Our Time to Rise in Midlife

Latest Episodes:

Ep.91: A Look At The Impact Of Social Media On Teen Girls Sep 21, 2017

Show notes

If you've ever wondered if constant exposure to social media is having an effect on teenage girls, the answer is yes. While we can't be sure of the depth of the impact, we do know that it contributes to feelings of low self-worth, the desire for approval, and perfectionism. These, in turn, can lead to other self-harming behaviors.

After realizing that her daughter had an eating disorder, Kristen Hatton decided to investigate what lay beneath the surface of her own child's issue, and along the way discovered that the feelings her teen was battling was a common experience for many teen girls.

We discuss how story can lead to better conversations about important topics in the home, how enabling differs from helping, and why it's important to create a culture where it is OK to fail. Don't miss this important episode!

Ep. 90: Rachel Swanson Sep 19, 2017

Show notes

Rachel Swanson was coloring with her daughter and searched for a devotional coloring book they could do together. She didn't find anything on the market and decided to create one of her own. We hear how God prompted her to pursue this project and her journey became one of taking the next step, doing the hard thing, in order to be a world changer for good right where she was.

A woman who encourages other women to pursue their dreams, is doing the same in her own life. Hear how Rachel, a life coach, urges women to identify and carve out time for the things that give them the most joy. We also hear how she tells her identical twin boys apart, what she is willing to give up precious sleep for..

Rachel invites us into her process as if we were sitting across from each other. A warm, lighthearted episode, we hope you'll find one sister's story of walking through the doors God is opening to be both inspiring and encouraging for you to do the same.

Ep.89: Sara Hagerty Sep 13, 2017

Show notes

In a world where bigger, louder, and more seems to be the goal, Sara Haggerty is on a quest to find the quiet, unseen places. Or more specifically, to meet God in those places. It's hard to do when you have a house full of children. And yet even when we are surrounded by people we can feel unseen. It's these moments of feeling misunderstood, invisible or overlooked that we can find God has not forgotten about us.

This interview is in a word: delightful. Sarah's humor, combined with her earnest pursuit of God's purposes for her, are both endearing and inspiring. She shares about feeling invisible along her journey of infertility, her adoption story, and then surprise pregnancy process, and her new book Unseen. A beautiful reminder that God knows us and is with us when it feels the world has forgotten our pain.

You won't want to miss this sister interview. It is both practical and inspirational, just how we like to do it here at the sisterhood. And don't forget to find Sarah's newest book.

Ep.88: Using Art & Creativity As A Path To Healing Sep 08, 2017

Show notes

Art and creativity can be powerful tools when we are wading through difficult emotions and a journey of healing. Today on the Hey Sister! show we discuss how art can help us look at scripture in fresh ways, how visuals can be a form of prayer, and how the act of practicing all forms of creativity can foster growth and strength.

Gayla Irwin, author of Creative Moments of Grace, explains what major life event thrust her into a deeply painful place and what role art played in her own life as she dealt with her overwhelming grief.

In the show notes on theopendoorsisterhood.com Gayla provided a helpful list of extensive resources for anyone looking to use art on their healing path.

Ep. 87: Shauna Shanks Sep 05, 2017

Show notes

Shauna Shanks' life changed in an instant. The moment her husband told her he didn't want to be married anymore. No surprise, everything stopped. And in her cries out, God gave her a clarity to fight for her marriage by focusing on 1 Corinthians 13, a chapter in the Bible about love. Her discipline to display love to her husband became a spiritual journey of obedience, then developing into a deep intimacy with God. A beautiful example that even the most devastating of circumstances can be used for God's good.

In this interview we hear Shauna's marriage story. How she felt they were doing before her husband dropped the bomb of news on her, why she stayed and tried to work through it, the people that held her up along the way, and how her husband's heart softened over time. We talk through the feeling of love versus the action of love, how Shauna was able to quickly forgive her husband, and what kept her going in moments of discouragement. Shauna knows not every story of infidelity works its way to reconciliation, but because hers did, she wants to share that reuniting is a possibility.

At The Open Door Sisterhood we are cheerleaders for women who take that next step, do that hard thing in order to be world changers for good right where they are. Shauna's story of obedience to God's specific direction in her life is a great example of what we hold dear at the sisterhood. May it be a story of inspiration to you, regardless of your circumstances or marital status. Let us be clear, we know there are often valid and honorable reasons for a wife to say enough when it comes to infidelity and broken trust. Sometimes reconciliation is possible, and often it isn't. This is Shauna's story. As it turns out Shauna's marriage survived. We celebrate restoration when we find it.

Ep.86: Chrystal Evans Hurst Aug 29, 2017

Show notes

What does it mean to honor your life? In this episode of The Open Door Sisterhood Podcast we dive into this question with author and speaker Chrystal Evans Hurst. She starts by asking "Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered, 'Where did I go? Whose life am I living?'" After hearing from many women, Chrystal believes this is a common feeling. That we are disillusioned from our daily purpose and need to get back in line with how God made us. That somewhere in our journeys we drift from that little girl and the spark she had for life, to a woman disappointed with where she is.

In this episode we talk through expectations, disappointment, changes big and small, and how to get to "ground zero" of our lives. Crystal shares the acronym GAIN (Gifts, Abilities, Interests and Nature) as a tool that can help women reconnect with, or discover for the first time, who God created them to be. We talk through facing feelings head on versus stuffing them and the behavior that results from both. We also hear about Chrystal growing up the daughter of church planters and what Sunday suppers looked like in her house.

A dynamic conversation, Chrystal does not disappoint in either the laughs or the wisdom. Her journey has included being a single, teen mother, homeschooling her kids, serving at her church, and writing her first book with her father. We welcomed Chrystal with a wholehearted podcast hug into the sisterhood and we know you will find her a kindred spirit in this journey of living out our faith within the context of our circumstances. This episode is all about taking that next step and doing that hard thing in order to honor the life God has given you.

Ep.85: How to Create Home (wherever you are) Aug 24, 2017

Show notes

Are you someone who has to move a lot because of a job? Or maybe you are a military family who has to continually plant, and then uproot. Or maybe you have recently made a decision to move because you want to be closer to family or friends. Whatever the reason, today on Hey Sister! we are discussing how to create home wherever you are -- whether you are choosing the place, or it's being chosen for you.

My guest today is Bekah Di Felice. After years of moving as a military family, Bekah decided to write about her journey to create home amidst the transience in her new book, Almost There: Searching For Home in a Life On The Move. We talk about how we create a new definition of home, what it means to be a pursuer of people, what the first thing is that a person should do when moving into a new house, and practical ways we can make a new geographical location feel more familiar.

We also touch on how people can help others create a sense of home who are moving into their area. Too often, when we are the ones who are rooted in a place, we forget to keep reaching out and inviting others into our comfortable circles.

This interview will offer fresh inspiration as you strive to make home wherever you are!

Ep.84: Michelle Warren Aug 22, 2017

Show notes

Michelle Warren swears she's not political, that she simply wants to help her neighbors. It was this drive that thrust her into the advocacy arena. As the Advocacy and Strategic Engagement Director for the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), Michelle directs national advocacy around platform issues: immigration, mass incarceration and education equity. Her desire to advocate for policies on behalf of her neighbors took her on an unexpected path, back to graduate school to get her Masters in Public Administration, and now traveling around the country speaking to groups about these issues.

Michelle's community work started locally in Denver where she continues to be involved in her church, and works to fit in laundry and grocery shopping for her family amid her busy travel schedule. Michelle's proximity to those living with fewer resources inspired her desire to be informed. This in turn pushed her toward action, believing that God calls us to act when we see injustice played out. Whether immigration reform or incarceration, Michelle sees beyond the issue as purely theoretical or theological, but to the people impacted by the topic at hand.

A quick mind and a passionate resolve combined with a desire to follow God's call to justice, you'll be fascinated to hear how each step in Michelle's journey led her to where she is today. For the woman who wonders if she should take that next step, for the one who is willing to do the hard thing, for the Jesus follower wondering if God is calling her to get off the bench on an issue and into the advocacy arena, this episode is a must.

Ep.83: Edie Littlefield Sundby Aug 15, 2017

Show notes

Movement is healing according to Edie Littlefield Sundby. So when she was diagnosed with stage 4 gallbladder cancer, Edie began to walk. Her journey became a pilgrimage. A long and hot one along the El Camino Real Mission Trail. First through California and then through Mexico, making her the first person since the 1770s to walk the sixteen-hundred-mile mission trail. But our interview with Edie starts at the beginning, her beginning. One of 12 children on an Oklahoma cotton farm, no electricity, working from an early age, then putting herself through college and moving up the ranks of tech companies and starting her own, she had nothing to prove when the cancer diagnosis came.

A pilgrimage is often a journey to the past. Edie Littlefield Sunby hiked the El Camino Real Mission Trail as a way of dealing with her present. However as she took step after step of gratitude along her journey, she connected to many of her childhood lessons of grit, gratitude and God's provision. This sister interview gives us a peek into Edie's childhood on an Oklahoma cotton farm, her rise in the corporate tech world, and her pilgrimage of miles and miles through the desert with only one lung. We hear about the vaquero cowboys who guided her through the Mexican portion of the trail, how her husband could follow her progress through the desert, and why she felt compelled to take this journey.

Truly a story like none other we've highlighted on the podcast, you will not want to miss Edie's tale of grit and healing. She is a woman of deep faith and strong character. Her determination to live paired with her acceptance of her diagnosis is inspiring.

Ep.82: Getting Your Confidence Back (after a difficult season) Aug 10, 2017

Show notes

Have you ever gone through a season that knocked your confidence? Or maybe you've never figured out how to harness confidence at all. Whether you are struggling with getting confidence back, or striving to discover it for the first time, this interview will give you fresh insight into what creates confidence and how we reclaim it for our own, despite our circumstances.

Using her own story as a starting place, Tricia Lott Wiliford shares how she lost all confidence and joy after watching her husband suddenly die in her arms. As a widowed single mom, she was thrust into a two year darkness. The trauma birthed a deep depression from which she was not sure she would recover.

In this interview we discuss how to grieve well, what confidence is, and how we can lean into joy even in the midst of adversity. We also dig into courage journals, the "I'm too much" syndrome, why it makes all the difference to smile first, what her brother taught her about jealousy, and her unbreakable rule in the dating world.

You will love Tricia's honesty, warmth, and wisdom in this interview!

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