#62. Our New Favorite Advent Resource: "Manger in Danger" Creator GraceAnna Castleberry Tells Us All About Her New Family Devotional

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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 Stephanie Hickox.

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And before we get to today's episode,

I want to ask you for a favor.

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If you're a faithful listener, or even

if you've just found us and you have

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some great ideas about what we should be

bringing to the podcast, we would love

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to have you be part of a focus group.

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We also have one major project

coming your way in the new year.

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And I'm looking for some wise

committed women to help steer

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the ship and give us direction.

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I really want to make sure that we bring

something that ministers to moms, right.

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Where they're at.

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So I'm looking for a handful of

ladies that would like to contribute.

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It won't take more than an hour of your

time, but I hope that the influence

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you have on the podcast and on our

decisions would be a blessing to you.

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For the year to come.

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If you're interested, you can

email me at Stephanie at Dot com.

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That's S T E P H a N I E.

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At E w a C h.com.

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I'll put a link in the show notes and

I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

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Today you are in for a real treat.

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As I was thinking about how to

be intentional with my children.

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Again, this holiday season, I asked

grace, Anna Castleberry to sit down

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with me and tell me all about her new

advent devotional manger in danger.

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Grace.

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Anna is a godly mother

from North Carolina.

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She has five kiddos.

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She's an author, a pastor's wife, and just

a wonderful, humble sister in the Lord.

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I wanted her to tell us all about how

this amazing resource came together.

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And it was such a joy.

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To hear about how it came to be.

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And I'm telling you when you get

it, you'll be so impressed by

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the quality and the beauty of it.

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I know it's going to become a true

family favorite and so many homes.

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So I wanted to give you plenty

of time to get your hands on a

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set before December rolls in.

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And I'll put those links right

in the show notes for you.

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Today, you'll hear all about grace Anna's

thoughts on the Christmas season and how

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manger and danger can be used to bring

glory and honor to the Lord in our homes.

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Stephanie: GraceAnna, thank you

so much for joining us today.

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I love your heart for God's

word and to bring hope and

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encouragement and direction to moms.

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I am truly excited to talk

about Manger in Danger, your

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Advent devotional for families.

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And I have to tell you,

it arrived in the mail.

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And.

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My entire family gasped when we saw

baby Jesus, even my 13 year old son.

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We were just like, oh, he's perfect.

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this set is so well put

together, so biblically rich.

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right away, I was really struck by how You

were able to provide very simple language,

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but still theologically accurate.

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I am really excited to hear how you and

Grant came up with this idea and how the

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Lord led you in bringing it to fruition.

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But first, tell me a little bit about

yourself, what you're passionate about,

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and then the ages of your kiddos and what

your family life looks like these days.

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Yes,

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GraceAnna: So looking forward to talking

and being here with your listeners.

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So thank you.

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And for your ministry my husband and

I live in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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My husband is the pastor of

Capitol Community Church.

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And so I mentioned that first because

so much of my life is being a pastor's

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wife, which I absolutely love.

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I love Discipling women in my church

and being involved with my, the

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women's ministry in our church, but

really first and foremost, what I love

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the most is just being my husband's

helper and mom to my children.

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And I always remind myself when I get,

at times, we all get overwhelmed at times

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with the things that we're called to.

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And I always remind myself like,

okay, but what is my main ministry?

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And it's my husband

and children right now.

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And so that's my greatest joy

is to pour my time into them.

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Grant and I have five children

ages 13 to 16 months, and we

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have two girls and three boys.

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So it's definitely a busy

season in our home, but As I

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wouldn't trade it for anything.

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And Truman, we have quite the span

of ages and Truman's our baby.

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So he's keeping us all busy right

now as we try to keep him safe.

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Stephanie: Yes.

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GraceAnna: it's a great season.

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Stephanie: Yes.

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Aw, team effort.

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So sweet.

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I can tell how gifted you are and how

the Lord has really richly blessed you

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and you have a heart to minister to

moms, but remembering the season goes

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fast and even though sometimes the days

feel long, it does go quickly and making

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sure that we're living without regrets.

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And pouring into them each day.

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So

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GraceAnna: Amen.

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So true.

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Stephanie: I'm thinking about your family

then for Christmas time and those ages.

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And it presents a different opportunity.

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Now you're ministering to a young teen

and yet you're still like, Oh, can I

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put breakable ornaments on the Christmas

tree with a baby crawling around.

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So what are some highlights for you

and your family and special activities

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you do for the Christmas season?

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GraceAnna: Well, we do a lot

of the typical things that

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I'm sure many families do.

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We go out and look at Christmas

lights in our pajamas.

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The girls and I love to

do Christmas cookies.

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The boys sometimes join in, but

usually just join in with eating them.

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Stephanie: Yeah.

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GraceAnna: We love to make puppy chow,

which is just something that we make

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and eat way too much of cinnamon bread.

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And yeah, we're trying to just,

I guess, cause Truman's the

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fifth, he just comes along and.

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Sometimes is tired and

exhausted along the way.

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I haven't put up the Christmas tree

yet, so maybe this year we'll be putting

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like the breakable ornaments up high

and hoping that he won't, touch that,

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but yeah, the other things I love

to do, obviously gingerbread houses,

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and then I like to put a basket of

Christmas books on our fireplace and

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I try to, Add a new one every year.

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And that's been a really fun tradition.

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I think Christmas day in the

morning is one of my favorites of

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the books that we have right now.

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And something interesting about

the home that we live in now Grant

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and I bought this home two and a

half years ago, and it was known on

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the street as the Christmas house.

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The lady who lived in it

had 17 Christmas trees

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Stephanie: Oh my.

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Yes.

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GraceAnna: her kitchen was red.

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There's still remnants of red

that we have yet to renovate, and

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the front of the house was green.

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So Grant and I have tried to get rid

of a lot of that, but we try to keep

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that Christmas spirit by letting

the kids have, Christmas trees in

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their rooms and things like that.

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Kind of an interesting

story about our house now.

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Stephanie: Little bit of pressure

from the neighbors to move in.

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GraceAnna: Yeah we're

definitely not living up to it.

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Stephanie: Oh, wow.

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That's a lot.

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I heard of someone who had five.

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I thought that was pretty impressive.

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Seventeen.

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Wow.

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GraceAnna: Yes.

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And like each bedroom upstairs,

she lived here alone and this house

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has four bedrooms plus a bonus room

and she had trees and all of those.

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Stephanie: Wow.

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Wow.

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I think.

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I think you producing Manger in

Danger maybe just makes you, you owned

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your legacy, you're good, you don't

have to keep up with all the change.

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Tell your neighbors, we have also

embraced the Christmas season in a

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different way, this is our contribution.

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GraceAnna: Oh my goodness.

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Yes.

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Stephanie: Can you tell me a little

bit about how you and Grant got this

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idea and the process, just your hope

for how it would bless families?

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GraceAnna: So four to five years

ago when, our oldest son was born.

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And our oldest two are girls

when they were quite small, they

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asked me to buy Elf on the Shelf.

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A lot of their friends had it

and I just thought about it,

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but it just gave me pause.

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Even though obviously we decorate for

Christmas, we put up all the Christmas

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trees, we do so much of that fun stuff.

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We really do strive to keep Christ at

the center because all those things I

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mentioned Before they're fun but they

really don't keep Christ at the center.

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They're just fun traditions that we do.

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And so just being a mom and trying to

think about, what are the memories I want

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my kids to remember when they grow up?

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How can I be intentional?

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Just that effort of having to buy

something like that wasn't Christ

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centered just gave me pause.

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And that year in our Bible curriculum, I

had been teaching the kids How since the

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beginning of time, there's always been

a war between good and evil the kingdom

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of darkness and the kingdom of light.

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And Satan has always

been warring against God.

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It's not an equal battle by any means,

but still Satan has been at work.

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But how really the hope of the

gospel is rooted in the Christians

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Christmas story that God sent his son.

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And as I, we have been, Learning that

year, one of the lessons was on how

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King Herod had sought to kill all the

baby boys ages two and under in an

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effort to present, prevent Jesus from,

growing up and, All of those things

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and of course my kids at the time were

just shocked because their brother

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Patrick was you know Around that age.

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I think he was maybe 13 months and

they just couldn't believe you know

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that someone would try want to kill a

baby boy like that and It just I just

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remember it just hit home that lesson

and we had just talked about like it

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seems like Everything was in danger

and that everything was going wrong,

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but God is sovereign and he protected

his son And he is always in control.

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He's in control of your life So it was

just one of those moments, where it

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was just that It hit home for us all.

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And so when I was contemplating

should I buy this game?

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I just thought, you know what?

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Like I should just take the manger

out of our nativity and hide it.

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And, representing how Herod

wanted to kill the babe boys.

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So I took the manger.

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I hit it when the kids got up

this morning, I said, okay, I

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didn't get off on the shelf, but

I've got something, really fun.

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The manger is in danger and

you've got to go find it.

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And of course our kids went crazy.

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You know how kids are.

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It's something fun that mom's done

has hidden something in the house.

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And so they were screaming,

running all over the place.

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And then they asked me to hide it again.

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That same morning I hid it again.

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I think maybe four or five times

they wanted me to keep re hiding it.

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And then the next day they asked me again.

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And so we did that all

that year in December.

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And then the next year they, Made

sure to say, Mom, don't forget to get

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the manger out and to hide it again.

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And so really we would hide it at night

or if Grant and I forgot, we would

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usually get up before the kids and

hide it first thing in the morning.

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But that's it just organically happened.

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Never, I wasn't trying to create a game.

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Like it just happened.

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really just because I had just decided,

okay, I'm going to do something different.

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And then sometimes I would post

about it on Instagram and my

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stories and moms would message me

like, can you send me the rules?

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Like, how does this work?

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So I knew that like people were interested

and then Grant and I talked about it.

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Yeah.

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On a podcast.

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Last year, and that's when 316

reached out to us, 316 publishing

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and said, Hey, we would really like

to create this game so that families

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can have it in their own home.

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So that's the story the devotionals

had come along Really from Grant

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and I beginning to add that with

the kids and, but we were, Grant

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wrote them, specifically for this

game and it's made it even better.

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And I can talk about that later, but

yeah, that's the, how it happened.

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Stephanie: I love hearing that because it

shows the faithfulness of God to respond

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to a mother's question and, Lord, how

do I keep you at the center of this?

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And the Lord led you so faithfully

and even in a simple way that you

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were able to start that next day.

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Without buying anything, as you said,

and I just love his faithfulness in that.

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But I also really love what you were

saying about the battle, and I think so

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many children's curriculums in the church

focus on the blessings and the promises

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of our faith, and I don't even think

it's always intentional, but sometimes

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I feel we're setting our children up.

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for real disappointment and discouragement

when they see the battle as they get

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older and this real enemy and if we look

in scripture the presence of persecution

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or the presence of trials and hardships

does not mean that the lord's promises

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are not at work or that his faithfulness

is missing Even as recently I was reading

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about Joseph in prison and so often it

says and the favor of God was with him

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We can read that and say, but he was in

prison, but it does not negate God's plan.

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So I think just that perspective of

teaching our children about the battle

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and being aware of the trials that might

come, but knowing God is sovereign and

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he will be faithful through it all.

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It's so important to keep in mind.

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I also noticed that you have really great

tips about adapting this for different

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ages, and having different children read

the scriptures, and I really do love that

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whenever we're teaching our children.

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A devotional, even though it feels

like this is absolutely rooted in

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scripture to go back to scripture

ourselves and say, this is where

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we're getting that information.

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So tell us a little bit about the

writing of the devotional process.

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GraceAnna: So yeah, I love how the

devotionals came to be because Grant,

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Would typically in our family lead

that devotional time unless, I was

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home with the kids and we did it in

the morning, but typically in the

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evenings, he would just, grab his Bible

and we would pick different passages

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to read together throughout December.

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But for our family, it was always

a bit sporadic because we struggled

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to find a resource that really

fit with the ages of our kids.

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Our kids, are now beginning to get older.

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But.

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At this time, we're pretty young.

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And so finding something that

was simple and yet theologically

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deep was challenging for us.

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Kind of like you said a minute ago,

Stephanie, just about how so often,

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children's books don't address the real

issues and they don't get to the heart

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of sinfulness and depravity and all of

these things within us and without us.

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And so Grant and I were pretty sporadic

and it's interesting because, because

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I'm a pastor's wife every Christmas.

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People, women would ask me, Christina,

what is your recommendation for Advent?

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And I would be like, well, I've

seen this looks really good.

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And I've done a snippet of

this and a snippet of that.

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But after 316 publishing

contacted us great.

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And I said, let's get organized and

really put together something that

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for families that will really get

to the heart and really, you have

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to be forced sometimes to do that.

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At first we started collaborating

with it and it was just challenging

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for us to write together.

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Grant and I both write, but

we just, we write differently.

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And when he gave me the first

draft of what he wrote, I just

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said, Grant, this is so good.

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You just need to write these.

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I'll edit them.

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I'll write the discussion

questions, but you like just from

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a pastor's heart and also as a dad.

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And so that's how they came to be.

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And oh my goodness, I

think they are so good.

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Of course, I'm completely biased,

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Stephanie: No, they're beautiful.

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GraceAnna: But I think

they are just beautiful.

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I think they get to the heart of

children, but I also think they

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will minister to parents as they

read them to their children.

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There's also discussion questions at

the end of each lesson that parents can

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ask their children and hopefully that

will generate lots of discussion and get

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children of all ages involved as well.

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Stephanie: Yes, and

they're a really nice link.

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I have tried some devotional.

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It feels like often they're so brief

and they don't have theological richness

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or they're really long and it's hard

to have your little one sit through it.

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I love how this is a nice link, but

then through that discussion, you

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can really adapt it for what your

kids are ready for, but I think that

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you've really provided something that.

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Will fit for a lot of ages and also

minister to parents, as you were saying.

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GraceAnna: Yeah, and one other thing

that I didn't mention was as Grant

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was writing them, he would read them

to the kids at the dinner table.

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So these have been

tested by real children.

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Stephanie: I, that is, I always love

like sitting down on the couches and

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having candlelight and trying to set

the tone in front of the Christmas tree.

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But sometimes having that captive audience

at the dinner table, they're eating

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and often my husband finishes first,

that can be a great time to do this.

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Can it?

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GraceAnna: Well, yeah, and

really, that's an encouragement.

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I give a lot of families who maybe

have young children, they need

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somebody to be contained in a high

chair or sitting still is challenging.

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Maybe it's hard for you as the mom

to watch your kid do somersaults

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while you're trying to read it.

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So mealtime is a wonderful time

to start something like that.

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And something that we still do a lot

now, even though our kids are older,

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cause it's just an intentional time

where we're already all together.

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Stephanie: That's beautiful.

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And then at the end, you have a main idea

summary and a goal of each day, which is

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really beautiful to make sure as a parent

you're keeping the intention of it, the

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focus, and I just love how concisely

you wrote those beautiful summaries.

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GraceAnna: Thank you so much.

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Stephanie: And then you also have

a gospel presentation at the end

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with God's plan of salvation.

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I just felt wow, you are really

equipping parents to do this well.

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And I feel that for a new believer,

they would find such encouragement

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in this, but also feel very equipped.

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And also for those who have been in the

faith for a long time, they're going to

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feel, wow, how, what a wonderful summary

this is of putting together God's plan.

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God's plan of redemption and

salvation in the Christmas story.

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It's really beautifully done.

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So I'm so excited to do

it with my kids this year.

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GraceAnna: I'm so excited about

that gospel presentation, Stephanie.

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That was 316 Publishing saying

this needs to be in there.

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And I'm so glad because a few weeks ago

at church a woman came up to me and said,

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: 00:19:37

I bought this for, my family, but I also

bought it for some family members who do

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not know the Lord and my, and they were

so excited to start this tradition because

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as so many people they may think they

know the Lord or they have an openness

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to the gospel, but they don't, haven't

come to know the Lord themselves yet.

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And so it's really been Sweet for my

own heart to see, okay, I started this

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as something for my kids, but my prayer

is that God would use it in the homes

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and families of children who do not

yet know the Lord, which we know that's

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: 00:20:13

the Mangerity of homes because most of

our children don't know the, are coming

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: 00:20:16

to know the Lord, don't know the Lord,

but that even for parents that this

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would be an evangelistic tool and 316

is even selling them in a two pack.

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: 00:20:24

So the thought is, buy one for

yourself and buy one to give away.

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And so, just praying that God will

use this in the lives of families.

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And I think a reminder just as moms,

sometimes you think you're doing

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something just for your kids, but.

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The spiritual impact that you have in the

lives of your children is so far reaching,

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even just your children coming to know

the Lord and they are going to do what?

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Leave your home and

they're going to go out.

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: 00:20:54

And so just that we have that big vision

of all the, the gospel going forth and

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it starts, around our own kitchen table.

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But our prayer, of course, is that it

would go out to all the ends of the earth.

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Stephanie: That is absolutely beautiful.

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I did not even think about.

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: 00:21:11

The implications for this being an

evangelistic tool, but it feels that at

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Christmas time, people's hearts are so

ripe and ready to hear about the Lord.

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: 00:21:21

So certainly this would be an

absolutely incredible resource

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to provide others with.

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: 00:21:28

What a neat gift for thinking about

for neighbors and I have some people

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in my life that have expressed that.

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: 00:21:33

Yeah, we need to get going back to

church, but sometimes when you invite

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: 00:21:38

them to church, it feels like a big

step, but I can see opening up this

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book at home would be less intimidating

and draw them closer to the Lord.

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: 00:21:47

That is so beautiful.

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: 00:21:48

I'm so glad that you talked about that.

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Well I have that sweet little baby Jesus

sitting right here as I'm recording.

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Just, it's just so precious and

I just again want to commend you

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at how well it's done and I think

it's beautiful how the Lord used

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: 00:22:04

you and Grant to do this together

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GraceAnna: Thank you.

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Stephanie: Do you have any

practical tips for simplifying

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the busyness of the season?

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: 00:22:12

How has the Lord led you in

protecting it and making sure that

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these spiritual moments are really

the things that have the emphasis

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: 00:22:20

GraceAnna: it is so busy, isn't it?

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It's so busy for us as moms.

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My mind's already been going through my

kid's Christmas list, and what do I have?

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: 00:22:27

What did I store in the

closet earlier this year?

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What, all those things.

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And The thing that I always try to go

back to and I'm speaking here as a mom

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and as a woman, so whether you're a

mom or not, but I always think about

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: 00:22:40

Mary, because she's such a vital

part of the Christmas story that she

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: 00:22:45

treasured all these things in her heart

and that she was obedient to the Lord.

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: 00:22:50

And so I always think about that and

just, Wanting to pass on spiritual

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: 00:22:54

truth to my children, wanting

to make Christ at the center.

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: 00:22:57

But it is if it is not on my

heart first, it is so true.

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: 00:23:00

It affects the whole

environment of our home.

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: 00:23:03

You know that phrase, like if mama

ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

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: 00:23:06

Well, it's true, right?

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: 00:23:08

When you're just like bustling around

and your heart is just anxious how that

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: 00:23:13

just passes on to our children so much.

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: 00:23:16

And I see, see that so often,

that sinfulness in my own heart.

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: 00:23:20

And so I think.

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: 00:23:21

Really my heart as I head into

November, December is that my

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: 00:23:26

heart would be focused on the Lord.

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: 00:23:28

Something that I try to do is.

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: 00:23:30

Every year is listened to the

Gospels on audio, or at least just

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: 00:23:34

listening to the first few chapters

and hearing that Christmas story.

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: 00:23:39

Just preparing my own heart.

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: 00:23:41

I love playing Prepare Him Room,

which is a CD that Sovereign

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: 00:23:45

Grace put out years ago.

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: 00:23:46

My kids even know Oh mom, don't forget

to play Prepare Him Room because

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: 00:23:50

they know how much I love that.

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: 00:23:52

But I think just For women just

remembering that your heart is the most

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: 00:23:58

important thing that You will do in your

home is that if your heart is centered on

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: 00:24:04

the Lord, you will be a true life giver

to your family in the Christmas season.

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: 00:24:09

I guess the other practical thing

would be honestly, why we create a

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: 00:24:13

manger in danger, because I mentioned

before I was struggling with having

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: 00:24:17

something consistent and so having

those consistent devotionals to go.

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: 00:24:22

Do with the kids every day

that's short and sweet, but we're

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: 00:24:26

hitting the real meaning has been

really helpful for our family.

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: 00:24:30

And then of course we do other things

as a church, Operation Christmas Child,

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: 00:24:34

Christmas Eve service We do a carol

saying, so we've got some other things

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: 00:24:40

that we're doing to keep alive nativity.

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: 00:24:42

So other things that we're keep

doing to keep Christ at the center.

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: 00:24:46

But my biggest encouragement would

be, keep Him at the center of your

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: 00:24:49

own heart and that will flow into

the lives of those around you.

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: 00:24:54

Stephanie: Well said.

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: 00:24:55

the Christmas Eve service and

Easter service are my favorite

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: 00:24:59

moments of the whole year.

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: 00:25:01

But a couple years ago, the

Lord was really impressing

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: 00:25:03

upon me how much He loved me.

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: 00:25:05

Mary gave up and what that Christmas,

that first Christmas was like for her,

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: 00:25:12

away from her family and fleeing for the

safety of her baby and not having the

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: 00:25:18

comfort of a bed to deliver a child in.

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: 00:25:21

She gave up everything and yet, you're

right, she did treasure and ponder

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: 00:25:26

those things in her heart and the

nearness of the Lord being her greatest

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: 00:25:30

treasure and that surpasses everything.

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: 00:25:33

So when we think, Oh, I want to give my

children all these great experiences and

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: 00:25:38

opportunities and blessings to remember.

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: 00:25:41

That he is their greatest blessing.

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: 00:25:43

He's our greatest blessing.

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: 00:25:45

It doesn't have to be so fancy.

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: 00:25:48

We need to live lives that

are transformed by him.

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: 00:25:51

And you're right that's what

they're going to remember.

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: 00:25:53

The peace and the joy of it more than

the perfectly wrapped gifts or decorated

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: 00:25:58

Christmas tree, all of that can add to it.

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: 00:26:00

But I think you're right.

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: 00:26:01

We need to make sure that our hearts

are right before him, before we think.

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: 00:26:05

That those things.

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: 00:26:06

are going to really make

the Christmas for them.

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: 00:26:08

GraceAnna: Stephanie.

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: 00:26:08

I'm going to take that like into

my Christmas season, but just

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: 00:26:12

thinking about, like you said,

like what was Mary's Christmas it

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: 00:26:15

was not perfect, she, far from it.

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: 00:26:18

Think about her in that stable.

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: 00:26:21

Stephanie: Right.

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: 00:26:21

GraceAnna: Jesus, no epidurals,

no anything, but how much, how

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: 00:26:26

often do we think like that

we deserve something better?

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: 00:26:31

And how often as women do we have

discontentment rising up in our hearts

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: 00:26:35

when we really should have thankfulness,

which we see in Mary's, Magnificat

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: 00:26:40

where she just says, I'm just a humble.

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: 00:26:42

Humble girl and you've looked upon me

and blessed me and for us as women who

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: 00:26:47

know the lord That's what God's done

for us You know, we're just humble.

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: 00:26:51

But he's looked upon us Even when

we not only didn't have anything,

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: 00:26:56

but we've been far from who we

should be what a good reminder

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Stephanie: Yes.

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: 00:27:02

I'm always so encouraged

by her and her faith.

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: 00:27:05

We can tell why the Lord

chose her to bring his son.

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: 00:27:08

And yet, of course, Christ

is the center of it all.

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: 00:27:12

But it's just, it's a wonderful

model for us as mothers.

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: 00:27:15

It makes me think about Psalm 127.

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: 00:27:19

Unless the Lord builds the

house, they labor in vain.

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: 00:27:21

Who builds it?

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: 00:27:22

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

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: 00:27:25

That is actually the theme verse

of entrusted, but I heard you say

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: 00:27:29

it on a podcast recently talking

about the Lord really building

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: 00:27:34

our foundation for our families.

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: 00:27:36

And then later in the Psalm, of course, it

says that children are heritage from the

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: 00:27:41

Lord and the fruit of the womb, a reward.

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: 00:27:44

As we celebrate Christmas or whatever

we're doing to remember that children

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: 00:27:48

are a blessing from Him and they

require a lot of work and a lot

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: 00:27:52

of faithfulness, but to keep that

perspective of thank you Lord for this

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: 00:27:56

gift may I just serve in gratitude.

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: 00:28:00

I've got links in the show notes

so that you can purchase Manger

483

: 00:28:04

in Danger for yourself, for your

family, and even for anyone else,

484

: 00:28:08

the Lord has placed on your heart.

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: 00:28:10

As always, we would be so blessed.

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: 00:28:12

If you would take a

moment to leave a review.

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: 00:28:14

So that other moms looking for

biblical truth and wisdom can find us.

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: 00:28:19

Thanks again for listening.

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: 00:28:20

We know you're busy, Mama, so

we are truly grateful you joined

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: 00:28:24

us for this episode of Again.

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: 00:28:26

If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

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: 00:28:29

foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

493

: 00:28:33

EntrustedMinistries.

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: 00:28:35

com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

495

: 00:28:40

This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

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: 00:28:43

world, and we want it for you, too.

497

: 00:28:46

Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

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: 00:28:49

from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

499

: 00:28:53

We're rooting for you.

500

: 00:28:56

To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

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: 00:29:01

calling, and may fulfill every resolve

for good and every work of faith by

502

: 00:29:06

His power, so that the name of our Lord

Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in

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: 00:29:12

Him, according to the grace of our God.

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: 00:29:15

And the Lord Jesus Christ.

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: 00:29:18

Amen.

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: 00:29:19

Until we meet again.