Love Your People Well | A Therapist’s Tips For Christian Mom Life, Marriage Help, And Family Relationships

Find Christ-centered support for family communication at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/communication 

Episode 305 // We’re tackling the topic of family communication this week, friends. It’s one of the core foundations of a happy, healthy, and holy Christian family. And the Bible has a lot to say about communication!

Today, I’ll share 10 key Bible passages that show us the best principles for family communication. Yes, even Christians struggle with communication. But God cares about it, and He wants to equip us with the skills and perspective necessary to strengthen this area of our famil...

Find Christ-centered support for emotional control at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/emotions. 

Episode 304 // Let’s continue diving into the foundational piece of family life: Managing Emotions. 

Last episode, we looked at a bit of what Scripture tells us is important in our emotional control. Today, let’s turn toward some practical action steps that can help us better understand our emotions, manage them well, and keep the hard ones under control.

Let’s dive in, friend.

hugs & blessings,

Jess

RESOURCES FOR...

Find Christ-centered support for emotional control at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/emotions. 

Episode 303 // We’re diving into the second foundational piece of happy, healthy, and holy family life: Managing Emotions. 

Emotions are a normal part of life, but they can overwhelm us, distract us, and make relationships much harder than we want them to be. From toddlers to teens, with mom hormones alongside the regular ups and downs of life… we need to figure out how to manage emotions well.

Today, we’ll start in Scripture together to find encourageme...

Deepen your faith journey with spiritual growth resources at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/faith 

Episode 302 // Let’s continue our dive into the first foundational piece of happy, healthy, and holy family life: our own Fruitful Faith and spiritual growth. 

Today, we’re outlining 5 key action steps that help me (and so many other moms!!) keep putting Jesus first, keep growing, keep going deeper… even when life is busy, stressful, or difficult.  

Want to experience more spiritual growth? Today’s conversation will help. Let’s dive into Part 2 of the Fruitful Faith co...

Deepen your faith journey with spiritual growth resources at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/faith 

Episode 301 // We’re closing out this year with a walk through the 6 core foundations of a happy, healthy, and holy Christian family. And today we’re starting at the most foundational: our own personal spiritual growth.

I call this the foundation of a Fruitful Faith. 

Why does this matter? How do we grow spiritually when life is so busy? Well, let’s start today by opening the Bible together to find encouragement, some needed reality checks, and...

Find a freebie to support happy Christian family life at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/free 

Episode 300 // What?! Episode 300?! Friends, I’m glad you are here. Today I want to share some life updates (where have I been?), some podcast updates (where are we going?) - and I want to encourage all of us with a back-to-the-basics review of the 6 CORE truths for healthy, happy, and holy Christian family life. 

Parenting can be hard, Christian faithfulness can be hard, marriage can be hard… but friends, we have Jesus in it with us. We have the hope...

Get your family ready for the new Fall season with the devotional workbook Building A Home Of Godliness And Joy.

Episode 299 // In Psalm 93, we see such a beautiful picture of praise to our God and King. But can we really get “action steps” for our life today when we read psalms like this? When we just pause and focus on praising God?

Absolutely! These types of Bible passages are NOT separate from our everyday lives. In fact, what we praise will directly shape who we are, what we do, and how we app...

Build a holy habit with daily Bible reading and prayer - Grab my 45 Day Guide at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/holy-habits 

Episode 298 // Let’s continue our July “Summertime In The Psalms” series with Psalm 53 today. As Christian moms, we can gain a great deal of wisdom from looking at how fools live their own lives, which is exactly what David focuses on here in this psalm. 

This is a short but powerful psalm, and I’ve got 2 big take-aways for you that should shape every Christian home. We want to enjoy family life, but that wil...

Deepen your intimacy with Jesus with the “Finding Your Identity In Christ” devotional workbook.

Episode 297 // We are diving into our July “Summertime In The Psalms” series with Psalm 101 today! This is such a beautiful (and short) psalm where we see the connection between what we praise, what we prioritize, and how that plays out day by day to impact us and our families. 

Join me today for a look through Psalm 101, and I’ll close with 5 key take-aways that will help each of us more fully live out the family life we want.

Find your Christ-centered marriage resources at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/marriage.

Episode 296 // Ever find yourself wondering what your husband really wants for Father’s Day, his birthday, or any other special event? It doesn’t even have to cost money. 

Today, I’ll share 6 tips - from my years as a marriage therapist and my years as a happily married wife - to help you get a little peak inside his brain to know what to get him. Right in time for Father’s Day this weekend!

Ready? Let’s jump in.

Visit LoveYourPeopleWell.com/marriage for my top resources, tips, and recommendations for 15+ years as a marriage therapist!

Episode 295 // Date nights are wonderful, but my husband and I don’t do them very regularly. Yet, we have a very happy marriage! Even during the crazy season of 4 little kids at home. 

Today, I’ll share my personal experience (and my marriage therapist experience!) around how we handle date nights and what we do to keep our marriage strong. 

There’s no need to cancel your date nights, but I hope thes...

“Joy In The Journey” is a 40-day devotional for finding biblical joy in hard seasons of motherhood. Visit www.LoveYourPeopleWell.com/shop/motherhood40 

Episode 294 // Summer is here, and it’s an excellent time for deepening your family bond and having fun together! Instead of getting distracted by the many activities, camps, trips, and summertime busyness, today I want to share some classic, easy, every-day ideas to strengthen your family relationships. 

I’ll share 9 practical tips today that will help not only during the summer, but all year long. Let’s love our people WEL...

Go deeper with the Lord with my devotional workbook “Finding Your Identity In Christ” at LoveYourPeopleWell.com/shop/identity 

Episode 293 // Negative thoughts usually come with many emotions attached to them. We struggle with angry thoughts, anxious thoughts, bitter thoughts, shameful thoughts… yet, God tells us in the Bible to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

How?! That sounds great, but it can feel impossible.

Today, I want to share some practical tips from my work as a Christian mental health counselor to help you actually l...

Dive into biblical ways to manage your anger and impatience with my “Keep Your Cool, Mama!” devotional.

Episode 292 // One of the biggest threats to happy family life is… conflict. We all deal with disagreements, but that doesn’t mean we are required to argue, get angry, and yell.

It is possible to manage conflict in a healthy, biblical way that actually BUILDS your relationship.

But it’s easiest and best to AVOID conflict when you can. 

It feels better, it keeps the calm, and it doesn’t...

Episode 291 // Friend, we are celebrating 100,000 podcast downloads today! WOW. That is incredible. And that makes it a great time to pause and reflect together on the BIG KEYS to happy, healthy, and holy Christian family life. 

Today, join me for some reflections on this online ministry as well as encouragement as we look at how to zoom in on what really matters for your family life. 

With 15+ years as a marriage and family therapist, plus my own life experience as a pastor’s wife and mom of 4 little kids, I am so tha...

Grab the devotional workbook: Building A Home of Godliness And Joy

Episode 290 // What are the motives of your heart? Why do you focus on the priorities that you do? How are your plans shaped by the Lord?

Many proverbs focus on wisdom and how to live our lives well. But one in particular always stands out to me. Proverbs 16:1-9 reminds us so clearly that God cares about our hearts, our motives for why we do the things we do.

So today, we’re taking a look at th...

Find my Easter Scripture Cards and Devotional right here.

Episode 289 // We all want a happy home life. A happy marriage. Happy kids. A family life filled with peace, joy, connection, and fun. 

It doesn’t happen by accident, friend. There’s no magic wand. We can’t think that working all day, scrolling on our phones, and feeding the kids enough vegetables will help us bond and enjoy our family.

God alone has the keys to happy Christian family life. Today, we will dive into Colossians 3 and pull out 5...

Find my Easter Scripture Cards and Devotional right here.

Episode 288 // One of the things that really steals our joy is WORRY. No one intentionally tries to worry about things… but it sneaks up on us. It comes from every angle. It feels so normal in today’s world.

But it’s not God’s plan for his people - and it is stealing your joy and peace in family life today.

What can we do?! Well, today I want to talk through Jesus’ wisdom for us in Matthew 6. Pl...

Strengthen family life with the devotional workbook Building A Home Of Godliness And Joy.

Episode 287 // Time passes by much faster than we think it will. It can feel sad to reflect on how quickly our children are growing and how fast each season of life speeds by. 

But part of the WISDOM in living intentionally is being realistic about our time. It helps us to cherish the time and take each season of life seriously. 

We can’t get time back, and we can’t make it slow down...

Biblical marriage resources from a Christian marriage therapist.

Episode 286 // I want a happy marriage. A godly marriage. What about you?

It’s not a trick question! Of course you want a marriage filled with good things. A marriage of trust, partnership, and joy. 

Today, I want to share some helpful questions we can ask ourselves as Christian wives, and 4 key take-aways from Proverbs 31 and the wisdom we find there about the marriage relationship. 

Enjoying our family life starts with our marriage. With intimacy, connecti...

Find more biblical joy in hard seasons of motherhood with my 40-day “Joy In The Journey” devotional.

Episode 285 // If we want to truly enjoy Christian family life, we have to be intentional about how we approach our busy days. Marriage and motherhood are a long road. There are ups and downs and twists and turns. 

But the Lord has great wisdom for us in how to enjoy that long and windy road. Today, we’ll dive into Hebrews 12:1-3 to find three keys for intentional living. 

Not only that...

Build A Home Of Godliness And Joy with the devotional workbook.

Episode 284 // Want the key to enjoying family life? It’s not a secret. In fact, it’s right in Ephesians 5, in a short and simple passage we’ll be looking at together today. 

The Lord tells us to “be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise.” He gives us opportunities to love our family and deepen our relationships - this is how we enjoy them more! He makes his will known to us in the Bible, an...

Build a habit of Bible reading and prayer with my free 45-day Bible and Prayer Guide.

Episode 283 // When we aren’t quite on the right track with our priorities, it can feel really frustrating. We find ourselves putting in a lot of effort, and not usually getting much back from it. 

But today, we’ll look at what God says about our priorities, and his wisdom for intentional living in our Christian homes. In fact, we’re going all the way back to the Old Testament together, to the minor prophet of Haggai...

Jump into the New Year with my favorite: The Hope Planner.

Episode 282 // We can’t expect to truly enjoy Christian family life if we are just going through the motions, rushing through our days, or stuck in a rut that isn’t really serving our current season of life.

To enjoy family life and to deepen our relationships, we have to be intentional. How are you using your time? Your energy? The resources God has given you and your family?

Whatever your new years goals might be, today’s...

Jump into the New Year with my favorite: The Hope Planner.

Episode 281 // We can’t enter the new year well if we haven’t taken a moment to reflect on the year that is past. What has God done? What season is He sending us into?

Today, I want to wrap up our series on Gratitude Over Grumbling with some overarching principles that help all of us. Plus, I’ll share my own gratitude reflections from this year. As Christians, we want to celebrate together! 

I pray this is a...

Get ready for the New Year with my favorite: The Hope Planner.

Episode 280 // One of the most common things that people recommend when you’re trying to grow in gratitude is… a gratitude list. 

But is it worth the effort? 

I’ve been a counselor for over 15 years. I’ve seen people use gratitude lists well and use them poorly. It’s not a magic wand, but it does have the potential to create big change in your heart. 

So today, I want to share some enc...

Find a Christmas devotional or Advent calendar for yourself, and the whole family.

Episode 279 // Our relationships have a LOT to do with the attitude of our hearts. With healthy, intimate, connected relationships, we grumble less. It’s easier to be thankful, to notice the positive, to feel better. 

But… how do we get there? 

Today, I want to dive into the topic of marriage (and friendship too) and help us see how leaning in and being vulnerable can have a big impact on our gratitude and grumbling. 

Find a Christ-centered Christmas devotional or Advent calendar here.

Episode 278 // Gratitude is more than just a feeling in our heart or something that happens naturally as we smile more often. If we are truly going to be thankful people even on the hard, stressful, chaotic days… well, this is when we really see that gratitude is a spiritual discipline. 

So today, I want to share 7 steps that walk us closer and closer toward the ultimate goal living everyday life with our hearts centered in Christ-centered gratitude. 

These are spi...

Find a Christ-centered resource for your family’s holidays.

Episode 277 // No matter how hard we try, sometimes life disappoints us. And at the holidays, that can be especially hard! There can be tension, conflict, unmet expectations - and we want to figure out how to still be a thankful, joyful person even in that disappointment. 

I hope that your Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas season are beautiful times of family and feasting. But just in case you run into a roadblock on this road of gratitude, in case you find yourself grumbling a bit...

Find a Christ-centered resource for your family’s holidays.

Episode 276 // Habits are far more powerful than we realize. They anchor our days and have a big impact on our mental health, spiritual growth, and family interactions.

So, how do we crush bad habits like grumbling, and build good habits like noticing the GOOD in life? How can we make this such a normal part of who we are - a habit that fills our hearts and spills out in our words and interactions?

Today, I want to share...

Find a Christ-centered resource for your family’s holidays.

Episode 275 // Sometimes, we find our greatest motivation in a reality check about life. And that is my goal in today’s episode: not to discourage, but to encourage all of us to work intentionally on our grumbling hearts. 

And we’ll find that encouragement with a reality check about how our grumbling - and our gratitude! - impacts the people we love the most.

Last week, we looked at a biblical basis for working on this issue in our lives...

Find a Christ-centered resource for your family’s holidays.

Episode 274 // Happy November, friend! This is the time of year when we have gratitude on the brain. But is it really in our hearts all year long? As Christians, it should be. As moms, we long for it to be. 

So we’re kicking off a mini-series today, diving deep into our calling and desire. How can we become more thankful people? What will it take to stop the grumbling in our hearts and our negative thinking? 

Well, it starts...

Grab the Stress Relief Workbook for Christian Moms.

Episode 273 // Ever feel a little stressed out? Ha! You’re a mom - of course you do. And heading into the holiday season can sometimes boost our stress level even more.

Today, we’ll look at 10 big-picture areas where you can make a difference in your own mental health, stress level, and your home atmosphere. 

We’ll look at 5 things to REMOVE from your life and 5 things to ADD to your life, to lower stress and bring more joy and peace to family life.

Each...

Go deeper with the Building A Home Of Godliness And Joy devotional workbook.

Episode 272 // None of us can enjoy family life without having healthy boundaries - with those outside our family and inside it! There are different types of boundaries and they will look different with each person. But they all boil down to the same thing:

What are you willing and able to say NO to?

Saying “no” is a skill that we can build. And saying “no” without the guilt and the awkwardness is an art form th...

Get biblical help for those big emotions with the Keep Your Cool, Mama 40-day devotional.

Episode 271 // Getting stuck in a pattern of negative thinking is never helpful. It doesn’t feel good, and it doesn’t help us love our husbands and kids well. But, it’s a really common struggle!

Thankfully, like most areas of life, God has hope for us. There are practical action steps that can help us break this cycle of negative thinking and start fixing our minds and hearts on the things above, where Christ is (Colossia...

Enjoy my devotional workbook on Building A Home Of Godliness And Joy!

Episode 270 // Every moms wants a deep bond with her kids… and the more kids you have, the harder that can get to manage!

I’ve been a family counselor for 15 years, and I’ve got four little ones of my own: triplets and another little one behind them. They’re all still 5 and under. Life is busy - and I know that if I want strong relationships with each of them, I have to be intentional!

Today, I...

Find a great resource to strengthen your Christian Marriage right here.

Episode 269 // Every marriage will go through hard seasons. Those seasons may be big or small, impacting the whole family or just you as a couple. But your goal is to get through it stronger and closer on the other side.

Which is definitely possible. I’ve been a marriage counselor for over 10 years, and I’ve helped a lot of couples through a lot of hard seasons. The details can be unique, but there are some areas that are helpful for ev...

Build the family life you want with the Building A Home Of Godliness And Joy devotional workbook

Episode 268 // Personal devotional time or quiet time is a HUGE part of spiritual formation as a Christian. Just because mom life is busy and tiring doesn’t mean our Bible time stops being important! 

In fact, I think it’s fair to say it’s even more important for us to get this time as Christian parents. We need Jesus to shape our lives, our families, our homes. How else will we faithfully disciple our childr...

Find biblical joy during hard seasons of motherhood with the Joy In The Journey 40-day Devotional

Episode 267 // I love my kids. I love my husband. I love my family. But let’s be real… I also love some “me time” when I’m able to get it. 

Lots of moms feel guilty about wanting, needing, or enjoying some alone time. Yet, Jesus himself sometimes got away from other people in order to be alone! To pray, reflect, sleep, and rest.

When moms can get some “me time” and use it rightly...

Build your own daily devotional time with the FREE Holy Habits 45-Day Bible and Prayer Guide.

Episode 266 // Life is always changing. But the Bible is not.

Scripture never changes! It does not adjust to accommodate our busy schedules or reliance on technology. God does not change his mind on what is good or right just because we don’t understand or like it.

There is a biblical picture of what a happy, healthy, and holy marriage looks like. And there is a biblical picture of what happy, healt...