Andy and Stacie Wood on building a home with a vision, the habits that hold it together, where phones and club sports fit, and why God doesn't need your family to be ideal.
This conversation picks up where the weekend message left off. Watch "Stronger Homes" first: https://youtu.be/eTb0sc7OKDg
In Episode 4 of Stronger, Andy and Stacie Wood sit down with Ariel Amaro the week Andy taught Joshua 24, "as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord," and they go where a Sunday message can't: the family Andy grew up in (a divorce, a single dad, and a blended family), how the Woods wrote a vision and four values for their home, the model week and the yearly rhythms that keep them on it, and how they handle phones, the car, and kids who would rather be on a device.
Then the hot takes: one activity per kid and the club sports question, church every weekend, when a kid is ready to date, the two things that cover a lot of parenting mistakes, and what Stacie would tell her younger self.
Single parent, blended family, a home you never saw modeled, or kids who are already 14 with no plan yet, this one is for you.
NEXT WEEK
Stronger Generations: what it looks like to pass your faith from one generation to the next.
ONE THING TO DO THIS WEEK
Sit down and answer one question together: what do we want to see in our kids when they leave our home? Write it down. Then start one rhythm this week: a family night, phones away at dinner, or a high, low, buffalo around the table. If you're single or living with roommates, ask Andy's question instead: what habits am I building in my home now that I'll live in the fruit of later? Then send this to a family who needs it.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
Family Vision Guide (vision, values, and habits for your home): https://sbstoragecdnprod.blob.core.windows.net/media/Resources/family_vision_guide.pdf
Hey-O! Stories of the Bible (Saddleback Kids): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310159253
BOOKS ANDY RECOMMENDS
Shepherding a Child's Heart, Tedd Tripp
Parenting with Love and Logic, Foster Cline and Jim Fay
Raising a Modern-Day Knight, Robert Lewis
Habits of the Household, Justin Whitmel Earley
Sacred Parenting, Gary Thomas
CHAPTERS
0:00 Coming up
0:47 Welcome: God's design for the home
1:31 Episode four: Stronger Homes
1:45 Joshua 24: "As for me and my household"
3:02 Andy's story: a divorce, a single dad, a blended family
5:52 "God doesn't do the ideal. God does the impossible."
7:16 How the home you grew up in shapes the one you build
10:10 A puzzle without the picture on the box
11:07 Where to start: a vision and values for your family
13:30 The biggest win for your kids, and four values that spell WOOD
16:19 Too late to start? "My kids are already 14"
17:15 Lead your home like you lead at work
18:31 Habits and rhythms: Taco Tuesday and the school-morning prayer
19:15 The model week
19:57 Sunday family night and fighting for family dinner
22:33 Yearly rhythms: the family giving summit, vacation, one-on-ones
24:54 Small moments: high, low, buffalo, question cards, Nerf wars
27:27 Expect resistance: tech-free zones and bedtime
28:28 Bedtime stories, the Hey-O Bible, and RJR
29:46 Car time is talk time
31:47 Phones: limits, the age question, blocking social media
34:25 Careful in the real world, careless online
34:57 Hot take: kids on e-bikes
35:32 Church every weekend
38:35 Hot takes
39:05 Andy's go-to parenting books
39:28 When is a kid ready to date?
41:31 "Have you ever lost it with your kids?"
43:45 Two things that cover a lot of wrongs
44:32 Kids' sports and club leagues
47:32 Advice to my younger parenting self
48:34 Couples putting off or saying no to kids
50:32 To the one who isn't sure the home is worth the work
53:11 Stacie: "You're not doing it alone"
55:09 To the parent of a wayward child
57:09 Next week: Stronger Generations
SCRIPTURE IN THIS EPISODE
Joshua 24:14-15 · Psalm 127:3 · Mark 10:13-16 · Galatians 6:9
NEW EPISODES EVERY MONDAY
Every episode: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOvtcV3aqv-M
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id6812944219
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MhCJU9jhDFc89e5HwigDw
Show site: https://stronger.saddleback.com
Stronger is recorded at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, and every episode starts with what was taught that weekend. Wherever you're listening from, this is for you too. Find a campus or join online: https://saddleback.com
You were never meant to be strong on your own.
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