4119 The Gift of Home
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Parents have so many responsibilities besides raising their children. And when everything gets a little out of hand, it's easy to feel overwhelmed as if you're the worst parent ever, barely keeping your head above water, wondering if you’re failing your children. But you are doing the best you can. What matters most isn’t perfection—it’s what you pour into your children every single day. That is the gift of home. Home is more than walls and furniture. It’s the sanctuary your children carry in their hearts, shaped by your presence, your love, and your teaching. Desire to be supported...
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4118 Welcome the Unknown as a Doorway
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Standing on the edge of something new can be terrifying. The unknown stretches before you like a vast, uncharted ocean, and self-doubt is the anchor that threatens to keep you stuck on familiar shores. But waiting for certainty is waiting to stay stuck. If you want a life that matters, you have to learn to welcome the unknown as a doorway, not a detour. History—and countless stories—show that greatness rarely arrives wrapped in comfort and clarity. Instead, it strides in wearing uncertainty like armor and possibility like a weapon. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded...
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4117 Find Your Path
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
In a world dominated by social media feeds and constant connectivity, becoming the person you are meant to be feels almost impossible. Every scroll hooks you into the comparison trap—measuring your behind-the-scenes against someone else’s highlight reel. This endless competition to be what we’re not steals our attention and energy. Ask yourself honestly: Where are you right now? Are you living your life, or are you caught up in comparing yourself to others? Find your path! Living someone else’s life is confusing. It’s debilitating. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other...
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4116 Step Into Your Worth
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
We all face moments where failure feels oversized, where defeat seems like a script we're doomed to replay. But here’s the truth no one tells you enough: you don’t have to keep rehearsing your failures. The key to living the life designed for you is to stop replaying what went wrong and instead step into your worth—boldly, unapologetically, relentlessly. Isaiah 40:31 promises, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” This isn’t just encouragement—it’s a...
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4115 Defeat Is Just A Mindset
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Failure and defeat are not the same thing, though we treat them like twins. Failure is an event. It happened, it's done, it's a fact you can point to on a timeline — a match lost, a deal that fell through, a goal that didn't land. Defeat is something else entirely. Defeat is not what happened to you; it's what you decide to do — or not do — afterward. It's less an event and more a mindset, and mindsets, unlike results, are chosen. Defeat is just a mindset. This is the part people miss. Nobody hands you defeat. You're not defeated the moment you lose — you're defeated the moment...
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4114 The God Who Plants Nations
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Before there was a Declaration, there was a design. Before a single word was written on parchment in Philadelphia, before a single boot crossed the Delaware in the dark, before the first shot was fired at Lexington or the last cannon fell silent at Yorktown — there was a God who knew exactly what He was doing. Nations do not rise by accident. People do not awaken to freedom by coincidence. The long, unlikely, breathtaking story of America — of any nation that has ever stood for something greater than itself — does not begin in a room full of men. It begins in the mind and heart...
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4113 The Garden We Were Given
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
Two hundred and fifty years ago, somebody planted something for you. They didn't know your name. They couldn't picture your face. They had no idea what century you'd be born in, what your life would look like, or whether you'd spend this particular July Fourth at a backyard barbecue, watching fireworks from a blanket in the grass, or reading something on your phone while the kids run through a sprinkler out back. They couldn't have imagined any of it. But they planted anyway, the garden we were given. And today — 250 years later, on the semiquincentennial of the most consequential...
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4112 The Home Front
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
There are those days when you don't feel like a patriot. Instead, you feel like a referee, a short-order cook, a lost-and-found department for one sock, three chargers, and somebody's retainer. There are evenings when the dinner table looks less like the heartbeat of a nation and more like a negotiation between two very strong-willed people who share your DNA and absolutely refuse to eat what you made. And somewhere in the middle of the dinner, dishes, and dogs, you forget that what you're doing matters. So let's remember together —the home front. The Declaration They Never Tell You About On...
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4111 Plant What You Can't See
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
No farmer has ever watched a seed disappear into the ground and known — truly known — what would come back up. They trust it. They have reason to trust it, built from experience and season and the testimony of every harvest that came before. But trust is not the same as certainty. The farmer plants anyway. The seed goes into dark soil. And then comes the hardest part of any growing season: the waiting. Plant what you can't see. That is where most of us live right now. Not at the spark. Not yet at the bloom. Somewhere in the middle — hands still dirty from the planting, eyes scanning...
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4110 Grow in Grace
Create Your Now with Kristianne Wargo
There is a difference between a firework and a tree. A firework is glorious — sudden, bright, impossible to ignore. It commands the sky for a moment, and then it's gone, leaving only a faint trail of smoke where something beautiful used to be. On the other hand, a tree doesn't ask for your attention. It simply grows. Season after season, quietly sending roots deeper into the ground, wider beneath the surface, most of its work happening where no one can see it at all. Grow in grace. In yesterday's episode, we talked about how the spark gets the attention. But today, there remains a harder...
info_outlineAs parents, there’s an unspoken pressure to be seen as the best—whether it’s the parent with the most achievements, the most thoughtful gestures, or the most engaged family life. But at what cost does this spotlight come? Stop waiting for the applause.
The truth is this: your main responsibility as a parent isn’t to rack up compliments or win approval. It’s to raise your children in a way that suits their unique needs, not your image.
Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the Kairos FREE Online Community. https://createyournow.com
The Reality Check
Ask most parents if they want the best for their kids, and you’ll hear a resounding "yes." But when you dig deeper, the question becomes—best according to whom? Is it based on how the parent wants to be perceived by others? Or is it based on the real, present needs of the child?
We live in a self-centered culture, where it’s easy—even natural—to slip into the trap of parenting for our own validation. Social media is a prime example: crafted photos, highlighted milestones, perfect moments. In all this theater, the child sometimes becomes the background actor, and the parent plays the lead and director.
But there’s a better way. Instead of vying for attention, stick to the child's development.
The K.I.S.S. ~ S.T.I.C.K. to your child's development!
Here’s a straightforward acronym to help parents stop waiting for the applause and start deepening their investment in their children and themselves at the same time.
S – See Your Child Clearly
Forget who you want your child to be or what image you want to show others. Look at your child for who they are right now. What are their strengths? Their struggles? Their curiosities? Seeing your child clearly means setting aside your ego and expectations and meeting their real needs.
T – Tune Into Their World
Get beneath surface-level interactions. Listen to their stories, worries, and dreams. Understand the context of their daily life—from friendships to school pressures. This creates connection, builds trust, and lets your child know they come first—not your reputation.
I – Invest in Growth, Not Perfection
Parenting isn’t about crafting a flawless résumé of childhood achievements. It’s about consistent, patient effort toward growth. Your child’s wins might be quiet and incremental, but they’re far more meaningful than one-off highlight reels.
C – Cut the Noise
Ignore the comparison trap and external approval. Parenting isn’t a contest. The applause fades anyway; what lasts is the impact you make in your child’s life every day. Focus on what matters, not on others’ opinions.
K – Keep Your Priorities Straight
Your child’s well-being should be your compass—always. Before making a decision, ask: Does this serve my child’s best interest? If the answer is no, don’t do it just because it looks good or gains social points.
Stop Waiting for the Applause
When you pause the chase for applause, you free yourself to parent with clarity and courage. You stop performing for others and start showing up fully for your child. That’s the kind of parenting that changes lives.
Your children don’t need the world’s approval—they need you. So stop waiting for applause. Start investing in what truly matters. Because at the end of the day, the only standing ovation that counts is the silence of your child sleeping safely, knowing they are loved beyond the spotlight.
"Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!"
#ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama #CreateYourNow #TodaysParent
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Cover Art by Jenny Hamson
Photo by Canva.com
Music by Mandisa - Overcomer
http://www.mandisaofficial.com
Song ID: 68209
Song Title: Overcomer
Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia
Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI)
One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music -
Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.