Episode 100

#98. What does The Bible Mean By "Reproof" and How Do We Discipline and Guide Older Children in Character, Respect, and Obedience? With Author Betsy Corning

Founder, Author, and Executive Director Betsy Corning returns to help clarify what reproof really is. What do we do to guide our older children in character issues or when sin issues continue to be a problem. This is about getting to the heart and not just their behavior! Be equipped and encouraged to stay the course, Mama! If you'd like more guidance about pointing your children to Jesus Christ, take a peek at our biblical study in family life, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

Are you interested in the Full-Circle resources we mentioned? Click here for a printable, explanation of biblical discipline, and an hour-long lesson from Betsy. Just fill out the form at the bottom of our home page and we'll send it your way!

Scriptures Referenced:

Ephesians 4:24

Proverbs 29:15

Proverbs 22:6

Proverbs 23:23

1 Samuel 12:23

Transcript
Speaker:

This is the Again podcast brought

to you by Entrusted Ministries, and

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox.

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Today I have the honor of sitting

down with our executive director and

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founder and author, Betsy Corning.

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Betsy wrote, Entrusted with a Child's

heart 27 years ago, but because it

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is completely founded upon biblical

principles, it is just as valid

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today as it was when she wrote it.

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And I would say that the need is only

growing for moms to have biblical wisdom.

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I just got back from a conference to share

with pastors how Entrusted can help bless

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the moms in their churches, and I really

love explaining what sets Entrusted with

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a child's heart apart from other studies.

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You see, this study is so deeply

rooted in God's heart for our

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children to be obedient and grow in

character, but it is not behaviorism.

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In every lesson you'll hear

that Betsy is keeping the heart

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of our children at the core.

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And in today's discussion, we're gonna

help try to make guiding older children

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and guiding teens a little bit less fuzzy.

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I think we understand more what to do when

they're little, but what do we do with

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patterns of struggle as they get older?

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Are they sin issues?

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Are they character issues?

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How much do we begin to let go

and what are the battles and the

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hills that we won't compromise on?

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Betsy really clarifies what

does it mean to reprove an older

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child as scripture calls us?

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Two, whether you're in the season

right now or whether you're years

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away, this clear biblical guidance will

encourage and equip you to maintain

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your children's hearts as you guide

them toward living God honoring lives.

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They're the joyful agains our children.

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Shout on the swings, the exhausting

agains of cooking and laundry and

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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 to.

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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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Stephanie: We've had some feedback from

moms saying, can you help me, as I'm

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guiding my children into older ages now,

and I understand that my admonishment

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of them or my discipline needs to take

on a different form with reproof, but

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talk to us a little bit about what

does reproof actually mean and what

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are some methods you could use that

would be a godly form of admonishment

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as your children are getting older and

still struggling with some of those

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issues that come up in adolescents.

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Betsy: When we say admonishment,

we're talking about a warning,

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but an encouraging warning.

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I think as it goes along with

Ephesians 4 24, that it may

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give grace to those who hear it.

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So we're not talking about a

reproof that puts a child down

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that makes them feel shame that.

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Humiliates them, or that's necessarily

, in front of other people, but that

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they receive it to heart and can

actually , give grace to them who hear

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it so that they're thankful for it.

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Not all children think that

way from the beginning.

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But see, when we're going full circle,

and I may be throwing this out there

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without people understanding full

circle, but , when you do go full

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circle, even in a reproof, but.

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A child now knows how to go full circle

very quickly when they're young and

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you and the child is disobedient,

you look at the what happened.

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That's the first step.

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That's step one of the full circle.

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And you talk to the child and you

say, you know what happened here?

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And they have to own the behavior

and they say, I did this.

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You asked me to do this, but I did this.

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And so they're stating the problem.

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Then the second step is

they own the behavior.

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They're saying, I knew the right thing

to do, but I chose the wrong thing to do.

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That's very humbling for a child's heart,

and if they are humbled by that, making

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the wrong choice when they knew what

the right choice is, then you've really

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done a great service to that child.

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You may say that just seems unkind,

but if they don't reach that point,

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there have no reason not to Just do it

again and do it again and do it again.

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When they make that connection in their

mind that I purposely made the wrong

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choice, and that's why I'm in this

situation right now of going full circle

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with my mom or dad, then I understand that

I don't wanna be in this situation again.

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So then what would the right choice be?

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That would be step three.

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And the right choice would be

if I had to do it over again,

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I would make the right choice.

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Mom or dad.

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And then fourth they have the opportunity

to go and make the right choice, and

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they have either ask forgiveness or

say I'm sorry to whoever they offended,

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and the whole circle is filled in.

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They've gone full circle and there's

a hug and a restoration at the end.

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And I call that the ruby when you've

actually gone full circle, because

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sadly what happens so often is

parents don't get to go full circle.

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It breaks down somewhere along the

line and kids just say, yeah, I'm

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sorry, but they don't really mean it.

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And when you get that part that

says, yeah, I was wrong, I made the

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wrong choice, I own it, then you can

pretty much go the rest of the circle

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and you know that you're going to.

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Get full circle.

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So when they're young, that is

accompanied often with discipline.

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And when they're older,

the discipline is reproof.

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So there's more of a

talking through sometimes.

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And sometimes I think what

you're referring to Stephanie,

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is these deep water talks.

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So sometimes you have to go beyond a

full circle discussion with your child.

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So let's say your child, took

something from a store that would

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be pretty bad as a teenager.

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They took something from a store

and you would go through and you'd

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say, you know what happened here?

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And they, you'd go the full

circle and you'd say, well,

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what are the consequences?

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There would definitely be

consequences with that.

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But when you have a deep water

talk, you're gonna really

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talk through those steps.

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You're gonna say.

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So what would make you think that it would

be okay to take that out of the store?

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And of course they're gonna

say, I don't know, but you're

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gonna have to go deep water.

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You're gonna say, well, I don't

know isn't going to be a complete

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enough of an answer for this question

and we're gonna have to sit here.

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And they're gonna have to think through,

really, I need to really break this down.

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What was I thinking?

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And I need to get this all out.

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You wanna get to the bottom of their

thinking because if you can go deep water,

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Then you are gonna solve so many

issues in their lives rather than

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just covering it up with simple little

words and you can't have your phone

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for a week or something like that.

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When you get to the issue of this happened

to me at school, or somebody, this or

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that, you start to help them resolve the

other issues and figure things out about

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how to resolve conflict, resolve inner

conflict, and resolve conflict with their

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friends or so-called friends and people in

authority and who do they need to go back

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to and who do they need to make it right?

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Rather than these things making

little tiny snowballs getting bigger

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and bigger in their minds and in

their hearts and it's really helpful.

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It's really humane because we know

how those things can be burdens.

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But when children are able to release

them and first of all release them

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to their parents, when they learn how

to release things to their parents,

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then they will learn how to do that on

their own, release things to the Lord.

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And eventually, they'll have a great

relationship with their husband

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and something's burdening them.

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They can share it with their

spouse and they won't go in

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another room and just, be upset.

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It just helps with their inner

communication, with their

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relationships with people.

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Uh, that's, that's the

part of the reproof.

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And it's also part of it is saying,

uh, you will not do this again,

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because that's part of the full circle.

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If I had this to do over again,

I wouldn't do it this way.

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And you know, now what do

you need to do as a result?

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Did this behavior do

damage harm to anybody?

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How can you make it right?

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Do you need to go pay back double?

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Do you need to take this item back to

the store and tell the store owner, I

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took this from your store and here's

the money for it and here's double

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the money for it, or whatever it is.

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I mean, that will definitely cause you

not to do it again if you know that's

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how your parents are going to respond and

other kids need to know that the Bible

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says beware, your sins will find you out.

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I think that's a good

verse to keep in mind.

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We never were so overbearing that

we were trying to find out every

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little nitty gritty detail of their

lives, especially when they're older.

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But we would be praying that if there

was something we needed to know.

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The Lord would always

reveal it to us in some way.

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Not that we would always be hunting,

we're not going through their backpacks,

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but if there was a reason for cause

or we would be praying that some way

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that the Lord would make it known to

us and he did, some way, some little

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thing , they'd trip up on something and

it would be obvious and we would have

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one of these deep water talks and get

to the bottom of what was going on.

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Sometimes like a deep seated thing

that we really needed to work through.

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Or sometimes it was

more of a simple thing.

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Sometimes it would be dad saying,

I expect an upgrade and I will be

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checking back and I'm going, , is it

the way that you talk to your mother?

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That's gotta stop.

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And I expect an upgrade.

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That's what my husband would say a lot.

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I expect an upgrade.

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And then I'll be checking with your mom.

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I'll check with your mom in a

couple of days and we'll have

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a talk again in a week, a deep

water talk and see how it's going.

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Things like that so that they

know that dad's watching, dad's

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even watching out for mom.

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And that sort of thing.

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Stephanie: We will link to

the full circle diagram.

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Well we have it on our website that

you can get that whole lesson, that

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training on full circle discipline

and also that you can print that out.

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I think it's really helpful to

have, just to make sure, am I really

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going through all of the steps?

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Talk a little bit about when you're

seeing patterns of struggle in older kids.

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So perhaps it is how they're

talking to a parent and you've

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had the deep water talks.

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I think this is something that you

helped correct in my thinking of, I

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need to be available for all these deep

water talks, but sometimes we kind of

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get roped in and we're forgetting the

training on the mind will and emotion.

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And here we're thinking, okay,

because we don't need to be

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training the mind anymore.

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They understand it's wrong.

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They're falling into this

pattern again, though.

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So really it's a discipline issue.

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What can we do beyond just the deep water

talk when we see a pattern of disrespect

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or dishonesty or whatever's going on,

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Betsy: Well dishonesty is pretty serious.

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we address that really strongly.

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My husband says that when he

was a little boy and he told a

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lie, and his father caught him.

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His father took him aside and

he said, we are not liars.

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The Corning are not liars.

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That just stuck with him forever.

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And it's just not something that we do.

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And they just need to understand that if

the thing that happens when kids are sort

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of 13 on up is our discipline changes.

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But we also realize we're dealing

with a lot of character issues.

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Sin is one thing,

character is another thing.

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Stephanie: Okay.

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Betsy: Sin is something that

demands like immediate surgery

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Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

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Betsy: deep water talks and loss of

privileges and those kinds of things.

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So we need to separate out.

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But sometimes a character issue

can almost become a sin issue.

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It

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can,

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Stephanie: Yes.

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Betsy: procrastinate too much and you

are just failing, it's something else.

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So we have to watch whether it's a

character issue or it's a sin issue

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because sin issues are disciplined by.

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Talking these steep water talks,

reproof it says the rod and reproof

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give wisdom, but a child who gets his

own way brings shame to his mother and

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brings shame to his mother and father,

you can pick out a child who's never

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had a parent reprove them, uh, because

they eventually bring shame to their

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parents because when they're the older

child, they kind of do what they want.

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They've never had anybody say, you

need to stop doing that, or that's

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wrong, and go full circle with them.

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In fact, that is what happened with

the priest Eli he was 200 years

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before the time of King Solomon.

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And God said, because you didn't

ever rebuke your sons or reprove your

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sons for their terrible behavior.

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I'm gonna cut the priestly line from you.

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And he does at the time of Solomon

through a BA, he's no longer.

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The priestly line and

it's given over to Zadok.

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But all of that to say some

things are character issues, some

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things are sin issues, we need to

distinguish, but sometimes character

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issues do become sin issues.

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So let's go back to an

example of a character issue.

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Stephanie: I

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might have these examples

a little bit more ready.

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So I'm realizing , the dishonesty, I,

you're right, I think that was maybe a

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strong word, but it feels dishonest to me.

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Like, let's say taking food from the

pantry when you don't have permission,

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but it's this repetitive thing a lot

of the moms that I know of that have

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teenage boys, this is often a thing.

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And so then they're eating in a

way that you're like, Hey, I'm

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trying to set you up for success.

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that's a big one.

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So it, it feels like an integrity issue,

but it also feels like an honesty issue.

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It feels like a self-control issue.

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But then if you set a clear boundary,

I think there's a fuzziness to it

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because you have different things in

your pantry every week and it, it's

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Betsy: and you don't know

where to draw the line.

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And funny thing is, when my kids were

teenagers and we had four in the house

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at the same time, if we had yogurt

and those would go so fast, I would

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actually come home from the grocery

store and we would label certain items.

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I'd put their names on the top, the top.

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And and even my husband and my names,

because otherwise , ours would get

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eaten and we didn't even eat them.

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Or certain drinks in the pantry, we

would put our names on 'em and I would

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say, okay, these are your drinks.

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These are your yogurts for a

certain amount of time, and if

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you eat them all, they're gone.

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So I would have less overarching

control and they would have to learn

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some self-control because we're

easing up a little bit on our control

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and we're doing more by guidance.

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And so sometimes they'll fight against,

a lot of control and they just wanna

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assert their autonomy a little bit.

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And we want them to be figuring

out how to make good choices.

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So we would just let them say, okay.

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I even had to put their

names on bananas sometimes.

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But

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Stephanie: Okay.

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Betsy: it was pretty bad.

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Things go so fast when you have

teenagers and food in the house, but

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no, that was for a period of probably

a couple of years, we probably

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still laugh at it because they

would tell me, yeah, mom, sometimes

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we snuck one of yours, I tell ya.

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But,

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anyway, yeah, you have to figure

out how much to ease up on.

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And for example, let's say you taught your

child how to make their bed when they were

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five years old and you, and they made it

sloppy, but they were doing their best.

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So he was like, that's great,

you're doing your best.

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And then they learned how to make their

bed, and they made their bed, every day.

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And they were so good about it.

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And then all of a sudden they're 12 and

13 and they don't make their bed anymore.

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They leave their clothes on the

floor and all of these things.

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And you can have hard and fast rules.

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My hard and fast rules were no clothes

and wet towels on the floor ever.

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Nothing on the floor.

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And maybe they're over your chair,

your desk chair or whatever,

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but they're not on the floor.

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So I'm making some progress.

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Did they know how to do it?

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Did they know the right way to do it?

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Yes, they know the right way to do it.

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Are they choosing to do

the sloppy way because.

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For whatever reason.

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Yeah, I'm giving them some slack there,

but once a week, their rooms had to

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be cleaned according to my standard.

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And was it a real tough standard?

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No, but it was something that I

felt like needed to be enforced.

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So how rigid are you gonna be?

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How lax are you gonna be?

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You, you have to figure that out

and a really good person for that.

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Is your husband like, am I being

too over the top here, or am

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I being too permissive here?

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That's why we have that chart

that we have in chapter five.

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I think it is where it talks about

how we can often be too rigid or too

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lax and we need to , have a harmonious

household, but doesn't mean that our kids.

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We're just giving up on our kids and they

never have to make their beds anymore.

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They're figuring out, oh, do I like living

with a really messy room six days a week?

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And then, then it takes me

extra long to clean up my room

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on this one day of the week.

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They're gonna have to figure some

of these things out, and this is

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the time they do it when they're

still under your household.

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But if your rule is you cannot take

anything outta the pantry and they

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take something outta the pantry,

then you have to enforce that.

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Then you have to decide,

what should my rule be?

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Stephanie: Sure.

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Obviously consistency is always

key, but being proactive and being

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clear and making sure that they

understand what the rules are.

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Certainly go back to the example

you said where Uncle David might

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say, all right, you were talking

disrespectfully to your mom.

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We're gonna reevaluate in a week.

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talk through if that is an issue.

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What happens when you say, okay,

, this week it was still a struggle.

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What are some ways that parents can

consistently be addressing that issue?

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Betsy: Does there need to be a

consequence or is it something

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that even though they're working on

it they did mess up a little bit?

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You know, is it a sassy remark?

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Is it a slam of the door?

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Something disrespectful like that?

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We addressed, all of that not necessarily

every single time it happened when they

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were teenagers, because, at that age

, we say they should indict themselves.

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They should be able to come back

and say, mom, I was sorry I was

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angry and I took it out on you.

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But they need to know, they

don't get to take it out on us.

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They won't talk to other people

like that, but somehow they feel the

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freedom to talk to, mom like that.

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Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

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Betsy: they have to learn.

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No, just because mom's more

patient and merciful and kind.

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You don't get to take

advantage of her in that way.

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And they will usually do it when

dad doesn't see, but when dad sees,

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yeah, they address it every time.

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but when they've reached a certain age and

they already know that it's wrong, like

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you said, they know that it's wrong, then

you give that conscience a little bit of

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time for them to come back and tell you.

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Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

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Betsy: And then you say if you knew

it was wrong and you did it anyway,

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then you shouldn't do it again.

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Right then we should be done with this.

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But sometimes it's a, a bad habit

almost learned, or it's a character

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weakness that they have to work on.

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So we're not gonna be merciless,

we're gonna help them work on it.

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We're trying to take them

from weakness to strength,

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Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

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Betsy: but character issues

are a little bit different.

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'cause we're all different.

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We all have different temperaments.

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Some of us just love to organize

drawers and some of us just don't even

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shut the drawer and it's a total mess.

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And so we're not gonna really make

those people love to organize drawers,

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but they can learn to shut the drawer.

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There's a certain, distance that

they can go, that both can be happy

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and that's what needs to happen.

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We don't want to raise lazy children

or disrespectful children, but we

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also have to say, is it truly lazy

or disrespectful if the drawer isn't

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:

organized the way that I would have it.

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So when I had teenagers my pantry and I

always liked to have it organized just

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'cause I am one of those organizers

and I would come over and they'd

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make chili or cookies or whatever

and my pantry would get so mixed up.

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I just said, rather than be upset

about it I just said for these

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four years, my pantry's gonna

be messy and be okay with it.

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Just wash off the spices and

let them be out of order.

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But that's okay.

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I had to lighten up on some things.

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Stephanie: Sure.

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And Emily, your daughter, had a very

wise saying that she would say to

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her children, you get a do over and.

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I'm sure as moms are listening, they're

thinking, well, I have moments where

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I'm impatient or I'm stressed about

something, and I wasn't as gracious

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:

to my family as I should have been,

and I humbled myself and I repented.

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But at what point do we give children

grace when we say, you know what?

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You were really stressed about something.

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It's not okay what happened but,

you are a human I can't hold you to

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a standard that I'm not embodying.

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Betsy: yes.

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:

And so sometimes we can see that a

child is just undone or overwhelmed

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and we can just be gracious.

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We can just sit there and hold them

and, you know, if it's a 4-year-old

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and just say, I understand, let's

just sit here for a while and

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let's just relax and.

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Let's just think about the Lord

and let's ask the Lord to help

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us and we can have a do-over.

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And it might be four years old, it might

be six, it might be eight, it might be 18.

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And they know you don't

have to sit 'em on your lap.

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They're gonna come back and

say, mom, I need a do-over.

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I'm sorry I reacted wrongly.

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And so that's why I'm saying we don't

always have to address it because

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we can give them grace in mercy and

let them recognize what's happened.

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And they can come back and say,

I've been so overwhelmed about this

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:

math test and I took it out on you.

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And you can say, I understand.

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And then there you are, you can reconcile.

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And they know it was wrong

to take it out on you, mom,

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Stephanie: We might feel like

we're being consistent and we're

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handling everything right away, but.

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In that we might be preventing the

Holy Spirit from actually working

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:

in our children's hearts and them

coming to a place of conviction.

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:

Right.

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Betsy: Well,

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Because we say that for the

first five years we are really

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:

addressing things right away.

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:

That's where we're really

strong in authority.

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:

And then we start to ease up

on that authority and watch how

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:

they start to handle situations.

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And so we're giving them more

guidance and watching that.

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And it's more so through

the teenage years.

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:

Like I said, you've taught

them how to make the bed.

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Now you're watching

will they make the bed?

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They've been making the bed 'cause they

knew, but now they're not making the bed.

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Okay, that's their choice.

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:

And are they necessarily

making the wise choice?

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No.

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:

But is it.

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:

Destroying their life.

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:

No, but you know, when they're

married they'll be saying, well,

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:

no, we have to make the bed and

we have to make it this way.

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:

You know?

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And they'll want things amazingly

when it's their own furniture that

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they paid for, whatever they'll

want it to be, just so, and they'll

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know how to take care of things.

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:

They'll know how to clean a sink properly.

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:

They'll know how to, do certain things

because they've at least learned the

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:

discipline and they've had the discipline.

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:

And like I said, we still have

standards that they have to live by.

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:

We don't let it just go

completely by the wayside

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:

Stephanie: I struggle, I have four kids

and I feel that I've done certain things

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:

consistently for one of those four.

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We still have some consistent issues

and as they get older, , I'm at a

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:

loss of, I don't really know what

to do anymore, and I realize that

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:

there are other factors at play.

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:

Perhaps this child is more impulsive

and so then they're more impulsive.

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:

Verbally at times too.

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:

And I, I do see growth.

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:

I do see a tenderness in their heart to

apologize frequently, but still to stop

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:

things before they come out is tricky.

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:

Betsy: Yes.

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:

I had one of my children say , I

learned to picture the words in my

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:

head before I let them come out.

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:

And.

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Just to stop and think about what

I was gonna say and then say, no,

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:

I'm not gonna let that come out.

453

:

Um, but we're not gonna be able to

create the perfect human as parents.

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:

We're just not.

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:

And even the Lord himself leaves

it up to the individual human

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:

be who they're going to be.

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We can say, we pick this choice for

you because your life will be better.

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:

But they can say, I don't

pick that choice for me.

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:

have the free will to do it, and we can

do that the first 12 years of their lives

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:

and say, I picked this choice for you.

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:

Now make that choice.

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:

And they make that choice.

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:

And then all of a sudden, the next 12

years, they're not making that choice.

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:

And you're like, why aren't

you making that choice?

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:

That's the best choice for you.

466

:

That's because they get

to make that choice.

467

:

But what does it say in

Proverbs 22, 6, train up the

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:

child in the way he should go.

469

:

And even when he is old,

he will not depart from it.

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:

Doesn't mean that it's a guarantee

that he'll go there, but when we

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:

do our part the way he should go.

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:

When he is old, he'll

probably come back to it.

473

:

Like I was saying, with the making

the bet they learned how to do it.

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:

They learned, really

probably better that I do it.

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:

I just don't feel like doing it right now.

476

:

My mom's not making me do it right now.

477

:

But then pretty soon they figure out,

yeah, that is really the better choice.

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:

And I like that for my life.

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:

But some kids might not, they ultimately

get to make those choices on their own.

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:

We are not going to be able to put

into their lives everything that we

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:

would wish for them or even ourselves.

482

:

Like we see still the weaknesses

that we have in our own lives, and

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:

we know how the Lord works on us.

484

:

Even as older people.

485

:

We trust that the Holy Spirit

continues to sanctify them.

486

:

We trust that he truly

belongs to the Lord.

487

:

The Lord has that power in him

and that he submits to that power.

488

:

That's a huge point in life is submitting

to the Holy Spirit in your life.

489

:

Not quenching it, not fighting

it, but submitting to the Holy

490

:

Spirit's power in your life so that

that transformation can happen.

491

:

And that's something that

they have the free will to do

492

:

Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

493

:

Betsy: as we want it for 'em.

494

:

And that's where so much of

life, as a mother becomes prayer.

495

:

And what does Proverbs talk about?

496

:

So much practical wisdom

grow in wisdom become wise.

497

:

There's a verse in Proverbs 2323

that says, because I have a couple

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:

of sons in finance, and I've

prayed this verse for them that

499

:

they buy truth and do not sell it.

500

:

, There's certain things you buy , but

don't sell truth and, buy wisdom.

501

:

It says, uh, acquire wisdom,

knowledge, and instruction, and

502

:

these are the things that you want.

503

:

Those are the things that

we pray for our kids.

504

:

You know, , we could pray that people

make wise choices , and they don't,

505

:

and we just can't understand why, why

you have all this in front of you to

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:

make the wise choice and yet you don't.

507

:

For a variety of number of reasons.

508

:

It's their life to figure it out.

509

:

And we, for the first 20 years, are given

these little ones to be stewards of them.

510

:

And we're Entrusted with their little

hearts to say let's pick this path.

511

:

First of all, the path that believes in

the Lord Jesus and wants to worship him.

512

:

If you've got that child on that

path, you're already so far ahead.

513

:

If you say to that child, I don't know

where you're going in life, but as long

514

:

as you promise me you'll be in heaven

you've already done a good thing.

515

:

And then to say, live

in the fear of the Lord.

516

:

Live in the fear of the Lord, knowing

that the Lord isn't trifling with life.

517

:

He's serious about your walk and, keep

growing in the Lord your whole life.

518

:

And understand that as you submit to the

Holy Spirit, you will continue to grow.

519

:

But it does say, work out your

salvation with fear and trembling.

520

:

Why?

521

:

That's that daily part of

the choices that you make.

522

:

Has he already said, you will be in

heaven with me because he justified

523

:

you accepting Jesus in your place.

524

:

Yes.

525

:

But what about those daily

choices that you make?

526

:

You wanna have a great life in the

Lord, an abundant life, or do you

527

:

wanna limp along, make some foolish

choices and you'll see that those will

528

:

cause you to limp along, make wise

choices and , it'll go well for you.

529

:

Stephanie: Yes.

530

:

Thank you.

531

:

It's a good, good word.

532

:

I know Emily, who's been on here

a lot, Emily Dio, , one of her

533

:

children is more impulsive, and

she said, just keep doing it.

534

:

Keep saying it, keep teaching it

over and over and over and over.

535

:

And sometimes with these more

impulsive kids, it might take years

536

:

longer, but if you're faithful,

they're gonna get it at some point.

537

:

I feel like sometimes even when I have

eternity in mind, there's other, there

538

:

are other elements of society, or perhaps

it's academics or something where I know

539

:

this isn't an eternal thing and yet.

540

:

Someone else is calling you to this, and

I'm trying to help you be faithful here.

541

:

And , just trying to figure

out how much do I step back

542

:

Betsy: those are always

the tugs that parents feel.

543

:

And knowing that the spiritual

foundation is so important, the fear

544

:

of God is the beginning of wisdom to

always have that spiritual component

545

:

in their lives, no matter, how much

baseball or soccer they are playing.

546

:

Stephanie: Mm-hmm.

547

:

Betsy: to always have that every year.

548

:

Whether if they can't go to a youth

group, that you definitely have a strong

549

:

teaching at home with, you know, dad Bible

study or whatever it is but going back

550

:

to what Emily Dio was saying of one of

the verses that we say from Entrusted is,

551

:

One Samuel 1223.

552

:

Moreover, as for me, far be it from

me, that I should sin against the Lord

553

:

by ceasing to pray for you, but I will

instruct you in the good and right way.

554

:

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

555

:

Amen.

556

:

we know you're busy, mama.

557

:

So we are truly grateful you joined us for

this episode of again, if you're looking

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:

for more information about building your

home on the foundation of Jesus Christ,

559

:

head to www dot Entrusted Ministries

dot com to learn more about our study

560

:

for moms Entrusted with a child's Heart.

561

:

This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

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:

world, and we want it for you too.

563

:

Before you go, I want to pray this

benediction over you from Second

564

:

Thessalonians one 11 through 12.

565

:

We're rooting for you to this end.

566

:

We always pray for you that our God

may make you worthy of his calling and

567

:

may fulfill every resolve for good.

568

:

And every work of faith by his power

so that the name of our Lord Jesus

569

:

may be glorified in you and you

and Him according to the grace of

570

:

our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

571

:

Amen.

572

:

Until we meet again.

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for The Again Podcast on Christian Parenting: Redeeming the Repetition of Biblical Motherhood
The Again Podcast on Christian Parenting: Redeeming the Repetition of Biblical Motherhood
Christian Parenting, Biblical Motherhood, Faith, Family

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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.