Raising Godly Girls

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.