Latest / 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids. / Three Simple Rhythms that Benefit Moms, with author Heather Cook

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Three Simple Rhythms that Benefit Moms, with author Heather Cook · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Karen Ferguson, wife, mom, grandmom, and children's book author, with a background in K-A education and a passion for equipping parents to raise confident and God-confident kids.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we'll cover parenting practices for both a practical view and a biblical view.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: 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_00: I know you're busy, so we'll keep it short.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take just five minutes and dive in.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Five Minute Parenting.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited for today's show because we have a special guest on with a special message of encouragement for moms.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Heather Cook is a pastor, faith-based communicator, and founder of Live Beautiful Ministries, where she helps women discover their identity in Christ and live with intention, grace, and purpose.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: As a wife and mom of three, Heather knows firsthand the tension between a full life and a steady soul.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Through her writing, speaking, and mentoring, she encourages women to pursue spiritual growth in every season.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Heather, welcome to the show.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me, Karen.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's great to have you here.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I know you have a special message for moms today.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So please jump right in and share.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're a mom with young kids at home, you probably don't need me to tell you that life is busy.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's loud.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Our calendars are so full.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's full of the unpredictable, the new challenges every day, the unexpected.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: And you're also trying to grow in your faith.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: There can be this quiet pressure that we put on ourselves, the feeling as though we should be doing more, spending more time with God, feeling more connected with our people, being more consistent in all things.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: But our reality looks a little different sometimes.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we finally sit down, maybe with our coffee, hopefully it's hot, and our Bible, and within seconds, someone needs us.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: And just like that, that special moment is gone.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember thinking in these seasons, why does seeking God feel so much harder right now?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: It almost feels impossible some days.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I desired so deeply to be faithful and to grow spiritually.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: But motherhood felt like it was getting in the way, and it made me so sad to think of it that way.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: And moms, maybe you felt that way too.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: But what if motherhood isn't getting in the way of your relationship with God?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: What if it's actually the place where He wants to meet you most?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus tells us in Matthew 11, come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say, Come to me when your home is quiet, or come to me when you figured out a routine.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: He says, Come to me when you are weary.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like in motherhood that carries so much weight.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if you've been feeling behind spiritually or feeling distracted or like you're not doing enough, moms, I want you to hear this.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: You are not failing God, you are not falling behind, and you are not doing this wrong.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things I talk about in my book, A Pace of Grace, is the idea that many of us are living at an un the unsustainable pace.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're living at a pace full of our expectations or our expectations that we feel others have put on us.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: We live at a pace of comparison, and sometimes we're just living at a pace of survival, and we feel like we have no margin in our day.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that's exhausting.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: But Jesus invites us into something different, He asks us to abide in Him.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Abiding isn't adding more to your day, but staying connected to God in the day you are already living.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: God isn't only found in our times of quiet, He's found in the kitchen when our dishes are stacked high, in the carpool line when that parent cut you off.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: In the middle of a toddler meltdown, when we just don't know how we are going to make it through dinner.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Even when you are so stretched and you don't know how you're going to have that.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Those moments might feel small, but they are deeply significant.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And they are the small steps of surrender and trust that lead to a life of obedience in Jesus.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Faithfulness and motherhood often feel small and insignificant to us, but they are the things that God cares about most, the fruit that comes from a heart seeking the will of God.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is a beautiful message.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I know there are so many moms right now listening and just um feeling that encouragement of the Lord.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I thank you for being here again, just to share this important message.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know you do have three simple rhythms for moms, not as a to-do list, but as far as working with the Lord in this season.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: What would you like to share with moms on that?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a very practical person when it comes to this.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: I need to know, okay, how, how, how does this work?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: And so um, my three steps um are super simple.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, they're not to-do lists, they're just to let God guide you in them.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: So if any of these resonate with you, ask the Lord how to add them to your day and how to walk in them.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but number one, release that all or nothing mindset.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't have 30 minutes to sit with the Lord, that doesn't mean that you have failed to make margin.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Five minutes with God matters.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: 30 seconds of honest prayer matters.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: A quick moment of turning your heart towards God matters.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Each of those things are so important.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, number two would be practice presence over perfection.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: So instead of trying to create this perfect spiritual moment, invite God into the moment that you're already in.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you can even do a simple prayer.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: God help me notice you right now.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: I find myself sometimes saying, Um, God help me.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: The God notice me or God let me notice you is so important.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then number three, live in grace and not guilt.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: So guilt will tell you that you're not doing enough, but grace reminds you that God is already near, his mercies are new every morning.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: And if the day didn't go the way that you hoped, turn to God and try again.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: So today I want to leave this with you.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're not behind.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: God is not waiting for a better version of your life to meet with you.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: He is meeting you right here in the noise, in the mess, in the ordinary moments of motherhood.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just up to us to walk with him at his pace and not our own.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: What a wise and encouraging message for moms.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Heather, for being here and sharing.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And we serve a good God, and that's one of the th many things I love about him is he doesn't expect us to have it all together before we come into his presence.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: He um he's right there with us in it all, and and that's such a blessing.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: So before we close, Heather, please tell us a little bit about your book, A Pace of Grace, where to find it, and about your ministry, Live Beautiful.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, A Pace of Grace is a book that was written out of um out of desire, out of desire to get to walk with the Lord in all things.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, in the book, we talk about um the importance of identity and your foundation with God, um, what contentment looks like, thankfulness, why a godly character is important, um, what it looks like to walk in obedience, but also we talk about community and why that's important, why rest is important.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then we go into different spiritual practices that help us, as I said, I'm practical, but it helps us to hear the father's heart for us.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just so blessed to have that message out in the world.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can find it anywhere books are sold, um, Amazon, uh, Barnes and Noble, Walmart.com, all of those um places you're able to find that book.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds wonderful.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Was there a spark that inspired you to write this book?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: The the um yes.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: It was out of the necessity of wanting all of those things and and praying about um where to find them and just pulling so much information from so many wonderful, um, wonderful leaders.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then taking it to the Lord on how how can we walk this out?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and one day he just revealed to me, you're going to write a book.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that is all of the notes over seven years is compiled into this, into this book.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's wonderful.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then you have a ministry, Live Beautiful.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I do.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Live Beautiful Ministries um is to encourage women.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I was a women's pastor for three years, and this um it's so deep on my heart for women to live in the authenticity of who God has created them to be.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, especially my heart is is especially mothers.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yes, but any women and just how that practically looks.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: So right now it's a it's a blog.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there are resources on there of when when I feel the Lord asks me to share something, I will create a resource and put it on um the webpage.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: And hopefully in the next year or so, I will be offering um mentorship and counseling um as well as spiritual direction.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that's gonna be on the horizon.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, wonderful.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: We will link to all of that in the show notes.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, listeners, be sure to check that out.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you again for being here, Heather.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that is it for today.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: I pray this episode is a blessing to you.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Please like and subscribe to Five Minute Parenting so you never miss an episode.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And share this episode with someone you want to encourage.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Then come back next week.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: New episodes drop every Thursday.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Have a blessed week.