Let's Parent on Purpose: Christian Marriage, Parenting, and Discipleship

This is the first of a two-part series on gender with Christine Sneeringer, a ministry leader who specializes in sexuality and gender issues. Growing up, Christine knew all too well the distress and hardship of not feeling at home in her female body. More than anything she longed to be a boy. Looking back, Christine now realizes how her abuse history drove her negative perceptions of femininity, which she equated with victimhood. In our conversation today, Christine shares her decades long battle with gender dysphoria that led to her same-sex attractions.  We also discuss the importance of critical thinking skills and how children are prone to misinterpret adverse childhood events. Christine’s journey was a prime example of how we can develop distorted beliefs about gender, which were not addressed until God intervened in her life. Surrounded by a loving Christian community as a young adult, she surrendered her life and sexuality to Christ. Afterwards she finally felt safe enough to embrace her femaleness for the first time in her life. Listen to this encouraging example of the redemptive love of Christ. Christine’s story will give you hope in a culture that celebrates running from God’s design for gender and sexuality. Bio Christine Sneeringer is the executive director of Worthy Creations, a parachurch ministry that specializes in sexuality and gender related concerns. A gifted communicator, she teaches and speaks at churches, conferences, and campus ministries, sharing her dramatic story of overcoming abuse and battling more than two decades of gender dysphoria that led to her same-sex attractions. A consultant with the Institute for Healthy Families, Christine provides one-on-one support and coaching for individuals who feel conflicted about their gender identity. Christine has a master’s degree in Counseling from Palm Beach Atlantic University and a Bachelor of Theology degree from Oxford University. She is a freelance writer and her articles have appeared in Decision Magazine, Charisma, and Spirit Led Woman. She lives in South Florida, where she enjoys tennis and tacos.   Resources mentioned: www.worthycreations.org https://instituteforhealthyfamilies.org https://mycharisma.com/spiritled-living/finding-wholeness-set-free-from-lesbianism/ https://letsparentonpurpose.com/support/ Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook! Connect with Christine: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinesneeringer/ Worthy Creations: www.worthycreations.org Connect with Jay: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose  

More children and teens wrestle with anxiety than ever before. Sometimes moms and dads feel powerless to help their children escape the grip of chronic anxiety. Today our guest Hannah Conway shares several simple, practical strategies that can deescalate the general level of worry, tension, and anxiety your children experience. As we continue to create a household of engagement and encouragement, we equip our children to face their own challenges, make wise decisions, and live without the need to be rescued from every small challenge.    Listen as we discuss: The physiological reality of why young teenagers seem to “lose their mind”. The importance of knowing whose you are in order to know who you are. Strategies parents can employ when it feels like anxiety is cranking up in the home including:  Take a deep breath. Literally! Be in the Word, and remind yourself of the Word. Pray for your kids, pray with your kids.  Open communication, dinner table conversations with guided topics.  Letting them deal with consequences to learn resiliency.  Bringing healthy adult mentors into your children’s life.   Bio: Hannah R. Conway is a Social Media Marketing & Communications Coordinator and Women’s Ministry Director. She's a best-selling author, podcast host on “What’s Your Story? With Hannah & Stephani”, and speaker. Hannah is also a military wife, momma, former teacher, dog lover and roots for the Kentucky Wildcats. Most days she can be caught with a coffee cup in hand. She and her family live near Nashville, Tennessee.   Resources mentioned: https://hannahrconway.com/ In Case You Forget: A 6-Week Devotional about Who You Are in Jesus https://amzn.to/3Lk6abC https://letsparentonpurpose.com/support/ Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!   Connect with Jay: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose  

14, 8, 6, 5 years old when I started Thanks Christian Parenting, Covenant Fellowship, Listeners, My wife and kids In the past 7 years Jay has released 350 episodes and interviewed over 120 different people for Let’s Parent on Purpose. Today Jay shares his biggest personal insights from the years of being a learner behind the microphone.   To commemorate the Episode 350 milestone, be sure to check out Jay’s 10 all time favorite Let’s Parent on Purpose podcasts!   Listen today as Jay shares his biggest insights including: Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint Your marriage must take precedence over your parenting No single event is going to make or break your children One of the biggest threats your children face is your ego Our habits should reflect our heart, and also our habits will shape our heart Keep preaching the gospel to yourself!   Resources mentioned:   Link Jay’s Favorite Let’s Parent on purpose Episodes https://letsparentonpurpose.com/support/ Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!   Connect with Jay: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@letsparentonpurpose Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose  

Every community is going to experience conflict. The way we navigate these conflicts will either break our community or make it stronger. Today Jay shares important truths to help you grow personally and relationally as you encounter conflict in your various communities. This is an episode that is very helpful for parents in their personal lives as well as giving language for how to train their children to handle conflict in a healthy way.    Listen as we discuss: The inevitability of conflict in community Why we experience conflict Deciding on whether we want to win the person or win the argument Developing a posture of humility Choosing to forgive even before we address the other person Seeking God’s power to pursue peace Understanding that it’s not always possible to have peace, and what to do next   Resources mentioned: Support Let’s Parent on Purpose through your Tax-Deductible Giving Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!   Connect with Jay: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@letsparentonpurpose Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose  

As a Division 1 college soccer player, Craig Hettlinger was living many young men’s dream. A fateful decision to partake in a controlled substance after a win started a 16-year collapse into addiction and destruction.     Craig shares his story of addiction, failed attempts at sobriety, and his ultimate recovery and deliverance through God’s power. Craig now lives out his mission for Jesus by running recovery houses in Huntington, WV, the Ground Zero for the opioid epidemic. Craig’s raw, honest recounting of his life journey will encourage families who are suffering through long term addiction in their own households.    Bio Craig Hettlinger is the CEO of HAWC Recovery in Huntington WV. He is also the author of That Ain’t No Mountain For a Climber - a heartfelt firsthand account of overcoming drug addiction.  Resources mentioned: www.hawcrecovery.com Craig’s book: That Ain’t No Mountain for a Climber: http://hawcrecovery.com/media.html The Freedom Fight: The New Drug and the Truths That Set Us Free: https://amzn.to/3OJTD27 Support Let’s Parent on Purpose through your Tax-Deductible Giving Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!   Connect with Jay: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@letsparentonpurpose Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jaydholland  

There’s a simple action you can take that has profound theological and neurological significance in your household… smile. Jay shares the correlation between smiling and the blessing of God from Numbers 6. A core facet of God’s blessing upon his people was the shining face of God looking upon them. In a similar way, we bless the members of our household simply by looking at them and giving our smile.    In this episode Jay goes on a scriptural journey to explain the concept of the smile of God and then turns to the neurological benefits of training a child with our smile. If you want a simple way to build attachment, lower stress, and increase security in your home, look your family members in the face and smile!   Resources mentioned: What’s in a Smile https://letsparentonpurpose.com/support/ Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!  

Jay shares a powerful set of words that can help rewire your household to get past the blame game and start working towards making things right. “It doesn’t have to be your fault to be your responsibility” is a concept we see through the teachings of Scripture (The Good Samaritan, Galatians 6, the incarnation of Jesus). As we start to incorporate this concept into every day life we will see endless applications in our households that will train our children for a more fruitful adult life. Learn how “not your fault, still your responsibility” can help you change the conversation with  messes and spills lost toys group projects and homework assignments arguments and fights the larger broken world around us.  Jay walks through a biblical basis for the concept and then shares several real world examples where you can apply this teaching in with your children.   Resources mentioned: https://letsparentonpurpose.com/support/ Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook! Connect with Jay: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@letsparentonpurpose Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose  

“Our past hurts mixed with our present pressure often dictate our future fear.” Counselor and author Sissy Goff has watched this reality play out hundreds of times through the decades as she councils chidden as well as their moms and dads. So often parents are willing to get help for their anxious children while not addressing their own anxieties. In our conversation today, Licensed Counselor and author Sissy Goff explains that anxiety is contagious, and the worries we see in our children can often come from our own unaddressed anxieties.    In our conversation today, we talk about the rapid growth of anxiety as major struggle for more and more children and adults. Sissy shares insights from her new book, The Worry Free Parent: Living in Confidence So Your Kids Can Too. We discuss The difference between worry and anxiety The way unaddressed past hurts can bleed into our present parenting How the amygdala is contagious Practices to deescalate when anxiety is taking over The importance of the following advice: Try Softer, Trust Your Gut, and Trust God How the hope of the resurrection re-centers us on our darkest days   Bio Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, has worked as the director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries since 1993. She speaks to parents and children's ministers across the country and is a frequent guest on media outlets such as Southern Living, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Good Morning America, Focus on the Family, That Sounds Fun, Family Life Today, Fox News, and many more. Sissy Goff is the author of 13 books including her latest, The Worry-Free Parent. She co-hosts the chart-topping Raising Boys and Girls podcast, with fellow Daystar Counselor David Thomas. The podcast just celebrated more than 5 million downloads to date www.RaisingBoysandGirls.com   Resources mentioned: Instagram: @RaisingBoysandGirls  The Worry Free Parent: Living in Confidence So Your Kids Can Too: https://amzn.to/3NZCBOm Are My Kids On Track: The 12 Emotional, Social, and Spiritual Milestones your Child Needs to Reach: https://amzn.to/3PL4bR0 www.RaisingBoysandGirls.com Episode 217: Worry, Anxiety, and Emotional Vocabulary with Sissy Goff Support Let's Parent on Purpose through your Tax Deductible Giving Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook! Connect with Jay: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@letsparentonpurpose Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jaydholland  

Do your kids know beyond  shadow of a doubt, if they see pornography on the school bus, they can come home and tell you? Today’s guest Nick Liberto introduces us to an incredible resource that will help equip mom and dad to be THE expert on sex in their child’s life. The current average age of exposure to hardcore pornography is 8 years old. As parents, we need to have a good defense of protecting our children through internet filters and limiting harmful friendships. But equally important, we need a good offensive plan for how we are going to talk to our children about sex early and often over the course of decades so they can understand God’s great vision and see their parents as the safest, most trusted resource.    In Jay’s conversation with Nick, they discuss: How early should we begin talking to our children about sex? What is a good definition of pornography to help our children understand but not arouse curiosity? The new resource “The Sex Talk” that helps equip mom and dad as THE expert to discuss sex with their children from childhood through engagement.    Additionally Nick shares the following golden nuggets: Embrace “it’s not if, but when your children are going to be exposed”. Early and often - as early and as often as you can, you don’t need a course. Make mom and dad the number one place to go to have the sex talk. It’s both offense and defense - why should we assume we will equip our children to thrive with sexual integrity if we only put a filter on their phone?  Figure out what your gameplan is for offense for the sex talk.   Nick is a graduate of Liberty University as well as a husband, church leader, avid adventurer, and someone who is constantly looking for new and exciting ways to experience Jesus. He has been leading Proven Ministries for over seven years and is excited to see the ministry in a place to serve the whole family with sexual integrity resources.    Nick’s story is not unlike many other men. He has experienced the stronghold of the Internet on his generation and witnessed the toll it takes on a man’s identity and relationships. He has been discipling men within his sphere of influence for over a decade and seeks a revival which starts with the family and spreads across the nation. Nick has a unique view of the world and its ever-changing sexualized culture. It’s his calling to help individuals discover their strength in Christ so that they can become a resource to a dying world.   Resources mentioned: www.thesextalk.com Use the code “parentonpurpose” to receive a 25% discount! www.provenministries.org The Naked Gospel Podcast Support Let's Parent on Purpose through your Tax Deductible Giving Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook!   Connect with Jay: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@letsparentonpurpose Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose   Let's Parent on Purpose is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual advice to help you grow into the parent you want to be visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Jennifer Love longed to experience the life of Christ and the transformational power of prayer like she was reading in the Bible. As she sought the Lord asking for this life, He began to answer her. Through a series of experiences with her prayer group in church and on a mission trip, Jennifer began to see spiritual breakthrough in her prayer life. Her prayer team at church saw movement in areas that had long been stagnate. Ultimately, Jennifer’s husband and children experience transformation in their own lives as God began moving powerfully through Jen’s prayers.    We talk about Jen’s journey, the way this has impacted normal life as a wife and parent, as well as how God has used prayers for discernment and healing to open missional doors that had long remained closed. You’ll be inspired and encouraged by Jennifer. Her story might sound exceptional, but if we believe the Bible, her story should be normal for each of us!   Jennifer Love leads Pray Through It with her husband Don Love. She has been involved with leading a college listening prayer ministry for 5 years and has been part of her church’s prayer team for 8 years. She holds a BS in Secondary Education and an MAR in Pastoral Counseling. She is the author of the Bible in Stories and a blogger for Pray Through it and Intentional Traditions. Her passions are to creatively teach the Bible to children, to write about what God is teaching her and to meet with others to help lead them through life’s issues to freedom in Christ. Resources mentioned: The Bible In Stories:https://bibleinstories.com/?ref=jennilee.love  praythroughit.com  Unquenchable: Biblical Theology, Listening Prayer, and Christian Living: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unquenchable-biblical-theology-listening-prayer-and/id1548674310 Support Let's Parent on Purpose through your Tax Deductible Giving Join my Things for Thursday Email List and get a free Marriage Snapshot Tool and Fun Family Conversation Ebook! Connect with Jay: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsparentonpurpose Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsparentonpurpose Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jaydholland