 00:41:10.829 hit subscribe so you don't miss the next round 00:41:10.829 --> 00:41:13.489 of chaos. And if you're listening while hiding 00:41:13.489 --> 00:41:15.369 in the bathroom from your kids, no judgment. 00:41:15.449 --> 00:41:18.000 We see you. Thanks for joining us on No Manual 00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:22.000 MomCast, where motherhood is messy. At least 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:40.480 we can laugh about it together. We are chatty 00:41:40.480 --> 00:41:40.699 today.