Sometimes it feels like “mom world” is another planet. A nursing shield? An all-terrain stroller? Funny-shaped food? It seems easier to build friendships with women in our season of life, but the gospel gives us a bigger picture of community. In this episode, Emily and Laura interview Elizabeth Woodson about building flourishing friendships with women in other seasons of life—particularly singles. Elizabeth is a Bible teacher who writes, teaches, and helps to develop leaders at The Village Church and serves as the Director of Resources for the Sparrow Conference. Christian moms and singles can have the most important thing in common: our faith in Christ. So press in a little deeper with a woman in a different season and enjoy God’s gift of community.

MENTIONED ON THE SHOW:

• Elizabeth Woodson’s website

• Elizabeth on Instagram & Twitter

• The Village Church

• Sparrow Conference 2019

RELATED ARTICLES, RESOURCES, AND CONTENT:

Related R|M resources:

• “God’s Grace Beyond our ‘Mom Tribes,’" - Abby Hummel, Risen Motherhood

• “The Gospel Comes with a House Key,” - Rosaria Butterfield, Risen Motherhood

• “When We’re Offended: The Cost of Being a Peacemaker,” - Lauren Weir, Risen Motherhood

• “Members, Not Measures: A Call to Own One Another’s Joys and Sorrows,” Abbey Wedgeworth, Risen Motherhood

• “Moms Make Peace Through Christ,” - Emily Jensen, Risen Motherhood

• Ep. 38, Friendship & Motherhood - Risen Motherhood

• Ep. 43, Serving Others Right Where You’re At - Risen Motherhood

• Ep. 55, Hospitality in the Little Years - Risen Motherhood

• Ep. 65, Finding Your Tribe: Momma, Who is Your Primary Community? - Risen Motherhood

Around the internet:

• Messy Beautiful Friendships: Finding and Nurturing Deep and Lasting Relationships, - Christine Hoover

• Life Together, - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community, - Brett McCracken

• “6 Costs of Real Friendship,” - Jen Thorn, Christianity Today

• “Loneliness, Friendship, and the Goodness of God,” - Melissa Kruger, TGC

• “Woman Enough for Friendship,” - Jasmine Holmes, Fathom Magazine

• Ep. 17, By Faith with Christine Hoover: On Friendships for Moms with Emily & Laura - By Faith

RM APPLY QUESTIONS

It’s great to have a close group of mom friends, but God also designed Christian community to include a variety of ages, experiences, and gifts. Women in different seasons of life can have flourishing friendships if we’re willing to find common interests, have honest conversations, and build on our shared love of Christ. We’re made to be in community and to encourage our sisters-in-Christ, and that happens across every season of life.

1. Do you have friendships with women who are in different seasons of life than you? If so, how can you further invest in these friendships? If not, can you think of any women who share similar interests with you in other areas? Consider inviting one of them to join you for coffee, bread baking, running, etc.

2. There are common threads in all our lives. We all experience pain, loss, and difficulty; and we all experience joy, thankfulness, and hope. The gospel meets us where we are in our different situations and enables us to mourn and rejoice with one another. How is a shared love of Christ the foundation for friendship? How does it connect you to other sisters-in-Christ who may be experiencing different life events than you?

3. Moms and singles can be tempted to run away from hard relationships, but God calls us to consider one another as more important than ourselves. What would it look like to approach a difficult friend with grace? How can you find out how to love that person well?

4. If we want to be true friends, we have to open up our lives to others—which means opening our homes too. What are your expectations for the “right conditions” to be hospitable? Are these biblical requirements or heart idols? How can you open up space this week to invite a single woman over?

5. All women are told to have spiritual children in the faith regardless of our life seasons. We’re to steward the information God gives us by pouring into a younger sister-in-Christ. Is discipleship a regular part of your life? How can you make time for it and who might you “do life” with?

FOR MORE:

• To subscribe: on iOS, go to our iTunes page and subscribe. On Android, click this podcast RSS feed link and select your podcast app. You may need to copy the link into your favorite podcast app (like Overcast or Stitcher).

• Leave an iTunes review. These are huge for us! The more reviews, the greater chance another mother will find us.

• Like Risen Motherhood on Facebook and follow on Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates and related information.

• Let us know your thoughts! We'd love to hear more about the conversations you're having. Shoot us an email, or find us on social media.

• Tell others. We truly hope this podcast fosters conversations and deeper discussions between mothers to seek the gospel in their daily activities - we'd be honored if you shared and encouraged others to listen in.

*Affiliate links used where appropriate. Thanks for supporting this ministry!

Want to start a business? Wondering if you should start traveling for your job or pick up an extra shift? Trying to bend and stretch your schedule to make all your opportunities work? Being able to consider new work responsibilities, ministry roles, or creative endeavors isn’t the norm for everyone, but when we have a choice, it’s a huge privilege to steward. In this episode, Emily and Laura discuss how to evaluate new or changing career or ministry opportunities. We’re made to work and use our gifts to pass on the legacy of faith in all we do. By tuning our thoughts to God’s word, we can pursue holiness, count the cost of each decision, and lay down our lives for others.

RELATED ARTICLES, RESOURCES, AND CONTENT:

• Leave an iTunes Review & Tutorial on How to Leave an iTunes Review

• Ep. 83: Nikki Daniels: Finding Freedom in Christ as a Working Mom - Risen Motherhood

• Ep. 118: Gray Areas: Personal Conscience in Motherhood - Risen Motherhood

• “When You Don’t Measure Up” - Laura Hardin, Risen Motherhood

• “Every Woman’s Call to Work” - Abigail Dodds, Desiring God

• “Women, Work, and Faith: Five Common Themes” - Bethany Jenkins, TGC

• “The Counter-Cultural Woman: A Fresh Look at Proverbs 31” - Revive Our Hearts Series

• “Women, Work, and Our Crisis of Identity” - Carolyn McCulley, Desiring God

• “Women’s Roles and the Great Commission” - Allyson Todd, For the Church

• “The Wonder of Work” Melissa Kruger, TGC

• “When You’re Stuck in a Season You Don’t Want” - Lauren Weir, Words Worth Noting

• “Let Me Be A Woman: A Discussion on Biblical Femininity” - Nana Dolce, Aimee Byrd, Brooke Ventura

FOR MORE:

• To subscribe: on iOS, go to our iTunes page and subscribe. On Android, click this podcast RSS feed link and select your podcast app. You may need to copy the link into your favorite podcast app (like Overcast or Stitcher).

• Leave an iTunes review. These are huge for us! The more reviews, the greater chance another mother will find us.

• Like Risen Motherhood on Facebook and follow on Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates and related information.

• Let us know your thoughts! We'd love to hear more about the conversations you're having. Shoot us an email, or find us on social media.

• Tell others. We truly hope this podcast fosters conversations and deeper discussions between mothers to seek the gospel in their daily activities - we'd be honored if you shared and encouraged others to listen in.

*Affiliate links used where appropriate. Thanks for supporting this ministry!

Regular date nights are a joy. We love getting out of the house and away from the kids!  But does a flourishing God-honoring marriage require this regular habit? If you and your husband are in an overwhelming season and you’re not “succeeding” at date night, this one’s for you. In this episode, Emily and Laura dig into a different perspective on the “modern date night.” Instead of putting our hope in a single night out with our husbands, God teaches us to cherish and serve one another daily. Date nights aren’t a guarantee, but God’s covenant-keeping grace is, and he can sustain our marriage, even when we don’t get a date night.

Am I an Enneagram 3? A Princess Belle? An INFP? Wait, what are you?!

It doesn’t matter if it takes 10 minutes and 100 pop-ups, we’ll click through to learn something new about our personalities. In this episode, Emily and Laura talk about why we love learning about ourselves and what role personality profiles should play in our mothering. Digging into who we are can be useful, but our personalities aren’t the full definition of who we are in Christ. God is making all things new, changing and transforming every part of us—personalities included—into the image of Jesus.

RELATED ARTICLES, RESOURCES, AND CONTENT:

• Risen Motherhood on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter

• “Personality Assessments and the Wondrous Knowledge of Being Known” Lore Ferguson Wilbert, Lifeway

• “I’m Not an Expert on Myself” Jen Wilkin, Family Life

• “Personality Tests and Abiding in Love” Liz Wann, Morning By Morning

• “Personality Tests: Knowing God Through Knowing Ourselves” Nate Claiborne, Christian Pop Culture

• “What God Thinks About You” John Rinehart, Desiring God

• “Stop Using Your Personality Test as a Crutch” Michael Kelley, For The Church

• “The FAQs: What Christians Should Know About the Enneagram” Joe Carter, TGC

• “What the Bible Says About Our Identities in Christ” Melissa Kruger, Megan Hill, Jen Pollock Michel [Video], TGC

For More:

• To subscribe: on iOS, go to our iTunes page and subscribe. On Android, click this podcast RSS feed link and select your podcast app. You may need to copy the link into your favorite podcast app (like Overcast or Stitcher).

• Leave an iTunes review. These are huge for us! The more reviews, the greater chance another mother will find us.

• Like Risen Motherhood on Facebook and follow on Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates and related information.

• Let us know your thoughts! We'd love to hear more about the conversations you're having. Shoot us an email, or find us on social media.

• Tell others. We truly hope this podcast fosters conversations and deeper discussions between mothers to seek the gospel in their daily activities - we'd be honored if you shared and encouraged others to listen in.

*Affiliate links used where appropriate. Thanks for supporting this ministry!