Raising Young Disciples Podcast

For single parents who don't have a partner to share the load, the weight of caring for kids alone can feel crushing. It takes a village to help raise the world’s next disciples, and it is a relief to find community when your household is shorthanded on help.   On today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Christin Thorpe to hear how she has felt supported and empowered as a single mother to raise her young son within the Church. Join us as we explore different ways we can show up for one another and create intentional communities that walk through all aspects of life together.   Guest Bio:  Dr. Christin Thorpe is a devoted mother, sociologist, church consultant, and community-focused faith leader. Through her work, Christin brings research-driven insight shaped by lived experience. With deep church roots and seasons of distance from faith, she brings authenticity, vision, and hope to churched, unchurched, and de-churched communities alike—all while calling people back to belonging. Links:  Thriving Black Church Initiative: https://www.odbm.org/en/voices/thriving-black-church-initiative Listen to more from Dr. Christin Thorpe on the “Faith Under Construction” podcast! 🎧 https://www.odbm.org/en/podcasts/faith-under-construction?pg=1 Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/ 

Every family’s story is different. For blended families, their story often starts with a season of pain, loss, and unexpected change. Not only are the parents and children having to make sense of the new day-to-day logistics, but they’re also having to work through the big feelings that come with former dynamics or what might be next. Thankfully, God still delights in making beauty out of ashes.  On this episode of “Raising Young Disciples,” Mary Jo and Daniel are joined by Cheryl Shumake, proud bio mom, bonus mom, and founder of Stepmom Sanity, to share her experiences growing and discipling her blended family. And here’s a spoiler: God’s grace, love, and mercy always shows up for her and her family—wherever they are in their story.  Guest Bio:  Ask Cheryl about her greatest adventure and she’ll tell you, “That I know and love Jesus and get to make Him known.” She is a Bible teacher, author, speaker, and founder of Stepmom Sanity, a Christ-centered circle of support, providing help and hope for stepmoms who are “there” from stepmoms who’ve been there. Cheryl and her husband, Jonathan, make their home in Michigan and are frequently invaded by their children looking for food and hugs! Links:  Stepmom Sanity: https://www.stepmomsanity.com/the-mission FamilyLife Blended: https://www.familylife.com/familylifeblended/blended-families/ Check out Cheryl’s book, Waiting to Be Wanted! Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/ 

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” —Psalm 139:13-14  Did you know that 1 out of every 3 households in the United States includes someone living with a disability? Those who find themselves as part of the caregiving communities—whether directly or indirectly—know that every story, challenge, and experience is different. But do you know what will always be true? God will always show up and meet us wherever we are along this journey.  Join hosts Mary Jo and Daniel as they sit down with Rev. Dr. Jason Le Shana and explore how we create opportunities for true inclusion and belonging between those with and without disabilities inside our homes, communities, and churches.   Guest Bio:  Reverend Jason Le Shana, PhD, is Program Director of the Baylor Collaborative on Faith and Disability. Before coming to Baylor, Rev. Dr. Le Shana was a campus pastor for 13 years at Azusa Pacific University where he led the chapel programming and pastoral counseling efforts. As an ordained pastor, he has served in churches both large and small as a pastoral team member, including as worship pastor, preaching team member, and youth ministry staff. His passion for the church and higher education has allowed him to also serve as an adjunct professor in biblical studies, a denominational consultant, and as a volunteer in a variety of local church ministries. In addition to his years serving college students and congregants with intellectual and physical disabilities, Rev. Dr. Le Shana’s passion and calling to faith and disability work stem from his personal life experiences, including living with a physical disability and as the parent of a child with autism.  Links:  Disability Ministry Network: https://disabilityministrynetwork.org/ Joni & Friends: https://joniandfriends.org/ Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/

Can you count the number of notifications that pinged you through your phone today? 📱  Some days it seems hard to remember there was once a time when we couldn’t carry a computer in our pockets. And as we continue to raise our kids in a fast-paced, digital age that gets more confusing by the minute, it can be hard to know what decisions to make when it comes to their screen time. Sit down with Mary Jo and Daniel as they are joined by Doug Crawford to talk about some easy-to-adopt habits adults can use to model healthy digital discernment so that even the littlest eyes can see technology as a “we” activity, not a “me” activity.   Guest Bio:  Doug Crawford has had the pleasure of filling many roles at Protect Young Eyes and currently serves as the Family Digital Wellness Expert. After being a pastor for more than 15 years, Doug now comes alongside families, churches, and communities to help them create safer digital spaces for everyone.   Links:  Check out Doug’s work with Protect Young Eyes! https://www.protectyoungeyes.com/  Keep learning how to be spiritually wise in today’s tech age with these additional podcasts! 🎧 Andy Crouch’s episode of Where Ya From?: https://whereyafrom.org/episode/episode-14-being-techwise-and-culture-making-with-andy-crouch/ Amy Crouch’s episode of God Hears Her: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/the-best-of-god-hears-her-podcast-how-to-live-a-tech-wise-life/ How Technology Tells the Story of the Bible | Week 1: https://discovertheword.org/series/how-technology-tells-the-story-of-the-bible-week-1/ How Technology Tells the Story of the Bible | Week 2: https://discovertheword.org/series/how-technology-tells-the-story-of-the-bible-week-2 Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/

As a parent, one of the first lessons you learn is that each kid is different. They have different passions, different personalities, and different experiences. But our deepest desire is always the same: that they would know that God loves them and He created them uniquely, wonderfully, and purposefully. His perfect plan for their life was for them to be part of your family—even if they joined it through fostering or adoption. On today’s episode, Mary Jo and Daniel are joined by guest Rochelle Traub to share her faith-filled story of navigating both biological and adoptive parenthood and the Christ-centered wisdom she has for others walking this same path.   Guest Bio:  Rochelle Traub loves connecting with people whether it’s relaxing with friends over dinner, creating memories with family in the funny moments of life, or communicating through words and voice in her marketing job at Our Daily Bread Ministries. She’s been married to her best friend, Kevin, for 33 years, and together they have three children, including their youngest daughter who was adopted from China. Rochelle looks forward to her morning “walk and talk” sessions with her exercise buddy, skiing in Colorado with family, reading a good book while sipping steaming hot coffee, and traveling pretty much anywhere. She is thankful for God’s grace and goodness in her life, and her life goal is to share the gift of Jesus.  Links:  Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/ 

Do you have a Pawpaw, Grammy, or other grandparent figure that helped shape your faith into what it is today? These “young at heart” members of our families and communities are usually some of our biggest supporters, sharing wise words and the occasional sweet treat throughout all stages of life. And they can make all the difference in showing our kids what it means to know and live like Jesus! In this week’s episode, hosts Mary Jo and Daniel sit down with Paul Caminiti, a proud grandpa of four, to discuss all the ways grandparents can live out Scripture and God’s commands by being a present, safe space for their grandkids—and adult kids!  Guest Bio:  Paul Caminiti has been a cultural innovator for the Bible for over two decades, first as the Bible Publisher at Zondervan and then Vice President of Global Bible Engagement at Biblica. In 2016, Paul co-founded The Institute for Bible Reading, acquired by Our Daily Bread Ministries in 2023.  Links:  Institute for Bible Reading: https://instituteforbiblereading.org/ Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/ 

In our parenting journeys, we’ve all had those moments when we finally felt like we got a handle on things—only to then feel like our kids started a new stage overnight and forgot to tell us.   Discipling our little ones looks a lot different than discipling our preteens, which looks a lot different than discipling the college freshman who is leaving the nest for the first time. But if there’s one thing that’s true at any stage of parenting, it’s questioning if we are doing enough. We will always have those days when we desperately wish we had all the right answers.  Thankfully, we have something much better. We have a God who is present, leading us and loving us (and our kids!) in every stage.   On this week’s episode, our hosts Mary Jo and Daniel are joined by Dr. Michelle Anthony to discuss what it means to put God on full display in the different life stages and how we can help tune their senses to see Him, hear Him, and know Him at any age.   Guest Bio:  Dr. Michelle Anthony is the Executive Pastor of Families at New Life Church and Dean of Familymin Academy. She is also the author of many books, including her newest release, 7 Family Ministry Essentials. Michelle has more than 40 years of church ministry and leadership experience in children’s and family ministries.  Links:  📚 Learn More from Dr. Michelle Anthony!  “Spiritual Parenting: An Awakening for Today’s Families”  https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Parenting-Awakening-Todays-Families/dp/1434764478 “The Big God Story” https://www.amazon.com/Big-God-Story-Michelle-Anthony/dp/1434764540 “7 Family Ministry Essentials: A Strategy for Culture Change in Children’s and Student Ministries” https://www.amazon.com/Family-Ministry-Essentials-Childrens-Ministries/dp/0781412978  Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season  Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/ 

Throughout Scripture, our Heavenly Father reminds us just how important it is to share His truths from one generation to the next. But this isn’t just teaching our kids to trust, remember, and obey their Creator. True intergenerational discipleship is about growing in faith with them, praying with them, being honest with them, and intentionally confirming who they are and whose they are.   It begins when we embrace God’s blessing for ourselves and create the appropriate spaces and relationships that pass these blessings on to the next.   Join our hosts Mary Jo Clark and Daniel Ryan Day as they sit down with Dr. Chuck Stecker and explore why God calls parents to disciple their children in an intergenerational context and how this calling can be supported by our inner circles and local church families.  Guest Bio:  Dr. Chuck Stecker is a speaker, author, coach, mentor, and the Founder/Executive Director of A Chosen Generation. Dr. Stecker uniquely combines his several years of business experience, 23 years of military service, and more than 30 years of vocational ministry to empower the next generations of leaders and encourage churches to return to truly intergenerational communities.   Links:  Explore these print and digital resources to bring your family together throughout the Lent and Easter season! 📖📱  https://www.odbm.org/en/campaigns/nydi/nydi-welcome-families/lent-season Our Daily Bread Ministries: https://www.odbm.org/en/