Ep. 350 — Strength in the Climb: Discovering God's Power and Purpose Through Adventure for All

The outdoors can be a place of awe, challenge, and discovery—yet for many families, especially those raising daughters with physical, emotional, or developmental challenges, stepping into adventure can feel overwhelming or even out of reach. But what if those very challenges are where God's power shines most clearly?    On this episode of the Raising Godly Girls Podcast, host Patti Garibay continues a special conversation about helping families experience the beauty of the outdoors and the powerful faith lessons it can teach. Patti welcomes Kevin Schweiger, founder of Luke 5 Adventures, a ministry dedicated to making the outdoors accessible for individuals with physical challenges through innovative adaptive equipment and servant-hearted teamwork.    Kevin shares the story behind Luke 5 Adventures and the passion that sparked a ministry helping differently-abled individuals experience God's creation in ways that once seemed impossible. From climbs at the Grand Canyon to the heights of Pike's Peak, Kevin and his team have demonstrated that limitations are not the end of the story—they are often the very stage where God reveals His strength, provision, and purpose.    Throughout the conversation, Patti and Kevin explore how parents and mentors can nurture courage and curiosity in girls—even when circumstances feel uncertain or difficult. Kevin reflects on the powerful picture of the Body of Christ that unfolds during these adventures, where teams come together to lift, carry, and support one another along the path. In these moments, families witness Biblical truths in action: faith lived out through service, perseverance, and love.    This episode offers encouragement for parents raising daughters who face challenges of any kind. Whether the "mountain" in front of your family is a physical trail or a difficult season of life, God meets His people on the journey. When girls learn that their limitations do not define them—and that God equips them for every climb—they grow into women who are courageous, compassionate, and ready to follow Christ wherever He leads.    Scriptures Referenced in This Episode:    Luke 5:17–26  2 Corinthians 12:9–10  Galatians 6:2  Hebrews 12:1–2  Psalm 19:1    To learn more about Luke 5 Adventures, visit luke5adventures.org    Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.            Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.      

On this episode of the Raising Godly Girls Podcast, hosts Rachael Culpepper and Natalie Ambrose continue their week of conversations about supporting families with differently-abled daughters. Today's discussion centers on those beautiful moments when God's power breaks through human expectations—opening new doors for connection, joy, and adventure.    Too often, girls with special needs are defined by limitations instead of possibilities. But Scripture reminds us that we serve the God of the possible—the One who provides strength, purpose, and opportunity far beyond what we can imagine. When Christian families shift their perspective from focusing on what a girl can't do to discovering what she can do, entire worlds of joy and growth can open.    In this episode, you'll also hear a powerful Raising Godly Girls Minute from Patti Garibay that invites parents to adopt "capable-thinking" for special needs families. From the inspiring example of Christian speaker Nick Vujicic to ministries that make outdoor adventures accessible, Patti reminds listeners that every girl has God-given abilities meant to flourish.  Rachael and Natalie share personal stories about witnessing unexpected strength in loved ones, discuss the importance of avoiding limiting assumptions, and offer practical ideas for helping differently-abled girls experience meaningful outdoor activities. Their conversation is a hopeful reminder that when we approach girls with curiosity, compassion, and faith, we create opportunities for them to thrive.    Because sometimes the greatest breakthroughs happen when we refuse to accept "impossible"—and instead trust that God may be preparing a girl to surprise the world.    Three Things to Consider:    Structure activities for success. Clearly defined, predictable activities help girls with special needs feel confident and able to participate fully in the fun.  Choose connection over competition. Activities that emphasize teamwork and belonging help differently-abled girls build friendships and experience the joy of shared accomplishment.  Celebrate effort, not just outcomes. Praise perseverance, courage, and participation—these moments often matter far more than winning or finishing first.    Scriptures Referenced in This Episode:    Philippians 4:19  Matthew 19:26  Psalm 139:14  2 Corinthians 12:9    Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.            Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.     

On this episode of the Raising Godly Girls Podcast, hosts Rachael Culpepper and Natalie Ambrose begin a week of conversations focused on how families can cultivate fun, connection, and belonging for girls with differing abilities. Together, they explore how Christian families can move beyond fear or uncertainty and embrace a Gospel-centered vision of inclusion—one that sees every girl as an image bearer of God.    Throughout the episode, Rachael and Natalie reflect on the beauty of people-first language, the importance of empathy in friendships, and the ways families can thoughtfully adapt activities so every girl has a place to participate. You'll also hear a Raising Godly Girls Minute from Patti Garibay that highlights the importance of cultivating empathy for friends with Autism Spectrum Disorder and helping girls extend Christ-like love to those who experience the world differently.  Through personal stories, biblical encouragement, and practical perspective, this conversation reminds parents that the Gospel calls believers to open doors, widen tables, and build communities where every girl is welcomed, valued, and celebrated. Whether your family includes a differently-abled daughter or you're seeking to better support friends navigating disability, this episode offers a hopeful reminder: when we see people the way God sees them, barriers can become bridges to deeper connection.    Three Things to Consider:    See the whole person, not the disability. Every girl is uniquely created in the image of God and deserves to be known, valued, and included in community.  The Gospel moves people from isolation to belonging. Christian families are called to open doors, widen circles, and ensure that differently-abled girls are welcomed into meaningful relationships and activities.  Be willing to adapt to serve. Sometimes inclusion simply requires creativity—adjusting environments, activities, or expectations so every girl can participate and feel honored.    Scriptures Referenced in This Episode:    John 5:1–9  Genesis 1:27  Luke 14:13–14  1 Corinthians 12:22–26    Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.            Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.    

Food is already at the center of so many homes. It fuels our bodies, gathers our families, and fills our tables with conversation. But what if it could also shape our daughters' faith?    For decades—since as early as 1943—researchers in the United States have studied the impact of family meals. The findings are compelling: children and teens who regularly gather around the dinner table experience stronger relational bonds, healthier communication patterns, and deeper emotional connection. Families truly thrive when they dine together consistently.  And yet, in today's fast-paced world, meals are often rushed. Screens creep onto the table. Convenience replaces rhythm. Many families feel disconnected—not only from one another, but from the sacred, formative moments that once shaped daily life. Especially during seasons like Lent, parents long to slow down, tune their hearts to God's voice, and pass on their faith in tangible ways.    Scripture reminds us that God has always met His people around the table. From manna in the wilderness to covenant meals on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24), to Jesus breaking bread with His disciples at the Last Supper (John 13), food has played a central role in God's redemptive story. What if the kitchen could become one of the most powerful discipleship spaces in your home?  In this meaningful weekend conversation, host Melissa Bearden welcomes baker, author, and teacher Kendall Vanderslice to the Raising Godly Girls Podcast. Kendall is the founder of the Bake & Pray method—a beautiful practice that weaves together bread baking, prayer, and Scripture. She shares how food can become formation, how hospitality can begin in ordinary kitchens, and how even simple recipes can open the door to empathy, generosity, and Gospel-centered living.    Together, Melissa and Kendall explore how baking can help families slow down, cultivate meaningful rhythms, and invite daughters into faith practices that feel natural and life-giving. They discuss biblical hospitality, practical ways girls can serve others through food, and why Lent offers a powerful opportunity to reshape family habits leading up to Easter.    If you've ever wondered how to disciple your daughter in everyday moments—without adding more pressure to your calendar—this episode will encourage you deeply. Because sometimes, the most sacred ministry happens between flour-dusted hands and a warm oven.    Scriptures Referenced in This Episode:    Exodus 24:9–11  John 13:1–17  Exodus 16:4–15  Acts 2:46–47  Hebrews 13:2    To learn more about Kendall Vanderslice and her work, visit kendallvanderslice.com  Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.      Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.     

Today's RGG Podcast episode takes hosts Rachael Culpepper and Natalie Ambrose on a deep-dive journey into the Lenten practice of fasting, including the many ways that modern families embrace this spiritual discipline with an aim to commune more closely with God.     After some honest confession from the hosts, they lay aside the need to fast perfectly and reinforce the need to see the practice first as an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to clean the soul and redirect the heart posture back to a Holy God.     Rachael shares creative approaches families can take to fasting including the traditional form of food fasting in a healthy balance of a child's life. Whether the 'give-up' includes sweets, tech/screen time, social media, caffeine, meat, gossip, or any other thing that distracts a Christian's heart from the things of God, Rachael reminds listeners that 'give-ups' must be replaced with a direct line to the Father through Scripture, prayer, worship and such.     Listeners, you will come away from this podcast conversation with a clear understanding of fasting and some ideas on creative ways to incorporate the practice into your family's rhythms with a fresh connection to God and His Kingdom.    Three Things to Consider:    Lent is a great time to awaken all your family's 5 senses   It's important to make this season a time when you and your kids are personally connected to the Lord   There are tons of creative ways to explore the season of Lent, so adopt a fresh perspective and try it out!     Scriptures Referenced in this Episode:  Matthew 4:1-2  Matthew 11:28  John 15:4-5    To learn more about the AHG Statement of Faith, visit americanheritagegirls.org/about-ahg/statement-of-faith   Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.      Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.     

To honor the season of Lent on the Church calendar, Raising Godly Girls Podcast hosts Rachael Culpepper and Natalie Ambrose open a conversation about what this season means and why there is a growing movement of Christian families seeking to embrace a more liturgical way of living.     Whether listeners things of liturgy or traditions in their own Christian circles, this podcast episode keeps an open mind on the many ways that Christ-followers will choose to observe the Lenten season. From almsgiving—giving to the poor—to fasting, worship, Scripture reading, and prayer, hosts Rachael and Natalie encourage parents to either embrace their chosen tradition or to learn a new way with an open heart and childlike faith.     With joy Natalie recalls her surprise that her older kids came to love their faith traditions during Lent over the years and now anticipate the season as it arrives on their family calendar. Rachael gives a wise reminder to listeners about the importance of knowing the 'why behind the what'—understanding how each tradition is designed to connect our hearts directly back to God rather than relishing in the tradition itself or getting prideful in our ability to practice the tradition perfectly.     When it comes to leading kids through a liturgical way of living, Rachael encourages families to welcome in the wonder and delight of childhood to foster a sense of joy and anticipation in our girls. She also advises families to start her practices incrementally giving space for new habit formation and grace in the process.     Natalie lands the conversation with the joy of ecumenical unity—meaning we're all working together as Christians—and choosing to honor one another in their chosen way of observing this season in the Christian calendar.     Two Things to Consider:    Let wonder, surprise, & delight guide you.   Even one new tradition practiced over many years will develop a special place in your child's soul memory bank.     Scriptures Referenced in this Episode:    Deuteronomy 6:4-9  Proverbs 14:21  Luke 3:11    To learn more about the AHG Statement of Faith, visit americanheritagegirls.org/about-ahg/statement-of-faith  Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.      Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.     

Motherhood, marriage, ministry—each of these roles is a beautiful gift from God. But even good gifts can quietly drift into first place in our hearts. Somewhere along the way, we can begin to measure our worth by how well we love, lead, serve, and sacrifice—rather than by the unchanging truth that we are already chosen and beloved daughters of the King.    Before we were anyone's wife, mother, mentor, or friend—we were His. Redeemed. Named. Known. And that identity does not shift with the seasons of life.    In today's culture, women are told to do more and be more. Even within Christian circles, it can sometimes feel as though a woman's value is tied to the strength of her marriage, the success of her children, or her ability to "do it all" with grace. But the Gospel paints a different picture. Scripture calls us to undivided devotion—to love God above husband, family, possessions, and even self—and to let every other role flow from that primary relationship.    In this powerful weekend conversation, Patti Garibay welcomes bestselling author, Bible teacher, and speaker Vicki Courtney to the Raising Godly Girls Podcast. Together, they tackle a challenging but freeing question: Is motherhood my highest calling?    Vicki shares the "fire in her belly" that fuels her ministry to girls and women, helping them anchor their identity not in roles but in relationship with Christ. Patti and Vicki discuss how easily motherhood can become an idol in Christian culture, how rooting our worth in our children can unintentionally shape our daughters' own identity struggles, and what it looks like to love our families deeply without finding our ultimate meaning in them.    This episode will gently challenge and encourage you to examine your heart, realign your devotion, and rediscover the peace that comes from belonging to God first. Because when we love Him most, we truly love others best.    Scriptures Referenced in This Episode:    Luke 14:26–27  Matthew 22:37  Exodus 20:3  Galatians 2:20  1 John 4:19    To learn more about Vicki Courtney, visit vickicourtney.com   Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.      Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.       

On this Thursday episode, hosts Rachael Culpepper and Melissa Bearden continue unpacking Biblical womanhood, this time through the lens of control and the importance of mother's modeling a healthy release of control for their daughters. Launching from a book quote by Dr. Larry Crabb on Biblical femininity, Rachael and Melissa reflect on their own notions of God's design for women—specifically whether it's oppressive or liberating.     Melissa shared her own journey through self-control and balancing her natural wiring with expectations for girls and women of the time. Ultimately, Melissa feels that the Fruit of the Spirit as laid out in Galatians 5:22-23 open the door for joy and contentment in a girl as the Holy Spirit cultivates each virtue in her life into womanhood.     Melissa fuses Patti Garibay's Raising Godly Girls Minute with her own daughter's journey through middle school anxiety, resting in the truth that God was gently shepherding her through a season learning to release control and let Him take the driver seat.     Rachael cultivates the roots of Biblical wisdom regarding control encouraging Christian parents and their girls to embrace surrender, let God lead in the places that are already His, and to lean on Scripture as a heart healer when a girl mistakenly thinks she controls her world.     Ultimately, listeners will leave this conversation with a clear sense of God's authority and the gift of a Biblical woman learning to follow His lead.       Three Things to Consider:    Embracing surrender is powerful as a Biblical woman.   God's in control, so His ways and timing will likely look different than yours.   Scripture is a great revealer and healer when your heart is stuck under the idol of control.     Scriptures Referenced in this Episode:  Galatians 5:22-23    Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.       Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.     

As the Raising Godly Girls Podcast launches another week of insightful Christian parenting conversation, hosts Rachael Culpepper and Melissa Bearden dive into the world of Biblical womanhood, especially as it relates to idols. After sharing prominent women and celebrities they idolized as girls, both hosts reflect on the many different ways idolatry can seep into modern Christian life in America.     Melissa took on the potential for even a medial diagnosis to become an idol label, shifting a girl's focus onto self and limiting the resilience the Holy Spirit might seek to produce in her heart. Rachael tags in to warn against the tendency for extracurricular activities and dedication to take an idol-type place in the family calendar.     Rachael shifts into asking insightful and key questions to determine if your girl might have an unhealthy relationship with things or areas of her life, which take the place that God set up for Himself to reign. Melissa roots the discussion with a gentle reminder that idolatry in the Old Testament of the Bible is not gone today, and Christian families must always be on guard to protect our hearts and minds from that way of life.       Three Things to Consider:    Has her idol taken over the majority of her day—every day?   Is there an absence of contentment and joy in her these days?   How does she react when an idol is pulled out of her everyday life? If she can't function, that's a clear sign, something needs to change.       Scriptures Referenced in this Episode:    James 4:13-16  Exodus 20:4-6  2 Chronicles 14-15    Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.          Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.     

We live in a culture that constantly urges us—and our daughters—to "find ourselves." To chase affirmation. To define our identity by looking inward. But when our gaze is fixed on the mirror, comparison, anxiety, and exhaustion often follow. For many girls growing up today, the pressure to curate a self can feel relentless. And for moms? The weight of modeling confidence while secretly wrestling with their own identity struggles can feel just as heavy.    Yet Scripture offers a radically different invitation. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Paradoxically, it's in self-forgetfulness—not self-obsession—that we discover true freedom. When we lift our eyes from ourselves and fix them on the character, goodness, and glory of God, something shifts. Peace replaces pressure. Joy displaces comparison. Identity becomes received rather than achieved.    In this special weekend conversation, Patti Garibay welcomes bestselling author and pastor Sharon Hodde Miller to the Raising Godly Girls Podcast. Sharon's newest devotional, Gazing at God, gently guides readers toward a life of humility, surrender, and sacred freedom. Together, Patti and Sharon explore what "self-forgetfulness" actually looks like in everyday motherhood, how comparison silently steals our daughters' joy, and how families can build rhythms that help everyone in the home look up instead of inward.    This episode is for the mom who sees her daughter growing weary from trying to measure up. It's for the girl who feels like she must define herself before she can belong. And it's for every parent longing to create a home atmosphere where identity is anchored not in performance, but in the steadfast love of Christ.    You'll walk away encouraged to model humility, practice surrender in the unseen work of motherhood, and help your daughter experience the deep freedom that comes from fixing her eyes on the Savior rather than on herself.      Scriptures Referenced in This Episode:    Matthew 16:24  Hebrews 12:2  Psalm 34:5  Colossians 3:1–2      To learn more about Sharon Hodde Miller and her books, including Gazing at God, visit sharonhoddemiller.com.    Visit raisinggodlygirls.com for more encouragement and faith-based parenting tools.          Learn how to find or start an American Heritage Girls Troop in your community at americanheritagegirls.org.