We see each other every week at church, but our relationships can grow into more than just a quick wave in the lobby while a toddler hangs from our knee. We’re supposed to the church body, supporting and caring for one another by God’s grace as we grow together in Christ. In this episode, the Risen Motherhood team shares how their local church communities have helped them in various seasons. The church plays a vital role in the Christian’s life, and while it’s not perfect, God uses the church to help us grow in wisdom and maturity.

Sometimes it feels like “mom world” is another planet. A nursing shield? An all-terrain stroller? Funny-shaped food? It seems easier to build friendships with women in our season of life, but the gospel gives us a bigger picture of community. In this episode, Emily and Laura interview Elizabeth Woodson about building flourishing friendships with women in other seasons of life—particularly singles. Elizabeth is a Bible teacher who writes, teaches, and helps to develop leaders at The Village Church and serves as the Director of Resources for the Sparrow Conference. Christian moms and singles can have the most important thing in common: our faith in Christ. So press in a little deeper with a woman in a different season and enjoy God’s gift of community.

Summer break is over, and the weekly show is back! In this episode, Emily and Laura discuss how the gospel applies to snack time. It may seem like a “lighter” topic, but our opinions, preferences, and rules about snack time reveal a lot about our hearts. Whether you’re guilt-ridden about “giving in” or glued to your snack standards, the gospel reminds us to identify with Christ as we love our littlest neighbors.

You’re not the first mom to wonder, “How often should I bathe my kid?” or “How do you teach a stubborn child to obey?” Since other moms have asked these same questions, there may be someone with the biblical insight you need in your season of motherhood. In this episode, Laura and Emily remind us that looking to and learning from a mom who is in a season ahead of us can be a helpful way to apply biblical truth to the difficult situations in our lives! Despite our different life circumstances, we can learn from and teach one another because of our common status as believers in Christ. From one momma to another, let’s pass on God’s wisdom.

We’re excited to be back and set the course for our 2018 theme: unity in the gospel! While moms may look and act differently than one another, we find common ground in being followers of Christ. In this episode, Laura and Emily share the heartbeat behind this year’s theme by looking at the letter to the Ephesians. Much like Paul’s audience of Jews and Gentiles, we’re moms of different races, backgrounds, giftings, and more. But being heirs of Christ gives us all the same foundation. So let’s spend the year learning what it means to be united as the body of Christ as we seek to glorify God in our lives. We’re grateful to journey together with you!

From the rude friend in the neighborhood to the scary show at Grandma’s house, our children will face negative influences. Even more so, their own hearts will lead them to worship the wrong things. So what do we do as moms to train our children in godliness? In this episode, Laura and Emily talk about building a gospel culture within our homes by offering grace, not guilt, to our children. By creating an environment of conversation, repentance, and joy, we can extend the welcoming attitude of Christ towards our children as they learn to live like Jesus. Our children are not the things they see or do, and we have the privilege of teaching them to look towards Jesus, again and again.  

Interactions with the grandparents in your life may leave you feeling thankful and energized, but they may also leave you feeling frustrated or misunderstood. One thing that all moms need in both easy and hard relationships is grace. In the second episode of our “Grandparents & The Gospel” series, Laura and Emily focus on how we can be the instruments of the gospel in our interactions with our children’s grandparents. When we understand how Jesus extends the most grace to us, we are free to offer unconditional love to some of our very closest neighbors, Grandpa and Grandma.

Grandparents can be some of the most loving and helpful relationships in the lives of our children, but they can also be some of the most complicated. Navigating different expectations, values, and family cultures can cause miscommunication and even estrangement. In this episode, Emily and Laura ask the question, “Why do Grandma and Grandpa get under our skin sometimes?” which is really a way of examining our own hearts in light of the gospel. What we worship determines how we respond to happy and hard relationships, and only when we reorient our eyes to Christ’s sacrifice can we approach these issues with grace.

It’s natural to prefer spending time with moms who share similar parenting values, lifestyle choices, and special interests with us. Conversely, most of us can instantly think of a mom we avoid, because she makes us uncomfortable with her more-extreme views in a gray-area of motherhood. These feelings beg the question, “How should we love and interact with those who do motherhood differently than us, especially when those differences breed difficulties?” In this episode, Emily and Laura bring the gospel to bear on these challenging relationships, remembering that the cross levels all of us. Because of the extravagant grace shown to us, we can now love others who are different, even when it’s hard.

These days, it's common to hear the call for moms to find a "tribe" where they belong. While there is great benefit in connecting with women who share similar circumstances, challenges, or life passions, is this where we're supposed to find our primary source of community? In this episode, Emily and Laura address the online "tribe" trend, and challenge moms to examine God's plan for community, which is rooted in the local church. There is no online ministry or common interest group that can replace the need for deep relationships among flesh-and-blood believers. 

With nearly-unlimited resources for motherhood, it can be difficult to figure out what's helpful and what subtly distracts from our primary mission as moms. Even in the Christian resources, there are great nuggets of truth, stirred together with potentially dangerous theology. How can we safely get the help we need for motherhood without deviating from the path of truth? In this episode, Emily and Laura discuss the common fears and missteps moms face as they navigate resources, and offer gospel-principles for "finding the meat and spitting out the bones". Because ultimately, when we are familiar with biblical truth we can be wise and discerning instead of scared and gullible.

Most of us are guilty of being so caught up in our own lives, that we forget to care for the needs of others. We avoid big things like "evangelism" and "ministry" because those are for women with more time and lofty giftings. We think that serving others is going to be too burdensome or too inconvenient. But have we forgotten to just be faithful in the small opportunities God has placed right in front of us? In this episode, Emily and Laura break down the concept of ministry, making it accessible for moms. They discuss how important it is to model a life of serving for our children, and how that doesn't have to mean being a women's ministry director or a street evangelist. Momma, have you looked outside yourself lately and considered that Jesus wants your full participation in the great commission?