Do you often feel like what is the point of engaging politically or voting? Are you worried about the direction our nation is headed and what is next? Today Sharon McMahon is here to teach us about how our government functions and encourages us that individuals make a difference. She began as a government, history, and law teacher and then took her passion for educating to Instagram. Her platform grew rapidly as she has a way of helping all of us understand the process and history of the United ...
Oct 28, 2024•36 min
Do you ever struggle to keep Christ at the center of Christmas? Do you feel many Christmas traditions take a ton of time and energy or are just busy work but don’t point to Jesus? Today Lillian Richey, my personal friend, is here to share her new project called Finding Jesus which helps families make Christmas meaningful and simple. Last year the Lord dropped into her heart the idea of a Jesus doll that tells the whole story of Christmas through scripture and helps kids see Jesus. Through the la...
Oct 21, 2024•45 min
Do you feel like your teens have hidden struggles that you can’t talk to anyone about? How do you honor your kids while still finding safe people to process parenting with? How do you advise your kids on their friendships and relationships? Today, Amy Betters-Midtvedt is here to help us navigate the deep waters of parenting teens. Amy is a teacher with a master’s degree in leadership and is currently a literacy coach. She has five kids in all stages of life from college to kids still at home, so...
Oct 14, 2024•52 min
As a mom do you feel there is not enough time in the day? Are you constantly overwhelmed with your to-do list and mental load? Are you snapping at your kids because they cannot keep up with the pace? Today Kendra Adachi; the Lazy Genius, author, podcaster, and most of all mom, is here to help us focus on the most important tasks. Kendra and I are opposites, she has read all the time management books whereas I have read zero. Only 7% of books in this arena are written by women so her newest book,...
Oct 07, 2024•53 min
Do you feel like a team with your spouse in parenting or do you often turn on each other? Do you have different ideas about what is right for your kids? Have the teen years brought more conflict than unity? Today Dr. Kim Kimberling, professional counselor and founder of Awesome Marriage, is here to share his years of wisdom on how to keep the marriage strong while parenting. Dr. Kim has been married to his wife for 53 years and the tips that flow from those years of experience are priceless. He ...
Sep 30, 2024•44 min
Does the word holiness feel stuffy and old-fashioned? Do you feel you have a personal and intimate relationship with the Lord? Does your Christian life look more like a performance than a practice? Today Jeannie Cunnion joins me to discuss her new book Closer to God . She is a best-selling author, bible teacher, and speaker who shares how the Holy Spirit can transform our family and motherhood. Her new book covers how to practically have an intimate relationship with the Lord in the middle of ch...
Sep 23, 2024•47 min
How do you know when it is the right time to leave a season? Do you know how to sit in silence with people? Would you consider yourself a good listener? Today Emily P. Freeman joins us to discuss her new book, How to Walk Into a Room . She is a New York Times bestselling author of six books with a masters degree in Spiritual Formation and Leadership from Friends University. She has a true passion for teaching us how to listen well and hold grief and silence with those who need it most. Emily sta...
Sep 16, 2024•27 min
What would it look like to have Jesus-centered peaceful parenting? Is your parenting style just a list of do’s and don’t or getting to the heart of your child? After correction do you feel more or less connected with your kids? Today, Dr. David and Amanda Erickson, join me to discuss their new book The Flourishing Family. They founded Flourishing Homes and Families to equip and empower Christian parents to lead their families with grace and gentleness through parenting principles that are rooted...
Sep 09, 2024•44 min
Today Cynthia and I are talking about all things college drop off and how Cynthia missed saying goodbye to her daughter and I share how dropping Quade off in Tennessee went. We talk about back-to-school haircuts and terrible yearbook photos and rehash how we both ended up at the same event but had very different experiences. We end the episode with a cliffhanger story about Bucees and a HUGE exciting surprise you don’t want to miss. Connect with Cynthia Yanoff: Website: https://cynthiayanof.com/...
Sep 06, 2024•30 min
Do you worry about whether your child is on track with verbal milestones? Does the stress of what is typical in eating, talking, and verbal cues feel confusing? Do you know speech pathologists can help with food intake or nutrient deficiency? Today I am embracing my past life as a speech-language pathologist as I chat with Stephanie Cohen. Stephanie is a mother, speech-language pathologist, author, speaker, and lactation counselor in private practice who has worked with children and families for...
Sep 02, 2024•53 min
Today my friend, Robin Pou, joins us to talk about his powerful testimony of a near-death experience in Africa while on a mission trip and share about his new book, a parable, that was 14 years in the making. Robin is an executive coach, author, and founder of a leadership development firm. He is in the business of training Christians to lead in the marketplace or wherever God has placed them. Through Robin’s harrowing experience the Lord shifted his life to focusing on how to bring God into the...
Aug 26, 2024•48 min
Are you tired physically, spiritually, or emotionally as a mom trying to do it all? Does the thought of resting make you stressed because you can’t see how? Do you know what kind of rest fills your soul? Today Jess Connolly joins us to talk about her new book and all the research behind the how, where, and why of rest. Jess’s life is full with being an author, Bible teacher, podcaster, and coach so she knows the challenges of finding pockets of rest in a full schedule. I love how we discuss that...
Aug 19, 2024•59 min
Do you try to coach or control your kids in friendships? Whether sending them off to Kindergarten or College there are so many opportunities along the way to help them be good friends and pick good friends. Today we are revisiting an amazing conversation with Sissy Goff and David Thomas discussing how to help our kids foster friendships. As licensed counselors, working at DayStar Counseling Center in Nashville, they provide support, encouragement, and compassion to children, adolescents, and fam...
Aug 12, 2024•56 min
As parents, we are keenly aware of the peaks and valleys of our kids’ emotions. Anger, sadness, excitement, and all the other feelings can make us feel like our child is on a roller coaster we’re just trying to slow down. It’s true that we all feel highs and lows throughout our day, but we rarely talk about what it feel like when we’re “in the zone” and feeling calm and ready to go. My guest today is sharing about the window of tolerance and how to regulate ourselves and our kids to help stay in...
Aug 05, 2024•42 min
Out of the gate today we are into all the TMI topics like how to wear your gown at the Doctor’s office, mammograms, and what stage of menopause we are in. (Did you know there are five?) Cynthia’s family keeps it real as usual by washing their healthy vitamins full of fruits and veggies down with Diet Dr. Pepper. Next up we discuss the Olympics, from what our favorite sports are to handball and break dancing, which we are pretty sure are made-up sports. I rehash my prolific synchronized swimming ...
Aug 02, 2024•56 min
Do you feel like all the parenting books and formulas do not apply to your child? Is there embarrassment over public behavior that causes conflict? Are you longing for a deep connection with your kids that lasts into adulthood? Today we revisit my conversation with Amy and Jeffrey Olrick. Jeffrey is a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with children and families and uses his knowledge in the science of healthy human development mixed with faith to help us in our family relationship...
Jul 29, 2024•52 min
I love Kirk’s realistic approach to parenting. He understands what your home dynamics are like. And gives practical tips. After listening to today’s episode you will have at least three different “tricks” to apply. Most of all, I’m thankful for the new perspective he has given me. Kirk helped me recognize how emotionally invested I was in my boys’ behavior and freed me from the need to regulate their behavior for them. The last couple days I’ve enjoyed the boys more. I’m also less tense and frus...
Jul 22, 2024•30 min
On September 20, 2021, Makayla Noble, a world-champion cheerleader, suffered an injury that resulted in a severe spinal cord injury. Both Cynthia and I were part of her extended community and were getting updates on her healing journey and how to pray for her. Today we have the honor of interviewing her to see how God has used her life to glorify Him even when things don’t go as planned. From the moment of her accident, Makayla felt the overwhelming peace of God, that He was going to take care o...
Jul 15, 2024•47 min
A few years ago on an Instagram survey I learned that 68% of y’all have experienced broken friendships. I knew we needed an episode to help. Licensed professional counselor Shundria Riddick is here to walk us through some healthy ways to work toward reconciliation and how to know when to walk away from a hurtful friendship. We talk about setting healthy boundaries, having clarifying conversations, and how to analyze the health of relationships. We also cover the new trend of Millennials cutting ...
Jul 08, 2024•38 min
**earbud alert–if you listen with little ones around may want to pop in the ole earbuds or be prepared to have lots of conversations ;) ** We kick off today looking like we are going to two separate events, with one dressed up and one in athleisure. Are you team shorts or team dresses for summer? We give some summer updates including how to feed ALL of the teens that are home and my 1980’s drink that is keeping 4 boys hydrated. Social media has us convinced that everyone is traveling to Italy th...
Jul 05, 2024•43 min
Welcome to week one of the Summer of Mentorship! This summer we are answering your questions with guests from past episodes. We are starting off with an episode from April of 2020 (ep 280) with Rachel Macy Stafford, the founder of Hands Free Mama. Rachel’s Hands Free Mama mentality is all about finding balance in a media-saturated, perfection-obsessed world. And it’s about seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. She shares a realization that s...
Jul 01, 2024•36 min
Do you notice our culture (especially online) is full of people who all think their opinion is correct and want to argue? Do you wish you had the tools to help your child think for themselves and have deep conversations? Julie Bogart; author, podcaster, and creator of Brave Writers; is here to help us teach our kids how to have critical thinking skills and how to use those tools as parents. In a world full of people defending their views and trying to convince everyone around them that their way...
Jun 24, 2024•49 min
Today’s podcast kicks off with a real-life example of how the enneagram can improve relationships and facilitate healthy conflict resolution. Heather sent our guest, Beth McCord, a less than friendly email recently and Beth responded with grace and understanding because she knows how to navigate our personalities, what a gift. Our guest Beth is a well-known speaker, author, teacher, enneagram coach, podcaster, and more. She has honed her skill of understanding personalities while helping people ...
Jun 17, 2024•58 min
Father’s Day is quickly approaching and Dustin Nickerson- Comedian, author, and podcaster- is here to share all things funny and serious about parenting. On his podcast with his wife Melissa, they laugh at and also talk about the tough parts of parenting. I ask him about what it is like to try and balance family, travel for work, and attempt to have meaningful connections in friendships. The more busy we get with families and work the harder it is to lean in and make those very important relatio...
Jun 10, 2024•49 min
Today’s sidetracked starts off with Cynthia airing her grievances. We talk about eyebrows and all of the products we use to get them to grow. Then move on to an update about our Patreons which we find out are the Wal-Mart and Target of that platform. I guess once you start posting content people remember they are paying for it. We also talk about our local celebrity from American Idol, Jack Blocker, and break down the difference between the new American Idol and the era of Simon Cowell. Turns ou...
Jun 07, 2024•43 min
Do you feel like since 2020 your family tech rules have gone out the window? How do you handle tech guidelines if both parents are not on the same page? Do you find it difficult to manage different ages and stages when it comes to screens? Andrea Davis, a mom of five with a degree in secondary education, is here to share a ton of wisdom and guidance on tech and screens for summer and beyond. We discuss the differences between kids earning screens, where often the screens become the entire focus ...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Have you ever struggled with a repetitive sin that you can’t seem to break on your own? Do you swing from feelings of shame to justifying sin as no big deal? Do you understand the enemy’s tactics and how he preys on our weaknesses? Today Kirby Kelly- speaker, author, scholar, and Christian content creator- joins me to share her powerful and very vulnerable story. Kirby dealt with habitual sin for years until the Lord showed up in His grace and mercy to set her free. She shares how sanctification...
May 27, 2024•57 min
Today kicks off our new sidetracked series with a surprise guest! Toni Collier- author, speaker, podcaster, and single mom- joins us to cover all the topics. Toni is the author of Broken Crayons Still Color and encourages people that even in the hard and dark parts of life God is waiting to use us. In our brokenness, we can see God in the land of the living. She reminds us that regardless of events in our past there is still hope and joy to be found. Toni discusses how we lose wonder and excitem...
May 20, 2024•43 min
Did you know that once you are postpartum you are always postpartum? Do you have issues from pregnancy, birth, or c-sections that have followed you and don’t know where to turn? Do you know that only 4% of parents are getting the movement that they need? Today Krystle Howald, a women’s health physical therapist and co-founder of Expecting and Empowered, is here to break down some of the pains and issues we as moms experience after birth and beyond. While going to physical therapy school she quic...
May 13, 2024•57 min
Rebecca St. James, a popular Australian American contemporary Christian singer, songwriter and actress, is here to talk about the amazing new movie Unsung Hero , which chronicles her family's journey to rebuild their lives from the ground up. She shares personal stories from her childhood and how their mom’s faith stands up against all odds and inspires her husband and children to hold on to theirs. Rebecca vulnerably shares her own marriage and motherhood struggles as she longed to be married a...
May 06, 2024•39 min
