The Durenda Wilson Podcast

I love how God's word speaks directly to the challenges we face in everyday life.  How about complaining? We really hate it when our kids complain, but how often do we complain under the guise of "venting"? Even science has proven that choosing gratitude over complaining has countless benefits physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  Even more importantly, avoiding a complaining spirit deeply affects our testimony as believers! Find out why by listening to this short devotional from by book Unhurried Grace for a Mom's Heart-31 Days in God's Word (available on Amazon)!

Many moms are finding themselves in the position of homeschooling AND working from home. Whether your kids were in school and you never expected to be homeschooling OR you were homeschooling and are now finding the need for a second income, you are likely facing challenges and could use some encouragement! Today I am having a great conversation with another homeschool mom who works from home and shares some practical ways to keep perspective so we can steward our time well. Dr. Jenn Murff has been named among the top 100 Influential Evangelical Leaders you Ought to Know in the country for her work and research on the Millennial generation. She has numerous credentials, but the ones she is most proud of are being a wife to Justin and mommy to their four precious girls!

Welcome to another episode in my devotional series, Grace for a Mom's Heart! These are short podcasts (less than 10 minutes) created to help moms stay in the Word of God, especially on those days where quiet time may simply not have happened! Hands can stay busy while hearts meditate on Him! In a culture of consumerism, contentment is not a popular topic, but oh the joy and peace that comes with the heart that finds it! (Please check out my devotional on Amazon: Unhurried Grace for a Mom's Heart)

Welcome to my On the Porch podcast series! God put this on my heart to record BEFORE the elections. This is not a political post, but God often uses such circumstances to reveal Himself to us. In a world where truth seems to be elusive and hope can quickly give way to fear, God gives us everything we need for life and godliness! We CAN remain stable in spite of the storms surging all around us! I hope that as you listen, you find encouragement and hope that anchors your soul as you walk the journey that God has you on.

Welcome to my devotional podcast series created just for busy moms like you! Today's topic is loneliness and it must be one that needs to be heard because I had all kinds of obstacles trying to get it recorded! I love these little devotionals because there is so much packed in a less than 10 podcast! Don't forget to check out the hard copy or Kindle version of Unhurried Grace on Amazon so you can have all 31 devotionals at your fingertips!

Welcome to my new podcast series: On the Porch! So many moms have told me that they would love to have a chat on my front porch, so I decided to start a series that would look as much like that as possible!  It's a place where I can share my heart on a variety of topics that are on your heart. I love talking about motherhood and homeschooling, but God often lays other things on my heart and I want the freedom to be able to speak on those topics that are time-sensitive or that God is compelling me to talk about sooner than later and may have very little to do with homeschooling or motherhood. Stories are powerful. They often invoke more change in our thinking than if someone simply makes statements. My prayer is that as I share my stores and heart, that God will cause faith and hope to rise up in your heart for your own story. Today is what I would call the "pilot' episode as I give a brief overview of my life story so that you can have a peek into my background and the perspective I am coming from. I did forget to mention 2 very defining and important parts of my life and those were the loss of our first grandson unexpectedly to stillbirth and coming within a razor's edge of losing our youngest at birth. These are stories I will share along the way as the Lord leads. Welcome to my porch!  

Welcome to my devotional, Grace for a Mom's Heart! (Couldn't we all use a little more grace?) As humans, we are fickle. We forget-often and quickly. But it's the remembering that breathes fresh life into our faith! When we can so our hearts down, close our eyes, and think about what we felt when God met us at the place of our deepest need, we begin to sense something rising up within us that moves us toward trusting Him again for our current needs. Listen in to this short podcast and find encouragement for your soul!

Having eight kids in 13 years, I often found it difficult to pay too much attention to the area of mom care. I often felt guilty about not putting everyone else first, but what I discovered was that taking care of myself was an investment in more than just me. Listen in to this short devotional from my book Unhurried Grace for a Mom's Heart (Amazon) as we look at the deeper reason it's so important to take care of ourselves!

I'm talking with Eryn Lynum, a homeschooling mama of four. When she’s not teaching her kiddoes, she works as the content creator and publicist for Scripture Lullabies, a company producing high-quality, powerfully peaceful music inspired by the Word of God. Eryn is also author of the book 936 Pennies: Discovering the Joy of Intentional Parenting! Here are the resources mentioned in the podcast: The Unhurried Homeschooler (Amazon) Our Website: www.Scripture-Lullabies.com Streaming: https://scripture-lullabies.com/stream Free “Peace Indescribable” Pack: https://scripture-lullabies.com/devotional Eryn Lynum’s website: www.ErynLynum.com 936 Pennies: Discovering the Joy of Intentional Parenting: https://www.amazon.com/936-Pennies-Discovering-Intentional-Parenting/dp/0764219782 Free God of Wonders Devotional: http://erynlynum.com/god-of-wonders-devotional/ Literature with Biblical truths for ages 0-5: I Love You Just Because, I Love You Even When, and I Love You All the Same by Donna Keith You Are: Speaking God’s Word over Your Children and Tonight: A Book of God’s Bedtime Promises by Generation Claimed Literature with Biblical truths for ages 5+ Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard Case for a Creator, Lee Strobel Indescribable: 100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science by Louis Giglio Parables From Nature by Mrs. Margaret Gatty The Ology and Wonderfull by Marty Machowski Songs for Bedtime: Take No Thought For Tomorrow Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled Wonderfully Made I Am Here “Baby Sleep Time” Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/12YIUBRBRcWLoZ9zdjX2Ws?si=6OeJoBWTTTuAeb1YwJBBvQ “No More Nightmares” Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1dAoa1BkKHEjJSXhcVeaXo?si=y_DVC30zS56tRbaDQ1Cb_w

Over our 25 years of homeschooling, getting a good start in the mornings has been key to remaining intentional throughout the day. However, what do we want that good start to look like?  Homeschooling offers a unique opportunity to build relationships and relationships are key to everything else that happens in the family unit, including education. You may have heard the term "morning basket" and wondered what it was, how it works, and why SO many moms are choosing to use it? Pam Barnhill is a homeschooling mom and former secondary teacher. She's the host of Your Morning Basket podcast and today, she is sharing the specifics of this very simple and effective tool to help bring your family together as you start your homeschool day! Resources mentioned in the podcast: Your Morning Basket Podcast: https://pambarnhill.com/basket/Better Together: https://pambarnhill.com/better-together/The Carl Azuz (CNN-10) podcast will be: https://pambarnhill.com/ymb82The funny voices cards can be downloaded here: https://pambarnhill.com/ultimate-guide-memory-work/A video I made about using the memory work cards plus two other fun games we played when my kids where little: https://youtu.be/fmxdrWRksHIA free set of Morning Time plans to try: https://pambarnhill.com/month-of-morning-time/The shop: https://plus.pambarnhill.com/ (CHECK OUT MY SIMPLE, MERCIFULLY SHORT BOOK ON HOMESCHOOLING ON AMAZON!)

Welcome to my short devotional, Grace for a Mom's Heart, read from my devotional, Unhurried Grace for Mom's Heart-31 Days in God's Word (available on Amazon)! Today we are talking about waiting patiently for HIm. We are constantly being told that we must be self-reliant, independent, and self-made, but we were never meant to work independently from God. God's design is so much better. Listen in and have your heart encouraged! Resource mentioned in the podcast: https://scripture-lullabies.com/

Whether or not you are new to homeschooling or not, it’s quite possible that you may be wondering if you’re ruining your child. I’ve got news for you, you’re not the first homeschool mom to have those thoughts and you certainly won’t be the last! I talk to homeschool moms who have a Ph.D. and moms who dropped out of high school and every one of them struggles with this at one time or another! Today I’m going to be having a conversation with my good friend, Sherri Seligson.  We have spoken at several of the same conferences over the last few years and I’ve had the opportunity to hear her speak on this topic. I love her heart and what she has to say about this common misconception, so I wanted her to come and bring that same encouragement to you! You’ll be SO glad you listened in! (For the record, between the two of us, Sherri and I have 12 kids, over 50 years of motherhood, and over 40 years of homeschooling experience!)

In all the blustering on the news and social media, I hear very little about how the many things happening around us are affecting our children. I have to ask myself WHY? Why are the children being ignored?  Homeschooling may allow our kids to be protected from a certain amount that’s going on, but I care about other people’s children as well and so do other homeschoolers that I know. I’ve been a mom for over 29 years (8 kids) and I am appalled at what is being taken away from the next generation. Who is speaking on their behalf? Certainly not most politicians or the media. In fact, I’m going to be bold and say that even many church leaders are not thinking about the next generation.  So what message are we sending to our children? Are we willing to risk traumatizing them all for the sake of “safety and security”? I don’t know about you, but I am not willing to do that. Whether it’s educational decisions, physical decisions, spiritual decisions, mental and emotional decisions, there are many who would say that, as a parent, we don’t have the right to make the final decision for our kids. We are continually being sent a clear message that we don’t know what’s best and that we are being irresponsible by not forcing something that some feel is necessary or vice versa. NOTHING could be further from the truth. As Believers, we are called to obey God as the ultimate authority and according to His Word, parents are the ones who are called to raise their children. They are called to protect them and make the decisions that they believe are best for them. (Read in full here: https://durendawilson.com/the-cultural-attack-on-children-and-why-we-must-protect-them-podcast-165/)

Bullying. It's real and yes, it happens even amongst homeschoolers. It can happen in co-ops, at church, with friends and online. It's imperative that we equip our kids (and ourselves) for these inevitable situations. Let's face it, our kids are not growing up in a kind world.   Quite possibly, bullying might be one of the main reasons you pulled your kids out of public school and now you're wondering how to walk alongside your child in the path to healing. Whatever the reason is that you are here, I’m excited to have Candice Duggar from Bullied/Broken/Redeemed here today!  Link to Candice's website which has all of her resources www.bulliedbrokenredeemed.com Here is the link to Candice's book on Amazon- Bullied Broken Redeemed: Expanded Edition Including Study Guide(*aff link) Bullied Broken Redeemed Parent Workbook(*aff link) Bullied Broken Redeemed Journal (*aff link) Luke The Lionhearted(*aff link) Luke The Lionhearted Workbook(*aff link) Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Welcome to another episode in my series, The Homeschool LIfe where I tackle commonly asked questions or frequent concerns parents have about the homeschool life! Today I'm sharing one of the most effective parenting tools I have used over my almost 30 years as a mom to eight kids! I often say that homeschooling is an extension of parenting. I also encourage moms to be parent FIRST (teacher second) because the nurturing nature of a mom is what is most tuned into the whole child. Listening to our mom instincts will often be the most reliable and effective way to parent AND homeschool our kids. When it comes to our homeschool journey, the safety and security of consistent boundaries make the homeschooling life so MUCH more peaceful (not to be confused with perfect). In other words, keeping a healthy relationship with our child makes us more effective parents AND teachers. (Just a side note: I think it's important for you to know that after graduating 7 kids so far, my husband and I STILL have great relationships with ALL of our kids!) (Check out my simple, mercifully short book on homeschooling: The Unhurried Homeschooler on Amazon!)