Welcome back to the Upside-Down Parenting podcast, and Happy New Year! We’re so glad you’re kicking off the new year with us. Today we’re diving into a conversation that could set the tone for your entire year as a family.
The truth is, most families don’t drift toward purpose—they drift toward busyness, apathy, or passivity. And if we’re not intentional, we let the world dictate our schedules instead of discipling our kids. That’s why, in this episode, we’re talking about starting the year on purpose—on mission—by creating a simple family mission, identifying your core values, and choosing a Bible verse that anchors everything you do.
No matter your family’s life stage, this is a practical, hope-filled way to bring clarity, unity, and direction to your home. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let’s build a meaningful foundation for the year together.
Email us at podcast@summit.org—your question may shape an upcoming Q&A!
Episode 25: Summary & Transcript
Disclaimer: Please note that this is an automatically generated transcript. Although the transcription is largely accurate, it may be incomplete or inaccurate in some cases due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.
Episode Summary
In this episode of the Upside Down Parenting Podcast, Matt and Janel discuss the importance of starting the new year with purpose by creating a family mission statement, identifying core values, and choosing an anchoring Bible verse. Matt, drawing from personal experience and biblical principles, explains how intentionality helps families avoid drifting towards busyness and apathy. He shares his own family’s mission and values, offering practical steps for listeners to define their own, emphasizing that a family’s true values are revealed by how they spend their time and money. The conversation aims to provide a practical, hope-filled framework for families to build clarity, unity, and direction in their homes.
Episode Transcript
Dr. Matt Jones (00:00):
Welcome to the Upside Down Parenting Podcast and happy New Year, 2026. It’s crazy. My daughter’s getting married on the 26th of 2026, and so we’re so glad you’re starting the new year with us. I’m here with my co-host, Janel Greig. Hello, Janel. It’s good to see you today.
Janel Greig (00:19):
Hey, Matt. Happy New Year.
Dr. Matt Jones (00:21):
Happy New Year. Today, we’re diving into a conversation that can set the tone for your family for the entire year. Truth is, most families don’t drift towards purpose. They drift towards busyness and/or apathy. And if we’re not intentional, our schedules end up discipling our kids more than we do.
That’s why in this episode, we’re talking about how to start the year on purpose by creating a simple family mission, identifying your core values and choosing a Bible verse that anchors everything you do. Regardless of your family’s life stage, this is a practical and hope-filled way to bring clarity, unity, and direction to your home. So grab a cup of coffee if you like coffee. Settle in and let’s build a meaningful conversation about the foundation for your year together. Janel, how was the holiday season for you?
Janel Greig (01:18):
Well, if any of our listeners got to hear our holiday traditions episode, they will know that I love Christmas. And so the lights, the trees, the music, all of it. I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s and turning it around, turning the calendar because all of that goes away. So for us, holidays are great.
I think for us as a family, it’s always nice to have stuff on the calendar to look forward to as a family. And we love, love adventuring together. We’ve been saving and planning for a couple years now. We’ve got a big trip this summer. Okay. We’re going to do Zion and all the Utah State Parks, drive through and just enjoy some sweet, sweet family time, some hikes. God’s amazing, what looks like, beautiful country there. So looking forward to that.
Dr. Matt Jones (02:07):
That sounds great. That sounds great. Yeah. I’ve been to Utah a couple times, but not really driven through it, but I’ve heard, and my children have gone while at college to see the beauty there. And there’s just some awesome stuff, awesome stuff. I hope you have a great time with that.
Janel Greig (02:23):
Yeah. I’ll keep you posted.
Dr. Matt Jones (02:25):
Sounds good.
Janel Greig (02:25):
You’ll get to see pictures. But that is something, and I love planning those things. I love planning trips. I love planning adventures, but we’re talking about planning with regards to families today, mission, vision, planning that out. So why do you think, Matt? I think you and your wife, Cat, are so intentional and dialed in in this area, but tell our listeners, why do you think starting the year on purpose for families is so important?
Dr. Matt Jones (02:51):
Yeah, that’s a great question. And I think one of the major areas is it should help us avoid passivity and pursue intentionality. I think there are way too many families that are letting their culture lead and guide what they should be doing with their time and their resources. And I think an upside down parent says, “I’m going to look at the life of Jesus,” because he was extremely intentional, and model what he did in terms of being active, in terms of being intentional.
I think about Luke chapter nine, where really the gospel of Luke is kind of a dividing point, in 9:51 where it says, “He set his face toward.” And of course it set his face toward Jerusalem, but the Hebrew idiom there, set his face toward is bleeding with intentionality. In fact, in Mark chapter one, Jesus has gone off to pray after spending time with people throughout the night, healing, casting out demons, and he goes and disappears to pray.
(03:55):
And Peter comes to him and says, “Hey, the people are looking for you. ” And after he had prayed that night, you assume as American Christian, well, he’s going to go and help those people who Peter has said they’re looking for you. And he says, “No, I’m going to the next down to preach because that’s what I have come to do. That’s why I’m here.”
And so when I think about family, when I think about each year, when I think about how Cat and I, by the grace of God, out of several failures early on, have structured our marriage, our family with intentionality to say, “Here’s what we’re about as a couple. Here’s what that looks like individually. And here’s where we’re saying kids, you get to be a part of this design, this purpose, this family’s intentionality in following Christ.” And I got to add one more thing.
(04:55):
We are called to imitate Christ’s character and priorities. And if he is intentional, then we need to figure out what it means to be intentional as individuals, as a couple, and in parenting our children. And I really think, I think that’s upside down, Janel.
Janel Greig (05:14):
Yeah. Yeah. We talk about on the show here, the intentionality in parenting often, but especially with regards to this, and I love to hear the passion that you have about this topic because it’s personal for you also, and you’ve seen it play out. But what difference does it make to name your mission and your values as a family, to be intentional? What difference does it make to do that?
Dr. Matt Jones (05:40):
Yeah. I would first of all say that, well, there’s three D’s. I like alliteration. That helps me remember some things, but I do want to acknowledge that my wife and I, this comes out of failure. This comes out of a lack of direction, a lack of connection, a lack of understanding that a purpose in marriage is to advance God’s kingdom.
And my wife and I do that and pursue that as a couple and also individually. And we came out of some really tough stuff in the second and third year of our marriage. And it was really cool that we recognized we needed to have something that gives us direction, that helps us in our decisions. And whenever we’re discussing or debating, we have an objective standard based on scripture to help us guide the conversation. And so it doesn’t mean it’s at the exclusion of emotion.
(06:38):
It’s not saying, “Hey, this is the right way to do it based on personal preference.” But we have decided and sat down and we said, “What are we going to be about and what are the expressions on those things?” And it really has given us direction in terms of what we say yes and no to. It’s given us, “Here’s some things we’re looking forward to. ” Whenever we disagree on something, it helps us to say, “Here’s what we’ve committed to in our marriage. Let’s have a discussion in light of that rather than, well, this is my way or the highway.” And it helps us actually be more unified. And so those have been really, really helpful.
And we also say, “All right, there’s going to be some flexibility. There’s going to be some adjustments. We just decided last week to make an adjustment to where this is going to be a core value of ours for the next three or four years.” And as we start adding family members through marriage, we’re going to probably look at, all right, do we need to add another value? Do we need to subtract one? And so this is something that we talk about probably a little bit more than we should, but it helps us with direction, decisions, and whenever we’re in debate or discussion, whether heated or calm.
Janel Greig (08:02):
I think that’s such a good point too though, to point us to why it’s so important to have mentors in all our lives, at no matter what stage. And hopefully our listeners can glean from this something to take and apply and say, “Hey, that is biblical. That’s something that we want to do,” either early on or if you’re like our household, as we were prepping for this episode.
And I’ve heard Matt share about he and Cat’s intentionality in this area, my husband and I have had conversations about this where we realized we didn’t sit down and have a clear mission and vision and core values, but in evaluating it, we’ve done that and we’ve operated that way, but there’s such value. So this can look different for different families, but I think that that focus is the intentionality in it. And also the call out that it’s never too late.
(08:53):
It’s never too late to sit down with your spouse, with your kids, or never too early and ask what’s important to our family. So Matt, could you pull back the curtain maybe a little bit for us and share practically about your own family values and mission and how it does help guide your decisions, your schedule choices, and the culture of your family?
Dr. Matt Jones (09:13):
Yeah, that’s a good question. Thank you for asking. After we established our family mission, and it’s really simple, and I’ve been thinking about others that people could have just as ideas before I give mine, because I don’t want people necessarily to say, oh, this is Matt and Cat’s. We might as well do it. Even though ours is scriptural and really kind of simple in our opinion.
I was thinking about other ones. Like one that I thought of was knowing God and proclaiming his glory through apologetics, service and giving. That would be one. Or preaching, excuse me, proclaiming truth, granting grace and promoting flourishing. I mean, I just think, wow, those would be really cool. Another one would be upside down values, pursuits, and proclamations. I mean, it’s kind of fun. And what my wife and I did was we actually said, “What are our core values? And then what does that speak to regarding our mission?
(10:14):
And I’ll talk about how we go, first of all, identified what our values were here in a few moments. But in terms of our family mission, it’s really simple. It’s from Matthew 22 and 28. We really do exist to love God, love others, and make disciples. And if you look at how my wife and I spend the time we have not only with one another, but the kids, you can trace most of what we do because we still screw up, we still sin back to those three principles. And it really is as simple as that.
And so even though I’ve given some other ideas, that’s our family mission. And so whenever I get discouraged or whenever I go, “Man, I don’t want to teach today or this is not effective or whatnot.” And I go, “Cat, I just don’t know what to do. ” She’ll say, “Matt, all right, this is what we’re about. What does it look like to love God, love others and make disciples in that? ” And it just helps me refocus and say, “This is what we’re about.” And she helps me walk through that sometimes when I get blinded by some pretty selfish things.
(11:23):
And so in light of that, we have seven core values. And the listener might go, “Well, those are really broad.” Understand with that broadness, we have actually sat down with many of them and we’ve said, “Okay, what does this look like practically in light of how God has made my incredible wife, how God has made me, how God has made our kids, and how do we intentionally help those things thrive individually and as a family unit, and then Cat and I as a couple?”
So the first one is, and it’s going to be really simple, the priority of God’s word. And so whenever we’re coming down to a discussion on something or whenever we’re engaging in something, we say, “All right, God’s word’s going to be a priority not only for us individually, but also it’s the priority in terms of instead of following emotions, we’re going to follow the truth.” And that has been extremely effective because we have an objective standard that God has revealed in scriptures that helps cut down on a lot of discussion and debate.
(12:24):
Second is prayer. We’ve talked a ton about that on the podcast and Janel, I know you’re a prayer warrior. The third is a little bit strange, but I think it’s extremely important. It’s a proper concept of Christ. And then if we want to get really technical, it’s a proper concept of Trinity because the Trinity exists in relationship and as a result, we need to figure out how relationship works, which sets up another core value for us, but we do believe scripture makes it very clear that we’re supposed to imitate God’s character and priorities.
And as a result, we need to have a proper concept as best we can of Christ, of the Father, the Son, so that we can make decisions in light of that. Would Christ do this? And if the answer is no, then we usually try not to do it. And please understand, audience and listeners, I want to point this out.
(13:15):
These were created, again, out of hurt, but second of all, these were before I started working on my master’s and PhD. You don’t have to have a degree in biblical studies. You don’t have to have expertise and apologetics to sit back and think about what are going to be your core values. And then fourth, our intentional relationships, because I think the triangle God is extremely intentional and we are very intentional with who we relate to.
And my wife is an introvert. I am an extrovert and you would not believe Janel, because I’ve had people say, “I’m just not an extrovert.” Listen, introvert doesn’t mean you don’t have relationships, you just may not have as many, but you’re capable. And I love how my wife, as an introvert who gains energy from being alone, has said, “All right, there are specific relationships I need to pursue.” And so that helps us in terms of when we make decisions of to do things, which relationships does God seem to be leading us into to invest in?
(14:21):
And so then it is ministry. We are going to be a ministering couple to expand the kingdom. And so my wife has the gift of hospitality and giving. I have the gift of teaching and administration, and it’s been really fun because of failure to shift from hindering my wife’s gifts and abilities to empowering her to do them and vice versa. She didn’t really hinder me at all. She was phenomenal. She was wiser than I was. But then saying, how do these four primary gifts fit together? And then how do we see our children investing in these ministry components? That’s fantastic.
So the sixth one is family, family, family, family. What does it mean to be a part of the family and what does it mean to be a good parent? How do we invest in the family? How do we minister to young families who are starting out struggling? How do we teach our kids to babysit for free? Or how do we tell our kids, “Hey, you go babysit for a couple that’s struggling because you care about family and we’ll pay you behind the scenes and they don’t need to know?”
(15:32):
What can we do to support family? And then the last but not least one is we’re intentional about creating an atmosphere of love and this is not this love is love or I love love type of thing. This is, we want people to understand that love is full of grace and truth. And so whenever you enter our house, whenever you enter into a classroom I’m teaching the Sunday school class, we want you to know what it means to be loved as close to the love of God that he expresses, but that love is full of grace and truth.
And so those are the things that we foundationally look at and have developed to proclaim, and if you think about those seven things, they all fall under loving God, loving others and making disciples. I talked a lot there. I don’t usually like to talk that much, but you asked on that one.
Janel Greig (16:27):
I did. And I want to know. And I think I’m curious, Matt, did you and Cat do those before? Did you involve your kids in those developments? And I think families, that’s something depending on the stage of parenting. Absolutely. For our listeners, you can even involve your young kiddos.
And Matt, I’d love to hear more about this, but just to be totally transparent with our listeners, when we were talking about this, I was asking my kids, since we haven’t been an intentional conversation, we do this, I ask them, “Hey, what do you think our core values are as a family?” And they were calling out, “Love God, serve others.”
Dr. Matt Jones (17:05):
That’s awesome.
Janel Greig (17:06):
There was one athletic one about not liking a specific sports team, but sometimes those do pull in. Yes, absolutely. So those values are there too. But I’m curious, what type of platform or how did you and Cat situate with your kids involving them in the process?
Dr. Matt Jones (17:21):
Well, this was actually, that’s a great question and this was actually established before our kids, because again, we were struggling so much. And so we have just kind of upheld those and developed those. And we, in all honesty, don’t put those up in our house.
(17:40):
It was interesting. My daughter got braces and she wanted, this was a long time ago, she got braces and she wanted me to see them. And so my wife brought her to one of the classes I teach at CCU. And it’s my last lecture where it’s kind of … The idea came from a guy named Randy Pausch. I would encourage folks, even though he’s not a believer, to read that book because the concept is if you had a last lecture to give, what would it be? What would be the things that you want to talk about? And so I give it in this particular class.
And so they snuck in about the middle of class and then I went through these seven things and my wife was telling me that as I was doing that, Hannah was leaning over and saying, “Oh, I understand why mom and dad, you do this. Oh, I understand why you do that. ” And as they were going home, she goes, “Mom and dad, that makes so much more sense.” I don’t know if it would’ve been better to proclaim it, but it was cool that for me, whenever Hannah recognized we actually do live those things
(18:50):
And as a result, she and her future husbands see the value and they actually demonstrate. They are phenomenal with intentional relationships. And so the things that we have cultivated and that they have adopted my two daughters right now and the guys they’re dating, look for guys that pursue those things, intentional relationships, love of God’s word, caring about family, and it’s more caught than proclaimed, but now that they know, it has helped have some language there. So I don’t know if we should have made those clearer earlier on, but I think they know what they are and it’s been pretty cool. I was just curious, what team did … Can you say that?
Janel Greig (19:41):
You’re going to call me out.
Dr. Matt Jones (19:42):
Okay. You don’t say then. That’s all right.
Janel Greig (19:44):
No, I will, because anybody that knows me knows. So we’re Oregon State Beavers through and through, born and raised, graduated. So you know the Ducks are our rival, which has been really hard with the demise of our program. It’s just, we actually try not to talk about sports right now, but it’s the other team.
But you talked about not having those written down. And I think there’s something to be said for that too, because sometimes we become performance-based or say, “I’m going to put this and frame it on the wall and then nothing changes.” So I think it’s more important that experience, and not that I am about verses on walls, not that I’m plucking verses, but I love those reminders around. But I think it’s more important that the question of, if a stranger spent a week in your home, what would they say is your family actually about? And your kids all got there and recognized those values because they were experiencing what you guys were really about.
Dr. Matt Jones (20:39):
And we try. And of course we fail, right? And sometimes we have to go back because my wife, whenever we were talking, and I love that you and Christian talk about the episodes and Cat and I, because we are part of the Summit family and we just want people to know our families are invested in this and because we really care about families. But yeah, wait, I lost sight of your question. I’m sorry. I was so excited about just saying, you guys are so good about implementing this stuff and talking about it. What was the question again?
Janel Greig (21:08):
Well, there wasn’t really a question there. It was more of a comment, but I do have a question. Are you ready for a question? I am. The core values component, why are they important? So why have you guys found that have, and you’ve alluded to this a little bit helping you make decisions, but what are some other possible values that can be provided through identifying those intentionally?
Dr. Matt Jones (21:30):
Yeah. Well, I want to take that from two different perspectives here. And first of all, whenever we were talking about the episode, the question was, how do you go about identifying your values? And I think I heard that in the question. And here’s the reality, Janel, everybody has values.
(21:49):
The question is, do you realize them? And second of all, do they match up with what you say are your values? So one of the things I do with folks that are willing to have that conversation is I say, “All right, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to keep track of everything you do for two weeks.” You just write it down.
And then you step back with your spouse, with your family. When we put these up on a board, what does how we spend the time that God has given us communicate? What does this time communicate what our values are? And essentially, you can tell what your actual values are by looking at how you spend your time and how you spend your money. And of course, if you got a budget, you can really tell. And so that is the first step, I think, in identifying at least what your actual values are.
(22:41):
And then I have found it helpful to step back and say, “All right, this is what my schedule says. Now, what do I actually want them to be?” Some of them you’re going to want to keep. Some of them you want to make a change. You may realize, “Man, I have done nothing to build my relationship with God for two weeks.” That needs to be something that plays itself out in my life. And so as a result, how do I implement that? Does that make sense?
Janel Greig (23:11):
Yeah.
Dr. Matt Jones (23:12):
And so then after we do those two weeks, we say, “Okay, what does this say? What do we want to keep and what do we want our values to be?” And then say, “All right, if we were to have two weeks where we lived out what our actual values are, what could that look like? ” And then we shift from being passive to saying, “This is what we care about and as a result, this is how we’re going to live.”
And while there has to be flexibility, while there has to be acknowledgement that things change, and that’s why values can be reevaluated and adjusted, but you can step back and say, “All right, I’m not living an active upside down parental pursuit of what God has called me to be and do as a result of that being in light of who God is and Christ’s example to, wow, this is what this could look like if we turned off the TV, if we cut back on our use of cell phones and iPads, if we stop saying yes to whatever society says.”
And last night we had some friends over and they said, “You know what? This relationship helped us say no to something else that wasn’t as important.” And you say, “These are those values and we’re going to live within that. ” One of the ideas that my wife really drove home as we were talking last night is we didn’t have sleepovers on Saturday night And we just know stories about parents and people that make us a little less comfortable with sleepovers
(24:49):
And we were able to say no to a lot of sleepovers because you’re going to church with our family on Sunday morning and sleepovers are not conducive to that. Oh, that was a huge alleviation. Didn’t mean our kids didn’t have a few sleepovers, but we had this value: church together on Sunday. Consequently, that’s not an option.
And while we had to fight it about two or three times, once they got the message, we are not changing this value because we say priority of God’s word, prayer and understanding Jesus are key to our lives. Our kids stopped asking and arguing because a lot of times we as parents, we just give up and give in because sometimes our kids have a stronger will than we do. And if my wife and I can be in a united front on these seven core values, it helps us discern what to say yes to and what to say no to. Does that make sense?
Janel Greig (25:47):
Yeah, that’s fantastic, Matt. And I think, not that it wouldn’t be beneficial or is beneficial to have them on the wall, but I think that’s also one where the actions are more important for our kids to see because as parents, if we’re putting, these are the values, this is what’s important to us, going to church every Sunday and then we’re not living that out, that’s going to have more of a negative effect than this artificial we’re about performance.
Now that is also that opportunity for humility as a parent saying, “You know what? This is what we wanted our family’s values and priorities to be, and we’ve dropped the ball. We’re going to have a reset.” So a lot of opportunities there, a lot of opportunities for focus and those intentional moments, intentional conversation. So no, that’s fantastic.
Dr. Matt Jones (26:33):
Well, and again, there’s nothing wrong with having it up on the wall. It’s just, all right, you decide and you wrestle through that, what is best for the family? And I was just curious, you did mention that you had a family verse. I mean, technically Matthew 22 would be a family verse in light of that mission for us, but I’m curious, how did you go about choosing that with Christian and what was the outcome and do you have any advice on selecting a family verse?
Janel Greig (27:03):
Yeah, it was something that we weren’t intentionally looking for, “Hey, let’s find a family verse.” I was looking for something for our kids that was kind of one of those all encompassing what could be a reminder. And honestly, it was about the time my oldest started kindergarten and I wanted something to, as we’re leaving the house, a focus.
Dr. Matt Jones (27:25):
That’s good.
Janel Greig (27:26):
And we ended up with, we have, and I do like words on my walls, but we have, at one point my husband Christian said, no more words on walls, but we have by the front door, remember who you are, Proverbs 22:1. That’s cool. And the scripture for that, if you know, it’s a good name is more desirable than great riches. So I don’t love scripture plucking and I’m not trying to do that.
(27:51):
But recognizing that it’s about our name. And part of that started from when you go out of this house, when you’re in this house, you’re representing team Greig, you’re representing our family. So represent us well. What are we for? When people see our family and see how you guys are acting, we want them to see us as thankful people, people who see other people as image bearers and treat other people with grace. We want to protect what comes out of our mouth.
All of those things that God asks us to do, but then we take it a step further. And it’s not just about team Greig, it’s also you’re representing Christ, which is much, much bigger than representing team Greig. But it’s when you’re out in the world and even when you’re in our house, you’re representing Christ. So act as he would want you to act.
(28:34):
And so that has become one for our family. And that is one, as long as I wrote notes in my kids’ lunches on their napkins, it was remember who you are and it’s that drawback and we still do it. We don’t really do sleepovers. We haven’t really ever done sleepovers. There’s a few and there’s many reasons for that. But there was one about a month ago, one of my kids was going to it and I said, “Remember who you are.” And they know. They know what that means. It means, say thank you. It means, treat others with respect. It’s all of the things encompassed. Yeah. Yep. So you guys don’t have an intention or a focused scripture verse?
Dr. Matt Jones (29:10):
No, we don’t.
Janel Greig (29:12):
But maybe as we round out today, since your mission values, that’s such a great strong focus for you and Cat, what are some simple ways or maybe first steps that our listeners could take to move forward with that or ways to embody a mission or our values?
Dr. Matt Jones (29:29):
Yeah. I really liked your idea of just sitting with the kids and on a ride home and saying, “Hey, what do you think our family values are?” And get insight and input from them if you’re at that point. Then if not, I would encourage you to go back and read Tim Keller’s Meaning of Marriage and just say, “All right, in light of those, what are some key components of marriage that we need to be thinking about because it’s really easy to lose sight.”
It’s so easy to get distracted by culture, distracted by our culture’s acceptance and even railing against parents that want to step up and do the right thing. Or even young couples, go back and remember those purposes of marriage. And then in light of that, ask the question, all right, if we’re going to adopt these meaning of marriage elements, what might that be or what might that look like in terms of some core values?
(30:30):
And spend time, two weeks, tracking everything. What does this say about how you use the time God’s given you? And have discussion, ask some questions, even sit down and just say, “All right, tonight for our date night, we will go to other sides of the room or the living room or whatever, and we’re going to write what we think are the other person’s top 10 values and then come back and have a discussion about it. ” Now, I will admit that might create a little bit of conflict, but the outcome could be great.
(31:08):
I’ve got a very awesome colleague who’s a good friend of mine here at Colorado Christian and he goes, he says, “Conflict…” Oh, what is it? Oh no… “Conflict leads to intimacy.” And so I like to change it because I’m not always good with conflict. I change it to, “Conflict can lead to intimacy.”
But sometimes we have to get to the point where we can have those discussions so that we know what’s going on in each other’s hearts and minds in order to have a better chance of coming together and being more intimate in our oneness more or intimate in our relationship and hopefully be more intimate in our intentionality. Ooh, intimate intentionality. That’s pretty cool. Intimate in our intentionality in terms of the direction that God may have for us. And so those are a couple thoughts.
Janel Greig (32:03):
That’s great.
Dr. Matt Jones (32:04):
And whenever you see a kid in your family live that out, if you’ve made it clear that that’s a family, celebrate that. If you’ve not made it clear, celebrate that and then make … Why are you celebrating it? Well, you’re actually reflecting something that our family greatly cares about. Why is that? And then, wow, look at the discussion you can have. So those are a couple thoughts. Yeah.
Janel Greig (32:25):
I think that’s great. And I think I automatically think of my kiddos where they’re at now, but I also think of younger kids that can be involved in that process. And I think of words that my kids would’ve used as we’re saying, “What’s important to our family?” I think they would’ve said the simple versions of God, kindness. And so that would be cool. And that’s one where if I could go back in time, I’d do that. But with my younger kids, ask, “What’s important to you? What’s important to our family? We’re talking about … ” There’s a cool opportunity for you parents out there that have the younger kids right now and launching this and establishing this early.
Dr. Matt Jones (33:01):
Just to give you a heads up, my son, I think between the age of three and seven, would’ve said Batman.
Janel Greig (33:09):
I mean, he’s a hero of sorts, right? So there’s components there. There might be some underlying tones.
Dr. Matt Jones (33:15):
Yeah.
Janel Greig (33:16):
Yeah. Well, Matt, thank you. And a huge thank you to Cat too for sharing your experience as well as advice to our listeners and how you guys have navigated this and its biblical advice.
And thank you to our listeners for joining us on this episode of the Upside Down Parenting Podcast. We hope you feel inspired to start your year with intention by creating a family mission, identifying your core values or choose a verse that anchors your home. Remember, this isn’t about perfection. It’s about small, consistent steps that shape your family’s heart and rhythm over time.
If you found today’s conversation helpful, share it with another parent, a caregiver, or somebody who might benefit from a little encouragement this week. And don’t forget to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of our future episodes. We’d also love to hear from you, so you can reach us at podcast@summit.org. In the subject line, please include upside down parenting so we know you’re submitting a question for the show. Matt, thank you for being here today with me. Again, it’s always a pleasure.
Dr. Matt Jones (34:20):
Thank you, Janel.
Janel Greig (34:21):
Yeah, listeners, thank you for tuning in. Happy 2026. And we’ll see you next time.
Dr. Matt Jones (34:28):
2026!
Janel Greig (34:29):
I know.