036: An Easier Way to Mother with Bonni Greiner

Bonni Greiner from Mom by Example joins me on the podcast today to share with us how we truly can cultivate joy in motherhood and find easier ways to mother. She is a wife, mom of 8, and mentor who delights in encouraging and equipping younger moms for the journey of motherhood. I know you will be encouraged by just how practical and wise her words are which she shares with us today.

What we Chat about in This Episode

~ How Bonni went from having no joy in motherhood and running away from her family to actually being able to find joy in mothering (while in the midst of having four boys under 5!)

~The importance of moms having friends to reach out to; tips for how to cultivate those friendships

~Bonni’s advice for moms dealing with a number of specific issues and stages, such as:

Mommy guilt and thinking you have to do “all the things” with your baby
Struggling with the feeling of “cheating on your firstborn” when adding a second baby to your family
Balancing having several children/large family dynamics
How to address gender differences, privacy, etc. among children of different genders
How to balance outside activities and busyness among a varied range of ages
Dealing with temper tantrums

~An “easier way” to deal with:

kids’ clutter – toys, clothes, etc.
temper tantrums
singling rivalry
respect issues
teaching children about the Lord and right theology
sex, relationships, and pornography

~How to prioritize your marriage in the midst of the busyness of motherhood

~And more!

Resources Mentioned

Offer for a free audiobook and 30 day trial from Audible: www.audibletrial.com/HomeandHearth

*Instagram giveaway for copies of Bonni’s books

*Facebook giveaway for copies of Bonni’s books

Books by Kristen Welch

Timely Truths for Toddlers to Tweens by Bonni Greiner

There’s an Easier Way: 21 Ways to Lovingly Raise Your Children Without Regrets by Bonni Greiner

Recapturing the Joy of Motherhood: Parenting Tips for Moms from One Who Almost Missed Out on the Joy of Motherhood

Inspiring Quotes from Bonni

“I knew that if I didn’t change my attitude, I would live with a lot of regret. My circumstances were not going to change – I was going back home to four very young sons who all needed me 24/7, but I knew even more than that that I did not want to live a life of regret. So I changed my attitude and intentionally changed my outlook about my sons, my family, and my Christianity.”

“Understand that motherhood is hard, but glorious.”

“God meant for the family to be a multiplication of His love. When you add children to your family, your love is not divided; it is multiplied.”

“Our children are in the families they are supposed to be in. Don’t ever doubt that, or else you will lose out on the joy that God meant for you to have with your family.”

“When we own a lot of tings, our things begin to own us and take on an importance they were never meant to have.”

“If there is behavior that your children are exhibiting that you don’t approve of, make sure it isn’t working for them.”

“Respect is a part of who we are, because each of us is created in the image of God and fearfully and wonderfully made. So we taught our children that to disrespect someone is to disrespect the Creator.”

“We want our children to run to us and to God when they sin, not run away. And it is kindness and love which will lead to that.”

“We can take the hard phases of motherhood, because what we are doing is so worthwhile – we are raising armies for Jesus.”

Where You Can Find Bonni Online

Website – Mom by Example

Facebook – Bonni Levy Greiner , Mom by Example

Instagram – @bonni_greiner

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
Click on “Ratings and Reviews” beneath the podcast title
Under “Customer Reviews”, click on “Write a Review”
Click on how many stars you want to rate the podcast and then write out your review and click submit
You’re done! Thank you so much!!

If you’re on your phone:

Open the podcasts app
Click the search button on the bottom righthand corner (the magnifying glass) and type in Home and Hearth in the search box that will appear at the top of your screen
Click on the podcast photo when it pops up
Click on the reviews button near the top middle of the screen
Scroll down a bit, if needed, until you see “Write a Review” and click on that
Click on how many starts your want to rate the podcast, write out your review, and click “send” when finished
You’re done! Thank you so much!!

How You Can Listen to the Podcast

~Here on the blog

~on iTunes

~on Stitcher

~on TuneIn

~on the Podcast Addict App

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If you could use more encouragement for your journey of motherhood, I invite you to join me for my free 7 Day email course, Mothering by the Book: God’s Design for Motherhood. Sign up here and also receive a discount on my book, Lies Moms Believe (And How the Gospel Refutes Them!) as a little gift of congratulations for completing the course!