It's summertime and many of us love to go to see the latest blockbuster films! But how often do we stop and think about why we watch the things that we watch?

In this episode, we share our personal experiences with films and media and how we have come to make decisions as a family in choosing what we watch, both as a couple and as a family:

What makes the cut?

How do we decide what is worth our time?

What content is allowable and when?

Does Scripture have anything to say about it?

All media comes with a message. Are we tuning in our minds to listen to what is being said or are we shutting off our brains and passively consuming? Learn how to engage your mind and take captive your thoughts for Christ even in front of the big screen.

How far are you willing to go for the sake of your children?

Parenting can be difficult and demanding. Caring for someone else and taking care of their needs requires a cost. But how far are we willing to go as parents? What's the limit of the sacrifice we're willing to make for the little ones in our lives?

In this episode, we discuss the concept of parenting as sacrifice and what it looks like to parent for the sake of future generations.

There's a story of a mother who pays the price of her own life in bearing a child. A heavy cost in parenting indeed. Was it worth it? There were other children born to the family by that point anyway, was it a necessary cost to pay? Should they even have considered having another child? And yet, God told them to have more children. In fact, He commanded it. Without this mother's sacrifice, you likely wouldn't be reading this right now. It's a story that you probably know, at least a little bit about. The story is the birth of Benjamin, the youngest of the sons of Israel. And there's a certain Benjamite that would later turn the world upside down in bringing the gospel all over the Roman empire as the "Apostle to the Gentiles." That's right, the greatest missionary ever to live, the Apostle Paul! We all have a reason to be thankful for the sacrifice that Israel and Rachel were willing to make so many generations before.

Aren't we all just supposed to be happy?

Do you remember that verse in the Bible where Jesus told His followers, "I just came here to make everyone happy..." Neither do we! That's really not what this is about is it... And yet, there are so many voices out there trying to tell us to do the things that just make us happy, comfortable, and feel good.

What does Jesus tell us?

"The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10b, LSB), and "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10, LSB). And Jesus' followers later affirmed these things in saying, "Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22b). In this life, following Jesus isn't about being comfortable and happy, and oftentimes it doesn't feel good. Just because something doesn't feel good, doesn't mean that it isn't good.

Having a speck in your eye doesn't feel good, but that pain also helps us to seek out the source of the problem, so that the dirt doesn't act like sandpaper to our eye and cause us eye damage. The feeling certainly isn't good but it's good to know that there's something wrong with our eye!

In this week's episode of Full Quiver Parenting, we discuss the difference between happiness and blessing. What does that look like as followers of Jesus and how does it apply to parenting and family life as Christians?

What happens when something is taken so far that we lose the actual intent and purpose behind it?

In this week's episode, we dig deep into the motivations of parenting choices and the heart that can lie behind the choices that we make as parents.

Drawing from St. Augustine's classic treatise, "On the Spirit and the Letter" we apply some of his principles that he draws from Scripture and bring it to some of the more controversial questions of parenting and the choices that we make in trying to parent and build a family according to God's design.

What we find is that it's not as easy as simply following a set of rules or blueprints, plugging in the proper formula and out comes the right mixture of a godly family. We must dig deeper than that as parents and allow the Spirit to penetrate the depths of our hearts and God's Word to reach into the depths of our spirits in order that He may find and refine our hearts for His good and godly purposes.

As Jesus said to the legalistic pharisees who thought they all had it right by simply following all the rules: "But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” - Matthew 9:13

Join us in the conversation as we share some our own self-examination as a couple on some weighty matters of parenting.

Check out St. Augustine's full writing here.

What is our heart in parenting? 

Are we trying to raise up trophies who achieve all the prizes and are the picture of success in the world?

Are we trying to just go through the motions of passing on the family name the next generation?

Are we just fulfilling a dream of a spouse to have children? Or expectations of parents to become grandparents?

This week, we want to talk about cultivating the heart of Christ in ourselves as parents as we seek to raise our children and that begins with the formation of a heart of a servant.

As parents, we are privilege in forming the hearts of our children, playing a key role not just in forming the next generation but also the starting steps of eternal lives. Amidst all of the cries, and screams, and demands, the natural tendencies of our hearts can be to turn resentful towards these little ones who may always seem like their demanding from us, but we have the example of Christ before us:

"who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." - Philippians 2:6-8

Christ came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many, as He tells the eager apostles James and John who seek to have the highest positions in the Messiah's Kingdom.

Parenting too is a space of humility and seeking to serve and show that self-giving. unconditional, sacrificial love on behalf of our children. it's with that kind of love that God has loved us and desires for us to love others, and especially our children with.

We love the prayer of St. Francis and think it's an excellent one to pray and meditate upon in cultivating a servant's heart in ourselves as parents:

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life."

-St. Francis of Assisi

What is sex and what is God's design for it?

This episode is related to the topic sex and sexuality and as a result, may not be suitable for a younger audience.  If your kids are listening to this podcast with you, we suggest you skip it and come back to it when they are not around (hence the explicit rating).

In a world obsessed with sex and pleasure, it's hard to find biblical answers to these questions but the answers ought to be at the heart of every marriage.

In this week's episode, we discuss what the Bible has to say about sex as part of reflecting God as Creator, as well as the union between Christ and His bride, the Church.  With all of the glamor that our culture likes to throw over sex, it really pales in comparison to the incredible reality that God has made the sexual union between a husband and wife to reflect!

We also talk about the challenges that can come in marriage around sex, and how the devil seeks to divide what God has joined together.  The areas of attack and why it is so important for the marriage bed to remain a sacred place, as the author of Hebrews says:

"Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled, for the sexually immoral and adulterers God will judge" Hebrews 13:4, LSB.

We also discuss the physical aspects of sexual union that have been under attack in the last two centuries with the wave of contraceptives. etc. that have resulted in the dehumanization of the act of intercourse.

Join us in this topic of intimacy and all that God has intended the marriage bed for, far beyond just pleasure!

"Any house divided against itself will not stand." - Matthew 12:25b Legacy Standard Bible

Have you ever tried to build something when someone else is continually trying to knock it down? It makes things really difficult! The same is true for our homes. When we're in a space of division, it can feel impossible to build something that will remain standing.

When we were first dating, we decided that we wanted to work through as many of the difficult conversations as we could up front. That meant that we asked each other a lot of hard questions. One of those questions was around having children if we were to marry. We quickly discovered that we were not on the same page... whatsoever.

Steven wanted to wait to have kids, as he thought it was irresponsible to bring children into a marriage if it wasn't established with a reputation of stability.

Lydia wanted to trust the Lord with children, and to receive as many children as God would choose to give to us.

How do you come to a unified decision in a relationship when you're at really different places?

In this week's episode, we walk through how those conversations went for us and we share how that could be helpful for your family and situation. Even if you haven't had those conversation ahead of time like we did, choosing to have those conversations at any point along the journey can be of great benefit!

Wanting to start the conversation but are not sure how to broach the topic? A great place to begin thinking about those questions around the purpose and design of the family and living a Christian life, is the series, "For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles."

Have you ever been excited about starting something new, but then you never actually do it? Maybe it was a new exercise program, a local community organization you wanted to participate in, a day trip with the family that you just never seem to get around to. It's great to have good intentions and to desire to do something but sometimes actually getting around to doing it, is an entirely different matter.

We talk about wanting to raise our children to follow after Jesus, but what does that actually look like on a day to day basis? Are we actually spending time with our kids in the Bible? Are we actually praying with or kids? Are we modeling for our kids in how we live as examples of following Christ?

In this episode, we share our journey of becoming intentional in following after Jesus in our daily lives as a family. Dig into the daily habits and routines of scripture reading, gather around the family piano for a time of worship, get on our hands and knees to pray, as we share with you the joyful, messy, frustrating, raw,beautiful, creative, time that is praying, praising, and worshiping God together as a family.

Want to know some of our favorite resources for family prayer and Bible study? Check out our Family Prayer Resources Page!