Life with Sally

To build anything great and strong requires time. But a hedge of strength, protecting, guarding the beauty inside is a safe-guard from destroying the sacred trust. Marriage is one of the most profound ways God designed for us so that we could slowly learn and develop in our own lives, the very character of Christ, learning to serve, love, and give ourselves as He did for us. We hope you'll enjoy this podcast today, as Kristen and Misty are again joining me to talk about marriage!

I hope you will give yourself time to really ponder the podcast today and to breathe in the beauty of this story. We only have this life, today, to choose to celebrate the reality of God in the presence of others and we never know when this opportunity will be over. Let me know your thoughts after you listen.

Marriage is meant to be a picture of the love Christ has for the church; His commitment and persevering faithfulness to us. He said He would never leave us or forsake us. He laid down his life for us. Jesus treasures marriage because it is the holy place where His love for the world is modeled by how we practice giving to one another and staying the course of our commitment. What might you do to strengthen your own marriage, today?

I have had several podcasts lately about friendship. I almost didn't play this one today because I wanted to be sure you had not heard too much about friendship from me lately. Yet, in this podcast, I realized that there have been crucial dark moments in my life when I would have floundered or fallen apart if I had not had friends to carry me, to comfort me, to guide me when I couldn't see where I was going. So I hope that you will listen to this podcast today and be encouraged once again about how vitally it is to understand that much of our joy is sustained through relationships with people who have chosen to love us, to help us, to be committed.

Sometimes, we need to just stop life from invading every moment of our day and sapping all our energy, and take the time to make a new plan. Rest, rest, rest. We all need to regularly rest to keep ourselves alive. But we need more than rest: sometimes: we need something fun.

My friend, Glen Packiam, has written a book that will refresh your understanding about how Christ comes to you to satisfy your life, to validate your story and to show you how to become His life and light to those He brings your way.

Friendship is an imperative part of a healthy life! We hope you'll enjoy our podcast today as we discuss women's friendships. Today, ponder the podcast and pray about the truths we address for your own life. Reach out to at least one woman this week. And we do pray that each of you will find a sweet friend with whom to walk through the pathways of life.

We can make a commitment to take every situation, every feeling, every fear to God as it happens. We don't have to remain in a state of emotional separation from the Lord every time we get out of step. We simply have to practice walking each step with him and allow his presence to bring us the joy that comes from resting in the arms of our capable dance partner through each measure of life's song.

If we as parents can learn to embrace our relationship with God, we will be empowered to create for our children and anyone else who crosses our doorsteps a true culture of love—a home environment where the life of God is breathed through all moments and love becomes the fuel for living with hope, purpose, and expectation.

Join me today in my podcast where I share the story of my being in Communist Poland as a young, single women wondering if I was even capable or adequate to being a missionary. God has taught me so much about cultivating joy every day since then, but it is a long journey of maturing a little at a time to learn to dance in His joy every day.

We are all triune beings; body, soul, and spirit. All of those areas need maintenance and attention. This means we need sleep, and healthy food. We need to watch our caffeine intake and avoid spending too much time on the couch. We need fresh air and sunshine.

It is in being faithful to our own set of tests that we become mature and fitted for the ministry he has called each of us to accomplish. If we aspire to be a general, so to speak, spiritually, then we must first pass the training and tests of life as a private!

Own Your Circumstances, Own your design, Own your puzzle and make it an interesting, god-glorifying place to live or at least slowly move into that direction. Don't be a victim to your life's duties, find ways to make it personally fulfilling.

"God's desire is for us to experience true joy and deep fulfillment. It must start, however, with the journey into the recesses of our heart. It is only as we release our hold on the things that we think we need to be truly happy, when we open our hands freely, that we experience true joy."

Misty and I are back this week with another sneak peek into our membership site, Life with Sally! Every month, I record a new Bible study just for members. My desire is to leave a legacy of encouragement, trust and wisdom to those who long for it as I do. Consequently, I do a Bible study every month for my membership to encourage them from my own walk in scripture. We've been looking into the book of Proverbs recently, and today we are sharing the second half of a particular study on the power of words.

C.S. Lewis is one of my heroes. I love his writing and thinking. Yet, I appreciate him even more because of his very difficult life. He wrote great psychology of many characters not just because of his imagination, but because of the experiences of His life which taught him to forge through the dark times to strain into the light.

Today, Sarah, Joel, Joy and Joel and I share some of what we who are all a part of each others' story, about what we love and what we have learned here in this God ordained place. I hope you enjoy. And a bonus is that Joel just finished composing a brand new album that is quite wonderful. I hope you will consider purchasing this and enjoying it for yourself and with your family. (Thanks for your support of his music—it is how He is funding his way through His PHD.

God created us to see the invisible fingertips of Him in our lives, the glory of His creation, the reality of His love manifested in countless ways and the generous and abounding love expressed throughout the story of His people.

Today we have a treat for you; a sneak peek of some of our exclusive Life with Sally membership content! Summer is upon us, and so we're shaking up our usual schedule a bit to let you into our various Girls' Clubs—the membership, our leadership team, etc. Misty and I are talking about our summer plans today, and I hope you'll listen to the podcast to learn more about what we have up our sleeves, and of course to contemplate this message about the power of words.

God does not intend us to be filled with anger and frustration and disappointment. Sometimes when we want to blame God, we refuse to see that we have not walked His ways, or followed His paths, and so our lives and our souls are filled up with the world of man, which will always carry with it confusion and grief. How can we learn to instead dance with our Heavenly Father?

I have invited a friend, Sheridan Voysey, to join me in my podcast today whose story goes along with all that we are discussing in my book. What to do, feel, where to go when life is turned upside down from what you expected. We met several years ago here in Oxford and his heart and story encouraged me very much.

Join us today to hear about decisions we are making for our hearts, souls, minds and strength to be sure we are living intentionally, well, to invest time in the things that will provide us the most meaningful and flourishing best life forward. Love love being with my Joy. And I will never forget the wonderful time we shared in Vienna. Such a great decision.

In this Podcast episode, Aaron and Jen share about the uniqueness of the body of Christ and how we all have a purpose and a ministry to fulfill. They also share the importance of friendship in marriage, as well as how having a marriage after God impacts parenting. You are not going to want to miss this one!

Looking for opportunities to deepen friendships, to counsel women, to have fun and invite someone in so that I do not feel alone has provided me with countless sweet and memorable moments from setting my table in my hotel rooms.

Each tea was different in attendance and unified in spirit. As we sipped and munched together, we created fellowship during a season that for many people is filled with loneliness.

Hearts were opened by the simple beauty of bread, cheese, and warm herbed soup as we spoke of the shepherds who had found and worshiped Jesus on that first Christmas so long ago. And my own heart was warmed by the gathering of friends from such different cultures who shared our table and celebrated the love that whispered His reality through the moments of the evening.

We still have Family Day every year even though our children are now grown and living away from home, and we still begin the day by listing our "memorial stones" together. This practice reminds us not only of God's faithfulness to us individually and as a family but also of the fact that we are inextricably tied to one another, bound in loyalty.

Nathan, Joy and I put together a little podcast just because we want to wish all of you well this Sunday when women with mother's hearts will be celebrated.

Today, in my podcast, I talk with my friend, Jamie Martin, about her new book called: Introverted Mom: Your Guide to More Calm, Less Guilt, and Quiet Joy I wish I had this book when I was a young mom because I think it would have given me permission to seek some quiet, soul filling time without guilt. It took me years to learn this truth. So many moms I know have said, "You know, I used to think I was an extrovert but now I think I might be an introvert."

Over time, my teatime habit became a foundational discipling tool for me. Taking time in the middle of a busy day to focus on a real live person and share our hearts over tea or coffee became a way of connecting with other women, with neighbors, and especially with my children—and even with my swirling, hurried self.

Cultivating a lifegiving table is all about helping those who gather around it to know the love of God and to understand His truths, laying foundations of faith that will serve them years after they go out into the world. Intentionally crafting words and messages to share along with the food we serve and the conversations we enjoy is a part of my role as hostess and as mama. Table talks are where lightbulbs come on, where ideas are fully embraced as they are discussed, where love is received as it is generously poured out.

Today on my podcast, I will be sharing a bit about the foundations of life that I love to talk about here on my podcast and that I will be talking about in the months to come. These foundations will hold up your life through all seasons. And of course, I always want to help encourage those of you who have children, as well, in your role as a mama who is raising a godly generation right in her own home.

I've come to believe in the profound importance of snack meals—meals that are easy, nourishing, and restful. They can absolutely save your sanity during those crazy times. But here's another benefit: When you bring beauty and rest into the occasional chaos of your life, you are teaching your children how to prepare for the storms of life and live well through them.

Sometimes I think that grace is best experienced through greasy pizza and gentle curiosity. To me, this strategy was not only a home philosophy, but a disciple- ship principle put in action—perhaps the most important one of all: Discipleship happens at every moment along the way—morning, night, and every time in between.

Join us girls today as we share our own thoughts about challenging life, falling apart and how we are moving towards sustainability, and read passages that come from our heart to yours.

Francesca has won one Grammy and had four career nominations, two K-LOVE Fan Awards, six Dove Awards (including being named the Gospel Music Association's Artist of the Year) and seven No. 1 singles! I hope you will enjoy our chat together. I love her heart and her desire that we all find our roots in Jesus to hold us through all seasons of our lives. Be inspired.

Why is it so important to us? Why did I go to the extra trouble of yet another special meal on yet another morning—especially when church offered doughnuts? Because we are building pathways in our hearts and brains that connect us to thousands of hours spent over years in this way, reminding all of us what we believe and cherish together, what we hold dear, what keeps us faithful through one more table and one more pancake shared over many times of consuming pancakes and French Toast.

Sometimes, when we have piles of responsibility on our plate, we start to place a lot of energy, worry and fear into the issues of our lives and fret. The last thing that seems productive when life is busy is to rest. Yet, rest may very well be the most strategic thing to do if we have a busy, full and demanding life.

Nathan and I have recorded a podcast for you that we hope will encourage and inspire you to breathe in the peace of God while you exercise the hope and faith that He is at work spinning great hearts and lives while you are living and building values and messages in your every day life. This week, Nathan's new movie, The Unlikely Good Samaritan, comes out in a debut in a theatre in Colorado Springs and you can pick up your own copy on Amazon or in your local Walmarts. Hope it inspires you—and look for Clay and me as we play a tiny cameo appearance. So fun.

Throughout life, it is in resting in His presence and strength and power and goodness that will put our hearts at rest. It is only when we patiently face the storms confiding, "This is too big for me to handle, but I am asking you to handle it for me," and then learn to wait--and sometimes wait and wait and wait!--that we will see His purpose, ways and yes, salvation from our storms. I wish I had learned at a much earlier age not to struggle so and worry and fret--it did me no good, and now I see how very faithful God was--He just didn't always do it my way!

I've been a fan and friends of Elizabeth Foss for many years. She is a faithful, kind mama to nine, a true lover of Jesus, and an encourager to many, for many years now through her blog and writings. I know you'll be encouraged by our conversation! You'll definitely want to follow her, so find Elizabeth here: www.elizabethfoss.com www.takeupandread.org Twitter and Instagram: elizabethfoss Elizabeth is also so kind as to offer our readers a copy of her new study on friendship, plus a beautiful mug! Comment below to enter to win.

Today we're joined by Bailey Hurley as we continue our discussions about Girls' Club! You can find Bailey at her website: Bailey Hurley She also has wonderful friendship journal prompts that are free for download from her website! These journal prompts redirect you back to Scripture to help you define friendship for your current season. Here's the direct link: https://baileythurley.com/friendship-journaling-prompts/

So grateful that Mackenzie Koppa was able to join me for today's podcast! She says … "I'm MacKenzie Koppa and around the interwebs I'm known as Bold Turquoise- or the gal who attempts to cultivate loveliness in her life and tries to encourage other women to as well (I'm an ENFP, I can't help it!). I'm a single mom of four sweet kids, voiceover artist, podcaster and speaker. I love Jesus, my kids and chocolate- in that order." We hope you enjoy our podcast! Find Mackenzie here at Mackenzie Koppa She also podcasts at Cultivating the Lovely! And here's the podcast that Sally specifically asks about toward the end of the episode~ thesamepagepodcast.com Instagram- @mackenziekoppa

I am so very thrilled to be sharing this podcast with Gina Smith today! Gina is a wonderful mama and friend to many, and her husband is the author of the Green Ember series. You can find his information here … Audio book! https://sdsmith.net/freeaudio/ Newest book! https://sdsmith.net/book/the-wreck-and-rise-of-whitson-mariner/ Sam on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/sdsmithereens/?hl=en

Whew! Sweet Friends, We love you so much. I am probably on a plane from Dallas to England as you read this. We have all been so very inspired by meeting so many at Dallas, Raleigh and Wild and Free. We are already getting letters from so many of you who say this book is inspiring you to embracing your capacity as a woman, to seeing the need to cultivate excellent accountability and community and we are thrilled. Thanks for sharing this book with so many. We have a few more wonderful recordings with our friends but wanted to give you a look into some of what we have been talking about together. I hope you enjoy our chat today.

So glad to be with Emily Thomas today! Emily's first job was teaching juvenile inmates in the prison system. That job didn't kill her so she thought she'd try parenthood. Before kids she was a teacher, nurse, and world traveler. Now she mostly travels around her house picking up toys. Motherhood proved much harder than Emily anticipated so, in an effort to not run away from home, she started a podcast. On her weekly show, Emily interviews other women who are struggling WELL in some area in hopes of figuring out how to be less of a mess herself. She uses humor and honesty to share the encouragement from God's word and her personal misadventures in an effort to build up worn-down ladies everywhere. Find Emily here at her website: strugglewellproject.com and on instagram: instagram.com/strugglewellproject I hope you'll enjoy our talk today!

Renee Swope : Word-lover, heart-encourager and grace-needer. Wife of 25 years, mom of three (ranging from 10-23), former radio co-host and executive director of Proverbs 31 Ministries and best-selling author of A Confident Heart and A Confident Heart Devotional And … she's joining us for our podcast, today! I so enjoyed our conversation and I know you will, too! You can find Renee here: https://www.ReneeSwope.com https://www.facebook.com/aconfidentheart http://www.instagram.com/reneeswope

So glad to be hosting Erin Loechner today on the podcast! Author of Chasing Slow and founder of Design for Mankind, Erin Loechner has been blogging and speaking for more than a decade. Her heartfelt writing and design work has been showcased in The New York Times, Lucky, Parenting, Dwell, Marie Claire, Elle Decor, Huffington Post, and a two-season HGTV.com web special, garnering over one million fans worldwide. She has spoken for and appeared in renowned international events for clients such as Walt Disney World, IKEA, Martha Stewart and Home Depot. Now nestled in a Midwestern town, Erin, her husband, and two kids strive for less in most areas except three: joy, grace, and goat cheese. Find Erin here: Design for Mankind Her book, Chasing Slow, can be found at Amazon!

What fun it was to speak with Lara Casey! She has a wonderful team of women she works with in business as well as her lovely family, and she's a fantastic encourager— have you seen her beautiful life planners, the PowerSheets? She's blessing so many people and I'm so glad she's joining me today! Not only is she wonderful to talk to, she's also offering one of our readers a Write the Word Journal—and one for a friend! To enter, please go to this poster on my Instagram feed and tag a friend!

Sarah Mackenzie is familiar to many of you as the spunky, delightful leader of Read-Aloud Revival. I so enjoy Sarah's heart for her family as well as reading, and we had such a delightful time talking today! Sarah is an author herself, and lives in the Inland Northwest with her husband Andrew, where they homeschool their six kids (including identical twin boys). And she's been so kind as to offer one of our readers a copy of her book, The Read-Aloud Family—plus a second copy for a friend! Be sure to go to my Instagram page to tag a friend in a comment and enter. Sarah also has a wonderful podcast: Read-Aloud Revival. And you can find her on Instagram, too!