Nourish Podcast With Kim Bakaev

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 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  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 Geor

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  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.  

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.   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

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.   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 She references the followi

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  as well as on instagram @scraping_raisins To purchase her book, you can use my Amazon affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/3aFbnH2

Christmas doesn't have to be a source of stress and insanity, trying to impress family and guests with pinterest-worthy decor and dinner parties.  Author and design expert, Victoria Duerstock walks us through ways we can make our homes a source of celebration of Christ's birth without losing our minds and peace.   To connect with Victoria, go to www.victoriaduerstock.com You can also order her books via my Amazon affiliate link here: Heart & Home for Christmas https://amzn.to/2PDTkaH Heart & Home: Design Basics for Your Soul and Living Space https://amzn.to/34clVt2

As we begin the Advent season, Rev. Michaele Lavigne is the perfect guest to launch the start of the Church calendar, which began Dec. 1 this year, the first day of Advent.  Michaele is pastor of spiritual formation at 8th Street Church of the Nazarene in Oklahoma City.  In this episode we discuss how she came to serve in ministry and how her new book, Living the Way of Jesus evolved out of the practices her church has lived over the past several years.   To learn more about Michaele, find her on IG and at www.8thstreetchurch.org To order her book via my affiliate link on Amazon: https://amzn.to/33Y8xss The book she refers to in the episode is The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith and you can click my affiliate link here to order on Amazon:    https://amzn.to/33Xx3df  

Writer and baker extraordinaire, Kendall Vanderslice is my guest today. In her new book We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Community of God, she shares with us her experiences around the US with the dinner-church movement, where she discovers the Holy Spirit working in beautiful ways connecting people, healing hearts, and transforming lives.  Kendall's passions for theology and food come through in this beautiful book and in our conversation.  Make sure to connect with her at the following: IG: kvslice  She has the best instastories!! www.kendallvanderslice.com to sign up for her Edible Theology newsletter and find all things Kendall And to order her book We Will Feast click the link: https://amzn.to/34cfCWY We talked about Samin Nosrat's kitchen must Salt Fat Acid Heat which is on special right now!  Click here to order: https://amzn.to/2O6wlFy      

Julie Lyles Carr is a woman among women.  I got to know her when we attended the same church in Tulsa before their crew moved to Texas.  Her gifts are many and she uses them beautifully to serve women and families anywhere she can.  I'm thrilled to share her with you today as we talk about her amazing book, Raising An Original. From her website: "Julie is a disciple, reader, writer, runner, photographer, wife to Michael, mom to a bunch.  She serves as the Pastor of LifeWomen Women’s Ministry at her home church of LifeAustin in Austin, Texas, where Randy Phillips of Phillips, Craig and Dean serves as Lead Pastor. Julie is honored to be a featured speaker for Compassion International. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Legacy of Hope Austin, a non-profit dedicated to serving families with children with special needs. Julie is also the host of the popular The Modern Motherhood Podcast from All Mom Does/Crista Media, with thousands of downloads each month.   Julie’s best-selling book, Raising an Or

Season 5 winner of The Next Food Network Star, celebrity chef, and best-selling author Melissa d'Arabian is my guest today on the podcast.  In her newest book, Tasting Grace, Melissa illuminates sixteen invitations we receive related to food and how God uses it to transform our lives and share with him in the process of creation.  The book and our conversation challenged me to look at the role of food and meals completely differently.  You can connect with Melissa at her website www.melissadarabian.net or on facebook and instagram.  Tasting Grace is available anywhere books are sold.

Author Alia Joy joins me on the podcast today, sharing about her new book, Glorious Weakness.  From Seth Haines' forward in the book:   "Through sexual trauma, encounters with racism, the loss of a child, and mental health issues, Alia shares her suffering with such sensorial artistry that you cannot help but enter in.  But this is not a book about suffering for the sake of suffering.  Instead, this work leads you deeper into an experience of Christ, the suffering servant, and along the way exposes the faux-christ of middle-class privilege." Get this book, friends!! It is brilliant and breath-taking, leaving the reader speechless and more deeply in love with Jesus.   www.aliajoy.com https://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Weakness-Discovering-God-Lack/dp/0801093341/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=alia+joy&qid=1557416647&s=gateway&sr=8-1

My dear friend Jeff Wetterman is an associate pastor, a long-time English language teacher, a seminarian, a playwright, and a recovering alcoholic.  After years of carrying the secret and shame of alcohol abuse, he admitted that he had a problem to a friend and eventually got help.  Today he shares candidly about the journey of alcoholism and the critical role that community played in his recovery.  This is an episode everyone needs to hear.  If  you are struggling with alcohol abuse or know someone who is, please reach out.  You are not alone and we want to support you.  You can email me at kimbakaev@gmail.com or connect with Jeff at jeff@abidingharvest.org  

In Placemaker, author Christie Purifoy guides readers in creating home and recognizing beauty in every part of season of our lives, regardless of geography.  Because of her, I honestly look at my everyday world differently now, looking for the beauty and finding ways to create peace and rest.  Christie earned a Ph.D in English literature at the University of Chicago, but found her passion in writing words (beautiful words, I must say!) and living with her husband and four children in a Victorian farmhouse in southeastern Pennsylvania, Maplehurst.  You can learn more about Christie at christiepurifoy.com. Her book is available now everywhere you buy books and would make a great gift for yourself or loved one.  You can also hear more from Christie on her podcast that she co-hosts with Lisa-Jo Baker, "Out of the Ordinary".  

Stacy Tornio is the author of more than 15 books on topics like nature and gardening, and she's also the creator of Destination Nature, which is dedicated to getting more kids and families outside.  She was also the editor for Birds and Bloom magazine for several years.  Marrying my cousin Steve brought her from Oklahoma to Wisconsin where she tries to get outside with her two kids as much as possible.