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Gościem odcinka jest profesor Bogdan Góralczyk – sinolog, hungarysta, dyplomata i pisarz. W rozmowie z Jakubem Bodzionym analizuje obecną sytuację w Chinach: kondycję państwa, jego wyzwania wewnętrzne oraz miejsce w globalnej rywalizacji mocarstw.Rozmawiamy o napięciach między Chinami a Stanami Zjednoczonymi, sporze wokół Tajwanu, znaczeniu chińskich technologii i surowców strategicznych, a także o tym, czy Pekin ma realną szansę zdominować światową politykę i gospodarkę.
Andrzej Zawadzki-Liang, gospodarz Studia Szanghaj w Radiu Wnet ocenił, że z chińskiej perspektywy obecny kryzys wokół Iranu nie wywołuje gospodarczej paniki. Jak podkreślił, choć Iran pozostaje ważnym dostawcą ropy dla Pekinu, to skala tej zależności jest asymetryczna – bardziej Teheran potrzebuje Chin niż Chiny Iranu.Z jego relacji wynika, że Pekin jest spokojniejszy przede wszystkim dlatego, że ma szeroko zdywersyfikowane źródła dostaw surowców. Oprócz Iranu Chiny sprowadzają ropę m.in. z Rosji, Arabii Saudyjskiej, Iraku, Zjednoczonych Emiratów Arabskich, Kuwejtu i Omanu, a dodatkowo dysponują znacznymi rezerwami.Iran bardziej potrzebuje Chin niż Chiny potrzebują Iranu– mówił Zawadzki-Liang, wskazując, że relacje handlowe z Iranem stanowią mniej niż 1 proc. całego chińskiego handlu zagranicznego.
In this week's episode we spotlight the adorable Pekin duck, chat with Fiona about choosing and brooding ducks on her smallholding, share our recipe for Savory Duck Egg Pudding, and supply some retail therapy with a seed spotlight on Rapini/Broccoli Raab. Pre-order our book!Grubbly Farms - click here for our affiliate link.https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-100963304-15546963Pre and Probiotic and Vitamin and Electrolyte Powders!Bright and Early Coffee - use code CWTCL15 for 15% off of any bagged coffee. K Cups always ship free!https://brightandearlycoffee.com/Omlet Coops- Use Our Affiliate Link and COFFEE10 code for 10% off!https://tidd.ly/3Uwt8BfBreed Spotlight is sponsored by Murray McMurray Hatcheryhttps://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/Metzer Farms Waterfowlhttps://www.metzerfarms.com/Eaton Pet and Pasture - Use code COFFEE for a discount on first-time purchases.Nestera UShttps://nestera.us/cwtclUse our affiliate link above for 5% off your purchaseSavory Duck Egg Bread PuddingCWTCL Websitehttps://coffeewiththechickenladies.com/CWTCL Etsy Shophttps://www.etsy.com/shop/CoffeeWChickenLadiesAs Amazon Influencers, we may receive a small commission from the sale of some items at no additional cost to consumers.CWTCL Amazon Recommendationshttps://www.amazon.com/shop/coffeewiththechickenladiesSupport the show
Światowa gospodarka i geopolityka w 2026 roku weszły w fazę „piątego biegu”. Podczas gdy banki centralne od Warszawy po Pekin gorączkowo gromadzą złoto, uciekając przed niepewnością dolara, Indie stają się języczkiem uwagi globalnego porządku, uparcie odmawiając wejścia w sztywne sojusze militarne. Czy strategia „strategicznej autonomii” New Delhi to genialny pragmatyzm, czy niebezpieczna utopia? I dlaczego Polska stała się światowym liderem zakupów kruszcu, wyprzedzając azjatyckie potęgi? Gośćmi Mateusza Grzeszczuka byli dr Krzysztof Iwanek z Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku oraz Łukasz Zembik, analityk OANDA TMS Brokers.Kup subskrypcję „Rzeczpospolitej” pod adresem: https://czytaj.rp.pl
Coach Hellige breaks down Holy Trinity's gritty 46-38 road win over Pekin, highlighting Lane Rung's star play, key free throws by Nathan Box, and the instant impact of transfer Graham Meredith. The episode also spotlights young contributors Jack Ragar and Jay Ellison, the team's strong chemistry and depth, and previews the upcoming district final against Notre Dame next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
On this episode of Round Guy Radio, host Dave and Coach Cody Van Fleet preview the second round of Southeast Iowa high school basketball playoffs, breaking down key matchups including Notre Dame vs Danville, West Burlington vs Central Lee, Mediapolis vs Mid‑Prairie, and Holy Trinity vs Pekin. Cody analyzes top players, team strengths, and upset potential, and the show also discusses broadcasting and streaming updates as Round Guy Radio moves more coverage to YouTube. Sponsored by Hinshaw Trailer Sales, Smithsburg Auto, the Packwood Locker, and the Cedar Rapids Titans Arena Football.
Wynik wyborów w Japonii stał się obiektem krytyki ze strony Chin. Pekin twierdzi, że Japończycy prowadzą politykę militaryzacji, podobnie jak przed II wojną światową. Japończycy obawiają się agresywnych działań państw regionu, a chińskie oskarżenia wykorzystują wewnętrznie. Więcej o relacjach Chiny - Japonia mówi Michał Bogusz, ekspert Zespołu Chińskiego Ośrodka Studiów Wschodnich.
Monopolista przyszłości. Jak ASML buduje mózgi AI. Zapraszam na spotkanie z Tomaszem Smolarkiem, ekspertem ds. półprzewodników, mTFI.Link do książki Wydawnictwa Prześwity:https://mtbiznes.pl/przeswity/wydawnictwo-przeswity/technologie/asml-chipy-wojna-technologiczna-i-najwazniejsza-maszyna-swiataZapoznaj się z warunkami oprocentowania wolnych środków w OANDA TMS Brokers: https://go.tms.pl/bezpaszportuUM Inwestuj w fundusze ETF z OANDA TMS Brokers: https://go.tms.pl/bezpaszportuETF
In this week's episode, we spotlight one of the prettiest little pet chickens around - the Cochin Bantam/Pekin! We also discuss some of the amazing things about the chicken's skeletal system, share our recipe for delicious Southwestern (prickly pear) Cactus Cornbread, and provide some retail therapy with a seed spotlight on Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage. Grubbly Farms - click here for our affiliate link.https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-100963304-15546963Pre and Probiotic and Vitamin and Electrolyte Powders!Bright and Early Coffee - use code CWTCL15 for 15% off of any bagged coffee. K Cups always ship free!https://brightandearlycoffee.com/Omlet Coops- Use Our Affiliate Link and COFFEE10 code for 10% off!https://tidd.ly/3Uwt8BfBreed Spotlight is sponsored by Murray McMurray Hatcheryhttps://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/Metzer Farms Waterfowlhttps://www.metzerfarms.com/Eaton Pet and Pasture - Use code COFFEE for a discount on first-time purchases.Nestera UShttps://nestera.us/cwtclUse our affiliate link above for 5% off your purchaseSouthwestern Cactus Cornbread - https://coffeewiththechickenladies.com/farm-fresh-egg-recipes/southwesternern-cactus-cornbread/CWTCL Websitehttps://coffeewiththechickenladies.com/CWTCL Etsy Shophttps://www.etsy.com/shop/CoffeeWChickenLadiesAs Amazon Influencers, we may receive a small commission from the sale of some items at no additional cost to consumers.CWTCL Amazon Recommendationshttps://www.amazon.com/shop/coffeewiththechickenladiesSupport the show
Coach Swanson and Round Guy Radio recap Pekin's dominant first-round playoff win over Seymour, a 79-43 victory highlighted by Cole Milliken's 25 points and strong contributions from Nolan Glick and the bench. The home crowd and defensive intensity set the tone for the blowout. The episode also previews Pekin's upcoming matchup with Holy Trinity, discusses lineup changes and bench impact, and highlights the team's focus on consistency and finishing the season strong.
Today's episode, brought to you by Henshaw Trader Sales, the Packwood Locker, and Smithburg Auto, features Coach Hellge of Holy Trinity discussing a 66–50 win over Waco, highlighting a balanced scoring effort led by Jack Ragar and key contributions off the bench. Coach Hellge previews Thursday's road matchup at Pekin, talks about scouting an athletic, well‑coached Panthers team, and outlines what the Crusaders need to do to keep advancing through the district and sub‑state rounds.
Send a textTom hosts a live cannabis legalization news show from a soon-to-open dispensary in Pekin, giving a brief tour of the sales floor, ID check area, vault, and planned community space, and noting the shop is expected to open in about three to four weeks after a three-year licensing process. The episode covers the FDA missing a cannabinoid-related deadline while acknowledging marijuana benefits but emphasizing concerns about children; a USDA Farm Bill draft that keeps the hemp definition and does not directly address hemp-derived intoxicating products; and backlash to a New York Times editorial calling for “guardrails” after previously backing legalization, with discussion about confusion between regulated cannabis and unregulated intoxicating hemp. They also mention Ohio Governor Mike DeWine urging people to stop complaining about new adult-use restrictions and a push to ban intoxicating hemp products, while citing developments in Chicago and Missouri and arguing hemp drinks and “marijuana labeled as hemp” will face increasing regulatory and banking pressure.Guest Dr. Riley Kirk (Canna Chem), PhD in pharmaceutical sciences and co-founder of a research/education nonprofit, discusses barriers to cannabis research under Schedule I and how Schedule III could expand research by enabling write-offs and reducing hurdles. She describes her group's industry-funded work, including “Science of Smokeability,” focused on what makes smokable products high quality and safer. Kirk explains current theories around cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), including her survey-based study of 1,000+ people diagnosed or told they have CHS, common symptoms (notably early-morning nausea), and relief via hot showers linked to TRPV1 activation; she notes competing hypotheses such as high-potency frequent THC use, vaping, genetics, or mycotoxins.00:00 Live from the Dispensary: Show Kickoff & What's Coming Up01:12 Behind the Scenes: Sales Floor Tour, Compliance Rules & Opening Timeline02:56 FDA Missed the Deadline: Cannabis Benefits, ‘Think of the Children' & Admin Chaos05:23 Farm Bill Draft Breakdown: Hemp Definition, Total THC, and What's (Not) Changing08:16 Hemp Drinks on Borrowed Time: Enforcement, Banking Risk & Political Reality Check15:54 Quick Dispensary Walkthrough: Vault Door, Restricted Areas & Build-Out Plans18:16 Meet Dr. Riley Kirk: Why Cannabis Research Is So Hard (and How It Gets Funded)22:52 Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS): Potency, Vapes, Genetics & Competing Theories29:08 Endocannabinoid Deficiency & Media Spin: Nuance vs Clickbait Cannabis Headlines32:46 “We Need More Studies” — ECS, Nervous System & What Science Is Missing34:15 Aging, Tolerance Shifts & the Entourage Effect Explained36:21 Homegrow, Trusting Inputs & Why ‘No Flower' Medical Programs Fail39:18 Rescheduling to Schedule III: Validation, Pharma Capsules vs Flower44:39 What Research Is Next: Receptor-Level Effects & Better Strain Profiling46:47 Strain Spotlight: Gorilla Glue & Building a Flavor-Based ‘Menu'49:16 Beyond Terpenes: Flavor Chemistry, Ratio Strains & Fixing THC-Only Marketing50:59 CBD/CBG Demand, Hemp Market Changes & The Lab Testing Inflation Problem57:58 Consumer-Friendly Education: Activity-Based Recommendations & 1:1 Strains01:00:02 How CBD Works (and Why It Can Boost THC Experience) + Final Wrap & Where to Find Canna ChemSupport the showGet our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3VEn9vu
Hosts break down the latest high-school basketball playoff matchups across Southeast Iowa, announce All-Round Guy teams (including top freshmen and standouts like Shea Stevens and Jackson Clark), and preview key sub-state and district games featuring Notre Dame, Keokuk, Pekin, Mid-Prairie, and others. They also discuss standout performances, possible dark-horse teams, local rivalries, and upcoming coverage plans from the Southeast Iowa Union and related video networks.
Honkongas tiesa piespriedusi 20 gadus cietumā demokrātijas aizstāvim Džimijam Lai. Japānas parlamenta apakšpalātas vēlēšanās pārliecinoši uzvar premjeres Takaiči vadītā partija. Irānas un Savienoto Valstu pretstāve un dialogs. Aktualitātes analizē Latvijas Ārpolitikas institūta pētnieks un LATO valdes loceklis Sandis Šrāders, Latvijas Radio Ziņu dienesta ārzemju ziņu žurnālists Rihards Millers un Latvijas institūta valdes locekle, Tuvo Austrumu pētniecības programmas vadītāja Sintija Broka-Kovalevska. Sana-čan – Japānas politikas uzlēkusī saule Japānas politika nav domājama bez Liberāldemokrātiskās partijas. Kopš šī politiskā spēka nodibināšanas 1955. gadā ir bijuši vien divusi trīs gadus ilgi periodi, kad tas nav bijis pie varas. Tā tiek raksturota kā t.s. „jumta” jeb „lietussarga” partija – tāda, kas apvieno dažādu nokrāsu novirzienus, taču kopumā ir ar labēji centrisku, konservatīvu un nacionālistisku ievirzi. Tomēr pēdējie gadi japāņu liberāldemokrātiem nav bijuši viegli. Partijas reitingus deldējušas sociālekonomiskās problēmas – dzīves dārdzība un neiepriecinošā demogrāfiskā situācija, tāpat vairāki skandāli. Jaunākās paaudzes vēlētāju acīs tā ieguvusi „onkuļu partijas” reputāciju – pārāk tradicionāla, pārāk remdena, uz pagātnes lauriem dusoša. Kopš 2024. gada parlamenta vēlēšanām liberāldemokrāti un viņu tradicionālie koalīcijas partneri – centriskā partija „Kōmeitō” – veidoja mazākuma valdību, līdz pagājušā gada oktobrī koalīcija pajuka, premjers Išiba atkāpās un Liberāldemokrātiskās partijas stūri pārņēma tās jaunā līdere Sanaje Takaiči, kļūstot par pirmo premjerministri sievieti Japānas vēsturē. Viņas personā liberāldemokrāti ieguva jaunu seju un elpu. No vienas puses, premjerministre ir uzskatos konservatīva – viendzimuma laulību pretiniece un patriotiskas audzināšanas piekritēja; no otras – savā uzvedībā un manierēs vienkārša, atvērta un demokrātiska. Sevišķi pamanāma ir viņas prasme komunicēt sociālajos tīklos un uzrunāt jauniešu auditoriju, kuras vidū viņa tiek dēvēta par Sana-čan – pievārds ‘čan' japāņu valodā apzīmē tuvas draudzības attiecības ar nosaukto personu. Par koalīcijas partneriem Takaiči izvēlējās nevis līdzšinējos centristus, bet gan krietni labējāko un populistiskāko Japānas Inovāciju partiju. Vēl viens zīmīgs moments ir premjeres prasme atrast kopīgu valodu ar Savienoto Valstu līderi Donaldu Trampu. 13. janvārī Takaiči izsludināja ārkārtas parlamenta vēlēšanas. Šis solis ar mērķi konvertēt personīgos reitingus konkrētā partijas politiskajā ietekmē tika vērtēts kā riskants, taču attaisnojās ar uzviju. Svētdien, 8. februārī, notikušajās vēlēšanās liberāldemokrāti svinēja grandiozu uzvaru, iegūstot vēsturiski lielāko pārstāvniecību parlamentā ar 316 vietām no 465. Koalīcijas partneri Inovāciju partija gan pāris vietas zaudējusi, taču tas nozīmīgi nemaina viņu frakcijas lielumu. Savukārt partijas „Kōmeitō” un lielākā opozīcijas spēka Konstitucionāli demokrātiskās partijas izveidotais bloks Centriski reformistiskā alianse piedzīvojis smagu sagrāvi un vairāk nekā divu trešdaļu mandātu zaudējumu. Jaunā situācija Japānas parlamenta apakšpalātā dod premjerministrei Takaiči lielākas iespējas mainīt Japānas konstitūciju, ko viņa iezīmējusi kā politisku mērķi. Tai skaitā, iespējams, varētu tikt mazināts pamatlikuma izteiktais akcents uz militāras darbības ierobežošanu ārpus valsts robežām. Pēc nākšanas pie varas Japānas līdere paziņoja, ka gadījumā, ja Ķīnas tautas republika mēģinātu ar militāru spēku sagrābt Taivānu, ir iespējama Japānas militāra iejaukšanās. Tas izraisījis krasu attiecību pasliktināšanos starp Pekinu un Tokio ar ekonomiskām sankcijām no Ķīnas puses. „Drednautu diplomātija” un piemirstās cilvēktiesības 6. februārī Omānas galvaspilsēta Maskata kļuva par sarunu vietu starp Savienoto Valstu un Irānas pārstāvjiem, izmēģinot diplomātiju, pirms tiek liktas lietā raķetes un bumbas. Tas ir pirmais šāds abu valstu dialoga precedents kopš pagājušā gada jūnija, kad Izraēla un Savienotās Valstis vērsa gaisa triecienus pret Irānu, tai skaitā tās kodolobjektiem. Arī tagad no Savienoto Valstu puses tā ir „drednautu diplomātija” – janvāra nogalē Arābijas jūrā ieradās amerikāņu jūras spēku kaujas grupa ar aviācijas bāzes kuģi „Ābrahams Linkolns” priekšgalā. Uz „Linkolna” klāja ir modernākās daudzfunkcionālās kaujas lidmašīnas, iznīcinātāji un elektroniskās karadarbības un izlūkošanas lidaparāti. Kaujas grupas kuģi aprīkoti arī ar spārnotajām raķetēm „Tomahawk” un pretraķešu aizsardzības sistēmām. Kā svētdien savā publikācijā izteicās kanāla „Al Jazeera” Dohas institūta politoloģijas asistējošais profesors Muhanads Selūns, svarīgākais rādītājs neesot tas, kas tiek teikts par sarunām, bet gan tie, kas sēdušies pie sarunu galda. No Savienoto Valstu puses tas ir vispārzināmais sarunvedēju pāris Stīvens Vitkofs un Džareds Kušners, kā arī ASV Centrālās pavēlniecības komandieris admirālis Breds Kūpers. Šis vīrs ar uzplečiem esot dzīvs atgādinājums Irānas pusei, ka nepiekāpībai var būt smagas un ātras sekas. Tomēr draudīgais tonis pagaidām nav darījis Teherānu piekāpīgāku, ciktāl runa ir par sarunu priekšmetu kā tādu. Irāna uzstāj, ka ir gatava runāt par savu kodolprogrammu, piekrītot pārtraukt urāna bagātināšanu apmaiņā pret sankciju atcelšanu, bet nekādā ziņā ne par ko citu – ne raķešu ieroču attīstības programmu, ne atbalstu teroristiskajām organizācijām „Hamas” un „Hezbollah” un hutiešu nemierniekiem Jemenā, ne, protams, par cilvēktiesību situāciju Irānas iekšienē. Plašākajā sarunu tvērumā ir īpaši ieinteresēta Izraēla, un tiek spriests, ka premjerministra Netanjahu šodienas visai pēkšņā vizīte Vašingtonā varētu būt saistīta ar vēlmi ietekmēt amerikāņu pozīciju. Katrā ziņā Irānas ārlietu ministrs Abāss Arāgči jau brīdinājis Vašingtonu nepaļauties Izraēlas premjera destruktīvajiem centieniem. Pie tam Irānas iekšpolitiskā situācija šajā diplomātiskajā izspēlē acīmredzami atstumta otrajā plānā, un pasaule turpina noskatīties, kā režīms, noslīcinājis asinīs nesenos protestus, turpina piegriezt skrūves. No Teherānas pienāk ziņas, ka arestēti vairāki prominenti reformistiskas ievirzes politiķi, tāpat ārsti, kas snieguši palīdzību ievainotiem janvāra protestu dalībniekiem. Cilvēktiesību aktīvisti pauž bažas, ka cietumos notiek arestēto protestu dalībnieku slepkavošana. Pekina demonstrē totalitārisma tvērienu Honkongā Pirmdien, 9. februārī, tiesa Honkongā pasludināja spriedumu mediju magnāta Laja Čī-jina, plašāk pazīstama kā Džimija Lai, lietā. Septiņdesmit astoņus gadus vecajam apsūdzētajam piespriesti divdesmit gadi cietumā. Tagad slēgtā laikraksta „Apple Daily” dibinātājs tika apcietināts 2020. gada augustā un pēc apmēram piecus gadus ilgušā procesa atzīts par vainīgu sazvērestībā ar ārzemju spēkiem un musinošu tekstu publicēšanā. Kā paziņoja tiesa, apsūdzētā vainu pastiprina tas, ka viņš esot bijis ārvalstu inspirētas sazvērestības galvenais plānotājs un virzītājspēks. Ar publikācijām savā izdevumā viņš esot aģitējis par ārvalstu sankciju ieviešanu pret Ķīnu. Savu biznesa karjeru sācis apģērbu ražošanas un mazumtirdzniecības jomā, Lai vēlāk pievērsās mediju jomai, izveidojot lielāko Honkongas mediju kompāniju „Next Digital” un jau pieminēto laikrakstu „Apple Daily”. Konfrontācijā ar Ķīnas totalitāro režīmu viņu noveda 2019. – 2020. gada Honkongas protesti, kad Džimijs Lai nostājās demokrātisko spēku pusē, gan personiski kritizēdams Pekinas režīma rīcību, gan uzturēdams attiecīgu ievirzi savos preses izdevumos, gan sniegdams demokrātiskajiem spēkiem finansiālu atbalstu. Ar šo cietumsodu Ķīnas vara nepārprotami demonstrē, ka ikvienam, kas stāsies ceļā tās plāniem pēc iespējas drīz iedabūt Honkongu totalitārās valsts tiesiskajā un politiskajā rāmī, nav ko cerēt uz žēlastību. Kā norādījis Lielbritānijā dzīvojošais notiesātā dēls Sebastjens Lai, ievērojot viņa tēva sirds stāvokli un to, ka pērngad vien viņš zaudējis desmit kilogramus svara, faktiski šis uzlūkojams kā nāves spriedums. Džimijs Lai kopš 1994. gada ir arī Lielbritānijas pavalstnieks, un britu ārlietu ministre Iveta Kūpere paziņojusi, ka valdība darīs visu iespējamo, lai panāktu viņa atbrīvošanu. Tikām skarbu opozīcijas kritiku izpelnījies britu premjerministrs Kīrs Stārmers, kurš pirms pāris nedēļām viesojās Pekinā, vienojās par vīzu režīma atvieglojumiem britu tūristiem un mazāku ievedmuitu viskijam, taču, kā šķiet, nepratās neko darīt tiesājamā demokrātijas aizstāvja labā. Šīs ir vēl viens pārmetums leiboristu valdības galvam, kura kabineta prestižs pēdējā laikā krietni pabojāts arī t.s. „Epstīna failu” sakarā. Sagatavoja Eduards Liniņš.
Coach Swanson reviews Pekin's season-defining stretch: rivalry wins over Sigourney and Hillcrest, a dramatic home victory over Winfield-Mount Union, and standout performances from Cole Milliken, Henry Adams, Elijah Brock and Nolan Glick. The Panthers' strong home record, community support, conference recognition, and a No. 2 district seed set the stage as they prepare to face Seymour in the playoffs.
Rit otrā diena ziemas olimpisko spēļu diena Itālijā, kurā arī Latvijas sportisti ir trasēs. Biatlonisti stafetē izcīnījuši 12. vietu. Distanču slēpotājs Raimo Vīgants skiatlonā palika 51. vietā. Gaidām kamaniņu braucēju startu. Sniega trasē Antholcā aizvadīta pirmā disciplīna biatlonā – 4x6km jauktā stafete komandām. Šī disciplīna OS ir jau kopš 2014. gada, bet Latvija tajā piedalījās pirmoreiz. Startēja Andrejs Rastorgujevs, Renārs Birkentāls, Baiba Bendika un Estere Volfa. Latvija 21 komandas konkurencē finišēja 12. vietā. Tesero distanču slēpošanas trasē šodien skiatlona sacensībās kungiem starp 75 dalībniekiem bija arī latvietis Raimo Vīgants. Viņam šīs ir otrās spēles pēc dalības Pekinā pirms četriem gadiem, kur viņš šajā disciplīnā palika 51. vietā. Arī šoreiz Raimo izcīnīja 51. vietu. Sportists pats pēc finiša nebija īpašā sajūsmā, bet nebija arī pārāk sarūgtināts. Kā zināms, viņam labāk veicas sprinta distancē. Savukārt Kortīnā šovakar gaidāmi divi izšķirošie braucieni kamaniņās vīriešiem. Pēc pirmajiem diviem braucieniem Kristers Aparjods ieņem 4. vietu, no labāko trijnieka atpaliekot aptuveni divas desmitdaļas no sekundes, bet Gints Bērziņš noslēdz desmitnieku. Lai vērtētu mūsu sportistu sniegumu un izredzes, sazināmies ar Latvijas kamaniņu sporta federācijas ģenerālsekretāru Kristapu Mauriņu, kurš pats arī 2014. gadā bija olimpisko spēļu dalībnieks. Vēlam veiksmi sportistiem, sacensībām līdzi varēs sekot Latvijas TV jau no plkst. 18.
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. 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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.
Czy w Chinach trwają czystki na najwyższych szczeblach władzy? Czy Xi Jinping traci kontrolę, a Pekin przygotowuje się na wewnętrzny konflikt? Radosław Pyffel analizuje doniesienia o usuwaniu generałów, napięciach w KPCh oraz możliwe konsekwencje dla Chin, Tajwanu i globalnej geopolityki.Rozdziały komentarza:0:00 Główne tematy komentarza: Xi zdradzony w Pekinie?, Czystki w Pekinie to początek problemów?, USA vs Kuba, Zamieszki w USA, Sikorski vs Musk, Hiszpania legalizuje pobyt nielegalnych uchodźców, wydarzenia ze świata7:28 Podziękowania i prośby8:35 Wielka intryga w Pekinie, Xi zdradzony?42:38 Umowa o wolnym handlu UE-Indie51:18 Premier Kanady przeciwko Trumpowi56:41 USA vs Kuba1:00:36 Polityka globalna1:10:06 OutroTWOJE wsparcie jest bardzo ważne: https://patronite.pl/RadoslawPyffelWESPRZYJ mnie na YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rhJNPCTaFu41na8s0jetQ/joinDla spragnionych wiedzy o świecie pozaeuropejskim i polityce globalnej polecam unikalne seminarium: https://azjatyckiwiek.plZapraszam na swoją stronę: https://radoslawpyffel.pl/Obserwuj Radosława Pyffla na:FB: https://www.facebook.com/RadekPyffel10X: https://x.com/RadekPyffel?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorKsiążka Radosława Pyffla „Biznes w Chinach” do kupienia na:https://bizneswchinach.pl
· Dołącz do grona Patronów tego podcastu na http://www.patronite.pl/maopowiedziane · Posłuchaj dalszej części odcinka na kanale Mao Powiedziane Plus na Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ySk7ZCQPHXRGLeC7IaZkj?si=ciUq8dgETyi4Hw4Zmkl5Ug · Kup książkę „Chiny jednego dziecka” na stronie Empik:https://www.empik.com/chiny-jednego-dziecka-sochon-piotr-truszczynska-weronika-urban-nadia,p1666533204,ksiazka-p Agresywna ofensywa Donalda Trumpa wobec Grenlandii odsłania chiński cień w tle amerykańskiej polityki zagranicznej i stawia pytanie o realną stawkę rozgrywki w Arktyce – zwłaszcza, że sam Trump uzasadniał swoje działania koniecznością „ratowania” wyspy przed Chinami i Rosją. W odcinku rozmawiamy o chińskiej polityce arktycznej oraz o tym, jak Pekin i chińskie społeczeństwo reagują na naciski Waszyngtonu.· Napisz do nas: kontakt@maopowiedziane.pl · Jak połączyć konto na Patronite ze Spotify https://patronite.pl/post/71266/polacz-konto-na-patronite-ze-spotify· Dołącz do naszego Discorda (dla Patronów) https://patronite.pl/post/59230/jak-dolaczyc-do-naszego-discorda· Postaw nam kawę na http://buycoffee.to/maopowiedziane· Instagram: http://instagram.com/maopowiedziane· Instagram Nadii: http://instagram.com/nadia.urban· Instagram Weroniki: http://instagram.com/wtruszczynska
- TikTok zostaje w USA pod nowym właścicielem- Chińska gospodarka zwalnia- Pekin przegrywa z demografią- Japonia szykuje podwyżki stópMasz pytanie do naszej redakcji? Możesz je zadać tutaj: https://tally.so/r/npJBAVZawsze rano. Same fakty.5 najważniejszych wiadomości.5 minut.Wydarzenia ze świata, sportu, popkultury, technologii, środowiska i gospodarki.Ramówka:Poniedziałek: Ekonomicznie in BriefWtorek: Sport in BriefŚroda: PopCulture in BriefCzwartek: Technologicznie in Brief / Planet in BriefPiątek: World in BriefW aplikacji Voice House Club m.in.:✔️ Wszystkie formaty w jednym miejscu.✔️ Możesz przeczytać lub posłuchać.✔️ Transkrypcje odcinków z dodatkowymi materiałami wideo. ► Wypróbuj 30 dni za darmo: https://voicehouse.co/sluchasz-i-wiesz/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social
El desorden mundial con el que arranca 2026 puede dejar una configuración mundial de áreas de influencia, los nuevos imperios del siglo XXI. ¿Qué tienen en común líderes como Trump, Xi o Putin? ¿Cómo está respondiendo Europa y América Latina al desafío? Lo analizamos esta semana en En Primera Plana. Las apetencias de Trump por Groenlandia, de Putin por Ucrania o de Xi Jinping por Taiwán llevan tiempo mostrando como aquello que nos parecía intocable tras el orden mundial establecido desde la IIGM, la soberanía de fronteras, parece cada vez más endeble con instituciones debilitadas y la ley del más fuerte. La era de las áreas de influencia y de los patios traseros de potencias pilotadas por hombres autoritarios. Entre ellos tienen en común el desprecio a los principios de las democracias liberales. ¿Y qué hacer ante esto? ¿Cómo debe ser la respuesta de Europa o de América Latina? Nos acompañan esta semana: -David Gormezano, periodista en France 24 -Karen Liliana Laverde, profesora de Derecho y Relaciones Internacionales -Alice Ekman, directora de investigación del Instituto de estudios de seguridad de la Unión Europea, experta en China y autora del libro ‘Ultimo vuelo para Pekin' (Flammarion) -Claire Rabès, consultora política, participó en la campaña demócrata por Kamala Harris en Arizona en 2024. Coordinación editorial: Florencia Valdés y Julia Courtois Realización: Yann Bourdelas, Souheil Khedir, Jeremie Boucher Presenta: Carlos Herranz
Celebrity referees add color as Pekin faces Louisa–Muscatine in a low‑scoring, high‑drama game that comes down to the final seconds. Elias Brock and Nairus Coleman lead the action, big plays and physical boards decide the winner, and Louisa–Muscatine pulls off the upset in a one‑point thriller.
Welcome to the Smithburg Auto Scoreboard Show. We tried to do it last night, but I had some technical difficulties. But we'll get you what was important last night anyway. And one of the things, well, the big game last night was obviously it was Notre Dame at Mediapolis. Mediapolis, I think, went to halftime with the lead. They fought very hard. They shoot a lot of threes in this game, but they are, A strong second half by Shea Stevens and company finishes them off there. 63-51, and Notre Dame kind of clinches that Southern division, or at least certainly a share of it. There was another great game last night, and it was a big upset over a ranked team as the Mount Pleasant Panthers get a 48-45 win and knock off 10th-ranked Oskaloosa Indians. It was the Oskaloosa Indians had just beat the Keokuk Chiefs the night before. But their legs got a little tired in this one, and the great Isaiah Big Bang Lang has a big, big game there. Now, the rest of the stuff is pretty much, you know, kind of big wins, not close games. West Burlington takes down Danville. Holy Trinity Catholic takes down Van Buren. New London takes down Central Lee. And let me see if I can't get up the KCII scoreboard and kind of get some of the rest of the scores out to you. I'm just mostly just doing this to test the, well, the Pekin Panthers. And this score is not correct. They definitely get something like an 80-40 win over Louisa Muscatine. that they inverted the girl score on this one. Pella Christian gets an 80-37 win over Fairfield. Pella Christian's a terrific team. They're hitting a lot of threes. Let me see if I can't get some updates from Monday too here. Also, last night, Waco takes down Lone Tree. And, man, I don't know if I'm going to have all the scores for you because it's just everything's not coming in. But on Monday night, the Washington Demons. Beat Tipton, 66-43. Pekin took down Eddyville-Blakesburg. Pekin's on a tear. I think they won six or seven games in a row. They get a 60-41 win over Eddyville-Blakesburg. The Kyoto Eagles bounce back from a loss to get a 78-48 win over Highland. And the Van Buren Warriors, 58-Columbus, 48. That game was on Round Guy Radio. And the Notre Dame Nikes also took down Wapolo, 83-Columbus. to 47. Well, that's the basic quick scoreboard show. There was, like I say, there just wasn't a lot of big meaningful games last night other than New London or Notre Dame locking down their win and Mount Pleasant getting that big upset were the two big stories. Well, thank you guys all for listening this year and we'll be back Thursday night for a game between Insignia against Waco and it's a JV game and we'll have that for you Thursday night.
Live play-by-play from Fairfield, Iowa, at the Jefferson Valley championship where the Trojans pulled away behind standout performances from The Rock” Brock, Boss Richardson and Bentley Cross. The broadcast focuses on fast-break scoring, aggressive rebounding and decisive team play as Fairfield built a comfortable lead. The event also featured celebrity guests (Kurt Russell, Burt Reynolds, Johnny Knoxville), halftime promotions and a Keaton Wynn card raffle to raise funds for the team. Energetic commentary, community sponsorships, and a Packwood Locker player-of-the-game prize highlighted the evening.
Round Guy Radio, sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Titans, Packwood Locker, Smithsburg Auto and Hinchaw Trailer Sales, features Andy Kretzinger of the Southeast Iowa Union discussing big high school basketball matchups, player updates, and a special prize: each Player of the Game will win two Titans tickets. The episode previews the Super Conference North title race (Hillcrest, Winfield-Mount Union, Waco, Pekin), highlights regional teams and injuries, and explains where to watch broadcasts on Southeast Iowa Live and Mount Pleasant Live on YouTube.
On this episode AJ Johnson from KTVO joins Round Guy Radio to review the midseason landscape of western Iowa high school basketball. He highlights standout teams — Pella, Oskaloosa, Centerville, Pekin and more — and key players like Malachi Rice, Jack McGuire, Austin Schulte and Jackson Clark. The show also opens with sponsor announcements (Cedar Rapids Titans, Smithburg Auto, Packwood Locker, Henshaw Trailer Sales) and previews game coverage and upcoming matchups as teams jockey for conference and postseason position.
Round Guy Radio breaks down last night's high school basketball action: Notre Dame remains the only unbeaten team, Holy Trinity earns a big win while Coach John Helge celebrates his 100th career victory, and big upsets include Van Buren's 66-55 shocker over Fairfield and Lone Tree's strong win. We preview tonight's slate from Hillcrest Academy — where Columbus travels in aiming for another milestone season — and highlight key matchups like Pekin's important night, New London's first win, Kyoto's strong play, and several conference rivalry games across the region. Tune in live on Facebook as Round Guy Radio brings play-by-play from Hillcrest and covers the latest scores, storylines, and team momentum going forward.
Coach Swanson reviews the Pekin Panthers' recent stretch: a home win over Wapello, a tough road loss at Winfield, and a dramatic, come-from-behind victory over Sigourney. He highlights standout performances from Cole Milliken, Elijah Brock, Henry Adam and Nolan Glick, and previews upcoming matchups with Waco and Fairfield — including the Jefferson County rivalry game and a JV tip at 4:45. The episode is sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Titans and supported by local partners Packwood Lockers, Smithburg Auto, and Henshaw Trailer Sales.
The scoreboard shows are better known as the Smithburg Auto Scoreboard Show, brought to you by Smithburg Auto of Fairfield, Iowa. If you need to buy a car, if you need your car worked on, if you need to rent a car, or if you just need parts, you can get that at Smitty's Auto Salvage that he just picked up, too, so he got you all the way covered. Hosts Dave and Coach Van Fleet recap a wild night of southeast Iowa high school basketball: Notre Dame rolled past Van Buren 83-35, Central Lee edged Holy Trinity 62-58 in double overtime, and Columbus, Pekin and others posted big wins. Highlights include strong individual performances, a few injuries and flu-related absences, and tight rivalry games across the region. Looking ahead, the episode previews a major matchup at Davenport Assumption between Burlington Notre Dame and Marquette Catholic, plus a busy local schedule with more conference implications and on-the-road show broadcasts coming up.
Ce vendredi 9 janvier, David Baverez, investisseur à Hong Kong, spécialiste de la Chine, était l'invité d'Annalisa Cappellini dans Le monde qui bouge - L'Interview, de l'émission Good Morning Business, présentée par Laure Closier. Ils sont revenus sur la déclaration de Donald Trump sur le conflit entre la Chine et Taïwan et la volonté de Washington de prendre le contrôle du pétrole vénézuélien pour priver la Chine d'un approvisionnement à bas coût.. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.
Coach Karbakes breaks down Columbus’s 68-60 conference win over L&M, praising Drake Marin’s hot shooting and Ellis (“Little Poison”) for lockdown defense and rebounding. Gabe’s work on the boards and the team’s execution on offense and adjustments at halftime powered the comeback. The Wildcats sit 5-4 and prepare for a pivotal Friday night road game at Lone Tree, live on Round Guy Radio and Facebook, with more tough conference tests coming vs. Winfield, Pekin, Waco, Hillcrest and a rescheduled New London date.
Round Guy Radio previews tonight's schedule of high school games, announces the debut of their YouTube channel with the JV game live from Columbus at 6:00, and notes the varsity game will stream on Facebook around 7:30. The episode thanks sponsors (Cedar Rapids Titans, Holy Trinity Friends, Smith Work Auto, Packwood Locker, Henshaw Trailer Sales) and lists key matchups including Highland vs Pekin, Washington vs Fort Madison, Winfield-Mount Union vs Wapello, Keokuk vs Mount Pleasant, Danville vs Notre Dame, Van Buren vs West Burlington, and New London at Holy Trinity.
Round Guy Radio sits down with Winfield-Mount Union coach Edwards to recap a 4–2 start, explain the team's strong defensive play, and discuss how injuries and turnovers have affected the offense. Edwards previews upcoming conference tests (Wapello, Waco and Pekin), highlights key contributors, and outlines what to expect as the Wolves push through the next stretch of the season.
Send us a textCannabis Legalization: Industry Updates and Future ProjectionsIn this episode of Cannabis Legalization News, the hosts discuss an array of topics impacting the cannabis industry. They highlight a significant recent executive order from Donald Trump aimed at reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug. The discussion covers the potential impacts of this reclassification on the cannabis industry, including changes in regulation, the importance of API integration in point-of-sale systems, and the ongoing battle against synthetic cannabinoids sourced from China. The show features Kyle Sherman of Flowhub, who shares his journey in cannabis tech, his efforts in compliance solutions, and the industry's evolution. They also discuss the potential improvement in state regulations and examples of successful dispensary operations. The episode concludes with plans for the upcoming Pekin local dispensary and thoughts on the future of cannabis legalization in the United States.
Round Guy Radio recaps an electric doubleheader at Pekin as the Columbus Wildcats rallied from an early deficit, highlighted by a buzzer-beating comeback, a coach technical that fired up the squad, and a varsity game decided in the final seconds. Standout performances from Ellis, Drake, Fritz and the JV breakout players, strong community support, and a preview of the next matchup at Waco on January 2 round out the episode.
Watch the second half live from Packwood as the Columbus Wildcats battle the Pekin Panthers in a fast-paced, action-packed game. Lando Calarisi leads the charge with clutch shots and rebounds, while both teams trade momentum and thrilling plays down the stretch. This episode captures intense defense, late three-pointers, and a dramatic finish — plus the announcement of the Packwood Locker Player of the Game. Relive the excitement and energy of a high school matchup that kept fans on their feet.
Coach Chase Roth breaks down Waco’s 61-55 win over Pekin highlighting a strong first half, a Pekin’s third-quarter surge, and Holden Hughes’ clutch free-throw shooting and inside play that secured the victory. Roth praises the team’s defense and balanced scoring, names Hughes the Packwood Locker Player of the Game, and previews upcoming matchups with Holy Trinity (broadcast on Round Guy Radio Facebook), L&M and Lone Tree.
Live radio play-by-play of a heated high-school rivalry in Wayland, Iowa, as the Waco Warriors and the Pekin Panthers trade big runs, momentum swings, and thrilling baskets. Celebrity referees, crowd energy, standout performances, and a dramatic fourth quarter lead to a narrow, heart-stopping finish that leaves the crowd buzzing.
Round Guy Radio previews a full night of high school basketball, featuring live coverage of Pekin at Waco and the new Smithburg Auto Scoreboard presented by Smithburg Auto and the Packwood Locker. The episode runs through tonight's top matchups across the region, notes Sigourney's 46–35 win over Colfax Mingo, mentions a Coach Islick interview at 3, and invites fans to support their local teams.
Coach Swanson joins Round Guy Radio to recap Pekin's 54-37 win over Wapello, highlighting Henry Adams' all-around performance and contributions from Noah Glick, Mason Dahlstrom, and Carson Comstock. The episode previews tonight's important matchup at Waco (7:30 p.m. on the Round Guy Radio Facebook page), discusses opponent strengths, and covers the team's early-season focus on conditioning, communication, and continuity.
Rośnie napięcie w stosunkach między Chinami a Japonią po tym, jak nowa premier Japonii, Sanae Takaichi, zasugerowała w parlamencie, że Japonia może użyć siły wojskowej, jeśli Chiny zaatakowałyby Tajwan. Chiny uważają Tajwan za część swojego terytorium i nie wykluczają użycia siły do – jak to określa Pekin – „zjednoczenia kraju”. Przez ostatnie tygodnie wzmaga się wroga retoryka po obu stronach. Ostatnio doszło do konfrontacji między okrętami służby granicznej niedaleko wysp Senkaku (Chiny nazywają je wyspami Diaoyu), administrowanymi przez Japonię. Od wielu lat trwa spór o te wyspy między obu krajami, a Tajwan znajduje się zaledwie 160 kilometrów od tych wysp.Co jest powodem wzrostu napięcia? Jakie cele w stosunkach z Chinami przyświecają obecnie nowym władzom w Japonii? I czy ten spór dyplomatyczny może wymknąć się spod kontroli?Gość: Michał Bogusz---------------------------------------------Raport o stanie świata to audycja, która istnieje dzięki naszym Patronom, dołącz się do zbiórki ➡️ https://patronite.pl/DariuszRosiakSubskrybuj newsletter Raportu o stanie świata ➡️ https://dariuszrosiak.substack.comKoszulki i kubki Raportu ➡️ https://patronite-sklep.pl/kolekcja/raport-o-stanie-swiata/ [Autopromocja]
277. Breaking Through Addiction in Marriage with Matthew and Joanna Raabsmith *DISCLAIMER* This episode is intended for adults. 1 John 1:9 AMP "If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].” *Transcription Below* Thank You to Our Sponsor: Leman Property Management Company Matthew and Joanna Raabsmith are clinicians, speakers, and authors with over 20 years of combined experience in counseling, coaching, and guiding couples toward healing and transformation. Their mission is to help couples navigate the complexities of relational challenges, particularly in the aftermath of sexual addiction and betrayal trauma, fostering deep restoration and growth. Matthew is a Professional Certified Coach (ICF) with a background in pastoral leadership, while Joanna is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, EMDR practitioner, and Certified Clinical Partner Specialist through APSATS. Both hold Master of Divinity degrees and have served together on multiple church leadership teams. Currently, they co-lead their private practice, The Raabsmith Team, where they specialize in helping couples rebuild connection, trust, and intimacy. Their passion for this work stems from their own journey of restoration. After experiencing the devastating effects of sexual addiction and betrayal in their marriage, Matthew and Joanna embarked on a years-long pursuit of reconciliation. This transformative experience led to the creation of tools like The Intimacy Pyramid™, a practical model for relational restoration and growth co-created with colleague Dan Drake. Their first book, Building True Intimacy (2023), has sold over 1,000 copies and provides practical guidance for couples to use the Intimacy Pyramid to create enduring connections. They also founded Renewing Us Recovery™, a comprehensive program designed to support couples in the later stages of relational restoration. In November 2025, they will host the inaugural Renewing Us Couples Retreat, offering workshops and connection opportunities for couples on similar paths of recovery and growth. Matthew and Joanna live in Memphis, Tennessee with their three young children. They prioritize self-care through shared adventures, new experiences, and a weekly game of pickleball. Free Resource Mentioned in Episode Building True Intimacy book Questions and Topics Discussed: What were the warning signs that you noticed when you were newlyweds that tipped you off to believing things weren't quite as they seemed? Are there any common life circumstances, whether nature or nurture, that predispose someone to be more likely to struggle with a sexual addiction? As couples seek to thrive in marriage, will you give us an overview of the intimacy pyramid you wrote a book about? Other Episodes Mentioned During Episode: Pornography: Protecting Children, Personal Healing, Recovery, and Victory in Christ with Sam Black Pornography Addiction and Helpful Recovery with Crystal Renaud Day Additional Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: Anatomy of an Affair with Dave Carder Protecting Your Marriage Against Unfaithfulness with Dave Carder Stories Series: Recovery From Sexual Sin in Marriage with Garrett and Brenna Naufel Supernatural Restoration Story with Bob and Audrey Meisner Special Patreon Re-Release Wholehearted Quiet Time with Naomi Vacaro 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 – 0:12) Laura Dugger: (0:13 - 1:38) 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. Today's message is not intended for little ears. We'll be discussing some adult themes, and I want you to be aware before you listen to this message. 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. Matthew and Joanna Raabsmith are my guests today. They are clinicians, speakers, and authors with over 20 years of combined experience in counseling, coaching, and guiding couples toward healing and transformation. Our conversation takes a few turns, from getting to hear their incredible and vulnerable story of healing and then getting tips for talking to our children about topics like sex, and also even receiving some practical wisdom and tips for enhancing our own marital enjoyment. Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Matthew and Joanna. Matthew Raabsmith: (1:39 - 1:40) So good to be here. Joanna Raabsmith: (1:40 - 1:42) So glad to be here. Thanks for having us. Laura Dugger: (1:42 - 1:51) Oh, truly my pleasure. And let's just start here. Can you share your story going back to meeting and falling in love and your first part of marriage? Matthew Raabsmith: (1:53 - 2:17) Sure, yeah. It was a little bumpy at first, actually. So, I knew Joanna through her brother. Joanna's brother was one of my best friends, and I got to meet her whenever she would come in town and visit, and she would invade guy night. He would usually bring her along to like a Lord of the Rings movie or something, and I would be a little frustrated because I would be like, oh, you brought your sister. Great. That's wonderful. Joanna Raabsmith: (2:18 - 2:24) A little off-putting, not super friendly. And I was like, your friend's kind of a jerk. We did not like each other at all in the beginning. Matthew Raabsmith: (2:24 - 2:54) Not big fans. And eventually over some time, we started to realize we had a lot in common. We liked to do a lot of the same things. And one summer that Joanna was in town, we started hanging out, started doing more and more together, and really just kind of developed a friendship, which was really fun. And at the very end of the summer, realized that there was something between us. And so, we went on one date. Our first date, we entered a golf tournament. We won it, and that was a good sign. Joanna Raabsmith: (2:54 - 2:55) That's a pretty good sign. Matthew Raabsmith: (2:55 - 3:02) And we went on three more dates over the course of two months and got engaged. Joanna Raabsmith: (3:03 - 3:07) And then two months after that, we got married. Matthew Raabsmith: (3:07 - 3:16) Yeah. So, her brother went from like, yeah, it's cool you date my sister, to like, you're not ready to get married. But he's come around now. Joanna Raabsmith: (3:17 - 3:19) 15 years later. Yeah. Matthew Raabsmith: (3:19 - 3:40) And, you know, a lot of it was, I think we had a definite sense of being kind of called together, being, you know, something special about who we were as a couple. And also, a recognition that we wanted to figure out what a good marriage looked like. We were really excited about marriage, but we didn't really know what we were doing. Joanna Raabsmith: (3:41 - 4:15) Yeah, I've had a really great model of healthy relationship. My parents have a wonderful marriage. They work really well as a team. And so, I knew, like, I want something like that. But as soon as we got married, we realized, but how do you actually build that? There's no, like, instruction manual for, okay, here are the things to do to have a great relationship. And so, we read books. We went to conferences. You know, we did what we could, but we still found ourselves getting stuck, not able to really create, like, that deep sense of, like, connection intimacy that we really wanted. Matthew Raabsmith: (4:15 - 5:17) And we started kind of hunting more and more for resources. We found some incredible resources that really changed our understanding of the way relationships work, the way people work, and really, for us, shifted our entire focus of kind of what we wanted to do, even with our life. And as we started to do that, though, we still kind of found ourselves at this kind of glass wall. We felt like no matter what we tried, there was always this kind of distance between us. And that started to grow kind of over the years that we were together. It wasn't getting better. It was actually kind of getting worse and worse and worse. And so, Joanna had actually decided to, after we finished our first grad degree together, the idea was we were going to go be pastors. And so, we had finished our kind of theological training. Joanna decided she wanted to get a master's in marriage and family therapy so we could do some work around marriages and ministry in that way. And her very first-class kind of just set our life in a completely different direction. Joanna Raabsmith: (5:17 - 6:26) Yes. So, my first class in the MFT program was a two-week intensive called Shame and Guilt. So, that's a really fun two-week intensive to be a part of. And as a part of that, though, they had an anonymous pastor come and share his testimony of struggling with sex addiction, becoming sober, getting into good recovery, healing and restoration in his marriage, kind of like that whole journey. And as he was talking, something inside of me started stirring. And I knew, OK, what he's saying is resonating way too much with me right now. I think this is the thing. This is what is keeping us stuck, not able to really create the relationship we want. And so, that day I went home and first I just kind of started talking about my class, what I learned, what this pastor had shared. Right. And nothing. Right. We're just kind of talking generally about it. And so, finally I couldn't do it anymore. And I just stopped and I looked him square in the eyes and I said, “Are you struggling with this in our marriage right now?” Matthew Raabsmith: (6:26 - 8:03) Yeah. And for the first time in my life, 20 years, I had been struggling with pornography, sexual addiction, and acting out in our marriage. And for the first time in my life, I was honest. I had lied for years, both with Joanna and everyone else. And the kind of floodgates just kind of opened up. And I finally said yes. And it was really hearing the story, I think, is what did it for me. I think it was knowing that somebody else had made it, that their life hadn't come crashing down because that was the greatest fear for me. That the moment anyone found this out, everything in my life would be over. Everything that I loved would be gone. And so, this kind of story of hope gave me a little bit of courage that day, to be honest. But that started a really long journey for us because there was a lot of damage that was done in both of my hiding. And now kind of this revelation, all the pain kind of came crashing down on Joanna and kind of her shoulders. And so, we started a quite intensive recovery process. We talked about it being kind of a full-time job. I went to recovery for my addiction and for kind of my acting out behaviors. Joanna had to begin a process of healing from the trauma of this discovery. And that process took us a number of years. It really was a long kind of arduous journey, but one that we ultimately survived and now thrive in our marriage and get the incredible luxury and the kind of gift of helping other couples do that. So, that's kind of where we find ourselves. Laura Dugger: (8:04 - 8:30) That is incredible. I just really appreciate you sharing your story. Clearly, stories are so powerful and that's what led to some healing for you and hopefully can open the floodgates for somebody else listening. So, if we go back in your story, then, Joanna, I'd love to start with you. What were some of those red flags in early marriage that things aren't quite as they seem? Joanna Raabsmith: (8:31 - 10:28) Yeah, there are a few. You know, I think that, you know, one of the pieces we kind of talked about, like, OK, we knew we're still getting stuck because there's 90 percent that felt really good. But then 10 percent that was extremely chaotic, really destructive. Right. We would get we call the pain cycles when we get emotionally dysregulated. And there would be some things that, right. Sometimes we would get into pain cycles, get dysregulated. And I kind of understand why. Right. Like something happened. There was the disagreement. But other times I couldn't put my finger on it. Right. Matthew would just get really angry and really shut down. And I wouldn't be able to connect it to anything that had happened in our life. And so, it was very confusing. It was really hard to understand what was going on. And I think kind of in the same way, when I would pull too close into that connection, that intimacy, he would pull back. Right. And it felt like even though we both named this goal and this desire, he would never actually partner with me in it. And so, again, that was really confusing because the actions were not matching up with reality and what was happening. And I think the other piece that was kind of true for us and true for a lot of other people is that our own sexual relationship was fraught with pain. And so, there was, again, a lot that was really good, but also a lot that was really painful and confusing. And some of the pieces just didn't connect. Right. And I would wonder, OK, what's going on? Well, I guess this is just the reality that like this is how much we get to expect in this area of our life, right. In our relationship. And so, it was when the pastor started describing his life and addiction and what that looked like emotionally, sexually, relationally. I was like, oh, those are all the things that I'm currently experiencing. Here's one thing that would answer all those questions that I have. And so, I think that was part of it. He kind of told me, like, OK, this is it. Laura Dugger: (10:28 - 11:00) That would be so eye opening. And my heart's going out to the couple who is maybe starting to identify with this. Was it and share whatever you're comfortable with from your story or the person's story who opened things up to you? So, sexually, I'm wondering if it was for you, Joanna, if you were hoping to connect sexually and that wasn't happening and that was confusing. You didn't feel pursued. But I don't want to fill in the blanks. So, could you elaborate? Joanna Raabsmith: (11:00 - 12:03) Absolutely. Yeah. And we find it a lot of different ways than couples that we work with. Right. And so, it can be sometimes on either side of the extreme. And so, for us, it was where there would be kind of times when he'd be fully present and interested and engaged. Right. And then all of a sudden, kind of like I described emotionally, he would just withdraw and not be there. And I would reach out to connect. And that was this like non-response. And which, again, didn't match up with those other times when he was engaged and wanting to connect. And he would give some sort of excuse that didn't totally make sense. Right. But I was kind of like, what else? What was I left with except that? So, I would kind of believe that and go with it, even though it didn't sit right. And so, yeah, I think that was part of it. We will see on the other side for some other couples. It's the opposite. And maybe that spouse is hypersexual in the relationship. Right. To the point where there might be pressure, even pressure to do things sexually that people aren't comfortable with. And so, yeah, it can look a lot of different ways. But that was kind of what our disconnect looked like. Laura Dugger: (12:04 - 12:33) That's so helpful. And there's two different directions I want to go, Matthew. So, I'll set it up. I guess I'm thinking of the guilt and shame and how those are usually so present. So, I have two questions. Were you when Joanna came to you, were you at a point where you recognize something was off and you wanted freedom from this and or had tried freedom before? Let's start with that and then I'll go into the other one. Matthew Raabsmith: (12:34 - 14:40) Yeah, it really was holy timing in a lot of ways. I, you know, for a lot of years I had I hated what I did. I didn't feel like I could stop it, but didn't have a lot of interest in kind of doing anything to stop it. I kind of just like would just say, “OK, this is going to be the last time.” And then, you know, of course it would come back. But I think at this point I had really started to see the damage that was happening to our relationship. I could feel us growing close, growing further apart. I could see kind of Joanna and the confusion that she was having. And like she couldn't understand things. She would ask me a lot of questions that I didn't have answers to. And so, I actually a couple of months earlier, we were at a worship service, and they had said like, “hey, if you are ready to give something up, if you feel like there's something holding you back, come forward and confess it.” And Joanna and I were sitting next to each other, and I remember feeling like the Holy Spirit just like pulling me to like get up out of my seat and I wouldn't move. I was like, no, because she's going to ask me what I went down for. I'm going there's you know, there's a random kind of prayer partner at the front. I'm like, I'm not going and confessing this to some random person. And so, I was ready. But I think like I said, I think there was no path forward. It was kind of confess this and everything stops and ends. But everything like marriage ends, life ends. And so, when she when she brought this, it really did feel like God had kind of been answering a prayer that I've been praying of like, if you give me a way out, I'll take it. I'm desperate. I want it to stop. And it felt like that. I think it was both this kind of terror and this hope that day. And even when I said, yes, it was a little bit like, what have I done? Like, could this have been different? Should I have just gone and told someone else privately? Right. But I think ultimately that it was out between the two of us and that we kind of knew it. We knew what we were dealing with made a huge difference. But I mean, God had been working in my life, offering opportunities for so long. I just been saying no, no, no. And then finally, you know, I think my heart just broke and it was like, yes, OK, I'm ready for this. Laura Dugger: (14:40 - 15:14) I love how the Holy Spirit equipped you with that humility and courage to be brave in that moment. And it's such a blessing for all of us to get to see the end or I guess not the end of the story, but you at this point in your story where you're thriving. And so, I hope that offers a lot of hope to people listening. But let's also pause. And so, going back further in time, Matthew, this was the other part of my question. What was life and attachment and your growing up journey like? Matthew Raabsmith: (15:15 - 18:09) Yeah, I didn't know that at the time. Right. I a lot of this I figured out in the last couple of years of recovery. You know, if you would have asked me, you know, as I was growing up about my life, I would have told you I had the perfect family. I had the perfect life. I think I did not realize that some of the things that I was going through weren't perfect, were harder. And part of that was because I think the way my family dynamic worked was we just swept everything under the rug. You know, whatever happened, we just kind of went, OK, and moved on from. And I learned to do that as a kid. And that meant a lot of emotional chaos. There was a lot of physical chaos and kind of volatility in our house growing up. And even though I had parents who are still married to this day, have stayed together and have tried to create kind of a stable life. There was a lot of emotional and kind of relational instability. We moved around a lot. And then once we started moving, I found myself more and more kind of isolated at school. I started dealing with bullying and some things that really kind of left me not knowing how to deal with the pain that I was going through. And so, my way of stuffing things under the rug was getting, you know, escaping, you know, kind of escaping into anything that I could. I watched a lot of TV. I was a latchkey kid, so I would come home. I'd watch TV a lot in the afternoon and then TV kind of just turned to more and more. And I was exposed pretty young to pornography, actually at a church camp. I was at a summer church camp. Someone brought a Playboy magazine, and I was exposed to pornography. And I kind of felt that high, that rush. And that just became kind of a mode of my escape. Right. Of whatever I could do to engage sexually, whether with my mind or with others. That's how I could get out of the pain I was in. That's how I could stop feeling kind of the chaos that I was having and not realizing that it was becoming this kind of adaptive habit, that it would just be this thing I would go back to more and more. And I grew up at a time that technology was still emerging. So, I can remember when we got our first computer and no one was talking about safeguards or anything. And so, it was just kind of exposure. Here you go. Here's everything you could ever want and don't need. And that really became my life. And the more and more that I did, the better and better I got at lying and hiding and even being kind of vulnerable in kind of fake ways. I would mention things like, yeah, we all have this struggle. And even Joanna, I had told like, you know, that was a struggle of mine in the past, but I've moved on from it. Right. I told myself and other people just kind of lie after lie after lie so that I could have really this double life. I could appear one way and then I could be acting a completely different way, kind of in the dark. Laura Dugger: (18:10 - 20:41) Yeah. And that makes sense. I'm thinking back to two episodes. We did one with a male, Sam Black from Covenant Eyes, and he speaks so much of the origins of pornography and that foothold that Satan gets. And so many times it is in childhood, unwittingly you're exposed and then what it can turn into. And then Crystal Renaud Day came on to share a lot of females struggle with this as well. And so, I'll link to those if those are a help. And now a brief message from our sponsor. 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For me, I had to figure out what had really gone on in my life and what was really happening. Because, like I said, I had become such an expert at hiding from myself and others that I didn't really know how to live any other way. And so, I, you know, Joanna kind of handed me a list of everything this pastor had done. She was like, here you go. Right. She kind of handed me that list and was like, good luck. And so, I dove in. I went to a men's intensive. And I think that was probably one of the key places for me to tell my story for the first time. I really took a look at my life and had some people help me take a look and recognize the trauma that I had as a kid exposure that I had experienced and what that really meant to me and helped me understand what I was doing. But also, kind of what I was doing to myself, how I was really kind of killing myself from the inside out and preventing myself from having the kind of relationship I wanted with God and other people. And so, that discovery was in really ways kind of invigorating for me. I felt like I was living for the first time. I think I had started to kind of get out of this kind of burden, this fear of always being caught. I told Joanna kind of the history of everything that had happened in my life and our relationship. And so, I was feeling this kind of renewed sense of like energy and excitement of like, this is good. I want this life. I want the life there that I'm not in constant kind of fear and in constant kind of connection to this thing I hate. And so, which is really different than what Joanna was experiencing. Joanna Raabsmith: (22:30 - 25:07) Yeah. So, for me, it was very jarring in the beginning. Everything I thought was real came crashing down around me. And that was especially jarring because I had left kind of the direction, the path that I was on. Right. We talked about our story earlier. It included two months of dating, two months of engagement before we got married. And that also included me dropping out of law school, getting married and moving to California to pursue a ministry degree so we could work as pastors together or do something together. And so, in that moment, all of that came crashing down. And I kind of was very lost, not just in our relationship, but in kind of what in the world am I even doing here? What am I going to do moving forward if he doesn't choose recovery? Right. And so, just all of those question marks, all in that one moment of him answering that question affirmative. And so, so there was like that heaviness on one side and then on the other side was this relief of finally everything I've been experiencing makes sense. Right. Finally, I feel like I actually know what's going on. And because of that, there could maybe be a path forward for us as well. So, is this very, very weird dichotomy in that moment? And so, but I think I knew right away, like, I can't be vulnerable. I can't be intimate with him anymore. Right. I have to step back in our relationship and wait and see what he chooses to do. Is he going to choose to do the work of recovery and get healthy and start to be honest and safe or not? And so, that's so we kind of did kind of there's some space for a very long period of time while we focused on our own individual recoveries. And that, again, was a little bumpy for me. This is over a decade ago. And so, there is very little information about what partners experience. We call it betrayal trauma, and that just wasn't a very common word at the time. And so, some of the resources I plugged into came from a more we would call it codependent, co-addict focus, which just really didn't fit. So, I struggled to find resources that felt like they fit for my journey. But once I did, it all again, my own healing process started to make sense. And it was so like freeing and liberating to understand. Like, oh, OK, this is what I'm going through. This is why I feel this way. This is what it looks like to heal and move forward. And so, kind of beginning that process was so important because then when Matthew was kind of in a healthy, safe place, I was as well, and we can start to step in towards each other on that kind of more couples' journey at that point. Laura Dugger: (25:07 - 25:17) I love how you did that wisely, though, separate first, not rushing into couples at that time. Absolutely. Matthew Raabsmith: (25:18 - 26:33) Appreciate you calling it wise. I think we were terrified. Yeah, we'll take God's help. I think he was like, you guys just work on your own stuff for a while. And in some ways, like I said, it was we didn't know what we were doing. But I think we knew we wanted there to be a future between the two of us. But we knew it had to be completely different in some ways than what we had before, which was scary because we liked what we had before. Like we had a really great marriage in many ways. Right. There was this portion of it, this hidden portion that was really infecting and killing it all. But what we did have together, we didn't want to totally lose. It just was really hard to know, especially early on, what's going to come forward. Like, who are we still going to be as we go forward? Are we still going to be a couple who does things together? Right. Who works together? Or is that all kind of going to have to be different? Is that the only way that we have kind of moving forward? And so, that was that was probably the hardest part was having like this sense of like not wanting to lose us. We were like, if we lost that, that was going to be miserable. And I think a lot of our work was about how do we eventually reclaim this marriage that we want, that we love? Laura Dugger: (26:34 - 27:04) Yes, because from what I'm sensing, you're friends with each other, you're on purpose or on mission with God. He did a course correction change, putting you on this path to help couples. But your desire to work together, it's like He still honored that in the ministry of reconciliation. And I'm assuming abundantly blessed it beyond what you could ever dreamed up what we're doing now. Joanna Raabsmith: (27:04 - 27:42) Right. It's been amazing to see what God has done, how he's used our story, which is so fitting because it was someone sharing their story that brought our healing. And I think because of that and it wasn't right away; it took some time to get to the place where we felt open to God using our story to bring healing to others. But we found as we stepped into that, that we have received such a blessing. Right. And just being able to sit with other couples in that journey and see them go from that place of pain and confusion to this place of restoration and thriving. Like there is no better work that we could have imagined for ourselves. Laura Dugger: (27:42 - 28:09) Love that. And really, you did have to pioneer a path. There weren't many resources at that time. So, that's another reason I'm grateful you can share your story, because I hope it unlocks freedom for others. So, if we're turning more outward now and you're helping as you work with couples, how do you help them identify the difference between sexual struggles and sexual addiction? Matthew Raabsmith: (28:10 - 30:15) Yeah, that's a great question. And I think that it really kind of exists on a spectrum. And so, everything kind of exists under what we call problematic sexual behavior or unwanted sexual behavior. Whenever someone is acting in a way sexually that doesn't align with their values. And then the question is, is how often, how compulsive, right? How habituated, right? How really embedded is that practice? Because the more and more embedded it is and the more and more that I continue to act on that, seeing the damage that it's doing, that's really what qualifies as the addiction. The addiction is when I know that this is causing harm and I and I feel that even though I want to stop it and I've tried to stop. Right. I can't stop the 12 steps has a great line. They say addicts, you know, addicts have no problem stopping. It's staying stopped. That's hard for an addict. Right. And so, that's usually a sign that there's an addiction. And really what that means is that just means that I'm going to have to be even more kind of thorough and scrupulous in my willingness to change a lot. Because if I have built an addictive lifestyle, that means everything I do kind of functions to support that lifestyle. Right. And so, my part of that was this hiding. I lied about everything. I would lie about anything just to make sure that I was in control of the narrative. And so, for me, it was recognizing that if I was going to move forward free of my addiction, then it had to begin with honesty, with this kind of radical honesty and transparency and growing in that consistently, because that was the way that I manifested this addiction and kind of kept it going. And so, that's really what the addiction is about, is recognizing what are the kind of pieces in my life that are supporting this addiction to continue to exist? And how is God going to dismantle those things? Right. And how am I going to be a part of that dismantling? Laura Dugger: (30:16 - 30:33) That's well said. And also, I'm curious, are there any common life circumstances, whether that's nature or nurture, that are more likely to predispose someone to more likely have this struggle with sexual addiction? Matthew Raabsmith: (30:34 - 32:30) I mean, there are, I think, you know, the things that we tend to look for are trauma and trauma comes in so many different forms. So, trauma is more it's rare that it's a single event. It's often more a kind of consistent occurrences. As I mentioned, you know, I can't speak to kind of one event in my life that I say this was the traumatic moment in which everything changed. But it was more of the chaos. And so, I grew up in a family that could be really, really, really loving and incredibly encouraging and fun and silly and in a heartbeat switch into one that was verbally and physically just chaotic and terrifying. And it was that chaos that kept me on edge. What it did was it created in me kind of a system of always wanting to be on high alert. And that would exhaust me. That would kind of wear me out. And I would want to kind of numb that kind of feeling away. And so, I think those traumas, I do think early exposure. Right. I mean, I was exposed early before my brain was ready to really understand what it was dealing with. And I think the third component that we often see is a low level or a kind of really a void of sexual education. There was I'm sure I had a small talk with my dad at some point, but we were not talking about pornography. We weren't talking about bodies. We weren't talking about sex from a kind of healthy, good way. I grew up in the church, and it was kind of don't do this until you're married and then you'll be fine. Right. That was the sexual education message. And so, those things, right, trauma, exposure and lack of kind of education usually forms in someone a difficulty of knowing what they're doing, knowing that it's destroying them before it's really kind of gotten a deep hole. Joanna Raabsmith: (32:30 - 33:20) I think like the brain. The brain aspect to when we talk about addiction, there are usually chemicals involved in addiction being formed, being created. And so, I think also co-occurring disorders, right, that emotional pain, also things like anxiety, depression, ADHD, where my brain really likes the dopamine it gets from sexual acting out. Right. And you can actually need it to feel OK. That can also be a factor in kind of especially that addictive side of these behaviors. When my brain gets really attached to that dopamine release that it's getting because maybe I have some other things going on or I just have emotional pain. I don't know what to deal with, how to handle it, how to regulate that in a healthy way. Laura Dugger: (33:20 - 34:30) There's so many good points there. I'll just highlight one because there's a profound piece that you were talking about with early exposure to evil and the corruption of it is extremely harmful. And yet not being exposed to God's good design for sex and hopefully being coached by our parents, that is both of those play a part in the addiction. And so, I'm thinking even as we shift to think about parents, I know I've had parents come to me and just say, I don't want to talk about this with my kids. I don't want to rob their innocence. And my approach is if God made it, this is good. We can talk to them. You're not robbing their innocence when you're sharing the good age-appropriate parts of sex. And it's so great to be that first one to share with them. And I think it does the opposite of what we would expect. We're afraid that that might make them hyper sexualized. But would you speak to that? Any encouragement for parents? Matthew Raabsmith: (34:30 - 36:37) Yeah, it's tricky. I mean, even as parents, we've got kids and its still kind of navigating it. But I do think what it does is it lets someone learn the things they need to in the timeline they need to. I think part of one of the things is that, you know, really good sexual education starts young. I mean, they start six and seven years old or even younger, just talking about our bodies. Right. Because I think that's part of it. Really, this is about understanding the goodness of our bodies. This body was created by God, the maker of heaven and earth, and he called it good. And so, I think part of a good sexual education begins with that. And then, what's really nice is once you've started the conversation, that means if your children are exposed or if they're presented with things that don't line up with what they've been hearing, they now feel safe to come and talk about that. Because that's really what this was about. I didn't feel safe to talk about what I was exposed to, what people were doing. Right. And what people were encouraging me to engage in. And so, you know, my parents would ask me how it's going. I would not tell them anything because it wasn't a conversation that they were having with me. And so, I didn't think it was a conversation I was going to have with them. And so, that meant that as I found myself further and further away from my values, I felt like, who am I going to share this with? And so, part of having the conversation is it normalizes with our kids that this is OK to talk about, which is actually what adults need. I mean, part of our work with couples as adults, we have to get them talking about sex and body parts. I mean, it's amazing to have 30, 40, and 50-year-olds in our offices and in our sessions. And they're so uncomfortable. Right. They don't want to talk about sex. They don't want to talk about their bodies. They don't want to talk about what their bodies do. Right. And we keep being like, this is God's good stuff. Right. There is goodness here. But you have to begin by talking about it. Right. Having these conversations. Joanna Raabsmith: (36:38 - 37:54) I tell all the parents I work with, your kids are going to pick up a narrative about what sex is and what sexuality is, whether you want them to or not. And so, would you rather be the first person to step in and give them a healthy view, a healthy narrative to understand? Right. And this is beyond kind of the nuts and bolts that everything our kids are learning. They're trying to find a deeper meaning. They don't think it's unconscious when they're young. Right. But they're taking it and they're going, what meaning does this have for me? How does this inform my self-worth, my view of my own value as a human in my body? And how does it inform my experience of the world and my safety in the world? And am I empowered to make decisions? Am I connected? Do I belong? Right. All of those questions are asking. And so, as they're confronted with issues of sexuality, it's going to inform those things. And the world will not give them a healthy narrative about it. Right. And so, being able as a parent to step in and give them that healthy meaning, that narrative, that understanding of their worth and their safety as they're piecing together kind of sexuality, again, at that age-appropriate level is so important. Laura Dugger: (37:54 - 38:30) 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. And I love that you're talking about this with couples you work with. So, will you give us an overview of the intimacy pyramid that you actually wrote a book about and you teach to couples? Joanna Raabsmith: (38:30 - 38:31) Absolutely. Matthew Raabsmith: (38:31 - 39:15) Yeah. I mean, it was born out of our journey because, as you said, we wandered for a while and we felt a little bit like Israel, just kind of, you know, knowing that the Promised Land was out there, but never really feeling like we could find it. And when we started to piece together, I think the kind of relationship that we had dreamed of reclaiming, we really ask ourselves, how can we make this a more direct, a simpler process, not just for couples who went through what we went through, but really for any couple who's hungry for this, for the couple like us when we were first starting. It really wants an amazing marriage. And so, we really focused on a kind of simplistic idea of what are the core kind of foundational levels of building really healthy intimacy. Joanna Raabsmith: (39:16 - 40:10) Yeah. So, the intimacy pyramid, it's actually a triangle. There's a visual that goes along with it. So, if you imagine the different levels of the triangle, very similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, starting at the bottom, you have to start with honesty. And so, we definitely experienced that reality in our own relationship. Right. This is something we learned from Couples in Betrayal, but like Matthew said, we realized this is where every couple starts. Am I willing to be fully open, fully honest and transparent in this relationship? Am I being my authentic self? Right. And after that level of honesty, that's when we start to build safety. And that has to do with our ability to communicate in really healthy, constructive ways. Even when it's hard, even when we're disagreeing, even when we feel like yelling at each other. Are we able to show up with that belief that we both have the same goal? We're trying to build something together. Matthew Raabsmith: (40:10 - 41:57) And with honesty and safety, that's where we get to work on trust as a couple. That's that next level. And trust is where we start to be more partners, where we're really starting to kind of lean in, work together, kind of be courageous and saying, “Hey, this isn't just my life anymore, right?” This is our life together. And as that trust is established, this is what allows for the incredible work of vulnerability. And there's been all these studies about vulnerability over the last few years and how important it is. What we recognize, though, is vulnerability on top of nothing is actually really risky and kind of even dangerous. It's vulnerability that's built on healthy trust where we step in and we do share some of those deeper pains in those wounds, those fears. We start to really heal some of those kind of early traumas that we experience. It's in that vulnerability. That's what allows a couple to be truly intimate. And it's when they've worked through each of these levels, what we find is these couples, when they reach this kind of this intimacy level, they're passionate about who they are as a couple. They love kind of their relationship itself. They have a purpose to it. They have a sense that like our marriage, our relationship exists for a reason, but they're also really playful. They're silly. They're really kind of comfortable in their own skin. And it's those five levels really working together that allows them to experience a relationship that gives life. I think one of the things we know is that when God creates, it gives life. And so, God created marriage not to burden us, right? Not to kind of, you know, not even just to get us through, you know, kind of surviving life, but actually to bring more life. Right. And not just life within the relationship itself, but life outside of it. Laura Dugger: (41:58 - 42:22) Oh, I love it. And you're also working with couples. I've heard you speak before about the working on offering your spouse the gift of self-awareness. And so, what could couples expect? How do you actually work with them to grow in self-awareness and recognize things like the emotional process they go through in marriage? Joanna Raabsmith: (42:22 - 43:48) Absolutely. So, awareness. So, in our book, we obviously detail the intimacy period much more. And that's Building True Intimacy is the name of the book. But each of those levels we just walked through have different components that go into that. And awareness is kind of like one of the most important components of that honesty foundation. So, we have to start with awareness and we can't really build anything if there's a lack of self-awareness. And so, when we work with couples, one of the first places we start is we kind of look at the past. Are they aware of what they've been through, what those experiences are, and how those experiences have shaped them into the person that is now in the present, showing up with their spouse. Right. And so, once I start to have that insight from my past, from those experiences, how they shape me, I can better understand my present. What are the things that I feel and why do I feel those things in particular? Right. And then when I feel those things in a relationship, and these are typically those kind of heavier, more challenging, more painful emotions. How do I respond? How am I showing up? Because the reality is that all of us cope with emotional pain the same way we cope with physical pain. We go into fight or flight. That part of our brain gets triggered and we respond with these kind of destructive relational coping behaviors that then hurt my partner. Matthew Raabsmith: (43:48 - 46:22) Yeah. Like, for example, I told you about that chaos I experienced as a kid. And so, those would always happen around conflicts. My parents would disagree about something. There would be some type of argument about, you know, and it could be anything where we were going for dinner or what color the curtains were. Right. But it would create this chaotic environment. So, as I got married, the thing that I didn't like the least was any type of conflict. Joanna and I would get in when I could sense us disagreeing and we are both passionate. We have opinions and we believe things and we get into this kind of disagreement and argument. It would freak my system out. And I didn't realize that because I didn't really know my past. I didn't know what was going on. I would just really do anything to shut it down. I get angry and I try to get loud, or I just walk away in the middle of a conversation. As Joanna was talking, I would just leave the room and my acting out was just a further manifestation of that kind of leaving the relationship. And so, part of my healing journey was to learn about my story and recognize, oh, OK, I can see what's happening. And what's really interesting is it still happens in our life today. I've been in recovery for 12 years. I still feel the same things. Now it's more like when my kids are getting involved. Right. And there's energy in the room and people are online. And then I go, oh, yeah, there it is. There's my system again. It's starting to feel unsafe. It's starting to feel alone. And I know what it wants to do. It wants to get angry, or it wants to just shut down and walk away. And what's incredible is that we've learned the ability to see where we're at but also speak directly to that. And so, what I get to do for myself now is I get to go, “OK, I know I'm feeling unsafe and I know I'm feeling alone. And I know I want to get angry to solve it, but it won't do it. But here's the truth. The truth is that I'm safe in God's economy. I'm empowered. I have an incredible partner in my life. I've never been alone. I've always had someone there for me. And Joanna is the perfect example of that.” And that totally changes my sense of really kind of where I am. And it changes how I show up. I tend to be much more calm. I ask questions rather than make demands. And it's that ability to kind of see where we're at and shift. That's just been such a game changer for our family and just for our own relationship. We still have to work on it. You know, it doesn't always look that pretty. Right. But when we do, it's amazing how different it goes. Laura Dugger: (46:24 - 46:44) And then I just think of the generational impacts that has when people are willing to do the work. And so, if there's a brave couple out there who wants to seek their own help and healing, can you share where they can go for help, including the Raabsmith team and all that you have to offer? Matthew Raabsmith: (46:46 - 47:30) Yeah, you know, we would love them to connect with us because I think one of the things we recognize was having guides along the way. I mean, we had to figure a lot out ourselves, but we also had some really incredible guides, some mentors, some coaches, some therapists. And so, we always just say, hey, connect with us. You can find us at raabsmithteam.com. We have a heart for couples who want restoration and reconciliation because that's what we're getting to live and experience. And what's cool is our whole team, they're couples who've been through this work, but who also have been professionally trained to help other couples to just continue to guide and to grow relationships so that they're thriving and they're kind of giving that life. Joanna Raabsmith: (47:30 - 48:10) Absolutely. We also love to give out resources. And so, we have the kind of we call it the honest connection. And so, again, if you're starting this journey or even this is for any couple who wants deeper connection, deeper intimacy, learning how to do that on a daily basis in small ways is so important. And so, we have a worksheet that couples can take and use. We're happy to provide that for them for free and kind of try this for 30 days and notice the changes that you experience in your relationship. And so, that's a great starting point wherever you are in relationship to begin that journey of connection. Matthew Raabsmith: (48:10 - 48:14) And you just go to raabsmithteam.com/free and that resource is all yours. Laura Dugger: (48:15 - 48:26) Wonderful. Add links for that in the show notes for today's episode. And is this then for any couple worldwide, nationwide? Can you work with people? Matthew Raabsmith: (48:27 - 48:55) We have we've got couples across the world, which is really fun. It's been really neat just to see the way that God has used our work. One of the things when we first started this journey, we started getting couples calling us saying, “Hey, I don't have anybody in my area that specializes in this, that understands this journey. Can I work with you?” And so, we kind of felt a calling to say we want to make sure that we connect with people wherever they are. And so, absolutely. If you can hear our voice, you can work with us. Laura Dugger: (48:55 - 49:14) I love that. And just as a little bonus practical tip, you kind of mentioned being proactive to thriving in marriage. Is there any encouragement that you could share or a specific practical tip that anybody could start to incorporate if they want to take their marriage to that thriving level? Matthew Raabsmith: (49:15 - 50:12) Yeah, I think just the ability to slow down. We have a nine, seven and six-year-old. We own our own business, and we like life and life can get incredibly fast. And I think what we have found is when, as I was mentioning, when I learned the ability just to slow down, even if I don't fully just know myself slowing down and checking in, just where am I at right now? Where's my heart? Right. Where do I want to be? I think I realize that so often my values and my actions aren't aligned when I'm moving too quickly. I'm not being the person that I want to be. And we see that in so many couples. We meet so many couples and there are two really great people who have a hard time working together. They have a hard time kind of being a team. And it's usually because they're working so fast. They don't realize they're kind of working against each other. So, slowing down, I think, is such a big thing. Joanna Raabsmith: (50:12 - 51:18) Another piece that's, again, really easy to start right away. A lot of couples we work with, and I think probably even us when we start a relationship, was there were two individuals in a relationship, and it was kind of either me or you. And starting to understand there's this third thing between you, the relationship. There's a third almost entity that really needs care. It needs nurture. It needs you to focus on its needs from time to time. And so, beginning to approach the day, even approach conversations with this question of like, what does our relationship need right now? And even as you're trying to make decisions, what is the way we can decide this in a way that's good for our relationship or what decision benefits our relationship rather than does it benefit you or me? Because when you get into that struggle, it can become a competition. It can become transactional really quickly. So, starting to ask that question, starting to talk about the needs and caring for the relationship very intentionally can be a way to shift that. Laura Dugger: (51:20 - 51:38) Thank you for sharing that. I think that leads into my last question, because you already know we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for both of you, Matthew and Joanna, what is your savvy sauce? Matthew Raabsmith: (51:39 - 52:22) I kind of mentioned this, but I think it's the willingness to be honest. I was so willing to lie to myself and kind of really hide from other people. And I didn't even know that I was doing it. But as I have learned to be more honest in really kind of healthy ways, right. You can dump, you can whine, you can complain, you can get angry. But truly being honest meant just looking at what I was feeling and trying to kind of figure that out and name that. As I have learned that ability to be honest with myself and with others, it has just opened up a new world of possibilities. And it has shown me how many people care for me; how much God cares for me. So, I think that honesty is something I just want to practice more and more every day. Joanna Raabsmith: (52:22 - 53:30) I think for me, just in my own journey and working with so many partners, that importance of being able to make empowered decisions in my life. Right. That I am really intentionally choosing the direction I'm going in life. Realizing that instead of going into this more helpless, powerless victim stance is such a difference. And really the only thing that changes a lot of times is mindset. You don't have to overhaul your entire life. Right. You have to add in like four hours of self-care and all of these things. But starting to shift that mindset into, wait, I have power in the decisions I make. And one of the ways that's really important to do that is growing that self-awareness. I cannot make empowered decisions if I'm not aware of where I'm at emotionally, physically, spiritually. Right. If I'm not aware of my needs on a regular basis. And so, slowing down to check those things in, sometimes even multiple times in the day if you're not used to that. So, you're more connected to yourself, to what you need, what you want. So, you can start making those empowered decisions. Laura Dugger: (53:32 - 54:00) I love that. It's just so enjoyable to host a very lively couple who's humble and you've done your work. And then you're willing to share all this overflow of goodness with all of us. So, I think my prayer is that the Lord would richly bless you for this open-handed generosity of wisdom and your story and experience that you've shared with us and modeled for us today. So, thank you to both of you for being my guest. Joanna Raabsmith: (54:00 - 54:03) Thank you so much. It's a joy being here. Laura Dugger: (54:05 - 57:47) 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.
Chiny są dziś pewne siebie jak nigdy wcześniej. Jakub Jakóbowski z OSW tłumaczy, skąd bierze się ta pewność, jakie sygnały Pekin wysyła światu i dlaczego tak otwarcie mówi o swoich planach.(00:00) Wstęp(2:06) Rozmowa Trumpa z Xi(7:12) Czy Chińczycy chcą coś ugrać na procesie pokojowym?(16:09) Czego Chińczycy uczą się od Rosja?(19:07) Jak Chiny widzą siebie?(33:53) Od kiedy rośnie pewność siebie Chin?(39:00) Czy Chińczycy chcą wyciągnąć Europę od USA?(47:57) Podsumowanie: Czy Chińczycy nie przegrzewają?Mecenasi programu:Inwestuj w fundusze ETF z OANDA TMS Brokers: https://go.tms.pl/UkladOtwartyETF AMSO-oszczędzaj na poleasingowym sprzęcie IT: https://amso.pl/Uklad-otwarty-cinfo-pol-218.htmlPobierz aplikację Hallow: http://hallow.com/ukladotwartyZgłoś się do Szkoły Przywództwa Instytutu Wolności:https://szkolaprzywodztwa.plhttps://patronite.pl/igorjanke ➡️ Zachęcam do dołączenia do grona patronów Układu Otwartego. Jako patron, otrzymasz dostęp do grupy dyskusyjnej na Discordzie i specjalnych materiałów dla Patronów, a także newslettera z najciekawszymi artykułami z całego tygodnia. Układ Otwarty tworzy społeczność, w której możesz dzielić się swoimi myślami i pomysłami z osobami o podobnych zainteresowaniach. Państwa wsparcie pomoże kanałowi się rozwijać i tworzyć jeszcze lepsze treści.
Cześć, w najnowszym odcinku serii Powojnie wracam do wątku, o którym mało kto dziś pamięta. A przecież to była jedna z najgroźniejszych sytuacji w powojennej historii świata. Związek Radziecki i Chińska Republika Ludowa były o krok od wojny.Najbardziej napięty moment przypadł na 1969 rok. Spory graniczne między dwoma komunistycznymi mocarstwami doprowadziły je na skraj otwartego konfliktu. Moskwa przez lata lekceważyła Pekin. Mao nie zamierzał dłużej tego tolerować i systematycznie odsuwał się od ZSRR, coraz wyraźniej akcentując niezależność Chin.Punktem zapalnym stała się wyspa na rzece Ussuri. To tam padły pierwsze strzały. Starcia później przeniosły się również w rejon Sinciangu.W Moskwie rozważano nawet prewencyjne uderzenie nuklearne na Chiny. Ostatecznie nic takiego nie nastąpiło, a obie strony doszły do porozumienia — choć dla żadnej z nich nie było ono satysfakcjonujące. Dlatego relacje chińsko-sowieckie jeszcze przez lata pozostawały napięte.Jeżeli chcecie poznać całą historię tego sporu, zapraszam na odcinek.
Kup książkę „Chiny jednego dziecka” na stronie Empik: https://www.empik.com/chiny-jednego-dziecka-sochon-piotr-truszczynska-weronika-urban-nadia,p1666533204,ksiazka-p Dołącz do grona Patronów tego podcastu na http://www.patronite.pl/maopowiedziane Posłuchaj dalszej części odcinka na kanale Mao Powiedziane Plus na Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ySk7ZCQPHXRGLeC7IaZkj?si=ciUq8dgETyi4Hw4Zmkl5Ug Napięcia między Chinami a Japonią znalazły się na szczycie chińskiej debaty publicznej. W tym odcinku tłumaczymy, dlaczego wypowiedź nowej premier Japonii Takaichi wywołała w Chinach tak gwałtowną reakcję, czemu Tajwan jest tu kluczowy, jak na jej słowa zareagowali chińscy dyplomaci i zwykli internauci, oraz dlaczego Pekin uważa, że Tokio przekroczyło czerwoną linię. Wyjaśniamy też historyczne i społeczne tło relacji chińsko-japońskich, od pamięci o okupacji Tajwanu po współczesny nacjonalizm, oraz to, czy rzeczywiście zbliżamy się do militarnej konfrontacji – czy raczej do kolejnej odsłony retorycznej spirali, która nakręca emocje po obu stronach. Sklep Mao Powiedziane https://maopowiedziane.pl/Jak połączyć konto na Patronite ze Spotify https://patronite.pl/post/71266/polacz-konto-na-patronite-ze-spotifyDołącz do naszego Discorda (dla Patronów) https://patronite.pl/post/59230/jak-dolaczyc-do-naszego-discordaPostaw nam kawę na http://buycoffee.to/maopowiedzianeInstagram: http://instagram.com/maopowiedzianeInstagram Nadii: http://instagram.com/nadia.urbanInstagram Weroniki: http://instagram.com/wtruszczynskaNapisz do nas: kontakt@maopowiedziane.pl
We heard back from Ryan who last week said he was thinking of reaching back out to an ex he thinks may have been the one! Then in more Group Therapy, a pretty new husband is wondering what is the right way to react to a drastic change his wife wants to make with her hair. And Ben teams up with Amanda from Pekin to take on some "Lady Knowledge"!
BCC Episode #349 | Michael & Riley celebrate 8 years of BCC! Back in 1972 Bigfoot was at the height of his popularity and it seemed like every small town in America was getting a taste of High Strangeness. In East Peoria and Pekin, Illinois a big hairy monster was trying to get into the action. It's the startling saga of The Cole Hollow Road Monster! Also: Were aliens spying on our nuclear tests in the 1950's? And has Bigfoot been to Europe lately? We get to the bottom of these mysteries plus bring back an old game in a new format called: "What's in the Box?" To listen AD FREE and unlock 3 BONUS EPISODES every month, check out BCC CLUBHOUSE on Supercast Watch this Episode on YouTube BCC Merch Shop Aliens Spying? Bigfoot Mapping Project BCC is Brought to You by... Miracle Made - Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/BCC and use the code BCC to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. -- SHOW INFORMATION Bigfoot Collectors Club is produced by Riley Bray and Michael McMillian YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@bigfootcollectorsclub BCC Merch Shop: https://bigfoot-collectors-club-podcast-shop.fourthwall.com/collections/all Listener-Files Submissions: BigfootCollectorsClub@gmail.com. Instagram: https://bit.ly/3W7izlL | Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/bccpodcast.bsky.social Our theme song is “Come Alone,” by Suneaters, courtesy of Lotuspool Records. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Przed zaplanowanym na jutro spotkaniem z Xi Jinpingiem Donald Trump wylądował w Korei Południowej. Po Malezji i Japonii jest to ostatni etap jego kilkudniowej podróży, której stawką jest nie tylko przyszłość ceł, ale przede wszystkim dostęp do metali ziem rzadkich, których około 70 proc. kontrolują obecnie Chiny. Z kolei Pekin chce od Amerykanów cofnięcia zakazu eksportu nowoczesnych półprzewodników, bez których trudno rozwijać technologię AI. Jutrzejszy szczyt dotyczy jednak czegoś jeszcze bardziej znaczącego niż uniknięcie wojny handlowej między dwiema największymi gospodarkami globu. Pierwszy raz od pół wieku światowej ekonomii grozi szantaż na poziomie surowców – od metali ziem rzadkich zależy rozwój przemysłu obronnego, energetyki czy medycyny. Zabezpieczenia dostępu do nich dotyczyły rozmowy Trumpa z nową premier Japonii Takaichi Sanae – polityczką, która zapowiada zaostrzenie kursu wobec Chin.Co do tej pory udało się osiągnąć Amerykanom? Czy Chiny i USA unikną wojny celnej — i czy porozumieją się w sprawie surowców oraz technologii, bez których oba kraje nie wyobrażają sobie swojej przyszłości? Jak w tym nowym układzie sił odnajdą się Japonia i Korea Południowa?Gość: Dominik Mierzejewski---------------------------------------------Raport o stanie świata to audycja, która istnieje dzięki naszym Patronom, dołącz się do zbiórki ➡️ https://patronite.pl/DariuszRosiakSubskrybuj newsletter Raportu o stanie świata ➡️ https://dariuszrosiak.substack.comKoszulki i kubki Raportu ➡️ https://patronite-sklep.pl/kolekcja/raport-o-stanie-swiata/ [Autopromocja]
Mark 2:27 NIV "Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." *DISCLAIMER* This episode contains adult themes and is not intended for little ears. *Transcription Below* Emily MacLeod-Wolfe is a Nurse Practitioner wellness professional with a passion for helping individuals achieve their health goals in a holistic and practical way. With 5 years of invaluable experience in the field, Emily has developed a deep understanding of the importance of a balanced lifestyle for a vibrant life. Emily firmly believes in treating the whole person, not just the symptoms, and takes a comprehensive approach to healthcare. She learned these from her own personal experience of dealing with Hashitmotos thyroiditis and eczema and found the root causes to treat them naturally. She is passionate to help others with the personal knowledge and health freedom she has received. By combining her medical expertise with a focus on nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness, she empowers her clients to take control of their health and make sustainable lifestyle changes. With a warm and empathetic demeanor, Emily creates a safe and supportive environment where clients feel heard and understood. She works closely with each individual to develop personalized wellness plans that are tailored to their unique needs and circumstances. Whether you're looking to improve your physical fitness, manage stress, or simply lead a healthier life, Emily is dedicated to guiding, encouraging & supporting you on your wellness journey. Emily's Website Questions and Topics We Cover: Will you give us an intro lesson for hormones 101? Is it normal to have really painful and heavy menstrual cycles or is that an indicator that something is not right? What are the best practices you recommend for women to support healthy hormones and healthy adrenals in their body all month long? Thank you to our sponsor: Leman Property Management Episode Mentioned Today: 256 Gut Health, Allergies, Inflammation and Proactive Solutions with Emily Macleod-Wolfe Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce Podcast: 81. Sacred Rest with Doctor, Wife, Mother, and Author, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith 167. Pursuing Health in Four Key Areas with Debra Fileta 205. Power of Movement with Alisa Keeton (Revelation Wellness) Hormones and Simple Changes to Feel SO Much Better with Functional Medicine Expert, Dr. Jill Carnahan Practicing Sabbath with Shireen Eldridge Special Patreon Re-release: Out of the Box Stress Relievers to Apply Today with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith 215 Enriching Women's Sexual Function, Part One with Dr. Kris Christiansen 216 Enriching Women's Sexual Function, Part Two with Dr. Kris Christiansen 217 Tween/Teen Females: How to Navigate Changes during Puberty with Dr. Jennifer Degler Connect with us through The Savvy Sauce 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 – 0:12) Laura Dugger: (0:12 - 1:29) 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. Today's message is not intended for little ears. We'll be discussing some adult themes, and I want you to be aware before you listen to this message. 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. Emily McLeod-Wolfe is my returning guest for today. Last time we talked about everything related to gut health, and I'll make sure to link that episode in the show notes for today's episode. I would highly recommend that you begin there, because there's a lot of overlap with solutions, as then we transition today into our topic about female hormones, the menstruation cycle, and how to make everything better, and even end up grateful to God for our female cycle. Here's our chat. Welcome back to The Savvy Sauce, Emily. Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (1:30 - 1:34) Thank you so much for having me again, Laura. I'm so excited about this section. Laura Dugger: (1:35 - 1:40) Yes, can you just give us a brief reminder of the work that you get to do before we dive in? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (1:41 - 2:08) Yes. I am a holistic nurse practitioner. I was trained traditionally in traditional medicine at Vanderbilt, and then I went on to do ... Well, from my own personal health journey, I knew I wanted to do more holistic medicine, so I went on and did functional medicine, natural medicine training, so, now I have a practice called Pure Integrative Health, which is to blend the best of both worlds, and to basically to root cause medicine. Laura Dugger: (2:08 - 2:19) Well, and we covered all things gut health last time, but I've been so excited to interview you about hormones, so as best as you can, could you just give us Hormones 101? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (2:21 - 3:02) Yeah, yeah. And first of all, if you didn't hear the last episode, I would recommend go back to listen to the previous one, because the gut health is the precursor that builds to the hormones, and I don't recommend even trying to address the hormones unless you've got some of the gut healing going, because they are so interconnected, even in the way in which we don't want to be recycling hormones, so constipation is causing an excess hormone recycling that should not be happening. So, again, healthy gut health is going to help the hormones, but yes. So, for women, or for men, or what hormones would you like me to describe? Laura Dugger: (3:02 - 3:11) I think we're just going to focus on women's hormones today, because I want to get more into our cycle as well. Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (3:11 - 10:59) Oh, great question. Yeah. Okay. So, for women, we have the sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, not nearly as high levels of testosterone as men, they can be highly driven off of it. If the testosterone is too high in women, then we look at things like PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, excess androgen, so it could be like abnormal hair growth, extra oily skin, acne, those are some signs of like maybe high testosterone, but also could be from high cortisol, which is the stress hormone that's made in the adrenal glands that sits on top of the kidneys and produces stress hormone. Now we'll explain how the adrenals and the stress hormone cortisol affect some of the sex hormones, but those ones, and then there's one called DHEA, and that is the precursor hormone to testosterone. So, we've got estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, pregnenolone is like the master hormone in which all the hormones can be made out of, and the cholesterol actually funnels into pregnenolone. So, our cholesterol is necessary, we do need good cholesterol to help all the hormones, so, yes, that's why good healthy fats and things like that are really helpful, like olive oil and avocado and baking, broiling and grilling things and all of that, the cholesterol, pregnenolone master hormone, we got DHEA, which is the precursor to testosterone. And then testosterone can be the hormone that converts into estrogen, so, they're all connected, they're all very connected, so excess estrogen could be from too high testosterone. Anyhow, they're all over the place sometimes for women, and they do fluctuate just even within 28 days, so I'll kind of explain that, and then we can kind of go from there. So, we talked about cortisol, there's a lot of other hormones, but I was just telling you about the sex hormones, so that's necessary to understand a cycle of a woman. So, when we start cycling, and then we have a couple different phases, we have the follicular phase, which is the first, day one is the day you start bleeding, and then day 14 is typically the day that we ovulate. So, day one, we have, estrogen starts to increase, we've kind of bottomed out, usually on our cycle, most women feel a little bit lower energy, I mean, we're bleeding and menstruating, and so some women lose a lot of iron, and ferritin levels can go down a lot during that, so we want to eat very iron-rich, lots of leafy greens, vegetables, good healthy fats to support. I kind of describe each week of our cycle, almost like a season, it's like winter is the first seven days of the bleeding, and then we've got spring, but then we start to feel really good, and everything is good, and then we've got summer, and we're doing great, and then we've got fall, and so we can kind of eat accordingly to, almost seasonally for the hormones, too. So, we've got the first seven days, lower energy, because estrogen and progesterone are pretty bottomed out, but they start to gradually increase. Now estrogen really starts to increase, and then right around day 14, it comes down, and then progesterone takes over, and so right there is the ovulation, and that's where the ovaries will release an egg, and has the opportunity to be fertilized or not in the middle of the month, and it all very much interconnects with our moods and how we're feeling, and people have heard of PMS, premenstrual syndrome, you felt the hormonal changes and all of that, but there's definitely ways that we can kind of mitigate the extreme highs and lows, like some people deal with depression-like feelings and really big mood swings, we can work on leveling those things more so that they're not so drastic through certain things I'll describe, but anyhow, we've got follicular phase, estrogen, we've got the luteal phase, we've got ovulation, then we've got the luteal phase is where progesterone is really increasing and decreasing, and that's days 14 to 28 of the cycle. So, we've got first phase and second phase. And two, we can break it down even more to four weeks. We've got like the first week, lower energy, but that's like, you can even connect it to emotions and how, like, maximizing efficiency for work based off of your cycle. Because even, you're not supposed to make a really big life decision during the menstruating week, because that's just low energy and all that. But it's a good time to dream, brainstorm, hopefully you're taking time to rest, take care of your body, have some salt baths, rich in magnesium, eating those good foods, giving nutrients, if your body needs, you get your iron levels checked and your ferritin levels. Your practitioner might give you an iron supplement that you're kind of taking in conjunction, depending on that. And so, we're resting and resetting and having time to journal, dream, and brainstorm things for the, you know, hopefully the next and then the next week, the estrogen is coming up a lot, and starting to feel back to normal self, usually really good and feeling that surge, the mood starts to get better, it's a great time to start to do like some good heavy weightlifting and exercise can even be based around cycle two. For menstruation, you're probably going to want to do a little bit more lower impact and walking and stretching, Pilates, things like that. And then a bar and all that and then weightlifting that second week is great. And then also, that's around ovulation is that's where we feel more loving and affectionate and different things and the way that God designed our body literally to want to be with a man around that time. And that's procreation time. And then right around the after ovulation, that third week, and fourth week can start to get challenging because that's where well, sometimes that third week is a good, sweet spot. But the fourth week, the week before the period. Yeah, like that day is 19 to 21. And then like after that, that's where some mood swings can start to happen. And the estrogens come down a lot progesterone depending on where the bodies at. Most women are deficient in progesterone overall. So, if it's already decreasing, it was a peak in the third week, and then it's decreasing, going towards menstruating again, then it's a recipe for not sleeping great mood swings, irritability, bloating, breast tenderness, that can be estrogen imbalances, excess estrogen, low progesterone like symptoms. And then yeah, that was a lot. Laura Dugger: (10:59 - 11:20) That's so helpful. I want right before we move on, because I want to hear how to mitigate some of those symptoms. But first, you mentioned eating seasonally, even each week. So, is that what you're saying that we eat more of those winter foods, that day one to seven? And could you give an example for each phase? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (11:21 - 14:19) One example, Sweet potato, you know, like the foods that you would find more in the winter. So, you're kind of doing like sweet potatoes. And like I said, the fatty food, like a healthy fat Mediterranean, definitely right around the cycle. Body craves, if you find yourself craving chocolate, it's probably because your body's deficient in magnesium. Most of us are. So, some women will use it as an excuse to have chocolate, guilty as charged. But actually, it's magnesium deficiency, but chocolate has magnesium in it. So, if you get a rich, like dark chocolate, if you're not sensitive to chocolate, and you can do one that's a really dark and, and doesn't have a ton of sugar, then that could be a good source. But just foods rich in magnesium, dark leafy greens, avocados, nuts, and really checking levels and magnesium, Epsom salt baths, things like that, that's going to be great. You're going to want to do that also kind of the week before the period to in the fall like food. So, you know, like the, the squashes, and you kind of like the baked vegetables and, and protein and, and then like in the spring, like the week after, then maybe you're doing more like, you know, berries and, and, you know, things that you would have in this in the springtime and summer, different types of meat that you would like lean chicken and turkey. Then harvest like food for that week before the period to give you good. There's something called seed cycling. So, the pumpkin seeds and well, sesame and sunflower are for days 14 to 28 of the cycle. So, the second half that gives the body the micronutrients needed to help support progesterone and then pumpkin and wow, I'm really blanking probably because I need to eat lunch. But we can come back well it's going to come back to me the pumpkin and the is it chia? No, flax. Flax. Okay, flax seed. Pumpkin and flax for days one, the day we start bleeding to ovulation day 14, and then sesame and sunflower days 14 to 28. So, like adding those into smoothies, handful of nuts, nut butter, sunflower seed butter, you know, those kinds of things. Those that can also kind of support the cycle naturally and give the body the nutrients that are needed to support the body like that. Laura Dugger: (14:19 - 14:37) Okay. I have heard about seed cycling before. It kind of ties into the other question I had. I wondered if it's normal to have really painful and heavy menstrual cycles? Or is that an indicator that something's not right and maybe we need to bring in something like seed cycling? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (14:39 - 18:15) Yes, painful, heavy menstruation. That's not normal. I personally have dealt with them. So, I understand they're awful and they can leave some women, you know, nauseous, throwing up, vomiting, breast tenderness. Now, that signs of excess estrogen that likely needs to be detoxed. And I would recommend going to a holistic practitioner and asking them to do a saliva hormone testing panel. Actually, we have no, I don't have it with me right now. But it's basically these vials of saliva that you spit right when you wake up, lunchtime, dinnertime, bedtime, and it'll check sex hormones between days 19 to 21 of the cycle. We're checking peak progesterone time so we can look at the most accurate depiction if you're cycling. It's still possible to do it if you're postmenopausal and want to do the test, we could do it at any time. But it's a saliva hormone test is the most accurate way to measure hormones and see exactly what's going on. We can check blood work, but it's just like a little shot in the dark. But the saliva is the more accurate picture of what's going on. So, I would recommend if you're having really heavy menstrual cycle, yes, you can try the seed cycling to start. That's harmless to try. But there might be more things going on that really need to be seen by a practitioner to help either support what hormone is low or detox another hormone that is excess. Now, we are overall in our society getting a lot of excess estrogen. And that can be through plastics, we get a lot like trying to switch even just a bottle as I'm drinking through. We don't want to try and drink as much plastic out of plastic, we want to do like glass water bottles. And like stainless steel water bottles better. Unless you're in a crazy rush and you forgot to bring one is better drink some water than no water. We've got to stay hydrated to have healthy bowel movements to have energy to our cells, all of that good water filter that filters out fluoride, chlorine, those things will affect the thyroid very much so. Thyroid hormones affect sex hormones and etc. So, we want to get a good filter for the water so that we don't have to deal with the after effects of thyroid imbalances or if you're already dealing with thyroid imbalances. I understand because I've dealt with that myself. And so, we want to remove as many stressors because the thyroid needs iodine just to function. And if we're getting fluoride and chlorine, those particular elements compete for iodine in the body. So, we got to get those out as best as we can get rid of excess estrogen. Through plastics, chemicals and detergents, like all of the chemicals that are exposed in detergents and cleaning products. As much as we can clean those up as well, it's going to be very, very helpful for thyroid, very helpful for sex hormones. Laura Dugger: (18:16 - 18:26) Oh, that's interesting. So, those I don't even think of that are like store brand names for detergents that those could be endocrine disruptors, you're saying? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (18:26 - 18:45) That's great. Yes. So, endocrine disruptors are things that are going to cause imbalances to the thyroid, the sex hormones, or any of their other hormones in the body. Yes. So, we definitely want to try and stay away from those things. Laura Dugger: (18:46 - 21:10) Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor. With over 1,700 apartment units available throughout Pekin, Peoria, Peoria Heights, Morton, Washington, and Canton, 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. 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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 at lemanprops.com. You can also stop by their website at lemanproperties.com. That's L-E-M-A-N properties dot com. Check them out and find your place to call home today. Okay, so I'm even thinking, so females my age or friends or older or younger women listening, even we have four daughters and so as they grow and mature, all of this is helpful. I'm assuming to start at a young age with getting rid of some of those toxins or not microwaving food on plastic plates, but then also you said detox. Is that through hydration or did you mean something else with detoxification? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (21:11 - 22:47) I can't get into this unless I saw somebody as a patient because I can't give across the board recommendation for this, but I will say because there are certain supplements and things that might be needed. Say there's excess estrogen in the body, there might be supplements that that person needs to help bring down those excess estrogen levels aside from food. But one thing that I do know that you can eat that helps overall is the more that you love and detoxify the liver. It's what has to process all the hormones. One thing is broccoli sprouts, not broccoli, broccoli sprouts. So, you know, micro green sprouts, those ones, the broccoli sprouts are incredible at helping getting rid of the bad kinds of estrogen, detox those out of the body. So, that's really good. Cruciferous vegetables, cooking your cruciferous vegetables though, because if you eat them raw, it can affect the thyroid negatively. So, it's best to, it could cause goiters and so we don't want that. It can be goitrogenic essentially. So, we don't want that, but you could bake. I mean, you could cook cruciferous vegetables, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, etc., those cruciferous vegetables, spinach, all that. And those are great also for that. So, that can help. The best one is the broccoli sprouts. Yes. And then getting saliva hormone testing done and seeing exactly where your body is at. Laura Dugger: (22:48 - 22:53) Okay. Cause I'm wondering then could that even be a mineral deficiency when you're talking about supplements? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (22:55 - 27:11) Yeah, there definitely can be mineral deficiencies. It just, like I said, I've seen a lot of different variations, right? Excess estrogen, low progesterone, low menopausal, low everything. Once the hormones bottom out, then they're kind of low across the board and the body might need bioidentical hormones to have extra support. It's cardioprotective, protective against cancers, protective for the bones, different things like that. Bioidentical is different than synthetic. Synthetic hormones is like birth control, but synthetic hormones can, go see the last episode when we talk about leaky gut intestinal permeability, but the birth control can actually cause intestinal permeability too. So, that's a problem. Leaky gut can be from birth control, the synthetic birth control, and then the body's not even able to ovulate. It's not able to release. There's just like the, the way that God designed it is we're actually, if you allow it to look at it as like a cleansing and a purging every month, that spiritually the Lord, if we allow the Lord, we don't have to dread it. It's so common in society to dread a period. Or, oh my gosh, again, here we go. But how beautiful it's a celebration of the ability to give life. It's an opportunity to take some time to rest. It's a beautiful time to take some time to sit back and reflect, especially that week before the period. Also try and not make big decisions the week before because the progesterone's bottomed out causing mood swings and then making decisions is going to be a lot more stressful and can lighten load and work a little bit that week before, a few days prior to your period. That would be very helpful. Stress levels really impact the cycle and also just trying to prepare the body for going through perimenopause and then menopause. Wherever you're at in your health journey, life journey, it's, it's just so good to educate younger women to be really taking care of their adrenals, which is this, you know, the organ that produces stress hormone because high cortisol, which is the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands, zaps progesterone and most women, that's probably why I see a lot of progesterone dipping so quickly. You need progesterone to have a healthy pregnancy. So, we're seeing a lot more miscarriages and infertility problems could be from low progesterone. And, um, and then that will eventually bottom out with menopause because the ovaries are not producing it anymore. And the only place that we have progesterone left in reserves is in the adrenal glands. And so, if the stress has been going on for so long, then even the reserves of the backups of the backups are gone, the progesterone, which is why I see a lot of women going through a more extreme version of menopause than with the night sweats and the hot flashes and all those things that maybe didn't even have to happen. Because, uh, if we take care of it on, on the earlier end of managing stress levels, going to bed at good times, getting full amount of sleep, women need eight to 10 hours of sleep. We will, I will just go ahead and say that because our hormones are very independent, dependent on our adrenal function. Men, they don't really have to rely on their adrenals as much as their other, other sex hormones and locations. Um, so they don't have to deal with it as much as the women. So, we're constantly tied to a function of our adrenals really affects our sex hormones like crazy. And we're not getting the right amount of sleep. Then we're going to have high stress levels, high cortisol, and then the high cortisol is where it is at the sex hormones. So, we need those reserves to be replenished and the, and the cortisol levels drop and melatonin kicks in and we're going to sleep so much better and sleep so much deeper. Laura Dugger: (27:12 - 27:36) Wow. This is fascinating. And I love how you're even celebrating the cycle and how God created it because I'm forgetting one of them, but I heard that menstrual blood was tested, and they saw that it was detoxifying plastics and pesticides. And there was one other thing that the body was using to eliminate. And so that's a reminder just to be grateful for that too. Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (27:36 - 29:08) And, uh, the birth control pill, it's a temporary fix. There are alternative forms of birth control that do not have the synthetic hormones that are good, good options, you know, and the synthetic hormones though, I've firsthand seen it with patients negatively impact the thyroid. And a lot of them have had to end up on thyroid medication just simply due to years and years of birth control and it impacting the thyroid and the cellular health as well as the lining of the gut and a lot of other side effects that I'm not a weight gain, different things. And then the body not even being able to menstruate and fully excrete things. And, um, or even, you know, the, the cycle is an indicator, I think for women very much of like your monthly health, like how, how am I doing? Like if I'm having a really bad period, um, likely it was something that I had done this past month. Okay. Did I eat right? Was I sleeping? Was I incredibly stressed? Usually, you can trace it back to that. Now there's obviously other cases where, you know, PCOS and ruptured ovaries and different things like that, or ruptured cysts on the ovaries, sorry. Um, then that can contribute to longer term diseases, but on a, it's almost like a litmus test to see how, how our bodies are doing. Laura Dugger: (29:09 - 29:27) I like that perspective. And Emily, you're so great at giving proactive tips and I love easy wins. So, what are some of the best practices that you recommend for women to support healthy hormones and healthy adrenals in our bodies all month long? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (29:30 - 33:32) One is glucose management. So, protein, I cannot emphasize it enough protein sources, um, you know, good, healthy, as much as you can, grass fed organic meat. So, you're not getting the synthetic hormones from them because who knows what they're being fed and what they're being pumped with, but those sources, um, protein, other sources of protein, um, that's going to give you up to 15 hours of energy. So, that is incredible. As far as eating for energy, I will say, if you can do that, that's, um, it's incredible. It's a game changer, eating for energy, protein, vegetables give us up to five to six hours of energy. And then carbs, carbs give us, um, like if we had a piece of fruit, it only lasts in the system for 15 minutes. Or, um, potato chips, something like that, 15 minutes, that's not very long. And then the body says, ”I'm hungry again.” Then we ended up overeating because we just had the carbs and we're not full. And so, that's why pairing the meals around the protein and then the fiber and then a healthy fat. Or like the protein, the fiber and a complex carb (sweet potato, brown rice, quinoa). Things like that is going to stabilize the blood sugar. So, there will not be cortisol stress levels spiked when we don't eat for too long, then it can cause the body to go into, um, stress overload. And there's four different stages of adrenal fatigue, cortisol, and that can affect the body very much. So, spikes and crashes in glucose spike and crash the cortisol and then spikes and cortisol will steal your progesterone and then cause imbalances because progesterone keeps the estrogen in check. So, then you got estrogen and progesterone imbalances. Then there's DHEA, which is the other hormone that's made in the adrenals. So, sometimes DHEA, DHEA is incredible for building muscle, keeping muscle concentration, memory. It's, wonderful at libido, all sorts of those things. Now, DHEA just decreases as we age. It's the precursor to testosterone as well, but it's also made in the adrenal glands. And so, the more we can regulate cortisol and adrenal, sometimes high levels of stress, we've got to go back and think. Okay, um, we might not even feel stress, but if there's been physical abuse, emotional abuse, or sexual trauma, those are serious things that the body will hold on to. And unless you have gone to process, I recommend getting a Christian counselor and process those things because the body can literally still be holding onto it 20, 30, even 40 years, if it's not been let go and given to Jesus. And, um, so that is also a huge, we can't dismiss that or just try and fix the physical. If there's been some stressors and the body has just been in survival mode and has to just keep going, then maybe it only knows how to live off of high cortisol stress reserves to just keep going. It doesn't, but if you have a hard time falling asleep, a hard time unwinding, feel like you're always on the go, those are like adrenal stages one and two high cortisol, but then that eventually will start to plummet. And then it's, um, you know, more difficult time getting out of bed and jumping straight out crash in the afternoon with energy crash after dinner crash before bed, um, or like wired and tired, like wired the brain's wired. The body feels tired, but can't go to sleep. Then further stages waking up between 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning could be blood sugar, adrenal issues as well. Laura Dugger: (33:32 - 33:41) Oh, could you speak a little bit more into that? Could be, the blood sugar related to the adrenal issues if you're waking up at that 2:00 to 4:00 AM time? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (33:42 - 34:47) Yes, it can be, the body signaling that the blood sugars drop too low. And then the cortisol has to, it can signal to the cortisol and the adrenals to spike to just keep the body going, survive. And then all of a sudden cortisol is spiking at night, which it should not, it should be done. And melatonin should be happening at night and then cortisol in the daytime. So, if there's a cortisol spike because of a glucose crash, then, um, then we need to support it with, a spoonful of almond butter before bed, a handful of nuts, something, some protein before bed is going to, help someone, you know, in the middle of the night, stabilize the blood sugar. It can be a blood sugar issue with, cause blood sugar and cortisol are interconnected, but also should just check your cortisol levels, get a saliva test. It's that saliva four point, um, test checks for sex hormones and cortisol, or we can. Laura Dugger: (34:47 - 35:06) So. Okay. One more thing with that. So, then the blood sugar dropping that low, is that somebody who's maybe completing their closing, their eating window too early in the day, or they're not getting enough sugar throughout the day. Is that what you're saying with, why would it drop to that level and require cortisol? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (35:08 - 36:51) Great question. It would be, it could be the person's not eating enough throughout the day and the body just doesn't have the right. So, if the person was fasting quite frequently and doing that a lot now, everybody, everyone's body is different. If you have adrenal imbalances, I do not recommend doing fasting because the body is already under stress and then fasting can put extra stress on the body. So then you're like, well, but then they said that if I fast and I should lose weight, and if you're fasting and you're gaining belly fat and you're gaining weight, it's a telltale sign cortisol because high cortisol level, puffy face, um, belly fat, stubborn, you can eat right exercise, try and do everything and it will not leave. That's usually survival mode. Body's trying to self-protect. Um, and so, yeah, so we don't want to be fasting very much if there's cortisol imbalances. Now, if there's not, and if you have your cortisol check, then there's great benefits to doing intermittent fasting and things. And even biblically spiritually, there's incredible benefits to fasting. The Lord knows there's the cells literally repair themselves, regenerate and can eat up cancer cells. If we put our bodies into that ketosis state for good bit, but that is not something I would recommend doing high intensity exercise, or that's going to put a lot of cortisol stress on the body, high impact, um, or skipping a lot of meals. So, that could be why the blood sugar is like dropping in the middle of the night. Laura Dugger: (36:52 - 37:37) I just wanted to let you know, there are now multiple ways to give when you visit TheSavvySauce.com. We now have a donation button on our website and you can find it under the donate page, which is under the tab entitled support. Our mailing address is also provided. If you would prefer to save us the processing fee and send a check that is tax deductible. Either way, you'll be supporting the work of Savvy Sauce Charities and helping us continue to reach the nations with the good news of Jesus Christ. Make sure you visit TheSavvySauce.com today. Thanks for your support. Is there anything else that we haven't gotten to discuss yet that you want to make sure we don't miss out on? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (37:38 - 39:15) So what, when do you know if you're in perimenopause versus menopause? And like I said, if you're a woman in your twenties and you're like, that does not apply to me. Actually, it does because it's just, you don't want to get to menopause and have no reserves. Progesterone left because you depleted it from high levels of cortisol over the years. So, lifestyle changes, the protein, smaller, more frequent meals, the consistent bedtime, trying to go to bed before midnight, like 10:00 PM is like a sweet spot. 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM is when the liver detoxes, when cholesterol gets flushed, all these different things. Melatonin window for the body to like fall asleep and stay asleep is between 10 PM and like, there's sometimes it's even earlier. It just depends on the person. And I actually use a little app called Rise. It does a good job kind of helping you track where you're melatonin and when you're awake window, when to cut off eating and when to kind of wear blue light blocking glasses to prevent your body to blue light helps. We set this in the last one, but blue light actually tells your body to stay awake. So, you don't want to be on your screens too late at night, or your body's going to be sending the signals to stay awake when you're trying to wind down. So, using softer lighting, doing candle lit, doing, you know, just mimicking outside when the sun goes down, we should be going down, going down to bed and sleep when the sun wakes up. That's when we should be getting up as well. Laura Dugger: (39:15 - 39:38) So, and getting that morning sunlight that we talked about. So important. And I forgot one quick follow-up question. When you talked about cortisol, too high of cortisol contributing to belly fat, that stubborn or puffy face, what would the solution be? Is it just manage your stress better or what's the takeaway there? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (39:38 - 42:39) The takeaway is yes, there's things you can do glucose wise, blood sugar and food that we've talked about. Lifestyle wise, of course. I mean, a ton of it is we're American society that trophies busyness. And like the Bible literally talks about the importance of rest and the Sabbath and like even humans, we were made on day six, but the first day we were actually doing things, Adam and Eve was day seven, was the day of rest. My dad's a pastor and he actually just gave a sermon on rest and the Sabbath just last week at Harvest Sound. But it was just all about that we were created out of rest. Like we're there to start doing things out of that place of rest. And we just don't take that time. I mean, it's like, okay, we got to go, go, go, got to take care of the kids, got to go do this, go do this. How are you doing? Oh, I'm so busy. How about you? Like, it's almost like a trophy thing to say that, but really like, how about prioritizing that time? And it's so easy, especially as women and mothers to just say, oh, but I just want to take care of everybody else. But like, if you were to have a date with your friend, you wouldn't go overbook it with something else. You would prioritize that. Are you going to go do something for your child? You're going to prioritize that. So, I need you to also take time to prioritize your me time, prioritize the time. It's not selfish. It's necessary because you're going to be a better wife. You're going to be a better mom. You're going to be a better friend. If you take care of the needs, whether that's taking an Epsom salt bath once a week, and that's spending time mourning sunlight or writing a list of gratitude, doing things, write a list of things that bring you joy and just pick two or three of those a day. Like build that in - life's too short. Literally cortisol will kill you. Also, we didn't talk about that, but it's taking minutes off your life. So, life's too short to have cortisol, unnecessary cortisol spikes. So, as much as we can, it's prioritizing that learning the healthy boundaries saying no when needed to, and, not saying yes to everything. So, that is, it's a lot of those lifestyle things. And then, fine tuning it with a health practitioner is great because everybody's spikes and crashes are in different places. Some people have high cortisol. Some people further on into the adrenal fatigue have low cortisol because the body doesn't have any more cortisol to give. And that's a whole other list of symptoms of exhaustion and fatigue. And they might need actually glandular support and different, totally different supplements than someone that's got high cortisol, but they can present similarly as far as stubborn weight, puffiness, energy spikes and crashes and different things like that. Laura Dugger: (42:40 - 43:04) So how incredible to get to follow up with a health professional then, and you are certainly one that we would recommend. And so even if we're out of state, but we could make a first appointment with you and figure out some way to do telehealth, can you just give us your website or share what you have to offer so that we can maybe make a follow-up appointment after this conversation? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (43:05 - 43:38) So it's pureintegrativehealth.com. And I could click on the tab, become a patient, just fill that form out. And then we can talk about a plan if you're in Tennessee, great. We can just right away, we know you're in person. If you are out of state, I have to see you in person for the first initial eval and then we can come up with some hybrid plan of telemedicine in between visits and legally just need to be able to see you still once a year or something in person, but we could do the rest in telemedicine options. Laura Dugger: (43:39 - 43:58) So yeah, it's a wonderful option. We will link to that in the show notes for today's episode. And Emily, you're already familiar that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge or insight. And so as my final question for you today, what is your Savvy Sauce? Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (43:59 - 46:04) Well, in regards to this topic today with hormones, I would say my Savvy Sauce is actually, it would be around getting that bedtime routine down packed in order to have an eight to 10 hours of like actual sleep because the mind does a brain sweep and gets rid of toxins in the brain between seven and a half hours and nine hours. It's happened somewhere in that window. And so if we're skipping out on sleep, we're missing out. If you're getting even six hours, you're missing out on the neural brain sweep that actually gets rid of the toxins that prevent Alzheimer's, dementia, a lot of other problems. The metabolism at nighttime, the body literally burns fat at night. We have to get sleeping. And so, and if you're having problems sleeping, you're like, I want to sleep, but I haven't, then I would recommend start looking into different forms of magnesium. I can't get into it fully today because there's seven different kinds of magnesium, but there are some that will actually help with sleep. And so talk with your practitioner about the best forms that could help you increase your sleep as well, because most of us can be deficient in that and creating that really, really healthy rhythm. Just knowing your why behind why you're sleeping is also really helpful because it's like, you can hear a lot of people say, you need to get more sleep. I should go to bed, do this, but why? It's actually getting a neural sweep, liver is detoxing, cholesterol is cleansing. God does an incredible thing with our dreams. We're literally flushing and processing all the things from the day. And so, talk about stress and adrenals. We got to help heal through our sleep. Laura Dugger: (46:05 - 46:26) Wow. Thank you for leaving us with that word. There's so much more we could cover. And ever since our first interaction, you have just been overflowing with kindness and graciousness and generosity with your time and sharing your knowledge. You're so kind, but I have just loved spending this time with you. Thank you so much, Emily, for being my repeat guest. Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (46:27 - 46:32) Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much, Laura, for having me again. This has been wonderful. I really appreciate it. Laura Dugger: (46:33 – 50:15) 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 is 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, would 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 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 & 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 including 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.