Crystal Paine Show

In the middle of May, I went in for what I thought was just a routine weekly ultrasound, but there were some significant concerns about the baby’s movements/activity. Within an hour, they were prepping me for the very real possibility of a c-section that day. (Starting steroid shots, no eating/drinking, admitting me to the hospital, etc.) I was by myself and it felt very surreal. So many things to...

“Start where you are.” Such a short statement but it has such a huge impact. In this episode of  The Crystal Paine Show , Bob and Linda Lotich, authors of their new book  Simple Money, Rich Life: Achieve True Financial Freedom and Design a Life of Eternal Impact,  talk about how they’ve made Sabbath a priority in their home and lives and how to just start where you are. In this age of busyness whe...

I hear from so many moms who ask for suggestions on how to help their teens develop a closer relationship with Jesus. So I'm excited to have Angelia Perritt joining me in the studio for this conversation. She has three daughters and she just released a beautiful new bible called, Young Women Love God Greatly Bible . In this week's episode, we start by talking about how we can cultivate a r...

Last week on the podcast, we mentioned our daughters going to prom and how they wanted to go with their dates together. We talked about how their relationship has developed and some of the different seasons they have walked through. A number of people wrote in and asked how our daughters developed such a close relationship. Well, it definitely wasn't always like that! In fact, the girls are SO...

Today’s topic is fresh on my mind because I just turned in the second round of edits for the manuscript of my next book. It comes out in early 2023 and I’m so excited about it! In this episode, we “pull back the curtain” on publishing and share what I’ve learned about writing books, the mistakes I’ve made, and how I found time to write this book. Whether you have dreams of writing a book one day,...

I used to be afraid of having teenagers. The thought of raising kids into adulthood felt like such a huge and overwhelming responsibility. I worried I would totally mess things up, miss the mark, and make mistakes. But then Jesus radically transformed my heart. He opened up my eyes to how deeply I am loved by Him and helped me move from chasing after others’ approval to resting in His love — and i...

“Home is for learning and not for perfection.” In this week's must-listen-to podcast episode, Nicole Homan -- author of They Call Me Mama -- shares lessons she's learned as the mom of 14 kids. She tells the story of their unexpected journey to growing their family to 16 (14 kids + parents), what it's really like to have such a full house, how she finds time for quiet, mantras that carr...

I found Nicole Zasowski through her book, What If It’s Wonderful? Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find Courage to Celebrate and it hit me in some really deep places. I didn't expect a book about celebration would have me uncovering such unexpected things I need to process through in my life. In her book and this podcast episode, Nicole shares her story of having five miscarriages and how t...

If we could go back and tell our 23-year-old and 24-year-old selves something when we had our first child, what would we say? In this episode, we share some candid thoughts on What We Wish We Had Known Before Having Kids. We discuss how I went into parenting thinking I could control our kids and I've had to learn the hard way that I can't control the outcome or choices of our kids -- espec...

If there was one question we are asked to answer the most often, it's likely, something along the lines of, "How do you prioritize your marriage when you have kids?" In this week's podcast episode, we share some of our best suggestions to make time for romance when you have kids. We share things we have learned, what works for us, and how we've improved our communication over t...

A little over a year ago, we started fostering Baby D. In this episode, Jesse and I reflect on what we have learned and how we have grown this past year -- especially as it relates to parenting a child with Down syndrome and special needs. We share things we wish we had known, how our perspective has changed, and how we've seen God's faithfulness over and over again. We talk about the gift...

"What does your morning routine look like right now?" "How are you able to fit in the 5 things you do every morning?" We got a number of questions and followup responses to the episode we recorded recently on 5 Things I Do Every Morning , so we did a followup episode this week answering your questions and sharing more details on what our morning routine looks like right now. Also o...

Recently, I was scrolling on my phone and came across the social media account of someone I used to follow years ago. They are in a similar niche as me and back when I followed them, they had a lot fewer followers than me. But in the last few years, their account has clearly blown up and they had hundreds of thousands more followers than me. Plus, as I was scrolling through their account, I saw th...

Have you noticed how in this modern age of social media, people are so easily hurt, upset, and offended? I know that I’ve fallen prey to knee jerk reactions when scrolling online. In this episode, Jesse and I talk about this book I’m reading by Brant Hansen called  Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better.  Hansen challenges us to ask the question, “How would it change my life...

I recently shared a little bit about prayer on Instagram in answer to a woman's question about praying to change her husband. I got so many responses from what I shared and many followup questions, that I wanted to focus this podcast episode on that topic. First off, I think we often have a false sense of what prayer is. It's not about bringing our laundry list of things we want changed an...

I first found Jamie Finn's instagram when we were beginning our foster care journey. As I started watching her stories and reading her posts, God used her words to really change my heart and perspective on foster care. When we started fostering, I was really focused on helping kids and I honestly had a critical attitude toward birth parents. But Jamie's words convicted me that I needed a h...

One of the kids woke up really frustrated recently. In all honesty, I wanted to respond back in frustration... because it felt like a really “silly” thing for them to be upset by. But if I’ve learned anything in over 17 years of mothering, it’s this: responding in frustrating to a child who is frustrated never ends well. Just trust me on this. So instead, I took a deep breath, leaned on the Holy S...

What is one thing you do every morning to start your day well? How you begin your days sets up the foundation for how you live your life. Here are 5 things I do every morning to start my day with intention: 1. Create a simple plan — I make a time-blocked to do list on a notebook . (If that feels like a lot, you could just do 3-5 things you want to accomplish in order of priority.) Making a plan he...

It’s so easy to over-complicate life. To completely miss simple solutions because they are, well, just too easy! Now, hear me out: I’m not saying you should be lazy or lax. What I am saying is that there’s no point in wasting a lot of time and energy on making life more complicated or difficult than it needs to be. The more we pare down to what matters most, the more time we have to intentionally...

My word for 2021 was Show Up . (Okay, that’s two words, but who’s counting?) This simple phrase impacted so much of my year and served as a guide for how I lived my day-to-day. Any time I found out a friend was struggling or discouraged or just feeling overwhelmed or tired, I tried to stop and pray, “God, how would You have me show up for her?” That sometimes looked like sending a text or checking...

We’ve been keeping a secret for 11 weeks — I’m 15 weeks pregnant!!!! Yes, this news was possibly even more shocking than when we found out I was pregnant with Kierstyn after 10 years of infertility! In fact, we were so surprised, we waited a full week to tell our kids — which, if you know Jesse and me well, you know we can’t keep secrets from our kids! We found out I was pregnant right after sayin...

“I can’t do this. It’s too much. I’m scared.” I lay awake in bed pretty much all night long the first night Baby D arrived. I felt completely overwhelmed and in over my head. When they told us he had Down syndrome and a cleft lip (they didn’t realize he had a cleft palate, too) + a feeding tube, I expected an 8-month-old baby that was somewhat delayed. I didn’t expect him to show up as a tiny maln...

Welcome back! We unplugged for a few weeks; visiting family and friends in Kansas for Thanksgiving but we are excited to be back with another episode today! In this week's episode, we not only talk about our December Bucket List but we also share an exciting Baby D update, what we've been reading, what is saving our lives, and some thoughts on self-care vs. self-comfort. In This Episode [0...

Remember in last week's podcast episode when we alluded to how you can often pre-decide a negative narrative about yourself and you can let that cloud all your interactions with others? Instead of hearing their kind words or assuming they are sharing something out of love, you hear and see everything through the lens of a negative narrative. In this week's podcast episode, Jesse and discus...

In this week's episode of the Crystal Paine Show , Jesse and I share some of the lessons we've learned in our almost 19 years of marriage on how fight less and communicate with more grace and depth. We talk about practical strategies, personal development and growth, and how to approach difficult conversations that could potentially lead to conflict and misunderstanding. We also share some...