S7 E4: Kayla Craig on listening well and advocating for vulnerable people

In today’s episode, we chat with Kayla Craig about what it looks like to advocate for the more vulnerable people around you. As a journalist, Kayla learned the value of listening well and choosing to hear a story and act on it. As a mom, Kayla knows just how important the stories we read and tell and see in our own lives affect everything about them -- and she has some tips for adding diverse voices to your shopping list this year.

Kayla Craig is a writer and podcast producer who believes in the power of story. She writes modern prayers for moms and dads at Liturgies for Parents and her book is forthcoming with Tyndale in 2021. Kayla co-founded and hosts Upside Down Podcast, a place for conversations on faith and justice. She is a podcast producer for Sacred Ordinary Days, where she helps cultivate peace, presence, and purpose. Kayla loves deep mugs of coffee, deeper belly laughs, and even deeper questions. She and her pastor-husband Jonny live in Iowa, where they’re raising four young kids who joined their family via birth and adoption. She has two fluffy dogs and spends too much time on Instagram. Her most recent published essays are in This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections + Practices and Rally: Litanies for the Lovers of Jesus and Justice. 

Kayla’s tips for diversifying your holiday decor and your bookshelves: 

1. Buy a nativity set where the figures are historically accurate and have brown skin. 
2. Buy books written by Black and brown authors. 
3. Don’t just buy books with diverse characters struggling with racial tension. Buy books that normalize the lives Black and brown people live; make sure that your kids see Black joy. 
4. Follow @hereweread on Instagram for diverse book suggestions all year long. 

 

Books we talked about:

Madeleine L'Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner 

This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections + Practices

Rally: Communal Prayers for the Lovers of Jesus and Justice

 

Here’s where to find Kayla: 

Site: www.kaylacraig.com

Newsletter: https://kaylacraig.substack.com/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kayla_craig/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaylacraig

Liturgies for parents info: http://www.kaylacraig.com/liturgies-for-parents.html

Liturgies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liturgiesforparents/

Podcast: http://www.upsidedownpodcast.com/

Work: https://sacredordinarydays.com/pages/podcast

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kayla_craig

 

Here's where to find Abbie: 

Website: http://www.inkwellsandimages.com

Instagram: