Podcasts about her view from home

282. Family Sabbath: Pause and Delight with Eryn Lynum   Mark 2:27 NIV “Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”   *Transcription Below*   Eryn Lynum is a certified Master Naturalist, Bible teacher, national speaker, and author. Eryn lives in Northern Colorado with her husband, Grayson, and their four children, whom they homeschool—mainly in the great outdoors. Eryn has has been featured on FamilyLife Today, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Christian Parenting, MOPS International, Bible Gateway, Her View From Home, and For Every Mom. Every opportunity she gets, she is out exploring God's creation with her family and sharing the adventures. To learn more about Eryn, visit ErynLynum.com.   Eryn's Books Eryn's Free Resources Mentioned Nat Theo Podcast   Topics and Questions We Cover: What can this look like to daily align our activities with our deepest values? What do people actually do on this day of rest and what do you recommend for families? Are there any other practical benefits we're missing out on if we neglect rest?   Thank You to Our Sponsor: Leman Property Management Company   Related Savvy Sauce Episodes: 81 Rest with Doctor, Author, and Speaker, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith 99 Sabbath Rest with Sandy Feit 175 Practicing Sabbath with Shireen Eldridge   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:11 - 1:34) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   Leman Property Management Company has the apartment you will be able to call home, with over 1,700 apartment units available in Central Illinois. Visit them today at lemanproperties.com or connect with them on Facebook.   Eryn Lynum is my wonderful guest for today, and she's the author of this beautiful book, The Nature of Rest. We're going to discuss all things related to rest, ways that we can prepare for it, how we can enjoy and delight in it, what good gifts God has for us with rest, and then how to reflect well on the rhythms in our life, and so much more.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Eryn.   Eryn Lynum: (1:34 - 4:03) Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.   Laura Dugger: Well, I'd love for you to start us off by sharing your personal journey and tell why you are so uniquely qualified to teach and write about rest, as stress can literally kill you.   Eryn Lynum: Yeah, that's correct. So, when I was 14 years old, I was diagnosed with a potentially fatal autoimmune disorder. And kind of the context of that season, I was preparing to go overseas for the first time on a missions trip. So, I was going to be in Africa for two months. And so, before you go do something like that, you have to go to the doctor and get a checkup and vaccine recommendations, all the things. And so, my parents took me in.   Again, I was 14 at the time, and we had no reason to believe that there was anything wrong. There were no red flags. Besides, I had been a little tired, a little dizzy once in a while, but really, we just thought, okay, well, I'm growing up, my body's changing. But when the nurse took my blood pressure that day, it was 56 over 48, which is deathly low.   And so, immediately, that's a red flag. And I undergo more testing and hospital visits and seeing specialists. And they diagnosed me with something called Addison's disease. And Addison's disease, it's where your adrenal glands no longer function. So, maybe you've heard of adrenal fatigue, where someone is so taxed out that their adrenal glands can't keep up because they're meant to produce cortisol, which is our stress hormone. Well, Addison's disease is the worst-case scenario where you can't come back from it, barring a miracle. Like, my adrenal glands don't work, and they haven't for over 20 years now.   And so, you know, this system that God has given us meant to cope with stress, and it's that fight-or-flight response. At that young age, I no longer had that. And so, stress became quite literally deadly to me. And at that point, my parents, they began coaching me in biblical stress management, so identifying stressors in my life.   You know, when your shoulders start creeping up, and you can feel that tension in your neck, and knowing that those are signs that, okay, you need to step back, you need to calm yourself. Like the Psalms talk about, “I have calmed and quieted my soul,” and to bring everything to the Lord and cast all your anxieties upon Him. And this is really where I can see, in my life, I developed a very consistent prayer pattern in my life where just all day long, like conversing with the Lord.   And so, that's been a big part of this. But yeah, that's really what began leading me into this deeply restful lifestyle was out of necessity. But really what I've seen since then is God designed all of us to live and thrive through rest. Like this is His original design.   Laura Dugger: (4:04 - 4:27) I love that so much. And you articulate this so well in your book. But before I ever encountered you, I had never heard of the term master naturalist before. So, if you want to share anything about that, it would be great. And as a master naturalist, where do you see these rhythms of rest in nature?   Eryn Lynum: (4:28 - 6:54) So, a master naturalist, it's really a fancy term for nature teacher. And I pursued this because my degree and my passion are in biblical theology. And I've always been passionate about rightly handling God's word of truth from 2 Timothy 2:15.   And I began to see as my own family, my husband and I, we have three boys and a daughter, and now they're 14 down to seven. But when they were younger and we started spending more time outdoors, I started to see, okay, God has given us so many visuals and materials in nature with which we can teach about Him. Coming from Romans 1:20, that His invisible attributes, those things we can't see about God, are clearly perceived through what He has made. And I saw that also Jesus in the gospels, He used nature all the time to teach.   And God throughout scripture, like it's not just Genesis 1, nature narratives are strong throughout scripture. And so, I thought if God and Jesus use this methodology to teach, then certainly we can. And so, that's why I went through this training and taught, teach with this method is because, you know, the more we understand these materials, the more we see of God and the more we can communicate about Him.   And so, I was working as a master naturalist in our city and teaching my own programs. And I started to incorporate it more and more into my book and then later on in my podcast. And at the same time, God was leading my family into celebrating Sabbath. We had come into this season where we were just exhausted, like running businesses and raising and homeschooling kids, like all of us, no matter our circumstances, face this very real human existence of fatigue. And so, we came to a place where rest was no longer optional. It was critical and vital.   And so, I'm living in these two realms of learning about nature while I'm learning about scripture. And then God is bringing us into deep rest. So, I started to ask the question, where do we see rest in scripture? And I found that it is everywhere. The roots of rest run deep and wide throughout scripture. And also asking, where do we see rest in creation in nature? And it's also everywhere there that God designed all these cycles and these rhythms and all of his plants and creatures, even the ones that we think of as so frenetic and busy that God designed them to thrive through rest.   Laura Dugger: (6:55 - 7:04) And will you give a specific example then of something in nature as it's so apparent that it's designed for rest?   Eryn Lynum: (7:04 - 8:28) Definitely. Let's focus on one of those ones that we often think of as really busy, the hummingbird. I opened the book with the analogy of a hummingbird because when you think about a hummingbird, what do you picture in your mind?   Laura Dugger: (7:17 - 7:19) Busy, constant movement in and out.   Eryn Lynum: (7:20 - 8:28) Yeah, exactly. Like they have to visit between 1,000 and 2,000 flowers every day to get all the nectar that they need. And so, they are always like here and there in the next place. And they look like this little thing just zipping through the air and you can't even see their wings beating because they can be up to 70 times a second. It's this blur of motion. And we think about that little hummingbird, and we can sometimes feel like that little hummingbird just zipping from one thing to the next, thinking there's no time to stop.   But the hummingbird does stop. It has a very strategic method of rest called torpor. And torpor is kind of like a mini hibernation where the little bird is going to go into this deep state of rest. It lowers its body temperature by around 50 degrees and becomes completely unresponsive. And this is a regular thing that the hummingbird does, and it enables it to continue its God-given, good, busy, fruitful work. So, it's this picture of, you know, busyness is not bad. God created us for fruitful work, but it's all meant to be sustained through deep, rhythmic, intentional rest.   Laura Dugger: (8:28 - 9:06) I mean, immediately that makes me think of the weeks, even that I'm most productive, I've probably prioritized my sleep the best of it. And if I get great sleep, even if it's extra hours, that doesn't take away from the rest of the day. That probably makes my time even multiplied.   Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I love, you point out so many times how God just clearly designed his creation to enjoy this gift of rest. So, you mentioned some of the nature parts. What about some of the foundational scriptural truths on this topic?   Eryn Lynum: (9:07 - 11:52) Yeah, well, of course, where's the first place that we get the idea of rest in the scripture? Yeah, exactly. So, God completes his work of creation and then he rests and he didn't need to rest. Isaiah 40:28 tells us that he, the creator of the world does not grow weary or tired.   I believe that one reason, and I talk about a couple of them in the book, but I believe that one main reason God rested was to stop and delight. That word Sabbath, it comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which can mean to both stop and delight. Like think about God finishing his creative work, bringing, bringing everything from nothing. Ex nihilo is that theological term, everything from nothing. Creating not only the animals and the plants, but the textures and the math and the shapes and the like everything he needed to make these things. And I imagine he just wanted to stop and enjoy it. I can even picture him going through creation and listening to the birds and taking in the colors and the shapes of the clouds.   What a beautiful reminder to us, because I know for myself, I'm so prone to just run from one thing to the next, like check it off the list. What's next? But here God is modeling for us. Stop delight, praise him for what he just allowed us to accomplish, to create, to do before rushing on to the next thing.   And so, we get that first mentioned there at creation, but then think about when Sabbath was actually established, there's a framework, there's a structure it's Exodus 16. And the context here is the Israelites. They're doing what they do. They're wandering and grumbling. They're hangry and God shows mercy to them in the form of quail and manna, but he has very specific instructions for them. He says for six days, you shall gather it, but not on the seventh day. Don't go out. It is a solemn day, a Holy Sabbath to the Lord.   That's the first mention of Sabbath, that word in scripture, but consider the Israelites. They had no context for what God was calling them to do. Surely they could think back to the creation story. Okay. God worked and then rested, but they had very little idea of what he was asking them to do. This was an act of faith. God was saying, stop gathering, trust me.   And this is so hard for us because like we are so prone to gather, gather, gather, do produce work more out of this scarcity mindset. But this picture is showing God is a God of abundance and his math works. When we trust him to be the provider, not ourselves. And we take that risk on rest. He provides abundantly through it.   Laura Dugger: (11:53 - 12:05) Absolutely. And within this gift then of rest, how can rest actually reorder and re-energize our lives?   Eryn Lynum: (12:05 - 14:03) I love this question because throughout the book, we talk a lot about reordering and creating margins. So, we can rest and reprioritizing. You know, it's so interesting when we look at the creation narrative, where we get that first mention of rest, because it's backwards to what we normally think.   Think about this. God created for six days and then he rested. Adam, the first human was created on that sixth day. So, Adam's first full day was a day of arrest, dedicated to rest. And in this, we see that God worked and then rested. But we, humanity, we were always meant to begin from rest.   And you see that even in the Hebrew tradition of a day, their day begins at evening. Their day doesn't start with, let's get up and get to work. Their day starts with, let me go to rest to get ready for the work. So, first we have to reorder our concept of rest, not see it as a reward. Oh, I'm going to work, work, work, get all the things done so that maybe I can rest this weekend or on vacation, or when the kids are out of the house or in retirement, that's backwards to the biblical framework. We are meant to begin from rest.   So, starting there. And as we do that, my family has found after sabbathing for three and a half years now, everything else kind of falls into place. And that happens when you operate by God's design. You know, rest allows us to tend to the most important things. Those deep values, whether like that should be of course, faith and family. So, getting clear on your values is really important. Like what is most important to your family faith? Maybe it's community generosity. Maybe it's physical health, mental health, all these things do better. And we have more time to tend to them when we first make room and space for rest.   Laura Dugger: (14:04 - 16:28) And now a brief message from our sponsor.    With over 1,700 apartment units available throughout Pekin, Peoria, Peoria Heights, Morton and Washington. And with every price range covered, you will have plenty of options when you rent through Leman Property Management Company.   They have townhomes, duplexes, studios, and garden style options located in many areas throughout Pekin. And make sure you check out their newest offering, the McKinley located in Pekin is a new construction addition to their platinum collection featuring nine foot ceilings, large spacious layouts, beautiful finishes, such as courts, countertops, and garages. You won't want to miss this outstanding new property in Peoria, a historic downtown location and apartments adjacent to OSF Medical Center provide excellent choices.   Check out their brand new luxury property in Peoria Heights, overlooking the boutique shops and fine dining on prospect. And in Morton, they offer a variety of apartment homes with garages, a hot downtown location, and now a brand new high-end complex near Idlewood Park. If you want to become part of their team, contact them about open office positions.   They're also hiring in their maintenance department. So, we invite you to find out why so many people have chosen to make a career with them. Check them out on Facebook today or email their friendly staff at leasing@lemanprops.com. You can also stop by their website at lemanproperties.com, check them out and find your place to call home today.   It never ceases to amaze me how God's economy and his math are just different. Sometimes upside down from ours, but I feel like when you're speaking, it reminds me of Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” So, if we actually obey, I think there are so many blessings that we can enjoy from this gift of rest. So, you're talking about our values. Then what can this look like to daily align our activities with our deepest values?   Eryn Lynum: (16:30 - 18:30) Yes, this is an ongoing practice because the enemy is always trying to distract us from what is most important. And that word there is key distract. And so, first we have to learn to identify those distractions, the things that are pulling us away from what is most important, but you know, getting to those core values and on my website, I have, my husband and I developed a family values guide that helps you step by step to really figure out what are our deepest values.   So, that's erinlynum.com/values. But really what it is, is this practice of getting clear on God's best for, for us and for our families and for those around us and, and making sure that we are aligning and realigning because it's going to get out of alignment, those values with God's agenda. You know, a lot of days I just start my day with a restful pause.   I call them in the book, Selah pauses. And I am quite literally, I am sitting before the Lord, my eyes closed and my hands just up in this posture of surrender and receiving. And I will say, Lord, I am surrendering my own agenda, my own expectations for this day. And I want to receive your power, your presence, your peace. And then throughout the day, just taking those checks.   Like I practice these daily Selah pauses and moments of rest because think about Selah in the Psalms. It can mean to pause, to contemplate, to redirect. And we need to do that often because as a day goes on, I think we lose energy and focus. You know, at the beginning of the day, we might feel really like focused. And this is what I'm getting done today. And that can waver like that can wane out as the day goes on. And so, constantly just checking back in.   Okay, Lord, what is it you have for me to do today? And how do I tend to those most important things? But you have to take that restful pause to be able to do that.   Laura Dugger: (18:31 - 18:46) That's good reminder. Okay. So, to check back in with the Lord and then can you give another example of one family and what their value is and how they live that out in their daily life. And maybe even what requires us to say no to.   Eryn Lynum: (18:47 - 20:15) Ooh, that's a fantastic question. Hmm. Can it be for my own family or do you want me to give them love it from your own family?   Okay. I was asked this question recently. Someone asked me, how do you make time to be outside as a family? One of our core family values is to be out exploring in God's creation. And this has been harder in different seasons. And we have two middle schoolers now, you know, we are, we have a lot going on.   And so, it can very quickly happen where at the end of the day, we're like, wow, we really didn't spend much time outdoors today, but how we prioritize this is you do have to say no to other things. So, we're a homeschooling family. And just as an example, it can be very tempting to feel like, am I doing enough? Am I teaching them enough? We need to check off all these boxes and get the lessons done. And it's constantly surrendering that and realizing, you know, I know that our value of being outdoors is important to God. I know that he is meeting my children there. He is meeting me there. He is giving us rest and rejuvenation there.   So, trusting with that, again, going back to the Israelites, stop gathering, stop checking off all the boxes, stop trying to provide and meet your own expectations. And instead stay super focused on what God has called you to and ruthlessly get rid of the rest, anything that's keeping you from that.   Laura Dugger: (20:16 - 20:36) I love that personal example. Thank you for sharing. And how can we also in our own families or in our own life, how can we distinguish which activities are vital for the abundant life in Christ that he offers so that we don't settle for less?   Eryn Lynum: (20:38 - 22:46) I love that you bring up that, that term, the abundant life. In John 10:10, that Christ came, that we might have life and life abundantly overflowing to the fullest, like brimming over is what that word means. And that scripture also says the enemy comes to steal and kill and destroy.   And I believe that one of the enemy's biggest schemes and methods for that is to send us into hurry and hustle mode. And he does that through distraction and discontent. And so, so much of this is pressing back against distraction and discontent and getting back to how God created us to thrive.   And again, I believe that that is through this, this gift of rest. You know, you talk about, you asked about settling for less. The enemy is going to put a million things in our life that would cause us to want to settle for less.   Let me give you an example of him trying to distract us. There was a recent weekend where we were coming up on the weekend, and I had several friends reach out and ask about me doing these things like these different opportunities coming our way. Like, do you want to do this? Do you want to do this? And each of them were for on Saturday and that's usually when our family Sabbaths. And so, I had this tension because these were good things.   It's hard to say no to a good thing, but I kept feeling again and again, the Lord saying, no, rest with your family, rest with your family. And it was so sweet because come Saturday morning, I was out on our back deck sipping coffee with my husband for hours, having incredible conversations, reading great books. The kids are playing in the yard.   Several times I caught myself thinking, I almost said no to this by saying yes to other things. And again, they were good things. This life is full of good things, but God's rest is one of the best things for our families. So, it's learning to be okay with saying no to those good things. So, you can say yes to that better thing.   Laura Dugger: (22:48 - 23:17) Examples are so helpful. And that requires a level of discernment and going to the Lord to ask him, but I'm wondering if you even have a system in place for how you discern that, or is it a gut piece that you follow or any practical ways that each of us can discern what's the right kind of busy that's good. And what's the wrong kind of busy and the things that we want to say no to.   Eryn Lynum: (23:18 - 25:05) Yeah. Going back to, again, busy is not bad. God created us for fruitful work, but I think, you know, when we are following Christ and God's spirit is within us, he's going to give us that sense of this is the right kind of busy.   This is the wrong kind of busy. And practically, you know, if it has any notion of distraction, like if you're doing this thing to just distract you or to procrastinate on better things, if it has a note of busyness, you know, some people will be like, well, some people, the enemy makes us want to think that sitting on our phones can be restful because you're not technically doing much of anything, but that distraction is stealing God's true gift of rest for us.   And so, you know, our family, as we practice Sabbath throughout the week, I know that come Saturday, we have a full day of rest. And sometimes it's tempting to add a little work into there, to let it seep out of those edges of the work week and kind of into our Sabbath. And as you practice this more and more and begin just ruthlessly protecting that time, whether it's a full day, whether you start with a half day, God is going to make you more sensitive to those things. Because sometimes I'll like work it out in my mind, like, oh, this isn't work. And really like it's definitely, it's definitely trying to serve my work during the work week.   And God is saying, no, like step away from that and allow me to refresh and rejuvenate your spirit so that when you go back to the work, you do so much more powerfully energized, restful, and ready to do that work to the very best of your ability with God's power.   Laura Dugger: (25:07 - 25:36) That reminds me of a previous guest I'll link to. He did two episodes, but Jeff Henderson just said he's a pastor too. And he said, sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.   I would agree on that, which you've kind of been sharing a little glimpses of your family's experience with Sabbath, but let's just zero in on Sabbath and I'll just try and go through a series of questions. But first what's the importance of Sabbath?   Eryn Lynum: (25:37 - 26:55) Well, first God commands it. Like if God commanded it, then surely it's important, but that can also sometimes cause us to get a little legalistic about it. What is it? What isn't it? Well, it is meant to be a gift, meant to be a blessing. It's meant to empower us and what God created us for and calls us to.   And so, keeping that just center, this is meant to be a gift, but we see it all throughout scripture, the importance of rest and rest in God's design. It's celebration. Like it's not idleness. It's not doing nothing. Although sometimes like that's the most beneficial way that we can rest. Like you talked about a nap.   I love a good nap on Sabbath, but also it can be energizing activities, inspiring activities. I also love a good long walk on Sabbath. Sometimes I love cooking with fresh ingredients and working on a meal during Sabbath because I don't get much opportunity to do that during the week. Sometimes I love going out and working in the garden because that's life giving and I don't have time to do that throughout the week. And so, getting back to this concept, this idea of Sabbath and rest are celebratory. Like when we do it well as a family, it feels like a mini vacation every week.   Laura Dugger: (26:56 - 27:15) Ooh, I love that. My husband said that before about date night and I connect with that, that it's a little mini reprieve, a mini vacation each week. But then that leads me to the question because I bet so many people share their Sabbath activities with you. What do families actually do on this day of rest?   Eryn Lynum: (27:16 - 31:46) Yeah, that's a great question. And first I'll say that it should look different from family to family. We are all in unique seasons. We have different stories, different scenarios. Again, if you can't start with the full day, now I strongly believe strive and work toward that full day. That's God's design.   And we've seen the most blessing from that. But if you have to start smaller with a half day with four hours, start there. So, it's going to look different. If you have newborns, like a newborn child, it's going to look different and that's okay. No going into it, that it's going to be messy. Hebrews says strive toward rest, work toward rest. It's so counter-cultural. We have to work toward it. So, just going in, knowing these things is very helpful.   It's also going to grow, adapt, and change throughout the seasons. Our family has seen that. But a typical Sabbath for our family right now is we follow the traditional Friday evening to Saturday evening for the most part. Some people ask me, why not Sunday? Isn't Sunday the Sabbath? Well, for us, Sunday is set aside for church community and fellowship and corporate worship. And that's so life-giving to our souls. But by the time I get home from church and I'm making lunch for the family, like I'm not rested physically. So, we needed a separate day set aside for rest.   And so, Friday afternoon, we start preparing where we're going to band together and just pick up the house, get it ready, wash all the dishes and just start preparing our hearts, our minds, our bodies, our home for rest. And then we start Friday evening with communion as a family, just breaking bread and celebrating what Christ did on our behalf. And again, that, that idea of celebrate, and this marks it as special. Okay. We're heading into Sabbath. Some families will like light a white candle for Sabbath, just really marking it. And then we have, we toast to the week. So, we'll pour sparkling juice and just toast and say, “Hey, what did we see God do this week?” Like going back to that idea of stop and delight, we are setting a hard stop to the week. We are delighting. What did we see God do? What did he help us overcome? What can we thank Him for from this past week? And then we'll do an easy dinner. Think tacos, take and bake pizza spaghetti.   We use paperware, which is a bit controversial since I work as a master naturalist, but it has been an easy button for Sabbath that I'm not worried about like dishes piling up on the counter. And then we'll, we'll wrap it up with a sweet treat like ice cream and then our kids go to bed, or they'll listen to audio books. Audio books have been massive for our Sabbath because they're screen-free because we do put away all screens and work like devices on Sabbath, but they can listen to good books.   And my husband and I, we read, like people ask me, when do you find time to read? You don't find time to read. You have to make time to read. And for us, that's on the Sabbath mostly. And then Saturday we sleep in, we get up pretty early during the week and the kids just know like you don't wake mom and dad on the Sabbath. Like that's their day to sleep in.   Again, if you have a newborn or young children, that's gonna look different and that's okay. But for us, that's the season that we're in and our kids, they'll make themselves first breakfast and then eventually we'll get up and we'll join them for a second breakfast or some Sabbath. I don't want to cook at all. And so, it's just take and forage. And you know, I usually have a grocery delivery the day before or go to the grocery store and make sure we just have a ton of good stuff in the house. So, no one's, you know, everyone has what they need.   Then the rest of the day, it is just a day of delight. Reading books, playing games, being out in creation, visiting with neighbors, having great conversations together. Sabbath is this space where you get to do all those things during the week that you're like, oh, I wish I had time for that and you just don't get to them. Like recently my daughter during the week, she really wanted me, she's seven. She wanted me to sit down and watercolor paint with her, which I love doing, but it was a really busy week. And I just didn't have the space.   And so, I told her like, “Hey, I would love to do that. Can we do that on Sabbath?” And she was so happy with that answer. And come that Sabbath a few days later, she remembered, she came up to me. She's like, mom, it's time to paint. And she got all the supplies, and we went and sat outside at our picnic table and painted for the afternoon.   You know, Sabbath does so much for me as a mom to remove that guilt of the things I don't feel like I have time for because I know, and my kids know, Sabbath is coming and that's our day to be together and do those things.   Laura Dugger: (31:47 - 31:57) Hmm. Okay. That makes me curious. Then to how much of a vote does everyone in the family get for what Sabbath will look like?   Eryn Lynum: (31:57 - 34:02) Oh, that is a great question. No one's ever phrased it to me like that before. I love that. What we found that's been important to keep in mind is that we all individually find different things, restful and inspiring. I'll give you an example. One Sabbath, my husband, especially in the spring, he loves to work in the yard on Sabbath because he spends most of his week. He runs a construction company on the computer or on the phone. And so, in the spring, he wants to be out in the yard and trimming his fruit trees and just working with God's creation. And so, one Sabbath he comes and he has like the clippers in his hand and he's like, “Hey, let's go work on the yard.”   And I was like, that's great. You do that. I'm going to go read my book in the hammock. And I fell asleep for two hours while he worked on the yard. And so, a lot of this is being okay that yes, a lot of it's going to be together. Like I talked about, we did, we do communion together and we do meals together. And a lot of times we'll be out on a hike together. That's a favorite Sabbath activity. But a lot of times we're also doing separate activities.   The kids are enjoying their books or their audio books or their painting or their, uh, visiting the neighbor kids. And my husband and I are reading books on the back deck. And so, it's okay that there's going to be some together time and some separate time, you know, just being flexible with it. Like our first year of Sabbath, we went, we had to go like hardcore. We had to learn to stay. I think about in the book, I talk about the word abide meno in the Greek and it can mean to stay, to dwell, to remain.   So, we've spent our first year of Sabbath, not getting in the car. We stayed home and learned to just be home together. And after that year, we started to miss our time. We live in Colorado, missing our time hiking in the mountains. And so, we changed it. We said, okay, well, toward the end of Sabbath Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, let's go hike or let's go have a picnic in the wilderness. And just being open to that, that God's going to change you as a family and change you individually. And just growing up in a Sabbath practice together.   Laura Dugger: (34:03 - 34:20) I like the freedom that you're communicating there. And then when you mentioned the neighborhood kids, it makes me curious. Do you encourage community for some of those who recharge with other people? Would you recommend Sabbath thing with others or just keeping it your family?   Eryn Lynum: (34:21 - 36:16) Absolutely. We love inviting others into Sabbath. And it actually started with, we started our Sabbath practice. It was so sweet because God convinced us to do this. And then our first Sabbath was on January 1st. That happened to be the first Saturday that we did it. So, it was like this fresh start. And right around that time, we had moved to a new neighborhood. And our neighbors near us are Messianic Jews.   And they follow Shabbat, the traditional Shabbat. And they invited us into that. It was the sweetest evening, and they have children, young children, like we do. So, like there's chaos and there's mess. And then there's sweet times of singing together and scripture reading. And they follow it much more the traditional method than our family has.   But it was so sweet to be invited into that and to get a picture for how to invite others into this rest. And so, absolutely, we encourage, especially our kids having friends over. And we do usually ask parents, hey, can you drop them off? And then we can bring them back maybe like later that day toward the end of our Sabbath. Or if you want to come pick them up. Because again, we like to just stay home if we can.   But our kids are to the point now too where they can ride their bikes over to friends' houses. And we're fine with that. They might not be home on Sabbath once in a while. It's not a regular thing. But they're getting fed. And we know that the people they're with are people who share our values, people that we do life together.   We love having bonfires in the backyard on Sabbath. Now one thing I have to be careful of is I don't want to invite people over and feel like I need to host or clean up first. And so, for one, we don't have full families over a whole lot on Sabbath because I just don't want any sort of self-induced, self-imposed pressure.   But sometimes it's so much fun to just be like, hey, let's go meet at a park and have a picnic dinner. Or let's have a family over and do a bonfire. Just making sure that you're keeping it really, really simple if you are going to incorporate community.   Laura Dugger: (36:17 - 37:54) Guess what? We are no longer an audio-only podcast. We now have video included as well. If you want to view the conversation each week, make sure you watch our videos. We're on YouTube, and you can access videos or find answers to any of your other questions about the podcast when you visit thesavvysauce.com.   Some of these things, like you said, “They do require forethought where you have the groceries coming or certain things in place. And I think you even refer to it as a sacred striving.” So, it's important for us to learn more about that. And here's a quick story.   I just remember we've moved states quite a few times in marriage. But when I was a young mom, there was a mom in the next season of life, and she had more kids than we did. And we went to church together, and she was just like, “Oh, we learned about Sabbath. That's not a thing for moms with multiples.” And I always wrestled with that, and I love her. She's a wonderful person. Maybe she's even changed her stance on that, so it's not to speak ill of her. But I do think that we can struggle with that because that's not an actual truth. I do think that's a message from the enemy.   So, I guess this is a two-part question. How do we protect ourselves from buying into a storyline that is not true that may hold us back from Sabbath? And then also, what is kind of the both and? It's both restful, and it requires a lot of work up front to make this a reality.   Eryn Lynum: (37:55 - 41:19) It does, and knowing that, that it is going to take work, but God's going to bless it. Think about Isaiah 55:10-11, that says, “Just like the rain and the snow go forth and produce life and bring forth life from the land, so my work goes out and does not return void or empty. It produces that which I sent it out for.”.   That is true for Sabbath and rest because, again, we find it all throughout scripture. So, know that it's going to take hard work, but God will not allow it to return void. He will bless our efforts as we step into His design that He created us for.   I talk about in the book a few ways that you have to prepare mentally, physically, and spiritually. So, mentally, for me, I have to just totally remove anything mentally that's going to distract me from rest. So, I own a business, and so a lot of my work is on the computer and on the phone. I will answer, so this is like Friday, I'll answer any lingering emails, those ones that are going to be on my mind if I don't get to them. And then I put an away message on my email. So, if anyone emails me on our Sabbath, it sends an automatic reply that says, hey, thanks for your message. My family's resting. It has a little blurb in there about Sabbath. I'll get back to you in the new week.   That gives me permission to not even look at my email. In fact, people expect that I'm not looking at my email if I'm keeping my word. And so, this has just freed me up mentally to step away, and then I literally put my laptop in my closet.   With my phone, I set it to a Sabbath mode, and you can create these different focus modes if you have a smartphone, so that I can only receive messages from my mom in case of emergency. And our people, our friends, they all know this now. Like, oh, I'm not going to hear back from Erin because it's Saturday for the most part.   And so, these little things that you might just need to mentally prepare yourself. And then physically, that goes back to preparing our home. So, this is not a deep clean that we do prior to Sabbath. It's just tending to the things that are going to distract me if we don't get to them beforehand. So, again, washing all the dishes and having the kitchen clean, vacuuming. Like, that's like just a hack to make the house feel clean is I feel like it's clean if it's vacuumed.   So, just these little things, and then physically also doing that grocery order. And I have a free Sabbath guide on my website, erinlynum.com/family-sabbath. And it walks you through creating your Sabbath grocery list so that every week you have what you need in the house. These little things that truly make it, Sabbath easier and more successful.   And then preparing spiritually, going into this, like a lot of times I'll know, okay, I'm going to study this on Sabbath. For our first year, I just had like this stack of books on Sabbath that I would work through on our Sabbath. Right now, I am parked in Genesis 1 and have been for weeks. And so, just preparing spiritually, you know, this is a time of communion with our creator, with our heavenly father. And so, just having an idea of, you know, this is how I want to spend time delighting in God on the Sabbath.   That might be a long walk. That might be time in the word or time of worship but making sure that that is a keystone part of your Sabbath practice.   Laura Dugger: (41:20 - 41:45) And, you know, it really is possible. I just think so many of us celebrate holidays and we do the same thing where we plan, prepare, prioritize ahead of time so that we can delight in that day. And what a gift to get to do that weekly. So, with all of these amazing benefits, why do we still resist God's design for rest?   Eryn Lynum: (41:46 - 43:00) Because we live in a fallen world, broken by sin, and the enemy wants to do everything he can to keep us from this. This is God's design and our faith, and our souls and our families flourish in this design. And so, the enemy is going to do whatever he can to keep us from it.   He's going to insert fear. He's going to insert distraction. He's going to insert doubt. You know, when we started this practice coming up to it, I was thinking, there's no way, like how are we going to get everything done in one last day a week, all these doubts. And yet what we found so quickly is that as we took this step of faith, we quickly became so much more productive and effective and creative during the work week, because we were starting from rest and following God's design.   We resist this because it is counter-cultural. Everything in society is set up against us doing this and succeeding in this. So, again, going and knowing that our war is not against flesh and blood. It is against the powers of the spheres, like things unseen. The enemy is against us, but God is on our side. And as we step into his design, he's going to make much of it.   Laura Dugger: (43:01 - 43:12) Okay. So, if we are convinced and we want to give this a try, what is a practical first step to just obeying this and receiving this gift of rest?   Eryn Lynum: (43:13 - 45:23) Yeah, super practical here. Two first steps. The first is to set a day and time. Now you're not committing to this forever. And again, if you, if a big hesitancy here is I can't do a full day. Okay. Work and pray toward that but start smaller. If it's four hours on a Wednesday, guard that time. Ruthlessly guard it. Don't let anything be written on the schedule besides that.   So, set a day in time and then write two lists. This is going back to the idea of stop and delight, right? Your stop list. These are things that send you into hurry and hustle mode, things that are related to normal work, things that feel heavy. Some of them are so important.   Again, our work is important, but this is going to be things like devices, media, regular work, answering emails, phone calls. It might be driving in traffic. It might be spending money. Write down those things that feel heavy. That's your stop list. The things you're not going to entertain on that day or that time.   And then write your delight list. This might be hard at first because what I've found with myself, with many of us is that we forget what we delight in but causes that childlike sense of play and wonder. This is learning to be human again, coming back to those things.   So, it might be playing music or listening to music, working with fresh ingredients, reading a good book, writing by hand, watercolor painting, going for a walk. What we find is that a lot of people who spend time during the week in front of a computer want to be outdoors on the Sabbath, but people who run a landscaping company might want to be inside with a great book. So, just writing down those things that are, again, those things that you think during the week, oh, I really wish I could get to that.   Only we don't. Those are your delight list. So, now you have a day and a time. You know what you're not going to do, what you're setting aside, even physically, that should probably most definitely be your phone. Stick it in a drawer. I have my Sabbath drawer where I put my phone, and then you know what you're going to do and spend that day on.   Laura Dugger: (45:24 - 45:47) That's so good. And for those who have been listening for a while, they could even put their phone in their RO box, and I could link to that episode as well with Joey Odom. That's incredible about where our phone could be in its right place.   But Eryn, are there any other practical benefits that we might be missing out on that you've seen as a result of this Sabbath rest?   Eryn Lynum: (45:48 - 49:44) One of my favorite benefits is how it unlocks our creativity. Whether you work in a career or position that you consider creative or not, God designed all of us to be creative, to produce. And so, what I have found is that my work, my work is very in that creative sphere, writing books, creating podcast lessons for children.   It's very creative work. And I've found that Sabbath is this day where God gives my mind rest. It's so incredible thinking about how he wired our brains to thrive through rest, and science points to that that a restful mind is better at problem-solving, connecting ideas, remembering details.   And so, as my mind is allowed to rest on Sabbath, and I'm out on a walk in nature, or I'm reading a good book, or I'm writing by hand, when it comes time to sit down at the computer Monday morning, I am ready. I am flowing with ideas. They are there.   And I'll give you an example. This one isn't from Sabbath. It's from one of my daily rest rhythms that I call Selah Pause, and that's a walk in the morning. And this might be a little controversial, but this is not an easy stroll. I have my rucking pack on, and I'm trekking up a hill, which is not physically restful, of course, but it's mentally restful for me. I love it.   And so, it was in January, so it's frigid out, and everything's covered in snow, and I'm in all my snow gear, and I'm trudging up this hill. And at the time, I was dealing with a problem in my podcast where it was a good problem. We had spent the month teaching about God's designs in the human body. So, we had taught kids about God's designs in cells and DNA and the heart and the brain, but I didn't want to just let this series end. I wanted to wrap it up in some powerful way, and I didn't know how. So, I could have stayed home that morning and hashed this out and been at the computer, and how should I end this thing?   Instead, I went on this walk, and God just dropped this idea in my mind. And it was this idea. He said, ask the kids how they are wonderfully made. And that was the top. The theme was wonderfully made. And so, I put it out there to my email list. When I got back from that walk, I said, hey, I would love to hear how you kids believe you are wonderfully made by the creator. And I opened up this little voice mailbox on our website, and I didn't know if anyone would respond. And then I'm like, what if they don't? And then I don't know what to do because I said I'm going to do this thing.   I tell you, message after message came in from children from ages. I think it was three or four up to 14 from all over the world. And I was weeping as I edited that episode. I had planned to add something at the beginning and the end to build out this episode. I didn't do that because it was, I believe it's 22 minutes straight of children saying, this is my name.   I'm five years old. I live in England and I'm wonderfully made because God made me to read well or God made me fast. Or one little boy shared, he said, I know I'm wonderfully made because my mama lost a baby before me. And I'm here and I'm wonderfully made. And I'm weeping.   And this idea that God gave me, I would have missed it if I hadn't taken that pause to be out in his creation walking that day. And so, that's a very roundabout way to get back to your question of what are the other benefits? We hear from God when we make time for rest. And if we keep just rushing and hurrying, I'm concerned that we are walking by so many opportunities to hear from his spirit and to let him unlock that potential within us.   Laura Dugger: (49:45 - 50:22) Oh, I love that. And I'm even reminded of one other thing that you write in your book that today, one way we can practically experience his original design of rest is by stepping outside. And you're full of tips and ideas like that, but I so appreciate those stories.   So, you've equipped us with this foundation of rest and ways that we can prepare for it, how we can enjoy and delight in it. And so now, Eryn, how can we reflect well on our rhythms of work and rest?   Eryn Lynum: (50:25 - 53:19) So, much of this is reflection. So, much of this is stopping to consider where God is at work in our lives, where we need to recalibrate, where we need to realign, where we need to step back into his pace because we're trying to run ahead of him. And one way that we can see it, you know, like you might ask the question, am I at rest? Even me sometimes on Sabbath, I'm like, am I doing this right? Like, is this actually restful? Is this what I'm supposed to be doing?   I think we can answer that question by the fruit in our lives, the fruit inside of us that God is producing and the fruit that we are producing. So, one thing I kind of sum up the book on is this question of, are you growing in truth and love? Because the enemy, when he gets us away from God's rest and into hustle, into distraction and hurry, we are not fully experiencing God.   And so, our levels of experiencing his love and offering it to others is going to suffer. Our experience of hearing his truth and living that truth out in our lives is going to suffer. And so, the opposite is true that as we live at rest, this whole concept of abide, that is living at rest, not just these rest practices, but living at rest in God's restful presence, we are going to be producing more love and more truth.   So, that's like a key visual. And then I love on that idea of abide. We spent a whole week on abide in the book and, you know, John chapter 15 being the abide passage. And what we see there is there's these 11 mentions of that word abide. And they all refer to us abiding in Christ, Christ abiding in us, God's word abiding in us. So, all this connectivity between Christ and God and us and his word.   But then it's, I think it's verse 16. There's a different mention of meno, abide. And it says that he wants us to go out and produce fruit that abides. So, this is different. It relates to our fruit and that word abide. Yes, it can mean dwell, remain, stay, but it can also mean continue and endure.   God created us to produce fruit and fruit that endures. Doesn't rot, doesn't fade, but continues into eternity. So, we can look at, okay, am I personally in my spirit? Am I growing in truth and love? Because God's spirit actually has the space to minister to me when I rest. And is that rest directly affecting the fruit of my life?   These are key things that we can look at and ask to see. Are we truly living from God's rest?   Laura Dugger: (53:19 - 53:53) I love questions so much. And that's so good to reflect then on the fruit that's being produced. And a mentor many years ago said, you never reap what you sow in the same season. So, that's a great place to even begin just reflecting. What did we do in the past season and what fruit are we reaping now? And where do we want to go then from here?   And one place we could go from here after this chat is to follow you. And you've mentioned your podcast. Do you want to elaborate on all the places that you're available?   Eryn Lynum: (53:54 - 55:03) Yes, thank you. So, the new book, The Nature of Rest is available wherever you get your books, along with my second book, Rooted in Wonder: Nurturing Your Family's Faith Through God's Creation. And that's all about taking our kids or grandkids, the next generation outside and reconnecting the dots between creation and creator. Really returning nature study and time outdoors to its proper place as theology and the study of God.   So, those are available anywhere, including Amazon or my website, which is my name, erynlynum.com. And then my podcast is Nat Theo, short for Natural Theology. It's nature lessons rooted in the Bible. It's a podcast for kids and families where we dive deep into science and all the design and intelligence we see in creatures and plants. And we tie it all back to biblical truth so that our kids are learning science and theology at the same time.   And that's available on any podcast platform, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, right on my website, erinlynum.com, as well as YouTube. We actually provide visuals so you can watch what you're learning about as well.   Laura Dugger: (55:04 - 55:22) So, incredible. We will add links to that in the show notes for today's episode. And Eryn, you may already be familiar. We're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?   Eryn Lynum: (55:24 - 56:34) I love this question. And this is one that actually I was like, oh, I'm not asked this much. I'm going to have to really think deeply on this one.   It's get outside every day. That seems so simple, even though it's not really simple in practicality. But one thing I've learned through rest and through time outdoors is that 10 minutes matters. Like if you think I don't have time for this, but you have a 10 minute slot, go for a walk and see how God just communes with your spirit. Even in the dead of winter, if you live somewhere cold, like if it's safe to do so. For me, I had to buy like the best pair of snow pants I could find because I used to really dislike the winter. And I would just become like really down in those winter months.   And so, God just convinced me, don't go outside every single day if it's for 10 minutes. And then pretty often he just extends that. Like I think I'm going out for 10 minutes. And sure enough, I'm like playing with my kids outside. It's much longer.   But yeah, as best as you can, just prioritize that. If you have to do it first thing in the morning to make sure it happens, go for a walk and watch the sunrise. And God is going to minister to your soul through his creation.   Laura Dugger: (56:35 - 56:54) Amen. Amen. That is so good.   And this conversation has been so rich. Eryn, it is just very clear you have filled up on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you have just poured out goodness and love and truth for all of us, all over all of us today. So, thank you for all that you shared. And thank you for being my guest.   Eryn Lynum: (56:55 - 57:03) Thank you. Thank you so much for that encouragement. That means a whole lot to me. So, thank you. And for the opportunity for a great conversation.   Laura Dugger: (57:03 - 1:03:10) I really enjoyed it.    One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Leveraging social media to grow your audience and building a community through your website with Danny Dobrzenski from Cooking in the Yard. ----- Welcome to episode 534 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danny Dobrzenski from Cooking in the Yard.  From Pandemic Hobby to Full-Time Hustle with Danny Dobrzenski In this week's episode, Bjork interviews Danny Dobrzenski, a food creator who turned a pandemic hobby into a full-time content career. After getting laid off in April 2020, Danny took a leap of faith and leaned into sharing his cooking journey online. With some serious hustle and smart use of platforms like Instagram and Facebook (particularly Facebook!), he built an engaged audience and started landing brand deals that helped turn his passion into a paycheck. Danny also reveals what it really takes to grow as a creator, from staying consistent with content to learning how to navigate ever-changing social media algorithms. He discusses how delegating and “buying back time” helped him scale and why building a strong creator community is at the heart of everything he does. Now, he's launching a new project to help other creators do the same: monetize their content and grow with intention! Three episode takeaways: From hobby to full-time hustle: Danny started his food creation journey during the pandemic as a hobby and then grew it into a full-time job (the dream!). He shares how a mix of taking a leap of faith, landing brand deals, and leveraging social media helped him make the transition. The power of having “home base”: While social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are great for reaching new people, Danny stresses the importance of having a central hub, like a website, to drive traffic and build a strong community. Helping others win: With his new project, Danny is now focused on helping other creators navigate the tricky world of monetization. He's passionate about sharing his knowledge and building a supportive community to help others succeed. Resources: Cooking in the Yard Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Y Combinator Meta Business Suite Raptive Grocers List Pinterest YouTube The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel Check out Danny's latest venture — Trust Me, Try It Episode 89 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: 9 million visitors & 450 contributors: the Story of Her View From Home with Leslie Means Follow Danny on Facebook and Instagram Be sure to join us for our Live Q&A with Ben Jabbawy from Grocers List happening on Thursday, September 25th! Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Yoast and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

This week, I speak with Cara Blondo. Whether through teaching Bible studies, speaking to groups in person or online, or writing devotional and other Christ-centered resources, Cara is passionate about helping women connect Biblical truth to their everyday lives. A contributor to YouVersion and featured on Proverbs 31, (in)courage, Her View From Home, and other popular sites, she loves to help women shift their perspective in order to know Christ as their one thing desired (Psalm 27:4). When Cara isn't studying or sharing what she's learned from God's Word, you can find her at her favorite place (the beach at sunset) with her favorite people (her husband and their four children). Cara would love to connect online at “The One Thing Desired” or on Facebook and Instragram as well as YouVersion and through her podcast entitled “Perspective Shifts.” We look at her childhood up to the present to find the beautiful thread of Jesus in her life. You won't want to miss this inspiring episode!https://theonethingdesired.com/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLQApJleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHg3GLHJWRluAZvxqJL8kl9jEShGzyJdR2daehe8eYLjg1tGB2Y28qkfGcBUw_aem_8UJHeKdgQhBIKKtw7dwjiQhttps://carablondo.myflodesk.com/q0249ke69z?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLQAIBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHozrkRlnui5GQ6FatHUbOoUGTrI_bKZEUlhUh6w0h5I2x_Qf_PJW47764Opg_aem_ctKzFRoZvKsSwlqLN_87Vg*Theme Music "Blessed Time" by Ketsa

On today's episode of Thriving Beyond Belief, Cheryl is joined by the incredibly inspiring Leslie Means — a wife, mama of three, former TV anchor, storyteller, and the founder of Her View From Home, a vibrant online community where women from all walks of life share their hearts and real-life stories. Leslie opens up about her journey from Nebraska farm girl and broadcast journalist to becoming a champion for women's voices across the country. What began as a simple dream with a few friends in 2012 has since grown into a nationwide movement of encouragement, faith, and authenticity. In this conversation, we talk about calling, creativity, motherhood, and the courage it takes to tell your story. Leslie shares the highs and lows of building a platform rooted in truth and vulnerability, and how God continues to guide her every step of the way. Whether you're in a season of transition or seeking deeper purpose, this episode is for you.

Send us a textSo proud to be in Feedspot's Top 100 Mental Health Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/mental_health_podcasts/Today's Heartlifting Episode:Something is stirring in the hearts of women across generations. That quiet voice urging us toward purpose beyond ourselves—toward becoming maternal presences in a world desperately needing wisdom, nurturing, and light.In this soul-stirring conversation, Leslie Means (founder of Her View From Home and author of "So God Made a Grandma") joins Janell to unpack what happens when women fully embrace their capacity to nurture those in their spheres of influence. Leslie's journey from Nebraska farm girl to creator of a platform reaching millions of women reveals the mysterious way divine whispers guide us when we're brave enough to listen."I just felt something else," Leslie shares, recounting the moment she left her broadcast journalism career despite its outward success. Through financial uncertainty, a third pregnancy, and moments of questioning, she followed what she describes as a "gut feeling"—that internal knowing that something more awaited. What emerged was a platform where thousands of women's stories have found a home, including one that literally saved a reader's life.The conversation takes a powerful turn when Leslie emotionally acknowledges what grounds her work: "I know that God loves me...if it all fails and goes away, I will be okay." This foundation of secure attachment—something Janell notes many women never experienced in their formative years—becomes the launching pad for authentic service rather than validation-seeking.Whether you're a grandmother, mother, or woman seeking to understand your unique influence, this episode illuminates the extraordinary impact of maternal presence. Through stories of intergenerational influence, Holocaust survival accounts preserved through storytelling, and research confirming women's unique role in family systems, a compelling invitation emerges: What would happen if women fully grasped their value and stepped confidently into their calling?As Janell powerfully concludes, "Watch out when women grasp that truth that they're loved, because a remarkable revolution will happen in all the right ways."Visit Leslie's community home: Her View From HomeOrder Leslie's books: So God Made a Mother and So God Made a GrandmotherSo proud to be in Feedspot's Top 100 Mental Health Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/mSupport the showBegin Your Heartlifter's Journey: Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online coaching center and meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide. Download the "Overcoming Hurtful Words" Study Guide PDF: BECOMING EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW Learn more about my books and work: Janell Rardon Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International

Have you wondered what it really means to be “called” as a writer? If you're confident that God has called you, then is it normal for the journey to feel difficult? Listen in on my conversation with international author Hadassah Treu as we talk about that topic and others. Hadassah Treu is an award-winning international writer, speaker, poet, and author of "Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings." As a contributing author to faith-based platforms like Proverbs 31 COMPEL Blog and 13 devotional and poetry anthologies, she loves encouraging people in life's dark valleys. Hadassah has been featured in The Upper Room, (In)Courage, Today's Christian Living, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Her View From Home, and many other popular sites and podcasts. Grab Hadassah's free book, “How to Overcome Disappointment,” and connect with her website.Website: https://onthewaybg.com/Join my community: https://subscribepage.io/joinmycommunityFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/onthewaybg/X: https://twitter.com/onthewaybgPinterest: https://www.pinterest.at/onthewaybg/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hadassahtreu-authorMedium: https://medium.com/@hadassah.treuAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Treu-Hadassah/The Purposeful Pen is a weekly podcast for Christian writers designed to help you build a writing life with eternal impact. Each week you'll hear practical tips and Biblical truth on topics such as improving your writing, honing your message, and managing your time. I always respond to listener emails and I'd love to hear from you! Amysimon@amylynnsimon.comDisclaimer: I believe in and approach life (and writing) from a distinctly evangelical Christian perspective, but some of my guests may not. When I interview a guest on a specifically spiritual topic, I do my best to know in advance that I can support their theological stances on the topics that relate to our interview. When the topic is not particularly spiritual, our theological views may differ. My interviewing of guests and providing links to their work does not necessarily indicate a complete theological endorsement of all their written work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amylynnsimon.substack.com

Grief isn't just about losing a loved one or experiencing life's biggest losses. In this episode, I sit down with Natasha Smith to explore the often-overlooked grief we carry in our everyday lives. From unmet expectations to life transitions, we discuss why acknowledging these losses matters and how we can find healing in the small moments. Whether you're navigating a major loss or simply feeling the weight of unspoken grief, this conversation will help you give yourself permission to process, heal, and move forward with grace. Natasha Smith is a certified grief educator, advocate, wife, mother, and former engineer turned homeschooler. Now a two-time published author and a native of North Carolina, she is also a speaker and podcaster, sharing stories on faith, family, and grief. Natasha's work has been featured in Propel Women, Influence Magazine, Her View from Home, Focus on the Family, TODAY Parents, and other online publications. She has contributed essays to books with Guideposts and in So God Made A Grandma, a new release from Her View From Home. Natasha's books, Can You Just Sit with Me: Healthy Grieving for the Losses of Life (September 2023, IVPress) and Black Woman Grief: A Guide to Hope and Wholeness (February 2025, IVPress), are available wherever books are sold.  Connect with her on social media @imnatashasmith. BOOK INFO: https://www.ivpress.com/black-woman-grief PRESS KIT: https://www.ivpress.com/Media/Default/Press-Kits/A0964-press.pdf EXCERPT: https://www.ivpress.com/Media/Default/Downloads/Excerpts-and-Samples/A0964-excerpt.pdf BIO: https://www.ivpress.com/natasha-smith Listen to her podcast and read her blog at imnatashasmith.com. Follow her on Twitter: @imnatashasmith     Connect with me: Dr. Zoe Shaw on Instagram Dr. Zoe Shaw on Facebook Dr. Zoe Shaw Website

Discover the way ahead at Indiana Wesleyan University. Learn more here. Purchase What Will You Teach Me here Get Arlene's book, Making Marriage Easier: How to love (and like) your spouse for life https://www.amazon.com/Making-Marriage-Easier-Love-Spouse/dp/0802433774/ Can you remember eating your grandma's homemade cookies, or going somewhere special with your grandpa? Grandparents are memory makers. Leslie Means joins us to talk about the wonderful role grandmas can have in family life. She's here to talk about her new book, So God Made a Grandma. In today's conversation, you'll learn about: 6:00 Encouraging your kids to make memories with their grandparents 8:05 Is it possible to be unhurried as a parent? 12:39 Grandma, you're so wise! 16:00 How can we warm up a cold relationship with our parents or grandparents? 22:00 The importance of creativity in motherhood 27:42 Putting parenting in perspective Leslie Means is founder and owner of the popular website Her View From Home, which features contributor stories on motherhood, marriage, faith, and grief. She is a former news anchor, a weekly columnist, an author of the national bestseller So God Made a Mother. She and her husband have 3 children. Learn more about Leslie Means and her new book collaboration, So God Made a Grandma https://herviewfromhome.com/so-god-made-a-grandma/ Follow Leslie on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/leslielmeans/ Learn more about the Legacy Coalition, a ministry for grandparents https://legacycoalition.com/ Get Arlene's book written with Dr. Gary Chapman, Grandparenting Screen Kids https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802420702 Get free date night ideas whether you have 15 minutes or one hour, small group questions for Making Marriage Easier and more https://makingmarriageeasier.com/ Have a question for Arlene to address on the podcast? Please email Arlene your questions and the topics you want covered on the show! Email speaking @ arlenepellicane.com Tickets on sale now! You're invited to Arlene's Parents Rising Conference in San Diego, September 6, 2025 http://parentsrisingconference.com/

Leslie Means - founder of Her View From Home - is here chatting about her NEW book So God Made a Grandma. It's a sweet book filled with stories from a wide variety of authors about their experiences with their grandma or as a grandma. In today's episode we are talking about grandmother figures and the impact they can have on our lives. Whether you've had a strong and positive matriarch in your life or not, this episode will leave you with encouragement! Shop our website: https://glamourfarms.com    Connect with The Podcast on IG: http://instagram.com/glamourfarms.thepodcast/    Connect with Glamour Farms on IG: http://instagram.com/shopglamourfarms     Connect with Haley on IG: http://instagram.com/haleyklockenga/  Connect with Leslie Means on IG: https://www.instagram.com/leslielmeans/ Connect with Her View From Home on IG: https://www.instagram.com/herviewfromhome Shop Refresh Beauty: https://glamourfarms.com/collections/refresh-beauty

Episode 108 - Testimony Series - Doors Only God Could Open This episode is a part of our December Testimony series. A series of short testimonies of times that God showed up upon set or in ways related to the film-industry.In this episode, Hannah Benson, a writer, actress, and content marketer, shares her journey. Raised in a creative, homeschooling family, Hannah recounts how her passion for faith-based films, like Courageous and Fireproof, stemmed from a young age. She sees her career as a testament to God's guidance and faithfulness, encouraging others to pursue their God-given dreams and remember the prayers God has answered.Bio:Hannah Benson is a writer, actress, and content marketer with a passion for telling stories glorifying God through film and the written word. As a writer, her work can be found in publications including The Rebelution, Her View From Home, and Inside Out Worldwide. Under the mentorship and guidance of George Escobar - Co-Producer, Co-Writer, and Co-Director of the feature film, "Alone Yet Not Alone"(Academy-Award nominated for Best Original Song), Hannah has written two novels and is currently pursuing publication. As an actor, she has portrayed a variety of onstage roles (including one which required her to learn an Indian accent). When she was 18 years old, Hannah auditioned for and landed a role in her first short film! "Long Sleeves" by Storm Storytelling went on to receive an award and garnered views on YouTube of 718K and climbing. More recently, she served as a grip and as a background actor on the set of the concept trailer for an upcoming feature film. Hannah also served on the marketing team for the Great American Prayer Event, working alongside former Senator and father of the Erwin Brothers, Hank Erwin; and George Escobar.Hannah's Website: https://www.hannahlbenson.com/Hannah on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahlbensonwritesHannah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahlbensonwrites/● FAFF Writers Retreat - Mexico: https://www.faffassociation.com/writers-retreat● Jaclyn's Book - In the Beginning, Middle and End: A Screenwriter's Observations of LIfe, Character, and God https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R7XS9V● VIP Producers Mentorship Program https://www.faffassociation.com/vip-producers-mentorshipThe Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers, talent agents, and distributors. It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association Support Faith & Family Filmmakers Our mission is to help filmmakers who share a Christian Worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. If you would like to assist with the costs of producing this podcast, you can help by leaving a tip.Get Email Notifications

In a world where our lives may not look as we envisioned, finding joy can be both challenging and transformative. What does it mean to embrace the reality of our stories? How can vulnerability help us find resilience and purpose? In this episode, Larry Sprung interviews Rachel Marie Martin, founder of FindingJoy.net and bestselling author, about her journey of self-discovery and empowerment. Rachel shares how she built a thriving online community by encouraging authenticity, vulnerability, and connection, especially for women and mothers. The conversation explores her insights on building joy, leveraging media, and staying connected to purpose, even through challenges. Rachel discusses:  Her entrepreneurial journey and the inception of FindingJoy.net Monetizing Facebook organically and building a thriving audience The power and necessity of maintaining authentic engagement in social media The viral impact of her quote and the universal appeal of its message The significance of embracing authenticity and vulnerability in storytelling  Her latest book, "Get Your Spark Back," and its transformational insights And more! Resources: Mitlin Financial   The JOY and Productivity Journal by Lawrence Sprung  Connect with Larry Sprung:  LinkedIn: Larry Sprung Instagram: Larry Sprung Facebook: Larry Sprung X (Twitter): Larry Sprung Connect with Rachel Marie Martin:  LinkedIn: Rachel Marie Martin Website: Finding Joy Facebook: Finding Joy About our Guest: Rachel believes in the power of the human spirit to overcome, thrive, and find deep joy and because of that she pours out her heart via these platforms: she is the writer behind the site FindingJoy.net and author of Get Your Spark Back,  Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood and a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her articles have been translated into over 25 languages, her site reaches millions of visitors per month and she has a robust, engaged Facebook community. Her content has been featured in The Today Show, Good Morning America,  NPR, The Huffington Post, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand,  John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Star Tribune, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity, Her View From Home, and many more. She speaks worldwide encouraging others to live each day with purpose and drive. Beyond that, she's a mom to seven and calls Nashville, Tennessee, her home. Disclosure: Guests on the Mitlin Money Mindset are not affiliated with CWM, LLC, and opinions expressed herein may not be representative of CWM, LLC. CWM, LLC is not responsible for the guest's content linked on this site.  

RACHEL MARIE MARTIN is an author, influencer, and speaker who believes in the power of the human spirit to overcome, to thrive, and to find deep joy. In 2008, these beliefs led her to start FindingJoy.net, a website and brand reaching millions of visitors each month and boasting over a million followers on social media. She authored The Brave Art of Motherhood and is a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her second book, Mom Enough, won the silver IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in the parenting and family category. Rachel's content has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Today Show, Star Tribune, Tiny Buddha, Inc Magazine, MOPS, Stuff New Zealand, John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity, Her View From Home, CafeMom, and many more. Her letter “Why Being a Mom is Enough” has been shared over 2.1 million times online. Her articles have been translated into over 25 languages. She speaks worldwide, encouraging moms and entrepreneurs to live each day with purpose and drive. Contact Rachel Marie Martin: my new book, "Get Your Spark Back" that is coming out on August 27. website is findingjoy.net facebook page is facebook.com/findingjoyblog Founder of: Finding Joy Finding Joy Community Author of: Mom Enough The Brave Art of Motherhood Dr. Kimberley Linert Speaker, Author, Broadcaster, Mentor, Trainer, Behavioral Optometrist Event Planners- I am available to speak at your event. Here is my media kit: https://brucemerrinscelebrityspeakers.com/portfolio/dr-kimberley-linert/ To book Dr. Linert on your podcast, television show, conference, corporate training or as an expert guest please email her at incrediblelifepodcast@gmail.com or Contact Bruce Merrin at Bruce Merrin's Celebrity Speakers at merrinpr@gmail.com 702.256.9199 Host of the Podcast Series: Incredible Life Creator Podcast Available on... Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/incredible-life-creator-with-dr-kimberley-linert/id1472641267 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6DZE3EoHfhgcmSkxY1CvKf?si=ebe71549e7474663 and on 9 other podcast platforms Author of Book: "Visualizing Happiness in Every Area of Your Life" Get on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3srh6tZ Website: https://www.DrKimberleyLinert.com The Great Discovery international eLearning platform: https://TheGreatDiscovery.com/kimberley

383. You Have a Fire Within You with Rachel Marie Martin, Finding Joy Rachel believes in the power of the human spirit to overcome, to thrive and to find deep joy and because of that she pours out her heart via these platforms: she is the writer behind the site FindingJoy.net and author of Get Your Spark Back (releasing 8/27/24),  Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood and a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her articles have been translated into over 25 languages, her site reaches millions of visitors per month and she has a robust, engaged Facebook community. Her content has been featured in The Today Show, Good Morning America,  NPR, The Huffington Post, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand,  John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Star Tribune, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity, Her View From Home, and many more. She speaks worldwide encouringg others to live each day with purpose and drive. Beyond that, she's a mom to seven, and calls Nashville, Tennessee, her home.  Finding Joy Facebook Rachel Marie Martin (@finding_joy) • Instagram photos and videos Pre-Order: Get Your Spark Back   SelfCare: Read Rachel's book.  Carve out personal time with yourself. Family Fun: Hikes!   You're The Right Mom For Your Kids: Bite Size Pep Talks Just For You by Christy Thomas   Want to try a coaching call-- sign up for a free 30-minute call: https://calendly.com/christythomas/exploratory-call-free   Find me on Instagram:  Christy Thomas — Coach for Exhausted Moms (@everyday_christy) • Instagram photos and videos . Don't forget to leave a rating or review. Email me Play4life.Christy@gmail.com  Don't hesitate to reach out for coaching with Christy:  Coaching (christythomascoaching.com)

How do we find meaning in our suffering?‌Hadassah Treu shares how experiencing times of disappointment, loss, depression, and anxiety helped her deepen her trust in God and allowed her to understand her ability to help others in their times of darkness.‌https://livesteadyon.com/‌Email Angie at: steadyonpodcast@gmail.com‌Facebook: @‌livesteadyon‌Instagram: @‌angiebaughman421‌Looking for something not listed? It's probably here: https://linktr.ee/livesteadyon‌‌Hadassah I Onthewaybg‌Hadassah I Onthewaybg (@onthewaybg) on X‌Instagram (@hadassahtreu)‌Hadassah Treu I Christian Writer‌Hadassah Treu I Author – Medium‌Hadassah Treu - Author‌Hadassah Treu is an international Christian writer, blogger, poet, speaker, and author of "Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings". She is passionate about encouraging people to keep their faith in the dark valleys of life. Hadassah is a contributing writer to several faith-based platforms like Proverbs 31 Ministries Compel blog and a dozen award-winning devotional and poetry anthologies. She has been featured in The Upper Room, (In)Courage, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Her View From Home, Living by Design Ministries, Thoughts About God, Today's Christian Living, and other popular sites, and podcasts. Connect with Hadassah at On the Way of Faith, Truth and Love .‌Hadassah's book, “Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings” can be found on Amazon.Download a chapter of Hadassah's book here:https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/845254/125671914833184079/share‌‌Life Changing Stories from ButterflyLiving features devotions from both me and Hadassah and can be found here:Life Changing Stories: A Devotional Collection Revealing God's Faithfulness and Transforming Power‌The Life Changing Stories podcast can be found here:Sign Up‌‌Theme music:Glimmer by Andy Ellison

The creator and writer of FindingJoy.net and the author of three books: Get Your Spark Back, Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood. Rachel is a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her inspiring articles have been translated into over 25 languages and her original content has been featured in The Today Show, NPR, The Huffington Post, Star Tribune, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand, John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity and Her View From Home. Rachel believes in the power of the human spirit to overcome, to thrive and to find deep joy and because of that she speaks worldwide encouraging others to live each day with purpose and drive. Beyong that she is a mother of seven, and calls Nashville her home.   

In this today's episode, my friend, Chelsea Ohlemiller, author of "Now That She's Gone," shares her insights on navigating grief, rediscovering faith, and the power of legacy. Her story, though not what she envisioned, is beautiful and impactful, with her mother still present in a different, but meaningful way. Grief, as Chelsea teaches, reveals what is crucial in our healing process, and this journey is unique for everyone. Learn how she transformed her pain into a ministry that helps others heal. This heartfelt discussion will leave you with a deeper understanding of loss and the importance of living a life full of purpose and love. Bio: Chelsea Ohlemiller is an author and speaker passionate about the awareness of grief's impact. She has an active and engaging social media presence and is well-known for her blog, Happiness, Hope & Harsh Realities. Her first book titled, “Now That She's Gone” will be released in August. She has been featured in the national bestseller “So God Made a Mother” and two Chicken Soup for the Soul books. She's also been published online by platforms such as Her View From Home, Christianity.com, (in)courage, Love What Matters, Scary Mommy and more. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and three children, which are the driving force behind all that she does. Anchor Verse: 2 Corinthians 5: 6-9 Connect with Chelsea: Website: https://hopeandharshrealities.com  Book: https://hopeandharshrealities.com/book/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopeandharshrealities Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopeandharshrealities ***We love hearing from our listeners! Sharing your thoughts through reviews is a fantastic way to be a part of our podcast family and contribute to the conversation. If you've enjoyed our podcast, leaving a review is quick and easy! Just head to Apple podcasts or wherever you are tuning in and share your thoughts. Your feedback makes a big difference!***

Today I'm excited to welcome Rachel Marie Martin, known for her impactful quotes and inspiring social media presence. We'll discuss Rachel's famous quote that hit 20 million views and dive into her journey through personal challenges and how they inspired her writing.Guest IntroductionRachel Marie Martin is the writer behind the site FindingJoy.net and author of Get Your Spark Back (releasing 8/27/24), Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood. She is a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her articles have been translated into over 25 languages and her site reaches millions of visitors per month.Her content has been featured in The Today Show, NPR, The Huffington Post, Star Tribune, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand, John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity, Her View From Home, and many more. She speaks worldwide encouraging others to live each day with purpose and drive.How To Build An Engaged Audience On Social Media With Rachel Marie Martin - Key TakeawaysRachel's famous quote: "Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you're actually living."The power of authentic and relatable content in connecting with your audience.The importance of consistency and community engagement in growing your social media presence.Tailoring your content to fit the specific platform and audience.Personal JourneyRachel's quote came from a difficult personal experience with her oldest son.We talk about the emotional process of dealing with life's unexpected challenges.How writing and sharing personal stories can help you find strength and resilience.Social Media StrategyRachel's approach to organic growth on Facebook through genuine audience interaction.The importance of rejecting automated content sharing to maintain authenticity.Building a brand that stands out by staying true to its core values and mission.Monetizing Social MediaHow Rachel succeeded in monetizing her Facebook page without using paid ads.The importance of investing time and effort into building and nurturing a community.Tips on responding to followers and fostering engagement.Tips for Online Business OwnersKnow and understand your audience: where they are and what they need.Embrace trial and error to find what works for your specific audience.Develop a consistent posting schedule tailored to your audience's habits and preferences.Treat your social media presence like a business with regular, reliable engagement.Key Quotes"Sometimes you have to let go of the picture of what you thought life would be like and learn to find joy in the story you're actually living.""Facebook needs an audience. They need people to come there. They're not going to make it impossible for the creators.""It's really about being consistent. You can't manage that page and be like, 'I'm just going to do this and then take three months off' and then come back and wonder why it's not growing."Resources MentionedRachel's website: https://findingjoy.net Connect with Rachel on Facebook: https://facebook.com/findingjoyblogConnect with Rachel on IG: @finding_joyJoin my upcoming free LIVE masterclass to scale your business: https://www.lindseyanderson.live ConclusionWe recapped Rachel's...

Join us today in this conversation with Stephanie Regalado as we talk about slowing down the pace so you can capture connections, showing up as your most real self, getting to the heart of things and so much more.  Stephanie Regalado, principal at SheSays Media, has worked as an award-winning writer, publisher, editor, and media and communications pro for brands, publications, and online platforms across the US for 20 years. With a raw and honest approach, her award-winning editorials are a source of inspiration, fostering a strong sense of community and genuine connection, and have been featured on platforms like Blogher, Her View From Home, Love What Matters, and TODAY Parents. Stephanie's first book, If They Only Knew, evolved from her popular regional magazine column into a collection of 60 anonymous stories celebrating the strength and perseverance of women. When not writing, she enjoys time with her family and exploring her beautiful home region of the Pacific Northwest.  If you would like to connect or work with Stephanie you can check out her website at https://Stephanieregalado.com and you can find her on LinkedIn and Facebook by her name.  You can also purchase her book, "If They Only Knew" on Amazon among other places.  If you are local to the Spokane region and would like to attend the event on July 20th that Stephanie referred to in this episode you can find that information HERE. Are you interested in attending our heart-led and transformative Cast Your Vision, women's retreat this October in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho or joining the 2025 Mastermind? I invite you to book a complimentary 30 minute call with me HERE so we can connect and talk about what you want for your life and business. Do you find yourself unsure or stuck? Connect with Debbie at www.thelituplife.com and schedule a 30 minute clarity call.  She can help you become crystal clear about what you do want in your life and help provide tools so you can show up as your best self.  Debbie helps entrepreneurs make a lot of money, doing what they love without sacrificing what's important to them, so they can live the life they desire. She is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs lead their businesses instead of the business running their lives, so they can have their hopes, wishes and dreams come true. She also is an adjunct professor at Gonzaga University.  

There are books we should all have a copy of, to give to our beloved ones in need. Today's conversation is about such a book. It is a whimsical, poetic, God-centric little marvel of a book, so pretty and giftable. It will encourage your loved one who is going through a rough time. It can be for you, too, but I suspect it will find its way in your tool belt of go-to books to equip those around you who are finding themselves unable to put words to their struggles. Lauren Fortenberry has penned 90 short devotions that read like prayers. She puts words in the mouths of women who find it difficult to tell God how they feel, what they are going through, or who simply can't muster the strength to talk to God at all. This book reminds them that they are not alone. They are prayed for. They are met by the One who sees them. God is less than one prayer away. He is right there with them. Find hope when you need it the most with this gorgeous 90-day devotional for women who need a reminder that God can bring you past your broken beginning, through the messy middle, and into a faith-filled future. When you're at the edge of what your heart can handle. When you can't see the road ahead. When you wonder if the hurt is beyond healing. One Prayer Away by Lauren Fortenberry is for every moment of the journey. Each day invites you to begin in the brokenness and finish with more faith. To speak to God about what keeps you up at night. To know that in every single thing you carry today, you do not need to carry it alone.  MORE ABOUT "ONE PRAYER AWAY"One Prayer Away includes: 90 meditations of hope and encouragement in Lauren's signature poetic style Prayers to receive for yourself or to pray for others Bible verses relevant to each day's needs like hope, mercy, and surrender Inspirational quotes and soothing photography to create a place where your soul can rest This beautiful devotional is a thoughtful gift for: A friend who needs encouragement in times of uncertainty, anxiety, loneliness, and loss Women's prayer groups or Bible studies Mother's Day, birthdays, or simply to say "I'm thinking of you" Any woman who desires to grow spiritually Whether you are struggling or seeking, flying or failing—God is with you. You can trust Him to hold you through it all.   MEET LAUREN FORTENBERRY https://laurenfortenberry.com/ Lauren Fortenberry is a writer, speaker, and influencer whose greatest passion is fearlessly and faithfully encouraging women through the love of Jesus Christ. She is a writing instructor at the University of Mississippi, and her writing has been featured by NBC's TODAY Show, Good Morning America, and a variety of other media outlets and blogs. She currently resides in Oxford, Mississippi, with her husband and two kids. A word from Lauren: "Welcome to my greatest passion: fearlessly and faithfully encouraging women through the love of Jesus Christ. I want to point every Sister's heart to God's promises and healing. I started blogging back in 2015 when I was a full-time college lecturer with two littles at home, and, truly, I had no idea where God would take my words (or my life). Now, over eight years later, my ministry encourages Sisters across the globe to live their best lives, and my first book, One Prayer Away, will be ours to share in April 2024. And I am reminded that God has this beautiful way of disrupting our plans to illuminate our greater purpose. My writing has been featured by NBC's TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Her View From Home, Love What Matters, and For Every Mom. Additionally, I have also published research on maternal and child health. When I'm not writing, I can most often be found playing with my kids, running, or serving in my local church in Mississippi. I haven't lived a perfect life, but God teaches me daily how to use the hardest of life for His glory. This hope is what I long to share with you. Across the digital miles, I invite you to join in this Sisterhood. God loves you. And I'm so glad you're here! To reach out with a speaking or interview inquiry, please contact me here. Big hugs and blessings always, Lauren" We invite you to check out the first episode of each of our series, and decide which one you will want to start with. Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog Identity in the battle | Ephesians https://www.podcastics.com/episode/74762/link/ Centering on Christ | The Tabernacle experience https://www.podcastics.com/episode/94182/link/ Shades of Red | Against human oppression https://www.podcastics.com/episode/115017/link/ God's glory, our delight  https://www.podcastics.com/episode/126051/link/   We are celebrating five years of Gospel Spice with a wonderful in-person event here in the Philadelphia area with keynote speakers Os Guinness and his delightful wife Jenny on October 26, 2024. So, mark the date! Please let us know if you can attend (limited capacity) at gospelspice.com/october26 Support us on Gospel Spice, PayPal and Venmo!

Has God ever answered, "No" to one of your prayer requests? Did you have a hard time accepting when God's answer was "No." I don't know about you, but I think that is a really hard one when we pray fervently, and God does not answer with the way we want him to. I remember that with my friend, we were praying for a miracle for her to be healed, but sadly she wasn't. It was really hard to accept that "No". I am excited to have Hadassah Treu on the podcast this week because she is going to share her story of a time when she had to accept when God answered, "No." I think it is a very powerful episode. Her book is called *Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings. You do not want to miss the truth Hadassah shares; there is so much goodness! Also, I am so excited for someone to win a copy of Hadassah's new book: *Draw Near. All the details of the book giveaway are on my website at jodisnowdon.com or you can click this direct link: https://kingsumo.com/g/lz5vie/draw-near-book-giveaway I am uploading all my interviews to YouTube now, so you can listen with close captioning. Here is a direct link to Hadassah's episode. Episode Links: Depth Podcast Episode 81 with Holley Gerth sharing her infertility journey. Hadassah's Heartbreak to Strength Story: How To Remain Strong When God Doesn't Answer Our Prayers. Depth Podcast Episode 127 with Lisa Appelo sharing about her book, *Life Can Be Good Again. You Tube Link to Jodi's channel. Book Recommendations: *Boundaries by Townsend and Cloud *Uprooting Anger by Robert Jones *Life Can Be Good Again by Lisa Appelo Winner of the Encouraging Blogger Award of 2020, Hadassah Treu is an international Christian author, blogger, poet, speaker, contributor to several faith-based platforms like Koinonia and Devotable, and a dozen award-winning devotionals and poetry anthologies. She is passionate about encouraging people to draw near to God in the dark valleys of life. Hadassah is a COMPEL Provers 31 Blog writer and Freelancing Community Group leader. Her writing is featured on (In)Courage, The Upper Room, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Her View From Home, Living by Design Ministries, Thoughts About God, Today's Christian Living, and other popular sites. Hadassah is the author of *Draw Near: How Painful Experiences Become the Birthplace of Blessings. Connect with Hadassah on her blog https://onthewaybg.com and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. *Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this week I am joined by Sara Springer of Rebel Housewife Blog to talk all things mental health and healing in motherhood. From Sara's own story of hitting rock-bottom with postpartum depression to how every mom can start to prioritize her own mental wellness, this episode is for you no matter where you are in your mental health journey.In the episode, Sara and I talk about:The impact of mindfulness, intention, and self-awareness on mental healthRecognizing intrusive thoughts for what they areBecoming more aware of what you need at any given momentHealing as a lifelong process rather than an end destinationHow knowing our values can help us make better decisions for ourselvesWhy Sara decided to share her story and takeaways in her new bookA little about our guest:Sara Springer has spent the last two decades supervising the chaos she has created. She is a midwest mom of five and Adult Nurse Practitioner who has battled depression and anxiety for the better part of 30 years. She is now a mental health advocate pursuing her writing dreams. She writes about maintaining mental wellness in parenting, marriage, and online spaces. She is co-founder of the mental health focused non-profit Love Will Foundation, a yoga enthusiast, and a staunch practitioner of sarcasm. Her work has been featured on multiple sites including Her View From Home, Scary Mommy, and The Mighty. Her first book, ‘Was I Not Supposed to Say That?' was released on May 7, 2024.To connect with Sara, follow her on Instagram @rebelhousewifeblog or Facebook. You can also visit her website www.rebelhousewifeblog.com. You can find her new book, 'Was I Not Supposed to Say That?" at bookshop.org or wherever you buy books!If you found this episode valuable, share it with other moms in your life. Follow along with The Worthy Mother Podcast on Instagram @honestlyemilyrose, and don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen!

Sara Springer is a Midwest mom of 5 and a Nurse Practitioner who has battled depression and anxiety for the better part of 30 years. She is a mental health advocate pursuing her writing dreams. She specializes in maintaining mental wellness in parenting, marriage, and online spaces. She also is the co-founder of the mental health-focused non-profit called Love Will Foundation. Her work has been featured on multiple sites including Her View From Home, Scary Mommy, and The Mighty.Join our chat about Sara's mental health journey, work, and ongoing maintenance of life, motherhood, and adulthood. To pre-order her book, click the link below:Book pre-order: https://bookshop.org/p/books/was-i-not-supposed-to-say-that-a-witty-and-thought-provoking-memoir-about-life-with-ptsd-womanhood-motherhood-and-the-ever-changing-battle-with-m-sara/21350076?ean=9781990419362 Connect with Sara:IG: www.instagram.com/rebelhousewifeblogFB: www.facebook.com/rebelhousewifeblogThanks for listening, friends!---Sign up for our newsletter at www.theshrinkshowpodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Shrink-Show-Podcast-103412535766403Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshrinkshow/Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheShrinkShowYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPtc9jwAOmqL4xJvdVvg2dAThis is another Hurrdat Media Production. Hurrdat Media is a podcast network and digital media production company based in Omaha, NE. Find more podcasts on the Hurrdat Media Network by going to HurrdatMedia.com or Hurrdat Media YouTube channel!

How do you create a happy brain? Today, you learn how! Dr. Lindy Fields joins us today to dive into brain health and the impact on your personal happiness and mood. Dr. Lindy Fields is a mom, wife, dog mom, neuropsychologist, and founder of Brain Doc On Demand, where she equips individuals with science-based insights to improve brain health and wellbeing through online courses, coaching, and speaking engagements. She has been published on Mind Body Green, Her View From Home, and TODAY Parenting Team and is on a mission to bring brain science to life, helping busy individuals build healthier and happier brains.Today we discuss… Brain health and how you can build a happy brainWhy lifestyle habits matter for a healthy and happy brainPhysical, cognitive, and social activities that impact brain healthMovement and how it impacts memory and moodPrioritizing and blocking time on your calendar for the most important lifestyle habitsCreating a backup plan for when life happensWhy a flexible mindset can give you more success in the long runScheduling physical, cognitive, and social activities into your life intentionallyFor the show notes and all the links mentioned in today's episode, head to secretsofsupermom.com/181.Stay connected!www.secretsofsupermom.comSecrets of Supermom on FacebookSecrets of Supermom on Instagram

EEK! I'm so excited to share this conversation with you all!!! Courtney Devich is the author of Mama's Got Anxiety. She is a mom of three littles relying on Jesus and reheated coffee every day (and in that order). Courtney is a former human resources professional, using her leadership skills to manage kids as a stay-at-home mom. Her work has been featured on Her View From Home, Christian Parenting, For Every Mom, TODAY Parents, and MomLife Today. You can find her in the Starbucks line at her local Target, binge-watching TV with her husband, or chasing after her kids at her home in Michigan. In this podcast episode we discuss Courtney's book which is all about anxiety. She shares her thoughts on what her experience as been like as a Christian mom and how that led to writing her book. Courtney also offers final words of encouragement on how not to let anxiety steal your JOY! We love you mamas and are praying this encourages you! Connect with Courtney: https://courtneydevich.com/ https://www.instagram.com/courtneydevichauthor/ https://www.facebook.com/courtneydevichauthor https://www.amazon.com/Mamas-Got-Anxiety-Going-Steal/dp/0800742796/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VVGQYD9YVH6Z&keywords=courtney+devich&qid=1681397885&sprefix=courtney+devic%2Caps%2C435&sr=8-1

Intuition. A gut feeling. The hairs on the back of your neck standing up. Unexplainable peace. Call it what you like, but many of you have experienced what Leslie calls God whispers—and in Season 2 of the So God Made a Mother Podcast, you'll hear the incredible stories behind them. It's a series we're calling Whispers, and in Episode 1, Leslie and Carolyn share the origin story of Her View From Home and why the site almost never existed, but for God's whispers—and shouts in our stubborn direction. Season 2 is going to astound you, we promise. These stories? Our God? So cool, friends. Let's get started! Follow So God Made a Mother on Facebook and InstagramSign up for exclusive podcast emails hereOrder your copy of So God Made a Mother hereFollow Her View From Home on Facebook and InstagramFollow Leslie on Instagram and FacebookFollow Carolyn on Instagram and Facebook

How well do you know the people who live close to you? How well do you love them? Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves, but how do we actually do that? Missional neighboring advocate Twyla Franz is on the show today helping us get closer to Jesus and grow deep, missional friendships with our neighbors. You'll hear us talk about… What missional living is What it means to be visible and interruptible How humility and curiosity can deepen friendships Overcoming the obstacles to missional neighboring Twyla Franz is a big believer in baby steps and ripple-effect living. An Enneagram 9 learning to live open. She loves front-yard conversations with neighbors, chalk-painted furniture, and Yogi's blueberry tea. As a missional neighboring guide, she helps others get close to Jesus and grow deep, missional friendships with neighbors. Find her words (written and recorded) on twylafranz.com. Other places Twyla writes include (in)courage, Relevant, Her View From Home, and The Grit and Grace Project. She also hosts Begin Within: A Gratitude Series to encourage year-round gratitude (because gratitude, she says, has a ripple effect). GET ALL THE SHOW NOTES   CONNECT WITH TWYLA Instagram | Facebook | Website   CONNECT WITH GIRLS TALKING LIFE Get the GTL Newsletter | Instagram | Facebook   OUR SPONSOR Custom art by Connie Lawson - Weeds Seeds and Beautiful Things       

When Twyla's daughters say, "Are we walking the neighborhood or talking the neighborhood?" she knows she's been passing down a legacy worth living. She says drawing close to God is the first step in loving our neighbors and some of her favorite words begin with "R." Twyla Franz is a big believer in baby steps and ripple-effect living. An Enneagram 9 learning to live open, she loves front-yard conversations with neighbors, chalk-painted furniture, and Yogi's blueberry tea. As a missional neighboring guide, she helps others get close to Jesus and grow deep, missional friendships with neighbors. Find her words (written and recorded) on TheUncommonNormal.com. Other places Twyla writes include (in)courage, Relevant, Her View From Home, and The Grit and Grace Project. She also hosts Begin Within: A Gratitude Series to encourage year-round gratitude (because gratitude, she says, has a ripple effect.)   Some gems: So often we complicate our faith instead of just living the rhythms of drawing close to Jesus and allowing him to ripple out onto our neighbors. To live missional is to live "interruptible." When we make ourselves vulnerable, we become approachable so that the Good News naturally or supernaturally pours out. My preference is not to ask for help but I find that makes me real and makes Jesus real to my neighbor. I know God differently on my knees than anywhere else. When I know where the goal is, I keep inching my way forward; I don't have to get there overnight.  God's abundance isn't only for us, it's for how it flows over and out of our lives for those we meet everyday. Whatever we hope to do in our neighborhood, we need to start in our homes.  A piece of our purpose is to thank God every day in our hearts and in the presence of others.    Free sample week of Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors And, Find out if you are accidentally keeping your friendships shallow—and what you can do about it   Find Twyla in all these places: Website—https://theuncommonnormal.com/ Cultivating a Missional Life Devotional https://theuncommonnormal.com/book/ Freebies (including sample week of devotional)—https://theuncommonnormal.com/subscribe/ Begin Within: A Gratitude Series—https://theuncommonnormal.com/category/gratitude-series/ Podcast—https://theuncommonnormal.com/podcast/ Instagram—https://www.instagram.com/theuncommonnormal/ Facebook—https://www.facebook.com/theuncommonnormal  

Ali Flynn, the creator of Hang in There, Mama and certified English and Special Education teacher is excited to share with you the joys and hardships of raising teens with an open heart, honesty, and some tears. She is a mom to four daughters who offers daily encouragement and support to moms while keeping it real and letting them know they are not alone on their motherhood journey. Ali has been featured in numerous publications including Grown and Flown, Raising Teens Today, Her View From Home, and many others. She is also the co-host of Real Talk for Moms Raising Teens and Young Adults and has been a guest on a variety of podcasts revolving around motherhood and raising teens. Resources: Hang in There, Mama on Instagram Hang in There, Mama Facebook Page Hang in There, Mama - Reconnect with Your Teen and Yourself Event Hang in There, Mama website

In this episode, Jackie talks with Leslie Means, founder of Her View From Home. This wife, mom, author, and businesswoman shares her journey from a small farm in Nebraska to the helm of a global online community of millions. Leslie delves into the unexpected twists in her career from broadcast journalism to entrepreneurship, the delicate balance between being a devoted mom and a thriving leader, and the pivotal moments that shaped Her View From Home. Tune in to discover Leslie's wisdom, passion, and unwavering belief that stories have the power to connect us all. Plus, Leslie shares a special announcement on what's next that hasn't yet been shared anywhere else! "Diversity Beyond the Checkbox" is presented by The Diversity Movement and hosted by Inc 200 Female Founders award winner, Jackie Ferguson.  This show is proud to be a part of the Living Corporate network and to be produced by Earfluence.

In this episode of the Happiness Happens Podcast, Rachel Marie Martin joins me to talk about what to do when we're having trouble finding our joy.    Rachel, an author and entrepreneur, discusses her belief in the power of the human spirit and how she overcame obstacles in life to find joy. She also embraces the thought of happiness as a state of being that requires one to seek moments of joy and appreciate them.    She highlights the importance of disconnecting from the pressures of social media and setting personal boundaries to have a healthier perception of happiness. Rachel also talks about the significance of goal setting and maintaining a balanced life. Moreover, she shares her journey of writing, which led to the publishing of her book, 'Mom Enough', which contains letters she wrote to fellow mothers, aiming to make them feel less alone in their motherhood journey.   Rachel believes in the power of the human spirit to overcome, to thrive and to find deep joy and because of that she pours out her heart via these platforms: she is the writer behind the site FindingJoy.net and author of both Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood and a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her articles have been translated into over 25 languages, her site reaches millions of visitors per month and she has a robust, engaged Facebook community.   Her content has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Today Show, Star Tribune, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand,  John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity, Her View From Home, CafeMom, and many more. She speaks worldwide encouraging moms and entrepreneurs to live each day with purpose and drive. Beyond that, she's a mom to seven, and calls Nashville, Tennessee, her home.   We'll touch on: [0:00] Intro [3:00] What does happiness mean to Rachel [4:00] What was the inspiration behind "Finding Joy" [6:30] Why she wrote her book "Mom Enough" [8:06] The top struggles she sees moms experience right now [9:41] How do we let go of the idea of perfectionism [13:25] Tips for easing thought patterns of perfectionism [17:07] Using travel to broaden our awareness and perspectives [19:43] How you can start finding moments of joy [21:36] What to do about guilt when it creeps in [23:41] What she learned running 1000 miles [26:40] One takeaway she wants you to gain from reading her book [30:00] How to create a little more happiness in your day, every day, starting today   Resources: Podcast Resources: https://www.simonacostantini.com/resources  Apply to be a podcast guest: https://forms.gle/ Happiness Guide: https://simonacostantini.ck.page/happinesshub    Connect with Rachel https://instagram.com/finding_joy https://twitter.com/finding_joy  https://facebook.com/findingjoyblog https://findingjoy.net    Connect with Simona www.instagram.com/simona__costantini  www.instagram.com/costantiniproductions  www.instagram.com/happinesshappenspodcast  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXtOxOAuXxW7c5cYKdAEfWg  https://www.facebook.com/costantiniproductions  https://www.facebook.com/happinesshappenspodcast/  www.simonacostantini.com   

About Brea Brea Schmidt is a Pittsburgh-based writer, speaker and photographer who aims to empower and connect women by creating a safe space to have conversation about the issues that weigh on their hearts. A former professional sports sales leadership executive, Brea took a leap of faith in 2011 to pursue her dream of being an entrepreneur and started the newborn, children and family photography business Photography by Brea. She launched The Thinking Branch in 2016 after discovering her passion for wanting to connect women and help mothers feel less alone as she raised three young children herself. Brea was a 2019 “Best Writing” Iris Award nominee at the annual Mom 2.0 Conference, and was recently named one of 5 Must-Follow Influencers in Pittsburgh Magazine's 2019 “Best of the ‘Burgh” Issue. She is a staff writer for Her View From Home, and has had her writing published on or covered by ABC News, Love What Matters, Babble, PopSUGAR Moms, ForEveryMom, Upworthy, MyLifeSuckers and more. She was also nominated as a Northeast Ohio Parent Hero in the December 2017 issue of Northeast Ohio Parent Magazine. In addition to hosting a weekly Facebook live on Sundays, Brea has been a featured speaker for a variety of mom-based and female-entreprenuer-based groups about the importance of self care in our fast-paced world. About HR Like a Boss HR Like a Boss centers around the concept that with the right passion to be and think different, HR and business professionals can do amazingly awesome HR. People who do HR like a boss understand business concepts, what makes people tick, and how to approach HR as more than a compliance or cost center. This podcast builds the foundation for John Bernatovicz's book, "HR Like a Boss." If you're ready to take your HR career to the next level, this is the podcast for you. Share any comments with bridgette@willory.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/willory/message

Rachel Marie Martin believes in the power of the human spirit to overcome, to thrive and to find deep joy and because of that she pours out her heart via these platforms: she is the writer behind the site FindingJoy.net and author of both Mom Enough and The Brave Art of Motherhood and a founding partner in Audience Industries – a company designed to train and equip entrepreneurs in their ventures. Her articles have been translated into over 25 languages, her site reaches millions of visitors per month and she has a robust, engaged Facebook community. Her content has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Today Show, Star Tribune, Tiny Buddha, iVillage, Stuff New Zealand,  John Tesh, PopSugar, Motherly, Parents, What to Expect, Independent Journal Review, Dr. Greene, Power of Positivity, Her View From Home, CafeMom, and many more. She speaks worldwide encouraging moms and entrepreneurs to live each day with purpose and drive. Beyond that, she's a mom to seven, and calls Nashville, Tennessee, her home. Key Takeaways “What's the worst that can happen and can I get through that?” Worry is part of being a parent. Don't beat yourself up if you worry. It's an acknowledgement of your love. As a parent, be sure to settle into the knowingness that you are doing the best you can with the resources that you have. Using a “target with a positive expectation” is a good way to set a goal to give your teens the opportunity to succeed. Choose your words carefully when setting an expectation and use positive language. Give it some pause and grace when you talk with your teens. Setting boundaries can differ with each child/teen. Pay attention to their needs and honor who they are. Allow your teen to explore what they enjoy and consider their passion as a future career. It's important to have a respectful relationship with your teen and to address any comments towards you as a parent. Do not take it personally and have a thoughtful conversation with them about your relationship and the boundary of respect. Sponsored by VarsityLeadership.com Resources WEBSITE: https://findingjoy.net FACEBOOK PAGE: Finding Joy INSTAGRAM: @finding_joy BOOK: Mom Enough: Inspiring Letters for the Wonderfully Exhausting but Totally Normal Days of Motherhood

In this week's episode, my guest and I explore her journey navigating anxiety amidst motherhood. Courtney Devich, the author of "Mama's Got Anxiety: But It's Not Going to Steal Her Joy," shares candidly about her experiences as a mother of young children, relying on her faith and reheated coffee to navigate daily life. Courtney is a former human resources professional, using her leadership skills to manage kids as a stay-at-home mom. Her work has been featured on Her View From Home, Christian Parenting, TODAY Parents, among others. You can find her in the Starbucks line at her local Target, binge-watching TV with her husband, or chasing after a kid (or three) at her home in Michigan.In this episode, we tackle the stigma surrounding medication and seeking help, especially for moms striving to balance various roles. Courtney bravely shares her personal journey through anxious motherhood, offering relatable anecdotes and invaluable advice for moms navigating their worries. Trust me; you don't want to miss out on this insightful conversation.Key TakeawaysDiscover the contrasting nature of anxiety before and after having kids.Embrace the notion that continual anxiety doesn't diminish the effectiveness of learning strategies to manage it.Explore how anxiety can present both challenges and unexpected blessings within motherhood.Tune in and gain empowering insights into managing anxiety while embracing the joys and challenges of motherhood.Get Courtney's Book: Mama's Got AnxietyEXPERIENCE IDENTITY COURSE WAITLIST:It is worth your time to invest in yourself, Mama. Get on the waitlist to get a great discount and learn when this course launches!Be sure to check out Courtney!Courtney's InstagramCourtney's WebsiteLet's Connect: Follow over on Instagram: @experiencemotherhood GET MY WEEKLY EMAIL Discover YOU again after kids by Joining the Experience Identity Waitlist Get access to other resources over at https://www.experiencemotherhood.com/resources -->Take one minute to subscribe, rate and review the podcast! Your support is incredibly meaningful!Support the ShowA small monetary gesture helps me keep this podcast going, so thank you in advance!Until next time. . . Go Experience Motherhood!Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only.

"Obedience is a privilege that God calls His children to... it is such a gift when God asks us to do something in obedience." - Whitney AkinIn today's episode, our guest Whitney Akins shares her journey of obedience and taking leaps of faith in her life. She talks about her transition from a career in technical writing to pursuing her calling in women's ministry and writing. She also shares the story of how she and her husband started M25 Barbecue, a nonprofit ministry that provides free meals and shares the gospel with underserved communities. Let's dive into her story and discover the lessons we can apply to our own lives.Guest's BioWhitney Akin is the author of Overlooked: Finding Your Worth With You Feel All Alone. Her heart is to see and celebrate the purpose and potential of the overlooked and invite them to live seen by the God who loves them. Whitney's writing has been featured in (in)courage, Her View From Home, Proverbs 31 Ministries and more. You can find more of her writing and speaking on her website at www.whitneyakin.com and connect with her on Instagram or Facebook . Whitney lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Eli, and their three (crazy) beautiful kids.Stay Connected:Whitney's ResourcesWhitney's Book | OverlookedWhitney's Freebie | FreebieWhitney's Instagram |  ConnectRachel ScottWebsite| https://rachelgscott.com/Website| http://the5leaps.com/Instagram| https://www.instagram.com/iamrachelgscott/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamrachelgscott

You loved the bestselling book, now meet the women behind the stories! So God Made a Mother author and Her View From Home founder Leslie Means teams up with editor-in-chief Carolyn Moore to kick off the So God Made a Mother Podcast. Get ready to be inspired, have a few laughs, and learn how Season 1 is going to connect you to friends you didn't know you needed. Follow So God Made a Mother on Facebook and InstagramSign up for exclusive podcast emails hereOrder your copy of So God Made a Mother hereFollow Her View From Home on Facebook and InstagramFollow Leslie on Instagram and FacebookFollow Carolyn on Instagram and Facebook

This week I speak with Twyla Franz who is a big believer in baby steps and ripple-effect living. An Enneagram 9 learning to live open. She loves front-yard conversations with neighbors, chalk-painted furniture, and Yogi's blueberry tea. As a missional neighboring guide, she helps others get close to Jesus and grow deep, missional friendships with neighbors. Find her words (written and recorded) on TheUncommonNormal.com. Other places Twyla writes include (in)courage, Relevant, Her View From Home, and The Grit and Grace Project. She also hosts Begin Within: A Gratitude Series to encourage year-round gratitude (because gratitude, she says, has a ripple effect).  We look at her childhood up to the present to see the beautiful thread of Jesus working in her life. You won't want to miss this down-to-earth and inspiring episode  Links:Website—https://theuncommonnormal.com/Cultivating a Missional Life Devotional https://theuncommonnormal.com/book/Freebies (including sample week of devotional)—https://theuncommonnormal.com/subscribe/Begin Within: A Gratitude Series—https://theuncommonnormal.com/category/gratitude-series/Podcast—https://theuncommonnormal.com/podcast/Instagram—https://www.instagram.com/theuncommonnormal/Facebook—https://www.facebook.com/theuncommonnormalPinterest—https://www.pinterest.com/twylafranz/Threads— https://www.threads.net/@theuncommonnormal *Theme music "Blessed Time" by Ketsa 

Welcome to the So God Made a Mother Podcast! Tune in to connect with women through the power of stories, inspired by the bestselling book So God Made a Mother. Her View From Home founder Leslie Means and Editor Carolyn Moore invite you to join them weekly, starting in October.Follow So God Made a Mother on Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for exclusive podcast emails here! Order your copy of So God Made a Mother here!Follow Her View From Home on Facebook and Instagram.

This week I speak with Hadassah Treu who is an award-winning Christian author, blogger, and poet, the Encouraging Blogger Award Winner of 2020. She is passionate about encouraging people on the journey of faith and a deeper walk with God. She is a regular contributor to the faith-based platforms Devotable and Koinonia; COMPEL Proverbs 31 Ministries Blog writer and Freelancing Community Group leader, and Blogger Voices Network contributor. Hadassah is a contributing author to several faith-based devotional and poetry anthologies. She has been featured on (In)Courage, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Her View From Home, Living by Design Ministries, Thoughts About God, Aletheia Today, Today's Christian Living, and other popular sites. You can find her online by visiting OnTheWayBG.com. We look at her childhood up to the present to find the beautiful thread of Jesus in her life. You won't want to miss this encouraging episode!Social media links: https://onthewaybg.comhttps://twitter.com/onthewaybghttps://www.facebook.com/onthewaybg/https://www.pinterest.at/onthewaybg/https://www.instagram.com/hadassahtreu/https://medium.com/@hadassah.treuhttps://www.amazon.com/Treu-Hadassah/https://www.youtube.com/@hadassahtreu-authorhttps://hadassahtreu.gumroad.com/ Hadassah is a Co-Author with me in "Life-Changing Stories" A Devotional Collection Revealing God's Faithfulness and Transforming Power  - Order here:  https://a.co/d/ebGLM4X*Theme Music "Blessed Time" by Ketsa 

In this episode of Radical Radiance, Rebecca George and guest, Whitney Akin, explore a topic we all struggle with at times: feeling alone. Whitney just released the book Overlooked: Finding Your Worth When You Feel All Alone and shares her insights and personal journey with us. The episode also delves into Jesus' heart for the lowly and how His example encourages us to see and love others. Whitney Akin is an author and speaker. Her heart is to see and celebrate the purpose and potential of the overlooked and invite them to live seen by the God who loves them. Whitney's writing has been featured in The Joyful Life Magazine, (in)courage, Her View From Home, and more. You can find more of her writing and speaking on her website at www.whitneyakin.com and connect with her on Instagram @whitneyakin. Whitney lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Eli, and their three (crazy) beautiful kids. Rebecca and Whitney chat about: The meaning and significance of the name El Roi, which means the God who sees. Jesus' heart for the lowly and how he spent his time seeing and loving those who are often overlooked. The concept of feeling overlooked and Whitney's personal experience with this feeling, as well as the importance of acknowledging and addressing it. The biological need for attention and approval and how social media has amplified this need. Inviting God into every aspect of one's life and the power of experiencing God's presence in times of feeling overlooked or inadequate. Order Overlooked on Amazon ________________________________________ PSSSSSST! Did you know that Rebecca's debut book, ⁠Do the Thing: Gospel-Centered Goals, Gumption, and Grace for the Go-Getter Girl⁠ is available wherever books are sold? If you're ready to… See your gifts and talents from a gospel-centered perspective. Prioritize goals related to your calling as you move forward with gumption and grace. Maximize your passions in the work you do every day. Actively partner with God to serve Him and love others. Overcome negative thought patterns so you can brainstorm, develop, and create with the confidence of a go-getter girl! …then order today ⁠at the link here!⁠ Each chapter includes prayer prompts, Scripture for further study, questions for reflection, action steps to move your goal forward, and accompanying videos (for individuals or small groups). So grab a friend (or 8) and let's use God's Word as our compass to “do the thing”. After all, if not now…when?

Shy,  introverted, self-conscious, slightly awkward and OVERLOOKED… adjectives today's guest uses to describe how she has felt most of her life. She has worn the mask of “I'm Good” in an attempt to NOT draw attention to her needs. BUT GOD… he met her right in those moments and reminded her Dear girl, you are seen by Me. Whitney Akin is the author of Overlooked: Finding Your Worth With You Feel All Alone. Her heart is to see and celebrate the purpose and potential of the overlooked and invite them to live seen by the God who loves them. Whitney's writing has been featured in (in)courage, Her View From Home, Proverbs 31 Ministries and more. To connect with Whitney:  Website ~ Instagram~Purchase Overlooked Connect with Courtney: Website~Instagram~Facebook    

There are no guarantees that we won't face heartache and disappointment in life. But God guarantees that there is deep meaning in all the seasons of our life, and that grief can eventually give way to joy. This is reiterated in scripture, where in John 16:20, it says “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” Whether we are grieving the loss of a person, or experiencing disappointment that we haven't found what we're looking for in life, God will find a way to bring us beauty from the ashes.   Singer and songwriter Jimi Cravity is a two-time Dove Award nominee whose music has made its way into the hands of artists like Ludacris and Usher. Cravity faced the tragic loss of his son and made a stunning discovery about God and music during his deepest sadness. Leslie Means thought she was living her dream as a news anchor, but always felt that she was made for something more. With the encouragement of her husband Kyle, Leslie stepped away from her news job and went on to create an online community that helps women in times of need—Her View From Home—and found what she'd been meant to do all along.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Luke Weaver Upcoming interview: Chapel Hart John 16:20 NIV   Jimi Cravity  Ludacris  Usher The Last Amen liver cancer Potter's House at One L.A. Revelations Revelations 22:13-15 NIV Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV   Leslie Means  Her View From Home University of Nebraska-Lincoln Houston Rockets So God Made A Mother   Interview Quotes: “Of course, as a parent, you never want to become a bereaved parent. You never want to deal with loss, but what I can say now on the other side is that God has given me beauty for ashes, that He's given me a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness, that He has turned despair into dancing, and I'm thankful for that.” - Jimi Cravity “I remember there were Sundays where all I could do was just go into the service and I would just go to the altar and kneel and weep. And it was in those moments that I felt very near to Christ, that I felt very near to God, that I felt the nearness of His Spirit, that I felt strength, that I felt Him in those moments of bowing and kneeling at the altar there.” - Jimi Cravity  “The Bible says that God is near to those who are brokenhearted. And I think it's really clear to feel that when you feel blessed, when everything is going your way, when you feel like you're on top of the world–but it's challenging to feel that and remember that when you are experiencing loss and when you're experiencing some of the darkest days that you could possibly experience.” - Jimi Cravity  “I remember driving around for my lunch breaks and I would call my mom. I would call her every day and I'd say, ‘Something is missing. I'm not where I'm supposed to be.'” - Leslie Means “I knew that God had such a bigger plan for this [Her View From Home website], something that I could never even fathom. And I remember specifically being like, ‘Okay, God, I'm going to keep going on this site as long as you want me to.'” - Leslie Means ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel! Audio Episodes:     https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7  Bonus Podcasts:     https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw  Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer:  https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C  Peace for Everyday Life:     https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj  Peace in Uncertain Times:     https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u  What's Good?     https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj  Enneagram:     https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY  ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website

Author, mother and content creator Leslie Means joins Blake to discuss her journey and the origins of her brand which features heartfelt contributor stories on motherhood, marriage, faith and grief. Leslie explains how her passion for storytelling led her to start Her View From Home and the challenges she faced along the way, including a time when she almost shut it down. Despite the struggles, Leslie's determination and support from her family helped her continue on her journey. In this episode, you'll be able to: See the power of following your passion and how it can lead to fulfilling and meaningful work. Understand the significance of perseverance and overcoming various obstacles and challenges. Discover the importance of community and creating one that embraces multiple perspectives. Leslie is the author of So God Made a Mother – available everywhere now! To connect with Leslie: Website: herviewfromhome.com Instagram: @herviewfromhome Facebook: @herviewfromhome  

Storyteller, children's book author, columnist, former TV anchor/host, wife and mother Leslie Means is the founder of the popular online community and motherhood website, Her View From Home (2.5+ million monthly readers), which encourages women to share their heartfelt stories of faith and family and to connect with one another. Her View From Home is a thriving submissions-based publisher millions turn to for positive inspiration and advice on motherhood, marriage, kids, grief, friendship, life, gift guides and faith. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or tonydurso.com/podcast.

Storyteller, children's book author, columnist, former TV anchor/host, wife and mother Leslie Means is the founder of the popular online community and motherhood website, Her View From Home (2.5+ million monthly readers), which encourages women to share their heartfelt stories of faith and family and to connect with one another. Her View From Home is a thriving submissions-based publisher millions turn to for positive inspiration and advice on motherhood, marriage, kids, grief, friendship, life, gift guides and faith. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or tonydurso.com/podcast.

Tonight's Guest: Leslie MeansLeslie Means is a former TV anchor, and now author of "God Made A Mother". An inspirational compilation of essays from real mothers each with their own unique story to tell.  The Book can be found anywhere books are sold (i.e. Amazon, Barnes & Noble). She is also the creator of the powerful resource for women "Her View From Home".  A website with content pertaining to faith, marriage, parenthood, and so much more!In this episode the delightful Leslie joins Jamie and Jason to talk about her new book, her website, the differences between growing up now as opposed to when they did, children's sports, the differences between raising boys and girls, and her world as mom. Leslie is a charming and wonderful soul, so by all means join us for this super fun episode!You can catch more of Leslie Means  on Facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/HerViewFromHomeOn Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/herviewfromhomeYou can catch The Parent's Lounge live every Tuesday Night at 10pm EST/7pm PST at:https://www.facebook.com/theparentslounge#theparentslounge #SoGodMadeAMother #HerViewFromHome #LeslieMeans #parentingpodcast #jamiekaler #jasongowin #katemulligan #comedians #parentingadvice #funnyparents #hilarious #cohosts #author #raisingboysvsgirls #funnymoms #booktour #standupcomedy #motherhoodJamie Kaler's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jamiekaler/Jason Gowin's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jasongowin/Kate Mulligan's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/katestmomever/The Parent's Lounge TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theparentsloungeshow

Join your friend Jeanette as she sits down with Leslie Means. Leslie founded Her View From Home, a place for mothers to find encouragement, information, and connection with others going through the same journey. Listen in as Jeanette and Leslie dive into motherhood's joys, hardships, and beauty.   LINKS FROM TODAY'S SHOW   Grab Leslie's Book ttps://amzn.to/3qrsiqR   Listen to the Moms At Work Podcast   https://link.chtbl.com/momsatwork   Join our email community  https://bit.ly/3FUVv

Storyteller, children's book author, columnist, former TV anchor/host, wife and mother Leslie Means is the founder of the popular online community and motherhood website, Her View From Home (2.5+ million monthly readers), which encourages women to share their heartfelt stories of faith and family and to connect with one another. Her View From Home is a thriving submissions-based publisher millions turn to for positive inspiration and advice on motherhood, marriage, kids, grief, friendship, life, gift guides and faith. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or tonydurso.com/podcast.

Storyteller, children's book author, columnist, former TV anchor/host, wife and mother Leslie Means is the founder of the popular online community and motherhood website, Her View From Home (2.5+ million monthly readers), which encourages women to share their heartfelt stories of faith and family and to connect with one another. Her View From Home is a thriving submissions-based publisher millions turn to for positive inspiration and advice on motherhood, marriage, kids, grief, friendship, life, gift guides and faith. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or tonydurso.com/podcast.

Storyteller, children's book author, columnist, former TV anchor/host, wife and mother Leslie Means is the founder of the popular online community and motherhood website, Her View From Home (2.5+ million monthly readers), which encourages women to share their heartfelt stories of faith and family and to connect with one another. Her View From Home is a thriving submissions-based publisher millions turn to for positive inspiration and advice on motherhood, marriage, kids, grief, friendship, life, gift guides and faith. Listen to The Tony DUrso Show on VoiceAmerica Influencers Platform every Friday at 2pm Pacific or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or tonydurso.com/podcast.

Episode at a Glance On this week's episode of Melody and Friends, I am super excited to sit down with Author and Certified Enneagram Teacher, Meredith Boggs, to discuss how we can use the enneagram to not only deepen our connections with others, but also deepen our faith.  Meredith shares how The Enneagram can be a particularly useful tool for Christians, especially those who are struggling with their faith. She also provides our listeners with a biblical road map to using the Enneagram, so that they can walk in who God has created them to be into a place of deeper connection and fulfillment. Who is Meredith Boggs? Meredith Boggs is the writer and host of The Other Half blog and podcast. She's known for sharing transparently and authentically about the half of life that doesn't make the social media highlight reel, addressing personal and spiritual growth, the Enneagram, and marriage. Her work has been featured in Lifeway, Relevant, Grit & Virtue, Her View From Home, Rising Tide Society,YouVersion, and the COMPEL training blog. Meredith is also a critical care transport nurse and a sexual assault forensic nurse examiner who is married to her high school sweetheart, Justin. They live in Nashville, Tennessee, with their sweet and wild boy, Jack. Things We Talk About In This Episode: How can we use the Enneagram for spiritual growth? What are the aha moments you can discover about your personality through the Enneagram? Why is it important to understand the weaknesses of our type, particularly when it comes to areas we are most likely to sin? Resources: Our listeners can learn more about Meredith, links to free resources and links to her book at her website: www.meredithwboggs.com You can also purchase Meredith's Book, The Journey Home: A Biblical Guide to Using the Enneagram to Deepen Your Faith and Relationships, on Amazon at the link here: www.amazon.com/Journey-Home-Biblical-Enneagram-Relationships-ebook Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Melody and Friends! If you haven't already please take the time to leave us a rating and review on our iTunes page as it helps us get more great episodes like this to you!