Jillana Goble has become a mother in every way possible. From having her own biological children, to foster, and adopting, she has graphed children into her family. Some have stayed for a season and others for a lifetime. She is now sharing her encouragement and lessons learned in her new book calle

Almost 2 years old, how had this already happened? As I scrolled through my phone studying each precious photo of my baby boy from the last year, I noticed one thing was missing...ME! In order to not miss a moment of my precious baby's development,  I am constantly pulling out my camera to snap phot

You learn SO MUCH as a new mom. Joy answers your questions all about her first year of motherhood. The questions range from coffee temperature to adoption and Joy shares some things that she has never said anywhere else! Listen to this as a podcast instead: Afternoons with Joy Podcast · SPECIAL EDIT

"When life gets shaky, we don't have to be shaken." Laura Story (who you may know from her song "Blessings") shares how to rest in God's plan when we struggle with uncertainty. Saying goodbye to normal is the beginning of taking on your future with unwavering strength. Her strength is so clearly fro

I know, I know. I can hear your eyes rolling at the title. Having a dog is NOT the same thing as having a baby. But hang in there with me for a second.... While I don't have human children, I've had a TINY taste of the difficulties of parenting as my husband and I are currently fostering two 6-week-

If you or someone you love has ever dealt with Postpartum Depression there are so many unknowns. After sharing my own struggles after the birth of my son, I wanted to talk to a professional and get some questions answered. Counselor Kristin Mize, LCSW shares helpful advice on how to recognize Postpa

Parenting is hard and there is so much advice out there. Most of it comes across the same. Do more. Do less. Get it right. Most parenting advice leaves you feeling like a failure. This is why I as SO drawn to the advice from author Scarlet Hiltibidal that says failure is actually good when you use i

Colton Dixon shares why becoming a dad in the pandemic was truly sweet time for him and his wife. He talks about new music and how God made him live his last single "Miracles" after the birth of his daughters.    

“ "Few mothers do it willingly; very few do it well. But the boy has a question that needs an answer, and he cannot get the answer from his mother. Femininity can never bestow masculinity.” – John Eldredge Ouch. That hurts. But it’s true. For most boys it happens in their teenage years, Eldredge exp

No one prepared you for parenting in a global pandemic! Your kids are out of school and probably asking questions like, "Why am I not allowed to go play with my friends?" and "Why can I not go to school and see my teachers?" Your first instinct may be to simply tell your kids that everything is goin

Click the story below: Enticed by the word "VACATION" on a Vacation Bible School sign, I  wandered in...and tucked away some Scripture that would help rescue me some twenty years later. God loves our kids even more than we do, as difficult as that is to wrap our minds around!    

“ "Hey babe. How about a date night? We can make a nice meal. Light some candles. A minor lung procedure?" What? Who SAYS that? Who says that? My husband, Dan, said that. He had a "PleurX Drain," placed in his lungs to help alleviate the fluid caused  by cancer as he lived out his final months at

I have found one of the greatest lessons, and most difficult things required as a parent, is this: LETTING GO. If you think about it, the process of letting go begins at birth. The baby is born. She's been really close to you for nine months. Really close. And what is the first thing that happens? T

I used to think I couldn't let my kids know just how imperfect I am. A parenting mistake would lead me to ponder my value as a mom. They know we aren't perfect. In fact, I'm thankful my kids have learned from some of my mistakes, so they hopefully don't have to make them too.  I sat down with my dau

“Wherever you go, there you are.”   That’s a funny thing my mom used to say.   Only funny because she had no idea that the intended meaning of the phrase she used to encourage me actually meant something entirely different.   She said this to me when I was leaving grade school for middle school. Or,

  THANK YOU for sharing some life with me on the air last week by telling me, if we were writing a book together, what your chapter would be titled in a book on parenting…marriage…a book on being single…even on how to be a better puppy owner! When my friend who's currently writing her novel for NaNo

It can be scary to raise children in a world of Harvey Weinsteins. But the good new is, all is not hopeless. We have the ability to change the world by raising our boys to be men of integrity. A friend of mine put a list together of "rules" for her son as he grows up, and we added a few to the list:

I remember walking into church, and an older woman caught up to me. I could tell she was upset. She told me that she and her husband had their oldest daughter over to the house, and the visit didn’t go so well. They tried to talk to her about family, her career, the grandkids—anything to get her to

This month, my life is perfectly split in two. Exactly 24 years ago this month, I turned 24. What I remember most from that month wasn't my birthday: It was this guy I met. He was very, VERY short. I remember that. So short, in fact, that the first time I met him, someone just... handed him to me. S

Dear Pregnant Woman, I see you next to me at the store, at the office, and walking down the street. I can see the stress across your face and in your hunched shoulders. I can see the exhaustion hiding in the circles under your eyes. How I wish I could hug you and tell you to relax and just enjoy thi

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity

“Miscarriage is so common, it happens all the time.” I have heard this many times in the years since my first miscarriage, and again in the weeks since my second. Yeah, I get it, this happens a lot. Does knowing this fact make it any easier? No. Does knowing this negate the horrible way I feel about

It’s Father’s Day week! Hurray for this video showing a positive portrayal of dads! As a dad, I love what TDAmeritrade did with this commercial. I am often frustrated by the way our media represents fathers. There is Homer Simpson from The Simpsons TV Show, Daddy Pig from Peppa Pig, and who could fo

> Pressure \ pres sure \ noun: A series of urgent claims or demands exerting a strong force on someone, causing a burdensome condition under which it is hard to hold up. Feeling some pressure as a parent? Do I even need to ask? I recently did a Google search on the phrase “how to parent,” and about