The Blessing Of Parenting

While life seems to get busier by the day the distractions seem to come just as quickly.

Whether it is aimlessly scrolling through social media, watching the random tv shows or however you fill the ever so small blank space you have in your day-to-day it never seems to help us move forward. In other words, our distractions can hold us back.  

This episode is a conversation we try to always keep in front of us.  Are we spending our time on the right things?  Are we focused? Are we overwhelmed and overdoing our schedule?

While we aren't perfect in this space and fall into the traps of not being as intentional with our time we know that we need rest and to prioritize putting our time into the things that matter most.  This episode will challenge you to do the same.  

You probably have many goals for the new year.  

Getting healthy physically and maybe spiritually.  Goals for your kids and relationships.  

What if sex and intimacy was a part of your goals this year?  When God created marriage He made it to where sex is a major component of strengthening and protecting a marriage.  It is a blessing that we get to take part in.

However, as life goes on and we get busier and more overwhelmed by our responsibilities our intimacy in marriage can take a backseat.  And slowly, your start to grow a part and assumptions are made and bitterness and confusion can step it.

Listen and hear Heather and Griffin openly talk about the significance sex and intimacy should play in your marriage.  They unpack the challenges you deal with as well as the reality of how it becomes less of a priority.  But in the end, the right approach in your marriage should make sex and intimacy better as you move forward.  

Somehow the year is already over.

Another year down and 2024 is now to come.  One of the practices we try to do often is reflecting on where we have been and what we have been through.  

For us, 2023 has been full of new challenges as well as circumstances to celebrate.  Listen and hear us unpack our takeaways from the year.  From challenges with kids and work, learning how to keep maturing and finding more ways to unify as a couple, we experienced plenty this past year.  There will be plenty that you resonate with.  

Do you ever feel like you and your spouse aren't on the same page?  Do you feel like you are headed in two different directions? 

Sometimes in our marriage one spouse can change as time goes on.  Your passions, your beliefs, your core values can grow as you do but your spouse doesn't come along with you.  This can be common for many marriages when life change happens like having kids, moving to a new area or changing jobs. It can be the reason couples decide to split up because thinking about a lifelong partnership with someone who isn't growing like you are can be daunting.  

Listen and hear Heather and Griffin talk about the many challenges they have heard couples go through with this particular issue.  Also hear some encouragement on how to approach your spouse in a healthy way to spark healthy growth in them. 

Yes, it is a blessing!

Last episode we unpacked the burden of parenting.  One thing we noticed was how easy it was to think about those ideas.  The blessings were a little more in depth to uncover.  

And that is what makes the blessings so impactful.  The role and responsibility of a parent is so unique and so impactful, the blessing play out for decades.  

Listen and hear Heather and Griffin speak about how they experience blessings now with young kids in the home but also look forward to the built-in lifelong blessing of relationships with their children for a lifetime.  

Parenting is forever.

The word "burden" carries a negative connotation but the reality is that parenting is both beautiful and difficult.  At the very least the incredible responsibility of parenthood can feel like a burden in one way or another.  Because it is so constant and is a role you carry for so long it's worth understanding what the experience is truly like. 

Listen and hear Griffin and Heather share what parenting has felt like to them.  They discuss how they have experienced the weight of their role as mom and dad and what they have learned as they have partnered together to lead their five children for the last ten years.  

How can bitterness negatively impact your marriage?

It's one of those things that starts small but if not dealt with it grows into something you can't control.  Each of us have frustrations towards our spouse for whatever reason but if we allow feelings to linger it will create issues down the road we won't want to face.

Listen and hear Griffin and Heather unpack their experiences with bitterness both in and out of their marriage.  You will hear them discuss the communication tools that are essential to avoiding bitterness and how it gets harder to do once you have kids.  

You've probably heard this before: marriage is 50/50.

But is it really?  When you step back and think about the different areas of your marriage and the specific roles you play it isn't always equal.  Sometimes it's 70/30 or even less.  Even the capacity we have in certain seasons to be "all-in" can vary and more often than not one of the spouses is carrying more than 50 percent of the weight at a given time.

Listen and hear Griffin and Heather unpack how this plays out in their own lives.  They speak into work, parenting, dreams, money and more. 

It's another season change.

Summer is usually a time where we try to fit in vacations, find some rest and get the kids into as many things as possible to keep them busy. But if we aren't careful we can easily overdo the schedule and leave the summer feeling more tired and burned out than ever.  

So, what does a set apart summer look like?  Could it be an intentional time for your family?

Listen and hear a conversation about a healthy approach to what the summer could be and why you may want to change it up this year.  

It almost sounds like an outdated word.

What does modesty look like is 2023?  Is it even something worth focusing on?

In part two of our "Set Apart" series we dive into this topic.  You will hear Griffin and Heather walk through their process of figuring out as a couple how they wanted to approach modesty.  And while it's easy to focus on the surface level ideas about what we wear and how we carry ourselves, listen and hear a conversation about what is beneath the surface with this topic. It's more about why we do what we do.