Dwelling Place Bible Plan for Busy Moms is a short, daily Bible reading and prayer podcast created for Christian mothers who want to stay rooted in God’s Word—even in the middle of busy, full motherhood.

If you’re a mom longing for peace, clarity, and spiritual consistency, but struggling to find the time, this podcast meets you right where you are. Each episode is under 10 minutes and designed to fit into real mom life—whether you’re getting ready for the day, driving, folding laundry, or taking a quiet moment alone.

We will walk through Scripture chronologically, reading the Bible, reflecting on how God’s Word applies to our homes and motherhood, and praying over you and your children. This is a grace-filled way to build a daily Bible habit without pressure or guilt.

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, a working mom, or somewhere in between, this podcast is for you!

Find out more about Entrusted Ministries and find our printable plan on our website: https://www.entrustedministries.com/podcast

Scripture Mentioned: Psalm 84

Questions? Contact stephanie@ewach.com.

welcome to the Dwelling Place Bible Plan

for Busy Moms from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox and I am thrilled

that you're here for this Prepare to

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Dwell episode where I explain why I've

chosen the name, the Dwelling Place.

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We are getting ready for

our January 1st launch,

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and if you are looking to be faithful

in the word of God and have the words

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of scripture prayed over you and your

family, you are in the right place.

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There are so many messages of

culture and abundant things vying

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for our time at the end of 2026.

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What didn't you love to say?

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That you are faithful to God's

word and that you sought to dwell

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with a God that has always desired

to dwell and abide with you.

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Me too.

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In this episode, I'm gonna talk to you a

little bit about why I chose this theme

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dwelling place and who I am, and I'll

start with a story about my childhood.

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From quite early on, I had

a dream of being a singer.

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I begged for voice lessons and

piano lessons, but money was tight

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and it wasn't able to happen.

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But I would watch with

admiration, the talented ladies

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get up at my church and sing.

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Or maybe the people trying out

on star search, and I wanted

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that to be how I serve the Lord.

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And I definitely asked for a karaoke

machine for my third grade Christmas.

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One day in fourth grade, my dad

came home and said, Stephanie,

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I have a surprise for you.

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Come over here.

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He pulled me over to our large dining

room window, which faced the front of our

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home, and as I looked out, I saw a truck

pull onto our street in front of my house

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and in the truck bed I saw a huge piano.

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I looked at my dad wondering,

could this be real?

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Am I getting a piano?

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At that exact moment, I watched the piano

crash out of the back of the truck and

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smash into a thousand pieces on the road.

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I tried to tone down my devastation

because clearly my dad had worked hard

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to get this piano to our home, but my

hopes were literally shattered that day.

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I know there are many people

that are natural musical talents,

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but I just wasn't one of 'em.

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And I found as I look back . That this

was a door, that the Lord seemed to keep

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closing on my life, but now I understand

that it was actually his kindness and

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directing me a different way instead

of focusing on my singing abilities.

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I've spent a lot of time digging

into the pages of scripture and

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it's become my absolute delight.

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And one of my favorite ways to worship the

Lord, although there are definitely a lot

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of areas that I need to get it together.

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Nearly every time I'm talking to

someone, I can think of a scripture

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that would apply to their situation,

and it's the way I continually

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administered to my own heart.

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When I'm struggling with different

circumstances, I've learned to rely

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on the word of God to get me through.

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And I bet the word of God

has helped you before too.

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I think that's how we become

the mothers God wants us to be.

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Not that we're doing it perfectly, but

that we have a reliance upon the Lord.

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And that leads me to why I've chosen

this name and why the dwelling

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place is so important for me.

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Years ago I was pregnant with my fourth

child and I was having a rough pregnancy.

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I would've kept going and had as many

kids as possible, but my husband was

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maxed out and it seems that the Lord

gave me a really miserable pregnancy

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to make sure that we had unity in our

marriage and that that was our last baby.

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I can remember wrestling and praying

with the circumstances of this

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pregnancy when one day the Lord

brought me to a Psalm that I had read

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many times before, and as I read it.

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Perhaps old school worship songs

are gonna pop into your head.

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But there was a verse right toward the

beginning that I had never heard before.

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Psalm 84 says, how lovely

is your dwelling place?

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Oh Lord of hosts.

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My soul longs yes faints

for the courts of the Lord.

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My heart and flesh sing

for joy to the living God.

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And here's the verse.

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Even the sparrow finds a home and

the swallow a nest for herself where

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she may lay her young at your altars.

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Oh Lord of hosts my king and my God.

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Blessed are those who dwell in your

house, ever singing your praise.

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If I were to continue to read this

chapter, you would hear that the

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activity that keeps happening is the

worship and praise of God, but talked.

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Here we see a mother that's laying

her young at the altar of the Lord.

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If I'm honest, surrendering my children

over and over has been something I've

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needed to do regularly with the Lord.

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I think I've done it completely

and then something new happens

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and I realize there's a new

layer that I need to give over.

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Maybe an unseen hope or expectation I had

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and I need to wrestle with.

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Is this a desire God has for them or

was just this something in my heart?

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And I need to remind myself of God's

goodness and his trustworthiness, how he

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loves my kids even more than I do, that he

created them and has a good plan for them.

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But I must come back to his presence

and to dwell with him laying my

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children before him, worshiping him

and seeking him for myself before I

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ever try to pass on my faith to them.

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The Psalm goes on to say, blessed are

those whose strength is in you and

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in whose heart are pathways to Zion.

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As they go through the valley of

Bacca, they make it a place of springs.

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The early rain also covers it with pools.

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They go from strength to strength.

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Each one appears before God and Zion.

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I so want this to be true of me, that when

I go through these bitter places that here

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are represented by the Valley of Bacca,

I wanna make them a place of springs.

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I wanna bring joy and hope as I minister

to others in my trials, but I have

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to confess that without returning to

God's presence over and over, this is

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naturally not what comes out of me.

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The Psalm continues.

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Oh Lord of hosts, hear my prayer.

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Give ear, oh God, of Jacob.

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Behold our shield, oh God, look

on the face of your anointed for

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a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

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I would rather be a doorkeeper in the

house of my God than dwell in the tense of

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wickedness for the Lord, God is a son and

shield the Lord bestows favor and honor.

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No good thing does He withhold

from those who walk up rightly.

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A Lord of hosts blessed is

the one who trusts in you.

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As I've grown in the Lord

and looked on what the world

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has to offer, I can say amen.

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Though my heart breaks for the lost.

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I would absolutely rather be a doorkeeper

in the house of God and the fact that it

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says God is a son and shield and bestows

favor and honor not withholding good

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from us when we walk uprightly, even if

imperfectly, of course, it's such a good

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reminder that God often protects us, but

he's also a God that bestows blessing.

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He has good things for us and we know

he's working all things for the good of

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those who love him as he transforms us

into the image of Jesus Christ, his son.

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This psalm has meant so much

to me when I press in and think

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about how I can surrender my

children to a good sovereign God.

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Perhaps you heard me say the name of

God, oh Lord of hosts multiple times.

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And as I studied, I found that the first

time this name is used in scripture.

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Is when Hannah was praying to the

Lord to give her child, and when

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she surrendered her son Samuel

to serve in the house of God.

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What a cool thing that these two passages

talking about mothers surrendering their

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kids to the Lord and trusting in him.

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Show this powerful title of

God, oh Lord of hosts this name.

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Denotes power and protection and

it's used 250 times in scripture.

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This is the God that commands the

armies of heaven in the entire universe,

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and it's the God we can surrender to.

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I hope you're realizing that the word of

God has so much to say about motherhood.

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Again, we're not trying to look to the

pages of scripture and make them about

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our lives, but we're longing to make

our homes centered on Jesus Christ.

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When I look to the model of Hannah

and also to the sparrow in the

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temple, I can say, yes, Lord,

help me point my children to you.

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Help me to surrender them to you.

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But first of all, make me a mother

that is worshiping at your feet.

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And then just when I thought I had gotten

every ounce of goodness outta the psalm,

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I read Charles Spurgeon commentary on

the Psalms and found that the focus

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of the psalm is about the pilgrimage

to Jerusalem that the people would've

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made to go and celebrate in the temple.

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It's describing their path, and this

makes me think about how there's

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a communal element to this, and

that so applies to motherhood.

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Some of the wisest words I've ever

received about my parenting have come

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from other moms that are in the trenches

with me, encouraging me to be faithful.

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And that's why I wanna do

this together with you.

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God didn't intend for us to live

the Christian life on our own.

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Let's stop trying to do

it in our own strength.

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Let's do it together and

hold each other accountable.

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We can admit we're not gonna do this

perfectly, but let's be intentional and

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set goals through the spirit that we can

say at the end of the year that we really

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pressed into the heart of God to help us

understand what he calls us to in our

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homes and to be transformed by his spirit.

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I hope this is sounding like

something you'd wanna commit to.

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We know there's going to be resistance

and busyness in our families, but

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that's a reason to press into the

Lord instead of throwing in the towel.

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Listen to the other Prepare

to Dwell episodes so you can

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really be set up for success.

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To be intentional.

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in episode three.

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We'll plot out this a little bit more,

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and I am gonna explain the printable

options I have for you, because if

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you're like me, you're gonna wanna

cross something off a list you may have

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committed to Bible reading plans before

and then dropped off, and that's okay.

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You are still in the right place.

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We're gonna be wise about how we

kick this off, and by the grace

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of God may this year be different.