For those of you that are new around here, I release bonus episodes that serve a niche part of my audience.

This episode is coming from a Christian perspective.

So if that's not something you're interested in, check out one of the other episodes that dropped this week or join me back to your next week for episodes that you don't want to miss.

So by having standards, we're actually saying to our child, you can do hard things. And that is

strangely enough, way better for their sense of self than just giving everyone a trophy.

Yeah, I mean, look, kids all know. They're like, yeah, everybody got a trophy, but they're the

really good player. Everybody knows. Like, no one in, yeah, even in kindergarten reading groups, kids know that's the advanced reading group because they see the book, right? They're like, I'm still on the picture book. They're reading all those words. You know, they get it. So we can stop kind of playing the game and just say, hey, let's just give

true feedback to our kids. Let's be honest with them and also be encouraging. This is Diane

Bowden and you're listening to the minimalist moms podcast. In today's episode, I sit down with

author and Bible teacher Melissa Kruger to discuss her book, Parenting with Hope, Raising Teens for Christ

in a Secular Age, and what it looks like to guide teenagers faithfully in today's hyper-connected world.

Melissa explains how parenting has shifted in the age of constant information in social media,

highlighting the unexpected mental health challenges that many families now face.

Rather than leading with rigid

rules, Melissa encourages parents to prioritize conversation, thoughtfully educate themselves, and frame

boundaries as protection, not punishment. The conversation also explores a surprising threat

to faith formation. Over-scheduled lives, particularly travel sports that crowd out church,

rest, and meaningful community. If you're navigating the teenage years or preparing for them,

this episode offers practical wisdom and study encouragement for raising teens with intention,

connection, and enduring faith. I also did want to note here that you don't have to be a

practicing Christian in order to take a lot away from this episode. So if you're still listening and don't find yourself aligned with the Christian faith, hang tight and don't turn the episode off quite yet. I think there's a lot of wisdom to be cleaned here. But quickly before we get there, if you've yet to leave a rating and review for the Minimus Mom's podcast, pause the episode hit five stars. This is one of the best ways you can help the

podcast continue to succeed and grow. There are so many podcasts you can be listening to, but it's my

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