Sometimes the stories in the Bible fail to move our hearts. Or more accurately, we fail to be moved by them.
When this happened to me with the crucifixion story, I asked God to please soften my heart toward his word and he did! This episode is the story of how that happened and what I learned.
Pour yourself a cup as we LOOK at John 19:1-16 together.
Resources:
In this podcast episode, we explore how Jesus relates to our daily struggles as wives, moms, and women. We often feel busy and unappreciated, but Jesus shows us that he understands. Looking at John 13, we see how Jesus served others because he knew where he came from, who he was, and where he was going. We can learn from him and serve others from those same places.
Let’s LOOK together:
Listen
John 10:1-16
Observe
V. 1-5: Shepherd
Follow because they know his voice – we must spend time with Jesus to know his voice
Jesus leads them – he never asks anything of us that he hasn’t done himself (John 13)
V. 6-10: Gate
Back then sometimes the shepherd laid across the sheep pen at the gate. (https://ourdailybread.org/article/jesus-said-i-am-the-gate/) He was protecting his flock and only allowing in who and what he deemed best for them.
He also lets them out to find safe pasture and abundant life
Zoe life vs physical life (Empowered notes – Lori Varnell)
V. 11-13: Good Shepherd
Sacrifices life for the sheep. He’s willing to give everything.
V. 14-16: Good Shepherd
He knows his sheep intimately
We can know him “just as my Father knows me and I know the Father.” Wow!
Bringing everyone together (us!) under him.
Open
Prayer–Take time to sit quietly with God, pray, and worship him.
Keep
Resources
Let’s LOOK:
L - John 6:32-40 & 47-51
O - Bread - back then it was more nourishing. Think of the artisan and whole grain breads today. Interesting to note that many cultures have a bread type food as a main staple of their culture: bread, tortillas, pasta, fry bread…
O - Prayer….
K - Spend time with Jesus today. Don’t let Satan trick you into thinking you’re too busy to spend time with Jesus. You’re too busy NOT to spend time with him.
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So often we feel as if we're walking in darkness. In John 1 Jesus is described as the "true light" who gives light to everyone. Then throughout the rest of John, we see Jesus live out what it means to "be the light." In this episode, learn
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If you’re like my family and struggle to find a place in your life for Bible Study because you’ve never tried before or you’ve tried and failed. Listen to this month’s Over A Cup podcast episode.
Learn to choose a Bible study habit that fits you
Decided how to make it tiny
Discover where to insert it in your day so it has sticking power
Decided how to fight distractions
Celebrate because you earned it!
As I explain in the podcast, this method helps more than any other I’ve tried, even when given my toughest task–cleaning my kitchen!
Tiny Habits Recipe:
When I do….. I will do…. I will celebrate by…..
Resources
So many of us feel overwhelmed by our schedules. They are cluttered with so many tasks and to-dos that we feel exhausted and overwhelmed.
Listen this month as I share the steps I just went through to move my schedule from chaos to calm. You can begin this process by the end of today!
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
List it all out
Pray about your list
Choose what to keep, delegate, or release
What do you do when your kids are fighting, again? How does the Spirit meet us in those moments? Listen in as Christie Thomas and Tara L. Cole share what they are learning and how the Spirit can help us in the middle of our daily lives as moms.
They also give many ideas for how to focus your family on Jesus in the season your family finds themselves in right now.
Show Takeaways:
Practical tips for how to help your children grow in the fruit of the Spirit
How to be a peacemaker vs a peacekeeper
How to release the parenting shame and think through your doover
Show Links:
What do we do when our children struggle with their identity and image? Where do we turn? We turn to the truth and what God says about them.
In this episode, we dive deep into five foundational prayers based on God’s Word. Learn how to pray for our children’s:
Image
Fruitfulness
Values
If you want these “Foundation Prayers” as lock screens for your mobile device, go to taralcole.com.
Everyday Prayers for the School Year
Abide: 40 Ways to Focus on Jesus Daily
I recently got that text from a friend. “Your son hurt my son….”
No one ever wants that text. Even if our kids fight with their siblings, we hope they will control themselves in public, especially with good friends.
Thankfully, it was resolved quickly and all friendships (adults and children) are still intact, but how do we help our children develop lasting character? Self-control and all the others?
This month’s episode helps to answer those questions and more. My guest Kimberly Amici is a Family Culture Coach and co-host of the Build Your Best Family podcast. Through our conversation you’ll learn:
If you find this episode helpful, connect with Kimberly at:
Want to find the resources we discussed? I’ve got you!
One of the exciting things about parenting is watching our kids develop interests and explore their giftings. On this episode of Over a Cup, Tara talks to Monica Swanson, author of Boy Mom, about fostering our children’s unique interests and how we can continually lead our kids to scripture. These two moms get very practical about how they have creatively supported their children’s interests, set healthy boundaries for their kids, and provided resources that they love to use that connect them to God’s bigger story.
In this episode, Monica and I share a lot of practical ideas to help you and your kids build a relationship with Jesus. If you need help making time with God a regular habit, please join our OverACup Patreon community for our Live Workshop on January 17th @ 1 pm, CST! This workshop will help you:
The workshop will be recorded for Patreon Members to view later. Go to patreon.com/overacup to learn more!
Have you ever wanted to help your kids memorize scripture? Or wondered if it is worth it? In this cultural moment, memorizing scripture and applying it can be life-changing for our children. On this episode of Over a Cup, Tara walks you through some simple yet very practical ways to engage scripture with your kids that will make a meaningful impact on their lives. Listen in as Tara reads another chapter from her book “Everyday Prayers for the School Year.”
Show Takeaways:
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Welcome back to the Over a Cup Podcast, as we go through this season, we're covering the five topics that are in my new book, Everyday Prayers for the School Year. We pray over friendships, their character, their gifts, their schoolwork, and we pray over our students' relationships with their teachers which is exactly what today’s episode is about. So whether you're a homeschooling parent or a public school parent, or somewhere in between, Pre-K to college, I've got you covered.
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Over A Cup welcomes back author, podcaster, and speaker, Michelle Diercks as we focus on our kids, prayer, and school year this season. Michelle is a mother of two boys, and shares some sage advice for communicating and guiding our children through situations no one plans for. She also shares how she has instilled the love of being in God’s word and how it has impacted her boys and their relationship with God.
*Warning, mature topics are discussed in this episode.
Show Takeaways:
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*Affiliate links are used here. They don’t cost anything for you to use but help support this podcast. Thank you!
Welcome to another episode of the Over a Cup Podcast. I am so glad you're here this month. My guest is Mary Carver.
Mary is a writer and a podcaster, her podcast The Couch with Mary Carver talks about the intersection of faith and pop culture. She’s also a mom and a wife. And she has a new book coming out called Prayers From the Parking Lot and it is for moms who find themselves in the parking lot, either kind of trapped while they're waiting on their kids or maybe just hiding out from their kids, getting a few extra minutes of quiet in the minivan before they go inside back to the chaos.
In this episode, we discuss motherhood, parenting, and specifically helping our kids navigate friendships.
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Show Notes:
Welcome back to another episode of the Over a Cup Podcast, and welcome to season three. This season is all about praying God's word over your children's school year. So whether you have children or grandchildren, this is pretty much for any age and stage.
My first guest is Brooke McGlothlin from Million Praying Moms. Brooke is really the one who taught me how to pray God's word over my children so she is a perfect fit for our first guest of the season.
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I am excited to share with you the wisdom of Terri Wilson, a mom mentor from my own life as we discuss the power of hindsight. Terri shares ways she guided her children into their own relationships with God by growing her relationship with God.
Listen in for practical encouragement from a mom that’s been there.
Show Links:
Show Takeaways:
During some seasons of life, it seems like this world has gone crazy! The chaos in our personal life or the world around us can be overwhelming and distract us from God.
That was Melody’s life in early 2020 and she, like all of us during that time, wondered where to turn. She found her comfort in intercessory prayer. It might sound like a big, fancy term, but it simply means interceding on behalf of another. Taking one another to Jesus’ feet.
However, instead of stopping her busy life as a homeschooling mom and homesteader, God showed her how to pray and intercede even as she went about her day. Love that!
If you feel weighed down by life and wonder if there is time to pray amid the interruptions and distractions, this episode is for you!
Resources:
Podcast
Learn how to fight distractions and find the time to focus on Jesus in my conversations on the OverACup Podcast.
Books
Find more abide ideas in my book Abide: 40 Ways to Focus on Jesus Daily.
Discover how to help your kids connect to God in the special and unique ways he made them in my book with Christie Thomas Sacred Pathways for Kids.
Pray God's word over your child’s school year (no matter your schooling choice or child’s grade!) in my upcoming book releasing August 2, 2022, Everyday Prayers for the School Year. Pre-order today!
Patreon Partners
This is my favorite place to be online! Every month we gather for a LIVE Chat where we pray together and have a mini-workshop that goes deeper into that month’s podcast topic. Patreon Partners also have access to Bible Studies, ebooks, and video series as part of their membership. I hope you join me. Click here to learn more: OverACup Patreon Partners.
Bad things happen to good people. I wish it wasn’t true. I wish I could tell you, like Job’s friends in the book of Job, that God blesses the righteous and doesn’t allow hard things to happen. But it just isn’t true.
As Amy Anguish shares in this episode, even in those hard times, there is hope. God walked her and her husband through 6 years of infertility and gave her the ability to comfort hurting women in a way she wasn’t able to before.
If you’re going to infertility, loss, or sickness, find hope in Amy’s story of walking with God through those times when you can only say, “Why God?”
Resources
Connect with Amy Anguish:
During those times when we feel like we’ve been sucker-punched when our feet have been kicked out from under us, there is hope! Joy is possible.
Listen in as Gina L. Smith shares how she learned to find joy when life took an unexpected turn, and how she continues to seek God’s joy in her everyday life.
In this episode learn how to:
Resources
Connect with Gina L. Smith:
Gina is an author, podcaster, and mentor mom for Million Praying Moms. Gina and her husband Brian have been married for more than three decades. They served as the on-campus parents at a Christian college for more than twenty years while Brian was a professor and dean of students. They mentored hundreds of college and seminary students as well as young couples over the years. Gina has a degree in Bible studies from Washington Bible College/Capital Bible
Seminary. She has written for several organizations, including Million Praying Moms. She is also
the author of Grace Gifts: Practical Ways to Help Your Children Understand God’s Grace. Gina and Brian have two grown children and reside in the metro area of Washington, D. C.