Pardon the Mess with Cynthia Yanof

As you know, this month we’re tackling some of the messy areas in life that are often the basis of resolutions this time of year, like physical health, emotional health, and financial health. This week we’re thrilled to have Maria Bower, author of Faith Vs. Weight, join us to discuss physical health and weight loss. Maria approaches nutrition from the perspective of how to best fuel our body to accomplish God’s kingdom work in our lives.

We’re continuing our prayer emphasis in 2020 by praying this week for our kids to be excellent in all that they do. It’s easy to get excellence confused with performance. Scripture is clear that we are called to excellence because it honors the one who created us, and he alone is the only true model of excellence. Performance is cumbersome and puts the focus on us, but praying the Lord’s excellence in our kids will rightfully take the pressure off of them and allow the Lord to shine in their lives

Happy New Year! It’s that time of year when we find ourselves in a post-Christmas, tight-pants, can’t-remember-when-we-last-ate-a-vegetable stupor. As we kickoff this mini-series, today we have a conversation with Luke Lezon. (Anyone who writes a book titled Your Mess Matters is a shoo-in for our podcast.) Luke shares what the proverbial mess has looked like in his life and how the Lord has been so good to turn his mess into a ministry.

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about resolutions. Either way, I think it’s natural to take a step back over the next few days to evaluate where we are in life and what we want to continue doing and/or the places we want to make some adjustments. Take a minute to listen to our podcast, and then, as we approach January, pray that your children seek God’s greater purpose for their lives this year, not allowing the mundane things of life to trump the mission he has anointed for them.

Today we get to chat with Jess Connolly about her passion to help women confidently walk the paths the Lord has called them to. One of my favorite quotes from this episode is when Jess says, “It’s time for us to stop trying to be the best version of ourselves. It’s time for us to stop waiting for someone to come and tell us exactly how we can use what we’ve got to change the world. Who we are and where we are today—we’re uniquely equipped to love others, and that will change the world.”

What a week to pray joy for our children. The simplicity of the words of one of the most famous Christmas carols says it all: Joy to the world, the Lord is come! We have joy in this life because of one thing: the Lord is (not has) come. No matter what we face in our earthly lives, he has overcome all things, and we live in victory through Christ our Savior. The Lord is come—present tense! He’s come for our ups, our downs, our good, and our bad. He is our Lord in all things.

Well, there’s really not much to say other than this is a dream. If you’re anything like me, Max Lucado’s books have been instrumental in shaping your faith over the years. The fact that I had the chance to sit down and talk with him on our podcast? Well, there are almost no words. Max Lucado is the Teaching Minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. He’s widely regarded as America’s best-selling inspirational author.

If we’ve learned anything the last few weeks, it’s that acts of generosity are all around us this time of year – but definitely not in the form of a Peleton bike gifted to your wife and a resulting a video diary of her fitness journey. Let’s pray our kids live all of their days rooted in generosity with gratitude for who Jesus is to us – beginning all those years ago when he came to earth as flesh, born in a lowly manger so everyone could be offered eternal life with him.

Christmas often brings out our very best—generosity, focus on Jesus, time with friends and family. Christmas also may bring out our worst—exhaustion, materialism, sadness. You’re not alone if you’re feeling stressed, tired, overwhelmed, sad, excited, grateful. . . Kay Wyma, author, blogger, and mother of five shares practical ways to experience true Christmas joy. She encourages us to hydrate for the holidays by practicing kindness, relishing the regular, and stopping to simply look up.

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16 “All things were created through him and FOR him.” I’ve read this verse many times before, and it only hit me today that we are literally created for Jesus. We exist FOR Jesus. We are his creation and his joy, and it only makes sense that he truly wants connection with us and our children.

Today we have twice the fun with two different interviews on Pardon the Mess. Jim Denison, founder of Denison Ministries, joins me for the first few minutes to discuss the issues our kids will face biblically in today’s culture. It’s so much wisdom packed into fifteen minutes that you will want to hear it twice. But that’s not all . . . . Jim Denison then joins me in a second podcast with Steve Green, President of Hobby Lobby and founder of The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

As we continue to pray through the school year for our children, it’s almost unbelievable that it’s already December! Today we have a special guest joining us on the podcast, my husband Mike. This week we are praying that they would have the Lord’s favor in their lives.   Join us as we pray for our children to live a life that allows God’s favor on all they do.

As we wrap up our Nashville series, we are excited to give you a word from Amy Parker. Amy has written and co-written more than sixty books for children, teens, and adults, with 1.8 million copies sold. She has collaborated with authors ranging from New York Times bestsellers to her very own son. Amy shares with us how her calling to write books came about, and the setbacks she experienced as she pursued her career as an author.

This week we are discussing gratefulness and the importance of a good memory when it comes to knowing what God has done for us. We talk about places in the Bible where people gave thanks, even when their situations were less than optimal. God is the giver of all good things and therefore worthy of our praise. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s pray that our children exude gratefulness in the big and the small, the successes and the failures, and the trials and the triumphs.

Pardon the Mess brings you our special Thanksgiving episode straight from Willie and Korie Robertson’s home in West Monroe, Louisiana. We had the great pleasure of chatting with three generations of this sweet family: Chrys Howard, Korie Robertson, and John Luke Robertson. Today’s podcast will give you a peek behind the curtain of what makes their faith so deeply rooted. You’ll leave encouraged to pass the torch well when it comes to family values and your love for Jesus.