One of my favorite speakers and authors is my guest today. Karen Eman is a New York Times Best-selling author and speaker with Proverbs 31 Ministries, where I first heard her speak many years ago. Hospitality and making people feel loved and seen is one of her specialities, and she shares about this in her new book Reach Out, Gather In: 40 Days to Opening Your Heart and Home. On the show, we talk about how hospitality impacted her as a teenager and how she valued it in her home raising her kids. She is a fellow Great Lakes northern gal and I know you'll love her wisdom and stories! You can find more of Karen at www.karenehman.com and on all the socials.

With only weeks left before the 2020 elections, I'm thrilled to bring this important episode with author, speaker and scholar Kaitlyn Schiess. Her new book The Liturgy of Politics is a must-read for people of faith and people who are needing more grounding in their faith as they navigate life in the politically charged and divided climate of America. Christians often prefer to be "apolitical" or believe that their faith is free of any political influence. Kaitlyn disagrees and demonstrates how the church is shaped by the political climate in which it exists and how to incorporate spiritual practices that will help shape our politics. It's a fascinating conversation and I hope you get her book! She also has supplemental resources on her website www.kaitlynschiess.com

My favorite tv personality and QVC queen, Kim Gravel, joins me on the show today. We talk QVC, her reality show, "Kim of Queens" that aired on Lifetime, pursuing our passions, and Jesus is all in the middle of it! Follow her on FB, IG and at www.kimgravel.com Here's her official bio: Kim Gravel is an entrepreneur, tv personality, public speaker and industry leader, but most of all she has a passion for people and seeing them rise. Her authentic, common-sense style has resulted in Kim being one of the most booked guests on The Steve Harvey Show and starring in the hit weekly docu-series "Kim of Queens" on the Lifetime Network. In 2016, Kim partnered with television and on-line retail giant QVC to launch her highly successful apparel line, Belle by Kim Gravel®, and a year later the Belle Beauty® cosmetic line. In only 3 years, Kim has grown her QVC brands from zero to over 80 million in annual sales, with projections reflecting continued record growth. In 1991, at the age of 19, Kim became one of the youngest Miss Georgias in the state pageant's history. She went on to represent her home state in the renowned Miss America pageant and thus was asked to serve as US Goodwill Ambassador to Japan, where she spoke to corporations and the Japanese parliament. Combining her expertise skills of communication and leadership, Kim is also a certified Life Coach. Her compassionate yet straight forward "Dr. Phil-esqe" style keeps her in high demand as a Life Coach, mentor, advisor and consultant. Kim is a sought-after keynote speaker, specializing in the areas of women's empowerment, inspirational motivation, and beauty & image perception. She also hosts her own sold-out women's conferences annually in Atlanta. Kim lives in metro Atlanta with husband Travis and her two young boys, Beau and Blanton.

Menopause is not something that most women are prepared to enter. There are many myths surrounding this God-designed season of life. Although it can be quite challenging for many women, it doesn't have to be something simply endured. Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns shares today from her book Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause: An Unexpected Spiritual Journey, offering women an exciting and hopeful perspective on opportunities for transformation that menopause offers us. Cheryl is the Robert E. Fisher Chair of Spiritual Renewal atPentecostal Theological Seminary and formerly served as co-pastor of New Covenant Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee.

I'm so excited to share this episode! Beth McCord is the founder of Your Enneagram Coach. She has been an Enneagram coach, speaker, and teacher for over 15 years. This is a tool that has transformed my life by helping me better understand myself and others, which has helped promote healthier relationships. If you are unfamiliar with the Enneagram, this is the podcast for you! If you wanted to understand it better, this is for you! If you don't know your type, you can go to Beth's website www.yourenneagramcoach.com to take a free assessment. You can also find a wealth of information and resources from Beth there.

Bestselling author and founder of the Clutter Free Academy Kathi Lipp is my guest today. She is known for helping women achieve peace in their lives, even our cluttered homes! We discuss her newest release, The Clutter-Free Home and her upcoming book Ready for Anything. She is often featured in Women's World as an "Ask the Expert" and is truly the go-to guru for getting our homes and lives into the order for which we long. www.kathilipp.com www.clutterfreeacademy.com

Author and speaker Courtney Reissig shares about her newest book Teach Me to Feel: Worshipping Through the Psalms in Every Season of Life. The Psalms give us language to express so many of our emotions--gratitude, shame, longing, anxiety and anger, to name a few. Courtney's devotional gives women an opportunity to reflect on their emotions with the Psalms as our guide. To connect further with Courtney: www.courtneyreissig.com

We are collectively experiencing something that our generation has never seen. Our lives have come to a halt and nothing is "normal" anymore. While it is critical that we pursue physical health and safety, it is just as crucial to maintain good mental health. In this episode, licensed therapist and ordained priest, Janis Sharpe, shares a multitude of tips that will help us avoid depression and anxiety. www.brentandjanissharpe.com From Janis Sharpe… Tips for staying emotionally healthy while in self quarantine: We are living in an unprecedented time. With each update on the Corona virus most people are struggling with anxiety and some with depression. Knowing that you are going to be home alone or with family is increasing the anxiety. Feeling out of control, having your routine disrupted and being in close quarters with family can cause small irritations to seem huge! Here are a few tips that will help you stay emotionally healthy during this time. 1. Remember this is temporary- this too will pass. We don't know how long it will be so, take each day as it comes and find ways to enjoy each day. 2. Stay in contact with family and friends- particularly by phone calls, Skype, Zoom, FaceTime. Limit texting. Texting is much more impersonal, talking on the phone or on FaceTime feels more like real connection. 3. Get up, shower and get dressed everyday. If your hair is dirty, wash it. Even if you aren't going to see anyone, you will feel better. 4. Listen to positive music, watch positive TV shows and movies. Avoid shows, books or music that cause you to feel depressed or anxious. 5. Use relaxation apps such as Calm or Headspace to help you relax. 6. Exercise- (if you do regularly) Sure, it's not your gym with all the equipment, but you can do pushups, sit ups, jump rope. There are so many exercise videos online. 7. Get outside for 30 minutes a day if possible without contact with others (Walking or running as long as you stay 6 feet from others). Even if you don't exercise, go out on your porch or patio if possible. 8.Do yoga or stretching- again, you can find some online. 9. Limit social media. Yes, it is a way to connect, but has shown that it also can be very fear, anger or anxiety producing. 10. Journal- express the emotions you are feeling. I recommend an old spiral notebook so you can be real and tear out pages and throw them away. 11. Express physical touch with people you are isolated with. (Assuming they do not have C0-Vid. 12. Set daily goals- could be to clean out a closet or to bing watch a season of Friends but just making a plan can help you think more positively. 13. Go in denial in safe ways- a specific time of day that you will watch the news, then focus on something more uplifting. Take notifications off your phone that send you updates. 14. Do square breathing to lesson anxiety. Breath in to the count of four, hold your breath for four counts, exhale for four counts, hold your breath again for four counts. Use apps, such as Calm to help you relax. 15. Use this time to focus on your spiritual life. Pray, try new types of prayer- use devotional apps online: the Daily office, Streams in the Desert, or My Utmost for His Highest. Consider meditating on a scripture a day. Be still and know that He is God.

Over six years ago, Fern Bernstein discovered the Chinese tile game of man jongg. What started out as a fun pastime with girlfriends became a lifeline and respite as she walked with her husband through cancer. In her memoir, May Jongg Mondays, Fern shares how this weekly game got her through a scary season of her life and deepened her sense of community and sisterhood. On the show today we talk about how she discovered mahjongg, what it is, her Jewish faith, and how God has helped her through these past few years. www.fernbernstein.com To order through my amazon affiliate link, click here: https://amzn.to/2SGULGR

In the faith tradition I grew up in, there really was no place for a theology of suffering and pain. It was something that was to be prayed away or never occur in the first place. People hid suffering or felt shame around it, feeling they maybe their faith was insufficient or there was some unconfessed sin in their life that hindered healing. That belief system has grew more and more troublesome to me until I threw it out altogether years ago. There is something mysterious that happens in suffering and in pain, a connection with Jesus that perhaps cannot be found in other ways. My friend Kaysie Steele has experienced tremendous emotional and physical suffering throughout her life, yet her journey with Jesus has grown deeper and richer through it. Today, she shares beautifully about the suffering she experienced as a child of an alcoholic father and the suffering she currently endures due to chronic back pain. It will inspire and nourish your soul for sure. Kaysie's blog is www.steelestanding.blog She references the following in our conversation. They can be purchased via my Amazon affiliate links here: The Body Keeps the Score https://amzn.to/2Upp3R3 Authors David Benner and Anne Lamott

In a day when people seem more connected than ever with all the technology options and social media, there is an epidemic of loneliness and isolation. Hospitality is a term that sometimes feels old-fashioned or time-consuming, yet it is something that people are longing for. My guest today is Leslie Verner, the author of Invited: The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness. Through her travels and many years of living abroad in different countries like China and Uganda, she has gained a perspective on hospitality that can help us embrace this practice into our lives in America. For more information about Leslie, you can find her at www.scrapingraisins.com as well as on instagram @scraping_raisins To purchase her book, you can use my Amazon affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/3aFbnH2