Praise Through It

“The reality is: you are free.”

Paul Henderson said that during our podcast conversation when we recorded about two months ago, and I still have those words rolling around in my head.

More than the line of a worship song. More than a line in a podcast. More than a (good, true) soundbite. It is REALITY. I am free. You are free.

In this conversation, Paul Henderson—author and Dean of Students for an elementary & middle school—talks to us about living in that reality for ourselves and for the people around us. With constant encouragement and a raw faith that shows itself over and over, Paul talks about his decision to have a relationship with God, his work with his students, marriage, parenting, and more.

“Oh you’re used to that right? You guys move all the time.”

I’ve heard that sentence a few times because of the … 14? … collective residences we’ve had in the 16 years we’ve been married. The truth is, though, that it actually isn’t that easy based on the number of times you’ve done it in the past. Our last move was actually the most difficult, and our third was the easiest.

Heather Eberhart is a military wife—and the only repeat guest on Praise Through It (Together) this summer!—and she talks with such honesty and grace and knowledge about what it’s like having your military family uprooted … again. How do we parent through those huge transitions? How do we hold onto our faith and rest on God’s absolute promises when everything swirling around us feels the opposite of sure and absolute?

Do you know someone in your life whose superpower is JOY?

If not, meet Dorina Gilmore. She is an author, speaker, and self-titled Glory Chaser. She teaches us how to chase God’s glory—look for his goodness & his glory—in every aspect of our lives. And this passion of her heart comes from a deeply sincere place, since the plan she had for her life has been thrown off course more than once.

I’m not known for my love of social media, but Megan Ericson is. She is quite literally the one voice I listen to when I need or want to learn something about social media. She keeps it simple, easy, and judgment-free. And she is a JOY to talk to!

Megan walked me through the Instagram world in 2021 when I was part of her Instagram challenge. In this conversation, she walks us through the good side of social media, how to be a light in a world of trolls, and how to work your kids through the online space.

Social media is not going away, that is for sure. In its evolution over the last 20 years, we’ve heard everything from social media saves lives to social media has ruined the world.

Maybe there’s an in-between, and Megan can for sure teach us how to show up and be a positive light in the online space.

Show notes

Show notes

Latasha & I could talk for hoursssssss.

We don’t here. You’re welcome. But it’s a great conversation filled with truth and laughter and new friendship. She is as open and honest as anyone could be about body image struggles from childhood all the way on up.

Emily Bernath is an author, a spiritual leader, and a sexual assault survivor.

She shares all the pieces of her story in her books & with other women so that they might know their worth in Christ, no matter what has happened in their past.

In our chat, Emily reminds us that our identity is 100% rooted in God, in who He made us to be.

Show notes

Alana is a podcaster, podcast coach, entrepreneur, and constant encourager for (mostly) women (but sometimes men!) who are ready to live out their calling but aren’t quite sure how to get there. She is so passionate about dreaming with God, and then keeping Him in the center while we move toward that dream, that you can’t help but listen to her when she tells us what to do!

After chatting with Alana, I set up a solid (realistic) summer plan for journaling, dreaming, and setting a vision for my future with God in the middle of it. 

Listen in for encouragement & inspiration to live the dreams God has put in your heart.

Jenna Erlandson is a biological mom to five kiddos - after being told by years of infertility that she wouldn’t have a baby.

“I think we’re finally done proving the doctors wrong,” she said — after a surprise set of twins at the end of 2021!

Jenna is so generous with her story, her heart, and some hard mama truths that so many of us can relate to.

Kellie Haddock is a singer, a songwriter, and a Hope Giver.

She shows up on all socials in the brightest, happiest pink you’ll ever see.

And she talks to us about using hope as a choice, about how God trusts us with tragedy and what we can do with that, and why her new album is called Orchids From Fire.

Asking myself, What will this choice look like in 30 years? is one of my daily cornerstones that helps me live well.

In 30 years, you’ll have built on habit after habit and what you have is what you will have built, and I’m not talking about tangible things like a specific size house or brand of car. I’m talking about the status of your heart.

If I want my daughter to know she is loved at all times, I’ll teach rather than scold.
If I want her to know that her creativity matters, I’ll hold my tongue when that creativity takes us on a wild, messy ride.
If I want my own heart to know that God made me on purpose and for a purpose, I’ll write my words and nobody else’s.

I want a future that holds a long line of choices that point to all of the above, and more.

I do that by constantly asking and answering that one question:

What will this choice look like in 30 years?

Maybe, like me, you have a hard time recognizing when something needs to change.

We know that we’re restless and tired at the same time but we’re not sure why because we didn’t used to feel this way but nothing has changed…
We know that something feels off but we can’t put our finger on it.
We know that we need a break, but we’re not sure from what.
We know that we’re unhappy, but we look around at the people and the four walls holding us together and wonder what we’re unhappy about.

There’s a difference between living in fear, and letting fear live with you.
There’s a difference between letting fear lead you, and letting it walk beside you.

Fear propels bravery. We literally cannot have bravery without fear, because without fear there would be no reason to be brave. We have to learn how to let the fear live beside us, walk along with us, but not win the moment.

What is ‘praise’ to you?
What is ‘kindness’ to you?
What is ‘hate’ to you?

When I asked my 6-year-old daughter if she wanted to help me practice something with a microphone, I had no idea she’d need this little coaching when it came to recording a podcast episode. And I had no idea she’d have such strong, powerful questions.

I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording.

Numbering our days.

Making them count.

Making them matter to us in a way that brings our heart closer to wisdom, & with a foundation of mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, love & faith.

If you’re wondering how to make the most of your days, listen in.

We have upset, upheaval, and unrest at almost every major turn in our world right now. And every keyboard warrior has the answer to every one of them.

One remedy I think we forget: friendship.

It’s the friend who will come for me. A friend who will go into the dark for me. A friend who will say, it’s okay that you got yourself lost, I’ll help you find your way. A friend who will say, I’m on my way. A friend who understands that wayfinding is not my strength but doesn’t tease me about it until I’m out of the woods.

That is friendship.

And how well we would do if we leaned into that on a daily basis.

The capital-S Seasons of our lives are the most obvious ones that bring change. A new job, relationship, child, weather season... all of those usher in change in a big way, they define us and times in our lives very clearly.

Lately, I've been more interested in the little-s seasons of our lives. The seasons of joy and sorrow, grief and rejoicing, anxiety and confidence.

I think we too often fold those little-s seasons into the big-S seasons, conflating the entire season with only one feeling, assigning ourselves these absolute traits based on the ebb and flow of the human experience. I think we miss the fact that these little-s seasons could be looked at as STATES of our lives instead of TRAITS of our lives and our personhood.

If you're wondering how to move in and out of the seasons of your life with some sanity and grace, listen in.

Show notes:

Is there a way to feel less lonely, even in the midst of our loneliness?

What if it couldn't be cured, but it could be curbed? Alleviated in some way?

I think the answer lies in our shared humanity. Not necessarily looking into everyone's souls, but acknowledging we're not so alone in our feelings as we think we are. If only we would reach out, look around, sing some heart songs, and listen to other people's heart songs.

What does that mean?

Listen in to find out!

Show notes:

How & why does God change a heart? 

What do we do when our heart starts to pivot away from our current situation? What do we do when our life or situation looks like nothing what we imagined it would, even though we thought we were making wise choices?

Here's what I think: those initial feelings, the excitement and anticipation before the disappointment, are often to get our buy-in. Like, God is going to do what God’s going to do but if we could see the end of it we’d pull the e-brake quicker than you can say Boo. So we get a picture in our heads of what we think it’s going to be, we get there and do the thing, then if we’re mature and willing enough, we’ll change our picture so that through our disappointment we learn, grow, embrace, enjoy, cherish, and hope.

Immeasurable gifts we would not know had our hearts not changed when God prompted them to change.

If your heart is changing, or you're hoping for it to change because you're feeling kind of stuck, listen in.

Show notes:

What would change for me if I looked at the little things I do, not as menial tasks that don’t matter, but rather as part of me being on assignment?

Laundry.
Dishes.
Dinner.
Looking in someone’s eye and saying HI, THANK YOU, and BYE.
Answering a text message.
Buying lemonade from a 6-year-old’s lemonade stand.
Sending a gift card.
Feeding your animals.
Making breakfast.
Going for a walk.
Going to the gym.
Raking the leaves.
Changing your pool filter.
Taking the lint out of the dryer.

Why?

Because what if me being on assignment was me building a life that mattered?

Listen in for some ideas on how to stay on & live out your assignment.

Show notes:

Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year for *everyone*. Various life circumstances and happenings can steal the joy of the season right from us. We experience grief, hurt, faintness of heart, and messy spirits.

The good news, though? No matter the state of our hearts? Christmas with Jesus offers grace, healing, faithfulness & mercy.

We bring him grief; He gives us grace.
We bring him hurt; He offers healing.
We bring him faintness of heart; He remains faithful.
We bring him our messy spirits & selves; He extends mercy.

Join me for this four-part series, each episode a snippet of hope if your Christmas is more blue than it is merry & bright.

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Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year for *everyone*. Various life circumstances and happenings can steal the joy of the season right from us. We experience grief, hurt, faintness of heart, and messy spirits.

The good news, though? No matter the state of our hearts? Christmas with Jesus offers grace, healing, faithfulness & mercy.

We bring him grief; He gives us grace. We bring him hurt; He offers healing. We bring him faintness of heart; He remains faithful. We bring him our messy spirits & selves; He extends mercy.

Join me for this four-part series, each episode a snippet of hope if your Christmas is more blue than it is merry & bright.

//

Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year for *everyone*. Various life circumstances and happenings can steal the joy of the season right from us. We experience grief, hurt, faintness of heart, and messy spirits.

The good news, though? No matter the state of our hearts? Christmas with Jesus offers grace, healing, faithfulness & mercy.

We bring him grief; He gives us grace.
We bring him hurt; He offers healing & hope.
We bring him faintness of heart; He remains faithful.
We bring him our messy spirits & selves; He extends mercy.

Join me for this four-part series, each episode a snippet of hope if your Christmas is more blue than it is merry & bright.

//

Tell me the truth: how many times have you had some variation of the thought: I’m behind or I’ve got to catch up or I’ll never get to do all they’re doing. If you’ve scrolled any social media ever, the answer is probably: at least once. But if we’re all being honest, it’s way more than that. We see these people doing all these things and we see ourselves doing less.

And then we consider ourselves behind.

I guess, to me, how am I behind if that’s not my story to live and tell?

How am I behind if that’s not where I’m supposed to be?

How am I behind if that’s not my path?

So how can we use the emergency break on this comparison game that leaves us feeling so behind? I’ve got some thoughts in this episode & some extras on Instagram & Facebook all week. Follow along for some encouragement on seeing this old burden of keeping up & still feeling behind in a new way.

Show notes:

There is plenty of advice on how, why, and when to offer forgiveness. And there is so much behind the act of forgiveness that doesn’t just include the offense, it can be tough to know which direction to go.

So … What’s the thing that brings us to a point of forgiveness that is meaningful and lasting?

Honestly, the only thing I could think of over months of thinking about this, is committing to it. Deciding that once we decide to forgive, that’s it. We have forgiven and nothing may be held for that offense from that day on. How do we do that? Listen in for some thoughts.

Gray hair & wrinkles?

Listen, this daily struggle hits all. of. us. With myriad ways to cover them up, maybe we can think of this old burden in a new way...

The first time my husband found a gray hair on the top of my head (because I’m not quite five feet tall so eventually someone was going to find the first one and it wasn’t going to be me) I am pretty sure I vehemently denied it. He thought it was hilarious. I thought it was the absolute opposite! I can’t very well look atop his head to see how well his hair follicles are faring through marriage and parenting and the ups and downs of careers and pandemics and such. Right? Right. So let it be, man.

Show notes:

Sheila Gregoire is a gift to all of us. Her passion is strengthening marriages & families, and that is 100% clear in her work. Currently, her teaching is coming through on the topic of sex, an important one, yes?

We talk about her survey of 20,000 women who come from all points and ends of the ideological spectrum. She gives us numbers on what works and what doesn't, what culture has done to our men and women, and how we can make it better. She TEACHES & PREACHES, y'all. I promise.

Sheila is the face behind ToLoveHonorandVacuum.com, the largest single-blogger marriage blog. A sought-after speaker, she’s also an award-winning author of nine books, including The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex and her latest: The Great Sex Rescue, which has been featured in the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, and the Washington Post. Sheila has a Masters in Public Administration and Master of Arts in Sociology both from Queen’s University. Sheila built the successful blog, To Love, Honor, and Vacuum, with traffic of one million page views a month. Her email list is 45,000 strong and her social media reach is over 100,000. Her podcast, Bare Marriage, has more than 5,000 downloads each week. Sheila has spoken at churches and conferences around the globe. She is a frequent contributor at Family Life Canada events. She has bylines at Religion News Service, Relevant Magazine, and other news sources. Sheila and her husband Keith, a pediatrician, live in Belleville Ontario. They have two grown daughters and one very adorable grandson who lives down the road. She enjoys hiking, birdwatching, RV camping trips, and board games. And she knits - even in line at the grocery store.

Sarah K. Butterfield is the author of “Around the Clock Mom: Make the Most of Your God-Given Time”. She has a heart for empowering women to grow in their faith and be intentional with their time. She and her husband and two boys live in San Diego, where she loves the first sip of coffee, getting lost in a book, and overindulging in ice cream.

My kinda girl.

Today's conversation is so encouraging and full of so many gems for the mom who feels like she doesn't do enough, does too much of the wrong thing, and gets lost in the chaos of motherhood on a daily basis. (Are you raising your hand with me?!)

What do we do when we feel like we're disappearing in our own life? When we look around and don't see ourselves anywhere? 

Author Peyton Roberts talks about that on the podcast today. (Head over to IGTV, too, for the video interview!)  Peyton's conversation hit me right in the heart. These military wives, man, they've gotten me every time this summer! Peyton speaks from the heart about connecting with God, connecting with her faith, connecting with essential parts of herself during a trying season in her life. She has oodles of wisdom for us, so listen in! 

Is there anyone in your life you've watched and thought, "That is a beautiful human." That's Robin Eaton for me. I've known her for 7 years and I've learned *so* much from her personal and professional stories and experiences. 

In today's conversation, Robin talks about parenting a child with exceptional needs. She talks about the challenges she and her family faced, but way more than that - she talks about the gift that Sam is and the gifts he's brought to the world.

Robin Eaton is a woman on the go… You can see her as a wife, mother, educator, or someone who enjoys staying active.  But each area is a full time focus. She served as a classroom teacher for fifteen years & has spent the past eight years as a school wide technology facilitator ensuring students and staff success in a digital world.  She believes in empowering learners of all ages. Her passion for children and education can be seen with her own two; a 20 year old daughter in college and a 17 year old son with exceptional needs.  Her husband is a firefighter whose long shifts have always ensured she is prepped to handle any personal situation on her own.  Robin also has two golden retrievers and she has just become a Gigi, or golden grandma. She enjoys cooking, kayaking, being on the beach, recently started running, and has a hard time saying no to a nap.

For Summer 2021, Monday mornings will be for blessings - short, soulful meditations to start your week. The idea of speaking blessings is inspired from a 2013 sermon series, To Love Life and See Good Days, from Manna Church in Fayetteville, NC. When we speak blessings over ourselves and over others, we are mirroring what God has done to build hope, confidence, joy, justice, and truth in his people for generations. The tongue has the power of life and death; this is one way we use the power of life.

After you listen to the blessing, try speaking it aloud. Insert "I" instead of "you". Then, consider speaking it over someone in your life who could use a blessing today.