June 8, 2025 • 29 mins
Do you ever wonder if Sunday church attendance is enough to build lasting faith in your children? This question lies at the heart of my conversation with Shawna Goldstein, a passionate Bible teacher and mother of three teenage boys who's on a mission to equip parents for their most important role - discipling the next generation.
Shauna shares a startling statistic that changed her perspective: while about 60% of Americans identify as Christians, only 4% are living as disciples of Jesus. This gap isn't just concerning - it's reshaping how we understand what it means to raise children in faith. "We can't just shove that job off on the church," Shawna explains. "We are the main ones responsible for the spiritual growth of our kids.”
• Finding God in everyday moments makes faith real and accessible
• Bible teaching should be age-appropriate, interactive, and engaging
• Different parenting stages require different discipleship approaches
• Praying aloud over children models the importance of prayer
• Listening well to teens creates opportunities for deeper conversations
• Everyone has a role in discipling the next generation
Whether you're a parent seeking practical tools, a grandparent wondering how to influence the next generation, or someone without children looking to make disciples, this conversation offers wisdom for bringing faith beyond Sunday morning and into everyday life. Listen now to discover how small, consistent efforts can transform not just your family's spiritual journey, but potentially an entire generation.
See the complete interview ⬇️
https://youtu.be/ikAp8evters
Buy Shawna’s 2 Bible Studies on Amazon...
📚 Raise Them in the Word: the simple way to build a foundation of faith in your kids
📚 Guide Them to Jesus: experience His life, miracles, and teachings with your kids
https://generationstogenerations.com/podcast
ordinarypeoplestories@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/ordinarypeoplestory
https://www.instagram.com/ordinarypeopleextraordinary/
X: @storiesextra
Any advice should be confirmed with a qualified professional.
All rights reserved: Ordinary People Extraordinary Things
Stories shared by guests may not always be shared views of OPET.
Being a guest does not mean OPET approves of every decision or action in the guests' life.
We all have a story, all of us, share your story. You don't have to have the perfect answer or the perfect life - share what Jesus is doing in your life. This is an easy, real way to witness & share your testimony.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you for joining me.
I'm Nancy Brusher, your host ofOrdinary People Extraordinary
Things.
Our guest today, shaunaGoldstein, has so many nuggets,
if you're a parent or if you'renot, on how to disciple the
younger generation.
I love summer.
It's a magical time ofdifferent rhythms or no rhythms,
(00:22):
and different obligations,which frees up some time for me
to tackle a few items thatcontinually get pushed down to
the bottom of the to-do list.
If your to-do list includesgathering old home videos and
converting them to digital, Ihave a special for you.
Head over togenerations2generationscom.
That's generations.
(00:43):
That is plural and two is T-O.
Under the home video tab,you'll see a pop-up that says
digitize your home videos,preserve your memories.
Buy 10 video transfers, get the11th on us.
It's a great way to relive andpreserve your favorite memories
for years to come.
Whatever your to-do list isthis summer, I'm glad you're
(01:06):
here to hear stories of faithand hope.
Let's get started.
Welcome to Ordinary PeopleExtraordinary Things.
I'm here with Shauna.
Shauna, thanks for being on thepodcast.
Thanks for having me.
I'm really excited to chat.
And let's just jump in.
What are three words or phrasesto describe yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Okay, so the well they all kind of go together.
But first things that come tomind are that I am energetic.
I bring a lot of passion towhat I do, a lot of energy, and
I am a teacher of many things.
I love teaching the Bible, butI also teach group fitness, so
(01:48):
that's where that energy comesin.
So, no matter what I'm teaching, I want to get people up and
moving and I want it to beexciting and interactive.
And then also I am a lover ofnature, so I feed off of
sunshine.
I love to be outside, go onhikes.
I have so many plants inside myhouse so I can bring the
outside in when it's winter.
(02:08):
So yeah, that's a little aboutme.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Oh, awesome, and you live in Cincinnati?
I do.
Is there a lot of hiking andnature stuff to do there?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
There are a ton of trails.
We live really close to a biketrail that goes all the way from
Cincinnati up to Cleveland, andso we can walk and bike on that
trail a lot.
Or there's so many differentwooded areas that we can go
hiking.
And I have a little Malshi whothinks that he's a big dog even
though he's a little dog, so heloves to go on hikes too and he
(02:40):
just tromps through thewilderness along with me, and
usually I can grab one of mysons to come with me on a hike
as well.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Oh, that's such special time, isn't it?
Yes, yeah, and how many kids doyou have?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
So I have three boys.
They are 17, 15, and 13.
So we just hit the point wherethey are all teenagers.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Wow, wow, that's awesome and we're talking about
that's such a great segue.
We're talking about pouringfaith into our family, pouring
faith into our kids, and youhave a couple of different ways
that you do this, so I'm excitedto hear your expertise on this.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Not only are you a mom, but then you also write
curriculum this Not only are youa mom, but then you also write
curriculum.
Yes, yeah, and that's kind ofbeen the in my spare time and
then so I actually do adultdiscipleship at our local church
.
But God has just brought me onsuch a progression I feel like.
You know, when I was in collegeI knew God had called me into
(03:43):
ministry, but I didn't know whatthat would look like.
So I just started okay, I'mgoing to take a lot of classes
and he clearly spoke to me gowork at a Christian camp for the
summer.
So first summer of college Iwent to work at a Christian camp
and I just grew a love forteaching the Bible.
So I started teaching the Bibleto kids.
But doing it in the campsetting made me have to be
(04:04):
creative about how do I makethis fun and interactive?
How do I bring my energy?
Because they're outside so manythings are calling to them.
They want to go play.
How can I make the Bible funand exciting?
So I did that my summers duringcollege and then I ended up
teaching at a Christian schoolright out of college and was
also getting to teach Bible andchapel and all of that.
(04:26):
So I got a lot of experienceteaching kids, and so then when
I had my own kids, I was likeall right, here, I'm ready to
pour into them.
I joined mom's group, startmeeting other moms and realizing
, oh, they don't feel asequipped as I do to teach their
kids about Jesus.
They want to, but they'recoming to church and thinking,
(04:48):
okay, well, I'm going to do whatI can, so I'm going to bring
them to church.
Well, that's not everything.
That's good, but that's noteverything.
So in an ideal world, we arethe main ones responsible for
the spiritual growth of our kids.
Obviously, the Lord first.
We need the Holy Spirit workingon his heart.
But we can't just shove thatjob off on the church.
We need to do it as parents.
So that's where the curriculumwriting came in.
(05:10):
And yes, I developed a coupleof Bible studies to help moms
teach their kids about the Bible.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That's so good.
And did that pull off what youwere like, you were saying at
camps and what you were doingand then being a mom as well?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yes, definitely.
I mean God has weaved all of myexperience into it.
So my work at the camps, Irealized, you know, things have
to be interactive and involvemovement.
So the Bible studies that Ihave written, there's actually a
timeline that takes kidsthrough.
The first one is an overview ofthe whole Bible, and so it's a
timeline that takes kids throughthe Bible and there are hand
motions that go with it.
So the kids are saying likecreation fall, flood, tower of
Babel, and they're moving theirhands with it as they learn it.
(05:55):
And that actually even wasdeveloped.
That timeline I wrote when Iwas teaching in the Christian
school because our Biblecurriculum was really boring and
the kids hated Bible time andso I was like, okay, I'm going
to come up with something.
And so we slowly worked throughan overview of the Bible and
learned that timeline and theneventually it became part of my
study.
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
What age group.
You have two of them out.
Can you give me the names ofthem?
We will link them in the shownotes, but could you give me the
names of them?
And then is there an age rangethat they're both made for?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, so raise them in the word and guide them to
Jesus.
So raise them in the word is thefirst one, and it's an overview
of the whole Bible and thenguide them to Jesus.
It focuses on the life of Jesus,the life, teaching, miracles of
Jesus, because I realized myoverview of scripture while it's
awesome, big picture, there isonly one week spent on the life
(06:52):
of Jesus and it was like no, weneed to dive into this more.
So the way it's writtenactually allows a lot of
flexibility with kids.
I have had moms oftwo-year-olds start using it
with their kiddos, moms oftwo-year-olds start using it
with their kiddos.
I think the sweet spot isprobably about five to 12.
But, like I said, you know,I've seen the younger do it and
then, now that my kids are allabove 12, I actually am going
(07:15):
back through it with them andhaving them do the parts that I
wrote for mom also.
So each study is 12 weeks andthere's a part written to mom, a
part written to young kids anda part written to older kids,
and so you can go through andpick and choose the pieces, and
so now my kids are just gettingbuilt upon what they had known
before, because now they'redoing the adult part too.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Oh, that's such a great idea.
I really like that.
I really like that.
That's such a great idea, Ireally like that, I really like
that.
So you are saying that there'sa thought sometimes of, okay,
the church does their thing onWednesday or Sunday or whatever,
and then my child will learn tolove God and we are strong
(08:00):
components of going to churchevery Sunday and that that's
just a huge, huge part of ourlives.
But there is that other aspectof it has to become a part of
your daily and not just, okay,I'm here and then the rest of my
life.
Can you kind of share a littlebit more about?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
that Definitely.
Yeah, I read a statisticrecently that completely
challenged me, and it was that abunch of Americans were polled
and the survey results said that60-some percent of Americans
profess to be Christian.
But when you boil it down andask more specific questions,
(08:41):
only about 4% of Americans areliving as disciples of Jesus.
So only about 4% of us is ourfaith actually impacting how we
live from day to day?
And so it's much more than justhey, I went to church one hour
on a Sunday and, frankly, a lotof people just go once a month,
or Christmas and Easter now too,whatever right.
(09:03):
But Jesus came not just so wecould punch a ticket and say,
hey, I'm going to go to heavensomeday.
He came to give us life, togive it to the full now and to
work in us and through us tohelp bring his kingdom here to
earth.
So our lives are supposed to betransformed every moment of
every day.
So when our kids are reallittle, we have much more time
(09:25):
to interact with them.
As they get older, we start tosee them less and less, as I'm
learning with my teenagers, whoare always off to sports and
friends and whatever.
But we want to teach them whatdoes it look like to walk with
Jesus every moment of every day?
What does it look like when weknow that His Holy Spirit's
inside of us?
So so we can be prayingconstantly, we can be talking
(09:50):
about him constantly andteaching?
That is an interesting balance,because we don't want our kids
to think that we're alwaysnagging or, you know, always
studious or something like that.
Right, you want to teach themthat this is fun, that walking
with Jesus is the best life youcould ever experience.
So little tricks that I've doneis you know, when they were real
little it was okay.
Where can you find God?
(10:11):
So you know they I have boys.
They like bugs.
They'd be playing outside andthey'd be like, look at this
awesome bug I found.
And I'm like isn't that amazing?
Can you think of all thedifferent bugs that God made?
He is so creative, he's soawesome.
Or you see a gorgeous sky andyou say, oh, the heavens declare
(10:31):
the glory of God, the skiesproclaim the work of his hand.
Isn't he the best artist thereis, you know?
So you just come up with waysto bring God into everything.
And then I found also that wecan pray and we can say we're
praying, but our kids don't knowwe're praying unless we pray
out loud.
And then I found also that wecan pray and we can say we're
praying, but our kids don't knowwe're praying unless we pray
out loud.
And a lot of people aren'tcomfortable praying out loud.
But start practicing in frontof your kids, right, like we
(10:54):
don't have to use the rightwords, we just want them to know
to pray.
So I had to start making aconscious effort.
Okay, if I'm with my kids andI'm praying, I'm going to do it
out loud, so they hear me doingit.
So it's modeled.
And then I asked some toughquestions too, like when my kids
get home from school, I'll askthings like what did you pray
about today?
And maybe their answer isnothing, but then that helps
(11:16):
plant the seed of oh, I shouldbe praying during my day, you
know.
So I'll maybe say well, whenwere you anxious when you were
frustrated?
Okay, when were you anxiouswhen you were frustrated?
Okay, you could have prayedthen.
Right, let's pray about it now.
Or I'll just ask like where was, where'd you get a blessing
today?
Where was someone kind?
Where did you see God?
Just little questions that willhelp them to think of the Lord.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Oh, those are good.
I really like those.
You said balance.
What do you mean by that?
What are?
Yeah, could you kind of talk alittle bit?
That really struck me, thatword that you were saying.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
So well, I just know I can lean towards studious,
right, like, I'm actuallyworking on my master's of
theological studies right now.
I have an undergrad in biblicalliterature, so I can want to
study deep, right.
My family doesn't always wantto go there with me, and that's
okay.
That doesn't mean that they'reany less mature.
(12:11):
They're just wired differently,right?
So I need to remember hey,they're not going to always want
to know this awesome thing thatI just learned about the
history of Judaism and how itimpacts this text, right,
they're not always going to wantto know that.
But to really work on, okay,the relationship part.
(12:32):
And I realized when my kids werelittle, I was doing a really
good job about bringing God inwhen I would discipline them.
But then I realized, ooh, arethey only going to think I talk
about God when I discipline him?
I don't want that.
I don't want them thinkingGod's the big bad guy in the sky
who's just there when they dowrong, right.
And so I realized there had tobe that balance of I want to
(12:54):
make sure I'm celebrating himway more than I'm talking about.
Ooh, you know, when you lied,when you were selfish, that hurt
God.
You know he doesn't want thatfrom us.
So, yeah, I mean, all of ourlives are about balance, right.
If we could find the rightbalance, we would be doing
wonderfully.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
That's good.
And then you said 4% of peoplewould actually line up with the
Christian disciple.
That's a low, low, low, low,low number.
But for someone who's listening, can you just explain what you
mean by disciple?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah.
So what's so interesting is, ifyou look back at the gospels,
jesus never said hey, pray aprayer and you'll go to heaven,
said hey, pray a prayer andyou'll go to heaven.
He didn't say that.
He said come, follow me overand over To the 12, he said it
To others.
He said it.
He said follow me.
And he said come be my disciple.
(13:58):
And a disciple in that day isn'treally a term we have an
equivalent of today, but it waskind of like an apprentice.
It was someone who followedtheir master, who learned what
he did and started to model.
After it started to do it too.
And so I think part of whyChristianity in America is dying
because it really is dying it'sbecause not enough of us allow
(14:19):
our relationship with Jesus toimpact our lives.
We say, okay, yep, I've prayedthe prayer and then I'm good, I
can live.
However, I want the rest of theweek.
Well, now, christianity doesn'tappeal to others, or maybe they
pray the prayer too, but thenthey're not living like it.
But what we need to do is say,okay, I'm going to spend time
with Jesus, I'm going to be hisdisciple, so I'll spend time
(14:40):
with him, I'll start to becomelike him.
I want to do the things that hedid.
What did Jesus model?
Jesus definitely modeled lovingothers, but he modeled prayer.
He drew away often to be withhis father, and you can say
Jesus was fully God, fully man.
Why did he even need to praySome of it?
I think he was modeling it andmodeling that connection that we
(15:03):
need to have with the Lord.
So time with God, time incommunity, time, studying
scripture you know, jesus wouldhave memorized so much of the
Old Testament as a child, and sohe models these things for us
that we too should model in ourlives.
And so it is a daily walk.
(15:23):
It's it's an active journey.
It's a lifelong journey ofbeing transformed to live and
love like Jesus.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
That's good.
I want to ask if you couldshare some I'm just going to say
wisdom.
You could maybe call itsomething else or something that
you thought when you're lookingback.
I know you're not all the waydone raising your kids, but as
you're looking back, maybe awisdom or something that you're
like oh, I wish I had done thatbetter.
And I might ask if we could doit for some specific groups like
(15:57):
the like zero to preschool.
Is there?
Is there something right?
Because each time I and eachtime and this is the reason I'm
kind of making it smaller isbecause I feel like each stage
has its own hardships and itsown wonderful things, and so
someone who has a toddler isgoing to be facing things
(16:20):
obviously completely differentthan a middle school, high
schooler, right, right.
So could you give us something,from baby to before
kindergarten, of something I didgreat or I wish I had known
this?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, I mean, I think reflecting back is always so
positive, right, like we learnthings, and to do it of a way of
like not regret, but like, oh,if I had known right, and I see
this perspective now.
So to me I know some peoplelove the baby stage that was not
(16:56):
my sweet spot.
So the baby to toddler ageexhausted me and, as I said, the
ages of my kids you'llunderstand.
Like, at one point I had agezero, two and four.
I mean I had my hands full andso it was very exhausting.
So I think my big piece ofadvice would be stress less.
I know a lot of people saythings like enjoy the moment,
(17:18):
don't waste it away.
They'll grow so quick.
But to moms in that phase, todads in that phase, anyone, you
don't really want to hear that.
Then, right, like it is, it'stough.
I'm going to completelyempathize and say it is tough.
So my biggest thing would bejust stress less right.
Some of the things that seemlike huge deals really aren't
(17:40):
Like.
You know, if they potty trainnow or in six months, it's not
the end of the world Likethey're.
They're not going to be anadult who's needing a diaper
still.
Right, odds are sorry.
You know, there's some, someextreme cases.
So, yeah, stress less and praymore and just love on those
little kiddos, like that is aspecial calling.
I think it's so easy whenyou're in that stage to feel
(18:01):
like what am I doing in thescheme of things, especially if
you become a stay at home parent.
But regardless, it just feelslike, wow, it takes so much time
doing these mundane tasks.
And I would encourage stressless, pray more, find God in
everything.
Because if we practice thepresence of God with us in
everything that we're doing,that we just, you know, praise
(18:24):
him while we're doing dishes,that we thank him for his love
as we're snuggling our kiddos,it will bring us so much more
joy and contentment.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
That was good.
What about for parents thathave elementary?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, I think that is the time that kids are most
open to what we have to say.
That is a great sweet spot forteaching.
They are sponges.
Even though my kids aren'telementary, this story just
happened the other day and itreally illustrates what I'm
thinking of right now.
So my 13 year old has beenstruggling to read his Bible at
(19:03):
night, like we always encourageour kid, as we used to do it
with them when they were younger, and now I've got them all on
their own, like, hey, you shouldbe reading your Bible and
praying every night.
But my 13 year old has reallybeen struggling with it and he's
like mom, can we read together?
Like I, I'm just not getting it.
You know can, can we do thistogether?
But he asked late at night whenI was tired and cranky, and I
(19:26):
was like, no, buddy, not, nottonight.
And of course then afterwards Iwas kicking myself right Like
that was a golden opportunity.
Why did I say no?
So then I thought about it andI thought, okay, I know why I
said no.
I know because, like, once it'snine o'clock, I'm spent, like
that is not my sweet spot of theday.
So the next day I apologized tohim and I said look, I do want
(19:47):
to read with you, but we need topick a different time because
that time is not going to workwell for me, and so my advice to
those of elementary age is thisis the sweet spot.
This is where you can plantseeds that will bear fruit for
eternity.
This is where you can reallystart to build that relationship
with your child and the Lord.
But pick times that work foryou.
(20:09):
Think through when are youfreshest, when are you best, and
then be intentional about okay,so that's when we're going to
do a little, and it can belittle nuggets, right, so that's
one of the things, too, aboutthe studies that I wrote it
literally.
Some days it's like a oneminute thing, some days it's
like five minutes, but it's veryeasy, very doable, as opposed
(20:30):
to like, hey, I need you for anhour to do this.
You know like that's, that'snot going to work.
So so, yeah, just beintentional to start carving
that in your kids.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
That was good.
What about middle school?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Okay, can I lump middle school and high school?
Yep, all right.
So as I think of middle schooland high school, which is where
I am now, the influence that youhave on your kids really starts
to diminish.
They don't necessarily want asmuch time with you, but I heard
once that if you listen well,they will want to tell you more.
(21:12):
So I try, no matter what it isthey're talking to me about.
I may have no interest in it atall because it's their fantasy
football or it's.
You know this that whatever, Itry to listen well and listen
intentively, so that they wantto talk to me about things.
So that's one, and then atwofold piece of advice is
(21:36):
praying over them every timethey leave the house.
So, it can be really quick.
It doesn't have to beburdensome the house.
So it can be really quick, itdoesn't have to be burdensome.
But you know if, if they'rerushing out the door, I just do
a quick like Lord, help them toknow that your Holy spirit is
inside them and help them towalk in your fruit, you know.
And then when I have more timeI actually pray for the
different fruits and I say allright, holy spirit, fill them
(21:57):
with love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness andself-control.
Today.
But it's just, it's a quicklittle prayer on the go, but
it's just kind of that littleblessing to send them out the
door.
It shows that you care becauseit's so easy as they start to
get more independent.
You know they're even catchingrides with friends now and
things like.
I'm not always even taking themplaces, so it's so easy for
(22:20):
them to just come and go andvanish and you show you care
when you're.
Hey, let me pray over you quick, let me give this little
blessing, and out the door and Ilove you, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So you're actually doing that out loud with them.
It's not like I'm doing it inmy head as they leave.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Right, right, Because if you do it in your head, they
don't know you're doing itright.
And I want it modeled.
I want them to know that I'mdoing it and then hopefully
eventually they know they canpray that for themselves, they
can pray that for others, butit's not even something that I
make them stop to do so.
So this is another thing whereI'm like it's balanced right.
I don't want it to be a burden.
(22:56):
I don't want them to be likeman.
For five minutes before I leavethe house, mom makes me freeze
and we have to bow our heads andblah, blah, blah, Right, Like
they can be loading theirbackpacks as I'm praying and
they're walking out the door.
It's fine, that's notdisrespectful to the Lord.
You know, sometimes we thinklike we have to do all these
things just so to respect theLord.
He just wants us to talk to himand he wants us to live every
(23:18):
moment of every day with him.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I love it.
I love it.
What would you say to agrandparent, or maybe someone
who is listening, who their kidsare all the way grown or they
don't have kids.
Is there anything that youwould say to them about loving
on parents or loving on theyounger generation, or anything
(23:45):
like that?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
anything like that.
Yeah, I mean really, ourmission is to make disciples.
Right, you know?
Jesus, in the end of Matthew,before he ascends back up to
heaven, says go and makedisciples.
And so that is all of ourmission.
(24:06):
For me, it's very easy andobvious to say the first
disciples I need to make are mykids.
That's obvious.
They're in my home, god hasgiven them to me.
But those aren't the onlydisciples I need to make.
And someone without kids, orwith grown kids?
You have a place too.
And, frankly, if you're agrandparent or of age of a
grandparent, maybe you're older,but you don't have kids or
grandkids.
You have life experience, youare seasoned, you have wisdom,
(24:28):
you have something to give.
One of the most common things Iget in ministry is people who
say, hey, I want someone tomentor or disciple me, but then
I get about zero people who sayI'm willing to be a mentor or
I'm willing to disciple someone,and the reason is we quickly
disqualify ourselves All thetime.
We think like, well, I don'tknow enough or I don't do this
(24:50):
perfectly, surely that couldn'tbe me.
Well, we all have something togive.
We don't have to know all theanswers.
Simply by showing up, by lovingpeople, by praying, by getting
involved, by showing we care, wecan make a huge difference.
So, really, that mission is toall of us, and God places us
(25:10):
each in a unique spot as well.
That you know.
We can take the time and say,okay, god, show me who am I
going to interact with today,who do you want me to show them?
Just a little bit of who Jesusis and of his love?
Speaker 1 (25:25):
That was so good.
I have loved chatting with you,Shauna.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Well, as we wrap up,I always do these three
questions what is your favoriteBible verse or story?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Okay, so I'm going to answer a little differently by
just saying a book of the Bible,because I absolutely love the
book of John.
I love reading any of theGospels because they're about
the life of Jesus, but John isso much more personal.
John is the author of the book,but he never refers to himself
by name.
He always refers to himself asthe one that Jesus loved, and it
(26:01):
shows in the text.
You can just see like he is inlove with Jesus and he knows
that Jesus loves him, and so allthe stories in John just are so
incredibly personal that thatis a go-to favorite of mine.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I like it.
What are you grateful for?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, well, continuing to stick on the theme
of family quality time isdefinitely one of my love
languages and I'm very gratefulfor my family and for quality
time with them.
So even though when they get tobe teens they don't always want
to spend time with me, latelymy 13 year old has taken a lot
of initiative Like, mom, whatcan we do together?
(26:40):
Can we go play tennis?
Can we go golf?
Can I help you cook something?
And that has been such ablessing and I'm very thankful
for that.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Oh, I love that.
I love that.
What kindness have you shown orwhat kindness have you received
in the last week?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Gosh, I'll, I'll stay with the same theme.
So my 13 year old I you knowyou don't always expect it.
This is when you're like okay,god, thank you, you're, you're
working on their heart, right?
Um, he came to me and just saidhow can I help you?
You know, he saw me cooking andhurrying around the kitchen and
he's like I don't know what todo, but I feel like I should
help.
I'm like great, then, let's getyou helping.
(27:14):
You know, and that was just socool.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
That's so good.
That's so good, shauna.
Thank you for your wisdom.
Thanks for sharing things thatyou have learned personally from
being in ministry and thenbeing a mom.
I know that this is going toimpact a lot of people, and I'm
excited to share your books thatyou've written with people,
because I think sometimes wehave a good heart, we really
(27:41):
want to do something, but wejust don't know.
So I'm excited to have thisresource for people.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah, that definitely was my goal.
Just, you know, let's make iteasy, let's make it accessible
and, honestly, the hardest thingwith both studies is just
committing to.
I'm going to open it up andstart, because once you start
you're like this is so easy,this is so doable, I can do it
and you don't have to have allthat background knowledge.
It walks you through and you'lllearn, and your kids will learn
(28:08):
and, yeah, it'll be a greatexperience is my hope and prayer
.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Well, and I love that it's small, because small time
commitments on it, because Ithink that that is something
where it's if I have to do 20,30 minutes, sometimes that's
feels almost impossible,especially if like, okay, I
could get a couple of these done, but then it just gets put to
the back burner.
(28:33):
So I love that.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, I mean so easy it can be done at the dinner
table or, you know, breakfast orbedtime, whatever, but yeah, I
love that around the dinnertable.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
That's a great idea.
Thank you for that.
Well, I want to thank Holly,with the gourmets, and she's the
one who put us together.
And so thanks, holly, forsharing Shana with me and thank
you, shana, for sharing yourstory.
Thanks for having me, nancy,all right?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
On.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things.
Your story is His glory.
Thank you for listening and ifShauna's story impacted, you,
share it with a friend right now.
And don't forget, if you havehome videos that are still in an
old format that you can't watch, head over to
generations2generationscom for afree conversion In two weeks.
(29:26):
I'm joined by one of my besthigh school friends, Muffy Cruz,
and we're going to talk aboutsimplifying your life, but
simplifying may be completelydifferent than you think.
We'll see you next time.
Thank you for joining me.
I'm Nancy Brusher, your host ofOrdinary People Extraordinary
Things.
Our guest today, shaunaGoldstein, has so many nuggets,
if you're a parent or if you'renot, on how to disciple the
younger generation.
I love summer.
It's a magical time ofdifferent rhythms or no rhythms,
(00:22):
and different obligations,which frees up some time for me
to tackle a few items thatcontinually get pushed down to
the bottom of the to-do list.
If your to-do list includesgathering old home videos and
converting them to digital, Ihave a special for you.
Head over togenerations2generationscom.
That's generations.
(00:43):
That is plural and two is T-O.
Under the home video tab,you'll see a pop-up that says
digitize your home videos,preserve your memories.
Buy 10 video transfers, get the11th on us.
It's a great way to relive andpreserve your favorite memories
for years to come.
Whatever your to-do list isthis summer, I'm glad you're
(01:06):
here to hear stories of faithand hope.
Let's get started.
Welcome to Ordinary PeopleExtraordinary Things.
I'm here with Shauna.
Shauna, thanks for being on thepodcast.
Thanks for having me.
I'm really excited to chat.
And let's just jump in.
What are three words or phrasesto describe yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Okay, so the well they all kind of go together.
But first things that come tomind are that I am energetic.
I bring a lot of passion towhat I do, a lot of energy, and
I am a teacher of many things.
I love teaching the Bible, butI also teach group fitness, so
(01:48):
that's where that energy comesin.
So, no matter what I'm teaching, I want to get people up and
moving and I want it to beexciting and interactive.
And then also I am a lover ofnature, so I feed off of
sunshine.
I love to be outside, go onhikes.
I have so many plants inside myhouse so I can bring the
outside in when it's winter.
(02:08):
So yeah, that's a little aboutme.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Oh, awesome, and you live in Cincinnati?
I do.
Is there a lot of hiking andnature stuff to do there?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
There are a ton of trails.
We live really close to a biketrail that goes all the way from
Cincinnati up to Cleveland, andso we can walk and bike on that
trail a lot.
Or there's so many differentwooded areas that we can go
hiking.
And I have a little Malshi whothinks that he's a big dog even
though he's a little dog, so heloves to go on hikes too and he
(02:40):
just tromps through thewilderness along with me, and
usually I can grab one of mysons to come with me on a hike
as well.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Oh, that's such special time, isn't it?
Yes, yeah, and how many kids doyou have?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
So I have three boys.
They are 17, 15, and 13.
So we just hit the point wherethey are all teenagers.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Wow, wow, that's awesome and we're talking about
that's such a great segue.
We're talking about pouringfaith into our family, pouring
faith into our kids, and youhave a couple of different ways
that you do this, so I'm excitedto hear your expertise on this.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Not only are you a mom, but then you also write
curriculum this Not only are youa mom, but then you also write
curriculum.
Yes, yeah, and that's kind ofbeen the in my spare time and
then so I actually do adultdiscipleship at our local church
.
But God has just brought me onsuch a progression I feel like.
You know, when I was in collegeI knew God had called me into
(03:43):
ministry, but I didn't know whatthat would look like.
So I just started okay, I'mgoing to take a lot of classes
and he clearly spoke to me gowork at a Christian camp for the
summer.
So first summer of college Iwent to work at a Christian camp
and I just grew a love forteaching the Bible.
So I started teaching the Bibleto kids.
But doing it in the campsetting made me have to be
(04:04):
creative about how do I makethis fun and interactive?
How do I bring my energy?
Because they're outside so manythings are calling to them.
They want to go play.
How can I make the Bible funand exciting?
So I did that my summers duringcollege and then I ended up
teaching at a Christian schoolright out of college and was
also getting to teach Bible andchapel and all of that.
(04:26):
So I got a lot of experienceteaching kids, and so then when
I had my own kids, I was likeall right, here, I'm ready to
pour into them.
I joined mom's group, startmeeting other moms and realizing
, oh, they don't feel asequipped as I do to teach their
kids about Jesus.
They want to, but they'recoming to church and thinking,
(04:48):
okay, well, I'm going to do whatI can, so I'm going to bring
them to church.
Well, that's not everything.
That's good, but that's noteverything.
So in an ideal world, we arethe main ones responsible for
the spiritual growth of our kids.
Obviously, the Lord first.
We need the Holy Spirit workingon his heart.
But we can't just shove thatjob off on the church.
We need to do it as parents.
So that's where the curriculumwriting came in.
(05:10):
And yes, I developed a coupleof Bible studies to help moms
teach their kids about the Bible.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That's so good.
And did that pull off what youwere like, you were saying at
camps and what you were doingand then being a mom as well?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yes, definitely.
I mean God has weaved all of myexperience into it.
So my work at the camps, Irealized, you know, things have
to be interactive and involvemovement.
So the Bible studies that Ihave written, there's actually a
timeline that takes kidsthrough.
The first one is an overview ofthe whole Bible, and so it's a
timeline that takes kids throughthe Bible and there are hand
motions that go with it.
So the kids are saying likecreation fall, flood, tower of
Babel, and they're moving theirhands with it as they learn it.
(05:55):
And that actually even wasdeveloped.
That timeline I wrote when Iwas teaching in the Christian
school because our Biblecurriculum was really boring and
the kids hated Bible time andso I was like, okay, I'm going
to come up with something.
And so we slowly worked throughan overview of the Bible and
learned that timeline and theneventually it became part of my
study.
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
What age group.
You have two of them out.
Can you give me the names ofthem?
We will link them in the shownotes, but could you give me the
names of them?
And then is there an age rangethat they're both made for?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, so raise them in the word and guide them to
Jesus.
So raise them in the word is thefirst one, and it's an overview
of the whole Bible and thenguide them to Jesus.
It focuses on the life of Jesus,the life, teaching, miracles of
Jesus, because I realized myoverview of scripture while it's
awesome, big picture, there isonly one week spent on the life
(06:52):
of Jesus and it was like no, weneed to dive into this more.
So the way it's writtenactually allows a lot of
flexibility with kids.
I have had moms oftwo-year-olds start using it
with their kiddos, moms oftwo-year-olds start using it
with their kiddos.
I think the sweet spot isprobably about five to 12.
But, like I said, you know,I've seen the younger do it and
then, now that my kids are allabove 12, I actually am going
(07:15):
back through it with them andhaving them do the parts that I
wrote for mom also.
So each study is 12 weeks andthere's a part written to mom, a
part written to young kids anda part written to older kids,
and so you can go through andpick and choose the pieces, and
so now my kids are just gettingbuilt upon what they had known
before, because now they'redoing the adult part too.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Oh, that's such a great idea.
I really like that.
I really like that.
That's such a great idea, Ireally like that, I really like
that.
So you are saying that there'sa thought sometimes of, okay,
the church does their thing onWednesday or Sunday or whatever,
and then my child will learn tolove God and we are strong
(08:00):
components of going to churchevery Sunday and that that's
just a huge, huge part of ourlives.
But there is that other aspectof it has to become a part of
your daily and not just, okay,I'm here and then the rest of my
life.
Can you kind of share a littlebit more about?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
that Definitely.
Yeah, I read a statisticrecently that completely
challenged me, and it was that abunch of Americans were polled
and the survey results said that60-some percent of Americans
profess to be Christian.
But when you boil it down andask more specific questions,
(08:41):
only about 4% of Americans areliving as disciples of Jesus.
So only about 4% of us is ourfaith actually impacting how we
live from day to day?
And so it's much more than justhey, I went to church one hour
on a Sunday and, frankly, a lotof people just go once a month,
or Christmas and Easter now too,whatever right.
(09:03):
But Jesus came not just so wecould punch a ticket and say,
hey, I'm going to go to heavensomeday.
He came to give us life, togive it to the full now and to
work in us and through us tohelp bring his kingdom here to
earth.
So our lives are supposed to betransformed every moment of
every day.
So when our kids are reallittle, we have much more time
(09:25):
to interact with them.
As they get older, we start tosee them less and less, as I'm
learning with my teenagers, whoare always off to sports and
friends and whatever.
But we want to teach them whatdoes it look like to walk with
Jesus every moment of every day?
What does it look like when weknow that His Holy Spirit's
inside of us?
So so we can be prayingconstantly, we can be talking
(09:50):
about him constantly andteaching?
That is an interesting balance,because we don't want our kids
to think that we're alwaysnagging or, you know, always
studious or something like that.
Right, you want to teach themthat this is fun, that walking
with Jesus is the best life youcould ever experience.
So little tricks that I've doneis you know, when they were real
little it was okay.
Where can you find God?
(10:11):
So you know they I have boys.
They like bugs.
They'd be playing outside andthey'd be like, look at this
awesome bug I found.
And I'm like isn't that amazing?
Can you think of all thedifferent bugs that God made?
He is so creative, he's soawesome.
Or you see a gorgeous sky andyou say, oh, the heavens declare
(10:31):
the glory of God, the skiesproclaim the work of his hand.
Isn't he the best artist thereis, you know?
So you just come up with waysto bring God into everything.
And then I found also that wecan pray and we can say we're
praying, but our kids don't knowwe're praying unless we pray
out loud.
And then I found also that wecan pray and we can say we're
praying, but our kids don't knowwe're praying unless we pray
out loud.
And a lot of people aren'tcomfortable praying out loud.
But start practicing in frontof your kids, right, like we
(10:54):
don't have to use the rightwords, we just want them to know
to pray.
So I had to start making aconscious effort.
Okay, if I'm with my kids andI'm praying, I'm going to do it
out loud, so they hear me doingit.
So it's modeled.
And then I asked some toughquestions too, like when my kids
get home from school, I'll askthings like what did you pray
about today?
And maybe their answer isnothing, but then that helps
(11:16):
plant the seed of oh, I shouldbe praying during my day, you
know.
So I'll maybe say well, whenwere you anxious when you were
frustrated?
Okay, when were you anxiouswhen you were frustrated?
Okay, you could have prayedthen.
Right, let's pray about it now.
Or I'll just ask like where was, where'd you get a blessing
today?
Where was someone kind?
Where did you see God?
Just little questions that willhelp them to think of the Lord.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Oh, those are good.
I really like those.
You said balance.
What do you mean by that?
What are?
Yeah, could you kind of talk alittle bit?
That really struck me, thatword that you were saying.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
So well, I just know I can lean towards studious,
right, like, I'm actuallyworking on my master's of
theological studies right now.
I have an undergrad in biblicalliterature, so I can want to
study deep, right.
My family doesn't always wantto go there with me, and that's
okay.
That doesn't mean that they'reany less mature.
(12:11):
They're just wired differently,right?
So I need to remember hey,they're not going to always want
to know this awesome thing thatI just learned about the
history of Judaism and how itimpacts this text, right,
they're not always going to wantto know that.
But to really work on, okay,the relationship part.
(12:32):
And I realized when my kids werelittle, I was doing a really
good job about bringing God inwhen I would discipline them.
But then I realized, ooh, arethey only going to think I talk
about God when I discipline him?
I don't want that.
I don't want them thinkingGod's the big bad guy in the sky
who's just there when they dowrong, right.
And so I realized there had tobe that balance of I want to
(12:54):
make sure I'm celebrating himway more than I'm talking about.
Ooh, you know, when you lied,when you were selfish, that hurt
God.
You know he doesn't want thatfrom us.
So, yeah, I mean, all of ourlives are about balance, right.
If we could find the rightbalance, we would be doing
wonderfully.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
That's good.
And then you said 4% of peoplewould actually line up with the
Christian disciple.
That's a low, low, low, low,low number.
But for someone who's listening, can you just explain what you
mean by disciple?
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah.
So what's so interesting is, ifyou look back at the gospels,
jesus never said hey, pray aprayer and you'll go to heaven,
said hey, pray a prayer andyou'll go to heaven.
He didn't say that.
He said come, follow me overand over To the 12, he said it
To others.
He said it.
He said follow me.
And he said come be my disciple.
(13:58):
And a disciple in that day isn'treally a term we have an
equivalent of today, but it waskind of like an apprentice.
It was someone who followedtheir master, who learned what
he did and started to model.
After it started to do it too.
And so I think part of whyChristianity in America is dying
because it really is dying it'sbecause not enough of us allow
(14:19):
our relationship with Jesus toimpact our lives.
We say, okay, yep, I've prayedthe prayer and then I'm good, I
can live.
However, I want the rest of theweek.
Well, now, christianity doesn'tappeal to others, or maybe they
pray the prayer too, but thenthey're not living like it.
But what we need to do is say,okay, I'm going to spend time
with Jesus, I'm going to be hisdisciple, so I'll spend time
(14:40):
with him, I'll start to becomelike him.
I want to do the things that hedid.
What did Jesus model?
Jesus definitely modeled lovingothers, but he modeled prayer.
He drew away often to be withhis father, and you can say
Jesus was fully God, fully man.
Why did he even need to praySome of it?
I think he was modeling it andmodeling that connection that we
(15:03):
need to have with the Lord.
So time with God, time incommunity, time, studying
scripture you know, jesus wouldhave memorized so much of the
Old Testament as a child, and sohe models these things for us
that we too should model in ourlives.
And so it is a daily walk.
(15:23):
It's it's an active journey.
It's a lifelong journey ofbeing transformed to live and
love like Jesus.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
That's good.
I want to ask if you couldshare some I'm just going to say
wisdom.
You could maybe call itsomething else or something that
you thought when you're lookingback.
I know you're not all the waydone raising your kids, but as
you're looking back, maybe awisdom or something that you're
like oh, I wish I had done thatbetter.
And I might ask if we could doit for some specific groups like
(15:57):
the like zero to preschool.
Is there?
Is there something right?
Because each time I and eachtime and this is the reason I'm
kind of making it smaller isbecause I feel like each stage
has its own hardships and itsown wonderful things, and so
someone who has a toddler isgoing to be facing things
(16:20):
obviously completely differentthan a middle school, high
schooler, right, right.
So could you give us something,from baby to before
kindergarten, of something I didgreat or I wish I had known
this?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, I mean, I think reflecting back is always so
positive, right, like we learnthings, and to do it of a way of
like not regret, but like, oh,if I had known right, and I see
this perspective now.
So to me I know some peoplelove the baby stage that was not
(16:56):
my sweet spot.
So the baby to toddler ageexhausted me and, as I said, the
ages of my kids you'llunderstand.
Like, at one point I had agezero, two and four.
I mean I had my hands full andso it was very exhausting.
So I think my big piece ofadvice would be stress less.
I know a lot of people saythings like enjoy the moment,
(17:18):
don't waste it away.
They'll grow so quick.
But to moms in that phase, todads in that phase, anyone, you
don't really want to hear that.
Then, right, like it is, it'stough.
I'm going to completelyempathize and say it is tough.
So my biggest thing would bejust stress less right.
Some of the things that seemlike huge deals really aren't
(17:40):
Like.
You know, if they potty trainnow or in six months, it's not
the end of the world Likethey're.
They're not going to be anadult who's needing a diaper
still.
Right, odds are sorry.
You know, there's some, someextreme cases.
So, yeah, stress less and praymore and just love on those
little kiddos, like that is aspecial calling.
I think it's so easy whenyou're in that stage to feel
(18:01):
like what am I doing in thescheme of things, especially if
you become a stay at home parent.
But regardless, it just feelslike, wow, it takes so much time
doing these mundane tasks.
And I would encourage stressless, pray more, find God in
everything.
Because if we practice thepresence of God with us in
everything that we're doing,that we just, you know, praise
(18:24):
him while we're doing dishes,that we thank him for his love
as we're snuggling our kiddos,it will bring us so much more
joy and contentment.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
That was good.
What about for parents thathave elementary?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, I think that is the time that kids are most
open to what we have to say.
That is a great sweet spot forteaching.
They are sponges.
Even though my kids aren'telementary, this story just
happened the other day and itreally illustrates what I'm
thinking of right now.
So my 13 year old has beenstruggling to read his Bible at
(19:03):
night, like we always encourageour kid, as we used to do it
with them when they were younger, and now I've got them all on
their own, like, hey, you shouldbe reading your Bible and
praying every night.
But my 13 year old has reallybeen struggling with it and he's
like mom, can we read together?
Like I, I'm just not getting it.
You know can, can we do thistogether?
But he asked late at night whenI was tired and cranky, and I
(19:26):
was like, no, buddy, not, nottonight.
And of course then afterwards Iwas kicking myself right Like
that was a golden opportunity.
Why did I say no?
So then I thought about it andI thought, okay, I know why I
said no.
I know because, like, once it'snine o'clock, I'm spent, like
that is not my sweet spot of theday.
So the next day I apologized tohim and I said look, I do want
(19:47):
to read with you, but we need topick a different time because
that time is not going to workwell for me, and so my advice to
those of elementary age is thisis the sweet spot.
This is where you can plantseeds that will bear fruit for
eternity.
This is where you can reallystart to build that relationship
with your child and the Lord.
But pick times that work foryou.
(20:09):
Think through when are youfreshest, when are you best, and
then be intentional about okay,so that's when we're going to
do a little, and it can belittle nuggets, right, so that's
one of the things, too, aboutthe studies that I wrote it
literally.
Some days it's like a oneminute thing, some days it's
like five minutes, but it's veryeasy, very doable, as opposed
(20:30):
to like, hey, I need you for anhour to do this.
You know like that's, that'snot going to work.
So so, yeah, just beintentional to start carving
that in your kids.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
That was good.
What about middle school?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Okay, can I lump middle school and high school?
Yep, all right.
So as I think of middle schooland high school, which is where
I am now, the influence that youhave on your kids really starts
to diminish.
They don't necessarily want asmuch time with you, but I heard
once that if you listen well,they will want to tell you more.
(21:12):
So I try, no matter what it isthey're talking to me about.
I may have no interest in it atall because it's their fantasy
football or it's.
You know this that whatever, Itry to listen well and listen
intentively, so that they wantto talk to me about things.
So that's one, and then atwofold piece of advice is
(21:36):
praying over them every timethey leave the house.
So, it can be really quick.
It doesn't have to beburdensome the house.
So it can be really quick, itdoesn't have to be burdensome.
But you know if, if they'rerushing out the door, I just do
a quick like Lord, help them toknow that your Holy spirit is
inside them and help them towalk in your fruit, you know.
And then when I have more timeI actually pray for the
different fruits and I say allright, holy spirit, fill them
(21:57):
with love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness andself-control.
Today.
But it's just, it's a quicklittle prayer on the go, but
it's just kind of that littleblessing to send them out the
door.
It shows that you care becauseit's so easy as they start to
get more independent.
You know they're even catchingrides with friends now and
things like.
I'm not always even taking themplaces, so it's so easy for
(22:20):
them to just come and go andvanish and you show you care
when you're.
Hey, let me pray over you quick, let me give this little
blessing, and out the door and Ilove you, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So you're actually doing that out loud with them.
It's not like I'm doing it inmy head as they leave.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Right, right, Because if you do it in your head, they
don't know you're doing itright.
And I want it modeled.
I want them to know that I'mdoing it and then hopefully
eventually they know they canpray that for themselves, they
can pray that for others, butit's not even something that I
make them stop to do so.
So this is another thing whereI'm like it's balanced right.
I don't want it to be a burden.
(22:56):
I don't want them to be likeman.
For five minutes before I leavethe house, mom makes me freeze
and we have to bow our heads andblah, blah, blah, Right, Like
they can be loading theirbackpacks as I'm praying and
they're walking out the door.
It's fine, that's notdisrespectful to the Lord.
You know, sometimes we thinklike we have to do all these
things just so to respect theLord.
He just wants us to talk to himand he wants us to live every
(23:18):
moment of every day with him.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I love it.
I love it.
What would you say to agrandparent, or maybe someone
who is listening, who their kidsare all the way grown or they
don't have kids.
Is there anything that youwould say to them about loving
on parents or loving on theyounger generation, or anything
(23:45):
like that?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
anything like that.
Yeah, I mean really, ourmission is to make disciples.
Right, you know?
Jesus, in the end of Matthew,before he ascends back up to
heaven, says go and makedisciples.
And so that is all of ourmission.
(24:06):
For me, it's very easy andobvious to say the first
disciples I need to make are mykids.
That's obvious.
They're in my home, god hasgiven them to me.
But those aren't the onlydisciples I need to make.
And someone without kids, orwith grown kids?
You have a place too.
And, frankly, if you're agrandparent or of age of a
grandparent, maybe you're older,but you don't have kids or
grandkids.
You have life experience, youare seasoned, you have wisdom,
(24:28):
you have something to give.
One of the most common things Iget in ministry is people who
say, hey, I want someone tomentor or disciple me, but then
I get about zero people who sayI'm willing to be a mentor or
I'm willing to disciple someone,and the reason is we quickly
disqualify ourselves All thetime.
We think like, well, I don'tknow enough or I don't do this
(24:50):
perfectly, surely that couldn'tbe me.
Well, we all have something togive.
We don't have to know all theanswers.
Simply by showing up, by lovingpeople, by praying, by getting
involved, by showing we care, wecan make a huge difference.
So, really, that mission is toall of us, and God places us
(25:10):
each in a unique spot as well.
That you know.
We can take the time and say,okay, god, show me who am I
going to interact with today,who do you want me to show them?
Just a little bit of who Jesusis and of his love?
Speaker 1 (25:25):
That was so good.
I have loved chatting with you,Shauna.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Well, as we wrap up,I always do these three
questions what is your favoriteBible verse or story?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Okay, so I'm going to answer a little differently by
just saying a book of the Bible,because I absolutely love the
book of John.
I love reading any of theGospels because they're about
the life of Jesus, but John isso much more personal.
John is the author of the book,but he never refers to himself
by name.
He always refers to himself asthe one that Jesus loved, and it
(26:01):
shows in the text.
You can just see like he is inlove with Jesus and he knows
that Jesus loves him, and so allthe stories in John just are so
incredibly personal that thatis a go-to favorite of mine.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
I like it.
What are you grateful for?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, well, continuing to stick on the theme
of family quality time isdefinitely one of my love
languages and I'm very gratefulfor my family and for quality
time with them.
So even though when they get tobe teens they don't always want
to spend time with me, latelymy 13 year old has taken a lot
of initiative Like, mom, whatcan we do together?
(26:40):
Can we go play tennis?
Can we go golf?
Can I help you cook something?
And that has been such ablessing and I'm very thankful
for that.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Oh, I love that.
I love that.
What kindness have you shown orwhat kindness have you received
in the last week?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Gosh, I'll, I'll stay with the same theme.
So my 13 year old I you knowyou don't always expect it.
This is when you're like okay,god, thank you, you're, you're
working on their heart, right?
Um, he came to me and just saidhow can I help you?
You know, he saw me cooking andhurrying around the kitchen and
he's like I don't know what todo, but I feel like I should
help.
I'm like great, then, let's getyou helping.
(27:14):
You know, and that was just socool.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
That's so good.
That's so good, shauna.
Thank you for your wisdom.
Thanks for sharing things thatyou have learned personally from
being in ministry and thenbeing a mom.
I know that this is going toimpact a lot of people, and I'm
excited to share your books thatyou've written with people,
because I think sometimes wehave a good heart, we really
(27:41):
want to do something, but wejust don't know.
So I'm excited to have thisresource for people.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah, that definitely was my goal.
Just, you know, let's make iteasy, let's make it accessible
and, honestly, the hardest thingwith both studies is just
committing to.
I'm going to open it up andstart, because once you start
you're like this is so easy,this is so doable, I can do it
and you don't have to have allthat background knowledge.
It walks you through and you'lllearn, and your kids will learn
(28:08):
and, yeah, it'll be a greatexperience is my hope and prayer
.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Well, and I love that it's small, because small time
commitments on it, because Ithink that that is something
where it's if I have to do 20,30 minutes, sometimes that's
feels almost impossible,especially if like, okay, I
could get a couple of these done, but then it just gets put to
the back burner.
(28:33):
So I love that.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, I mean so easy it can be done at the dinner
table or, you know, breakfast orbedtime, whatever, but yeah, I
love that around the dinnertable.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
That's a great idea.
Thank you for that.
Well, I want to thank Holly,with the gourmets, and she's the
one who put us together.
And so thanks, holly, forsharing Shana with me and thank
you, shana, for sharing yourstory.
Thanks for having me, nancy,all right?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
On.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things.
Your story is His glory.
Thank you for listening and ifShauna's story impacted, you,
share it with a friend right now.
And don't forget, if you havehome videos that are still in an
old format that you can't watch, head over to
generations2generationscom for afree conversion In two weeks.
(29:26):
I'm joined by one of my besthigh school friends, Muffy Cruz,
and we're going to talk aboutsimplifying your life, but
simplifying may be completelydifferent than you think.
We'll see you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.