Mary Carver is a new friend, although we've been circling each other for quite some time and FINALLY met. Y'all, my internet friends are real!  This episode of the podcast is a true girlfriend chat where Mary and I talk about raising girls, working online how it's so hard to explain to explain our jobs, Hallmark movies and the gifts of pop culture. Mary is the host of the The Couch Podcast with Mary Carver. Make sure you go check it out here.  While you're at it, make sure you follow Mary on Instagram @MaryCarver .  About Mary: Mary Carver is a writer, speaker, and recovering perfectionist. She lives for good books, spicy queso, and holiday movie marathons—but she lives because of God’s grace. Mary writes with humor and honesty about giving up on perfect and finding truth in unexpected places on her blog, MaryCarver.com, and talks about pop culture and why it matters on her podcast, The Couch. She is the author of Women of Courage: A 40-Day Devotional, as well as a regular contributor to incourage.me and MomAdvice.com. Mary lives in Kansas City with her husband and two daughters.

Working Christian Mom with NJ Rongner

39: Why Online Friendship Matters With Mary Carver

What do you do when God calls you back to home life after working? In this episode, Karly Pancake shares WHY she left her job as a teacher to come back home to her kids. Karly is passionate about adoption and foster care. This episode is a little bit different than the ones we normally share on this show, but it's such an important conversation.  Connect with Karly: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wefostertruth/  Join the Working Christian Mom Community on Facebook. 

38: From Working Mom To Stay At Home Mom

Find OL & Sway  On The Internet:  Website: www.MarriedpreneurLife.com Facebook Page:  facebook.com/marriedpreneurlife Instagram: Instagram.com/MarriedpreneurLife Podcast: Marriedprenuer Life Podcast     About Our Guests.    OL & Sway Buckley are Co-Creators of MarriedpreneurLife.com and the hosts of the Marriedpreneur Life podcast where they help mission-minded marriedpreneurs create momentum in life and business.   The Buckleys are equipping couples with their proprietary processes to have accelerated productivity through the Marriedpreneur Method and increased profitability through the Marriedpreneur Map. Their primary purpose is to help married couples scale and create multiple revenue streams WITHOUT sacrificing their marriage (even if they don’t work in business together).   OL is a former internationally award-winning banker, turned entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of RO Strong Real Estate & Financial Education firm as well as the CEO of OL Buckley Consulting.   Sway is the CEO of a creative arts staffing firm as well as the founder of Smart Artist Institute Consulting. Together, the Buckleys collectively help align couples to walk purposefully, powerfully, and profitably in sync.   The Buckley’s work has been featured in HuffPost, Southern Dallas Business & Living Magazine, CBS affiliates, BET, and more. They’ve known each other for nearly 20 years and this year will make 11 years of marriage. They reside in New Jersey.

37: How To Have An Awesome Marriage with OL & Sway Buckley

Lauren and I chat about her motherhood story as a mama with a medically fragile son and how she discovered radical self care and began to fill her empty cup through finding an outlet.  Lauren has an amazing online program designed to teach us how to make spectacular bakery level decorated sugar cookies. You can learn more about that here.  Looking for a community of other Working Christian Moms? Join over 2000 other Working Christian Moms who are sharing life together in our community! Click here to join.  Links Mentioned On Air:  Instagram:  Morgan Harper Nicols  Setema Gali Jr Air Fryer Guy  No Crumbs Left  Books Mentioned On Air: Traffic Secrets by Russel Brunson The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Edgar About Our Guest: Hi, I’m Lauren, a graphic designer-turned-cookier, obsessed with creating more joy in life and in the kitchen.   I grew up knowing I wanted to have a creative career. If you asked my mom and dad, they would have told you my curly hair was proof of my creativity. I chose graphic design to make my mark on the world, but after having kids, I needed a different outlet. I needed more joy, and cookies gave me that.  I decorated my first cookie when I was going through the hardest years of my life. I had a baby with a serious medical condition, and my life changed in an instant. My son’s needs were so tremendous that I left my graphic design job and became his around-the-clock caretaker. Eventually we found some stability, and I decided to bring something into my life that was just for ME: cookie decorating! Over the last four years, I’ve taught myself the dos and don’ts of baking and decorating cookies through a lot of trial and error. Now, I want to share the basics and techniques that look impressive, but are easy to master. My goal is to inspire you to jump in and choose to have more fun and joy in life—through cookies!  I hold a bachelor of arts degree from Ricks College, Idaho in graphic design. The design degree and my passion for design and art comes in very handy running a cookie business. After over 20 years running various art departments, and my own graphic design firm, I’m able to bring my experiences full circle as I share my baking and decorating passion to different outlets and formats online, reaching all over the world.  I’m also the mother of three amazing kids, a heart mom, and am married to my soul mate and best friend. Find me at Lolly’s Home Kitchen. 

34: Filling An Empty Cup & Finding An Outlet With Lauren Anderson

Sarah Morrison and I are back to discuss what we learned in quarantine. Covid-19 gave us a few gifts, a few lessons and a few discoveries. We recapped our Word of the Year thoughts, spoiler alert, I couldn’t remember mine! If you want to hear more about our Word of the Year discussion, we share all about it in episode 32.  Sarah and I also chat through what choice we made for our children’s academic year for 2020-2021 and mine MIGHT surprise you.    This spring, Sarah developed an amazing program to help us all connect with our children in just 5 minutes a day by speaking their perfect language. You can learn more about that here.    Looking for a community of other Working Christian Moms? Join over 2000 other Working Christian Moms who are sharing life together in our community! Click here to join.  Links Mentioned On Air:  Connect with Sarah On Instagram  School Work Life Facebook Community  

33: What We Learned In Quarantine with Sarah Morrison

God has given us the gift of feelings, on purpose and for a reason. Elizabeth Thompson is a big feeler and well, I’m not. In this episode, we chat about navigating our feelings with Jesus, how big feelers and not so big feelers need one another and how we handle mom guilt.  Elizabeth has a brand new book out called All The Feels which is a #1 Best Seller on Amazon. You can check it out here.  Looking for a community of other Working Christian Moms? Join over 2000 other Working Christian Moms who are sharing life together in our community! Click here to join.  Books To Read:  Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Laura Hope Whitaker on Instagram  Find Elizabeth On The Internet:  Website: ElizabethLaingThompson.com   Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/alizzylife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethlaingthompson/   About Our Guest:  Elizabeth Laing Thompson is the author of All the Feels, When God Says, "Wait," and When God Says, "Go." She writes at ElizabethLaingThompson.com about clinging to Christ through the chaos of daily life. As a speaker and novelist, she loves finding humor in holiness and hope in heartache. Elizabeth lives in North Carolina with her preacher husband and four spunky kids, and they make her feel humbled but happy, exhausted but exhilarated, sometimes stressed but often silly—well, you know . . . all the feels. 

36: Our Big Feelings Are A Gift From God With Elizabeth Thompson

Tasha and I and I are both launching / relaunching our podcasts on the same day and we chat about how our personality plays a role in our launch style and in life. We also talk about the joys of being a girl mom, the power of owning her story, and how achieving her career goals almost cost her everything. Tasha shares openly about her journey to trusting Jesus with her junk in this episode and it is a story of beautiful grace.  Tasha has a brand new podcast that just launched today called Overcome to Become. Search it on iTunes or your favorite podcast listening app.  Looking for a community of other Working Christian Moms? Join over 2000 other Working Christian Moms who are sharing life together in our community! Click here to join.  Recommendations:  Books:  Get Out Of Your Head by Jennie Allen  The Prayer Circle    Podcasts To Check Out  Allie Worthington  Steven Furtick’s Sunday Message TD Jakes Lisa Whittle  Jo Saxton  The Office Ladies  Lord Today  Hope For Women: Exchanging Father Wounds  Bobby Bone Find Tasha On The Internet:  Website: www.latashaferguson.com  Facebook Page: facebook.com/thelatashamferguson  Instagram: Instagram.com/latashamferguson Podcast: Overcome to Become Podcast Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/womenarestrongertogether/ About Our Guest:  Latasha is a speaker, writer, and the host of the Overcome to Become Podcast . She equips and empowers women with the tools to overcome anything that dares to stand in between them and who God called them to be. Her life is proof of this truth: our past and imperfections do not have the power to diminish our purpose. She is also a passionate educator who has spent the past 17 years serving in the roles of teacher, assistant principal, principal, and now director of instruction.  She has been married for 15 years and has four beautiful girls ranging from 21 to 6 years old. In her downtime you can find her curled up with a book, spending time with family and friends, or on a foodie adventure.  

35: Overcome To Become: Trusting Jesus With Our Junk with Tasha Ferguson

Sarah Morrison is back to share her Word of the Year process with us. Together, she and host NJ Rongner discuss what a word of the year is, why it matters and how you can pick one too.  Find out more about Sarah's Word of the Year workbook and workshop here: https://sarahmorrison.com/ Join the Working Christian Mom Community here: http://www.workingchristianmom.com/community/

32: Choosing A Word Of The Year With Sarah Morrison

Is there a right way or wrong way to celebrate the holidays as a Working Christian Mom?  Join NJ and Sarah as they discuss:  How they do (or don't) do Advent How to set your self up for success in a busy season.  Where to "cheat" and where not to skip when it comes to doing #allthethings  How to keep Jesus at the center of your chaos.  Connect with Sarah: https://www.instagram.com/thesarahmorrison/ Join The Working Christian Mom Community: http://www.workingchristianmom.com/community/

31: Let's Get Real About Christmas With Sarah Morrison

Negative feedback at work can be a HARD pill to swallow! Man, it never feels good! In this episode, NJ shares how she handled recent negative feedback she got at work and what she's doing to grow in the areas her management team brought to her attention.    Looking for a tribe that gets you? We've got over 1500 other Working  Christian Moms waiting to be your friend! Join us here! 

30: How To Handle Negative Feedback At Work

After a long hiatus, the WCM podcast is back! In this episode, NJ shares what caused the long break between show releases and why it has taken her so long to get back into the swing of things with the show.    If you are looking for a tribe of Working Moms who love Jesus, their family and work, come join us the Working Christian Mom Facebook Community! 

29: The WCM Podcast Is back! Where I've been these last few months

Val and I chat about: Why it’s so hard for moms to make friends. Why moms shouldn’t use their kids as a crutch or excuse to keep us from the things God has called us to do. Her new books, Grumpy Mom Takes A Holiday and Fresh Start for Moms “I just don't want to write friendship off in this season of motherhood. I want to enjoy it. I want to basically have lived in that community that God has called us to do.” - Val Woerner Links mentioned on the show: If Gathering Fresh Start for Moms Grumpy Mom Takes A Holiday When People Are Big and God is Small by Edward T. Welch Phylicia Masonheimer True You by Michelle DeRusha Michelle DeRusha on the WCM Podcast Val’s first WCM podcast episode where she talks about faith & business. About our guest: Valerie Woerner is owner of Val Marie Paper and author of Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday and Fresh Start for Moms. Her mission is to create practical tools, including her original 6-month prompted prayer journal and prayer course that equip women to cut through the noise of everyday life and find fullness of life in the presence of the Lord. She lives in South Louisiana with her husband Tyler and two girls, Vivi and Vana.

28: Making Time For Mom Friends with Val Woerner

One of the questions I get most often about how to parent tweens and teens well. On this episode of the podcast, Connie Albers, author of Parenting Beyond The Rule shares the tips and tricks that worked for her. Here’s my favorite quote that really sums up this whole episode. “People say my children are different. Well of course they are because they're formed by the God that made them with a purpose with a unique set of gifts so strengths and talents. They weren't in the wrong line and they didn't miss out on a certain quality. Connie Albers We still have broken pieces to us because we're all have we all have weaknesses and I love to help parents say let's let's focus on our strengths. Because that's where God's going to use them to excel and to do.” - Connie Albers Links Mentioned On The Show: Parenting Beyond The Rules Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters About Our Guest: Connie Albers spent 25 years parenting her five children and 20 years working with teens. She is a popular speaker and writer dedicated to strengthening families, parenting, homeschooling teens, faith-filled living, and leadership. Her practical content inspires and equips parents in the trenches. Connie has been a spokesperson for a Fortune 500 company as well as serving as a director and board member for a nonprofit state homeschool organization. Follow Connie at www.connieAlbers.com.  

27: Parenting Beyond The Rules with Connie Albers

 In this episode we talked about:  Alexa's surprise of being pregnant with twin girls, who they would later find out suffer from a common disease, Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), which ultimately led to the loss of one twin baby girl.  The loss of Alexa’s baby affecting her relationship and faith in God. Alexa: “All I could think about was, “Why do you hate me?” ... and I just ended my relationship with God.”  The struggles Alexa had with herself in who she was and how she fell into a dark place in her life.  How the relationship with her husband fell apart and how they would continue with their lives going on their own paths while still being parents to their kids.  The events that led to Alexa’s faith in God being fully restored and the newest commitments her husband started to make for their relationship and family to be stronger than ever.  Alexa’s inspiration to share her story, write her books, and build her business and community towards helping families that can relate to her difficult life experiences.    Here’s a few quotes that we thought were awesome:   [10:20] “God never promises that it’s going to be kittens and rainbows…he never promises it’s going to be easy.”  [11:11] “He’s [God] sending us to walk through this hard trial and to learn and to grow and to gain the knowledge so that we can help other people along their journey.”  [26:16] “…I try really hard to drop my own pride and to say, “You’re not doing things right all the time either.” and “How is this impacting him [Alexa’s husband]? How does this make him feel?”, and most importantly, “What are you doing to make him feel loved?” When you start loving on someone like that, the response is incredible.”  [29:11] “It’s really not only trying to think through things from the other person’s perspective before you get so angry at them that you’re at a darker place, [but] along with learning to communicate and actually communicating.”  [34:19] “If you’re marriage is riding the struggle train, I think that if you can find ways to go back to the very things that you did when you first were dating and were first falling in love, that that just brings a level of lightness and joy back into it.”  Links Mentioned On Our Show:   The Question Behind The Question podcast episode by Stacy Tuschl  The Popcast Podcast with Knox and Jamie  Kat Biggie  Lose The Cape Book   Lost The Cape Podcast  Moms Lose the Cape: The Mom's Guide to Becoming Socially & Politically Engaged (& How to Raise Tiny Activists)  Princess Monroe  Write Publish Sell  Alexa Bigwarfe  Daily Bumps    About our guest: Alexa Bigwarfe is a wife, mother to 3 wildlings, devoted advocate, blogger, author, and publisher. Her writing career began after her infant daughter passed away at 2 days old. She has written and/or edited and published eight books, including Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother and Ditch the Fear and Just Write It! She uses that hard-earned publishing knowledge to support other writers and entrepreneurs at writepublishsell.co. She also owns the small hybrid-publishing company Kat Biggie Press (katbiggiepress.com), dedicated to sharing women’s works of inspiration and self-help. Alexa is passionate about women's, infant, and children's health topics and has had more than 50 articles published in regional parenting magazines around the U.S. and Canada. She enjoys drinking wine, spending time with her husband and friends, traveling, and just because life isn’t full enough, hosting the “Lose the Cape!” podcast featuring inspirational mothers and women making a difference in the world. Join the Lose the Cape movement at losethecape.com.    

26: Never Too Far Gone, Restoration & Reconciliation With Alexa Bigwarfe

One of the things that surprised me the most about motherhood was honestly, how complicated it is. I’ll be honest, I brought a lot of baggage into motherhood, from my childhood and from my own mom’s motherhood story.  As it turns out, they way you were mothered influences your own motherhood journey on both sides. I’m not throwing my mom under the bus here friends, I had a great childhood and there is so much about WHO I am that I know is a direct result of how she nurtured and encouraged me. But things made so much more sense to me after I read the book, It’s Momplicated by Joan Edwards Kay and Debbie Asldorf. And I’m super pumped to bring you this interview with them today. In this episode, the three of us share our stories and it’s not all kittens and roses. But, I hope you leave this episode encouraged on the path of walking with Jesus towards healing and hope. Because there is NOTHING that God can’t redeem. Nothing. Links mentioned in the show:  It’s Momplicated [book] It’s Momplicated [website] Debbie & Joan’s Today Show Interview The Whole Brained Child by Daniel Siegal Parenting By The Inside Out by Daniel Siegal My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers Pull It Off: Removing Your Fears And Putting On Confidence by Julianna Zobrist Bobby Bones on Dancing With The Stars About our guests: For the past twenty-five years, through her speaking and writing, Debbie Alsdorf’s mission has been to help women live a better story by leading them to the heart of God’s love and the truth of his Word. Debbie is a biblical lay counselor, a Christian life coach, and the founder of Design4Living Ministries. She and her husband, Ray, have raised a blended family of four adult children. Today Debbie’s favorite role is being a grandma to six little ones. Joan Edwards Kay is a licensed marriage and family therapist in the East Bay of San Francisco and has been an adjunct professor at Western Seminary. She received her bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and her master’s degree from Western Seminary. She is happily married with two adult daughters, four stepdaughters, and five grandchildren. Website    

25: Trusting Jesus To Heal Our Complicated Motherhood Stories

Hosted by NJ Rongner, the Working Christian Mom podcast is a perfect mix of practical advice, encouragement and inspiration. Join her as she walks out her faith, loves her family well and thrives at work. NJ is a business strategist and entrepreneur so you can expect to hear a mix of topics including faith, business, motherhood, intentional living, and friendship.

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Working Christian Mom with NJ Rongner

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