Surviving Sarah

I am so happy to welcome my friend, David Thomas, to the show again. He's been a regular on the show and we co-hosted the first two seasons of the Raising Boys & Girls podcast together along with our friend, Sissy Goff. David is the director of family counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries in Nashville, TN and is the author of 10 books. Today, we are talking about his latest books—Raising Emotionally Strong Boys and the workbook for kids titled Strong and Smart.   He brings his 25 years of practice to the table. We start by talking about what it looks like to be emotionally strong—redefining what masculine strength is. Then, we talk about what to do when you as the mom are clued in to help, but what do you do if the father isn't interested. We talk about what to do when all emotions are channeled as anger. And lastly we talk about how summer is a great time to work on these things. Per usual, David brings a wealth of help to us so pull up a chair and join the conversation.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

Hey friends, quick note about today's episode. While I'm not a break from the show and social media to creatively rest and write book 2, I'm running reruns of some past Surviving Sarah episodes.   If you need to get in touch with me, head over to my website. You can click the contact button and your email will be sent to me. I will still be writing my monthly Survival Kit newsletter which is a great way to stay connected to you while I'm on hiatus from the show and social media. You can sign up for that through my website as well. And of course, you can purchase my book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself, from your favorite retailer. If you are planning to read the book as a part of a book club, let me know because I'd love to join you virtually.   In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this rerun episode.  Christmas isn't always a merry season. We can have disappointment or pain from loss. Maybe its a grieving season. Maybe life doesn't look like what you hoped. And Christmas can accentuate our pain, grief and disappointment. How do we step into our real circumstances and try to enjoy Christmas in the midst of the pain? With that in mind, Alex conducted a Christmas experiment. An experiment on what it would look like to find hope, joy, love and peace during the Christmas season in the midst of her real life circumstances. 

Hey friends, quick note about today's episode. While I'm not a break from the show and social media to creatively rest and write book 2, I'm running reruns of some past Surviving Sarah episodes.   If you need to get in touch with me, head over to my website. You can click the contact button and your email will be sent to me. I will still be writing my monthly Survival Kit newsletter which is a great way to stay connected to you while I'm on hiatus from the show and social media. You can sign up for that through my website as well. And of course, you can purchase my book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself, from your favorite retailer. If you are planning to read the book as a part of a book club, let me know because I'd love to join you virtually.   In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this rerun episode.  We talk about the connection between science and faith, how you have the power to turn on your brain in order to get rid of toxins, the science behind captivating your thoughts, how to change your mind and how to help our kids learn to change their thought patterns.

Hey friends, quick note about today's episode. While I'm not a break from the show and social media to creatively rest and write book 2, I'm running reruns of some past Surviving Sarah episodes.   If you need to get in touch with me, head over to my website. You can click the contact button and your email will be sent to me. I will still be writing my monthly Survival Kit newsletter which is a great way to stay connected to you while I'm on hiatus from the show and social media. You can sign up for that through my website as well. And of course, you can purchase my book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself, from your favorite retailer. If you are planning to read the book as a part of a book club, let me know because I'd love to join you virtually.   In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this rerun episode.  Clay wrote a book last year called How To Lead When You're Not In Charge. And let's be honest, so many of us are leading somewhere—in our home, in our work, in our church, in our schools. Each one of us has the ability to leverage influence yet many of us are stuck waiting to be given the authority to lead rather than tapping into the influence that we have. So we talk about the difference between authority and influence, the challenges that keep us from tapping into our influence, how to survive working for someone you don't respect, what to do when you crave more influence, and how understanding our identity is crucial in cultivating influence.   

Hey friends, quick note about today's episode. While I'm not a break from the show and social media to creatively rest and write book 2, I'm running reruns of some past Surviving Sarah episodes.   If you need to get in touch with me, head over to my website. You can click the contact button and your email will be sent to me. I will still be writing my monthly Survival Kit newsletter which is a great way to stay connected to you while I'm on hiatus from the show and social media. You can sign up for that through my website as well. And of course, you can purchase my book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself, from your favorite retailer. If you are planning to read the book as a part of a book club, let me know because I'd love to join you virtually.   In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this rerun episode.  I am so excited to welcome Heather MacFadyen to the show today. You likely know her from the Don't Mom Alone podcast. If you don't know her already, she's a mom to 4 boys. We talk about fears that we have and how fear is the root problem to other emotions we have like anger; we talk about guilt and shame in motherhood and what to do when shame is driving your identity. 

In this episode, Sarah talks honestly about how she has been feeling over the last year and a half, how to handle the daily stress and what to do about the things causing the stress.  Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Alexandra Kuykendall back to the show. She has been on Surviving Sarah a couple of times over the years. She is a co-host to the popular podcast The Open Door Sisterhood and is a writer and speaker. Today, she joins me to talk about her new book “Seeking Out Goodness: Finding the True and Beautiful All around You.”   Seeking out the goodness around you. That is so easy for us, right? I mean, we aren't bombarded with what is hard and conflicting at all. Alex's book is perfectly timed for where we are not only in culture but also as the holidays approach.    We talk about how even though life can be hard it can also be beautiful. And we dive into some practical ways to find the good in the people we disagree with. So pull up a chair and join the conversation.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Jessica Hottle to the show. She is a faith-based fitness coach, podcast host, best-selling author, and speaker. She is the author of the upcoming book "Face Off with Your Feelings: Break Up with the Lies from Your Past and Embrace the Truth for Your Future”   Today, Jessica shares 5 steps to help manage emotions when they arise. We talk about how to help our body move through those emotions. This is something that you can start to put into place today so pull up a chair and join the conversation.    Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Allison Baggerly to the show today. She is a blogger, podcast host, and founder of Inspired Budget. As a teacher and small business owner, Allison combined her passion for teaching and finances to help others learn how to start budgeting. She has built a community of over 120,000 Instagram followers that turn to her for budgeting advice and inspiration to save more money.   Allison shares about how she and her husband paid off over $111K of debt on 2 teacher salaries while growing their family. And we tackle the emotions we feel surrounding debt and how to move past the shame we feel about it. I was definitely inspired and motivated by Allison.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

Let me just say that you are blessed because you hit play on today's episode. This is time for another installment of the quarterly review with our good friend, Merica Stum. I love these episodes so much. We look at the last quarter—July, August and Sept—and talk about how we felt about the last few month. Then, we talk about what we read, watched, listened to and loved along with updates on planners. And lastly, we talk about what we are looking forward to in this next quarter. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Anne Bogel to the show. I have known of Anne and followed along with her for years now. And I have to say that I really enjoyed chatting with her. For as long as I can remember, I have loved books. In fact, my favorite thing to do back in college was go to Barnes and Noble to just look at books and journals and sip coffee. It was a dream.   Anne is an author, blogger and podcaster. She has a popular blog called Modern Mrs Darcy and two podcasts, What Should I Read Next? and One Great Book. Her latest book is a reading journal titled My Reading Life: A Book Journal. Today, we have a conversation about how to create a reading life that you enjoy.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Christy Wright back to the show. Christy is a #1 national best-selling author, personal development expert, and host of The Christy Wright Show. Since 2009, she has served at Ramsey Solutions, where she teaches on personal development, business, and faith. Christy was a guest on Surviving Sarah a couple of years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with her so I was so happy when she reached out to come back on the show.   Christy has a new book titled: Take Back Your Time: The Guilt Free Guide to Life Balance. She is addressing a tension that we all feel about our time. We talk about the idea that we can do it all and the fall out that comes from that belief. Then, Christy shares wisdom around what balance actually feels like, how to give yourself grace when seasons are full and stressful and how to watch out for the time traps that distract us from what is right for us right now.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome authors, Tricia Goyer and Amy Parker, to the show. These two best selling authors team up to create a beautiful, helpful children's book titled The Grumbles. The Grumbles is a picture book perfect for your favorite 4-8 year old that helps teach kids how to approach life with a gracious mindset.    This conversation feels like an author spotlight. Between the two of them, they have published an incredible amount of books. So they talk about what they've learned about life through their years in the publishing industry. And then we dive into the topic of grumbling—what that looks like in our homes and what helps us create a mindset of gratitude.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome my friend, Ashely Abercrombie, back to the show. She is a speaker and writer whose authored the books Rise of the Truth Teller and Love is the Resistance. This latest book, Love is the Resistance, is all about learning to disagree and resolve the conflicts you've been avoiding. Sounds totally irrelevant, right? Note the sarcasm. I think Ashley's book, which comes out today, is so timely for the world in which we are living in. And for some of us, conflict is the word we would use to describe our homes and relationships. It doesn't matter who you are, conflict is something that we all face. Ashely shares so many helpful things about handing conflict that I know its going to be helpful to you. In fact, listen up because she shares a phase to use that will help you enter into a conversation about a conflict. I literally took so many notes. You will definitely want to deep dive her book. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

Today, I wanted to round out book launch week with an episode just from me. I also wanted to include one more chapter from the audiobook as a way of celebrating.   This has been a good week. If you subscribe to the newsletter or follow on Instagram then you probably know that our family got hit with Covid about two weeks ago. Scott and I were vaccinated but Sinclair hadn't received hers yet. And after 3 days of school, she tested positive. So we spent book launch in isolation at home. Going into it, I was quite disappointed. I had fun things planned for the whole day which all had to be cancelled.   But once the day came, I have to say that while the day at home was very quiet and normal—the girls did digital learning, Scott worked—the day online felt very extraordinary. The day was filled with you guys showing up and celebrating with me online. You shared the book over and over. That simple action of sharing the book (or even the show) may seem so little but I promise you that it feels so big to me. It was so fun to see the book top the amazon new release in motherhood charts. It also hit the best seller list for the motherhood category. I was just overjoyed.   I just wanted to say thank you for showing up. Thank you for buying the book. Thank you for cheering for me.    Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Korie Robertson to the show. She is a New York Times best-selling author and star of A&E's Duck Dynasty. She works in the family business Duck Commander, is co-owner in Tread Lively Productions. Korie loves doing life with her husband, Willie and their six kids and four grandbabies in their hometown of West Monroe, Louisiana.    In honor of my book launching, we talk about what raising kids taught her. We also talk about what its like being a grandparent, advice she's giving her kids as they step into marriage, what to do to foster a future relationship with your kids, and some really good advice about raising teenagers.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

My book A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself launches out into the world tomorrow on August 17! I wanted to give you a little bonus treat today in anticipation of tomorrow. Today, you get to hear the audiobook version of the Introduction. You will get to hear what the book is about, why I wrote it and what I hope you gain from it. If you want to access the pre-order bonuses, this is your last day! Purchase the book from your favorite retailer and then take your order number to my site. From there, we'll walk you through how to access the secret podcast feed and download the free printables. Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram    

I am so happy to welcome Sandra Stanley back to the show. This is her third appearance on the show and every time, I walk away with so much. If you don't know Sandra, she is the author of The Comparison Trap and Breathing Room. She is married to Andy Stanley and they have grown children.   I wanted to have Sandra back leading up to my book launch for A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself because I feel like she has a lot of wisdom to share. This episode is all about parenting. We talk about how parenting produced growth in her. We talk about lessons like connection over efficiency and relationship over rules and honor over obedience. I also ask her to share what helped them build a future relationship with their kids and between the siblings and lastly, how to help our teens make wise choices. I'm telling you, so much good stuff packed into this one episode. You're going to love it!   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome my friend, Erin Moon, to the show today. She is the host of the Faith Adjacent podcast, as well as the resident Bible scholar on The Bible Binge podcast. She is an author and the Senior Creative at the Popcast Media Group. She is an absolute delight to follow and curates one of my favorite newsletters called The Swipe Up. Erin and her family live in Birmingham, Alabama.   I asked Erin to join me as part of a series of podcasts to help launch my book. I have benefited from following along with Erin's parenting and faith journeys. So I asked her to come on the show to talk about how raising kids has been a catalyst to her own faith journey. We talk about what that journey has been for her, why it's good to wrestle with our faith and resources for those on their own journey. And of course, I had to talk a little pop culture and motherhood as well.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

Today, I have something special for you! I have one of the chapters from the audio version of my book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself.    I've learned over the last 13+ years of parenting, that parenting is less about raising kids and more about raising ourselves. Raising kids pushed me to come face to face with my own uncertainties, fears, tendencies towards perfectionism, and inauthenticity. And as I wrestled with those things, certain phrases started to rise to the surface. I began saying these phrases to myself in order to grow up, to become, to be raised.    This book highlights over 20 phrases that helped raise me. Instead of being given a list of steps or a specific formula, you will receive a list of phrases that will guide you to becoming your truest self.    The more freedom you find for yourself to be yourself, the more accepting and loving you become. And the best gift we can give to our children is a mom who is true to herself, who shows up and is brave enough to do the work.   The phrase I'm going to share with you today comes from chapter 22 titled You Can Do Hard Things. I have been hearing such good things from early readers of the book. And I had so much fun recording the audiobook because it felt like what I do with you every single week on the show. I absolutely loved getting to tell you about this as if we were sitting across from each other.   So, here is the first listen of A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself    Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself and then access your pre-order bonuses here.   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Will Hutcherson to the show. He is a pastor, speaker, and founder of Curate Hope, non-profit that partners with parents and educators to heal despair in kids and teens. He is also the co-author of the new book, SEEN: Healing Despair and Anxiety in Kids and Teens Through the Power of Connection.    This is such a practical and helpful conversation. He unpacks in such a clear, understandable way what is happening in the brain when we our kids feel despair or anxiety. Then, we talk about what we can do as parents to help our kids when they are in a state of despair, how we as parents are such a valuable tool in helping our kid when they feel despair, and what empathy looks and sounds like.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so very happy to welcome Lesley Graham to the show today. She is one of my closest friends and may remember hearing from her on the Dopesquad episode which was episode 79.   Lesley is such an inspiration person who has such a heart to see women succeed in life and work. She lives on a farm in Georgia with her leather making husband Sam and their two girls. She is currently serving as a mentor and coach to her wellness community, as well as sharing their journey to fix up 35 acres on her blog at www.lesleywgraham.com   We talk about what raising kids has taught her, advice about work & motherhood, what helps us get out of a scarcity mindset and what she would go back and tell herself as a young mom.   Plus, you get to sneak in on what my Patreon supporters hear every week. I almost always ask to hear what they find meaningful. I decided to keep Lesley's answer to that question in the main part of the episode. I did this because she's in the middle of a transition—not just her but her family, too. And so she's walking through this transition with her kids and I thought that maybe some of you could relate to what she had to say.    Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Ginger Curtis to the show today. She is the founder of Urbanology Designs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. She has been recognized and received so many awards from the Interior Design world from Interior Design Society to HGTV to Houzz.com. She has created a design book called "Beauty By Design” which I've read and found very helpful. It is highly resourceful along with being full of inspiration.   We talk about how the struggles that she has faced in life informed her now career in design. We talk about how to create a safe, cozy haven in your home, where to go to find your style and we get practical on designing a home on a budget.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome my friend and yours, Merica Stum, back to the show. It is time for another quarter catch up with her. But this time we do something different. We start the episode catching up about what happened in this past quarter, but this is episode is really dedicated to my upcoming book. Merica asked me months ago if I would be up for her interviewing me about my book and the writing process. And I have to say that this conversation was so fun for me. I loved peeling back the curtain on the process of writing and on the content itself. We talk about the in's and out's the writing process, the catalyst for writing this book, what I feel like went well and what I wish I did better. She also reads a couple of excerpts from the book and I shed from insight behind those quotes. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Shelly Robinson to the show today. She is a certified holistic family wellness coach, cycle-breaker, conscious parenting educator, and founder of the Raising Yourself movement.   Her passion in life is to empower moms to turn their midlife crisis into midlife magic by teaching them how to reparent themselves, disrupt generational patterns, and take radically good care of their needs.   I found her on Instagram and have absolutely loved following her. She offers so much wisdom and advice around the idea of raising yourself—which you know that I am all about given the topic of my book. In this conversation, we talk about what it looks like to raise yourself, how to be more curious about yourself and others and we debunk the idea of what a “good mom” should look like.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

Kathleen is a temperament communication expert helping people become their best, authentic self and speak kindly to each other. She is the author of I Said This, You Heard That and her latest book is called A Grown-ups Guide to Kids' Wiring.    We have such a good conversation around the temperaments and specifically parenting. You know, we are all looking for connection with our kids and Kathleen just really opens our eyes about how to do that and I think that what she says can be a game changer for our parenting.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Desiree Hartsock Siegfried to the show. You may best know her as an ABC Bachelor contestant and star of Season 9 of ABC's The Bachelorette. Many viewers quickly fell in love with this down-to-earth girl looking for love. But those shows were really only the beginning of her journey that led her to marrying her husband who she met on the show, becoming a mother of two boys, creating her own Bridal line, hosting The Heart of Purpose podcast and writing her book The Road to Roses: Heartbreak, Hope, and Finding Strength When Life Doesn't Go as Planned.    We talk about how she found herself on the Bachelor and what that was like to how she ended up as the Bachelorette. We talk about what it was like to face rejection on national tv and how she was able to move on to find love and happiness. She shares some great insight about what she learned through that experience about rejection and heartbreak. Just like many of you loved her on TV, you are going to love her here as well so pull up a chair and join the conversation.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Mazi Robinson to the table today. She is a licensed professional counselor and speaker specializing in helping women discover their true voice as they navigate self worth/self esteem challenges, relationship concerns, and life stage transitions. She is also a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator presenting workshops and retreats based on the research and methodology of Dr. Brené Brown to individuals and groups.   This is one of those conversations that I think you will return to. You will want to take notes on this one because Mazi is a trusted guide to help us navigate the waters of rejection. She helps us understand how the rejection of our childhood shows up in our adult life, why it’s important to grieve when we feel rejected and how rejection shapes our belief of whether we are lovable or not. And of course, I ask her on behalf of all of us raising kids, what to do when our kids face rejection.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

Welcome to part 2 of my conversation with my mentor, Kellee Hall. If you missed part 1, I encourage you to go back and listen to it.    This week, Kellee talks about what she learned about herself by raising her kids. And today, in part 2, Kellee tells us her story of 2020. She walks us through how her husband, Stuart, ended up in ICU near death from Covid19 and what helped her make it through that month. She also shares what it was like to walk with her young adult children through the political and social unrest and how through it all, what she learned about love and making things personal.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I want to introduce you to someone I loved dearly. She has been my mentor since I was about 20 years old. She has had a front row seat to the evolution of who I am. Kellee Hall is married to Stuart Hall and is raising 3 adult kids. She runs a couple of businesses, one is called The Echo Group which is a management service for speakers and influencers. She manages people like yours truly, Mo Isom and our friends from Pantsuit Politics. I’ve been gleaning life wisdom from Kellee for over 20 years and I wanted the opportunity for you to do the same.   She came up to TN one day and spent a lot of time around the table talking. So much so that I decided to break this episode up into two parts. The first part will include an introduction to who she is and to our relationship. Then, she talks about parenting. She talks about how raising kids has helps raise herself. Next week, we will dive into her up close and personal story of surviving COVID19 as her husband was near death.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome David Thomas and Sissy Goff back to the show. This felt like a reunion since we haven’t been able to sit down together like this since 2019. They are no stranger to the show. They have been on a few past episodes of Surviving Sarah. But in case you are new here, David and Sissy are counselors at Daystar in Nashville, TN. They have written some my favorite books on parenting and I had the privilege of hosting the first two seasons of their podcast, Raising Boys and Girls. Today’s conversation feels like a nod to our days on their podcast. We dive into a topic and tension that we feel in parenting and then they walk us through it with some really practical advice. Today, we talk about power struggles. They break down by developmental stage for girls and boys—what it looks like, why its happening and what to do about it. And lastly, how to disengage when the power struggle happens. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Tara Bremer BACK to the podcast. I had so much fun the last time we chatted that I wanted to have her back. Tara is the founder of House Peace which helps us find order in our homes and lives. She has a team of people who work with her and in fact, one of her team members, Kendra, came to my house back in Atlanta and helped me create systems for the lack of storage we had.    Tara joins me today to talk about managing our digital clutter. We talk about all things digital: texting, photos, apps, desktops, and emails. This episode feels like you are getting to sit at the table with two friends. It is so easy to chat with Tara. We recorded via video so we literally walk through our phones together and share tips to declutter our digital lives. I’ll be sure to link everything we talk about in today’s show notes over at SarahBragg.com in case you are in motion while listening and can’t take notes.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

We are just under 4 months until my book, A Mother’s Guide to Raising Herself, launches out into the world and with that, I wanted to take a few minutes and unpack what it means to raise yourself. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome to the table Cindy Wang Brandt. She is an author, podcaster and host of the Parenting Forward conferences. A friend told me about her years ago and since then I’ve read her book, Parenting Forward, and always enjoy her podcast by the same name.    We recorded conversation while I was hunkered down in the safest room in the house during a tornado. You guys, if that isn’t commitment to you then I don’t know what it is. In this conversation, we talk about how to create a space for kids to cultivate their own spirituality, advice on how to raise kids without unnecessary shame in regards to their sexuality and how to raise citizens of the world—that is, how to help shape conscious kids.   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so very happy to welcome my friend, Monica DiCristina, to the show today. Monica is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Atlanta where she lives with her husband and three kids. Monica has such a desire to help guide others in their process of becoming who they were meant to be. She is the host of one of my new favorite podcasts called Still Becoming. You definitely want to hit subscribe to that show along with following her on Instagram—she always shares such helpful content there.    Today, we dive into the topic of boundaries. This is one of those episodes where I pretend to be asking all these questions for a friend but it’s really because I need all the help in setting boundaries. We talk about what they are and what they might look like in everyday life. We also dive into setting boundaries with two important relationships: our children and our in-laws. So much helpful content is shared in this episode so go ahead, pull up a chair and join the conversation.    Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Emily Lex to the table. She is a watercolor artist, longtime blogger, and the author of Freely and Lightly. She has been featured on HGTV and in Better Homes and Gardens and The Magnolia Journal. She resides outside the Seattle, Washington area with her husband and four children.    I have been reading Emily’s blog and following her online for years so it was such a pleasure to get to chat with her. And let me just say that Emily is so genuine. I have interviewed a lot of people over the last 6 years and her essence is pure gold. This conversation felt exactly like that—a conversation. I feel like Emily was as interested in me as I was in her.    This conversation centered around her new book, Freely and Lightly. We talk about what her journey looked like to go from striving to be fulfilled and seen as enough to living freely and lightly knowing that she is valuable and lovable. She shares how a 4 month road trip with her family helped them take a deep breath and figure out who they were as a family. We talk about how sometimes growing requires us to let go of good things—not just bad things—in order to become—and how that has looked even in our friendships. And lastly, she turned the table on me and asked me what was in my survival kit. I think you are going to love Emily if you don’t already.   Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so excited to be doing quarterly episodes with my friend and your friend, Merica Stum. Now that we live in the same city, we want to sit down every quarter and unpack what happened. In this episode, we talk about what we learned, what changed, what we’ve loved, what we’ve read. We dive into what we what more of and less of for this next quarter and of course we shares what’s helping us survive. You will feel like you are sitting right there with us in my house and you’ll even get to hear an appearance by my dog, Murray, so brace yourself. Order Sarah's book, A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith and Myself Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Jeff and André Shinabarger back to the show. Jeff is the Executive Director of Plywood People and André is a physician’s assistant at Grady Hospital here in Atlanta. Together they host the podcast Love or Work.    They recently completed the largest research study on working married couples in the U.S. and spent the last few years interviewing couples who want to stay in love, change the world and raise a healthy family. They share the results of that study along with stories from their own lives in their book Love or Work.   I asked them to come back on the show to talk about a topic that no one really wants to talk about yet everyone wants to actually talk about it. I bet you know what it is—sex. We talk about why we want to talk about it but can’t talk about it, why its so important that we talk about it, and how our upbringing often informs how we view sex. We also talk about how important mutual pleasure is in the relationship and what to do when you want to amp up your sex life. I think this is such a good and helpful conversation.

I am happy to welcome Dr. Kelly Flanagan back to the show. He is a clinical psychologist and author to the books The Marriage Manifesto, Loveable and True Companions. If you’ve been listening to the show awhile, then you heard him on Episode 94 where we talked about shame and learning to accept yourself. This conversation is built upon that. We talk about the paradox for companionship: the ability to be lonely. With that, we look at embracing our loneliness and how we can find companionship through it. I always enjoy chatting with Kelly so pull up a chair and join the conversation. Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Retha Nichole back to the podcast. She first joined me in the early days on episode 74. Retha is life and business coach who loves helping people uncover their purpose. Retha is one of those people that I am always drawn to because they are truly authentic and care deeply about helping you live your best life. In this conversation, we talk about something that Retha has been doing for years to help her week run more smoothly. She unpacks something she created Sunday Planning which helps you create a plan to grow in your life and business consistently. You will walk away from this conversation not only inspired but also with an action plan. Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am happy to welcome Ashtin Cope to the table. She is a meal planner and is all about helping families save time and money when it comes to meal planning. She wants to take the guilt and stress out of it. Today, we talk about the tensions we feel behind preparing meals that often look like guilt. Then we chat about the benefits of meal planning and lastly she shares some actionable steps that you can start doing today. Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome Sarah Bessey to the table. I’ve wanted to chat with her for a very long time because she embodies a sense of generosity about her. Her presence welcomes you wherever you are on your faith journey. Sarah is the author of the popular and critically acclaimed books Jesus Feminist, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith, and Miracles and Other Reasonable Things. Her recent book A Rhythm of Prayer is a New York Times best seller.    Sarah joins me today to talk about faith and prayer. She shares a little bit of her faith journey and how her view of prayer was affected through it. As we open the episode, you get to sample what my Patreon supporters get to hear every week for just $3 a month. If you like what you hear and want that every week, go to Patreon.com/SurvivingSarah   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram    

I am happy to welcome Tiffany Bluhm back to the show. She is the author of the books Prey Tell, She Dreams, and Never Alone. She is cohost of the podcast Why Tho and speaks at conferences and events around the world. As a minority, immigrant woman with an interracial family, Bluhm is passionate about inviting all to the table of faith, equality, justice, and dignity.    We talk about why we silence women who speak up and how to speak up for others. Tiffany shares some great advice on how to raise our girls to not be silenced and to not stand for silence around them. She also shares what we can do to be women who stand up for other women.   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram  

I’m very happy to welcome Robyn Downs to the table. Robyn uses simple, science-backed strategies to help people cut through life’s clutter to uncover small shifts that create huge change. She holds a Master’s degree in education with an emphasis in behavior change, and 4 years of public policy & health change at the doctoral level. Her work taps into cutting edge science around psychology, neuroscience, mindfulness, and habits. Recently named one of the Most Influential Women in Wellness and she recently published a book titled: The Feel Good Effect: Reclaim Your Wellness By Creating Small Shifts That Create Big Change.    Let me just say that I loved this book. It is practical and helpful while making sense of why I sometimes find myself in ruts when it comes to my wellness. In this episode, we talk about why we struggle to think that we have to do it all. We talk about the unrealistic expectations we put on ourselves, and the guilt that follows. Robyn shares some tips on how to break that guilt cycle, what to do with an all or nothing mentality and how to move from a should to good mentality. We cover so much helpful content in a short period of time. If you feel like your own health and happiness is not even on the "pay attention to" list then you will really be understood by Robyn.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Pre-order Sarah's book: A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.  

I welcome Kelsey Chapman back to the show. Kelsey and I met years ago when she was a guest and we’ve have kept a friendship going ever since. Kelsey is an author, community builder, online educator and host of The Radiant Podcast. But to me, she is one of the greatest resources and cheerleaders I know. Her first book, What They Taught Me: Recognizing The Mentors Who Will Take You From Dream To Done captures her perfectly. Mentorship is truly at the heart of who she is and what she does.    In this episode, we talk about several different mentors in her life, how to go about finding a mentor whether its in your career or in your personal life and then lastly, she shares some advice on how to be a mentor to someone else.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Pre-order Sarah's book: A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.  

I look back on this month and while I’m surprised that we are at the end, I also feel like we’ve lived a lot. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not excited for what this new year could hold. I’ve been on record saying that I love the start of the new year. There is something hopeful and fresh about it. I tend to find myself ending a year completely ready for a reboot. And this year is no different. Can I let you in on a secret? While I love the start of a new year, I’m not great at goals and resolutions. Maybe I just like the theoretical reset button that gets pushed in January. But I’m actually not one to really set goals and resolutions.  In this episode, I share what’s been helping me create the life I want to live in a way that doesn’t result in feeling judgmental towards myself. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Pre-order Sarah's book: A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.

I am so happy to welcome Laura Tremaine to the table today. Laura lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeff, and their two children. She is is a writer and podcaster. On her weekly podcast 10 Things To Tell You, she encourages listeners to take the episode prompts to a friend or to their journal, because meaningful connections come from good conversations. Her first book Share Your Stuff. I’ll Go First. will release in February.    Today’s conversation is all about connection. And as her book suggests, Laura goes first —she steps into vulnerability first. We talk about friendships, why it sometimes feels so lonely in this season of adulthood, what helps her find all different levels of connection and she shares such a great tip for all of us who are longing to build more connection in our lives. I always enjoy chatting with people who are authentic and show up as themselves. I enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too.   I want to make sure you know about my monthly survival kit newsletter. I send it out at the end of every month which as of today is nearing. Each month, I share a short essay from me along with what helped me survive: think books, shows, movies, podcasts and things I’m just simply loving. This is a great way for us to connect outside of iTunes. To sign up, go to SarahBragg.com. And as a gift for signing up, you’ll receive my free downloadable planner pages that will help you be more efficient and productive with your time.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Pre-order Sarah's book: A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.

Today, I am so happy to welcome Hannah Brencher back to the show. Hannah is an author, blogger, TED speaker and entrepreneur. She has authored three books and today we discuss her most recent one, Fighting Forward. We talk about how to go about making change in your life—how to find your way forward when you want to fight for more, when you want to find a better life or better version of yourself. With that, we talk about what gets in the way of moving forward and changing our lives and what helps you maintain that change you created. This is such a good episode and it was so timely for me again as I edited it. I felt so pumped up after listening. I think you will, too. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter Pre-order Sarah's book: A Mother's Guide to Raising Herself   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.

Today, is my annual year in review episode with my good friend Merica Stum. This is my absolute favorite episode of the year. You know how you get together with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time and you have one million things to talk about? That was this episode.   In this episode, we look back and compare what we thought 2020 would hold and what actually happened. We talk about some of the overarching themes of the year, what we learned, good habits we developed, thoughts and feelings on planners, our favorite books and shows and then we look at 2021 and what we hope for. This episode is full of laughter and goodness so pull up a chair and join the conversation.   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

Sarah shares what this season of change and transition has been like for her and what has helped her when she feels sad and scared because of it. Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram

I am so happy to welcome my good friend, Melanie Dale, back to the show. If you have been listening to the show for awhile, then you know that back in 2017-2018, Melanie and I did an episode together every month. It is always fun to have friends on the show. In case you don’t know Melanie, she is an author, speaker and podcaster who lives outside of Atlanta. She and her husband are raising 3 kids from 3 continents.    And today, she joins me to talk about her new book Calm the Heck Down: How to Let Go and Lighten Up About Parenting. In this episode, we talk about a few things in regards to parenting that we need to calm down about. I go first and share something that I need to calm down about. We could have easily talked about every single topic in Melanie’s book but instead we narrowed it down to a few things we need to calm down about: school, sex, work.   Check out bonus content from today's episode over on Patreon.   Sign up for Sarah's monthly Survival Kit Newsletter   Connect with Sarah: Website | Instagram