Grit 'n' Grace: The Podcast for Highly Sensitive Christian Women

Cheri and Amy process lessons learned from Lucille Zimmerman about play and grief. There are choices to be made in both: Will we choose the bonding play provides? Will we let time soften and redeem?

We've pinned negative labels on some very human processes like play and grieving. Play is often consider slacking and grief is sometimes seen as a pity party. Lucille Zimmerman, author of Renewed, explains why both are essential to the full life and how they serve as powerful tools to creativity and healing.

Cheri and Amy process last week's interview with Sheila Gregoire through the lens of conflict and no-black-and-white circumstances. It turns out that messy doesn't mean ugly. There is redemption and positive personal change that happens when we face the natural complications of life instead of ducking them.

For most reforming perfectionists, peace seems like the ultimate goal no matter how it's attained. Sheila Wray Gregoire shares that true peace is often attained through painful conflict. She helps us to understand the difference between conflict and fighting.

Cheri and Amy discuss the hard but important work of developing new ways to develop greater happiness. As they examine their own happiness habits (and their opposites!), gratitude, hope, and choosing the positive emerge as ways to break out of the rut of our default to unhappy.

Jennifer Dukes Lee talks about ideas from her newest book, The Happiness Dare , that challenge our church girl preconceptions about happiness. She helps Cheri and Amy answer questions we all have like: Does God want me to be happy? Do I have to act happy when I'm sad? Why do I find happiness in things that other people don't? It's really ok—listen and increase your happiness quotient today!

What do you do when someone's perfectionism is driving you around the bend? When the relationship is about to end? Valuing perfection over people shatters relationships, so Cheri and Amy tease out solutions for being on both the giving and receiving end of relationship-eroding perfection.

Failure can seem like a total loss. An unredeemable mess. A sum total of zero. But what if we redefine failure? What if we start to recognize the growth opportunities in our failures? Amy and Cheri talk with Michele Cushatt about her encounters with failure and how it's changed her view of perfectionism. Don't miss her rich wisdom!

God works His good plan in the midst of very imperfect circumstances and in the lives of flawed people. Cheri and Amy discuss the struggle of embracing failure in the reality of our messiness. Join with them and grab onto the hope of a Perfect God who redeems our failures!

At best, failure is uncomfortable for us, and more often it's excruciating. Kathi Lipp shares how she's learned to leverage failure and view it as a friend. In our relationships, work, and ministry, we can start to use failure as a tool instead of as a weapon against ourselves.

In this impromptu episode, Amy and Cheri process a week of FOMO, failure, and flashes of insight. We want you to weigh in, too: What is your definition of grit?

Part of creating a perfect facade is covering bad motives with an approval-winning actions. Cheri & Amy dig deep and get real about the ways they've looked good while masking skewed motivations and discuss the do-able solution. Join them as they process how to use our gifts for God's glory and bask in God's love-- from the inside out.

For women who struggle with perfectionism and people-pleasing, the finish line always seems maddeningly elusive. How does it change things to walk with Jesus? Suzie Eller talks with Cheri & Amy about a shift toward rest that our lives can take when we accept Jesus' call to "Come with Me."

One simple word can change the hard places of relationships. It's a word that can set us free and strengthens our relationship muscles. Cheri and Amy process Jennifer Dukes Lee's concept of living preapproved --safe in the knowledge of God's premeditated love for us. It's a game-changer for mistrust, conflict, and misunderstanding!

The song titles say it all. "Love Hurts", "What's Love God to Do with It?", & "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" all express the struggles we have when love becomes an idol instead of a gift. Jennifer Dukes Lee, author of Love Idol, gives one power-packed word that will transform love in every relationship in your life.

Unrealistic expectations are the stealthy, silent love-killers in our marriages. To let love triumph over outcomes, we have to start reigning in our expectations and allowing love to thrive. Cheri and Amy discuss the root of expectations and steps to shift our focus to create a more positive dynamic in our marriages.

Do you long for a better marriage but just can't seem to figure out how to change directions and erase the disappointment you feel? Kathi Lipp, author of The Husband Project, gives practical advice and one key secret for disappointment-proofing our marriages. Also, hear why Cheri Gregory and Amy Carroll started this podcast and why it's for you!