Between sports, school events, church activities, and everything in between—family life is BUSY. But is all this activity helping or hurting us?

In this honest and practical episode, Pastor Jon Mahlstedt (NextGen Pastor at Northbrook Church) and Pastor Zack Casper (Associate Pastor at Fulton Church) sit down for a real conversation about the silent killer of busyness. They talk about the toll it’s taking on parents, kids, and faith—and how we can fight back with intentional rhythms that honor God.

💬 Why is busyness so normalized in Christian families? 🙇‍♂️ What does it look like to steward your time for God’s glory? 📅 How can we start reclaiming margin in our homes?

🎧 Tune in now and join the conversation.

Why are so many students walking away from their faith after high school? As a Next Gen Pastor, Pastor Jon has seen the trends, had the conversations, and wrestled with the reality that too many young people disengage from church after graduation. In this episode, he unpacks five key reasons why this is happening—and what we can do about it. Whether you're a parent, pastor, or student, this conversation will challenge and encourage you to rethink how we disciple the next generation.

Tune in and let’s talk about it!

Today Pastor Jon interviews our upcoming Equip Parenting Conference speaker, Terra Mattson. Terra is a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed professional counselor, clinical supervisor, executive coach, social entrepreneur, and co-founder of Living Wholehearted and Courageous Girls alongside her husband, Jeff.

We are thrilled she will be at Northbrook March 7/8 for our Equip parenting conference, and excited to let our audience get to know Terra a little bit before next month!

Here is the link to register for the conference and Pastor Jon's email to be entered into a drawing to win a free ticket to the conference!

Conference registration page (scroll to bottom of page)

Pastor Jon's email

Here is the link to Terra's book and website.

Courageous book

Terra's website

Welcome to helping students in 2025! We all want to help the young people in our lives, but helping starts with understanding. In this episode Pastor Jon dives into four battles students are facing right now and how parents and loved ones can support them.

David Thomas answers some of the questions we didn't get to at the Equip parenting conference. Great wisdom for any parent!

Road Back to You Enneagram Book

Enneagram Made Easy

Driven to Distraction Book

Raising Boys and Girls

Northbrook parent mentors John and Jill Peterson share their insights on what parent mentoring is, who would benefit from it, and other helpful parenting advice they've learned over the years!

Ben Pugh Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ryt1j8QCaoseRPQHw9eSL

Books:

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Life-Your-Adult-Children/dp/0310353777/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1707426179&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Girls-Melissa-Trevathan/dp/0310272890/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2GC7P6N7GWPAV&keywords=raising+girls+sissy+goff&qid=1707426157&s=books&sprefix=raising+girls+siss%2Cstripbooks%2C122&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Things-Art-Nurturing-Boys/dp/1414322275/ref=asc_df_1414322275/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312710253827&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11850429507258787461&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018754&hvtargid=pla-435818556871&psc=1&mcid=14ab79d5013234f1851aacb9691f796f&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=61681020945&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312710253827&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11850429507258787461&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018754&hvtargid=pla-435818556871&gclid=CjwKCAiAlJKuBhAdEiwAnZb7lTK38g8xqe6bwJp-btFv8MMBPkG02kiJGIrM0o3e_IQA4mwMuazAZBoCHEUQAvD_BwE

https://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Love-Logic-Teaching-Responsibility/dp/1631469061/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TXXUQX3PN6Y&keywords=love+and+logic+parenting+book&qid=1707426206&s=books&sprefix=love+and+log%2Cstripbooks%2C132&sr=1-1

Looking to work on your marriage? Whether you have a healthy marriage and want to keep it that way, your marriage is in crisis, or your marriage is somewhere in between, we're here to help! Join Pastor Jon and Pastor Jenny as they share resources provided by Northbrook for marriages in any state of health, and Jenny shares some simple advice to make your marriage healthier in the coming year.

Additional Resources:

https://www.gottman.com/couples/

https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Principles-Making-Marriage-Work/dp/0553447718/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3OX8LKG84YYB8&keywords=gottman+books&qid=1704731899&sprefix=gottman+book%2Caps%2C849&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Marriage-Facing-Complexities-Commitment/dp/1594631875/ref=sr_1_1?crid=59L2R1IPVYC8&keywords=the+meaning+of+marriage+tim+keller&qid=1704731925&sprefix=the+meaning+of+%2Caps%2C206&sr=8-1

https://www.northbrookchurch.org/