Episode 82

I am so over the moon excited about today’s guest! I have followed Ashley Campbell online for about 16 years but this is the first time we have actually talked to each other and it was just so much fun! Over the years I have found Ashley to be such a source of inspiration to me. I watched her raise her 5 kids, home schooling them, making art with them and on her own, and living an intentional lifestyle in pursuit of dream. That dream was to take their family of 7 on a trip around the world for a whole year.

Then they actually did it and she wrote a book about it!

Ashley’s new book I’ve Never Been Here Before: Our Family’s Year of Budget Travel, Wandering the World and Finding the Sacred is even more wonderful that I imagined it would be. And in today’s episode we get to hear all about the details, planning, dreaming that went into creating this trip and then about the trip itself. Ashley is candid about the parts of this experience that were challenging, exciting and so fulfilling. We talk about what her family learned about the people of the world as they met other teens on basketball courts and soccer fields. Spoiler alert: it was far better than they imagined!

I know you will be so inspired by this episode and even more by reading Ashley’s book. The photography is all from their trip and the stories will just fill your soul. Be sure to go grab your copy after you listen to today’s episode!

Where to find Ashley:

Find Ashley’s new book here

Find Ashley on Instagram here

Find Ashley’s website and blog here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Episode 81

It's been a while since I’ve sat down to talk with you heart to heart, and I felt like it was time. Mostly because I know that in my desire to help you protect your kids from the devastating effects of pornography it is important to share them with you.

In today’s episode I am covering 3 things I want you to know about pornography right now. First, I’m talking about how pornography steals sexual integrity, and secondly, how erotic (some people call them spicy) books are pushing girls into consuming pornography. The last one is more encouraging: how it’s easier to talk to your kids about pornography than you think!

You’ll have to listen to hear about each one, but I am certain you will find this episode encouraging and helpful. I hope you’ll share it with friends because we all need to do our part and join in this fight to protect our kids.

I mention quite a few things in this episode that you’ll find in the resources listed below.

Be sure to take some time to look through them.

God bless you!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Find the Forest Frank video here

Find Greta’s book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn, here

Find info about Forest Home family camp here. *Mention my name for that first time family discount.

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Hey friends, today we’ve got something special for you: a bonus episode straight from the Pardon the Mess podcast!

Every Monday, host Courtney DeFeo shares a short prayer to help you lift up your kids. This year’s series follows Christian Parenting’s brand new prayer journal, A Great Cloud of Witnesses.

Each week highlights a biblical hero of the faith, paired with Scripture-based prayers for your kids. Here is a sneak peek into week one:

This first week is all about Noah—a man of incredible faith and obedience. While the world around him turned away from God, Noah walked in righteousness. Building the ark probably looked foolish to everyone else, but Noah trusted God’s word even when it didn’t make sense. That’s the kind of faith we want for our kids: to listen to God’s voice over any others and walk confidently with Him even when it means standing apart.

If you love this episode and don’t have your copy of A Great Cloud of Witnesses yet, it’s not too late to get yours! Go ChristianParenting.org to get your copy and follow along. And don’t forget to tune in to Pardon the Mess every Monday for more prayer episodes.

Order A Great Cloud of Witnesses today

Follow Pardon the Mess on Apple or Spotify

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Episode 80

Friends, in honor of Grandparents Day coming up next week, I am so excited about today’s episode. Today I talk with Isabel Tom, author of the book, The Value of Wrinkles: a Young Perspective on How Loving the Old Will Change Your Life.

The moment I came across this book it absolutely intrigued me. It is an area in my own life where I’d like to grow, and where I’d like our family to grow. I am sure I am not alone in this, but sometimes we either don’t slow down enough to admit it, or we just don’t know where to start.

Isabel’s book doesn’t heap on the guilt in this journey. Instead, she fills this book with gentle reminders and practical tips on honoring, valuing and loving the older people in our life. While her book isn’t a step by step on how to get your older relative in a senior living facility, we do talk about things like honoring older people with hearing loss, including food that the older guests at a party can eat, or helping our older friends and relatives get gifts for our kids, or choosing a place for them to live that is 5 minutes closer than 15 minutes away. There are things we talked about that I had never considered.

Our conversation is filled with good stories, laughter, and tender moments that Isabel shares so graciously. I loved this book and I loved my conversation from Isabel. I know you will too!

Where to find Isabel:

Find her book here

Find her website here

Find her “Grandkid Investigator Kit” here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Episode 79

This episode covers some very hard topics. With my guests, Clinton and Charity Munoz, we talked about restoring marriages to wholeness after pornography addiction and sexual betrayal and brokenness. But in spite of the difficulty of the topic, what we found is that we can both laugh and cry together because God is with us in it all. The three of us have personally experienced God turn our painful story into purpose and that is worthy of joy and hope.

It's a story worth telling!

What Clinton and Charity share is that people in broken and hurting marriages need: honesty and vulnerability and then stories of hope and healing. And they do an incredible job with that. From well-meaning but harmful advice that didn’t do a thing for healing Clinton’s addiction, to Charity finally reaching her limit and giving him a hard boundary that he would have to get help healing or leave, they walk us through it all. And Clinton shares that Charity’s boundary was the greatest gift he’d ever been given. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is call someone out on their sin. Just like the prophet Nathan with King David.

Ultimately, they decided to pursue healing separately and together and eventually they created their organization, Restored to More, to bring couples like them together.

Restored to More is unique, so powerful and filled with hope! I love the work they’re doing.

Lastly, if you are thinking, “this episode isn’t for me because this isn’t my story,” please listen to this podcast. Clinton shares the most beautiful example of a friend who educated herself on this topic in order to be more informed and available to her friend walking through this valley. May we all follow her example because there will be a day when we need to be that kind of friend!

Please listen and share this episode and don’t forget to leave a review of the podcast if you have not already. God bless you friends!

Where to find Clinton and Charity:

Find their website here

Find their podcast here

Find them on Instagram here

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Find Pure Desire groups and ministry here

Find CSATs and other helpful resources for the healing journey here

Find the book, Intimate Deception: healing the wounds of sexual betrayal here

Find my book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Episode 78

Friends, it’s no surprise that I start this episode by going down a rabbit trail. This time it was about hazel nuts. But the real reason I have today’s guest, Tara Sun, on the program is to talk about her new book, Overbooked and Overwhelmed: How to Keep Up With God When You are Just Trying To Keep Up With Life.

Tara and I talk about the story behind the book and I especially loved talking about some of the parts that resonated with me most. One of those was how we both struggle to say no because we both love saying yes. There is a chapter in her book that addresses this by inviting us to be on mission for God and recognizing that sometimes that means saying no to things that aren’t part of that mission.

Another important thing we talked about is that this book isn’t going to give you the perfect organizational system or the best baskets and bins to buy so that you will feel more peaceful and less overwhelmed. What it will do is point you to the true source of peace and that is Jesus.

There is so much more we discuss in this episode. I know you’re going to get so much out of it. I did! Listen and share with your friends! And don’t forget to leave a review of the podcast if you haven’t done that already. Help me spread the word! Thanks friends.

Where to find Tara:

Find Tara’s book here

Find Tara’s website here

Find Tara on Instagram here

Find Tara’s podcast here

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Find the book Domestic Monastery here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Episode 77

Today is an exciting day for my podcast. It’s my first return guest, my friend, Amber O’Neil Johnston! And I loved talking to Amber about her new book, Homegrown: Guidance and Inspiration for Navigating Your Homeschooling Journey.

Homegrown is such a unique book. Amber gathered and edited essays from 30 different home schoolers. In this book you’ll hear from veteran home schoolers, home school dads, those home schooling outside the US, home schoolers of different ethnicities, those home schooling one child or many, and second-generation home schoolers (like me!) I have never read another homeschool book like this and I absolutely being a part of this book and now getting to share it with you.

*And here’s your reminder to take a minute today to leave a rating and review for this podcast! It is so helpful for more people to be able to find the show. Thanks for continuing to support and share the podcast. It means the world!

Where to find Amber:

Listen to Amber’s first interview on my show here

Find Homegrown book here

Find Amber’s website here

Find Amber on Instagram here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Episode 76

Today’s guest is Allie Marie Smith, life coach, founder and creator of Wonderfully Made and author of the new book, Social Media Reset: A 30 Day Guided Journey to Unplug, Reconnect with God and Reclaim Your Joy.

In this episode, Allie and I talk about how so many young girls don’t have a true understanding of who they are in the eyes of God. That can cause them to turn to other things to feel worthy—alcohol, drugs, promiscuity and even social media. The problem is, of course, that those things don’t satisfy.

Since 2010 the suicide rates for young people ages 10-24 has gone up 62% and over 145% among girls. Some teen girls are spending more than 40 hours a week on social media. These numbers should make us sit up and take notice! Allie calls this a technologically induced mental health crisis. Alli’s response to this crisis has been to share her own story of a mental health crisis and then to offer help to girls just like her to have something better. She wants to help them understand the truth of their worth to God in a world that is trying to tell them otherwise.

In this episode, we discuss having radical boundaries with social media, how social media can be used for good, but it can be used for bad or can cause harm, and how social media can keep us from being present in the moment. We encourage you to delay social media for your kids as long as possible and explain why you should. This is an invitation to step away from the digital world and live the life we were intended to live—deeply connected to God and others. We are inviting you and the people you love to an unplugged and flourishing life. Please accept this invitation to lean into something better and start by tuning into this honest, helpful and hopeful episode!

Resources mentioned in this episode

Find the Gabb phone here (Use the code GRETA for a discount)

Find other safe phones here, here here and here

Find The Anxious Generation book here

Where to find Allie:

Find Allie’s blog here

Find Allie’s website here

Find the Wonderfully Made website here

Find Social Media Reset book here

Find Wonderfully Made book here

Find her upcoming conference for girls here

The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org