Life with Sally

No amount of ranting or complaining can change the fact that we live in a fallen world. I wish I had known sooner that I needed to accept this reality, to determine to grow up, to build up my strength little by little.

How we live through these seasons following hard after God at every point, leaves us with a soul satisfying story, because we learn that God was with us and faithful at every point.

We must rule over our domains in such a way to have order, rhythms, traditions, and anchors in our schedule that provide for this divine reflection of what God has done.

Today, I am so happy to share my conversation with you that my friend Jennifer Pepito and I had earlier this week. As a seasoned mama of 7, she brings gentleness, peace, fun, insight, and wisdom to us mamas on our journey.

Growing older wisely means to have more ability to love generously, to forgive, to allow people time to grow as you need time to grow, and to watch over your heart that it might not be eaten up by self-righteousness of bitterness. Put anger and harsh criticism away and put on love.

We came up with a model that worked for our family called LifeGIFTS. Each letter in the word gifts stood for one of the five areas I held as a grid in my mind to focus on each day: grace, inspiration, faith, training, and service.

Giggling, belly laughing and guffawing they say are good for your soul — even scripture teaches that a joyful heart is good medicine. Today on my podcast, Keelia, Nathan, and I could not stop laughing. We hope you enjoy the merriment.

God is with us, He will answer and He cares for you. Today, in my podcast, I speak of ways and rhythms I practice in my life to bring my being back to health and strengthen and ways to keep myself going forward.

It took a lifetime to build our home and environment and books and rhythms that echo through all of the days -- tea mornings, breakfast every day, evening meals… it is fun to see how much my children have adopted and applied these things in their own way.

It is simple to see all the flaws in my children, my husband, and myself. But that is not healthy or biblical. I am practicing several commitments to help me see each person for who they are inside and to bring a fresh wind of grace to each moment.

I snuck out of the house, I betook myself to a lovely breakfast in an outdoor cafe and breathed in peace, and centered myself for an hour before jumping back into the wild of life. Finally, my life began to be centered, ideas flowed and peace ruled. Take time for yourself to sit, ponder and sip.

Our multitudinous little tasks, washing one more dish, correcting one more attitude, kissing one more cheek, when given from a heart full of love for Him, pleases Him far more than if we made millions & had a title of strategic importance.

Habits of grace -- I call these rhythms that bring moments of civility into your day -- or give pause and peace to your week.

As a mother who has raised four children from birth into adulthood, engaging my life & faith in the lives of my children has been my most fulfilling, fruitful work.

When we value a person, we speak well of them, affirm their worth, cherish their lives. They have significance in this world; God has created them with purpose and meaning to His story in the world. Celebrating someone takes time and energy and planning.

We will never be perfect or adequate on our own, but we are adequate when we walk by faith and live into God's provision for strength, joy, growth and wisdom.

As I have watched my girls flourish as women and as professionals, I see them stretching into the women God made them to be. I absolutely love women of every background, story, and personality and want to champion them all.

Whatever we water in the souls of our hearts will certainly grow. And if we water "weeds" in the garden of our souls, they will certainly take over and devastate the crop of faith, love, thankfulness, grace, joy.

Collecting details about Queen Elizabeth's life was the source of Tea Time Tuesday podcast today. Enjoy and celebrate with me, one whose life has so much wisdom and experience to fill our own vision for life.

When a child has a sense of family culture, the traditions they practice over a lifetime, it provides a sense of confidence in who he or she is and what light and goodness that culture has brought to the world.

All of us can feel quite overwhelmed by the darkness of circumstances around us. Yet, courage means: exercising mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

The older I get and see my heart more clearly, the more humbled I become, wondering at God's generous mercy and grace. Let your relationships be ruled by love and grace.

Today, I speak with my wonderful friends about their lives and how they have grown together through gathering on my membership, Life with Sally. If you are interested, you can find out more at LifeWithSally.com. I do have to tell you, it is a pretty wonderful community to be in.

What an exciting time it was for me to be at W&F with hundreds of women, making new friends, speaking, signing books, enjoying conversations. Truly it was deeply fulfilling for me. I'll share all about my week on today's podcast!

Women laughed, teared up, were inspired, and left with words of significance burning in their hearts and minds. I thought you might want to hear from some when were there as an encouragement to you that you are not alone—that others are walking the same road as you.

Tolkien was a part of my thoughts this week as I get ready to travel to Dallas to speak at Wild and Free. His story was a tragic one, but it led him to write an epic story to his generation to give them a picture of hope—fighting the darkness with light, goodness, and courage.

My friend, Bailey Hurley, joined me today to discuss principles of belonging with me on my podcast, and to share about her new book, "Together is a Beautiful Place". I hope this podcast and post will be of help to you this summer as you invest in friendships with your own children and friends.

Clay and I are not formulaic in almost any subject we approach. We approach the wisdom principles that apply to marriage, not just a few select verses. Mostly, I hope that as you join me with a cup of tea or something wonderful, you will be refreshed in our time together.

We might feel lost, but Jesus is never lost. Today, I have had my friend, Matthew Clark, with me on my podcast, talking about such things.

Today, for Tea Time Tuesday, I have so many fun things to share—a favorite book I just put on my coffee table once again, a recipe, and what I have been studying.

It would help me so much if you could tell me specifically how I can best encourage you? What areas do you most want me to write about, speak about, podcast about—be specific!

"We have a choice to dance, to love, to sing, to live fully alive as long as He is alive in our imagination, in our thoughts, in our worship—to celebrate His daily presence." May God give you ears to hear and His grace to live fully during this time. I hope this podcast encourages you today.

We all walk by the voices in our head. Today, Nathan and I recorded a podcast about his new book, The Way of Kings, and what it looks like to walk in the wise counsel of the king of kings.

Jesus built deep relationships for three years with a dozen men and a few others in a community of friends.His ministry was small and personal, meeting needs, eating meals, living life with a focussed few, serving and dying for them.

As Nathan and I share about what shapes one's understanding of what it means to be royalty, God's holy subjects, as stewards of all that is his, I am reminded that the faith he now holds dear was built over countless thousands of days, with stories told, love given, conversations had, training give over and over again.

This week reminded me that our family was shaped by feasting, talking, laughing, being together over and over and over again. And this is how we celebrated our closeness and mutual legacy of family friendship this week.

Since Nathan was little, he has been cultivating the hero that was inside his heart. Now, he decided to write a book that would come along parents to inspire their children to imagine themselves becoming a hero in their own stories. The Way of Kings is a beautiful book written with you in mind.

This week, I have been pondering death and dying to self. If only I had known that was the secret to my life of worship—giving up my rights, pouring out my life, choosing to serve others as Christ did, and living into the joy of the Holy Spirit surging through my life to bring His light and love to bear.

Being "for" someone does not mean that they will always exhibit the kind of behavior or character we deem admirable. But it is looking at our children with unconditional love and cultivating eyes that see the possibilities in the midst of the "terrible twos" of toddlers or hormonal teen years.

Our world is very troubled now and has been for a long time. Yet, I have learned that cultivating joy, being a light bearer is a spiritual discipline to practice, employ in the demands of every day life.

Some things are more important than all the piles of "to do's." Time with my very precious daughter, where we would invest in one another's lives, talk, make memories drove me to put everything aside for one day and to make the spontaneous commitment.

So much to share about on this Tea Time Tuesday podcast: music, lentil soup recipe, 2 books to read, stories about Frank Lloyd Wright, and Mozart. Blessings and blessings to all of you today!

Serving others, when it becomes a habit, becomes an art form that can bring great pleasure and a sense of accomplishment to us and our families.

I decided I could slip in one more Tea Time Tuesday! Today I'll share about umbrellas, spiritual trends in America, and a new book, The Resilient Pastor, along with a chat with Pastor Glenn Pakiam.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting a kindred spirit: Cristina Odone, who works as the Director of The Family Policy at The Centre for Social Justice. Her story was so amazing that I knew I wanted to have her join me on a podcast so that you could hear it.

I share many thoughts this week about my eye accident, why I am having surgery, and what I have learned over many years of how to become a dependable and wise warrior in this broken world.

When a child grows up developing graciousness as they go, they will have it as a treasure the rest of their lives.

Today, I'll share all about my trip to London, some tasty food, and what I have been pondering lately about cultivating patience and flexibility.

Character is the pool from which our children will live and make all of their life decisions. Virtue takes a lifetime to build, yet is it one of the best gifts we can give or our children.

When we feel someone knows us and still loves us and understands us and our deepest thoughts and dreams, we are so very grateful. I pray you will feel seen, loved and affirmed in our time together for Tea Time Tuesday.