Raising Godly Girls

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.