Latest / 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids. / Sprinkling Joy into Family Life w/ Special Guest Karen Whiting

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Sprinkling Joy into Family Life w/ Special Guest Karen Whiting · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Karen Ferguson, wife, mom, grandmom, and children's book author with a background in K-8 education and a passion for equipping parents to raise confident and God-confident kids.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: In this podcast, we'll cover parenting practices for both a practical view and a biblical view.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Our goal is to help you raise kids with a positive, godly self-image so they can become all they were created to be.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're busy, so we'll keep it short.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Let's take just five minutes and dive in.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, listeners.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're talking with special guest Karen Whiting about sprinkling joy into family life.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Author of 34 books, Karen writes to help families thrive as she lets creativity splash on the pages.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: She writes for the Write Conversation blog and crosswalk.com and serves as a researcher for biblical archaeology filmmaker Tim Mahoney.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Karen has sold more than 1,000 articles for more than 60 periodicals.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say Karen is very resilient as she has survived natural disasters that include category four hurricanes, four lightning strikes to our homes, an earthquake, a hail storm, sideways hurricane, and spontaneous combustible fires.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: God has protected you, Karen, in unusual ways.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the show.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks for having me on.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, he's protected me and kept me joyful through it all.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's awesome to hear.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, the joy of the Lord is our strength.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you have something very special to share with our listeners today.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for it.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna let you jump right in.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: You'll be talking about sprinkling joy into family life.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, sprinkling joy because no matter what happens, we can always bring a smile, laugh, and uh rejoice because God is with us.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think back to the first Hurricane Cat Four I was in, did$99,000 of damage.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: My husband was away on Coast Guard orders, and I had the five children with me from two to 16.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that was interesting.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Got up in the, yeah, I had them all.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Once I realized how bad it was, we were not allowed to leave our home because there were too many on the road from Miami, and we were in an area zip code that was not supposed to get hit, but it took a 90-degree turn.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: We got a direct hit on our house.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when I saw the gumbo limbo trees bending in half in the backyard, they're as big as oaks.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I knew we were getting hit.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I had my older daughter who was still with me trying to batten down the hatches, gather everybody into the closet.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we we need humor that always helps.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So in the wee hours of the morning, the sun was just beginning to rise.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Every uh one woke up again and I read from the Bible, but this time I read Jesus Calming the Storm and I prayed.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as I finished the prayer, everything got silent for a few minutes.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was just so silent, no crashing, nothing going on.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And Michael in the back of the closet pipes and said, Mom, you should have read that one first.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we all laughed and I said, We should have.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I've always thought of that every time I've had another natural disaster.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I bet.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a good point.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Last year is a spike medicine, right?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it is.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: But even, you know, as we were doing all the cleanup and everything, we gathered together to pray to thank God.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Once I had assessed things and made sure there wasn't broken glass we would be stepping on so we could bring the two-year-old out of the closet and things.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: We uh, you know, did our work, but we still rejoiced.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: We and God, you know, when we said, God, Jim's not here, dad's not here, can you bring some help?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we were surprised to have someone we had met at church two days before the storm, and he lived across our the way in apartments.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: He showed up, knocked on the door, and asked if he could help.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he got the older boys and even the little one uh with his little red wagon to clean out the driveway from all the debris.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then Jim's workers that worked for him in the Coast Guard, some of them showed up at the house and helped the older boys.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: This was after we'd finished the driveway, helped put the fence back up that I was so worried about because motorcyclists were coming across the fence and through the yard.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought they were just gonna go right into the swimming pool.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I was thankful they had not, but you know, that was difficult.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we just come together and at night we were laughing about things, about what had stayed on the wall when everything else fell, and things like this, because you need that just to have that joy and the laughter with things.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: But in daily life, I believe we always need first an attitude of gratitude to be thankful.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: We were thankful we were at a house that we were all okay, and then we move forward from there, and that's what you need to do.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: So once you do that each morning, make sure you're reading God's word and be ready to sprinkle joy in the lives of others because it'll come back to you.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're just complimenting other people with a true compliment, I love your smile, love those eyes, or lavishing love with hugs, serving others in little ways.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I wake up every morning and I say, God, show me who needs a blessing today that I can bless them in some way.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, I look back and thank God for the blessings I received and ask him to remind me where I was blessed and how I blessed someone.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if I bless someone, I wanted to follow it with a prayer that night.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that's such a good way because when you're blessing others and looking at the blessings you receive, you always keep that joyful heart going.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great note today.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it just makes a difference in your life to just have that be a joyful habit to always have.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Spend some distraction-free time with loved ones right now because my younger daughter was widowed just last month, and it's it's been hard for her and the five children.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: I've been spending a few minutes at night on the phone with her just to be there to support as she goes through the widow fog, they call it, and other things, and to bring up some joyful things.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was glad two days ago my brother and his wife were in the area and they took them all out to dinner and they had a great time, she said.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we need things like that.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: We need people in our lives who do that.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, volunteer for needy people, cuddle with a loved one, sit by a fire or glowing candles, even if you're alone, because you're not really alone, you know Christ is with you.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And think of the good memories that you have.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Send a card to a friend because you know what?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: They'll respond with a call or a card or an email to say, I was so surprised to get that card.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was so sweet.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then you get reconnected and get to talk to one another again.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: But these are just little ways that you can share joy with other people.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: There is just so much you can do and nurture joy in your children and then children that you work with or see.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: I can recall when my older daughter Rebecca was young and I was teaching her to grow flowers.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we were growing little marigolds in little egg cups, and when they got bigger, we planted them into little Dixie cups and a little bit bigger.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then, as they were really getting ready to bloom, I said, So, what are we gonna do with all these flowers that you've grown?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thinking she'd want to plant it somewhere in the yard, she says, Oh, I know what I'm gonna do.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And she gets a wagon and she fills it with the flowers and goes around the neighborhood, passing out marigolds to all our friends and telling them that she had grown them for them and she just wanted to brighten their day.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: That is so sweet.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I agree, when we do things like that, when we go out of our way to bless others, we can't help but be blessed.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's true.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And and all the neighbors were so happy and so sweet in return with her.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: But she since then has done these things all the time.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: She makes cards always because she never knows who she's going to send them to.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And where she works with writers, uh, they are always saying how what a blessing she has been for their lives.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we want to be.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: We want to not just bless others and bring joy, but we want to nurture other people to do the same thing.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the reasons that if someone blesses me, I want to pray for them and I want to thank them because I want them to realize it makes a difference to me.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so good.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are, you know, just go ahead.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna ask you as a little aside, how many children?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: You have five children?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I have five children.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're all great.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, even at this funeral, when my daughter started getting sad, my middle son went over and just put his arm around her and sat with her for the rest of that part of that service that we were at.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And my younger son had come to sit beside me and be with me.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just so sweet to see that we not only nurture that joy, but it comes back to us even within our own families, that they want to do things to help us out and they want to share that joy.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, our family was always full of laughter.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it still is when we gather together.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, for this funeral, I got an Airbnb, so we could all be together, and it was big enough with the dining room to have Darlene and her kids over and play games and talk and laugh, because even in the midst of that sorrow, we still need that joy and we need to share that.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And everyone was ready to share with Darlene and do that.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think we can go beyond all of this and sprinkle joy in lives in many ways through the ministries that we're in.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I have a friend Tony Campbell, you might want to have her on sometime.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: She had a new way to serve.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: She has a whole book on how the church can do things, and I think it's called Jesus Has Left the Building.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's to really reach out.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: She was going to offer at a woman's shelter to bring a dinner at Christmas time that season.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And they said, you know what, we have too many people doing that.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And she thought, well, Lord, I can't just do that.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I need a new idea.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And she decided, oh, I know what we can do.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: We've got some photographers and people at our church.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: We could set up a whole thing to do Christmas photos ahead of time for them, to have photos to give each other and maybe send to family.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: And she did this.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody who did makeup came and did people's makeup.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: She made sure they had clothing donated if any of them needed something more Christmassy and all.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: She did that and they printed them and gave them to the women and gave them, you know, extras they could pass, and they started passing it to each other, even.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And they had envelopes with the stamps on them if they wanted to send them out.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that was such a way of bringing joy to people.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was an overwhelming success.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: And everyone who was part of it felt so joyful for having blessed those people and seeing their smiles.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: These are some great things.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I think we can do these things all the time.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: We can certainly bring joy, whether it's individually, just bringing cookies to a new neighbor or to someone that you know is having trouble, and um, you know, or a salad to an older woman, whatever you want to do, these are things that we can do so easily to bless someone and do it with a smile and just say, you know, I just wanted to give you this gift.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I'll do that at various times.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: My neighbors know at Christmas I always bring Christmas bread around to them.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love making bread and it's pretty.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: I make little flowers of gumdrops or candied cherries on top of the bread and things like that.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's doing something just because you want to sprinkle that joy into someone.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: So start with the heart.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure your heart is ready to give.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where, you know, in the morning when you're asking God for that opportunity to bless someone, also say, and create in me a new heart, you know, and use Psalm 51, 10 as your prayer.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Renew in me a steadfast spirit and create in me a new heart.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: I love to do that and start my day with that, and then that willingness to bless someone else, because when you start in that joyful message in your heart, it's going to spill over no matter what happens.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, as I'm listening to these ideas, I think that the the big theme here is sprinkling joy into our family life kind of starts with us just being an example to our kids of looking for ways to bless other people.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because when we do that, then we too receive the joy and the blessing.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we have to sprinkle it into our own children's lives.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: There are some people that get so busy with ministry, they're never home for their own children.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a good point.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I would call my children, you know, I wouldn't just call them here.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: I need you to put this laundry away.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: I would call them to say, I just wanted to give you a hug, or I have a surprise for you.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd hand them a note, a little snack, whatever, so that they, in hearing my voice, wouldn't think, Oh, mom, I was calling again.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted them to think of joy too, and think, what's she calling me for this time?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I agree.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: I wrote special, I call them love letters to my daughters when they were young too, going to school, you know.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: Put tuck it in my lunchbox.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's great.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, is there anything, is there anything else that you want to add?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is something that maybe you've done with your kids or grandkids to sprinkle that joy in?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, lots of times it's just sitting around and sharing stories.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: My children on car rides, you know, that's when they can get really grumpy.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I saved the stories of what happened in our family and through the history of our family to share with them.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they loved hearing about their aunts and uncles when they were little, about stories of when they were firstborn that I could share with them and the history of the family.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was such a joyful time that we need to share the heritage and share the goodness of that heritage, the joy of it, even if we're sharing some of the unusual characters in the family.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: We still have them.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, but they do add a whole element of joy in our family in a different way just because of the memories.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of laughter there, right?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Karen, these are great ideas.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for being on the show with us today.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: I know that they'll be a blessing to many families.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a good reminder to get into that mindset.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I love uh how you started out, you know, that we can do that as well.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Waking up at the beginning of the day.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, Lord, who do you want us to bless?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Such so important.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: I do also want to mention that you've been so kind to share several different freebies with our listeners, including a 37-page download with ideas and activities for Lent, Easter, and Spring So perfect for families.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing that.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and thank you again for being on the show.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: This has been a real treat.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Listeners, a reminder to check out the show notes for Karen's website, links to her books.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: She's written 34 of them, and um also uh to the free downloads for your family.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you again, Karen, and thank you, listeners, for joining us.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, have a blessed week.