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#149: How to Handle Disrespect As A Parent

LOVE IS FEARLESS

Release Date: 01/29/2025

#172: E is for Energy, Not Powerlessness: Why Women Are Exhausted and What God Offers Instead show art #172: E is for Energy, Not Powerlessness: Why Women Are Exhausted and What God Offers Instead

LOVE IS FEARLESS

If you've been told your exhaustion is a personal failure — that better boundaries or better self-care would fix it — this episode is for you. Because what if the problem isn't how you manage your energy? What if the problem is where it's going? Janet and Doug name a pattern that lives quietly inside countless women's lives: the hidden energy tax of narrative management. The relentless, often unconscious work of holding your own pain and protecting others from the weight of their impact — simultaneously, in the same breath, sometimes in the same sentence. Janet tells her own story in...

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#171: D is for Dreams: When Survival Replaces Growth show art #171: D is for Dreams: When Survival Replaces Growth

LOVE IS FEARLESS

Introduction: "Pain has a way of interrupting purpose. And when pain lasts long enough, survival replaces growth." This devastating reality defines most of the systems we've built—medical, educational, even in the church. We've become really good at helping people survive, but we've stopped dreaming about helping them flourish. Today we're exploring the difference between empire dreams (optimizing within broken systems) and kingdom dreams (believing God has designed something better than we can imagine). You're in the right place if: You've settled into helping your kids just cope with...

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#170: The Neuroscience of Agency: How Self-Brain Surgery Restores Family Freedom show art #170: The Neuroscience of Agency: How Self-Brain Surgery Restores Family Freedom

LOVE IS FEARLESS

Guest: Dr. Lee Warren, Board-Certified Neurosurgeon Introduction: What if you could change your brain by changing your mind? Board-certified neurosurgeon Dr. Lee Warren joins us to reveal something revolutionary: you're not stuck with the brain you have. Through groundbreaking neuroscience research, we now know that what you repeatedly think about literally restructures your brain. For parents learning to live from agency instead of control, understanding what's actually happening in your nervous system changes everything. Dr. Warren's new book, The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery:...

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#169: C is for Conversations: How We Restore Freedom at Home show art #169: C is for Conversations: How We Restore Freedom at Home

LOVE IS FEARLESS

Introduction: In all of history, there are only two ways to govern: by words or by force. As America celebrates its 250th birthday this year, we're asking: How will we govern our homes? Force demands compliance. Words invite relationship. And the operating system our children learn at home is the operating system they'll carry into the world. Today we're exploring how conversations—not arbitrary consequences—build the kind of trust that makes freedom and agency possible. You're in the right place if: Your child is old enough for tough topics (bullying, sexual identity, pornography,...

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#168: B is for Beautiful, Not Simply Functional show art #168: B is for Beautiful, Not Simply Functional

LOVE IS FEARLESS

What if the biggest risk isn't failing—but never discovering who God created you to be? In this episode, we revisit the letter B in the Love Is Fearless alphabet with fresh eyes. Back in Season 5 (), we introduced the idea that Beautiful offers safety, healing, and regard—while Functional is just about getting things done. But now we're going deeper. Beautiful isn't about being magazine-worthy. It's about being true. Beautiful is "the most true thing"—what reflects who God created you to be, what reminds you of your Source, what feeds your soul. Functional is what we reach for in...

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#167 - A is for Affections, Not Addictions show art #167 - A is for Affections, Not Addictions

LOVE IS FEARLESS

What if renewing your mind isn't just spiritual advice—it's actual brain training? In this episode, we explore how attention shapes affection, and how the difference between affections and addictions determines whether your family is being transformed or simply managed into conforming to the patterns of this world. We're introducing  groundbreaking work on faith and neuroscience (stay tuned for our full interview with him next month), and discovering how Philippians 4:8 is God's prescription for mental health—not toxic positivity, but actual neural formation. This changes...

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#166: We've Forgotten How To Live show art #166: We've Forgotten How To Live

LOVE IS FEARLESS

We've become really good at managing crises, but somewhere along the way, we forgot how to live. In this season premiere, we introduce what it means to restore the lost art of being family—creating homes where a hard life is experienced differently, in secure relationships. This isn't about behavior modification or quick fixes. It's about life cultivation. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or anyone raising or influencing children, this episode sets the foundation for everything we'll explore together this season. In This Episode, You'll Discover: Why modern parenting has become...

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#165: Building a Life of the Mind: How Mental Freedom Transforms Family Life show art #165: Building a Life of the Mind: How Mental Freedom Transforms Family Life

LOVE IS FEARLESS

Summary What if the "practical" parenting strategies you're searching for require something deeper first - the liberation of your own mind? In this episode, Janet and Doug explore the third instrument of formation: LIFE - the intentional pursuit and savoring of ideas that are good, true, and beautiful. Drawing on research about manufactured mental captivity and personal stories about breaking generational cycles, they reveal why parents can't create relational safety for their children while their own minds remain captured by anxiety-producing information systems. This isn't about adding more...

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#164: How Attachment Shapes Your Faith, Family, and Freedom – with Dr. Todd Hall show art #164: How Attachment Shapes Your Faith, Family, and Freedom – with Dr. Todd Hall

LOVE IS FEARLESS

What if the key to spiritual growth isn’t trying harder—but learning how to feel safe, seen, and loved? In this episode, Doug and Janet sit down with psychologist and author Dr. Todd Hall for a powerful conversation about attachment, transformation, and the kind of love that reshapes your life. Together, they explore how our early relational patterns affect not just our parenting and marriage—but our relationship with God. You’ll learn: How to recognize attachment patterns that keep you stuck Why behavior doesn’t change until your nervous system feels safe How to...

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#163: Beyond Punishment: Practical Habits to Shape Identity, Not Just Behavior show art #163: Beyond Punishment: Practical Habits to Shape Identity, Not Just Behavior

LOVE IS FEARLESS

What if discipline isn’t about becoming someone better—but about learning to live from the truth of who you already are? In this episode, we continue our conversation on discipline—not as punishment or control, but as the sacred practice of forming identity through daily habits of love, truth, and presence. We explore how discipline aligns with our new identity in Christ, and how we help our children grow into that truth—not by force, but by faithfulness. You’ll hear stories of real formation—what it looks like in parenting, in marriage, and even in how we relate to ourselves. We...

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Joshua Gordon is a son, brother, husband to Sarah, dad to five children, lay pastor, author, and Senior Editor of theleadpastor.com. We're grateful that Joshua agreed to share a dad's response to the challenges of living in an economy of love. In our previous episode (#148), we challenged parents with these questions: 
  • If the kingdom of God is at hand, what's really changed in our homes?
  • If the law is love now, what's different?
  • If I trust the finished work of Jesus for my secure identity, how does that change my relationship with God? How does that change my relationship with myself? And with you?
In this episode, Joshua Gordon admits we can be triggered when our children respond to us with an attitude instead of respect. Join us in this priceless and vulnerable conversation about navigating our emotions and personal narratives so that the child and our family benefit from the frustrating interaction instead of allowing it to weaken the relational fabric in our home.
In our conversation with Joshua, we found wisdom and help for moving forward when our kids are disrespectful by discovering that many of our children's problems today:
  • The books on our shelves don't have answers because they were written several years ago, and our culture is changing quickly. We can find the answers to these problems in conversations with God and others who rely on God in their own stories. We can also help our children listen to God and receive His help. 
  • Many of our children’s problems are really invitations from God to abide with Him because they have roots in our own unresolved issues. 
  • Our children’s problems are, in some ways, gifts that require us to ask, "Is my desperation or dependence on Jesus driving my response to this parenting crisis?" Then, we get to talk to God about why we depend on something less than our true identity (and our security with Him) when emotions get messy and problems are real.
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