Don't Mom Alone Podcast

It was such an honor for me to chat with one of my favorite authors for this episode. Max Lucado has written almost 100 books and is a pastor at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. We talk about his new book You Are Never Alone and he shares with so much kindness and care about how we can trust in the miracle of God’s presence — yep, even in 2020.   Max knows God’s word and he combines meeting you wh...

Keli Reese is a naturally joyful person and a teacher who loves children. She figured that motherhood would come naturally for her too. But, after having five children in five years she found herself in the midst of life and home with lots of littles and wondered where her joy had gone. “I had this mindset of what our home was going to be like because I'm doing this for Jesus. We're going to have...

As a mom of three, Lynne Jackson struggled to maintain the order and perfection she expected to have in her life. Conflicts with her oldest son especially left her feeling defeated, angry and fearful of the future.  “The Lord was speaking to me one day about some of these beliefs that I had. And in Ephesians 4:15, it talks about speaking the truth in love. And I felt like I heard his voice say, yo...

As minister and mom of one with another child on the way, Dominique Young looked like she had it all together —  great job, great family, great ministry. But a few months into her second pregnancy she started experiencing postpartum psychosis, high anxiety and began hearing voices. The feelings she always tried to mask or hide behind helpful scriptures could not be controlled anymore, but she star...

Kimberly Amici wanted her family to live by a set of values and a mission. So, she sat down with her husband and wrote out her ideas and expectations. But, in the midst of their busy life raising three kids and “going with the flow,” the Amici family didn’t have a set purpose or culture and it showed. However, through a series of ongoing conversations as a family, Kimberly has been able to identif...

(If you struggle with how to manage distance learning and working from home...listen to Kendra "lazy genius" that situation for me) Kendra Adachi also known as the Lazy Genius calls herself a professional permission giver. And she’s here to give us permission to be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t. “I've come to this place of realizing we do not need anoth...

When I recorded this interview in 2015 I had no idea just two years later my father would pass away. Stacey's wisdom on grief became my lifeline. This year with so many losses our hearts have experienced constant, low-level grief. On top of being quarantined, some of you may have lost loved ones. As moms, you've been unable to have time/space to grieve (or have a formal memorial service). Today’s...

As moms, we know we need rest. We usually equate rest with sleep or rest with a vacation, but this week’s guest shares a much bigger picture of our need for rest in multiple areas of our lives.  Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith is a medical doctor, wife and mother to two boys. She had everything she’d dreamed of and worked hard to achieve, but wasn’t enjoying it.  “So I kept pushing and pushing myself til...

Sippy cup refill requests. Another load of laundry to fold. A sibling dispute. Ever feel like you are reacting to life? Life is coming  at  you and you respond. There have been many times in my mothering where instead of joy & hope I feel beat down and unfulfilled. One woman who has whispered beauty and calm into those dark places, is today’s podcast guest,  Sally Clarkson . She told me mother...

( This episode originally aired in 2016 ) Francie Winslow shares the exponential impact marital intimacy has on the world around us. Sex is a multiplying factor in our lives, not just with producing kids, but producing a massive amount of connection. In the past two years Francie has been doing extensive research on theology of the body. Exploring how God stamped His image on us. How we express ou...

Many of us avoid and struggle with conversations about race or disabilities because it’s uncomfortable. When our children ask innocent questions about someone who is different than they are, it can make us feel tongue tied or embarrassed. Author Dorena Williamson has created some lovely children’s books to help parents respond and invite their children to join them on the journey of learning to lo...

Rachel Anne Ridge is an author, professional artist, and speaker in Texas. Together with her husband Tom, she bootstrapped her way through the Great Recession, raised a family, and rediscovered her purpose in the midst of the everyday juggle of life. Her books, Flash, The Homeless Donkey Who Taught Me About Life, Faith, and Second Chances, and Walking with Henry are inspired by the stray donkeys (...

With more family togetherness than ever before comes the potential for a lot more arguing and nagging our kids to obey. If you’re stuck in a parenting rut or negative cycle, then our friends from Connected Families are here to help.  Stacey Bellward and Chad Hayenga join me to talk about breaking the patterns of defensiveness in our kids and how the power of curious questions can create productive...

Author and speaker Lisa Bevere is back to give us a powerful message as we head into summer with our kids: “push aside the guilt and celebrate growth.” She shares some personal stories from very hard places in her life as a young mom and how God led her to work through her anger and underlying fears.  “God said to me: ‘Children inherit one of two things, either my promises or your fears.’ And that...

From learning to walk to tying their shoes and eventually learning to drive (coming up for me soon!), so much of parenting is teaching, training and encouragement.  When it comes to faith in God, we do all we can to teach our kids about God’s Word and engage kids in church, but research from the Fuller Youth Institute is helping to shine a light on the potential gaps that cause a high number of yo...

Deep friendships are essential to our lives. Whether we’re extroverted or introverted, have a lot of friends or a few, we all need someone else to walk through life with. I’m excited for you to hear from Susan Seay, a mom of 7 and a mentor to many. She shares some great advice on keeping our friendships strong during life’s challenges. “We're all in the same storm. We're just not all dealing with...

My guest today Jehava Brown takes us into how she started a blog as a side project while staying home with her kids and transitioned that site into a full-time job.  We talk about work/life balance, setting health boundaries and trusting God to be in charge of the things we can’t control.   “I know that God is the one who provides every job and every dime. And so when I can rest in that, I don't f...

In the past two years, a lot has changed in the lives of my friends Hailey and Meredith. They came on episode 199 to talk about discipline and toddlers. Since that conversation their families have grown and changed.  Today we’re chatting about tough transitions with parenting young kids. Whether it’s a newborn who won’t stop screaming or the anticipation of being outnumbered by a third child, chan...

During the ongoing health crisis of COVID-19, there are a lot of changes in household finances. Maybe grocery and electric bills have gone up because everyone is home. You or your spouse may have a reduction in income or you’ve faced losing your job.  In the same way we work to protect ourselves with social distancing and wearing masks in public, there are some important things we can do to protec...

With the current global pandemic, we are all together more than ever and it’s causing friction in our relationship with our spouse and kids. Back by popular demand, Paul David Tripp is here to answer your parenting and marriage questions and give us hope for how God can grow good things in our families during this challenging time “One of the things that I've tried to keep in mind as we're going t...

I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend Aubrie Norman. We have walked together in community for a few years and it’s been a gift to see her family’s journey toward healing.  Aubrie and her husband Thomas came to their marriage from broken families and felt the weight of unresolved issues from their past. As their family grew, so did the stress and lack of communication about each of their emo...

Have you ever questioned the roles you find yourself in, wondering if you were made for more?  Jo Saxton found herself in that position a few years (and two babies) into her marriage. She shares her struggle to own her calling and gifting, choose to work outside the home, and how her family thrived when she let go of fear. Fear is not our friend. It has these aggressive ways that intimidate you an...

Dr. Lucretia Berry is the founder of Brownicity , an online space that provides education and support for racial healing. She joins me to share how we all can take steps to advocate and bring restoration to our communities that have been fractured by the lies and injustice of racism.  As a mom of a multi-ethinic family, Lucretia shares how she and her husband addressed how they would teach their c...

In this bonus episode, we are sharing information from a session Ian Morgan Cron did on Enneagram and Stress. We go through each Enneagram number and talk about their strengths and weaknesses under pressure and some simple ways for each type to flourish in these hard times   As we’ve said in previous episodes , the Enneagram is just a tool to help us understand ourselves and others better. At a ti...

We’re all processing the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has made to our daily routines. As we adjust to the new normal of sheltering-in-place, I wanted to share some information I’ve found helpful from Dr. Henry Cloud. On a recent webinar I attended, Dr. Cloud talked through the psychology and the science of all that’s happening in our brains as our worlds have been turned upside down. He shar...