STRONG SOUL
Podcast Episode with Nikolas Natali What would you be willing to do to get out of debt? Could you be as extreme as our next guest? Nikolas lived in a 1986 Suburban eating frozen fish sticks and one PBJ every three days so that he could pay off his student loads in under a year!…
Podcast Episode with James Perdue When life is difficult and painful, it’s tempting to throw in the towel and just quit trying. However, the sweetest rewards come when we persevere in spite of our obstacles. James has such an inspiring story of not giving up, even when doctors said he would never walk again and…
Podcast Ep. 23 with Sloane Kini Step Up to the Challenge I have a real treat for you today. Bestselling author and expert coach, Sloane Kini shares her life hacks for how to do hard things. From abuse survivor and teenage mom to a highly sought after author, speaker, and business coach, Sloane knows to…
Finding the Motivation to Begin Again Few things are as discouraging as having to repeat what you’ve already worked so hard to accomplish. Starting over is hard. Sometimes it feels unbearable. As one who has had to start over multiple times, I can tell you that in spite of the initial discouragement, it is often…
How to Finish Well I started without really knowing if I had what it takes to finish, a real-life test of the power of perseverance. Training hard for several months and continually pushing myself beyond what I thought I was capable of increased my confidence considerably. However, a nagging voice of doubt whispered to me…
Running Your Race Well God uses running and racing analogies often in Scripture to give us significant insight into how we ought to approach life. Considering one’s life as a race that God has marked out in advance, highlights many useful life principles. If you want to run your race well and finish strong, you…
The Mind-Body Connection to Healing Chronic Illness with Debbie Emmick The Other Side of Perfect is a brutally honest and revealing peek into the life of a woman whose multiple diagnoses and bleak prognosis would be the surprising source of her ultimate liberation. After trying everything she knew to recover from the physical damage of…
Podcast Ep. 22 with Carrie Ryberg, MA, LCPC, NCC Get Unstuck From Emotional Trauma I have a special treat for you today! I have invited my very own counselor, Carrie Ryberg, to come on the show today and explain a type of emotional therapy called Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR for short. That’s a…
Produce Peace by Pursuing Positive Thoughts One of the most impactful mindset changes I made in my life to experience freedom from depression and anxiety was getting my thought life under control. If my mind is a garden, it was infiltrated and taken over by hostile weeds. Learning how to prune my thoughts and burn…
How to Overcome Perfectionism I am a recovering perfectionist. I really really really want to be Supermom. I am so bummed and utterly devastated every time I realize I’m not. To me, it feels like striving for perfection is positive quality to possess. Aiming for excellence is a good thing. However, I have learned that…
Capturing Unruly Thoughts I cannot even count the number of times I have been distressed and upset with tears falling and heart pounding only to remember that the situation I’m reacting to is all in my head. I made it up. It didn’t even happen. I had some small random thought; maybe it started as…
How to Clean Out and Fill Up Your Brain If you knocked over your drink right now, what would spill out? Coffee? Water? Soda? Chocolate milk? I have no idea what your beverage of choice is today, but I can tell you exactly what will spill out of your glass, mug, can, or bottle. What…
Podcast Episode with Yvette Walker My friend, fellow podcaster, and ministry partner, Yvette Walker, joins us today to tell us that we can walk in joy, even in the difficult times. Here’s a teaser for her testimony: “I’ve always thought I had it all together–that I was in control of my own destiny, that I…
Defeat Despair and Discouragement by Holding on to H.O.P.E.S. I am no stranger to depression and I’m no expert either. But I have learned a few things in my own struggle out of the darkness that might help you or someone you love who is hurting. Depression is more common than we realize because many…
An Ordinary Day I sat at my desk, intently focused on the work I was trying to finish. My 3-year old son climbed into my lap and snuggled against me holding an airplane made of Legos. I love early morning snuggles with my treasures. He turned his face toward mine and looked into my eyes. …
What’s so great about having a big family? When people first learn that we have eight children, their minds usually go straight to the disadvantages—cost, time, food, laundry, sanity. Most people don’t comment on all the wonderful things about having a big family because often they don’t know and can’t imagine the blessings. It’s…
I used to struggle with the more violent prayers in the Psalms, mostly of David calling down various curses upon his enemies. This didn’t sound like the prayer of a man after God’s own heart to me! Break the Teeth of the Wicked? The fancy label for prayers invoking God’s judgment andwrath upon his enemies…
We have an enemy. People entrapped in the devil’s deceptions are like POWs (prisoners of war) captured by the enemy. We fight, not against them but for them, because we have all fallen prey to those pretty lies at one time or another. God calls us to resist the devil—not each other. The people in…