Phones at the dinner table. DMs at midnight. Screens that seem impossible to put down.

Digital life is part of everyday life. But how do we raise wise, healthy, spiritually grounded kids in the midst of it?

In this episode of The Teach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson talks with Jamie Gordon, a licensed social worker, mom of three, and director of the social work program at Screen Sanity, an international nonprofit equipping parents to navigate tech and screen use with clarity and purpose. Jamie also serves as the intake coordinator at legal firm Husch Blackwell’s human trafficking clinic, where she supports survivors with care and expertise.

Sarah and Jamie unpack the real-life effects of screen time, from emotional dysregulation and loneliness to redefined friendships and dopamine-driven addiction cycles. But they don’t stop at the problem. With warmth, insight, and numerous practical tips, they offer tools to guide families toward digital health, deeper connection, and Christ-centered purpose amid our tech-saturated world.

Tune in to a conversation that will leave you encouraged and equipped to parent intentionally and faithfully in the digital age.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• The science behind dopamine, addiction, and screens
• A faith-based lens for forming your family’s tech boundaries
• How to talk with your kids, not just at them, to understand the “whys” behind their technology choices

Links from the episode:

• Explore free and paid resources at screensanity.org
• Explore Screen Sanity’s Social Media Playbook
• Explore Screen Sanity’s First Phone Comparison Chart
• Read Andy Crouch’s book The Life We're Looking For
• Read Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation
• Learn more about Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read Teach Your Children Well by Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read the transcript here
• Take the survey here

Credits

✅Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPTEACH25 for 25% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅Producers: Helen Lee, Kaitlin Borek, and Travis Albritton

✅Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅Podcast Art: Kate Lillard

✅Theme Song: "Childlike Wonder" by Reveille

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

From playgrounds to high school hallways to your kitchen table, more families than ever are feeling the weight of fear, stress, and emotional overwhelm. As parents, it’s hard enough to manage our own emotions, let alone help our kids process theirs.

So, how can we help our children walk through anxiety with hope, wisdom, and a grounded sense of peace?

In this episode of The Teach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson welcomes Dr. Kevin Chapman, a licensed clinical psychologist and a leading expert in anxiety and emotional health. He’s the founder and director of the Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and the author of Mastering Our Emotions: Biblical Principles for Emotional Health. In addition to clinical expertise, Dr. Chapman brings a deep understanding on how Scripture speaks into our emotional lives, drawing connections between cognitive behavioral therapy and the renewing of the mind described in Romans 12.

Together, Sarah and Dr. Chapman explore how anxiety shows up in families, why labels can hurt more than they can help, and what it means to parent with emotional awareness and spiritual authority. Whether you're navigating your child’s anxiety, your own, or both, this episode offers clarity, encouragement, and practical tools rooted in both science and Scripture.

Tune in now to discover how God’s word and proven strategies can transform the way you understand and handle anxiety in your home.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why anxiety is rising in kids—and how to respond with wisdom
• How to reframe negative thoughts using the skill of “being renewed”
• Practical ways to help kids interrupt anxious spirals

“Steal This Idea” breath prayers:

Inhale: The Lord is my shepherd

Exhale: I have everything I need

Inhale: Come, Holy Spirit

Exhale: You are welcome here

Inhale: I worship you, God

Exhale: Fill me with your love

Links from the episode:

• Learn more about Dr. Kevin Chapman and his practice
• Read Dr. Kevin Chapman’s book: Mastering Our Emotions: Biblical Principles for Emotional Health
• Learn more about Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read Teach Your Children Well by Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
• Read the transcript here
• Take the survey here

Credits

✅Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPTEACH25 for 25% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅Producers: Helen Lee, Kaitlin Borek, and Travis Albritton

✅Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅Podcast Art: Kate Lillard

✅Theme Song: "Childlike Wonder" by Reveille

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

What if your child doesn’t “fit the mold” of what is considered successful and flourishing?

Christian parents in today’s culture can get swept up in the pursuit of achievement, perfection, and performance. They often feel pressure to measure their children’s success by grades, behavior, or milestones. But what happens when your child doesn’t hit those marks—or when you begin to question whether those marks matter in the first place?

In this powerful episode of The Teach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson welcomes Amy Julia Becker—author, speaker, and mother of three—for a profound conversation on parenting, disability, and what it really means to live the good life. Amy Julia is the author of To Be Made Well, White Picket Fences, Small Talk, and A Good and Perfect Gift, and the creator of the Reimagining Family Life with Disability workshop. Through her writing and podcasting, she helps others explore how disability, faith, and culture shape our vision of wholeness.

Amy Julia opens up about how her vision of the good life, once shaped by merit, achievement, and perfection, was undone and lovingly rebuilt. Through formative moments such as her own health crisis, the loss of a loved one, and the birth of her daughter Penny, she began to see that limitation is not a flaw to be overcome but a deeply human experience that can draw us closer to God. Sarah and Amy Julia reflect on how parenting through the lens of disability reveals the hidden values we carry, and how belovedness—not performance—is the foundation for true identity and growth.

Whether or not disability touches your family directly, this conversation offers a deeply human invitation to embrace limitations, see God’s image in every child, and parent with grace rather than pressure.

Tune in now to reimagine family life through a lens of grace, humanity, and spiritual formation—one that embraces both gifts and challenges, and makes room for every child to flourish.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How cultural narratives about success distort our vision of the good life
• Why every child—regardless of ability—bears the image of God
• How to shift from performance to belovedness in our parenting

Links from the episode:

• Learn more about Amy Julia Becker
• Read Amy Julia Becker’s books: To Be Made Well, White Picket Fences, Small Talk, and A Good and Perfect Gift
• Learn more about Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read Teach Your Children Well by Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read the transcript here
• Take the survey here

Credits

✅Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPTEACH25 for 25% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅Producers: Helen Lee, Kaitlin Borek, and Travis Albritton

✅Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅Podcast Art: Kate Lillard

✅Theme Song: "Childlike Wonder" by Reveille

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Your children are already being discipled. The question is: by whom?

In today’s fast-paced, screen-saturated culture, spiritual formation is happening all the time—often invisibly. Our habits shape what we love, and what we love forms who we become. For Christian parents, that makes the ordinary rhythms of the home deeply sacred ground.

In this first episode of The Teach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson speaks with Justin Whitmel Earley. Justin is a business lawyer, a father of four, and the author of The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, Habits of the Household and most recently, The Common Rule Youth Edition: Growing Your Faith in a Distracted World. In this episode, he shares how a mental health crisis early in his legal career led him to discover the power of intentional habits—and why those same rhythms are vital for the spiritual formation of our children.

Justin shares how simple but intentional rhythms—such as morning prayers at the front door, phone-free dinners, and Sabbath rest—aren’t just good parenting practices. They’re spiritual formation in real time. In this conversation, Justin offers a rich blend of theological insight and down-to-earth practices that equip parents to resist the pull of a culture driven by speed, screens, and self.

Together, Sarah and Justin explore why discipleship must move beyond information. It must be practiced, embodied, and lived, because it’s not just what our kids hear from parents that shapes their faith—it’s what they see, feel, and do alongside us.

Formation is always happening. Make the intentional choice as a parent or caregiver to guide that formation instead of leaving it to the culture or other influences in your children’s lives.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How spiritual formation begins with ordinary habits
• Why parents are the most influential disciplers in their kids’ lives
• Practical rhythms that reshape home life toward Christ

Links from the episode:

• Learn more about Justin Whitmel Earley
• Read Justin Whitmel Earley’s books, The Common Rule and The Common Rule, Youth Edition
• Learn more about Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read Teach Your Children Well by Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read the transcript here
• Take the survey here

Credits

✅Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPTEACH25 for 25% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅Producers: Helen Lee, Kaitlin Borek, and Travis Albritton

✅Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅Podcast Art: Kate Lillard

✅Theme Song: "Childlike Wonder" by Reveille

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Parenting in today’s world can be a daunting task. Our kids are surrounded by increasing cultural pressure, whether it’s around technology, academic achievement, or finding their identity. And many Christian parents feel ill-equipped to guide their children through it all.

But, in the face of today’s cultural narratives, how might the biblical narrative provide a clearer path forward?

In The Teach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson—ministry trainer, consultant, and author of Teach Your Children Well: A Step-by-Step Guide for Family Discipleship—seeks to answer this question. A parent herself, Cowan Johnson knows firsthand the challenges of navigating societal pressures and the hope and possibilities when we turn toward the way of Jesus.

In this brand-new podcast, Cowan Johnson sits down with nine expert guests—including Jon Tyson, Justin Whitmel Earley, Natasha Smith, and Amy Julia Becker—to explore critical parenting topics such as mental health, gender, grief, and so much more. Each episode explores what the world says about these topics, and then how the biblical story responds, ultimately offering wisdom and good news for the twenty-first-century parent.

Cowan Johnson will also give listeners practical, gospel-shaped ideas they can use in their own homes.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or watch on the IVP YouTube channel.

The first episode of The Teach Your Children Well Podcast drops on June 23.

Links and Credits

• Learn more about Sarah Cowan Johnson
• Read Teach Your Children Well by Sarah Cowan Johnson

✅Producers: Helen Lee, Kaitlin Borek, and Travis Albritton

✅Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅Podcast Art: Kate Lillard

✅Theme Song: "Childlike Wonder" by Reveille

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.