Today's topic is learning what you can control because we somehow we believe we can control a situation or other people or even ourselves. Ha!! "On a good day, the only thing you can control is yourself." - Danny Silk Story: The time there was a suicide attempt in our house. Problem and Stress: We quickly zoom in and focus on the things we cannot control. We feel stuck and tons of yucky, yucky emotions will wash over you. Trying to control things you cannot control guarantees you stress and mise...
Mar 05, 2020•16 min•Ep. 14
Today's topic is underwear runs in the snow and how to build fun into the day to day grind. Vacations are awesome for 2 weeks, but living 50 other weeks of misery is not fun. Don't do it. Story: The family underwear runs. Problem and Stress: We can lose the ability to have fun and play. Most of us turn to "numbing" our life with Netflix binges or video gaming. Having fun is about building relationships within your friends and family. I promise you will be a stressed out mess if you operate with ...
Mar 04, 2020•16 min•Ep. 13
Today's topic is how to always have the right perspective by building your muscle to zoom in or zoom out of the situation you are in. Some call it detachment, awareness, perspective or reframing. Story: The time the boys were deer hunting. Problem and Stress: We all become stressed when we cannot zoom in or zoom out of a problem. Stress comes from being locked into one perspective. Think of it like a microscope in 1 hand and a telescope in the other hand. You need both to understand. Solution an...
Mar 03, 2020•15 min•Ep. 12
Today's topic is learning to pray when you are mad at God. Story: The times that Shawna journals when she is really ticked at God. The Bible verses that tell God that He is doing a really bad job at being God. Problem and Stress: People think they can only talk to God when they feel holy so they stop talking to God. Being pissed off is a part of the prayer cycle. Not praying will often lead you to more stress because your emotions become bottled. Solution and Examples: God can handle all our ang...
Mar 02, 2020•13 min•Ep. 11
Today's topic is what is an extrovert. The people who gain energy from being around others. Story: The time my wife didn't want to ever podcast because she wasn't energized with the thought of just talking alone in a room with her husband. (But her husband convinced her to picture herself in front of 1,000s of people). Problem and Stress: If you don't understand how an extrovert needs to recharge with people, then you will be stressed and frustrated with yourself and others. Solution and Example...
Feb 28, 2020•15 min•Ep. 10
Today's topic is about an introvert. This is a person who recharges their energy by being alone. Story: The times that my wife wanted to kill me because she did not understand how an introvert operated. Problem and Stress: If you don't know how introverts operate, then you will be frustrated with yourself and other introverts. Solution and Examples: When you understand how introverts recharge their energy, then you can become proactive about your lifestyle. I want quiet, low lights, and lots of ...
Feb 27, 2020•17 min•Ep. 9
Today's topic is How to Self Care. Story- Susanna Wesley raising 19 kids. Problem/Stress: The lie we believe is that we are selfish to care for ourselves, but this creates tons of stress. Solution and Examples: Self Care is like the oxygen mask dropping on the airplane. Put your mask on so that you can take care of others. Here is the bottom line = Your children will grow up to be like you. Do you want them to never care for themselves? Of course not. Baby step your way to take care of your spir...
Feb 26, 2020•15 min•Ep. 8
Today's topic is Why you need an Evening Routine Story: In the Bible, the day starts in the evening at sunset. So you begin your day with family time and sleep. Problem/Stress: You have very little brain power at the end of the day. You feel tired and stressed so it is difficult to know if you are doing the most important things. Solution / Examples: Plan your evening when you can think clearly. Don't start new projects and try to conquer the world. Connect with your family and relationships. Pr...
Feb 25, 2020•14 min•Ep. 7
Today's topic is how to start a morning routine. Story: We share our testimonies about a great morning routine. Problem/ Stress: If you don't create your morning routine, you are going to react to life's problems. You will feel yucky and stressed out. Solution/ Examples: Some elements we have in our morning routine: cold shower, breathing, yoga, exercise, journaling, Bible reading, gratitude, coffee, and looking over the day's schedule. You must
Feb 24, 2020•13 min•Ep. 6
Today's topic is how to move from reactive to proactive living. Story: the time they shoplifted. Problem/Stress: If you spend your day reacting to everyone and everything else, you will always feel stress and worn out. You react to something when you have not trained or prepared for this. Of course, you cannot train for everything, but you must become proactive about these areas of life: health, spiritual growth, relationships, and work. Solution/Examples: You must start by deciding what you wan...
Feb 21, 2020•13 min•Ep. 5
Today's topic is how to develop a framework for using technology (screen time) for your kids. Story: How our oldest son wanted an Xbox One so he started his own business. Problem/Stress: You will stress out about technology use with your kids until you have a grid to evaluate the right balance. Solution: We allow screen time for education, entertainment, and baby-sitting our kids. Examples: Evaluate how you use technology in your home. Do screens control us? Take time away from screens as a fami...
Feb 19, 2020•15 min•Ep. 4
Today's Topic is Life is Hard. Story: Shawna talks about the difficulties of life in the past few weeks. Justin talks about his Grandma Allene walking to school barefoot. Problem: Too often, you believe that life is suppose to be easy (just look at social media). The lie is that life is hard so I must be failing. Because I am a failure, I should quit. Believing that you are a failure creates all kinds of stress in your life. It kills your dreams, relationships and lots of other good things. Solu...
Feb 18, 2020•14 min•Ep. 3
Today's Topic: How to cultivate a culture of thankfulness in kids. Story: The time the radiator and dad cracked. (How dad went from being a jerk to expressing thankfulness.) Problem: Entitlement and stress develop in our children when they are not taught how to develop a thankful heart. Solution: We have to thinking of thankfulness like a garden. You have to keep sowing seeds of thankfulness on a continual basis to reap the benefits. Just being thankful at Thanksgiving just won't cut it. Create ...
Feb 18, 2020•13 min•Ep. 2
Today Topic is cultivating a culture of thankfulness within adults. Story: How traveling the world and then having a child with special needs helped us have thankful hearts. Problem: When going through hard times, it is so easy to lose perspective on the bigger things in life. This creates huge amounts of stress because you feel trapped and have no room to maneuver. Solution: Thankfulness allows us to zoom out and gain a better perspective. Getting a global and historical perspective can shift y...
Feb 18, 2020•13 min•Ep. 1
It took 2 years of convincing, but Shawna has finally agreed to join Justin on a podcast adventure. Both grew up in Kentucky, met in Ethiopia via an arranged marriage, 15 years of marriage, 6 biological kids, foster parents, teachers, business owners. Ready to share our successes and failures. Today's Topic: Introduction to Less Stress Family Podcast Story: Shawna and her Grandmother Whartenby + Justin and his Grandfather = the little things we do matter to generations. Problem: Dads, moms, kids...
Feb 18, 2020•9 min•Ep. 1
