At Home With Sally

Many of you are probably familiar with the beautiful work of today’s guest, Ruth Chou Simons. Her gorgeous watercolors remind us all that God loves us, and has surrounded us with a beautiful world. She claims she is "an unlikely mom to six young boys” and wife to Troy, with whom she leads GraceLaced's small but mighty team. When not painting, writing, and casting vision for GraceLaced.com, Ruth is usually busy eating chips and salsa, sorting laundry, cooking for large crowds, not finishing her sentences, and discovering off-beaten paths in the wild with her guys. She is a devotee of pho, a recovering perfectionist, a converted four-wheeling enthusiast, and a grateful beholder of redeeming Grace.” I hope you’ll enjoy our podcast today—I know we enjoyed creating it for you! Dear Ruth is offering a wonderful gift for one of our readers, today! Go to my Instagram page and leave a comment on the poster pictured below, to tag a friend in order to enter!

I so loved talking with both Emily Ley and her dear friend, Kristin Winchester, today! They have supported one another through very difficult, lonely times and the vulnerability with which they shared their story touched me. Both are mamas of twins and they came to deep friendship because one of them took initiative and the other responded. Their story is what our lives should hold—initiation, kindness, acceptance, support, and the willingness to be there for one another through many seasons. Kristin and Emily got to the heart of what life is like for most of us as we try to live well the challenging stories we all live within. Kristin is mom to toddling twins. Emily is mama to three lovely little ones, and runs her company, Simplified, in all her spare time. Ha! She knows the power of friendship and teamwork, and we know you’ll be blessed as you listen. You can find Emily on Instagram, too! And she has a surprise for you: She’s giving away one copy of the 2019 Simplified Planner plus a copy of each of her bo

It’s always a joy to share with my friend, Alyssa Bethke! Alyssa has an infectious smile, and we know her enthusiasm for life will be an encouragement to you, today. This is how she sums up the work she and her husband do on the interwebs … “We are Jeff & Alyssa Bethke. We have two kids, Kinsley and Kannon, and a dog named Aslan. We live in Maui, and we like to create things on the internet. In fact, that's probably how or why you're here! We consider it an immense privilege that people care to listen or read what we have to say. If we could sum up our mission on the internet it'd be to encourage men, women and families through online experiences and creative resources that are practical, fun and help each person on their journey of following Jesus.” Find Alyssa on Instagram at AlyssaJoyBethke Podcast: the Real Life Podcast They also have these books available: Spoken For, Love that Lasts, 31 Ways to Creatively Love Him, and Finding Freedom

Sweet Jen Smith and I became friends a few years ago. How fun it has been fo me to watch her share her vision and passion as a young wife and then as a mother and now as a woman, filled with family, convictions, and so much to share from a passion she overflows with from a love of Jesus. We had so much fun catching up on my podcast again. I love her sparkle and her convictions. You will enjoy this podcast so much today. Today we talked with Jen Smith, from Unveiled Wife!

Doesn’t this sound like such a fun life?! Elsie Iudicello lives in sunny South Florida with her husband and four young boys on a noisy farm brimming with an assortment of animals and tropical fruit trees. She is an author and speaker with a passion for Jesus and a great love for homeschooling, stories, tea, adventuring with her children, theology and avocados. We had so much fun talking about friendship for my podcast today—hope you will love listening in! Elsie writes for Wild and Free magazine and blogs at www.farmhouseschoolhouse.com. You can follow Elsie on instagram @Farmhouse_Schoolhouse for more updates on the upcoming release of her first book. 

What a delightful group of women we are talking with this month! I hope you’ll enjoy this recording with Haley Stewart. Haley is mama to four and wife to a beekeeper, author, blogger, podcaster … a prolific person, in general! She’s also written a book titled, The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture. You can find Haley at all these places … Blog: https://www.carrotsformichaelmas.com/ Podcast: https://fountainsofcarrots.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleycarrots/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HaleyCarrots Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarrotsForMichaelmas/

I so hope you’ll enjoy this conversation we had with Kate Merrick! Friendship is so very important to us, and Kate knows much about the importance of having girlfriends in times of joy and sorrow. Kate is wife to Britt Merrick and mom to Isaiah Harley, Daisy Love, and Pheodora Sunshine. They have a church in California and she’s authored two books: And Still She Laughs and Here, Now (due April 2, 2019!) You can find Kate here on Facebook: Kate Merrick, Author. Enjoy the podcast—and be sure to order your own copy of Girls’ Club!

I had a wonderful conversation about friendship recently with Sister Theresa that I’m so excited to share with you. It’s such a grace to talk about this very important topic with wise women, and we hope you enjoy listening in to our podcast! Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP is a former atheist who, thanks to the grace of God, has returned to the faith she was raised in and now tries to help others bring their loved ones back to the faith. A few years after returning to the Church, she heard God calling her, so she left her job in Silicon Valley to join the Daughters of St. Paul. She is the founder of the Memento Mori project and author of The Prodigal You Love: Inviting Loved Ones Back to the Church. She now lives in Boston where she serves at the Pauline Publishing House in the Editorial Department. You can also find her here: Her website: https://pursuedbytruth.com twitter: https://twitter.com/pursuedbytruth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pursuedbytruth/?hl=en

Then there are the friends in your life who also give and take. Friends who minister to you, and who you also minister to. I love these kinds of friendships! But they are few and far between. So when you find one of those friendships, do not take it for granted! They are God’s gift to you. I have three friends like this. I know that I can call on them no matter what and they will be there for me because they love me and care about me. If I need ministering to, they know this and will do whatever they can for me. And I will do the same for them. These relationships are so beautiful and need much cultivating.

What fun we’re having as we prepare to launch the new book, Girls’ Club! Today I had the joy of recording a discussion with Greta Eskridge, a delightful mom who loves to encourage others. I hope you’ll love our conversation. You can find more from Greta here: Website and blog : www.gretaeskridge.com Instagram: @maandpamodern

What a joy to have Kristen Kill joining me once again, as I continue this series all about the Clarkson ladies’ newest book, Girls’ Club! Kristen is a long-time friend to our family, and we’ve shared many a cup of tea and deep conversations all over the country. She’s settling into a new spot in the Pacific Northwest with her darling family after spending many years in New York City, and can be found on Instagram and Facebook as Kristen Kill. You can also find her book all about finding rest in the midst of a busy life here: Finding Selah.

Everyone wishes for a true friend. Seldom do we consider that we must first be one.

Our publisher Tyndale Momentum has generously provided the opportunity for one of you to win this amazing gift so that you can have a holiday in Oxford, and enjoy high tea with us at a lovely and celebrated old hotel in the historical center of town. We will have our own girls club time together, and will have a heart-to-heart conversation with you to encourage you. We will also provide insider’s input on how best to enjoy Oxford, and all the best places to visit. Enjoy the dreaming spires and ancient streets of this beautiful university town, and walk the same paths as people like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

God gives us choices to obey Him, to tender our hearts to His ways. Our service of worship is, because we love Him, to seek to obey Him day after day. Our faithfulness will be a testimony of our love and faith in Him through out eternity.

Sometimes the seeds that He requires us to sow, do not obviously promise anything--yet, we are asked to believe in the potential--the latent miracles inside of these small life-seeds.

This book is our story as well as a gathering of convictions that each of us holds about the importance of cultivating female friendships that not only provide emotional affirmation and acceptance but also inspire, educate, train, and stretch us to live into our God-given potential.

Today in my podcast, I sat down with Nathan Clarkson and talked about why good stories were so important to him as a boy and how they helped him find a vision for growing into a good man. 

All of us have limitations. If we spend all of the energy, love and serving that we are capable of giving, we must refuel or there will be consequences. Just as a car cannot fun without gasoline, so we cannot get very far on fumes.

One of the most consistent messages we spoke to our children’s heart was, “God has created you with a place in His kingdom story. He gave you a personality, skills, desires so that you can use the uniqueness of who you are to serve Him and bring His light to bear through you.”

Hope you enjoy the podcast—as we wanted our friends to know our adventures and challenges this week with Lily. Joel Clarkson helped me find a song we hope you will enjoy. Have the most wonderful Christmas with your loved ones.