Surviving Sarah

My good friend, Merica Stum, joins me around my kitchen table again. She is a married to Jake and they have 3 boys. She is the Director of Girls On The Run for Southeast TN. We had so much fun last year on  Episode 55  so I asked her to come back. I think we will just have to make this an annual thing. We do sort of a year in review. We look back at 2017—what we learned, what surprised us and what...

Amber Lia joins me for Episode 106. She is a mom to 4 boys as well as an author and owner of a production company in Los Angeles. Amber and Wendy Speaks have released a new book together called  Parenting Scripts: When What Your Saying Isn't Working Say Something New . I don't know about you, but parenting has been the hardest job of my life. I am always trying to hit a moving target. And what wor...

Christy Wright joins me for Episode 105. She is the creator of  Business Boutique , a Certified Business Coach and a Ramsey Personality with a heart for helping women step into their God-given gifts. Trust me, when you hear this conversation, you will see how passionate she is about empowering women.  If you are a woman who has a side hustle or started a business or has an idea, you will certainly...

Alex Kuykendall joins me for Episode 104. She is mother to 4 girls ranging from ages 6 to 15. She is a writer and co-host to The Open Door Sisterhood podcast and retreat. I invited her to join me on the show to talk about her recent book,  Loving My Actual Christmas , because the reality is that many of us don't love the Christmas we have. We have expectations that go unmet during this time of yea...

Natalie Ard joins me for Episode 103. With the turn of the holiday season, it was the perfect time to chat with her about what she does. She is a mother who quickly became an entrepreneur after creating a family tradition product called  Star From Afar.  She is the owner of Star Kids Company where she creates toys and games that help kids play with a purpose.  We talk about why she created Star Fr...

I was so happy to have Melanie Shankle join me on the show again for Episode 102. Many of you may know her as Big Mama online. She is an author, speaker, wife and mother. You may remember her from  Episode 50 where we chatted about friendship . This time, she joins me at the table to talk about small things. You see, she wrote a book called  Church of the Small Things  which talks about learning t...

April Christina Barron joins me for Episode 101. She is a talented vocalist, communicator and therapist who's passion is to encourage, inspire, and offer hope to women in their relationships with God, themselves, their children, and with others. And she'd tell you that her greatest accomplishment would be overcoming the challenges of being an un-married, teenaged mother. She has successfully raise...

Cue the confetti because today is Episode 100! And last night friends of the show gathered together at my home in Atlanta to celebrate this milestone with me. Before we jump into the today's conversation, I just wanted to say thank you for listening. There are women all around who feel like they are alone, as they survive whatever life looks like for them. And this podcast is a place where I hope...

Jeannie Cunnion joins me for Episode 99. I have been so excited to share this conversation with you because it was so refreshing and encouraging for me personally. If you haven't heard of Jeannie before, then you should know that she is a mom of four boys who range from teenager to toddler. She is the author of  Parenting the Wholehearted Child  and her latest book,  Mom Set Free. We sit down and...

Jim Burns joins me for Episode 98. I first met Jim many years ago when I worked for Saddleback Church in CA. He is someone that I could have conversations with about parenting, relationships, marriage and faith for hours. He is the President of HomeWord—an organization that exists to equip parents, marriages and families and he the Director of the HomeWord Center for Youth and Family at Azusa Paci...

Jonathan and Wynter Pitts join me for Episode 97. I was so happy to invite Wynter back on the show and loved getting a chance to chat with her husband, too. Wynter is the Founder of For Girls Like You and the author of several tween books. Jonathan is the executive director of The Urban Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. They recently wrote a book called  She Is Yours—Trusting God as You Raise the G...

Kim Biddle joins me for Episode 96. She is the founder and CEO of  Saving Innocence —an organization whose vision is to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children and restore the cultural values of innocence and human worth. This organization is doing amazing things to rescue and restore child victims of sex trafficking through strategic partnerships with local law enforcement, social serv...

Kristen Ivy joins me for Episode 95. This was a special guest for me because we have been friends for over 10 years and we started our motherhood journey together. Not only is she a mother to 3 but she is also the Executive Director of Messaging at  Orange  and the Director of  The Phase Project . She has written several books but most recently published 18 books—one for each phase of a kid's life...

Kelly Flanagan joins me for Episode 94. This was one of my conversations. You guys, I took so many notes when I went back to edit this show. In fact, the conversation itself really did feel like a counseling session for me. Kelly is a husband, father, clinical psychologist, blogger, and author of the book  Loveable: Embracing What Is Truest About You, So You Can Truly Embrace Your Life . We talk a...

Courtney Westlake joins me for Episode 93. Courtney lives in Illinois with her husband, Evan, and their two children, Connor and Brenna. She is a writer and photographer with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a passion for storytelling. Her storytelling took on a new life when she began blogging in 2011 after Brenna was born with a rare and severe skin disorder. I asked her to join me on the s...

Kelsey Chapman joins me for Episode 92. She is a Creative & Small Businness Coach as well as an Instagram Consultant. As a self proclaimed dreamer and entrepreneur, she knows well that sometimes you need a cheerleader and coach to come alongside you to help you pursue your dreams. If you have a dream but don't know where to start; or if you don't feel like you can even have a dream; or if you want...

David Thomas joins me for Episode 91. You may remember him from Episode 51 when we talked about raising boys. David has over 20 years of experience counseling kids and families. He's written 7 books including the newest one,  Are My Kids On Track which he wrote with Sissy Goff and Melissa Trevathan where they breakdown the emotional, social and spiritual milestones that kids need to reach. We spen...

You are joining me for Episode 90 and for this episode  we recorded a live show in front of a group of women . There is a non-profit organization who works to be the church and bring a different kind of church to their community in the East Cobb area of Atlanta who invited me to record a live episode with them. The women of East Cobb Gathering get together on a regular basis to connect, grow and e...

Kathleen Hamer and her son Derek join me around their kitchen table in the Seattle area. I had been wanting to introduce you to them for a long time now. In fact, they were one of the first guests that I listed out when I first brainstormed the podcast. You see, Kathleen was an almost emptynestor when she and her husband, Dan, decided to adopt Derek who was age 5 and his brother, Reggie, who was a...

Back in early July, I took the podcast on the road to Seattle. Seattle now is home to so many people that I love and who were influential in my life during my early twenties. So I took the opportunity to fly out there to sit down around the table with a few of them and Neely McQueen was one of them. I enjoy being around Neely so much. She is the real deal--what you see is what you get. She is a wi...

Suzanne Stabile joins me for Episode 87 and I'm not gonna lie. I was sorta geeking out that she was joining me. Suzanne is an internationally renowned teacher who offers a unique and creative approach to the practice of spiritual formation. She is viewed as a master of the Enneagram and her first book, The Road Back to You was published in 2016. If you haven't read it yet, I can't recommend it eno...

Lisa Lloyd joins me for Episode 86. Sometimes you meet people and you feel like you could have been friends for years. That is exactly how I felt about Lisa. She is an actress, speaker and writer. I was intrigued by her when I saw her book called  Chasing Famous: Living the Life You've Always Auditioned For.   I can totally relate that life seems to be full of auditions--in friendships, dating, ma...

Rachel Swanson joins me for episode 85 to have a conversation that I think most women will be able to relate to. Rachel is a wife, mother to 3, former dental hygienist—her smile is amazing—and now life coach, author and speaker. I asked Rachel to join me to  talk about what spiritual and personal investments women need to make in their own lives, why women tend to carry so much anxiety and practic...

PJ Jonas joins me for Episode 84. She is an entrepreneur, wife and mother to 8 kids. She runs a business centered around creating goat milk products and has been featured on the Today Show, The Doctors and in Oprah's magazine. With over nineteen years of homeschooling children under her belt, as well as eight years of running a business, she joins me to talk about the benefits of teaching kids to...

Sherry Quinley joins me for Episode 83 to talk about  lessons on life, marriage and parenting . Take a minute and think of someone older than you who you love gleaning wisdom and advice from. Think about the questions you would ask them. Think about what you admire about them. Sherry is one of those people to me. She and her husband, Chuck, have raised 6 kids. They've been married for 35 years and...