The Connection

What's your heart behind hosting? A clean house? A well trained dog?  In today's episode we talk about our motive to either BLESS others or IMPRESS others. As I walk through several scenarios throughout our fall hosing events this past year, I ask you to guess what my motive was and ideas on how to change it. I hope this episode encourages you as it convicted me. Heading into the holiday...

I'm okay with the fact that I have needs- like sleep. (Because I have a little baby) So I am not going to write a description, I'm just simply going to bed right now! If you struggle with feeling you always need to be "strong", just have a listen! (Oh, and also listen to the Anne Wilson song, Strong .)  Okay I am going to stop typing now because again I have a BIG need right no...

Today is a reflection over the past year as we have grieved the loss of our mom/mom-in-law/nana. Here are the things she taught me that I want to pass along to you for encouragement. -Put family first -Rest -Don't try to do so much -Serve others -Host and include everyone -Play and make things fun for the kids -Pray, always, about everything and most of all... ENJOY LIFE. "Death can be a...

"Just be Held" by Casting Crowns What in the world is baptism and why it's important

So... I kinda sorta have been holding in a secret for the last 32 weeks!  I am beyond excited to share with you why it has been so hard to step away from my business and enter into a season of rest as we prepare to welcome baby #3 into our lives. Is slowing down hard for you? Are you always wanting to take the overtime shift? Are you addicted to checking things off your to do list? Do you have mil...

Gosh darn it! I love bringing you content that hopefully encourages you as it convicts me!  This is one of those episodes where I am preaching at myself today! Do you feel like you are capable? Have the ability to change other's actions and attitudes? Feel like you are strong enough to manage and control all your fears, anxieties, and frustrations? Me either!  Honestly, if we are truly honest...

Do you have people in your life who are hard to love? Struggle with a desire to “get even”? Been holding on to bitterness from the wrong people have done? We want to battle, fight, and lash out in our frustration and insecurity. But how is that going for us? Although it may feel good in the moment, we are spinning our wheels and feeding our addiction of defensiveness or drama. What if we could tur...

So often, we act as if we don't have someone who is not only capable but WILLING to help us with our problems in life. We attack the things that plague us (like relationship tension, hard decisions, triggers that cause us to slip up every time) instead of abiding with the one who is our solution. Abide? What does that mean? To stay connected to, rely on, check in with, etc.  Today we opened w...

Stay strong my friend! If you're going through something hard, God is going to use it to make you stronger! In order for us to become the best version of ourselves, it requires some form of rehabilitation-- and that process is never easy. In dog training, we use the pressure from a leash or an e-collar to communicate to the dog that the behavior they are doing is not in their best interest. I...

Today, we have a lot of fun talking about 3 dog's adoption stories and relating them to our lives. Is your life similar to Noah? Do you have specific parts of your life that are killing you, like Sully? Do you feel "too far gone" like Scooter? I hope you'll send me an email or shoot me a text to fill me in with which dog you relate to the most. I love you dearly friend and prod...

Today, we begin a 4 part series explaining God through the lens of a dog trainer, but this time, our focus will be on the animal welfare world. Just as we Rescue, Adopt and Rehab our beloved dogs, so does God do with us.  So as we start off this series, what do we need rescued from? We suggest perhaps it's an emotion that has you steamrolled. Or maybe it's a situation leaving you feeling...

Oh boy ya'll! Today we have a very honest conversation that hopefully sets you free.  I share a story about being "kind" (or so I thought) to a worker in Aldi this past week, However, the truth of the matter is I was using "kindness" as an excuse to not have a hard conversation. We do this all the time to the ones we love don't we? Our kids, our employees, or spouse,...

Are you in a season of waiting? Me too! Why does it have to be so hard though. We wait and wait and wait but instead of being patient we grow frustrated, angry, bitter, you name it.  And if we are honest, impatience doesn't look good on us. But what if all of our waiting wasn't for nothing. What if the process of learning patience was the magic in helping us become the best version of ou...

Are you going through something right now in life that just isn't fair? You and your spouse still don't have a positive pregnancy test? You drove home last week with the worst possible health diagnosis. You are grieving the loss of someone who was your everything. You are living on pins and needles because money is so tight. Your dog is still  exhibiting those dangerous and embarrassing...

Do you have a tight grip on the ones you love? Whether that's a child or a dog or a significant in your life? Me too! I have found myself lately "white knuckling" the ones I hold closest in fear that something will happen to them. I want to protect them for all the things, all the time! How about you? But then, one day as I was laying in bed with my kids, knowing that I truly didn&a...

We push ourselves! We run so fast trying to accomplish all the things in our heads. But what if you are in a season, like I openly explain I am, where in order to win this race... you need to traveling at a slow and steady pace. Buckle up for some encouragement to give yourself grace today as you hear in what ways I lead by example. It's hard. But you're not lazy. You are creating a smoo...

Working with our dogs can be frustrating. Our dog's behavior can leave us feeling embarrassed and isolated. On top of that, when we do attempt to train, there are so many opinions and schools of thought our heads are often left swirling with analysis paralysis.  ​ But, what if there was a way to be encouraged when frustrated. Filled with confidence and hope instead of embarrassment. What if i...

I share a story in today's podcast about how a group of moms to young children got in a room together and just immediately started bawling from the power of being in a community who aren't alone in their short comings and the reality of how hard this season of life is.  I share a story of holding by daughters close on bended knee as a sad song played in the background. A song we all knew...

We bend over backwards, we twist our brains trying to figure " it " out (either in parenting or dog training) and oftentimes the solution is plain and simple. For those of us who love to learn, grow, discover, and unpack new information... we can often feel overwhelmed and not know how to move forward. Today I want to encourage you to not let your information overload cloud your view to...

Picking up our conversation from last week, today we are asking the question, are there side effects from training with positive punishment? Cliff notes answer (if you were like me in school and hated reading) the answer is YES. Of course there is.   However, we can't stop the conversation there. There are side effects when we only train with ONE SIDE. I tell a story about when my kiddoes wer...

Whelp, here we are... our first controversial conversation on the connection. My ask is you would listen to the full length of this podcast (even though I let myself go wild and free and completely blow past my 20-30 minute committed time frame. In this episode we wrestle through the question "Should we lead in such a way where they (our kids or our dogs) fear us? Is this a bad thing? Can the...

Are you leading in any capacity? Trying to help someone? Want to love well? There is huge problem. At the end of the day, we don't really know what they truly need from us because the heart is hidden. We can't see or detect the nitty gritty behind the scenes details driving their behavior. So whether your a dog momma, parent, teacher, coach, or just someone who wants to help others, ther...