Today we are going to talk about 6 things to help you cure teenager rebelliousness...

There was a worldwide competition held in Lithuania recently, it was for women, can you guess what it was about and I’ll even give you the grand prize for winning the World’s...a trip to Parliament in Strasburg or Brussels.

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How do you handle a rebellious teenager:

Stick-to-it-ive-ness

• Set boundaries and stick to the consequences
• Nothing derails a parent than giving in or giving up

What kind of boundaries should you set?

• Honor God and honor others should be the highest priority.
• When should they date? Age has nothing to do with anything.

Set boundaries that are fair and reasonable...i.e. When I got in trouble with a group of parents who couldn’t believe my daughter did not have a curfew for prom.
Don’t try and change everything at the same time. Just like your marriage, address growth areas one thing at a...

Amy: Hello listeners! This is Amy Smalley reminding you this holiday season that sometimes the very best present you can give your family is…...being….present.

Michael: Oh Amy….

Amy: What? You don’t get it? It’s present like a gift but also like you know the present….

Michael: Oh no I get it, listeners I’m so sorry I think that may be the last time I let Amy open the show.

Amy: Hey, everybody loves puns they’re so, punny.

Michael: oh no.

Amy: You should probably put me in a punitentiary

Michael: Listeners I’m so sorry I promise today’s episode will not in fact be about puns. We are going to talk about how you need to make sure you remain present this holiday season so you don’t miss out on all the wonderful memories happening all around you.

Amy: So to find out about how to wrap up this present of presence, stay tuned!

Teaser for Distraction of the Day:

I’m pretty excited about driverless cars but I...

Tis the season to spend money fa la la la la la la la going shopping and overspending fa la la la la la la la la don we now our credit card debt fa la la la la la la la la How could you spend that I’m going to kill you! Fa la la la la, la la la la

Some of you will find yourselves playing this song during the holiday season but hopefully by the end of this episode you’ll be singing a different tune.

And for the Distraction of the Day, Chicago Bears kicker missed field goals because of Jesus. Amy will have a message when she hears this one that you won't want to miss!

Aaaaaaaand in this corner, we have Uncle Joey who’s had a little bit to drink and some strong opinions about the recent elections. Annnnnnnd in this corner we have our challenger Aunt Marge who feels the need to correct people about practically everything and is just itching for an opportunity to disagree. In this epic clash of opinions who, Amy, will win in this holiday battle royale?

Amy: Um, I don’t really think anyone wins?

Michael: *sarcastic* But there’s always a winner!

Amy: No, I don’t think so. Really in these family battles no one wins and everyone just feels kinda awkward.

Michael: So what you’re saying is engaging in family drama doesn't actually fix anything and just creates more tension? Huh, who knew?

Amy: So today we are going see how engaging in family drama isn't really helpful and how we, as Christ followers, should be seeking to de-escalate conflict instead of provoke it.

Michael: And we’re going to teach you a method that can...

Folks it’s the holiday season and while our children are getting more and more excited about Christmas and toys parents are already starting to dread the 10 hour drive across country that the in-laws finally guilted them into making this year. If you find yourself stressed about traveling with your crazy family this year then stay tuned for some helpful tips on how to wrangle all those strong personalities into one unified goal.

What in the world did a superintendent of a school district do to get fired behind the bleachers at school? Find out at the end of today’s show.

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Call us at (903) 392-0975 and leave a voicemail question or review that we will air on the show.

Pay attention and be aware of your personality styles when it comes to your holiday travels this year.

The traveling Lion

• Needs to know the goal and direction
• Allow opportunities to help schedule or plan travel

The traveling Otter

• Just make it fun!
• Make sure...

We have a great question from one of you today! It’s a newly married listener, but this guy is already on track to being an amazing husband unless he ignores my advice today.  I’ve got something for those of you who are strong at heart and have a steal stomach. Let’s just say you’ll never want to eat sushi again!

Pursue Oneness: 7 key strategies to the relationship of your dreams

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Newly married, when my wife comes home and is frustrated with her job and negative. How do I validate her without getting discouraged myself.
Just wants to validate and get her to a better place.  But make sure you are not assuming responsibility for your wife’s feelings.  At the end of the day you can’t make her be ok and you need to be ok with that.

“Very negative at times”

Love your heart! Sometimes our intentions are really good...

Were you aware that you could be your own worst enemy? Today we are going to help you eliminate the negative self talk that is destroying everything that matters to you.  For the distraction of the day: What’s the weirdest thing you could imagine happening at a Waffle House? I think we may have found it but you’ll have to listen to the very end to discover what it was.

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Call us at (903) 392-0975 and leave a voicemail question or review.

What you tell yourself matters. Me and Amy struggle with this one. If your mind is full of negatives your actions will be filled with negatives. Take those negative messages and turn them into positives.
I’ll never succeed = can’t wait to see how God comes through

I hate myself = I am worthy and deserve to be honored

Your negative self talk probably comes from how your parents spoke to you

Quieting negative self-talk won’t happen overnight.  There's not a magic...

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” -- Marie Curie

Words cause fear. "socialistic," "neo-fascist," "immigrant invasion," "racist." The votes are in and this is going to be the first ever politically motivated podcast of my life...and I’m still not going to get into politics. Today we are going to explore how seeking understanding can actually help eliminate fear.

Amy..are you willing to earn $100 an hour at a job? I need you to accept or reject this job before you even hear about it. Do you want the job? Now stay tuned till the end of this podcast to hear if Amy made a wise choice or turned down something spectacular.

Why does understanding help us eliminate fear?  The more you know the more you build up confidence.  Knowledge really is power, but it is the process of seeking understanding that’s the key.

The most important thing you need to understand after...

You have chosen an excellent day to listen in because today, I have the honor of interviewing Sam Lamott, creator and host of the How to Human podcast which if you like listening to him today you can subscribe for free to his podcast on iTunes.

But we’re going to give you something else for free today, something Sam likes to call, “a Mood Altering Substance”.

Can I be honest and authentic with you? In a million years I never thought I'd get Sam Lamott to be on the show. That’s why I had my assistant reach out to him so I didn’t have to feel the sting of failure and rejection!

Now that he's on, I realized, “cripes!” I need to come up with some really thoughtful and interesting questions. Then I started obsessing over my writing. Basically I’m just a neurotic mess but somehow the interview survived. Who is Sam Lamott:

• Author of Some Assembly Required with Anne Lamott.
• At one point Sam shared, “Ever felt like...

"It's the sin we don't struggle with that we tend to vilify most." That's just one of the great lines from Preston Sprinkle and my latest interview. Preston and I get into the topic of how to love someone well you don't agree with and what does it look like from a biblical perspective. You don't want to miss this episode because every one of us has someone in our life we could love better. Of course, I end up oversharing about my own issues, thankfully Preston is a kind man!

You need to check out Preston and his two main ministries:

https://www.prestonsprinkle.com

https://www.centerforfaith.com

Equipping Christian leaders, churches and organizations to engage questions about faith, sexuality & gender with theological faithfulness and courageous love.