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Over the next four weeks, we’ll hear from four couples in four different decades of marriage, from 11 years all the way to 44. Each story is unique, but they share a common thread: faith, real struggles, and the grace it takes to keep choosing each other through every season.

To begin the series, I’m joined by Lyndsey and Cody, who have been married for 11 years and are raising two young kids. Lyndsey is an entrepreneur and mom at home, and Cody works in the oil and gas industry while also pursuing graduate school. Like many young families, their life is busy and full.

In this conversation, Lyndsey and Cody share their honest story, from a fun blind-date beginning and a whirlwind engagement, to the challenges that came from very different upbringings, busy schedules, and the slow breakdown in communication that eventually brought their marriage to a breaking point around the seven-year mark.

What makes their story so powerful is what happened next. Through prayer, humility, and a renewed commitment to seek God first, they began rebuilding their marriage in a completely new way. Cody shares how surrendering control and pursuing a personal relationship with God transformed how he shows up as a husband and father, while Lyndsey reflects on the importance of grace, understanding love languages, and protecting time together in the middle of busy family life.

Their story is a beautiful reminder that marriages rarely fall apart overnight—but healing and restoration can begin in the smallest steps of faith, humility, and choosing each other again.

Next week we continue the series with another couple in a different decade of marriage. I can’t wait for you to hear what they share.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Carletta Nelson Podcast Episode:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-heart-that-beats-for-home/id1719372285?i=1000651405059

Love Languages Podcast Episode:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-heart-that-beats-for-home/id1719372285?i=1000656490803

5 Love Languages Books:

https://amzn.to/4rVjkPQ

https://amzn.to/4uc9mLc

Children’s Bibles:

https://amzn.to/46Hacpq

https://amzn.to/4l8Rg97

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What if one of the greatest gifts we can give our children isn’t a perfect childhood, but a healthy marriage to grow up inside of?

In this special kickoff episode, we’re introducing a four-week series called Marriage Through the Decades. This series isn’t about picture-perfect relationships or pretending anyone has it all together. It’s about real couples in real seasons who keep choosing each other—again and again.

Over the next four weeks, you’ll hear from four couples married across four different decades:
• 10–20 years
• 20–30 years
• 30–40 years
• 40+ years

From raising young children to navigating teens, launching adults, and stepping into retirement, each season looks different. But the foundations of friendship, faithfulness, intentionality, and commitment remain steady.

In this episode, we talk about why marriage shapes the atmosphere of our homes, how our kids learn love and conflict resolution by watching us, and why protecting your relationship, even in the busiest seasons, matters more than we often realize.

This conversation is about being intentional, not impressive. Marriage is hard, but it is worth fighting for.

Next week, we begin with a powerful story of restoration from a couple who nearly lost their marriage in the first decade, and what it looked like to rebuild what felt completely broken.

Join us as we walk through the decades together.

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Some days feel like you’re barely holding the house, the calendar, and your own heart together, and you wonder if you’re failing at life. Today’s conversation will meet you right there. Nikki sits down with Deon Holman, wife, mom of three, and writer of an upcoming 30-day devotional project Messy Days, Mighty God, to talk about finding Jesus in the middle of full schedules, ordinary motherhood, and real-life discouragement.

Deon shares the “building project” framework behind her devotional, including three daily pillars that helped her clear the fog during a hard season: time with Jesus, training your body, and intentional nutrition, with Jesus as the true foundation. They also talk about “demo day” (what to tear down, surrender, and release), how to build rhythms that support genuine faith without legalism, and why secondhand inspiration can never replace meeting with God personally. If you’ve been craving joy, spiritual steadiness, and a faith that fits into messy life instead of waiting for the perfect quiet moment… this episode is for you.

Connect with Devan:

Newsletter:

https://devanholman.myflodesk.com/newsletter

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/share/18BKGXEuJ6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/devanholman?igsh=M2ZpZjV1dmo5b3Fj&utm_source=qr

Website:
www.devanholman.com

Faith, Wellness, & a Whole Lot of Real Life
A mix of devotionals, honest reflections, Arbonne favorites, and a little encouragement for

Seeds Family Worship Music:
https://seedskidsworship.com/product-category/music/
On Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/artist/5kV2pC0biCYFh3y9HxgNkS
On Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/seeds-family-worship/251295888

Scripture Lullabies:
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3egDut5sE3JIphJpVLO0z4
On Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/scripture-lullabies/464465134

Praise Baby:
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0uIyzjmP48YI0dpgdAjdeI
On Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/sleepytime-lullabies/372543219

Abby Houston - Melodically Memorizing:
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1CcoMJoJtlZrt2w6XSbj6c?si=9kKzk_T-Tc2JWQq2CQFVog
On Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/abby-houston/1173348681

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Valentine’s week often centers around flowers, feelings, and romance. But what if love is meant to be much deeper and much more daily than that?

In this episode, we step back and ask a foundational question: if the greatest commandment is to love, what does that actually look like inside our homes?

Not the cultural version of love built on emotion and attraction, but biblical love rooted in action, commitment, humility, and truth.

Together we explore:

• The difference between emotional love and chosen love
• How children learn love primarily through modeling
• Why apology and humility strengthen families
• How daily decisions shape the emotional climate of your home
• Why boundaries and discipline are powerful expressions of long-term love
• The balance of truth and compassion in correction
• How small, unseen acts of service form lifelong security

This is not a formula for flawless parenting. It’s an invitation to faithful love.

One day, your children will describe what it felt like to grow up in your house. They may not remember every rule or routine, but they will remember the atmosphere. The tone. The way conflict was handled. The way grace was extended. The way love was lived.

We can’t edit the story later. But we are writing it now, in ordinary dinners, random Tuesday nights, and quiet moments no one else sees.

Biblical love isn’t seasonal. It’s daily. And it has the power to shape generations.

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In this heartfelt episode, Nikki shares an honest conversation about the tension so many mothers feel but rarely name, the joy and grief that exist side by side as our children grow and begin to let go of our hands.

From sending a child off to college to watching her youngest drive away for the first time, Nikki reflects on the moments that feel both painful and beautiful at once. She introduces the phrase “excruciatingly beautiful” to describe this season of motherhood where pride, loss, love, and change collide.

This episode is an encouragement to every mom navigating transitions, whether you’re holding a newborn, dropping off a kindergartener, or launching a young adult. You are not alone in what you feel, and you don’t have to choose between celebrating your child and grieving what’s changing.

Motherhood was never meant to be easy, but it is always sacred, always meaningful, and often… excruciatingly beautiful.

Hannah Noelles - American Idol Audition:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DURzx1MkT93/

Song on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/6IVVZIm95vjLL9Vmmch30X?si=2fa701e63f1c44aa

Song on Apple Music:

https://music.apple.com/us/song/string-cheese/1812956887

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As we wrap up our three-part series on starting the new year with clarity and purpose, this episode focuses on one essential question: How do we stay in our race when the excitement fades and the work gets hard?

We explore why we often expect quick results in the beginning but underestimate what steady faithfulness can produce over time. Through personal stories, practical analogies, and biblical wisdom, this conversation invites you to trade the racehorse mentality of burnout and comparison for the pack horse rhythm of balance, perseverance, and long obedience.

We talk about learning to be bad before becoming good, how discipline shapes both character and calling, and why progress is still happening even when you can’t see it yet. You’ll be encouraged to evaluate what you’re carrying, quiet the noise of comparison and distraction, and live with the wisdom that your days are numbered.

This episode will help you refocus on what truly matters, recommit to the priorities you set at the beginning of the year, and walk forward with confidence, consistency, and peace.

Breathing Room by Andy Stanley:

https://series.northpointministries.org/breathing-room

Reflection Questions:

• Am I running like a racehorse or walking like a pack horse?
• What noise do I need to quiet so I can stay focused on my race?
• What am I carrying that God never asked me to carry?
• What does balance look like to me in this season of life?
• Where do I need to trust that God is still working—even when I don’t see evidence yet?
• How can I measure faithfulness instead of perfection?
• Am I living with the wisdom that my days are numbered—and do my actions reflect that?

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In part 2 of our 3-part series on goal setting and vision, we’re talking about clarity and how clear, God-given direction can simplify your life in a way that feels like peace. When you don’t know where you’re headed, everything gets heavier: indecision, overthinking, people-pleasing, and yeses that don’t align with what truly matters.

Today, I share a powerful conversation with my husband that changed how I make decisions. We talk about a “clarity test”, a simple filter you can run every opportunity, request, goal, or commitment through: Does this align with the mission of our home and the direction we believe God is leading our family… or not?

I also read parts of my personal 10-year vision (2036), a detailed “movie script” of the life we’re prayerfully working toward: a marriage that stays prioritized, a home marked by hospitality, children and grandchildren who are loved and strengthened, health that supports a vibrant future, a business built with integrity, and generosity that stays joyful. And I’m very clear about this: this isn’t “manifesting.” This is stewardship, planning with faith while holding everything with open hands before God.

We’ll walk through the four pillars that keep me anchored (the responsibilities only you can carry), and I’ll share practical examples of how clarity shapes everyday life: how I show up in my kitchen, how I protect time with my husband, how I parent adult kids with grace, how I communicate when things get heated, and how I set goals that match the legacy I want to live.

If you’ve been overwhelmed by goal-setting or you’ve felt scattered, pressured, or distracted… this episode will help you step back, get honest, and get clear so your yes can be yes, your no can be no, and your days can finally match what you say you value.

Next week in Part 3, we’ll talk about finishing your race strong—how to stay engaged when motivation fades and the year gets heavy.

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Questions That Keep Your Direction Clear (True North):

If I fast-forward ten years, what kind of person do I most want to be?
What do I want people to experience when they are in my presence?
If my life produced fruit I could see only in eternity, what would I hope that fruit is?
At the end of my life, what would I most regret having neglected?
What do I believe God is inviting me to build, cultivate, or steward in this season?
What does faithfulness look like for me right now — not success, not speed, just faithfulness?

Questions That Align Your Daily Life With Your Long-Term Vision:

Did my choices today move me 1% closer to the life I believe God is calling me to?
Where did I say “yes” to something that pulled me off course — and why?
What small, ordinary obedience did I practice today?
Did I prioritize what matters most — or what was most urgent?
Did my schedule reflect my stated values?
What went well today?
Where did I drift?
Where did I align with my vision?
What will I do differently tomorrow?

Questions That Hold Your Plans Loosely Before God:

Am I clinging to my plan — or holding it with open hands?
If God changed this tomorrow, could I still say “He is good”?
What am I most afraid of losing — and what does that reveal?
Am I building my identity on outcomes or on obedience?
If my circumstances shifted, would my purpose still stand?
“Lord, I make plans in faith — but I trust Your leading more than my blueprint.
Shape my steps, even when they differ from my strat

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As we step into a new year, many of us feel a mix of hope, pressure, exhaustion, and uncertainty. In this opening episode of Season 3, Nikki invites you to pause, reflect, and reframe what it really means to move forward.

This episode kicks off a three-part series centered on running your own race, not chasing comparison, perfection, or unrealistic expectations, but pursuing faithfulness in the life God has entrusted to you. Nikki explores why so many goals fade after the initial excitement of a new year, what “Quitter’s Day” reveals about our habits, and why lasting change is built on consistency, clarity, and grace...not hype.

Through a powerful track-and-field story, honest reflection, and a biblical lens on habits, discipline, and stewardship, this conversation challenges listeners to consider not just the new habits they want to add, but the old ones they may need to let go of. Nikki unpacks how our daily choices shape who we are becoming, why faithfulness matters more than speed, and how staying in the race, even imperfectly, leads to real formation over time.

Whether you’re feeling energized, discouraged, or somewhere in between, this episode offers encouragement to keep showing up, adjust instead of quit, and remember that growth is a process. This isn’t about a “new you”, it’s about becoming more aligned, more intentional, and more faithful in the race you’ve been given.

Next week, we’ll continue the conversation by talking about clarity and how having a clear “why” changes everything about the decisions we make and the goals we pursue.

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