Abundance, festivity, community, and feasting are hallmarks of the Christmas season! They’re also central themes in Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey with the Ghost of Christmas Present. Heidi White joins us this week for a rich discussion on the second spirit in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Listen and learn how fasting, feasting, service, and celebration shape the Christmas season and our Christian life.   This episode of the Strong Women podcast corresponds with our Strong Women Advent 2024 reading plan. We’re reading A Christmas Carol together this year, and you can read with us! Get your free reading guide at colsoncenter.org/advent.  Grab a copy of A Christmas Carol. Here are several options:  Free digital version  Paperback  Illustrated hardback  Ebook  Audiobooks  Bonus: Illustrations by John Leech  Adaptations of A Christmas Carol to watch:  Traditional  A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim (1951) (Titled Scrooge in the U.K.)  A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott (1984)  A Christmas Carol with Sir Patrick Stewart (1999)  Musical  Scrooge with Albert Finney (1970)  A Christmas Carol (1994) (Broadway production. See here for upcoming performances near you)  Unconventional  The Muppet Christmas Carol with Michael Caine (1992)  A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey (2009) (Animated feature)  Let me know what you think of these adaptations! Pop into the Strong Women Podcast Community Facebook group to let me know what’s your favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol.  Related Podcast Episodes:  Best of Strong Women: Discussing a Christmas Carol With Jessica Hooten Wilson  Embracing True Festivity This Christmas With Haley Stewart  Best of Strong Women: The Strength of Mary With Dr. Timothy Ralston  A Defense of Christmas (Classical Stuff You Should Know)    The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them.  Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc     

We’re diving into the first part of A Christmas Carol, starting with an introduction to the greedy, miserable miser Ebenezer Scrooge. My daughter Abigail joins me today to explore who Scrooge is at the beginning of the novel, and how his encounters with the ghost of Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Past begin to change him ... or do they? Tune in and find out!  This episode of the Strong Women podcast corresponds with our Strong Women Advent 2024 reading plan. We’re reading A Christmas Carol together this year, and you can read with us! Get your free reading guide at colsoncenter.org/advent.  Grab a copy of A Christmas Carol. Here are several options:  Free digital version  Paperback  Illustrated hardback  Ebook  Audiobooks  Bonus: Illustrations by John Leech  Adaptations of A Christmas Carol to watch:  Traditional  A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim (1951) (Titled Scrooge in the U.K.)  A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott (1984)  A Christmas Carol with Sir Patrick Stewart (1999)  Musical  Scrooge with Albert Finney (1970)  A Christmas Carol (1994) (Broadway production. See here for upcoming performances near you)  Unconventional  The Muppet Christmas Carol with Michael Caine (1992)  A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey (2009) (Animated feature)  Let me know what you think of these adaptations! Pop into the Strong Women Podcast Community Facebook group to let me know what’s your favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol.  Related Podcast Episodes:  Best of Strong Women: Discussing a Christmas Carol With Jessica Hooten Wilson  Embracing True Festivity This Christmas With Haley Stewart  Best of Strong Women: The Strength of Mary With Dr. Timothy Ralston  A Defense of Christmas (Classical Stuff You Should Know)      The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them.  Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc 

Today we flip the script, and my friend Maggie interviews me about Advent. This season is meant to prepare us for Christ’s coming—and there are so many meaningful ways to observe it. Whether you’re new to Advent or not, tune in for a conversation about the depth and beauty of Advent and the many ways you can observe it through music, art, reading, and tradition. You might just learn some things about Advent that you didn’t know!  Show Notes:  This episode of the Strong Women podcast corresponds with our Strong Women Advent 2024 reading plan. We’re reading A Christmas Carol together this year, and you can read with us! Get your free reading guide at colsoncenter.org/advent.  Grab a copy of A Christmas Carol. Here are several options:  Free digital version  Paperback  Illustrated hardback  Ebook  Audiobooks  Bonus: Illustrations by John Leech Adaptations of A Christmas Carol to watch:  Traditional  A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim (1951) (Titled Scrooge in the U.K.)  A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott (1984)  A Christmas Carol with Sir Patrick Stewart (1999)  Musical  Scrooge with Albert Finney (1970)  A Christmas Carol (1994) (Broadway production. See here for upcoming performances near you)  Unconventional  The Muppet Christmas Carol with Michael Caine (1992)  A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey (2009) (Animated feature)  Let me know what you think of these adaptations! Pop into the Strong Women Podcast Community Facebook group to let me know what’s your favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol.  Related Podcast Episodes:  Best of Strong Women: Discussing a Christmas Carol With Jessica Hooten Wilson  Embracing True Festivity This Christmas With Haley Stewart  Best of Strong Women: The Strength of Mary With Dr. Timothy Ralston  A Defense of Christmas (Classical Stuff You Should Know)    The Church today is often seen as irrelevant. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. At the Colson Center, we believe the Church is God’s gift to the world, called to be present and active in this cultural moment without being taken captive by it. In other words, the Church is meant to “move the world,” not move with the world. That’s why we equip believers with a Christian worldview through our media, training programs, and events—because a Church that “moves the world” starts with one faithful Christian. We need your help to continue strengthening the Church in 2025. Thanks to a generous matching donation, every gift between now and December 31 will be DOUBLED until we meet the full match. Help us strengthen the Church to move the world in 2025. Make a gift with double the impact at colsoncenter.org/swdecember.    The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center, which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them. Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc 

Kim Tschirret, founder of Hope Reigns, shares her powerful journey from childhood trauma with an abusive father to creating an equine therapy ministry. She emphasizes the healing bond between kids in crisis and rescued horses, illustrating how unconditional love fosters resilience. Kim discusses her transformation through faith and the importance of supportive relationships, aiming to empower future leaders through the Hope Reigns Academy. She reflects on self-worth and draws inspiration from historical figures like Harriet Tubman, showcasing the enduring power of divine love.

From volunteering in her teen years to now serving as Director, Aimee Huber has worked with First Choice Pregnancy Resource Centers in New Jersey for 33 years. When the state unfairly targeted First Choice in 2022, God called Aimee to a deeper level of trust in Him. Through this ongoing challenge, Aimee has learned to find her strength in the God who does unexpected things.  First Choice Women's Resource Centers in New Jersey  Alliance Defending Freedom  Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur    The Church Affiliate program brings the Colson Fellows program to your local church. Pastors and church leaders can go through the Colson Fellows program for free, so they are able to launch a Church Affiliate's cohort an bring worldview training to their church members. For more details, visit  colsoncenter.org/church.    The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center, which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them. Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on social media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc     

From bookstore shelves to social media groups, there’s no shortage of guidance out there for raising babies, toddlers, and teens. But what about those of us parenting adult children? What does it look like to love them well without over-parenting or disengaging? What if they’re estranged from us? Gaye Clark joins us this week to share her well-earned wisdom about walking with Christ as we parent adult children.    Loving Your Adult Children: The Heartache of Parenting and the Hope of the Gospel by Gaye B. Clark  Things Not Seen by Jon Bloom  The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson  The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt     In collaboration with Focus on the Family, we are excited to announce the next Lighthouse Voices on Tuesday, November 12 at 7pm MT. Lighthouse Voices is a livestreamed event series designed to help Christians navigate today’s cultural landscape with truth and love.  Joining us this month is author and theologian Os Guinness, who will answer the question, “What is the True Meaning of Love?” Contrary to popular belief, concept of “free love” proposed by the sexual revolution is neither freeing nor loving. It’s costly and dehumanizing. But God’s design for love and sex is good, true, and lifegiving. What would it look like for us to start a Christian sexual revolution that displays God’s design for love to a world that’s longing for the real thing? Join us on November 12 for answers and encouragement. This conversation will be followed by a Q&A and book signing. To attend via livestream or in person in Colorado Springs, register for free today at colsoncenter.org/lighthouse.   The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them.  Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc     

God doesn’t need you to do big things for Him. He wants you to take the small steps of obedience that are right in front of you. These small steps eventually led Amy Ford to start Embrace Grace, a ministry dedicated to helping churches support women and families facing unplanned pregnancy. Tune in to hear how the Church can make abortion unthinkable by creating a culture of love, encouragement, and tangible support.   Embrace Grace  A Legacy That Lasts: Preserving and Transferring Your Family Values by Trudy Cathy White Give today at colsoncenter.org/swoctober to receive your copy of What Do I Say When...? by Andrew and Christian Walker and a year-long subscription to the Identity Project. The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them.  Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women  Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc     

Have you ever grieved so deeply that you can’t find the words to pray? In seasons of suffering, praying prayers written by other believers can help us bring our weary hearts to the Lord. Jessika Sanders and Eric Schumacher have written a book of these prayers, In His Hands: Prayers for Your Child or Baby in a Medical Crisis. They join us this week to talk about the comfort and power of prayer in times of suffering.   In His Hands: Prayers for Your Child or Baby in a Medical Crisis by Jessika Sanders and Eric Schumacher  Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard  You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That's Good News by Kelly Kapic  Praying Through Ministries    The Church Affiliate program brings the Colson Fellows program to your local church. Pastors and church leaders can go through the Colson Fellows program for free, so they are able to launch a Church Affiliate's cohort an bring worldview training to their church members. For more details, visit  colsoncenter.org/church.   The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them.  Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc     

In our sexually confused culture, “The Talk” just doesn’t cut it anymore. But neither does silence about sex, especially from the Church. If talking to the next generation about sex makes you feel overwhelmed, unprepared, or just plain awkward, this conversation is for you! Kristen Miele, founder of Sex Ed Reclaimed, equips us to disciple the next generation toward healthy, God-honoring sexuality.    Sex Ed Reclaimed  The Identity Project  Our Bodies Tell God's Story by Christopher West  The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality by Sam Jolman  Unwanted by Jay Stringer    Give today at colsoncenter.org/swoctober to receive your copy of What Do I Say When...? by Andrew and Christian Walker and a year-long subscription to the Identity Project.   The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them.  Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc     

Do you wonder if God will forgive that sin or heal that wound? The one that still haunts you? You’ll want to listen to today’s episode. After a dysfunctional family life, sexual abuse, and two abortions, God saved Sheri Friedman and led her on a long journey of healing. Sheri’s story reminds us that God redeems the darkest parts of our stories and frees us to offer His redemption to others.    Healed in Mercy  Agape Women’s Clinic  Colson Fellows  Rachel’s Vineyard  Unveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way out of the Mormon Church by Lynn K. Wilder  Let Justice Roll Down by John M. Perkins  Heaven by Randy Alcorn    Give today at colsoncenter.org/swoctober to receive your copy of What Do I Say When...? by Andrew and Christian Walker and a year-long subscription to the Identity Project.   The Strong Women Podcast is a product of the Colson Center which equips Christians to live out their faith with clarity, confidence, and courage in this cultural moment. Through commentaries, podcasts, videos, and more, we help Christians better understand what’s happening in the world, and champion what is true and good wherever God has called them.  Learn more about the Colson Center here: https://www.colsoncenter.org/   Visit our website and sign up for our email list so that you can stay up to date on what we are doing here and also receive our monthly journal: https://www.colsoncenter.org/strong-women    Join Strong Women on Social Media:   https://www.facebook.com/StrongWomenCC  https://www.facebook.com/groups/strongwomencommunitycc/  https://www.instagram.com/strongwomencc/  https://linktr.ee/strongwomencc