Grace In Real Life podcast

As a Grace In Real Life podcast listener, you want to grow in your faith and become more and more like Christ, but how do you do that? In your hardest moments, in the most mundane, what does it look like to trust the Lord? I can think of no one better to share about how to trust the Lord in shaky circumstances than today's guest, Maleah Stephens.  Maleah's story is one of bold faith, love, surviva...

If you're anything like me, you're like, "I'm not sure I need to listen to this episode. I don't feel like I struggle with setting boundaries." As a 47-year-old, I know my strengths and weaknesses, I invest in emotionally healthy people, and I don't get sucked into drama or volunteering. And also… I wonder about the Bible's call to help others and sacrifice myself with the reality that I get burne...

You may be hard-wired for efficiency, effectiveness, and checking tasks off the list. Being playful and silly and giving into whimsy is not your strong suit. We have fun AFTER we work. But the work is never done, and fun is the first to go when our calendar is full. And yet… when we don't play, when we don't laugh, when we don't lighten up, seriousness scrunches up our souls. And it seems as if pl...

PLEASE KNOW: This is the last podcast until August 2023. Grace In Real Life is taking a break in July 2023. What does it mean for God to tend to your heart? How does God comfort you in real life? How does God heal our hurting hearts? I'll never forget the first time I heard the phrase, "Allow the Lord to tend to your heart." A friend of mine said it, and I was like, What is she talking about? What...

What is forgiveness, really? Is it something more than feeling like we should apologize? Is it more than just saying we forgive someone who hurt us even when we don't want to at all? Forgiving others and asking for forgiveness are ground zero for receiving grace. Because isn't the Lord's forgiving of our sins the ultimate gift of grace? Forgiveness is foundational to our understanding of what it m...

We know there are no formulas, AND we also know God gives instructions and has a teacher's heart. The Lord wants to give humans practices and principles to make the theoretical and theological practical and applicable. Which is how this series came to be. How does one go about receiving the grace God so freely offers? Every believer has access to God's grace and the tools and ability to receive it...

Raising teens with anxiety is one tough assignment. How can you tell the difference between anxiety and worry?  Anxiety, worry, stress, learning what you like, what you don't, and what you believe and what you don't is a part of becoming an adult. However, as Christ-following mamas, we don't want anxiety to have the final say about our kids. We know our God offers all of us – teens included – a sp...

Raising godly daughters – how does a mom do it? How can you raise confident daughters? Listen in to Episode 165 with Susan Seay as we talk about grace-based parenting for moms raising girls. Girl-moms, let us continue to partner with Jesus as we raise confident women, who love the Lord, who know who God created them to be, and who speak life, not gossip, into their friendship circles. May we be gi...

Raising boys is a gift, privilege, and challenge. How can you raise your sons to be responsible? How you can connect with your son when you have different personalities? Listen in to Episode 164 with Marnie Hammar as we talk about grace-based parenting for moms raising boys. We need boy-moms who are speaking truth and life into their sons, who are raising boys who will become men who lead in our c...

How can we balance motherhood and ministry? Is it possible to follow your passions and be a mom? How can you handle mom guilt as you work in ministry? Listen in to Episode 163 with Katie Scott as we talk about grace-based parenting for those in ministry. You're a mom. You're also in ministry, whether that's by being on staff at your church, leading a Bible study at home, writing a book, or volunte...

What is a wayward child? How do we love that adult child well when they continually make unwise choices? As parents, we have dreams and plans for our children, and those can come crashing down. What do we do with the expectations we hold about how our kids will turn out when they blindside us with the choices they make? Mom, there is hope. Do not give up on your child. Listen to this episode with...

Are you an overwhelmed mom? Are you struggling with a long to-do list? What are practical strategies + anchoring truths when you feel exhausted? Listen in for grace-based parenting help.  As a mom, you juggle so much: the family calendar, the emotional needs of your people, caring for yourself, running a household, and working. How can you enjoy your life and accomplish what matters most when ther...

How to fight racism is a question we want and need to answer. What can you do about racism? How can you make a difference? Listen in. Racism is hurting real people right now. Racism is hurting your brothers + sisters in Christ at this exact moment. Racism should make your skin boil because it is not God's plan for His people. So, what do you do? Where can you start? I mean, you're one person, what...

How to cultivate interracial friendship is a question we hold. How do we build friendships with people who don't look like we do? What are do's and don'ts in conversations with people of other ethnicities? Listen in. Diversifying our friendships is important. Diversifying our life is important too. Where do we start? What can we do to cultivate interracial friendships? I'm so glad you asked!    Yo...

Starting and holding a conversation about race with your people can feel intimidating. My hope is for us, as Christ's followers, to begin talking about race with the people most important to us because God's heart is for people of every nation,  tribe, and tongue to know and worship Him. If this is what heaven will look like, why can't we bring heaven to earth now? Why can't the Church be the fron...

You are loved by God. Yes, you are a sinner, AND God saved you because He loved you first. ​​​​​​​​Sinning is a part of your story, but that's not the only true truth about you. If you grew up with the drumbeat of messaging that reminded you of how sinful, unworthy, unrighteous, deceitful you were– which is certainly biblical but not the only or even most important part of your salvation story – p...

Learn what it means to be free, the four steps to break free from sin, and how to break free from lies that don't serve you well in Episode 156. Through this last chapter of Jonah, we'll see that only grace holds the power to set you free. God's heart for us is not to be trapped by anger or sin or worry but to be free. God created us to be free from sin and wounds and lies, so we could be free to...

 Learn the four powerful steps of forgiveness, three ways to practically show people grace in your real life, and 10 simple ways to lead with humility in Episode 155. People frustrate us, right? We bump up against each other's sharp edges when we live, work, and play together. To live and love as Christ calls us to live and love, we must extend grace to others.  I would imagine many of you have ha...

Learn how to receive God's grace, three reasons you might reject, and three phrases to put on repeat to live a grace-filled life. Listen in. God's grace is for the perfectionists, the ones who feel like they don't belong, the ones who hate being vulnerable, and the ones who find their worth in metrics and knowledge. In today's episode, you'll learn how to receive God's grace,  three reasons you mi...

Many of us feel today like we have been blindsided by a life we thought was going well; instead, we've been overcome by a health diagnosis. We feel untethered to who we are because our child is walking through hell, and we've done all we can, and we don't know what to do, but we want our child's pain to end. Or – oh, I don't know: our world has been turned upside down over the past two years. Many...

It is no accident that our Spiritual Health series started with paying attention and ends with sharing what rumbles in our souls. Only when we wake up to what's bothering us on the inside can we pour it out to the Lord as David did in the psalms.  We must know ourselves – our fears, hopes, dreams, worries, nervous ticks, default coping mechanisms – so we can articulate them to God, not because He...

Learn how to cultivate a deep prayer life and pray effectively, including incorporating prayer in your daily rhythms in Grace In Real Life Ep 151 w/Asheritah Ciuciu. I've been talking to God since I was little. My prayer life started with those basic prayers of mimicking what my parents spoke and saying grace before meals. I'm pretty sure I went radio silent in high school and college. I told myse...

Curiosity is a skill we can use to better understand each other. But can we use that same skill to grow our faith? Can we develop curiosity about ourselves: Why do we tense up the way we do around that person? Why do we always say "yes" before checking our calendar? What does it look like to be curious about God, ourselves, and the world? Because developing curiosity is a skill that takes time and...

Learn three easy places to find community, one sign you're open to community, and two simple ways to encourage your friends. If you're lonely and ever wondered how to find community and belonging, listen in to Grace In Real Life Episode 149 with Rachael Wade. God Himself is in community, being a part of the Trinity. He designed families as a way for people to be loved, supported, and strengthened....

You'll learn easy ways to study the Word of God every woman can use. If you've ever wondered how to read God's Word effectively, listen in to Grace In Real Life Episode 148 with Portia Collins. I'm 99% sure that you read the Bible. Maybe you read a verse a day or are reading the Bible chronologically or are reading it in a year. Maybe you listen to Scripture on the way to work. But how do we study...