Hey friends!  In my last episode, I promised an exciting announcement:  The Family Bible Connection is getting a new name!  Stay tuned!  

Welcome to episode #17 of The Family Bible Connection Podcast with Laurie Christine! 

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NEW DIRECTION

Well, I am going to just jump right in and tell you all about the new direction that my podcast is heading.  

As many of you know, I am a mom of 4 boys, ages 4, 6, 8 and 10. I feel a heavy burden and desire to raise my boys to obey God’s Word and to fall in love with Jesus.  

Many of my episodes so far have dealt with the topic of creating a Christ-centered culture in your homes.  Don’t worry – we will continue to talk about this!  But perhaps with a slightly different focus.  

As I’ve evaluated my own family, I’ve come to realize that the Bible cannot be taught in a vacuum.  I can’t just have a designated time for “family devotions” and hope for heart change, if I’m not also paying attention to the full scope of needs of my children.  

(Not that I’ve been ignoring their needs… we just haven’t been talking about it on this podcast).  

So, in order to better serve you all, I’ve decided to both narrow down AND expand the focus of this podcast.  Let me explain:  

The narrowing down part:  I am going to be focusing the content of my podcast episodes to be more specifically relevant for moms of boys.  This doesn’t mean that if you have girls, you won’t be able to benefit.  You certainly will and you’re more than welcome to stick around! (I hope that you do!)  But going forward, I’m going to choose topics that are more specifically relevant to raising boys.  

The expanding part: I will not only be talking about how to teach the Bible to our boys, but also talking about other areas of parenting such as family routines, character building, and culture… all as it relates to raising godly young men.  

 

NEW NAME

And now for the big announcement… 

The new name for my podcast is:  “Redeeming the Chaos.”  

As I’ve talked with so many other boy moms, one of the underlying themes that seems to be universal in raising a household of boys is:  “chaos.”  And as you add more boys to your family, the chaos seems to grow exponentially.  Especially in the little years.

The general feeling that seems to be common to so many moms of boys is a feeling of overwhelm and inadequacy.  “How am I going to teach them anything about God when they won’t sit still for one second?”  “God, are you sure you want ME to do this job?”  “How can I raise strong, courageous young men in our society when the world seems to be pushing so hard against me?”  

Now, I don’t want to deceive you into thinking that I have all the answers to these questions.  I am on this journey with you.  My boys are 4,6,8 and 10.  I am right in the thick of trying to raise godly sons and most days I am terrified by the weight of the responsibility.  Can you relate?  

 

Do you feel unworthy,  ill-equipped, or inadequate to raise godly men in our world today?  

Are you overwhelmed by the chaos of the every-day life of raising boys? 

Do you want to raise strong, courageous young men who are fully committed to following Jesus? 

I invite you to join me in the wild, wonderful, chaotic journey of discipling our boys and connecting them to Christ.

 

NEW MEANING

I have chosen the new name “Redeeming the Chaos” for several reasons: 

• Much of life as a boy mom seems like chaos. Our boys are so full of energy and noise and adventure, and action that our momma’s hearts often just want to escape.  

 

• I chose the word “redeeming” the chaos, because I don’t know that our goal is necessarily to eliminate the chaos.  God created our boys in His image to be wild and dangerous.  He created them with an instinct to fight and protect whatever is good in the world.  And so, what we moms may often perceive as chaos, may be the very qualities in our sons that God wants to use for his glory in their lives.  

 

• Not only do we desire to redeem the chaos in our homes so that God would be glorified, we also recognize the fact that “redeeming the chaos” is exactly the reason that God sent Jesus into the world.  Without Christ, our lives are a disaster – no peace, no joy, and no hope for the future.  But God sent Jesus into the chaos of our world, in order to redeem his creation.  

 

• The definition of redeem is to “buy back” or “reclaim” or “set free from evil.”  This is what God does for us.  He sets us free from the sin that entangles our hearts and he reclaims our lives for himself.  

 

• Ultimately, there is no redemption outside of Christ, so as we boy moms seek to redeem the chaos in our homes and connect our boys to Christ, we are dependent on the grace of God to work in the hearts of our boys and draw them to himself. 

 

 NEW TOPICS

As we go forward, I will be discussing a variety of topics that will help us boy moms navigate through the chaos of raising strong courageous boys. There will be four main themes we will cover, and under each of these main themes will be several subtopics: 

1. Christ can redeem the chaos in our homes.   

• • Family routines
  • Organization
  • Consequences and rewards
  • Family life

       2. Christ can redeem the chaos in our world.

• • Culture
  • Media & technology
  • Relational issues
  • Service / missions / outreach

       3. Christ can redeem the chaos in our sons’ hearts.

• • Need for Jesus
  • Bible Study
  • Discipleship
  • Devotional resources
  • Emotional & developmental challenges

4. Christ can redeem the chaos in our own hearts.

• • Encouragement for moms of boys
  • Ministering out of the overflow of a full heart

 

The format of each of these episodes may look different:  I will sometimes invite a guest expert to share with us, or I may review a book that’s relevant to a certain topic on raising boys, or we may dive into a Bible study to see what we can learn from mothers and sons in the Bible.  As always, I will try to keep the episodes to around 15 minutes, so you can listen while you’re waiting in the pickup line! 

If you know of any boy moms that you think would benefit from this podcast, would you please help me spread the word?  Just share a link to this episode with a friend!  God knows we can use as much encouragement as we can get.  

NEW GROUP

In addition to our new name, I also wanted to tell you about an exciting new resource for all of you… I am going to be creating a Facebook group for this podcast, also called “Redeeming the Chaos.”  This will be a safe place for boy moms to connect and share stories and ask questions and receive encouragement from other moms who are also on the wild, wonderful journey of raising godly young men. Let’s do this together!  Keep listening to future episodes for more information on how to join the group!  

I am actually going to be taking a break from posting episodes for a few weeks so that I can prepare some new content for the podcast.  But keep an eye out for new episodes beginning in February!  You don’t have to do anything differently to continue receiving the podcast episodes… if you had subscribed to the Family Bible Connection, then you are automatically subscribed to Redeeming the Chaos!  If you haven’t yet subscribed, please just hit the subscribe button in your podcast app and the episodes will be delivered to your phone automatically.  

 

 CLOSING PRAYER

 Heavenly father, I know that you it was not a mistake that you have made me the mom of my four precious, wild, crazy boys.  Please give me the strength and grace to navigate what feels many days like chaos.  Help me to trust that you are working every day to redeem the chaos in their hearts.  You alone can make beauty out of ugliness.  You alone can bring order out of disaster.  Please give me wisdom in knowing how to raise these boys. When I feel overwhelmed or inadequate, remind me that you are my refuge and strength and you promise to help me. Thank you that I can be strong and courageous because you are with me.  

 

RESOURCES

As always you can find me here at LaurieChristine.com and you’ll also be able to find me at RedeemingTheChaos.com as well.  I have lots of free resources for you that will help you create a Christ-centered culture in your home.  

If you’re looking for a resource to help you engage your kids in family devotions, download my free ebook HERE.

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