Our Time to Rise in Midlife

We are kicking off a new series on the podcast this week! We are calling it Midlife is No Joke. Because midlife brings responsibilities from many directions. It also brings lots of change. These combined can act as a pressure cooker of stress, or at least an uncharted path as we respond to changing roles, relationships, and responses (ours and others.) Dr. Kelly Flanagan is a clinical psychologist...

The Busy Mom's Guide is wrapping up today with a Sister Straight Talk with Krista & Alex. They open with discussing some important areas we didn't get to yet – like time management and the strategies we're using to plan our days. We also talk about add on chores, the benefit of coaching, how to make time for relationships, apps that come in handy, and how God can meet us right in the middle of our...

She was making deodorant in her kitchen sink because she loved using natural ingredients. Seven years ago Bethany McDaniel had a dream to get natural deodorant and soaps into the hands of others. She had no idea she would soon have a warehouse, a headquarters, and a staff to help her get those products into the world. We talk with Primally Pure natural products brand owner and founder, Bethany McD...

Are you the kind who has thousands of photos on your phone with little to no organization? Do you get overwhelmed when you look at your camera roll and wonder if these precious memories are safe and backed up? If your answer is yes, you are in good company. In this episode we break down how to best organize our digital photos, how to delete duplicates, how to safely backup our camera roll, when to...

Bunmi Laditan hasn't always prayed like she does now. Her faith in recent years has grown and with it she finds herself praying all day long in a constant conversation with God. This episode in The Busy Mom's Guide series is about prayer. Not holy, big word prayer, but gritty, honest prayer that says exactly how we're feeling and what we're thinking. We are always striving for part practical and p...

Do you struggle finding time to declutter, pick up the house, or keep systems going? Some women are organized and structured in most everything they do – others, not so much. Dana White, aka The Slob Comes Clean, joins us to talk about the 5 minute pick up, how to return items to the place that makes the most sense, and what freedom in finding our cleaning style looks like. If you are desiring to...

If we know one thing about moms it's that we're busy. And if we know anything about this time of year it's that the busy ramps up. So we are kicking off our back to school series we are calling The Busy Mom's Guide. We're starting by talking about how to engage with Scripture in the middle of parenting chaos. As our guest Hunter Beless says, there is no quiet these days for the "quiet time." Hunte...

Victoria Deurstock was learning principles of design and immediately recognized how they transfer to our spiritual lives. The flow of a room or a space can easily reflect peace. Or not. The same can be true of our hearts. What is allowing or preventing God's peace from flowing through us?   If you are looking for peace, Victoria has some ideas about how you can find it and make it. A writer, speak...

Summer opens up some time to get creative and do those projects in our homes we've been meaning to get to during the year. Liz Marie Galvan, queen of cozy + cottage, joins the Sisterhood today to talk about how we can tap into our the designer in each of us. Liz, the owner of The Found Cottage, has a knack for putting a warm, inviting, and highly styled touch on everything she does. In this episod...

Today is the first day of summer! The season often means putting on a swimming suit and facing the fun. Humor writer and comedian Anna Lind Thomas joins the sisterhood to talk about how she is never ready for summer and swimming suits. With a funny and practical twist Anna covers swimsuit shopping (make it an event), finding a suit that flatters (skirts are cute and functional), and harnessing all...

Today we are wrapping up the "This Cultural Moment" series with a sister straight talk with Krista and Alex. We discuss why it is so hard to honor people with different ideas, how Ephesians 6 holds a secret to living well in this period of time, what grid we can use to filter our decisions, and what it looks like to lean into hope. Join us for this honest conversation, and let's "get our joy back"...

We've been talking about what it means to live in "this cultural moment" as a follower of Jesus. No wonder the topic of parenting has popped up in this series a number of times. This episode is dedicated to how we as parents navigate decisions and conversations when cultural norms conflict with our own values. Can anybody relate? We are thrilled to bring you Deborah Porter, the Ultimate Mom Coach,...

As people of faith, doubt scares us. We ask questions such as: Does doubt mean our children will never return to faith? Will I ever experience God again? Is God angry or punishing me for my doubt? How does doubt differ from unbelief? What should I say to those who are doubting? Joining us for this important episode is A.J. Swoboda, award winning author, theology professor, and speaker. A.J. walks...

This is a special episode we wish we didn't have to release: On School Shootings with Columbine High School survivor Crystal Woodman Miller. As we all reel from the senseless tragedy of the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, Texas, once again this subject comes to forefront of our minds and hearts. We are asking the questions: What if this happens to my child? How do I talk to my kids about this?...

What is the opposite of something that is real? A counterfeit. It's even more than that, it tries to come off as authentic and real, but it is fake. Our guest in this week's episode has a new book titled Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made For So Much More . In this conversation we talk with Jen Oshman about five promises the world offers women today...

Standing up for truth in this cultural moment can be challenging and vulnerable, just ask Dr. Christina Crenshaw, an associate of Cultural Engagement and Leadership with Dallas Theological Seminary. In 2021 she was thrust in the media spotlight after taking a stand on a current hot button issue (which we talk about in this episode). From asking more questions, to finding studies and data around th...

How do we live a Christian faith in today's cultural context? What is required of us? What should be concerned about? If anything? How do we talk to our kids about changing cultural norms? And what doe the Bible say about all of this uncertainty we are feeling? We are starting a new series on the podcast this week we are calling This Cultural Moment to talk about these very questions. In fact this...

We are wrapping up The Brain Game series today with a Sister Straight Talk – which simply means we share our insights, a-ha moments, and chat as if we were sitting around a table with you over coffee. In this episode we asked Dr. Lucretia Berry, founder of Brownicity to join us. We discuss the power of releasing lies, how neuroscience has helped us alter the way we manage thoughts, and how harness...

What if we could be present in all circumstances without judgment? What if we could step back from the moment, observe it, and ask God to reveal himself to us? What if we didn't let our emotions drive our thought processes, but gave them a comfortable spot in the passenger seat where they were buckled in, but not directing? Dr. Regina Chow Trammel works with social work students at Azusa Pacific U...

In week two of our series, The Brain Game, we are exploring the neuroscience of thinking on the good and wonderful. For many of us this is not our natural state of mind. We prepare ourselves for the worst and wait for the proverbial "shoe to drop." But what if we did the exact opposite of that? What if we instead expect the good and hold the posture of positive anticipation? Nicole Zasowski, a mar...

As we begin our new series on the intersection of Christian faith and neuroscience, Dr. Curt Thompson, joins us. The stories we tell ourselves are often incomplete, incorrect, or clouded by shame. He reminds us we need to retell the stories we believe about ourselves using the framework of the Gospel and the new heaven and earth. He emphasizes the importance of being together in community and how...

We are wrapping up our Raise Boys, Change the World series today with a Sister Straight Talk with Krista and Alex. They discuss the most important lessons they learned from the guests on this series as well as their own insights about raising boys. The topics range from fatherlessness to allowing boys to grow in independence to how to connect better with our sons. If you care about a young man in...

Host of the Boy Mom podcast and mom to four young men, Monica Swanson, gives us the mom to mom encouragement we all need today. Monica talks about instilling faith, identity, and healthy influences in boys' lives. She talks about good character qualities, how we help our boys identify them and grow into them. From fostering sibling relationships to redirecting unpleasant attitudes, Monica gives us...

  We can't talk about raising today's boys without putting them in context in the generation in which they are being raised: Generation Z (kids ages 13-18). Generation Z is coming of age during a global pandemic and during a time when school shootings are not uncommon. They are the first generation in the history of the world that can claim the title "digital natives." These markers are shaping wh...

Host of the popular mothering podcast, Don't Mom Alone, Heather MacFadyen is right in the middle of parenting four boys. As we continue in our series on Raise Boys, Change the World we of course needed a few mom experts to join. Heather is one of those moms. In this episode, we talk about noise levels, energy levels, and schooling choices. We cover how Heather approaches her relationships with edu...