209: Every Season Sacred with Kayla Craig

Kayla Craig is a pastor’s wife, mom of 4, writer, podcaster, and author, most recently of the new book, “Every Season Sacred: Reflections, Prayers, and Invitations to Nourish Your Soul and Nurture Your Family throughout the Year“. Today she returns to the show to share about her new book and to encourage parents in the beauty of liturgical parenting.

What We Chat about in Today’s Episode:

~Kayla’s new book, “Every Season Sacred: Reflections, Prayers, and Invitations to Nourish Your Soul and Nurture Your Family throughout the Year“; what led her to write it, and what readers can expect

~The meaningful aspect of the four seasons, and why they are important in our lives; the impact they have on us

~The importance of cultivating a slower, more contemplative lifestyle

~How the writing experience was the same and how it was different between Kayla’s two books

~The practicality of this book regardless of what season of life you are in or what you are going through

~Kayla’s heart to nourish parents’ souls in a contemplative way in and through this book; why this was important for Kayla to do

~How a contemplative lifesyle is so helpful for parents and childcare givers

~Bringing our kids into a more contemplative style of life

~Living loved; the importance of a parent’s soul being nourished so that they can then nurture their child well

~Making space to explore the world with care and compassion and why this is so important

~Exemplifying Christ’s love and compassion for people to our children and allowing that to impact how we show up in the world

~The power of “caught, not taught”

~The power of liturgical rhythms in our parenting

~Making your faith your own and the journey of unlearning false things you were taught

~Untangling Christ from Christianese and reconstructing your walk with the Lord and understanding of truth; how and why this has been important for Kayla; the importance of this kind of journey

~The importance of reading Scripture for yourself

~The importance of raising our kids to be critical thinkers and having the freedom to ask questions and express doubts

~And more!

Resources Mentioned

“Every Season Sacred: Reflections, Prayers, and Invitations to Nourish Your Soul and Nurture Your Family throughout the Year“

To Light Their Way: A Collection of Prayers and Liturgies for Parents

My previous podcast episode with Kayla

Song: Slow Me Down by The Porters Gate and Sandra McKraken

INSPIRING QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

“The invitation to be still and know that God is God is always there for us, and we need that reminder. How could our parenting change, how could our posture change when we remember that and actually allow ourselves to breathe and rest in the love and care of the One Who gives us breath?”

“This contemplative style of life is meant to help us notice God everywhere and to be aware of His presence in every moment. This practice dramatically changes our parenting and nourishes us as caregivers so that we can then nurture our children and bring them into it, as well.”

“So many of us can say the most beautiful things in the world and tell our children all the most wonderful things about God’s love and our call to love our neighbors as ourselves, but if we are not actually doing it, I’m not sure that our kids are experiencing what we want to invite them into. We are just sounding gongs if we do not have love.”

“Throughout His life on this earth, Jesus showed so much tenderness, so much care, so much love and compassion to people right where they are. When we remember that and remember that He lavished so much love on us, we are then able to show our kids how we can go out there and love people no matter who they are or what they are doing. Love is to form and shape how we show up in the world, and parents and families can live that out together, side-by-side.”

“These liturgical rhythms help us to stay rooted and grounded in God’s love in both the day-to-day moments and in the hard and challenging seasons.”

“These liturgical rhythms are a great help for us to be able to stay rooted and to practice these unforced rhythms of grace with God in our actual lives. It isn’t compartmentalized where we read a devotional and then shut the book and it doesn’t align with how we are actually living.”

“I began to realize that a lot of what I believed and was taught was universal absolute truth in Scripture was actually added-on cultural teachings rather than Christ-centered ones. They were things that only a particular denomination did that certain way. They were more cultural than biblical. That is why it was so important for me to get curious, read Scripture, reflect, ask questions, and learn what the Bible actually says versus what was just an add-on from a certain culture or group.”

“When we feel like we aren’t allowed to ask questions or have doubts, those questions and doubts don’t go away. Instead, they are just never dealt with or helped.”

WHERE YOU CAN FIND KAYLA ONLINE:

Website – Kayla Craig

Instagram – @liturgiesforparents, @kayla_craig

Podcast – Liturgies for Parents

To Leave a Rating and Review on iTunes

Have you been encouraged or inspired by today’s episode? If so, could I ask a little favor? If you could leave the podcast a rating and review in iTunes, that would be amazing! The more ratings and reviews a podcast receives, the more iTunes shows that podcast to other folks searching for shows to listen to, so by leaving me a rating and review, you truly are partnering with me in this podcast ministry to encourage and help as many women as we possibly can. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! Here’s how:

If you’re on your computer:

Access iTunes on your desktop and type Home and Hearth in the search box on the upper right hand corner.
Click on the podcast photo when it comes up
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