Marriage After God

The Atmosphere Your Marriage Is Building

What Your Kids Are Actually Learning About This Episode Jennifer Pepito's daughter told her the thing that actually hurt growing up wasn't the hard years in Mexico, the off-grid living, or any of their circumstances. It was watching her parents. That answer forced Jennifer to look honestly at what her fear, her complaining, and her disconnection from her husband were really building inside her home. In this episode, Jennifer — married 36 years, homeschooling mom of seven, and author of The Inspired Homeschool — walks through what changed, what she wished she'd done differently, and why the atmosphere of a marriage is the single most powerful curriculum a home can offer. About Jennifer Pepito Jennifer Pepito is a homeschooling mother of seven, now 30 years into educating her children at home, and the author of The Inspired Homeschool. She creates life-giving curriculum through The Peaceful Press and hosts the Restoration Home Podcast, where she encourages mothers toward joy-filled, virtue-centered homes. Jennifer and her husband have been married 36 years and are now grandparents. Her work draws on neuroscience, Scripture, and personal experience to help mothers build homes rooted in peace rather than fear. The Inspired Homeschool The Peaceful Press Podcast: Restoration Home Podcast In This Episode 00:52 — Jennifer's story — Married 36 years, homeschooling for 30, seven children — Jennifer gives a quick snapshot of who she is and what drives her work encouraging mothers. 04:14 — The marriage conference that changed everything — Jennifer shares how Love After Marriage was the first time she recognized she was drawing emotional fulfillment from her children instead of God, and the first time she saw how her childhood wounds were shaping her behavior as a wife. 06:02 — When a loving home can still feel unsafe — Even when Jennifer poured herself into her kids, unresolved fear and marital conflict were creating an atmosphere that made her children feel like the problem. Her oldest daughter's honest words years later confirmed it. 07:37 — Why community changes people — Aaron and Jennifer talk about the science behind co-regulation, why talking with empathetic people accelerates healing, and what that means for the conference Aaron and Jennifer are praying about. 09:01 — When science points back to God — A conversation about why honest science and Scripture keep landing in the same place — and what that means for the way we're designed to do life together. 11:37 — What the public school system was actually built to do — Jennifer breaks down the origins of American public education, why conformity was the goal, and why Christian homeschool families keep measuring their children against a failed and counter-biblical standard. 14:13 — You don't have to have it all figured out — The encouragement homeschool moms who feel unqualified need to hear: you become a learner with your child, and curiosity is more powerful than any curriculum. 17:41 — Reading, writing, and arithmetic as the real foundation — Aaron and Jennifer agree: if children master the basics and learn how to learn, they can teach themselves anything. The educated men and women of history prove it. 18:18 — Why reading great books builds character — The imagination to sacrifice, to lead, to love others well — it has to be cultivated. Jennifer explains why the books children read either build or starve that vision. 23:03 — The missionary season that stressed everything — Moving to Mexico near Tijuana, building a house off-grid, five kids, no cell service, no community. Jennifer walks through how the circumstances didn't break her kids — but her response to the circumstances did. 25:55 — What complaining actually does to a husband — One of the most direct and practical moments in the episode. Jennifer explains the cycle she got stuck in and what she would tell a young mom today. 29:09 — The husband's side of the complaint cycle — Aaron shares how hard it is to hear a wife's struggle without internalizing it as failure, and what it takes to find security in Christ before you can respond well. 32:14 — What changed and what bore fruit — Jennifer walks through the practical shifts — less fighting in front of the kids, learning to take negative thoughts captive, cultivating thankfulness in the hardest seasons. 35:22 — Philippians 4:6–7 and the power of thanksgiving — Aaron unpacks why coming to God with thanksgiving isn't just a nice idea — it's the mechanism by which the peace of God guards the heart and mind. 41:07 — Recognizing the enemy's voice — Jennifer ties together the whole episode: the lies that come to us are the same pattern from Genesis forward. The question is always whether we'll agree with them or take them captive. 41:40 — Encouragement for anyone considering homeschool — Jennifer closes with a direct word for families on the fence: it's not as hard as you think, history backs you up, and if God is calling you to it, He will equip you. Episode Resources The Inspired Homeschool by Jennifer Pepito The Peaceful Press — Jennifer's homeschool curriculum Restoration Home Podcast — hosted by Jennifer Pepito Mothering by the Book by Jennifer Pepito If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen. Follow us on Instagram: Marriage After God · Unveiled Wife · Husband Revolution Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together. Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026

The Real Problem Isn't Communication with Genee Francis

A licensed therapist on the real reason couples drift — and what to do about it What if the disconnection you feel in your marriage isn't really a communication problem — but an intimacy problem? That's the reframe Dr. Genee Francis brought to this conversation, and it's one every couple needs to hear. Genee is a licensed therapist, holds a doctorate, and serves as Assistant Director of Content and Programming for Winshape Marriage. She's been married 18 years and has walked her own marriage through grief, legal battles, health crises, and the slow work of building real community — and she shares all of it here. About Dr. Genee Francis Dr. Genee Francis is a licensed therapist and the Assistant Director of Content and Programming for Winshape Marriage, a ministry of the Winshape Foundation. She has been working with couples, individuals, and families since 2008 and holds a doctorate degree completed during her marriage while raising two boys. Married 18 years to her husband Rashad, the two also lead their own marriage events and retreats to create community for couples in their area. Winshape Marriage In This Episode 3:32 — A grandmother's words that stuck — A seed that shaped an entire career in counseling 5:28 — Growing up between two pictures of marriage — With divorced parents and grandparents married over 70 years, Genee developed a deep curiosity about what makes marriages survive — and it never left her 7:59 — Covenant as the deciding factor — Why the marriages that make it aren't the ones with fewer problems, but the ones committed first to God and then to doing the work together 11:02 — Navigating grief, legal battles, and a new baby at the same time — Within their first five years, Genee and Rashad walked through her father-in-law's terminal illness, a two-year estate battle, and the birth of their first child — and what carried them through 16:30 — Prayer as a window into your spouse — When her husband couldn't find words for his grief, their shared prayer life gave Genee eyes into what he was actually feeling and thinking 19:01 — A second unexpected crisis — After two pregnancies, Genee learned she needed a full hip replacement — a blindside for someone who had jogged five days a week for her entire adult life 22:10 — Nine years of couples' Bible study — Why being embedded in a community of couples for nearly a decade was one of the most formative things for their marriage, and what they lost when they relocated 28:27 — Why infertility is a rising theme — One of the most common struggles Genee sees at Winshape retreats, and what she believes is driving it 38:03 — It's not a communication problem — it's an intimacy problem — The reframe Genee offers couples who say they "can't talk": spiritual, emotional, and recreational intimacy are all lacking, and naming that honestly is the first step forward 40:42 — The power of naming things out loud — Why confession — saying "I feel disconnected from you" — is the most underused first step couples have available to them 43:25 — What actually feeds your marriage in community — Why Genee stayed committed to a Bible study that wasn't always speaking directly to her, and what it gave her husband that came back into their marriage 46:05 — A reason for hope — Divorce rates are slowly declining, and marriage is trending — what Genee sees as genuinely encouraging about where couples are headed Resources from This Episode Winshape Foundation Winshape Marriage retreats — North Georgia, 27,000-acre retreat location, all-inclusive, all stages of marriage If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen. Follow us on Instagram: Marriage After God · Unveiled Wife · Husband Revolution Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together. Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026

Faithful in the Mundane with Emma Waters

What if you've been believing a lie about children without ever knowing it? In today's conversation on the Marriage After God podcast. Aaron sits down with Emma Waters — wife, mom, policy analyst, and author of Lead Like Jael: Seven Timeless Principles for Today's Women of Faith — to talk about the fear of motherhood that nearly cost her her marriage, why the trad wife movement and girl boss feminism are more alike than they seem, what a 3,000-year-old tent peg reveals about a woman's role in marriage, and how to stop treating your home like a waiting room for your real life. About Emma Waters Emma Waters is a policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, where she focuses on infertility, reproductive technology, and family structure from a life-affirming perspective. She writes for First Things and World magazine on issues of family, femininity, and what it means to be human in an age of rapid technological change. Emma is married to Jack Waters, who is pursuing ordination in the Anglican Church of North America, and together they have two daughters with a third on the way. She is also the author of Lead Like Jael: Seven Timeless Principles for Today's Women of Faith. Website & Podcast: rethinkingfertility.com Book: Lead Like Jael — available wherever books are sold In This Episode The fear that almost ended her relationship — She broke up with her now-husband over one question: do you want kids? "Either you're right, or the Bible's right" — The mentor's challenge that changed everything Every negative thing about children in the Bible belongs to the villains Trad wife and girl boss: more alike than they look Jael's tent peg — She could only do what she did because she'd been faithful in the mundane The myth of the morally neutral public square Adam and Eve's names as a marriage blueprint The enemy has always targeted the home — The first attack didn't happen on a battlefield. It happened in the Garden. Seasons of faithfulness — Why both "my life is over" and "it's only a few years" get it wrong Resources from This Episode Book: Lead Like Jael: Seven Timeless Principles for Today's Women of Faith by Emma Waters — available wherever books are sold Website, Podcast & Substack: rethinkingfertility.com Book referenced: The Glory of Man by Peter Leithart Book referenced: The Three Worlds Framework by Aaron Renn (Zondervan) If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen. Follow us on Instagram: Marriage After God · Unveiled Wife · Husband Revolution Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together. Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026

30 Marriage Devotional: How to Have a Marriage After God

30 Marriage Devotional: How to Have a Marriage After GodAbout This EpisodeWhat does it actually mean to have a marriage after God? In our final episode of this podcast series, we share a pivotal moment that transformed our marriage and discuss what it actually means to have a Marriage After God.In This EpisodeJesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: what Aaron heard God ask him through Matthew 26, and how it broke himWhy Christ's "not my will, but yours" is the template for every marriageHow Unveiled Wife and Husband Revolution were born out of sharing the journey, not having it figured outWhy confession and transparency in community dissolves the power that darkness has over a marriageThe difference between pretending to have a perfect marriage and proclaiming the actual message of the gospelWhat a marriage after God looks like — not perfection, but perseverance, reconciliation, and hopefulnessWhy sanctification is not a one-time transformation but a lifelong pursuitThis Week's Call to ActionWrite a love letter to your spouse. Not a quick note — a real one. Name what you've endured together. Name what you see in them. Share where you believe God is taking your marriage. If you're not sure where to start, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what your spouse needs to hear from you.Resources from This EpisodeWatch this devotional series from the beginning and get your copies of Husband After God and Wife After GodMarriage After God Like and subscribe to catch other episodes!If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.Follow us on Instagram: Marriage After God · Unveiled Wife · Husband RevolutionWant to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026

Glimpses of God with Dan and Peggy Rupple

Forty-eight years to the same woman — in Hollywood? Dan and Peggy Rupple have been married 48 years while working inside one of the most corrosive industries on the planet. In today's episode, Aaron sits down with them to talk about God's move in Hollywood, navigating media with your kids, and the non-negotiables that held their marriage together through it all.About Dan & Peggy RuppleDan and Peggy Rupple are the founders of Master Media International, a ministry serving as a Christian presence inside the mainstream entertainment industry. Dan spent over 50 years in Hollywood — from nearly being cast in SNL's original lineup, to The Price Is Right, to Late Show with David Letterman. Peggy has walked alongside him through every chapter. Dan's new book, Glimpses: Viewing the Media Through the Lens of Faith, is available now at mastermedia.com.In This EpisodeHow Dan and Peggy met — and why they were married within a yearNearly landing Saturday Night Live before Dan came to ChristWhy Dan is more excited about God's move in Hollywood than ever beforeWhy Hollywood is in crisis — and what's filling the gapWhat the top 25 box office films of all time have in commonBe a Daniel: excellence and integrity as a Christian in the industryThe non-negotiables that protected their marriageHow to navigate movies and media with your kidsAI and the danger of losing imaginationAnd moreResourcesBook: Glimpses: Viewing the Media Through the Lens of Faith — mastermedia.comMaster Media International — mastermedia.comWindRider Film Forum — windrider.orgAct One Masters Class in screenwriting and producing — mastermedia.comPlugged In (movie reviews for parents) — pluggedin.comIf this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.Follow us on Instagram: Marriage After God · Unveiled Wife · Husband RevolutionWant to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026