Category: Podcast

Podcast Episode 04: God uses cracked pots

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Pip: Welcome back to Pollywog’s Place Blog — where the cracks in the clay are apparently the whole point.

Mara: Susie at Pollywog’s Place Blog has been writing about something that cuts pretty close to home for a lot of people — what it means to feel broken, flawed, and still worthy of purpose. Let’s start with that question.

God uses cracked pots

Pip: The central tension here is one most people recognize immediately — the gap between who you think you should be and who you actually are, and whether that gap disqualifies you from anything that matters.

Mara: The post opens with a verse from Jeremiah 18:4 that frames everything that follows: “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”

Pip: So the upshot is: being marred isn’t the end of the story. The potter doesn’t discard the clay — he works with it again. That reframe is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

Mara: The post names exactly what that marring looks like in practice — comparison, the “if onlys,” doubting your abilities. Things like wishing you had more money, were a better mom, looked different. The internal list most people carry quietly.

Pip: And then it pivots somewhere unexpected. It isn’t just that God tolerates your cracks — the argument is that the cracks are actually the mechanism. Light gets out through them.

Mara: That’s stated directly: “His light will shine out brighter and brighter with every crack. So in a sense, the more cracked and broken we become as we surrender our will to His will, then the more He will be able to use us for His glory.”

Pip: Which reframes shame entirely. The crack isn’t evidence of failure — it’s the opening.

Mara: The post also points to the parable of the cracked pot — a separate story linked in the piece — which illustrates the same idea through a water-bearer whose leaking pot waters wildflowers along the path without knowing it.

Pip: Useful without being aware of it. That’s a quietly generous image.

Mara: The closing call is practical: don’t hide the cracks, don’t be ashamed of the flaws, ask for help accepting them. The promise attached is that something more beautiful gets made in the process.

Pip: Broken clay, wildflowers, light through cracks — there’s a whole theology of imperfection sitting in this one.

Mara: And more from Pollywog’s Place to come. See you next time.

You can read the post HERE:

God uses cracked pots

Podcast Episode 03: Biblical Worth, Home, And Cherished Women

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Pip: Welcome to Pollywog’s Place Blog — where the questions are ancient and the stakes are genuinely personal.

Mara: Susie at Pollywog’s Place Blog has been writing about things that actually matter at home and in the heart — what it means to know your own worth, and what it looks like to tend a household with intention. Let’s start with identity and what scripture says you deserve.

Biblical Worth And Identity

Mara: The posts in this segment are asking a question that sounds simple but cuts deep: do you actually believe you are worth something, and does that belief shape who you let into your life?

Pip: The anchor text opens with Proverbs 3:15, and then the post speaks directly to daughters: “You deserve to be loved, but not just loved like the general idea of love, you deserve to be cherished.”

Mara: That distinction matters. The post is not talking about settling for affection that shows up occasionally — it is talking about being someone’s active priority, the person they protect and keep in their thoughts.

Pip: And the post is practical about it. Don’t chase, don’t lower your standards to accommodate someone else’s excuses, and don’t assume you can change a person — that kind of change, the post argues, comes from above, not from patience or pressure.

Mara: The companion piece, “Cherished,” works through exactly what that word means in practice. It defines cherishing as making another person your priority relationship — shown through daily small acts, touch, listening, encouragement, and showing respect in public as well as in private.

Pip: So the two posts are really one argument in two directions: know what you deserve, and then actually demonstrate it when you’re in a relationship.

Mara: That thread — worth informing behavior, not just self-esteem — carries right into how those values play out inside a home.

Home And Family Stewardship

Pip: If the first segment was about knowing your value, this one is about what you do with it once you’re building a life — specifically, what it means to take a home seriously as a responsibility, not just a location.

Mara: “Keeper of The Home” opens with Proverbs 24:3-4, then states the core claim plainly: “We are responsible for our homes and that our homes and families should be a priority for us. It means that we are each responsible for setting the tone of our homes.”

Pip: Setting the tone. That is a bigger job than it sounds — it covers what comes in, what goes out, whether people inside feel safe, and whether guests find rest there.

Mara: The post is also honest about the gap between the ideal and the reality. It names the experience of being a single mother working multiple part-time jobs and still holding the household’s emotional climate as the first priority. The practical sections — meal planning, cleaning routines, budgeting, time management — are offered as tools, not judgments.

Pip: It reads less like a lifestyle prescription and more like someone handing you the manual they wish they’d had at twenty-two.

Mara: The post closes by framing all of it as intentional work. A keeper of the home is not something you drift into — it is a decision made deliberately, then built on through routines, prayer, and the goal of passing those habits forward to the next generation.

Pip: Worth knowing. Cherished at home.

Mara: Both threads come back to the same idea — that what you believe about your value shapes everything downstream, from the relationships you accept to the household you build.

Pip: And apparently the work is never quite finished. Next time, more from Pollywog’s Place.

You can read these posts HERE:

Cherished

You are worth more than rubies

Keeper of the Home

Podcast Episode 08: Biblical Feasts: Key Dates for 2026

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Pip: Welcome back to Pollywog’s Place — where the calendar is not a passive object but a living document requiring lunar consultation.

Mara: Susie at Pollywog’s Place Blog has been mapping out the Biblical Feasts for 2026, walking through what each one means, when it falls, and how families can actually observe it. Let’s start with the dates themselves and the theology behind them.

Biblical Feasts: Key Dates for 2026

Mara: The core question this post answers is practical: when, exactly, do the Biblical Feasts fall in 2026, and what is each one actually commemorating? It’s a reference guide with real theological grounding underneath the dates.

Pip: The post sets up why you even need a guide like this: “Unlike holidays, where the dates usually fall at the same time every year, Holy Days are not set dates. I always have to check the Jewish calendars as the Biblical Feasts vary according to certain signs like cycles of the moon and sun, which I have no way to accurately calculate.”

Mara: So the upshot is that these aren’t dates you can memorize once and move on — they shift with lunar and solar cycles, and the start time shifts too, since Jewish dates typically begin at sundown the day before.

Pip: The post lays out all seven main festivals across two seasons. Spring opens with Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, both running April 1 through 9, followed by the Feast of First Fruits on May 21 through 23. Fall brings the Feast of Trumpets on September 11 through 13, the Day of Atonement on September 20 through 21, the Feast of Tabernacles running September 26 through October 2, and the Feast of the Eighth Day on October 2 through 3.

Mara: Each feast carries its own weight. Passover marks both the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt and the crucifixion of Jesus. The Feast of Unleavened Bread remembers the Israelites leaving in such haste they couldn’t let their bread rise. Pentecost, fifty days after Passover, foreshadows the coming of the Messiah.

Pip: The fall feasts shift in tone. The Feast of Trumpets looks forward — the post notes kids get to blow the Shofar. The Day of Atonement is described as solemn, often marked by a 24-hour fast. And Sukkot is framed, memorably, as “Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one.”

Mara: The post also notes that Sabbath, while not a Biblical Feast, is treated as a commanded observance — and links out to companion posts including Starting Our Sabbath and Sabbath Day Resources for families building that practice.

Pip: There’s an honest note running through all of it — this is a family learning alongside their readers, not a finished authority handing down conclusions.

Mara: Two seasons, seven feasts, and a calendar that asks you to pay attention to the moon — that’s a different relationship with time than most of us are used to.

Pip: Next time, we’ll see what else is taking shape at Pollywog’s Place.

Biblical Feasts

Key Dates for 2026

Sabbath Day Resources

Starting Our Sabbath