The Collide Kids Podcast | Faith, Family Discipleship & Fun Christian Interviews

How Grandparents Help Raise Strong Christian Kids w/ Josh Mulvihill

Christen Clark - Speaker, Family Ministry Expert, & Mom Season 9 Episode 207

What if the secret to raising strong Christian kids is dependent on their relationship with their grandparents?

On this episode of the Collide Kids Podcast, host Christen Clark talks with Josh Mulvihill about how grandparents play a vital role in Christian parenting, family life, and spiritual growth. They discuss discipleship at home, the lasting influence of intentional grandparents, and practical ways families can nurture faith across generations—even when grandparents aren’t nearby.

Website:  

Thanks to Jay Lee from provisionpods.com for editing this episode!


Clip Finder: 

Viral Topic - Lessons from the Farm: Now living on a farm and having to care for animals, it brings a greater appreciation for all that imagery in scripture and what it means to truly be a good shepherd and to, to care for, to defend.
— Josh Mulvihill [00:05:21 → 00:05:36]


The Vital Role of Grandparents in Faith: "Well, two things. One is the Bible and two is research. So the Bible has a lot to say about grandparents and their role and it's kind of God' that grandparents have a purpose, an important role to play in our coming to know and love Jesus."
— Josh Mulvihill [00:07:45 → 00:08:02]


The Surprising Power of Grandparents: "Grandparents are the one of the very few people that are, are present in a person's life from the little years all the way up through the adulthood years."
— Josh Mulvihill [00:09:52 → 00:10:03]


The Untapped Power of Christian Grandparents: "But if you think there's like 30 million Christian grandparents in America, that is like mind blowing that number. And if you think about what if even just a percentage of those individuals captured a vision for God's design for grandparenting man, the impact could be huge."
— Josh Mulvihill [00:10:24 → 00:10:46]


Viral Topic: The Irreplaceable Role of Grandparents  
"You can, you can supplement some, but it never is a full replacement."
— Josh Mulvihill [00:14:03 → 00:14:07]


The Power of Adoptive Grandparents: "if you don't have a grandparent that is alive or is active in your life, the, the body of Christ is, could potentially be that and, and supply some of what's not there. You know, the adoptive grandparent kind of thing."
— Josh Mulvihill [00:15:08 → 00:15:23]


Viral Topic: Honoring Grandparents in Faith Communities: So just hearing thank you and we honor you, we celebrate you, you matter, whether that's from you or your church is, that's a huge blessing.
— Josh Mulvihill [00:16:52 → 00:17:01]


Generational Faith: "That's a hundred year discipleship vision for a family to perpetuate faith from one generation to the next."
— Josh Mulvihill [

Bark proactively works to monitor, detect, and alert you to potential issues on your kids' devices. Visit bark.us to learn more about how you can keep your kids safe online. Use the code COLLIDEKIDS to get 15% off Your Bark Technologies Plan !

Some days, you might play The River for some nice background music. Some days, you'll play it so your kids don't hear anything inappropriate. But some days, you listen because life has knocked you down, and you need help getting back up. We're here for all of them. Our goal is to introduce as many people as possible to Jesus through music and service. You can listen and get connected at https://riverradio.com/

Support the show

Christen Clark [00:00:30]:

Hey, y'. All. Welcome back to the Collide Kids Podcast. I'm your host, Christen Clark, and I am so glad you're here. This is only the second episode of our brand new season and I love that you're listening and hanging out with me today. Now, this week is extra special, not just because we have an awesome guest, but also because it's the very first week of my brand new podcast for parents. It's called seven Minute Devotions for Busy Parents. Now, if you know anyone who's busy and they're a parent, I think they're gonna love this show.


Christen Clark [00:00:59]:

So if your mom or dad want something quick to help them stay close to God, make sure to tell them about it so they can follow along. You can find more information on instagram @7mindevotions. And speaking of family, did you know that Grandparents Day was this past Sunday? I know. So fun. September 7th was Grandparents Day. Did you celebrate your grandparents? I hope you did. You know, grandparents can be super fun.


Christen Clark [00:01:23]:

They tell the best stories. They always have some type of good food or good candy on their person. Isn't that interesting how all grandparents are like that? They also play such an important role in our lives and that is why today's guest is Josh Mulvihill. He knows a whole lot about family faith, and especially how grandparents can help kids like you grow in your relationship with Jesus. Josh is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministries at Renew a Nation and he has served as a pastor for 20 years. He also holds a PhD in family ministry and he serves on the board of Awana. He is the author of 10 books on parenting and a few of those are about grandparenting as well. Josh and his wife Jen have five kids and they live on Prairie Hill Farm in the great state of Minnesota.


Christen Clark [00:02:14]:

Where going to learn more about Josh and his family and all the things he has to share about grandparents. Oh, don't forget, at the end of the show, we do our let's Talk about it segment where I'll ask you three questions that you can use to start some fun conversations with your family at home. So make sure to listen out for those. All right, friends, let's get to it. Here is my conversation about grandparents with Josh Mulvihill. Well, Josh, I am so happy to have you on the Collide Kids podcast today.


Josh Mulvihill [00:02:53]:

Yay. Thanks for having me and hello everyone.


Christen Clark [00:02:57]:

This is so fun. We have, we've known each other and we've had lots of similar friends for a while, but we have not had you on the show yet. And so I'm really glad that you're going to talk to us today. Would you just tell our listeners a little bit about who you are and what you do?


Josh Mulvihill [00:03:10]:

Yeah. So I was a pastor for about 20 years, serve with the ministry called Renew Nation now and we help children develop a biblical worldview. I'm also on the board of Awana, so if any listeners are in Awana, I get to be part of that world. Yep. And I live in Minnesota and see married to Jen. We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary which is wonderful and crazy great. Five kids and our oldest is a junior in college and our second born 16 year old literally just got his driver's license like an hour ago. So he's flying high, excited.


Josh Mulvihill [00:03:57]:

And we have a 14, 13, 11 year old. And so we're kind of in the, we're like in this fun older, young adult, teenage stage. It's wonderful. Kind of. A little known fact, we actually live on a farm. So we have like all the stuff that you have on a farm like chickens and pigs and beef cows and dairy cows and we have kittens and dogs, puppies. Wow. Last year we had 40 kittens and they, they call their kitten ministry.


Josh Mulvihill [00:04:35]:

So I don't know if any of them, of the girls, if any of you listen, love kittens and you're in the Minnesota area and you want some kittens, let us know. We'd love to. Bless you with one.


Christen Clark [00:04:45]:

There you go. Reach out to their kitten ministry. Yes, I love that. That's awesome. So are you out there with the animals and like working the cows and the pigs and all that stuff?


Josh Mulvihill [00:04:57]:

Yeah, we do. We got a pretty sustainable system. So they're out on pasture but they need, just like anything, they, they need a little tlc. You know, the Bible talks a lot about what it means to be a good shepherd. And you know, I read that we've lived on this farm for four years. You'd read that, you know, growing up and living in the suburbs my whole life, you're kind of like, all right, that makes sense. Now living on a farm and having to care for animals, it brings a greater appreciation for all that imagery in scripture and what it means to truly be a good shepherd and to, to care for, to defend. We had, I was sitting out on our back porch, this was last year and one of our pigs had had piglets.


Josh Mulvihill [00:05:43]:

We have a big area where they are. And I saw there's a coyote that came. It was like, like lightning. And it jumped over the pig fence, grabbed a piglet.


Christen Clark [00:05:53]:

Oh, no.


Josh Mulvihill [00:05:54]:

Jumped back over and was gone. Literally, like I couldn't even hardly move. It happened so fast. And then in about an hour later, the same thing happened. And it brings to mind, you know, the scriptures about wolves and protecting the flock. And it was like, man, right, we need to. We're not going to have any pigs left if we don't protect our pigs. So that was the last time that happened.


Josh Mulvihill [00:06:19]:

We took some measures to protect our flock, but it brings a little different perspective now. And yeah, it's been a big learning curve and a lot of fun.


Christen Clark [00:06:29]:

Very cool. Very cool. Well, I'm excited to talk with you today. We're actually not going to talk about farming, although that's very interesting because you've got, I'm sure you've got a lot of stories. But before we do that, because this is a show for kids, I always ask my guests to tell me a joke. So do you have a joke for us today?


Josh Mulvihill [00:06:46]:

I think you said you have a good one that you wanted to share.


Christen Clark [00:06:51]:

I thought I'd try, yeah.


Josh Mulvihill [00:06:54]:

Let's hear the master at work here.


Christen Clark [00:06:59]:

Now listen, every guest tells me a joke, so you're putting me on the spot this time. All right, let's see. Here's what I got. What do you call bears without ears?


Josh Mulvihill [00:07:10]:

Deaf. I don't know. What do you call them?


Christen Clark [00:07:13]:

Just a B.


Josh Mulvihill [00:07:14]:

Just a B. That's funny. There you go.


Christen Clark [00:07:17]:

Thank you. Thank you.


Josh Mulvihill [00:07:18]:

Yeah, just a book.


Christen Clark [00:07:19]:

But just a book.


Josh Mulvihill [00:07:21]:

I had to.


Christen Clark [00:07:21]:

Yeah, I know. Just a book. Okay. So one of the things that you are very passionate about and, and that I know you from is your passion for grandparents and their involvement in their kids lives and their grandkids lives. So what makes you want to help this group of people or, or talk about this group of people?


Josh Mulvihill [00:07:45]:

Well, two things. One is the Bible and two is research. So the Bible has a lot to say about grandparents and their role and it's kind of God' that grandparents have a purpose, an important role to play in our coming to know and love Jesus. So that's one. You know, I was reading the Bible and I looked at how a lot of churches and families operate and I saw, man, there's a big need here for grandparents to know what God's called them to. And it provides a lot of purpose and impact for families. The second Is research. There's a really well known researcher in the Christian world named George Barna and he did a study on what are the primary influences people in the life of a child.


Josh Mulvihill [00:08:35]:

He asked teenagers, looking back on their life, who been the most influential in your life to, you know, just in all kinds of ways. And you know the number one answer to that question, I'm betting you can guess this. The number one answer.


Christen Clark [00:08:50]:

Is it grandparents?


Josh Mulvihill [00:08:52]:

No, that's not number one.


Christen Clark [00:08:53]:

Oh no. Okay. Is it YouTube?


Josh Mulvihill [00:08:57]:

Yeah, it feels like, it feels like that some days. All the screens. Yeah, number one. Number one is parents. And it's really not even close. Pretty significant. Number two. You want to take a whack at number two?


Christen Clark [00:09:11]:

Is it grandparents?


Josh Mulvihill [00:09:13]:

That is that it is, yes.


Christen Clark [00:09:15]:

Yay.


Josh Mulvihill [00:09:16]:

Good job. It is grandparents, the number two influence. And that's surprising to a lot of people. You know, a lot of people think like you, maybe it's technology or maybe peers, friends, teachers. But the reality is if you think about who you get to spend the most time with from birth through your adult years, you know, friends come and go, teachers even come and go. And all the people in our life, they have a big impact, but it's often for a season and then, you know, we move on on. Grandparents are the one of the very few people that are, are present in a person's life from the little years all the way up through the adulthood years. And so I like to say that grandparents are the potential number two influence because they're, they're need, they need to have some intentionality in order to accomplish that.


Josh Mulvihill [00:10:16]:

Just because they our grandparents by name doesn't mean that there is a serious influence there. But if you think there's like 30 million Christian grandparents in America, that is like mind blowing that number. And if you think about what if even just a percentage of those individuals captured a vision for God's design for grandparenting man, the impact could be huge. And if you're listening, if you're a child, you know, just think about the day when you might have grandkids and the special relationship that can be and the kind of role you can have and even think, you know, what, what impact has your grandparents had in your life? I'd be curious to know for you, Christen, did your grandparents, do they have any impact in your life? Did they shape you in any way?


Christen Clark [00:11:11]:

Absolutely. Yeah. My both sets of my grandparents were faithful members of their churches. They were excellent cooks, like all of them. I, and I knew, I, I knew my grandparents on my mom's side A little bit better because they lived a little longer. And so my grandmother actually passed away a couple years ago and it was a big impact on my life because we were, we were very close and we, we would always go eat at her house and if I wanted to make one of her rec, I could call her anytime and she would talk me through it. And, and she was real sassy and outspoken, which I think I get that from her. So.


Christen Clark [00:11:50]:

Yeah. So I think grandparents make a big impact or made a big impact in my life for sure. And because of that, I want that for my kids. Right. So like I saw the, the relationship I could have with someone like that. So I make that a priority for my kids to go spend time with my parents and my husband's parents because I think that's so valuable.


Josh Mulvihill [00:12:10]:

Love it. That's a blessing for everybody involved.


Christen Clark [00:12:13]:

Absolutely. It's so good. What would you say for those families that maybe they don't have living grandparents or they don't have grandparents that are invested in them nearby? What could they do?


Josh Mulvihill [00:12:23]:

Well, that's us. My mom died from ALS, 2008, so that, what is that, 17 years ago. And then so that my oldest now is 19. So he doesn't even remember. Hardly. My mom and my other children weren't born yet, so they didn't, they never knew their, my mom, their grandmother and my wife's mom. Their other grandmother died in 2000 and early the early tens, I don't know, 12, 13, something in there. Three of them weren't born yet.


Josh Mulvihill [00:12:55]:

Two of them are really little. So they've grown up their whole life basically with no biological grandmothers. And you take grandma out of the family or you take mom out of the family, what does that do? It changes the dynamic significantly. I remember the first Thanksgiving after my mom died. My dad sent out an email. He's a super intentional dad, wonderful father. He sent out an email and said, we're going to still get together for Thanksgiving as a family. We're going to celebrate God's goodness.


Josh Mulvihill [00:13:28]:

I will be serving lasagna and water. I still laugh about that because that's like all. My dad never had to like think about that side of things because my mom always handled it. So he's doing the best he could. And things have, you know, we've, we don't have that minimalistic kind of approach at this point. But when you take mom out of the mix, wow. It changes things. And it has.


Josh Mulvihill [00:13:52]:

Without grandma there, we have not had the godly influence of two grandmothers. And so it's you can't replace grandparents. You can, you can supplement some, but it never is a full replacement. So our church there was a few ladies that heard me talk about this at some point and decided they wanted to be adoptive grandparents to, to our kids. And so one of them named Ms. Nancy, she was a wanna teacher with our son in second grade on Wednesday night, as you think about, you know, you're serving with kids in children's ministry and the influence you can have in their life. Ms. Nancy was his teacher at Awana and she decided I'm gonna be Asher's adoptive grandmother.


Josh Mulvihill [00:14:41]:

So he called her Miss Nancy and they would talk on the phone. I mean he, anytime Asher had anything like good, bad, he would literally, he had her on speed dial. He, as a teenage, he still has her picture up on his wall in his room. He's the one that just got his driver's license at 16, man. She passed away a couple years ago, but the influence she had in our kids lives was just huge. And you know, if you don't have a grandparent that is alive or is active in your life, the, the body of Christ is, could potentially be that and, and supply some of what's not there. You know, the adoptive grandparent kind of thing. So maybe catch a vision for, have a conversation with, ask somebody about, about something like that.


Christen Clark [00:15:29]:

I love that and I know a number of families that have done that within their churches or neighbors or people they're connected with already to say, you know what, my kids don't have grandparents, so will you be a part of our lives in a different way? And so that's it, that's a, it's an awkward conversation to have. But I think like you said, it is important that we lean into the body of Christ and to our churches and get involved that way. I think that's so good. So Grandparents Day is actually coming up pretty soon when this episode comes out. And so what, what are some ways that we can celebrate grandparents? How can we appreciate grandparents more in our lives, not just on Grandparents Day, but throughout the year?


Josh Mulvihill [00:16:09]:

Well, I have two phrases I like to say. One is grandparents matter. So any day or celebrate Grandparents Day. It's a national holiday by the way, just like Father's Day and Mother Day. Mother's Day, kind of early September. Tell them thank you and honor them. You know, the Bible talks about honoring our father and our mother and that continues even as the grant the grandparent stage. So tell them thank you.


Josh Mulvihill [00:16:38]:

But the two phrases, our grandparents matter, you know, our culture tells Grandparents, they don't that they are, their best days are behind and in a lot of churches they're undervalued. So just hearing thank you and we honor you, we celebrate you, you matter, whether that's from you or your church is, that's a huge blessing. The second is to encourage grandparents to move from Christian grandparenting to intentional Christian grandparenting. That word intentional is helpful for a lot of grandparents to hear and really to become very specific about God's design for them, God's purpose, God's role. As I mentioned, the Bible has a lot to say about that. And once grandparents see from God's word what the Bible teaches and what the Bible says about their role, it's really inspiring for a lot of grandparents and it's very purpose filled because so many in that age of life feel like, well, what do I have to offer anymore and need to see that from Scripture, need to be given that vision. Grandparents Day is a great opportunity, even if it's just for a few minutes, to, to recognize those things and, and encourage grandparents to live according to God's design for them.


Christen Clark [00:18:04]:

So what are the things that the Bible tells grandparents they should do? Like what is the role of grandparents in, in Scripture?


Josh Mulvihill [00:18:12]:

So I summarize it as being a disciple maker. And there's tons of verses. Grandparenting. The Bible doesn't use the term grandparent very often. So if you, you know, if you go look in a concordance and look up grandparent, grandparenting, you'll see a couple references. You don't see many, but if we look at what the Bible's terms are for grandparents, suddenly you're like, wow, there's a ton. And so those terms are terms like children's children, son's son, father's father, fathers, sometimes generations. God even introduced himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


Josh Mulvihill [00:18:54]:

It's kind of an interesting way to introduce yourself. That would be like saying, I am the God of your great grandfather, your grandfather, or no, your great great grandfather, your great grandfather and your grandfather. Just as this generational perspective here. So when you start looking those terms up, the Bible does say a ton. And I'll just give you a couple examples. Deuteronomy 4, 9 is probably the most concise passage. It says this, teach these things to your children and your children's children. And that was in reference, of course to the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5.


Josh Mulvihill [00:19:35]:

So grandparents are given a teaching role in the Bible. My favorite passage is Psalm 78 where it gives us a Goal, which is, you can read that in verse Psalm 78, 7. Then it gives us a number of methods, talks about telling of the glorious deeds of the Lord in his might and the wonders he has done. There's kind of a testimony piece there which is meant to build a great view of God to the next generation. And then it talks about teaching them to obey what God essentially has commanded, teaching them the law. You'll see that teach and that tell. Those are probably the two most common that you see all over Scripture. It's repeated many times.


Josh Mulvihill [00:20:21]:

And, and then in that passage you read, four generations were commanded to do these things too. So not only is it grandparenting talked about in Psalm 78, it's actually great grandparenting. And when you think of how long a generation is, it's like 40 years or so. That's a hundred year discipleship vision for a family to perpetuate faith from one generation to the next. And so you think about today, 20, 25, that passage has given us a vision for at least 21, 25 that faith will be passed down in our families through that point and beyond. That's pretty exciting. And, and God gives us the methods to do that. Part of that's grandparents, of course.


Josh Mulvihill [00:21:11]:

And so, you know, for those that are listening, that aren't grandparents, that means that our, our parents, our kids, grandparents have a role with our kids. And we want to, you know, we want to honor that and be obedient to the Lord. Of course there's a million family dynamics out there. And I, you know, I, I know everybody's thinking in their own head right now, like, okay, what does this mean for my family now? But just big picture in general for those families that, you know, parents are Christian, grandparents are Christian. I think it's honoring to the Lord to open the gate or the gatekeepers of our kids and allow grandparents to have a role. Of course, if they're, if there's significant issues, you know, as parents, God's given us the stewardship of our kids. So we do need to be discerning and wise, but we don't want to weaponize children. And many parents do that against grandparents and it is super painful for them.


Josh Mulvihill [00:22:11]:

I have many grandparents that literally cry, lament that they don't get to have conversations, a relationship with their grandchildren and how painful that is for them. And we need to be wise with the influence we allow into our children's lives. And even if grandparents are not Christians, they still can have a role with some significant boundaries that are present. You Know, maybe we have to be present with them with a grandchild to mitigate some things and oversee some what's said and things like that. But they still can have a, still can have a role.


Christen Clark [00:22:51]:

Yes, absolutely. And like you said, if they're someone of faith. You know, I always think of, when I think of grandparents in the Bible, I always think of Eunice or Lois and Eunice and how, you know, they talk, Paul talks about how Timothy, you know, he can, he knows that he's a person of faith because he was taught by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois and how important that relationship was, that that built his faith and that Paul could trust in the faith of Timothy because he knew he had been taught by grandparents. So if, even if it's, it's a shared responsibility to teach faith, I think like you said, it's so important that we allow those relationship in our kids lives. That's so important. Well, I think this is so interesting and you are so passionate about grandparents and how much they matter that you've written how many books about grandparents?


Josh Mulvihill [00:23:45]:

Seven. There are seven out there.


Christen Clark [00:23:47]:

Seven. The number of completion. Right, you're done, right?


Josh Mulvihill [00:23:50]:

There you go. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, they're on.


Christen Clark [00:23:53]:

No, you can write, you can write more if you want.


Josh Mulvihill [00:23:55]:

No, well, I've said what I need to say, so others.


Christen Clark [00:24:01]:

Yeah, that's awesome. So it's a whole book series, Grandparents Parenting Matters. Tell us why you wrote that series.


Josh Mulvihill [00:24:08]:

Yeah, I wanted Christian grandparents to understand the cultural messages about what their role is because they're, they're subtle, but they're super powerful. You've heard these messages, they tell you to spoil your grandkids, have fun, send them home to where the real work of spiritual formation is done. And if grandparents, you know, absorb that mindset, the influence they have limited significantly, it's very different than what God calls the grandparent to. So that was the second reason I wrote it was I, I want Christian grandparents to understand their biblical role and that, you know, those resources will give you crystal clear biblical focus on what that is. And then I wanted pastors to understand this is a significant part of the family and a significant part of family ministry. For a long time, family was, you know, we think of, we kind of think of family as parents and children. And that's an incomplete picture of the family according to the Bible. The Bible defines family as extended family, intergenerational in its nature.


Josh Mulvihill [00:25:20]:

And, and we function though often in the church setting as if it is just the nuclear family. And so we're, we're operating a little out of alignment with God's word in that capacity. So this helps pastors understand as well. How, you know, how do we. How do we truly have a full vision for what God is calling the family to in our church?


Christen Clark [00:25:44]:

That's good. I love that, and I love that there's resources for those, for those grandparents and for families just to better understand in churches, to better understand their value. So thank you for putting that together. Those are available on Amazon.


Josh Mulvihill [00:25:58]:

Yeah, everywhere books are available.


Christen Clark [00:26:00]:

Awesome. Okay, well, we'll put links in our show notes so people can check that out if they're interested. Well, Josh, this has been so good. Thank you so much for being on the Collide Kids podcast today and sharing for Grandparents Day. We hope everybody celebrates. Right.


Josh Mulvihill [00:26:15]:

Yay. Go grandparents.


Christen Clark [00:26:17]:

Well, before I let you go, I always ask my guests to tell me a memory from when they were a kid. So do you have a memory from your childhood that you want to share?


Josh Mulvihill [00:26:25]:

I do, actually. Since we're talking about grandparents, I'll share a grandparent memory. One that I got in trouble. So my grandpa, who I dearly love, and I have a lot of my grandparents characteristics in me, this grandfather, he was sleeping on the couch. I was probably like, late preschool, early grade school. I don't remember the exact. I was little and he was sleeping on the couch, and I was apparently feeling a little mischievous because I went over to him as he was snoring away and I. I poked him or I did something to him.


Josh Mulvihill [00:27:03]:

Like I physically touched him, did something, and I woke him up thinking it. You know, I'm standing there, like, laughing, thinking it was funny. He did not think it was funny. And it was the only time I have been spanked by my grandparents. Well, one of my grandparents. I don't recommend grandparents spanking a grandchild, but I deserved it that day and.


Christen Clark [00:27:26]:

I was gonna get a good nap.


Josh Mulvihill [00:27:29]:

Yeah, I did not. I was not honoring my grandfather that day and respecting him, but I remember that it is emblazoned in my head. So honor and respect your grandparents. Don't do what Josh did.


Christen Clark [00:27:43]:

Yeah, don't wake him up from a really good nap. That's a yeah, that's a no. No. Well, thank you, Josh. Thanks for sharing and thank you for being on the show today. This was great.


Josh Mulvihill [00:27:52]:

Thanks for having me.


Christen Clark [00:28:02]:

That was so great getting to hear from Josh today. I love when he was talking about how caring for animals on his farm has given him a better perspective. For all the verses in the Bible about how God is a good shepherd caring for and protecting his flock. That's really cool that God gives us those amazing ways to connect with His Word like that. Josh also shared that the Bible has a lot to say about how important grandparents are at helping families come to know Jesus. They are actually the potential number two influence in a child's life if they are intentional about their purpose. You know, even though Josh is passionate about grandparents, his family doesn't have all the grandmothers, and so he had to be very intentional with his kids to make sure they have grandparent figures in their life. And I love that there were people from their church that stepped up.


Christen Clark [00:28:52]:

If you'd like to learn more about Josh and his books, you can head over to gospelshapedfaith.com and I also encourage you to check out renewanation.com for resources for families who want to give children a biblical worldview. There's lots of great stuff there for your family. All right, now it's time for my favorite part of the show, our family discussion segment, because I want you guys to talk about what we talked about. So this is where I'm going to ask you a few fun questions to help you keep the conversation going with your family. You can pause after each question to talk about it together now or listen to all three and talk about them later. Whatever works best for your family. So let's talk about it. Here's the first question.


Christen Clark [00:29:35]:

What is your favorite memory or funny story with your grandparents? Or if you don't live near your grandparents, what's something fun you'd like to do with them? Okay, here's the second question. If you were spending intentional time with your grandparents, how can they help you grow in your faith? And our last question. What is one thing you could do for your grandparents or grandparent figure in your life this week to make them smile or to show them that you care? Well, I hope these questions spark some great ideas and convos with your family. Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to follow along on social media @collidekidspod on Instagram and Facebook, and then share this episode with a friend who might need some encouragement or another family who needs some great family resources like the Collide Kids Podcast. You can also Visit our website collidekidspodcast.com for more episodes and family resources. And while you're there, don't forget to sign up for the newsletter to learn more about episodes coming out and giveaways and fun things like that. And subscribe to our YouTube channel, which you can watch the full episode from today's interview, and if you'd like to take it a step further in supporting the show, leave a rating and a review. That's all always helpful for more people to find out about the Collide Kids podcast, you can also find links on our website to support financially by shopping through our Amazon or support through Buy Me a Coffee.


Christen Clark [00:31:07]:

And of course, your prayers mean so much to me and this ministry. Thank you for praying for us each week and for listening. It means so much that you're here today. Well, in case no one has told you today, I would love to be the first to remind you that God loves you so much. Thanks for listening.


People on this episode

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

The River Morning Show Weekly Podcast Artwork

The River Morning Show Weekly Podcast

River Podcasts, radio, jesus, christian, morning show, 104.9, 1049, river, ccm, show, fun, encouraging
She Said Yes! Artwork

She Said Yes!

The River