Latest / 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids. / Daily Grace for Moms of Littles w/Alexandra Jensen

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Daily Grace for Moms of Littles w/Alexandra Jensen · 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.
• 0:18
  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: I'm excited to have fellow Ambassador International author Alexandra Jensen back on the show to talk about her newest book, Daily Grace for Moms of Littles.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Alex is a former elementary school teacher, wife, stay-at-home mom of three, and steering team leader for The Mom Co., commonly known as Mops.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Daily Grace is Alexandra's fourth published book.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, welcome back to the show.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Karen.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy to be here.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm great.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy to have you.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I had the pleasure of reading your latest book, and I'm just excited to highlight it today because I know it will be a great encouragement to moms.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about this new book and what inspired you to write it.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, the book is Daily Grace for Moms of Littles: 50 Days of Knowing God More Fully and Mothering Confidently for the King.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I wrote this book just from a place of life felt heavy, and I needed to reset and reorient my heart personally as a mom.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And this book was part of the process of me doing that.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna read a little snippet of the introduction just to set up the premise of the book.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: So wonderful.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: It says, um, what does every mom I know, myself included, need?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: A daily dose of God's grace.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: God's grace softens our hearts, it makes us moldable and soft to Jesus' touch.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: God's grace sheds light onto our weaknesses in a constructive, loving way.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: God's grace builds us up and fills our cups.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Mamas need grace like no other creatures on the planet.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: We are constantly running on empty, fighting to stay afloat.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: We are daily meeting the needs of everyone but ourselves.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: If there's anything we need, in addition to more coffee, it's God's life-saving grace.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there is a Greek word for grace that's charis, and that word is linguistically and spiritually connected to two other Greek words, Eucharistia, Thanksgiving, and Chara, which means joy.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of what this book is all about.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's um when when we are thankful and grateful for our daily lives as moms, and when we dig into the love that God has for us and exude chara, um, joy, and abide in charis grace, um, we live in a state of of thanksgiving.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever we can just truly dig into God's great love for us.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So the introduction goes on to encourage readers to uh read God's word in addition to this devotional.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's very important that we're um actually going to the source and not just um reading Christian nonfiction self-help books or even devotionals.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Reading God's word is the best way to receive God's grace and through prayer.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you have such a way with words, it's beautifully written.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And and I like how you point readers to the word, but it's also for for busy moms out there, we know how busy it can be.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: I like the fact that each each devotional is is short enough to get through, and it also does have prayers as well as other scriptures to meditate upon or other steps of faith, just to make it more practical in our in daily life.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's really a beautiful book.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: I love the color too.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: I love the sunflowers on there, it's very bright and beautiful.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sunflowers, they remind me of heaven, and maybe someday we'll get to see the seeds of what we planted, and and it might look like a field of sunflowers is kind of what I imagine division for it.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I pray that this book would be a place where mamas uncover and fully encompass themselves in God's grace, which leads to a sense of thanksgiving and joy in their lives.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And in the book, I talk about a strong mom and what that looks like.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, a strong mom is fully dependent on God's grace.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna read just a clip from Strong Mom.
• 4:48
  unknown: Sure.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: A strong mom is different from what you would expect.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: A strong mom is not one who does things all by herself and muscles her way through motherhood and life.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: A strong mom lays down her life for her children and family each day.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: She realizes that what she does is special and has value in Jesus' sight.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: A strong mom is meek and humble in spirit, who knows that her purpose and identity is rooted in Christ alone.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: A strong mom is fully reliant on the presence of Jesus.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Her strength is found in Jesus Christ.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: A strong mom is quick to get out of the way and let the way maker have his way in her heart and life.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: A strong mom is fully dependent on God's grace, and it doesn't always look like what modern culture tells us what a strong mom is.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and the book addresses other topics for moms, such as worry and motherhood, fully relying on God, being okay with feeling unseen at times, and knowing that God sees us and cares, living boldly for Christ, discipling children, gratitude and motherhood, self-care, and so much more.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: The subtitle um is 50 days of knowing God more fully and mothering confidently for the king.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And confidence in the presence, presence of God truly go hand in hand.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: We can mother confidently for the king when we know God more fully.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so I like how in the subtitle, these two aspects of mothering confidently and knowing God just really play off each other.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um, the more we know God, the more confident we can be as moms and wives and friends.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: So true.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I love, you know, that you point to uh it's about relationship, not performance, right?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And we and I'm so grateful for the grace of God.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: My girls are grown now, but we have grandkids, you know, and so it's just it's just a blessing to to think about God's wonderful grace for us.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he wants that intimate relationship.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about performance so much, it's it's about that dependence upon him.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's one of the messages I took away from your book as well.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's about it's about knowing God and depending on him and not not feeling like you have to perform every day, just resting in that grace that he has for us.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what message do you hope readers take away from from this book, but your work in general?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I see you post a lot on Instagram, uh, I think you're on Facebook as well.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I just love your posts.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: They're so uplifting and encouraging for really moms of all ages.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, what message, overarching message, do you hope people take away from your work?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in order to be grace-giving parents, God has to be our number one priority.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: And when we align ourselves with the Lord through his word and prayer daily, our hearts um are more able to fully reflect his goodness in every facet of our lives, in motherhood, in marriage, in work, and friendships, and in all of the things.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: When we root our identities in Christ and live in the fear of the Lord, asking God, what do you think about this in every situation?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: His grace abides in us and it overflows into the lives of the little ones and in the families, our families that we love, the ones that we love.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's good.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Alex, what's coming up for you?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Are there any new books in the future?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I'm working on a new project.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's titled tentative title is Learning to Love the Life You Already Have.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: The subtitle is Becoming a Grateful Mom.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: So it is a book for moms, but it really hits the heartbuck heartbeat of gratitude.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And as a mom, I I used to think I'm grateful, but this doesn't make my life any easier.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the fact that being a mom is hard, and we have these thoughts in the back of our minds and our hearts that are like almost resentful.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this is really hard.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what have I gotten myself into?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm feeling overwhelmed and burnt out, all of those heavy feelings that we feel at times as mom.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: This book addresses those feelings, but doesn't leave the reader there.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It transforms those feelings into um and it puts them on onto the yoke of Jesus Christ ultimately, where he can help us through life and carry those burdens with us as moms.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds wonderful.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to hear more about it.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Any uh, is there an anticipated release date at this point?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, no, I'm working with my agent right now.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: We're pursuing publishers.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I can't wait to see more about it and hear more about it.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Alex, thank you so much for being here today and sharing about your book.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: I I just want to encourage moms, grab a copy of Alexandra's book, uh Daily Grace for Moms of Littles.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I will have links to Alex's website and to her book in the show notes.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: So be sure to check that out.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex, thank you again for being here.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that is it for today.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with another mom you want to encourage.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Then come back next week for another episode of Five Minute Parenting.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Have a blessed week.