Courtney Doctor, Melissa Kruger, Vanessa Hawkins, and Jen Wilkin have each been married for more than 25 years.In this conversation, they talk about how marriage was different from what they expected, what practices have strengthened their marriage through life's ebbs and flows, and they debunk some of the worst marriage advice they’ve heard. Recommended Resources:Single, Dating, Engaged, Married by Ben StuartSacred Marriage by Gary ThomasRelated Content:Growing Your Marriage While Having Young KidsSustaining the Covenant of Marital LoveMarriage in Gospel FocusA Biblical View of MarriageDiscussion Questions:What does spending quality time together look like in this season of your lives? What is the best (or worst) piece of relationship advice you have received? What made it helpful or harmful?What strengths do you see in yourself and your spouse? How have those strengths balanced out areas of weakness in different seasons of your lives?Can you think of a way you would like to rearrange your priorities in order to strengthen your marriage (or your future marriage)?What “one another” commands come the easiest to you? Which are most difficult, and how might you seek to live those out increasingly?In what ways has God used your marriage to sanctify you?What do you want to pray for your spouse, marriage, or yourself based on what you have heard and discussed?
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49:57
Work Well with All Types of People
Melissa Kruger and Courtney Doctor talk with their colleague Ann Westrate about how understanding each others’ gifts has enhanced their work as a team. They talk about how much the Working Genius assessment helped them understand why what might be easy for one of them is hard for someone else. Understanding what different gifts are represented in a team can enhance morale and strengthen relationships. We all have gifts, but none of us have all the gifts.Recommended Resources:Growing Together by Melissa KrugerWorking Genius assessment Ann’s Recipe for Steak Soup Related Content:Let’s Talk: Spiritual GiftsFlourish in How God Has (and Has Not) Gifted YouThe Spiritual Gift You Don’t Notice Until It’s GoneDiscussion Questions:What gifts or abilities have others recognized or affirmed in you? How has God given you opportunities to use and develop those?While this episode focused on the Working Genius, there are many assessments available to help you understand the way you work and interact with others. If you have taken any, how have your results been helpful to you?In what ways have you struggled with envy of other peoples’ giftedness? How do you see your own strengths as an essential part of the body’s functioning? Where do you feel called to invest your talents in new ways (or to continue using them)?If you are a parent, how do you see your giftedness impact the way you serve your family in this season of life?Who in your work, church, or family needs to have their giftedness recognized and affirmed? How is God calling you to encourage that person or those people?
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36:28
Choosing Contentment
Courtney Doctor talks with Melissa Kruger, and Elizabeth Woodson about the true meaning of contentment and how to find it. They discuss how discontentment springs from the attitude of our hearts rather than our circumstances and will only be overcome by trusting God’s goodness. They talk about the enemies of contentment as well as how the psalms of lament show us that grieving is compatible with contentment. We can confess that God has withheld no good thing while also asking, “How long, O Lord?”Recommended Resources:Embrace Your Life by Elizabeth WoodsonThe Envy of Eve by Melissa KrugerRelated Content:Looking for Contentment? It’s Not What You ThinkWill God Provide for Your Needs?Your Church Needs Your ContentmentDiscover the Grace of LamentDiscussion Questions:In what areas of life do you struggle with comparison? How have you experienced comparison feeding feelings of discontentment?What regular practices help you continually remind yourself to find contentment in the “past certainty and future hope” God provides instead of your current circumstances? In what ways is this challenging for you as well?Can you think of an example in your life where God has made the “boundary lines” fall in pleasant places (Psalm 16:6 even if you didn’t immediately recognize it)? What past circumstance has taught you that what he has given (or withheld) is enough?What would it look like to “delight yourself in the Lord” in your current season of life?In what ways have you experienced God transforming your desires into what he desires?What current circumstance is God using as a “schoolroom” to teach you how to trust him more deeply?
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41:06
What Your Teenagers Need from You
Melissa Kruger talks with Sandi Taylor and Ruth Chou Simon about parenting teenagers. They reflect on the principles of their parenting that have stayed the same even though their practices have changed as their children age. They discuss how to pick the right battles, why you shouldn’t look shocked when your teen tells you something shocking, and why teens need both firmness and warmth from their parents.Mentioned Resources:Parenting with Hope by Melissa KrugerRelated Resources:Parent, Meet Your TeenBreaking Social Media’s Grip on TeensYou Can Parent Teens with Hope in a Secular AgeYour Teenager Needs DiscipleshipDiscussion Questions:In what ways do you want to “go first” in modeling for your kids what a life following Jesus looks like?How and why does rule-making give us a false sense of security as parents? What areas do you feel most prone to create rules for your kids that go past what God has said?What idols has God revealed to you in your parenting? How will you combat the influence of those idols?How can you prioritize creating space and opportunities for conversations with your teen (or how will you plan to prioritize this in the future)?How does reflecting on the ways that God parents you help inform the way you want to parent your children?How can your discussion partners pray for you and your family in this season?
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44:19
Aging Is a Discipleship Issue
Melissa Kruger and Courtney Doctor talk with Jen Wilkin about how to embrace a more beautiful and biblical view on bodies, aging, beauty, and youth. They discuss why we should see aging as a gift rather than a disease, and how we can prepare our spirits for the decline of our bodies. This conversation will not tell you where to “draw the line” when it comes to pursuing a more youthful appearance through beauty treatments, but it will renew your perspective so that that question will seem less important.Mentioned Resource:On Getting Out of Bed by Alan NobleRelated Resources:5 Lies About Your BodyHow to Grow Newer When You’re Not Growing YoungerNot the You You RememberWrinkle Cream Can’t Redeem YouDiscussion Questions:What is your favorite thing about being in the decade of life you are currently in?In what ways have you experienced cultural pressure to value and preserve youthfulness? How has this impacted you?What role does social media play in shaping your perceptions of aging?Can you think of examples of people in your life who are aging gracefully? What have you learned through their example?What wisdom have you gained as you have grown older? How does this help you see aging as a gift, rather than a disease?What does pursuing “imperishable beauty” in your life look like right now? How would you like to do this increasingly?
The Deep Dish is a new podcast from TGC hosted by Melissa Kruger and Courtney Doctor that invites women into deep conversations about the deep truths of God. These discussions (which are always better served up with a slice of deep-dish pizza!) will equip women to engage in richer discipleship relationships in their local contexts. Tune in for warm conversations among friends—including special guests along the way—to dig deeper into God’s Word and explore how it applies to every area of our lives.
South Africa