All episodes

Parenting in a digital age and raising kids into godly men and women are the focus as Aaron Smith talks with Jay Holland, pastor, husband to Emily, and biological, adoptive, and foster dad of four. With more than 25 years in college and student ministry and the voice behind the Let's Parent on Purpose podcast, Jay explains how intentional rites of passage, drawing on Robert Lewis's framework, help shape manhood and womanhood. They discuss teen anxiety and identity, why limiting digital access while giving kids more freedom and bravery in the physical world matters, and why dad should be the...

Adoption, faith, and fighting for your marriage come together as Aaron Smith talks with Spencer and Ashton Draper, married 12 years, and Ashton, author of Big Yellow House. They share the roughly five-year, $80,000 international adoption of their son Bismarck from Ghana, delayed by COVID and Ghana's new Hague accreditation, and funded through grants, fundraising events, and Gobena Coffee. When Ashton's unexplained health decline began in 2020, poor communication pushed their marriage to the brink of divorce, until a biblically grounded counselor challenged their threshold of grace and asked Spencer where his passion for his marriage was. An honest story...

Motherhood, identity in Christ, and the pressure to be a perfect mom are the focus as Aaron Smith welcomes bestselling author and speaker Vicki Courtney. Married 38 years, a mom of three grown children, and a follower of Jesus since age 21, Vicki shares why she wrote Motherhood Is Not Your Highest Calling: The Grace of Being a Good Enough Mom after realizing she could find no Scripture backing her earlier view. She warns against mom-influencer comparison and the Christian pretender game, cautions against idolizing marriage and motherhood so singles and the infertile feel less than, and urges couples to...

Faith, family, and adventure come together as Aaron Smith sits down with Dan and Sam Mathews, authors of Always Choose Adventure and creators of faith-filled family content. Married about 12 years, they spent four months as newlywed missionaries living in a tent in Africa and years as a full-time RV family in roughly 160 square feet, seasons that fast-tracked their growth and forced them to work through conflict. They talk about marriage as ministry, family as your first disciples, why adventure doesn't end when kids arrive, and the relatable humor behind Dan's hunting-in-a-marriage content. They also share why they came...

Blended families, conflict cycles, and the power of humility are the focus as Aaron chats with Ron Deal, licensed marriage and family therapist, author, and founder of Smart Step Families and FamilyLife Blended. Married 39 years with more than 30 years in family ministry, Ron explains why healthy families are about the Spirit producing fruit, not family structure, and challenges the church to invest in marriage ministry. Drawing on his book The Mindful Marriage, he shows how feeling unloved triggers blame, shame, control, or escape, creating couple pain cycles, and how neuroscience affirms biblical truth. His remedy starts with humility,...

A testimony of addiction, unbelief, and redemption is at the center of this conversation between Aaron Smith and Vince Revo, a Toronto church planter, Bible teacher, and host of the Revo Report. Raised in a Pentecostal church-planting family, Vince fell into addiction, new atheism, and new age thinking, until his grandfather's death and a warning note he had left behind brought him to his knees. Two years later in the Philippines, a woman who kept bringing him food finally took him to church, and he surrendered to Jesus during Amazing Grace. Vince and Aaron discuss the deceitfulness of sin, the...

Biblical literacy, faith, and family are the focus as Aaron Smith talks with author and Bible teacher Zach Windahl about his new book, The Bible Simplified. Zach shares how his mom's survival of four cancers shaped his early faith, how doubts surfaced in college, and how a read-the-Bible-in-90-days challenge transformed him, leading to a year of intensive Bible study in Australia. He explains why most Christians never read the whole Bible, why understanding the Old Testament and Jesus' Jewish context unlocks the New Testament, and how knowing each book's style and audience keeps verses in context. They also talk homeschooling,...

Biblical womanhood, identity, and God's design for the family are the focus as Aaron Smith sits down with Bethany Beal, co-founder of Girl Defined and co-author, with her sister Kristen, of Made to Be She. Bethany recounts a degrading modeling-agency interview that turned her toward ministry, and credits her father's words and presence for grounding her worth in Christ. Together they unpack social media's impact on identity, why high standards and boundaries are a form of leadership, how feminism and birth control have changed the way society and even the church view womanhood, motherhood, and children, and why a father's...

Infertility, adoption, and trusting God's timing are at the heart of this Marriage After God conversation with Stephen Moore, director of WinShape Camps. Stephen shares the eight years he and his wife Hope waited for children, the moment doctors told them their only options were IVF or adoption, and how they took a break and kept praying. God led them to adopt two boys, and just weeks after the second adoption they unexpectedly conceived a daughter. Stephen talks about why hope and happiness are not the same thing, why you should never stop praying, and the viral Braves "Beat the...

How to speak life into your marriage is the focus of this Marriage After God conversation with Dave and Ann Wilson, hosts of FamilyLife Today, married 45 years. Aaron talks with them about Ann's book How to Speak Life to Your Husband and the moments that shaped their marriage: a 10th-anniversary breaking point when Ann told Dave she had no feelings left and he repented on his knees in the car, and a MOPS talk where Dave admitted that at home all he heard was "boo." Ann shares how she asked God to show her the greatness in Dave and...