The Durenda Wilson Podcast

I've shared a communication tool called Drive Thru Talking in passing during several podcast episodes, but I thought I'd make it the main topic of today's episode!  Listen in for a short, practical episode! The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Homeschooling Today (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!)

Hold onto your hats! This is a good one! It’s no secret that there are many false teachers out there and the fallout from following them can be devastating to our families. Paul warns the Church repeatedly in the New Testament to stay away from false teachers.  One good thing that Covid revealed was the number of teachers who are simply not adhering to biblical truths. Now that we are wiser about that, how do we avoid following false teachers? What are the types of false teachers and how can you recognize them? I invited one of the elders of our church to speak on this topic because I knew he would do this effectively and I was not disappointed! Wes has joined me for several other podcasts and it’s been a huge blessing to all of us! (These previous podcasts are listed below) If you can, please listen in with your husband and as many of your children as you can. This is a very timely and crucial message. Wes did forget to cover the last thing he said he would cover and that was a list of warning signs that could be present in your own church:  Warning signs that could be present within your own church: -False teachers are often surrounded by young and or spiritually immature leaders because they’re less inclined to challenge a given decision, doctrinal position, or direction proposed by the pastor.  -False teachers are themselves often young and spiritually immature leaders. -False teachers generally have a loose relationship with biblical exposition (The biblical text isn’t the star of the sermon, the pastor’s anecdotes, illustrations, and jokes are). -False teachers are reluctant to practice church discipline because they’re far less concerned with the holiness of God’s people than they are with amassing a sizable crowd. -False teachers often place a high emphasis on aesthetics, marketing, appearances, and production value because people having a positive experience at their church is more important to them than biblical faithfulness.  The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Homeschooling Today Previous podcasts with Wes: Applying Romans 13 to the Here and Now (A biblical response to churches shutting down during Covid) Homeschooling: The Importance of a Biblical Education A Call Home: The Biblical Importance of Family The Sovereignty of God and the Problem of Sin in Our World     

What do we do when our homeschooled teens are ignoring our requests for timeliness?  What is actually best for them and what does that look like? I've invited our 19 yr old daughter to tackle this topic! The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Homeschooling Today (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 want to talk about something that I refer to a lot in my podcasts: the sovereignty of God. This particular doctrine has been absolutely pivotal in helping me trust God both in the everyday and in times of crisis. It’s one that has been a safety net and indescribable comfort when nothing else could comfort me. Many Christians say that they believe in the sovereignty of God, but there are varying perspectives on what that actually means. A few questions that come to mind and will be answered in this podcast:  Is God active or passive with regard to the world that He made? Is there any sense in which God wound up the world, set certain parameters, and then let it go? Or is He actively governing His creation and making determinations about what will and what will not happen? Click this link after listening to the intro THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND THE PROBLEM OF SIN IN THE WORLD The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Simply Unhurried Community (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 talk about simplifying and slowing down a lot, but I’ve realized that some might envision something different than what I mean when I talk about being unhurried. The unhurried approach started with our kids’ education but morphed into being a default that we fell back on frequently to help us stay intentional. It hasn’t been a goal as much as it has been a helpful tool. Listen in for some clarification on what I really mean when I encourage moms to be unhurried. The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Homeschooling Today (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!)

We all have ideas about family: its importance, its place in this world, what it should look like, etc. But upon further examination, we may come to realize that our perspective isn’t actually biblical.  Why do we have children? Why did God create families? What effect are families intended to have on the world and how do they advance the kingdom of God? Resources mentioned: The Simply Unhurried Community Related Podcasts: The Biblical Importance of Family The Importance of a Biblical Education Children a Blessing, Not a Burden Books: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day You Who? by Rachel Janchovic  Messages on how the family is to function, biblically: https://christchurchnc.org/sermons (May 30-July 11, all of these sermons are family-related) (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!)

We all know it's important to be in the word with our kids, but sometimes things get in the way, and/or we get distracted.  Today my sweet friend, speaker, and author Dr. Kathy Koch is joining us today to talk about the importance of being in the word with our kids. You’ll love the simple encouragement and you’ll find inspiration to not give up!!! The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day The Simply Unhurried Community Ways to connect with Dr. Kathy: CelebrateKids.com Celebrate Kids Podcast with Dr. Kathy 8 Great Smarts: Discover and Nurture Your Child’s Intelligences by Kathy Koch 8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers by Tina Hollenbeck www.PictureSmartBible.com Code is “Durenda” The price will then be $99 for the Bible which includes one set of participant sheets. (Normal price is $149.) (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!)    

With so many distractions we can easily find ourselves oriented away from God and toward things that cannot satisfy. Jesus didn't mince words when He said that we cannot serve two masters because we will always eventually love the one and hate the other. Listen in today for some clear, concise encouragement toward remaining faithful to keep God ever before us, serving Him only. This is the only place we will find true peace and satisfaction. Matthew 6:24 Romans 6:16-18 James 4:4 James 1:5-8 Proverbs 3:5-8 Romans 12:1-2 (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!)

Many of us are thinking about the next school year and trying to get a jump on planning (unless you’re like me and wait until the last minute)! Today my friend Sara (a veteran homeschooling mom) and I are talking about “reverse planning” or “planning your homeschool with the end in mind” remember to be stubborn about our goals, but flexible about our methods! The Unhurried Homeschooler The Four Hour School Day Homeschooling Today (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 most helpful things we did along the way was to increase our knowledge and awareness of our kids’ personalities so we could better approach both parenting and homeschooling. Simply having a bit of a picture of how our kids are wired by God and taking the time to make some tweaks in how we communicate with them can help us avoid a host of unnecessary power struggles. Today my friend Sara(another veteran homeschool mom) and I discuss this topic and provide simple resources. The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day The Simply Unhurried Community Hidden Keys To Loving Relationships(old, but free on YouTube) Relational Parenting Personality Plus for Families Love Languages for Kids Gary Smalley Online Personality Test Sara’s Summarized Word Doc Drive-Through Talking (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!)

It’s that time of year when the homeschool finish line is in sight! This can bring a multitude of emotions including panic because it may look as though we can’t finish all we set out to do. Today my friend Sara (a veteran homeschooling mom) and I are going to talk about simple ways to finish the school year well! The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Homeschooling Today (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!)    

(Don’t miss the “postscript” after the prayer at the end!) This is another episode of Simple, Unhurried Word of God. These episodes were created to give you some time to close your eyes and meditate on God’s word. I encourage you to invite your children into this practice as we disciple them in the ways of the Lord.    I try to keep things very simple and unhurried throughout these podcasts so that even young children can understand much of what is shared. In fact, I will be directing this podcast toward the children, but I think it’s important for you to listen in as well because there’s some great wisdom from God’s word that can be so helpful in nurturing sibling relationships between your kids. The Unhurried Homeschooler   Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart   The Four Hour School Day The Simply Unhurried Community   Scriptures shared: 1 Thes. 5:12-17 Ephesians 4:25-32 John 15:12 Matthew 7:12 Romans 12:10 Romans 15:1-2 1 Peter 3:8-12 Philippians 2:4 Romans 12:18 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, 13 (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!)

As I’ve encouraged you all to simplify and slow down in your family life and homeschooling, many of you have asked what our family’s routine actually looked like. I have shared this routine off and on in other episodes, but never made it the main topic, so I thought I would do that today. This routine is also listed on page 54 of The Unhurried Homeschooler, but I'm sharing a couple of extra things today that are not listed in that Sample Schedule. We used this basic routine throughout our years as a family. Of course, the high schoolers typically had to do an hour or two more of school work after lunch, but they could do it during the "quiet time" that was a normal part of our after-lunch routine. Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Homeschooling Today The Simply Unhurried Community Managers of Their Homes (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!)

This is another episode in my series that focuses on meditating on God's word! You are invited to take a pause, close your eyes and listen as I read scripture slowly. I would encourage you to use this with your children as well! Today's focus is God, the Good Shepherd. There are many scripture passages that talk about God being our shepherd and we being the sheep of his flock and there is much to learn from this example. So listen in as I explain the beauty of this metaphor and then read several passages that will bring life and comfort to your soul! Resources mentioned: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day The Simply Unhurried Community Scriptures in the podcast (you can use some of these for copy or memorization work as well!) Psalm 1:2,3 Psalm 23 John 10:1-18 1 Peter 2:25 Psalm 100:3 Micah 5;4 John 10:27 Isaiah 40:11 Ezekiel 34:11-16 John 21:15-17 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!

After last week’s podcast on writing, I of course thought of a couple more simple ideas I wanted to share along with some resources!  Resources mentioned in the podcast: The Simply Unhurried Community Homeschooling Today homeschooliowa.org Brave Writer Books: The Unhurried Homeschooler Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart The Four Hour School Day Previous related podcast: Overcoming Writing Struggles Podcast   P.S. Please 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!