Christian Parenting.

Christian Parenting.

Hey friends, welcome back to Pardon the Mess.

I'm your host, Courtney DeFaio, and this is bittersweet folks.

This is my last episode as your host of Pardon the Mess. And what a gift? I just keep thinking. I'm so thankful that my buddy, Jill Jefferson, who's been over this podcast network, called me three plus years ago and said, hey, I think you'd be perfect for this job. And I'm so glad she invited me in. It felt like a God thing. And I've just been just in awe of being able to do this. And I've loved it. But there's a whole team behind the scenes that has made this happen. I get to do the fun stuff. I get to interview people and get to be the voice. But behind the scenes at Christian parenting, there's so many people making this podcast happen. So I didn't want to end without thanking them. Obviously, Jill Jefferson could not have done it without you, my friend. You brought me into this, and you also carried me through it. Jeanette Tapley is a speaker, an author, and podcaster. She's now a flight attendant. She's a mom. I have no idea how she was the one to edit every single one of these episodes and make them sound so put together and she just helped me

a ton. So, Jeanette, thank you for your work. And then the team at Christian Parenting,

Steph and Claire and Morgan and Alex, all of them had their hands and just the direction of the

podcast. They had just incredible feedback and writing into all the prayer journals and just,

again, behind the scenes, making it all happen. So I'm very, very thankful. And the prayer journals and just, again, behind the scenes,

making it all happen. So I'm very, very thankful. And the last but not least, I want to thank

Kara and Bridget, which are two of my friends that you probably met through one of the prayer

episodes, but they prayed as friends through every single episode of the last three years.

They listened to every one of them. They were so in tune with the bigger picture in what God was doing and just kept me on track. They prayed for protection of me and my family. And ultimately, they prayed for you that God would do a work every time an episode was aired that you would feel encouraged and you would feel a nudge by God in your parenting role. And so I'm really, really grateful for them.

And then I just want to share two more things. One, how am I feeling? And then two, last thoughts on parenting. But how am I feeling? Obviously, all the emotions. Whenever you put your heart and soul into something and then you walk away, I don't know if you know that in a volunteer role, or maybe your job is out of season, or maybe you're leaving the years of middle school and you're going into high school and you're like,

did it? volunteer role or maybe your job is out of season or maybe you're leaving the years of middle school

and you're going into high school and you're like, did it matter? Like, was it helpful? And I'm not

sharing this with you to make you write me letters or tell me that I'm awesome. But I wanted to just

be honest that there's a tension in that as you end something to go, man, I hope it was good and the

numbers are there, but that's not the full story. And so as I was thinking about this and just how I've settled into this tension, I thought it would be really helpful of you to think about this in parenting. So as I wrestled with, Lord, was that helpful? You know, there's a lot of intangibles that you don't really know through a podcast. You're just putting it out there. Thousands of people are listening, but you don't always know how each episode lands with each person. And as I got settled and I really spoke to God through that tension, I felt like this is what he pressed on me, which can be true of this podcast and this assignment for me, but it can also be true of your job and the season that you're in,

or maybe your role as a parent. And as I settled, here are the two things I kept hearing, was, were you obedient and were you faithful? And so, yes, I can rest in the fact that I said yes to something he was calling me to do. And so obedience was most important for me. And then faithfulness, just continuing to show up. And y'all, what a word

that is. That's so, that's terrible. I'm like, what a word I'm giving. But what a word God gave to me

in a time I was doubting that it mattered for us as parents to go, are you obedient with the things

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