In This Together With Dr. Josh + Christi

Welcome back to our "Best of" series! Social distancing has given the Straubs a chance to really focus on the atmosphere of their home, both emotionally and spiritually. It's made them a little more intentional, but also has brought a lot more fun to their home as well. In this episode, Josh and Christi talk about the practices they've been implementing in their home to cultivate their kids' hearts and foster a healthy spiritual environment as a family.Here are some highlights:* The misperception that spiritual growth begins with instruction* Why the spiritual environment of our home rises and falls of modeling* The transmitting power of relational warmth* How listening and asking questions of our kids influences the environment* Why worship changes the atmosphere of your home* The ways we teach our kids to listen to God's voice* Why we need to take prayer seriously and be the spiritual covering for our kids

It's crazy how a couple minutes on social media in the morning can impact the rest of our day. Oftentimes we view a post from across the world that provokes an emotion of fear, anxiety, or depression into our own world. This, then, effects the way we communicate with our loved ones.In this 5 minute episode Josh and Christi encourage you to pay attention to the things that are impacting your attitude. They suggest creating an emotion log of instances that trigger negativity, as well as instances that bring you life. This practice provides awareness of what needs to be eliminated and what needs to be implemented. It's the little changes that order your day in a way that allows you to show up for your family.

Welcome to our "Best of" series as we ring in 2021! No doubt your child's world has been rattled in some way by the uncertain times we live in. How we respond to our child's big emotions now will set the stage for how they learn to manage those emotions and make decisions in crisis as they grow older. No pressure, right? In this episode, we provide hope and talk about five practical ways to create an emotional growth environment for your kids.

The more we are wearing face masks, the less children are becoming familiar with our facial cues and how we are relating to them. In this episode, Josh and Christi share powerful ways to increase face time in a day and age where it is challenging to do so. This includes putting our phones away and initiating quality time with our kids.

The enemy is constantly at work to steal, kill, and destroy our marriages. In this episode, Josh and Christi provide helpful ways to create war against the enemy as you cultivate a healthy marriage.Here are a few key takeaways:* Your spouse is not your opponent; the enemy is.* Listen to your spouse without trying to fix the problem.* Be a watchman and spend 15 minutes a day focusing on your spouse's emotions.* We do not fight against flesh and blood. We fight in the supernatural.* Stand firm as you remind the enemy WHO you are and WHOSE you are.

One of the hardest things to do is be joyful when our circumstances don't look the way we'd like them to. But when we look closely at the Christmas story, we are inspired by Elizabeth because of the way she leaped for joy in the midst of her pregnancy. How often do we sing hymns to Jesus and have a dance party when we don't feel like it? When you shift your mind toward what you are grateful for, everything in your life begins to change. Josh and Christi share practical ways to count your blessings and find reasons to throw a dance party in the holiday season.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is throwing a birthday party for Jesus. Think about what He might want for His birthday and talk to your kids about giving Him a present. Plan your party and make a family memory as you celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior.

In this episode, we have a special announcement to make (23:47). But before we do, we use this episode to talk about hearing the voice of God. In a time with so many voices filling your head, how can you discern, is it my voice or God's voice I'm hearing? Or what if it's some other voice? We tell stories from our own journey that might help you learn to trust His voice more in your life. In this episode, we talk about: * Why we have a difficult time discerning the voice of God* How to begin discerning the voice of God in your everyday life* Whether what we take in feeds fear or faith* Why listening to the Holy Spirit leads to loving our neighbor* The consequences of obeying the voice of God when we hear Him speakShow Notes: DECEMBER SPECIAL! Sign up for Your Family Purpose: A Step-by-Step Guide to Establishing Your Family Vision and Values for 50% off through December 31st! Click here to sign up or learn more!

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. But getting our kids to understand trust in God is so difficult, especially when we as parents doubt His goodness. This is an #adventfamilyexperience we used to help our kids understand trust and talk about faith in a tangible way they can "taste." Let's keep pressing into David's Psalm, that we might "taste and know that the Lord is good."

Like a caged tiger walking the same path every single day, we too walk a similar path with our phones. We pull it out and get on the same app trail. How does this trail increase your faith? How does it make you feel after you get off of it? Does it build your relationship with your family? In this 5 minute episode, Christi shares a powerful revelation about a recent decision she made with her phone.

If 2020 were one long rainy day, how did your family dance in it? In this episode, we redefine 2020 not as a curse word, but for the beauty it brought about for our family. We discuss ways you can do the same.Here are a few key takeaways: * If you were to look back at your family photos, what were the sweet moments you remember about 2020?* How can you turn those sweet moments into a bucket list for 2021?* How to define your family purpose for 2021.* What it means to move from good intentions to living intentionally.* The power of pro relationship thoughts in living out your family purpose.Show Notes: DECEMBER SPECIAL! Sign up for Your Family Purpose: A Step-by-Step Guide to Establishing Your Family Vision and Values for 50% off through December 31st! Click here to sign up or learn more!

We're all feeling a bit weary this yea. And with Christmas not being the same as years prior, it just adds to the grief. But what if we made the most of what we've been given?Less running around, slowing the frantic pace, and more time together as a family could be just the remedy.

Lysa TerKeurst, President of Proverbs 31 Ministries, sits down with us to talk about her painful marital journey. She shares vulnerably about her own pain and why she stayed with her husband, Art, when she had every reason not to.No matter who hurt you, you deserve to stop suffering because of what other people have done to you. If you've ever felt stuck in a cycle of unresolved pain, playing offenses over and over in your mind and know you can't go on living like this, but don't know what to do next, this episode is for you. Lysa TerKeurst has wrestled through this journey. And she's discovered that, to find life-giving freedom, you have to let go of bound-up resentment and resistance to forgiving people who aren’t willing to make things right.In this episode, Lysa talks vulnerably about: * The best day and worst day of her forgiveness journey. * The formula to rebuilding trust when you've been wronged.* The difference between forgiveness and reconciliation.* How her husband, Art, shows up today and why he

As a child, we all have family traditions and memories we hold dear. But so often, with the chaos and busyness of having young children, it's easy to justify not holding to those traditions. In this episode, we invite you back to your childhood memories and explain why it's important to keep these memories alive.

Christmas is going to look different for a lot of us this year. But when we numb our feelings of grief and loss, we also numb our ability to experience joy and hope. In this episode, we talk about an activity we created that can help you and your kids grieve well and find joy on the other side. Show Note: Get your copy of the 25 Days of Christmas: An Advent Family Experience, by clicking here.

Forget normal family dysfunction. Add in an election year and opinions about the pandemic, and you have a recipe for a challenging Christmas with family. Never mind that we have to navigate the pandemic and might not even get to see family. But what if we prioritized what really matters? Relationships.In this episode, we talk about eight ways to E.N.J.O.Y.I.N.G the holidays with family in 2020. Show Notes: Visit gominno.com and use code FAMOUS to start your free 7-day trial!Get your copy of the 25 Days of the Christmas Story, by clicking here.

In the honor of bringing people onto the podcast who have influenced our own stories, Frank Tate is back this week to discuss some of the most practical, life-changing principles in our own parenting journey. Frank was on the podcast a few years ago with a message called Screaming Data, still one of the most listened to and shared episodes we have ever recorded. This time, his book is finished and available! In this episode, he revisits some of those principles and shares new insights about the book's title and how we can harness even the pandemic as an incredible gift for the direction of our family. Here are some highlights: * Why the title of his book went from Foster Kid to Time Machines Work* How to harvest the wisdom of our stories* What screaming data is and why it's so powerful as a parenting principle* How we can either celebrate our kid's DNA into their best version, or shame it into submission* The power of data-based praise* A redefinition of the words "smart" and "success"Show Notes: To purchase

It's too easy to get stuck in a pattern of praying the same things for and with our kids. In this episode, Christi shares a powerful insight she received from Habakkuk 2 about the patterns our kids find themselves in and how to pray for them. The big question is: What if we went from "note answerers," to "note-takers?"

Jesus' birthday is just around the corner. What if we were to ask Him what He wanted for His birthday? It's a powerful question we asked in our family that led us to the heartwarming story of Norah Birungi.As families seeking to live on purpose, this episode is a story about the generational and transformative power of what happens when we give back to God what He gives to us. In this episode, Norah shares how the gifts of another family when she was a child helped her to become the wife, mom, and woman of God she is today. We also share how stories like Norah's inspired our family to give back this Christmas.Show Notes: To join us in sponsoring a child with Compassion International this Christmas, text the word FAMOUS to 83393 to receive the profile of a child in need of a sponsor. Or to choose a child as a family, visit www.compassion.com/famousathomeLet's join together to invest in the next generation of families who will be famous at home.

We all lack faith in God in certain areas of our lives. In this episode, we differentiate faith from hope. We also challenge you to find the one area of your life where you need more faith. Instead of asking the question, "What if God doesn't show up?" what if we instead asked the question, "What if He does?" Here are some practical ways to build your faith when you need it most.