Stay ConnectedTwo women. Two generations. Each with a mic and lots to talk about.
Hosts Darlene Brock and Julie Bender dive into honest, funny, and practical conversations about bridging faith with today’s cultural realities. They ask the hard questions and unpack what it looks like to bring smart living to a modern world—without losing your mind (or your sense of humor).
Expect laughter, gentle truth-telling, and the kind of advice you’d actually text a friend about
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Studies have proven that we’re more productive, live longer, and laugh more when we spend time with others. It only makes sense, then, that our relationships are significant to our existence—and that the most important purpose we can have is pouring into the lives of others.
On this week’s podcast, Darlene Brock and Julie Bender discuss how to do just that. They lay out a framework for how to show unconditional love to friends and family that have made both small and serious mistakes; they share stories of the women who invested in them and changed the trajectory of their lives; and they encourage us step into the lives of others to show support, remind them of their worth, or even to have that hard conversation.
Knowing that your purpose revolves around the investment you make in others’ lives can feel like a heavy burden, but it’s an opportunity rather than a responsibility. To know that we can be the person who believes the best in someone else—and to have someone be the same for us—is life changing.
Quote of the episode:“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” —Albert Schweitzer
Resources:—Read Darlene’s article about her aunt, who had a significant impact on her life: True Purpose Is Found in How We Care for Others
—Listen to Julie’s Praying for Your Husband Daily message, “Believing the Best in Him”
Be sure to follow us on social media!Childhood memories stick with us for a long time, especially life-altering ones.
Grammy-winning artist Mandisa joins Darlene Brock and Julie Bender to share how she recognized her worth after a traumatic experience at 16 shattered her self-image and darkened her outlook on life.
In this episode, Mandisa sheds light on issues that many Christians are hesitant to bring out into the open: things like depression, anxiety, and suicide. She unpacks the importance of therapy in her life, as well as how her faith and musical career strengthened her resolve and allowed her—and others—to find a path toward healing.
If you’re trying to reconcile with your own painful past, we encourage you to listen to this hopeful story that reaffirms God’s ability to bring beauty from ashes.
American Idol season-five alumna Mandisa is a Grammy Award–winning artist who got her start singing backup for Trisha Yearwood and Shania Twain.
Her 2013 GRAMMY® award-winning album “Overcomer” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums Chart. The album’s title track proved to be a smash at radio and earned the GRAMMY® for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song. With more than 1.6 million records sold, Mandisa is a voice of encouragement and truth to people facing life’s challenges all around the world.
You can follow Mandisa on Facebook @mandisaofficial, on Instagram @mandisaofficial and on her website, mandisaofficial.com/home.
Quote of the episode:“That’s one of the practical things I can do to reframe my thoughts, to not just give into the negative self-talk, but to say what God says about me instead.” —Mandisa
Resources:—Read Mandisa’s book, “Out of the Dark: My Journey Through the Shadows to Find God’s Joy“
Be sure to follow us on social media!As a mom, it’s hard to filter out the opinions and recommendations from other people on how to raise your kids. Perfect social media mom influencers, coworkers, church friends, and even your own mother might have a formula for you to follow, and you may feel that if you’re not playing by the rules, well, then your kids won’t be alright.
Guest Helen Smallbone (mom of Rebecca St. James and for KING & COUNTRY’s Joel and Luke) joins Darlene and Julie this week to share the good news: It’s okay to be a different kind of mom!
Take it from Helen, who took an out-of-the-box approach to motherhood herself. She packed up her family’s belongings and shuttled herself, her husband and their six kids (with another on the way!) from Australia to the United States to pursue the path she felt God was leading them. It led to a life on the road and an assembly of odd jobs to make ends meet, but her kids have grown up with a strong faith and successful careers. It was unorthodox, but it was right for them.
You know your kids better than anyone, and raising them the way you feel is best—no matter how it looks to those on the outside—will undoubtedly be what they need. We hope you feel encouraged that the path you have established for your family is the right one. And if you’re still on the fence, take a listen to this episode and see for yourself!
Helen Smallbone is the co-founder of MUMlife Community and a podcast host with AccessMore. Her passion is encouraging mothers and families with the God-breathed wisdom she has gleaned over 32 years of being a mother.
Born and raised in Australia, Helen dedicated her life to Christ as a young teen at the Billy Graham Crusade in Sydney. Now a mother to seven―five boys and two girls―and grandmother to thirteen, she currently lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, David, and a small menagerie of animals.
You can follow Helen on Facebook @helenjsmallbone and on Instagram @helensmallbone.
Quote of the episode:“For me as a parent, it’s my job to encourage [my] child on their journey to seek out who God has made them to be.” —Helen Smallbone
Resources:—Read Helen’s book, “Behind the Lights: The Extraordinary Adventure of a Mum and Her Family”
Be sure to follow us on social media!If you don’t already know, Julie is having a baby! (A girl!)
At her recent baby shower, amid all the laughter and gifts from friends and family, there was a conversation about the fears people are feeling as a result of the daily circumstances occurring around the world—there was a general consensus that we’re heading into a scary future.
That juxtaposition prompted Darlene and Julie to sit down and talk about our collective uncertainty about the future. Between cultural tension and disagreements, economic hardships, lingering pandemic worries and more, it can be hard to look forward to the future with hope.
But Darlene and Julie remind us that it’s important to celebrate the good things, find community, and rely more than ever on a kind God who knows all—so we can not just survive, but thrive in the days to come.
Quote of the episode:“Even though I am fearful, I will choose to rely on the trust that I have in a good God who knows way more than me.” —Julie Bender
Resources:Check out these related podcast episodes
—Do Conversations about Race Have to Divide or Can They Unite? with Torrie Sorge – 185 —How to Find Peace and Purpose in an Out of Control World with Dr Zoe – 164
Be sure to follow us on social media!We hear a lot about wellness lately, which is an expanded view of our health from a holistic standpoint: emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental. Paying attention to each of these areas is vital for a healthy, invigorating life.
Drawing from her own history of debilitating health issues, wellness coach Rachel Hagstrom joins Darlene Brock and Julie Bender to talk more about what holistic wellness is. She also explains how you can begin to address each component to be in alignment with one another and your long-term goals, so you can walk away from this episode in control of your wellbeing!
Rachel is married to her favorite veteran (Go Army!) of 14 years, and is a mom to two spirited daughters and one kind goldendoodle. After years of struggling with health challenges, she decided to do her own research and make changes to take a more proactive approach toward her well-being. Now as a board-certified health and wellness coach, Rachel is passionate about walking alongside other women who seek opportunities for growth, healing, and transformation in their daily lives. When she’s not coaching, you’ll find her writing, reading, and spending time outdoors (most preferably next to the ocean, which only exists in her mind now that she lives in Dallas!)
You can follow Rachel on Instagram @rachelhagstrom and on her website, rachelhagstrom.com
Quote of the episode:“Learning how to be aware of my thoughts and what I’m thinking and ruminating on was a total game changer.” —Rachel Hagstrom
Resources:—Develop your own wellness vision with Rachel’s Wheel of Wellness model —Click here to read more of Rachel’s articles on Grit and Grace Life —Book hereInterested in working with Rachel to improve your wellness? .
Be sure to follow us on social media!As women of faith, it’s not unusual or uncommon to have seasons where we question God. Whether we’re experiencing disappointment or grief or we feel utterly broken, the first words to escape us are “Why God?” and “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
In this podcast episode, Darlene Brock and Julie Bender talk about the times we live with battered faith and a diminishing loss of hope in the God we serve. They draw countless examples of men and women from the Bible who doubted God, struggled with their faith, and yet still came out on the other end with a restored heart.
During the times when you feel your faith wavering, don’t forget that God cares enough to listen to our cries and frustrations. He doesn’t love us less when we doubt Him—He’ll be patient while we pound on His chest. If this describes how you’re feeling, we encourage you to be honest with Him, pray for clarity, and remember all the good He has done and will continue to do. Finding hope is possible.
Quote of the episode:“ God would draw me with him into eternity, into that time where question and answer would become one.” —Elie Wiesel
Resources:—Read Clay Jones’ book, Why Does God Allow Evil?
Be sure to follow us on social media!Society is quick to point out the challenges of motherhood. We see it in the “Mommy needs wine” shirts at Target and read about the seemingly endless struggles from other moms on social media. We don’t deny that motherhood comes with its share of hard times, but with the difficult seasons come the rewarding ones, too.
Darlene Brock and Julie Bender sit down this week to talk about the beauty of being a mom—from the privilege of shaping a little one’s views and raising them with the potential to positively impact the world, to enjoying life from a child’s perspective and all of the other little gems that you’ll discover in the journey.
There’s so much more to motherhood than the external pressure and fear of failure. Those exist, but so do all the magical moments. Take some time today to recognize all the good and wonder that comes from living life as a mom.
Quote of the episode:“Look for the joy that is a part of every single thing we do as moms.” —Julie Bender
Resources:—Purchase Darlene’s book, “Raising Great Girls” —Read managing editor Ashley Johnson’s article, “If Kids Disrupt Our Lives So Much, Why Do We Do It?”
Be sure to follow us on social media!Part of growing older—and being human—is learning how to recognize and manage our emotions in a healthy way. Our emotions have the power to help us grow, but they can also hold us back, especially when we’ve been hurt by others in the past.
Elizabeth Bristol joins Darlene Brock and Julie Bender on this week’s podcast episode to share how she overcame her past emotional hurt. Elizabeth dealt with heartache and traumatic situations, including rape and drug use. After years of feeling stagnant in her pain, God prompted her to write down her story. It was only after she faced the pain of her past head-on and sat with it that she was finally able to recognize the loss and believe God for hope and healing.
If you’ve been struggling with the hurt, or shame, or guilt from things that have happened in your past, we want to encourage you today that it’s not too late to heal. It won’t be easy, but it will allow you to shed the hurt and embrace life moving forward.
Elizabeth Bristol is a passionate author, speaker, and educator. She has spent her life learning how to overcome the pain of emotional abuse and neglect through Christ-centered care. Writing about her struggles with self-esteem and her experiences as a people-pleaser and victim of abuse, Elizabeth shares her journey into a relationship with God who helped her break free from the lies that were running rampant in her head—lies like “You’re doing it wrong.”
God met Elizabeth where she was and began to show her how He loves her unconditionally, no matter what she’s done. Now she’s on a mission to help others believe that God loves them unconditionally, too.
You can follow Elizabeth on Instagram @authorelizabeth.b.bristol, on Facebook @ElizabethBristolAuthor, and on her website, elizabethbbristol.com
Quote of the episode:“Now I aim to forgive on a regular basis, because I like the freedom that comes with it.” —Elizabeth Bristol
Resources:—Purchase Elizabeth’s book, “Mary Me: One Woman’s Incredible Adventure with God” —Visit Elizabeth’s website, elizabethbbristol.com, and wait for the pop-up to receive her video series on overcoming pain —Check out David Allender’s book, “Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse“
Be sure to follow us on social media!Is there a correct way to talk about race? Biracial speaker and writer Torrie Sorge helps unpack that question.
The world is now striving more than ever to recognize the unique qualities and contributions of different ethnic groups and push uncomfortable conversations about race into the open. For many, this can be an unfamiliar subject, and one that leaves many questions as we work to come to a place of deeper understanding and respect for those who have led very different lives than us.
But we certainly can’t charge into these conversations blindly. Torrie joins Darlene Brock and Julie Bender to discuss how to talk about race. Drawing from challenges with her identity as a mixed-race woman in her own life, Torrie explains how to celebrate the beauty and richness others bring into our lives simply by being who they are, and truly learn who someone is rather than what category they fall under.
Torrie is a wife, mom, executive assistant, speaker, writer, and so-to-be author of her first book! With their son in college and middle school daughter at home, Torrie and her husband are semi-empty nesters. She loves connecting with others and learning their stories. When she’s not working or planning her next trip to Disney, Torrie enjoys good food with great friends, cheering on her Vegas Golden Knights, catching up on a true-crime podcast, or reading one of the 6-7 books she’s started.
You can follow Torrie on Instagram @torriesorge, on Facebook @torriesorgewords, or on her website, torriesorge.com.
Quote of the episode:“I think what people of color really are tired of is being invisible.” —Torrie Sorge
Resources:Read some of Torrie’s articles
—“3 Ways to Correctly Ask Someone About their Ethnicity” —“The Valentine’s Day Surprise I Never Expected” —“Why You Need to Let Go and Let Your Kids Spread Their Wings”
Listen to these related podcast episodes
–How We Can Stand With the Black Community With Dr. Zoe Shaw – 136 –Why Your Life and Community Matters Right Now – 142
Check out this book on how to have honest conversations about race
—Read Latasha Morrison’s book, Be the Bridge
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29, NIV) Be sure to follow us on social media!We often hear about “the power of positivity,” and while it may sound like we’re looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, we believe that an attitude of optimism can actually serve us well.
Darlene Brock and Julie Bender sit down to chat about a woman’s inherent optimistic spirit, and how it leads us to push beyond what we thought was possible. They discuss what healthy optimism looks like in each area of our lives, through motherhood, relationships, faith and our purpose; when to pair it with realism; and how it can benefit those around us.
Even now as the world looks a little murky, we know God has plans for our future, and that they are good. If there’s any reason for hope and optimism, we hope that encourages you above all.
Quote of the episode:“God ultimately has a purpose and has good for us, and that’s where we can find our unending, unwavering positivity in this life.” —Julie Bender
Resources:—Listen to Christy Wright’s podcast on finding a life balance: How to Take Back Your Time with Christy Wright – 166
Be sure to follow us on social media!
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