Episode 72

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Published on:

20th Feb 2025

#72. I Get So Emotional... And So Do My Kids! : Growing in Faith... And in Feelings | Part 3

Listen in as Stephanie is joined by Jen Freckman and Emily Deyo as they unwrap what it means to be sanctified in our emotions as we mature in our faith, how we battle through our emotions, and how we guide our children to develop faith that brings peace. This conversation is the fruit of many years of Christian moms pursuing Christ, and we hope it blesses you practically and spiritually!

Books Referenced:

Entrusted with a Child's Heart

Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids

Transcript
Steph:

They're the joyful agains our children shout on the swings, the

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exhausting agains of cooking and laundry,

and the difficult agains of discipline.

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So much of what we do

as mothers is on repeat.

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So what if we woke up with clarity,

knowing which agains we were called

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to, and went to bed believing we

are faithful in what matters most?

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We believe God's Word is

the key to untangle from the

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confusion and overwhelm we feel.

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Let's look up together to embrace a

motherhood full of freedom and joy.

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Welcome back to the, Again, podcast

brought to you by Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox,

and today you'll be hearing part

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three of a series on emotions.

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I had the tremendous blessing of sitting

down with Emily Dio and Jen Freckman.

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These ladies have an incredible amount

of wisdom and in our preparation for this

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episode, we were able to bring clarity to

things we've wrestled with for quite some

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time and even bring clarity to each other.

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We pray it'll be as fruitful

for you as it was for us.

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You'll find rich truths that will help

you relate to the Lord as you work

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out your own emotions in a godly way.

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And also, as your children are growing

and sanctifying their own emotional

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process, it will help you guide them.

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If you haven't had a chance to

listen to Episodes 1 or 2, I highly

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recommend you go back and do that.

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Because we set a strong foundation

for the scriptures we've meditated

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upon in our process and pursuit of

holiness in our own emotional journeys.

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Today you'll hear how

do we resist the enemy?

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Do we even address him at all?

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You'll hear about God's feelings

and how he handles his own emotions.

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And how can you understand the

scriptures that talk about the Lord

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being grieved or having regret?

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You'll also hear about your own

emotions as you press into the Lord.

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Do they disappear entirely?

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Do they change?

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Or can they even increase?

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We hope you feel ministered to

and guided practically in your

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daily lives with your children.

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If you're interested in learning more

about how to parent biblically, we highly

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recommend Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

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It is a nine month parenting

study, ideally done by moms in a

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church setting with small groups.

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But we've put it at a price point

where it can certainly be done in

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your home with just a few friends.

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I'll link to that life changing, scripture

saturated study in the show notes.

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And now, here's part three

of that series on emotions.

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Steph: I started reading back

through scripture, just looking

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for the Lord and how he handles

emotions and how emotions come up.

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Because we know that God grieved,

he says he was grieved that

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he made the children of man.

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And that.

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Every intention of their

heart was evil all the time.

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And your heart just breaks

for the Lord, right?

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And that we know that Jesus wept

and God felt emotions, but there

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is something about the Lord that

is very unique and unlike us, it's

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called the impassibility of God.

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And it means he can feel deeply,

but his emotions are completely held

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in check by his other attributes.

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Emily: Wow.

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Steph: such reassurance in that because

he can feel we're made in his image.

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He can feel, but he would never

act according to the emotions

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he only feels them rightly.

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So

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Emily: you say the definition again?

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Steph: sure it's called

the impassibility of God.

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He can feel deeply, but his

emotions are completely held in

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check by his other attributes.

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I checked this with several legit

scholars, and I'm like, I want

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to make sure I have this down.

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It was really neat, actually, because

it was months ago that we intended

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to record this episode, and so I was

researching for that, and I randomly

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started listening to a podcast, and

I didn't think it would have anything

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to do with emotions, and that came up,

and I thought, Lord, that is so cool.

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And that really should be our goal,

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that we can still feel deeply, but that

we are always that, that fruit of the

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spirit and that connection with the

Lord, that's always holding us in check.

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So we're not acting on the emotions,

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I might be unique in this, but

sometimes I actually get more emotional

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when I'm connecting with the Lord.

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If I don't.

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tear up in worship, then I actually,

usually it's an indicator for me that my

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heart is off, that I'm distracted, that

I'm too angry or bitter about something.

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So for me, that's a very regular

thing that when I worship, especially

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on Sunday morning, like I am saying

like, Lord, all I am is yours.

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And I'm not spilling over with tears, but

I often feel it welling up inside of me.

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I've found that the deeper I dive

into prayer, the more emotional I get.

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Just dear friends, one just lost a son.

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And another is battling cancer.

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And then we got a text right before

I came into this recording session of

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another whose son is in the hospital.

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And I find that as Romans eight talks

about those groaning prayers almost that

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I, it's my compassion moving inside of me.

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It helps me to pray more deeply.

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It's a different kind of emotion

than like a self pity emotion or so

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sometimes I do feel the Holy Spirit

moving inside of me, or often if the

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Lord lays something on my heart to

do something thoughtful for someone,

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Emily: Mm

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Steph: if.

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Sometimes I can just really

tell like that person needs to

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hear that word of encouragement.

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I will feel emotion as God lays it on my

heart or if there's an act of kindness

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that he's putting on my heart I will

start to feel emotional and then I

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know it's the Lord calling me to do it

because It just feels like the spirit

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working like he's moving me to do it.

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I don't think I would have even

understood Did some of those things

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about myself five years ago, or even

this week, I, God was showing me

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something in his word and I actually

started crying, like just studying

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the Bible Jesus, I love you so much.

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Those are some like sanctifying

things for me personally.

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God has made me maybe more emotional,

but he's refining the expression of

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it, and I'm understanding clearly

when it's of him, or when it's

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of my flesh, if that makes sense,

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Emily: That makes beautiful

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Jen: It does make beautiful sense.

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I've never ever put that into thought,

but as you're saying it, I'm like, I have

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felt that too, and I love how you just

put those into words and explained it.

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Yes I

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Steph: thank you.

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I was like, this is just going to be

me, I'm the crier at the table, okay.

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Jen: I, it, Stephen, it's really

beautiful because if you think about it.

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And it's like an epiphany happening right

now, but like the closer you are to the

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Lord when you're in his spirit and in his

presence, you have all of those things.

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All those emotions are at perfect level.

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You know, If we were to enter into heaven

right now, we'd feel all those wonderful

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things at the most perfect level.

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And so it makes sense that when

we have those moments that are

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super close with the Lord, which

I can say in my experience.

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Daily devotions, not every single one

of them are like that, but I definitely

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have had many times where you're right.

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I read something and I literally

can get goosebumps and a joy in

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my heart that is like so real.

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And you're right.

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It is because of it.

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It's being so it's filled with

the Holy Spirit, his joy, his

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love, his peace, his goodness.

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I love how you said that it

was like light bulbs went

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Steph: Okay.

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Thank you.

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Emily: That was absolutely beautiful.

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I, yes, I feel, I, when.

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Some Sundays I stand in church during

worship, and I look around to this room

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full of Believers who have hands raised

and hearts open and are just singing to

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the Lord And I feel like that is when

heaven touches earth in those moments and

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off and I do I'm with you stuff I do often

cry and sometimes I can't stop crying

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Jen: Mm hmm.

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Emily: Because Those, those moments are

God filled and And, and just so beautiful.

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thank you for bringing that up.

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I feel like now you have given me

something to study and think on.

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I love that thought of the

impassibility of, what was it?

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Impassibility of,

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Steph: Yeah.

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The impassability of God.

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Emily: God.

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Love

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Jen: very cool.

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Very

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Steph: It goes along with his

immutability, like he's not changing

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but he still feels deeply and it's.

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it's.

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very fascinating.

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Emily: are holding it in perfect harmony.

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Hmm.

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Hmm.

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Hmm.

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Steph: The reason I processed

that recently was because someone

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asked, how do you know when

God's calling you to something?

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Or when it's just your

flesh how do you know?

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And I said for me, I always try

to acknowledge what does my will,

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what does my flesh want right now?

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Then I know what I have to surrender.

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Then once I surrender that I can

say, okay, God, now what do you want?

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And then as I was processing

it, he brought me to that

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pattern of how I see him.

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Move in my heart.

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To bless others or to surrender to him

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Jen: that's cool.

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Can we also talk about how we have,

we can hear the Lord's voice, right?

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But also, I think that, I don't like

to talk about the devil But I think

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that it might be helpful for us to

understand that the devil definitely is

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trying to speak to our heart as well.

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And so if you can imagine like how we

feel with God in his presence, right?

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Like he stills us, he, he

leads us and reassures us.

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He enlightens us and encourages and

comforts and calms us and convicts us.

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On the flip side, if we are feeling

rushed and pushed and frightened and

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confused and discouraged and worried

and obsessing on things and condemning,

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feeling a condemning heart in our hearts,

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That very well could be

the devil just trying.

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To thwart whatever it is that the

Lord is doing in our heart and in

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our life and just trying to recognize

like the in interested, it talks

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about the verse that says God is not

a God of confusion, but of peace.

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And so recognizing the voice of the

Lord and these emotions, peace and

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feeling frightened and confused,

those are emotions that we're feeling.

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And so recognizing those and

being like, wait, hold on.

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Is this from the Lord?

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Or is this the devil

trying to trip me up here?

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Because this is not of God.

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God is a God of peace and not confusion.

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So why am I feeling so confused in

this and praying against that and

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asking the Lord for clarity, I think

is so helpful, especially as we have

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our teenagers who are being bombarded

with all the emotions on all the things

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and just saying, honey, hold on, whose

voice are you listening to whose voice?

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I think it's important to give that.

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Pause as well, and just

to think about that.

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Emily: Mm hmm.

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We actually just had a conversation with

one of ours a few nights ago, who was

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feeling a lot of, a lot of everything and

I had said, remember when you were small

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and you were afraid to go somewhere, Jake

would write out the little verse what

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time I am afraid I will trust in you.

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And he would put it in her pocket and

so she would have it wherever she was.

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And for Eva at that time, honestly,

it was when she went to any kind of

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childcare, she did not like childcare.

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So when I was doing my entrusted and I

had to put her in, in the childcare it

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was her greatest anxiety at that time.

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And so Jake would write out the little

verse and she'd have it in her pocket.

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And so I said, remember that verse?

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And she said, yes, I remember what

time I am afraid I will trust in you.

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And so we talked about that and

how, and how the Lord is not.

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He's not a Lord of fear or, or

trepidation or worry or anxiety.

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But he is a God of peace and love.

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And so we actually just had

this talk two nights ago.

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Our, our kids are carrying a lot with

them and sometimes they come to us at

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bedtime and lay right by, like right

beside us and tell us these things.

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And sometimes they, it's like a flashing

thought throughout the day of fear

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to go in class or to pass that friend

who they know has said something.

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And so it's building into them.

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That truth, Jen, that you were

talking about that it's not, that

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spirit of fear is not of the Lord

and how you can counter that.

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And it's just by resting in

him and giving it back to him.

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Steph: Yes, we know he

is prowling like a lion,

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Jen: Yeah.

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Steph: And we are called to

put on the whole armor of God.

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And much of that is putting on the helmet

of salvation, and the breastplate of

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righteousness, and we are supposed to be

arming ourselves with truth of the word.

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And

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Jen: Yeah.

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Steph: Betsy just wrote about how

so often we think things are the

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enemy, but really it's like the

discipline of God and how believers

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have too much focus on the enemy.

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Jen: Yeah.

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Steph: I do think that there's

Too much of an emphasis.

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I do feel like there are certain

camps that it's okay, you need to

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acknowledge your own sin here and, or

you do need to just understand that

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the Christian life brings suffering.

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And

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Jen: Michael Van Landingham taught

a class at Harvest on Saturday

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mornings and he spoke on you.

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We never should address or speak to

or about like the devil, but that we

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Resist the devil and he will flee.

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And so Michael Vandenlandingham

said, you only resist the devil

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and he will flee, that's how we

fight him as by resisting him.

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Steph: How does he define resist?

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What does that look like?

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Jen: That whatever it is, the

temptation that he is bringing

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on, you don't allow that.

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You don't give into any of that.

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So whether it's, a discouraged voice, you

wouldn't say to him, stop discouraging me.

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You would say, Lord, encourage my heart.

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Emily: Oh, you would counter it.

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You counter it

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Steph: Sure.

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And you, yeah, so you're aware

of where the temptation is and

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then you just flee from it.

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Okay, that's interesting, because

sometimes resist I feel like is a,

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Emily: A fight?

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Steph: yeah but that,

okay, that's interesting.

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That's what Betsy was coming

to but she said so often we're

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trying to pray away the will of

God And which you had said earlier

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This is what the lord

wants us to be enduring

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Jen: for sure.

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Steph: But I do think that it's

completely valid to say we are fighting

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an enemy and what are his tools?

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What are his weapons?

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They're the fiery darts and when you

feel them coming don't be surprised.

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We're told that too

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Emily: Yeah, well, I can't, I

don't think you can look at today's

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society and not, and say there's

not an enemy who's actively working.

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Mm hmm.

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Jen: Who's actively working?

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It's so true.

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Emily: hmm.

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Jen: roaring like a lion.

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Oh, that's funny.

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There are things that there's

times where I will say to the Lord,

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please would your whispers drown

out the shouts from the devil?

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Because I just feel like there's so

many things that culture, you can say

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culture if you want or you can say

anything that is used to trip us up.

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Just take those Lord and your

whispers be so much louder than

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the shouts that are coming at me.

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I just, oftentimes we'll pray that.

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Steph: You always have such

great things that you pray.

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Emily: you do

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Jen: Oh,

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Steph: Gonna have to

make another printable.

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Let's go into what it looks like at

different stages for our children as

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we It's just try to help them develop

healthy emotional intelligence, healthy

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awareness of how they're feeling.

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It is great to give them a

vocabulary, an emotional vocabulary.

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And we already talked about them

having a safe space that they know

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they can come to us, that we're

teaching them to fight the battle.

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But we also are there

guiding them through it.

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Emily: Hmm mm-hmm

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Steph: I purchased a book called

Raising Emotionally Healthy

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Kids by Eliza Huey, this is a

Christian book and it's very short.

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This is someone, my biblical counselor

had recommended that she likes,

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but it was really humbly written.

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And it does go through the stages of what

emotional development should look like.

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And it's an area that can almost be

fuzzy because everybody's personality is

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different and circumstances are different.

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That emotional development, it's nice

when someone can name what exactly does.

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A healthy emotional environment look like,

and how do we train our kids to do this?

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She Even begins with a prayer about

just understanding how heavy this

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topic is and wanting to guide parents.

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But she talks about how,

there's a 59 percent increase in

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depression in the last 10 years.

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Jen: Wow.

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Steph: One in three adolescents

will meet the criteria for an

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anxiety disorder by the age of 18.

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Emily: Hmm.

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Steph: She said, but we haven't even had

the studies that are going to say the

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effects of the pandemic, and we know that

there's an alarming increase in suicide.

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The, just the statistics alone

are staggering, but we see

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it we're seeing it so much.

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She said, this book is not a formula.

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We have to love them as people,

not solve them as problems.

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What I will offer is counsel

to foster emotional health in

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your child and also in you.

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Emily: Hmm.

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Steph: I do feel it's really

helpful, but Emily, you had.

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The Lord kind of directed you

in this way as well, what it

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looked like at different stages.

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So if you could go back to when

your children were really young,

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how do you think we can best

steward their emotional development?

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Emily: Yeah, as I was wrapping my

head around this huge subject of of

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emotions I, I couldn't help but kind

of dissect it into different categories

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and, and what that looked like.

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Before I came into recording my husband

said, remember that we model it for them.

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So I thought that was such a good little

nugget to remember as we're dissecting

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these different, like, age groups that

we're modeling this for them and they

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are watching, but I, I feel, you know,

it seemed that in the younger years, like

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in the elementary and in the elementary

years, you're doing a lot of molding.

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You're, you're working through anger,

disappointment and sharing and trying

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out for teams and not making it.

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And you're just.

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You're working through all of that.

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Jen: and speaking to them

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Emily: then in the middle school, I feel

like you're working a lot through through,

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Jen: focus my

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Emily: Their little embarrassments

forgetting things, being careless, make,

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making friends and keeping them and

and working through the emotions of no

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one likes me or what's wrong with me.

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And then interestingly enough,

I asked both of my kids who.

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Are both in one's getting ready

to finish high school and one

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is just entered high school.

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And so I asked them, I said, what,

what are some of your like when you

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think of emotions in high school, what

comes to mind, what are you thinking?

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And, and without, without even flinching

my one who was going into high school

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said, Oh mom, for sure, like anxiety.

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And they said, well, what kind?

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Like, give it, give it,

give the anxiety a name.

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What are you thinking?

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And she said, definitely

social and academic.

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She said, I feel like there's a

lot of like talk of, you know,

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what are you going to do now?

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You're in high school.

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What are you going to do

with the rest of your life?

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Give me all the answers right

now And so she said just making

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the right, choices for classes.

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So i'm on the right Track for college

and she said I you know, and so we

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talked through that and so I felt

like that was really interesting

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the social the social side of it.

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Um and just knowing where all the friends

are at and keeping up and, and fitting in.

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And so our kids are just running the

whole gamut and in the, in the early

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years, you know, back to the molding in

the elementary years we think like, Oh

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that little anger fit isn't a big deal

or They're just pouting because they

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didn't get their way, but what you have

to remember is you're really laying this

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super strong foundation that as they get

into the high school years that they'll

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be able to point back and say, Oh, I'm

feeling this way and this is, and this

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is the truth that I counter it with.

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So you're really laying that foundation.

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Of how you're modeling and, and

what you've built into them as

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far as biblical truth goes, so

they can refer back to that.

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So I would just say to keep

encouraged in that molding area in

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the elementary years and not to.

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Become lax or just think,

Oh, this is no big deal.

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It's just a phase they're going through.

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Work through it.

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Give it words.

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Pray.

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Give it to the Lord.

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Pray with them at night if they're

struggling through something.

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Jen: At night.

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Steph: And don't Assume that the sin

issue is taken care of just because they

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get better at controlling the external

symptoms or indicators of it, because I

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think they do get better at the explosive

nature of it or how they express it.

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But sometimes you still see that route

Oh, that child still wrestles with

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contentment and the Lord will just

put it on your heart to keep praying.

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For them in that.

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Emily: Yeah.

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And it looked very different with

my, with both of my children.

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I had one who was really

driven by impulsivity.

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And so we had to teach that big

emotion, big emotions didn't

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equal big act out in feelings.

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And so we had to do a lot

of working through that.

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And Then I had another who could,

who was quick and could cut right

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through you with, with quick words.

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And so we had to teach That

controlling those emotions.

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So it's just such a nuanced topic

because our kids are going to walk

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through these different things and

it's going to look so different with

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my kids as opposed to your kids or

any, you know, anybody else's kids.

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And there's no formula.

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We're just giving it to the Lord and we're

asking his guidance every step of the way.

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Steph: And not responding, not

returning evil for evil when they

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sometimes lash out or are learning

to be sanctified in their responses.

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Emily: Yes.

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Jen: Yeah.

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Steph: I heard someone say, I

think that this is such a fantastic

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example that really stuck with me.

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She said, think of a pink tiger.

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Now stop.

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Stop it.

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Stop thinking about the pink tiger.

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And you're like, I

can't, it's right there.

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But if we say, okay, think

about a blue elephant.

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It's easier, you can focus

on the blue elephant.

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It was at a workshop, and someone

was like, I see them together!

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But we're like, okay, we'll

focus on the blue elephant.

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But it is just an illustration of how if

we tell our children stop thinking about

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that thing that's making you anxious.

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Just stop it.

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No, just as You said Jen like we're taking

the thought captive, but we're making

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it obedient to Christ So if we're not

teaching our kids how to put off and put

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on Then it becomes very difficult to not

meditate on the hard thing on the thing

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that's making us anxious there are some

steps in there and we can't just ask them.

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All right move on now

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Jen: Totally.

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Emily: That's really good.

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Jen: I think it's important as

well as your kids get older to be

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talking to them about, okay, what

emotions are you feeling right now

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as they've learned to understand?

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But then also don't end there and

just say but what is the root of that?

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Like you're right now feeling.

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Super let's think of an example.

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You're feeling super.

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enraged and furious right now.

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Like I am really upset.

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You're really upset.

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And what made you mad and

okay, that made you mad.

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And so obviously the root of that is.

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So why would you feel such

anger in this situation?

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Where did the root of that start?

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What are you believing

when you are feeling that?

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And I think sometimes we can put.

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The quick Band Aid of okay, don't feel

anger, feel joy, like here, put this,

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take this off, put this on and, but

understanding like, okay, you're feeling

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anger, but you're feeling anger because

maybe you're dealing with some selfishness

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right now as you didn't want to share

your toy and you're right, it is your toy.

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Your sibling came up and kindly

asked it for the toy, or maybe

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didn't even kindly ask for the toy.

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But you're feeling anger because

you want to keep it right now

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and you don't want to share.

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And so let's pray about that.

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Let's talk about that and helping

them to understand the root of it.

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I think that's something that

as Our kids have gotten older.

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I've been working with them on it and it's

hard for me to stop and see the root of

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it and trying to say, okay, wait, hold on.

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Let's take 20 seconds longer to think

about this and not just put the bandaid

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:

on and be like, stop fighting or stop,

being so angry or don't get so upset about

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:

that or whatever, but to really get to

the root issue and the root cause and sin,

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Steph: sometimes I'm realizing, I

now have testimonies of, I was a very

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anxious child and I've seen, I think

what the Lord did to actually help me

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most with my anxiety was to just let me

go through hard stuff and be faithful to

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me in it to let some of my worst fears

happen and to say, see, I was there

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:

for you and now I'm not afraid as much.

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But I think sometimes I'm watching, if

one of my children is struggling with

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anxiety, I'm wanting them to just have

the trust that I now have in my savior

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because of the testimonies that I have

built up and to be patient as he, as the

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:

Lord is proving himself faithful to them.

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Like one of my children said this week, I

don't know if I can trust God with this.

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And it hurts to hear that, but

you're also like, thank you

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that you would tell me that.

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Thank you that I know how to pray.

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And you may not know how faithful

he is yet, but I do, and let

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me tell you about some times in

my life where he proved himself

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faithful, but then also to say, but.

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His faithfulness isn't dependent upon

whether he answers the prayer in the way

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:

that you want it to be answered right now.

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:

And to make sure that their faith isn't

dependent upon Jesus being their genie

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:

Emily: yes.

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:

Absolutely.

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Which I think goes to, as moms, we

want to be so quick to take the pain

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:

away or the obstacle or the, or the

hurting thing or the friend situation.

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But this is where we have to trust that

God may have put that in their life and

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he's working it out and, and teaching

them a lesson in a sanctifying way.

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And we can't.

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This is where we interfere with

the Lord's plans when we get in

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:

the way and try to take it all

away for them and make it better.

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:

This is not how our kids grow.

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You know that he we've grown in hard

places, like we were saying earlier.

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:

And so we have to trust the Lord

when our kids are in hard places and

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:

keep coaching them through it and

pointing them to the word instead

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:

of trying to take it away for them.

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Jen: Yes,

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Emily: I'm saying it, I'm like, oh, Lord,

that's so hard, but, but it's so true.

501

:

Jen: Is so true.

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:

It is.

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:

I think I find it almost harder

to not pray away the fleas for

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my children than it is even to

not pray away the fleas for me.

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:

Okay, fine.

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:

I'll take the fleas, but don't

give them the fleas, and so

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:

I, I do I struggle with that.

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:

I.

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That resonated with me when you said

that because it's, it is so hard.

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:

We want so much for our kids to

have a good life and to be able to

511

:

enjoy comfort and joy and peace and

tranquility and all the goodness.

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And sometimes I find myself even

believing the lie that like.

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:

If bad things happen, they

will walk away from the Lord.

514

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And sometimes that does happen,

but sometimes it has to happen so

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:

that we, that the true state of

their heart is revealed so that

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:

we can understand where it's at.

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:

And the Lord can work in their heart more

to be like, look how far you are from me.

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:

It's hard though, right?

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As a mom that pulls at our mama's

heartstrings so much and just being so

520

:

with this walking in step with the spirit

enough to say, Lord, I don't like it.

521

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I don't like it at all that they have

to go through this, but I trust you and

522

:

I trust their hearts in you because I

know that you love them more than I do.

523

:

And I can just.

524

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rest in that knowledge that you love

them and you are going to work all

525

:

things together for their good, even

when it doesn't go like I want it to.

526

:

Emily: hmm.

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:

Mm hmm.

528

:

Amen to that.

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:

Steph: We know you're busy, Mama,

so we are truly grateful you joined

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:

us for this episode of Again.

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If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

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:

foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

533

:

EntrustedMinistries.

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:

com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

535

:

This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

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:

world, and we want it for you, too.

537

:

Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

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:

from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

539

:

We're rooting for you.

540

:

To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

541

:

calling and may fulfill every resolve

for good, And every work of faith by

542

:

His power, so that the name of our

Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,

543

:

and you in Him, according to the grace

of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

544

:

Amen.

545

:

Until we meet again.

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Show artwork for The Again Podcast on Christian Motherhood: What Moms Do Over and Over Matters to God

About the Podcast

The Again Podcast on Christian Motherhood: What Moms Do Over and Over Matters to God
Biblical Motherhood/Christian Parenting
So much of what we do as mothers is on repeat. Join us to redeem this repetition and untangle from the confusion and overwhelm of parenting. We'll follow the Agains in the Bible to focus on the things that matter most. Let's look up together to embrace a motherhood full of freedom and joy! This podcast is sponsored by Entrusted Ministries.

About your host

Profile picture for Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie has always delighted in God’s Word and in sharing it with others. Whether it is equipping mothers and leaders through Entrusted with a Child’s Heart, inspiring students when teaching at homeschool co-ops or children’s ministry, or homeschooling her own children, Stephanie’s life mission is to encourage others to follow faithfully and joyfully after Jesus—especially if they hold her favorite job title: mom.

Betsy Corning wrote Entrusted with a Child’s Heart in 1999 in response to the needs she saw in families as she and David counseled young parents just a few years behind them. Entrusted has been taught in hundreds of churches nationwide, been translated into several foreign languages, and has made its way around the world. More recently, Betsy received her Masters in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University and is developing a new Bible Study program called Get the Word Out. Her passion for God’s Word, discipleship, and teaching biblical principles as they apply to family life has remained strong to this day. One of the greatest blessings in Betsy’s life are her three grown children, their spouses, and ten grandchildren that keep her constantly in touch with every age and stage.

Jen Freckman Is an incredible wealth of wisdom. She will tell you a natural remedy for just about anything! She is also a voracious reader and she is just overflowing with quotes and guidance that she's encountered through reading and being faithful. She delights in her children and is a devoted mother. She is also an amazingly creative problem solver! Her solutions to manage her home and guide her children are inspiring.

Emily Deyo is such a treasure. She is an incredible encourager and servant-hearted woman. When she has the mic in front of her, so much value comes out! She is a wordsmith and her heart consistently beats for how she can encourage and serve others. She is a truly loving and attentive mother.

Join Betsy, Emily, Jen, and Stephanie as they share the wisdom only Scripture and on-the-job training can provide to help untangle the joyful calling of motherhood.