The Durenda Wilson Podcast

Many of you have messaged me with concerns about the church that you attend or are struggling to find a Biblical church and aren't sure what exactly to look for. Today I have Wes Johnson back on the podcast to share with us how to find a Biblical church! Resources mentioned in this episode: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today Other episodes with Wes: Applying Romans 13 to the Here and Now The Importance of a Biblical Education The Biblical Importance of Family Recognizing False Teachers Biblical Submission: The Hot Potato The Dangers of a Self-Help Culture (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)

Today Tripp Almon and I are going to be talking about the benefits of a gap year program for your graduate. A gap year is time taken off from school in exchange for experiences.  There are different kinds of gap year programs. What we will be talking about today is one that will help solidify your graduate's faith and ground them in Christian theology, worldview, and apologetics before they fully immerse themselves in college or the job market. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day The Unhurried Homeschooler Mentoring Course Summit Ministries(program page) Gap Year Association (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)  

There is nothing wrong with being proactive and responsible regarding our habits and mindset (this is biblical). However, we need to be sure that we are approaching everything from a biblical perspective, and often even Christian self-help books can lead us astray not necessarily intentionally, but because the author isn’t biblically informed and instead may very well base much of their perspective on pop psychology and humanistic/secular thinking. I invited Wes Johnson back to help us understand the difference between self-improvement, self-focus, “becoming your best self”, etc versus obedience to God and actual fruitfulness. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today The Unhurried Homeschooler Mentoring Course Other episodes with Wes: Applying Romans 13 to the Here and Now The Importance of a Biblical Education The Biblical Importance of Family Recognizing False Teachers https://www.durendawilson.com/podcast/episode/c7f29e03/recognizing-false-teachers-podcast-323 Biblical Submission: The Hot Potato (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)

I've noticed that there seems to be an increase in the number of trials and afflictions that many faithful Christians I know are experiencing. Our family is no different. Today I'm sharing a bit of an update on our family along with some encouragement to find courage in the midst of storms. Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day The Unhurried Homeschooler Mentoring Course Courage and Steadfastness by Rachel Jankovich (this is the message I listened to and I mentioned in this episode) You Who by Rachel Jankovich (this had the quote on faithfulness that I shared) (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)

Biblical submission are words that can bring up a range of emotions and opinions because many of us have heard or experienced the abuses that have surrounded this topic.  As believing women who strive to walk in obedience to God and do our best to live out His standards in our home it’s essential that we have a biblical definition of submission, one that is informed by God’s word and not the culture and we must remember that the family is instituted by God and therefore HE is the only one who gets to define it. I’ve invited Wes Johnson to join us again because I knew I could trust him to be willing to tackle this topic and do so from an uncompromisingly biblical perspective. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today Other episodes with Wes: Applying Romans 13 to the Here and Now The Importance of a Biblical Education The Biblical Importance of Family Recognizing False Teachers (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)

In the last 2 episodes, I’ve been talking about the importance of nurturing sibling relationships and practical ways to do that. Today I want to talk about ways to nurture those relationships through conflict because goodness knows, there can be plenty of that, especially in a house with 8 kids! Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day The Unhurried Homeschooler Mentoring Course Drive Through Talking: An Effective Communication Tool (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)

Last week I talked about the importance of nurturing sibling relationships because, in my experience raising/homeschooling 8 kids, it's one of the best investments I made into their education!Today I want to share some practical tips on ways to nurture sibling relationships! Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today Simple Personality Test (Gary Smalley) The Love Language Quiz (5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman) (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)  

One of the things I think most of us don't expect when we start to homeschool is the amount of time we will spend navigating our kids' relationships with each other. It can often feel like an obstacle to getting "real" schoolwork done, but the truth is that learning to have healthy relationships IS an essential part of our kids' education! Today I'm going to share why it's so important to nurture sibling relationships in our home. Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day The Unhurried Homeschooler Mentoring Course (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)  

Fall is such an amazing time of year and there are so many fun and free things to do with our kids! Today my friend Sara is joining me again to share some ideas that you may or may not have thought of! Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today Previous podcasts with Sara: A Conversation with 2 Veteran Homeschool Moms Finishing the School Year Well Considering Your Kids' Personalities in Your Approach Planning Your Homeschool with the End in Mind (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)  

Today we're going to be talking about simple meal planning! I know for our family of 10 I had to simplify our meals, but also the way that I planned them. I couldn’t be reinventing the wheel every single week.  I invited my friend Sara to join me again today as we discuss several different options for simple meal planning! Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Previous podcasts with Sara: A Conversation with 2 Veteran Homeschool Moms Finishing the School Year Well Considering Your Kids Personalities in Your Approach Planning Your Homeschool with the End in Mind (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)  

Today my friend Sara and I are talking about basic family budgeting. One of the reasons that I wanted to cover this topic is that most families have to live on a budget. Many of us are single-income families and some of us have large families.  My husband and I lived on a modest single income for our family of 10 for many years and I can honestly say that I actually love the freedom of being on a budget. That may sound strange, but there is such peace knowing that you are staying within your income limits and not burying yourself in debt.  In this episode, we mention the envelope system. For our family, the categories were: groceries, gas, entertainment, clothing, and miscellaneous.  Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today Previous podcasts with Sara: A Conversation with 2 Veteran Homeschool Moms Finishing the School Year Well Considering Your Kids Personalities in Your Approach Planning Your Homeschool with the End in Mind (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)      

Today I’m going to talk about how knowing God’s character can help relieve anxiety and I’m going to do that by sharing the incommunicable attributes of God which are attributes that only HE possesses. These attributes are important because what we need and what we want is a God who isn’t us. We are not sufficient and we want a God who is. We need a God who is.  We need a God who is powerful and independent of us. Listen in as I go through these attributes and share some meaningful applications when it comes to motherhood. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day The Unhurried Homeschooler Mentoring Course (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)      

I've been sharing more simple, unhurried approaches to subjects like language arts and science because I want moms to know that homeschooling really IS doable! Today my guest, Dennis Janisse (college professor and homeschool dad) shares his thoughts on writing as well as a budget-friendly, non-intimidating approach to writing essays and research papers!  The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today Fun-Schooling (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)

Today I have my good friend Sherri Seligson back with us!Sherri is a veteran homeschool mom who happens to love science and writes science curriculum. She will put your heart at ease as we talk about taking a more simple unhurried approach to science in the high school years. She will also share what it looks like to help our science-oriented kids prepare for college! REMEMBER YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO ADAPT ANY CURRICULUM TO YOUR CHILD’S NEEDS. IOW YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING! Resources mentioned in this episode: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Simply Unhurried Community  General Science (Apologia) Our family loved these for high school! It's very well done, it's doable, the student can work almost 100% independently and it fully qualifies as a solid high school credit! Biology 101 Chemistry 101 Physics 101 General Science 101 Suggested options (include your child in the process of deciding); Online classes Live classes (Apologia) Dual enrollment  Double up your subjects (example: if they are reading and writing for a science-related topic, they have covered science, writing, and reading) (P.S. Don't forget to check out my latest book, The Four Hour School Day: How You and Your Kids Can Thrive in the Homeschool Life on Amazon, durendawilson.com, or your favorite bookseller!)

I'm excited because today I have my good friend Sherri Seligson with us. Sherri is a veteran homeschool mom who happens to write science curriculum. She will put your heart at ease as we talk about taking a more simple unhurried approach to science in the elementary years!  REMEMBER YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO ADAPT ANY CURRICULUM TO YOUR CHILD’S NEEDS. IN OTHER WORDS, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING! (The next podcast will be about taking a simple, unhurried approach to science in the high school years) Resources mentioned in this episode: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four-Hour School Day Homeschooling Today The Exploring Creating Series Masterbooks Sherri’s YouTube Channel Check out field guides at the library