November 20, 2025 • 22 mins
Isaiah 41:10 has always been one of my favorite reminders that God meets us in our fear, steadies us with His presence, and holds us with His righteous right hand. In today’s short episode, I share a simple devotional on this verse—and a personal update.
This season of my life is shifting, my boys are getting older, and God is stirring my heart to pause, pray, and realign the podcast and blog for what He has next. I’ll be taking a few weeks off to seek clarity, listen for His voice, and return with fresh direction for serving you in the season ahead.
If you need encouragement that God is with you in your own transitions, I pray this episode points you straight to His faithful heart.
Grace for My Home's top 5 most popular episodes:
- Take Care of Yourself So You Can Take Care of Those You Love
- Hearing the Voice of God
- The Purpose of Marriage
- 7 Pearls of Wisdom From the Parable of the 10 Virgins
- Discipline, Correction and Punishment...Oh, My!
Text Audrey a message! She would love to hear from you!
Get your copy of my new devotional here: Seek First: 31 Quiet Moments With Jesus
☆ If you would like to give to Grace for My Home and financially support the podcast, you can do so here! -> GIVE HERE
☆ Subscribe to the Grace for My Home Weekly Newsletter SUBSCRIBE HERE
☆ Website: GraceForMyHome.com
☆ Facebook -> https://www.facebook.com/graceformyhome
☆ Instagram -> https://www.instagram.com/graceformyhome
☆ Email Audrey at admin@graceformyhome.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:13):
Hello, welcome back to Grace for My Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I am soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I hope that you're doing welland I hope that you're ready for
Thanksgiving.
This will actually air theThursday before Thanksgiving,
and I have a lot to do to getready for that.
(01:33):
I haven't even thought aboutwhat we're going to have this
year, which is unlike me.
Usually I'm a little fartherahead than I am right now.
And my family will come here tomy home.
That'll be my sister and herfamily, and then my mom.
And we invited a friend from thecoffee shop this year, a friend
of ours who comes in and sees usalmost every day.
And his family live way up inMaine.
(01:57):
And he just wasn't able to makethat trip this year.
So he's going to come and haveThanksgiving with us.
So we're looking forward tothat.
And I'm looking forward tohaving my family all in one
place.
This week we took my middle sonLuke on a campus tour.
We went to Charleston SouthernUniversity and he really liked
it.
I thought he would.
(02:18):
We're not sure right now exactlywhere he's going to go to
school.
He still hasn't made up hismind.
Um he's got a little bit oftime, but he he loved that
campus.
And I had never been.
That was the first time I'dbeen, and I liked it too.
It's a it's a very nice campus,and they were very hospitable.
This week I wanted to share ascripture with you that is one
(02:39):
of my favorite scriptures.
I know I'll probably say thatabout all of them, but I promise
you this is a foundationalscripture from my life.
It's a scripture that isingrained in my mind, in my
heart, and it comes upeffortlessly, and it comes up a
lot because it's just one ofthose that the Lord has helped,
has used to help me renew mymind.
(03:00):
And it's Isaiah 41, 10.
And it goes like this Fear thounot, for I am with you.
Be not dismayed, for I am yourGod.
I will help you, I willstrengthen you, I will uphold
you with the right hand of myrighteousness.
Isn't that beautiful?
(03:21):
And that is a foundationalscripture for me.
And, you know, fear comes at usin so many different forms.
It it's not always that fearwith your heart pounding, you
know, that is a that is fear,but there are so many different
forms of fear.
You know, dread is fear, dreadis a fear of the future.
(03:42):
It's like a low-grade fear, youknow, it's it's just this worry
about what's coming next.
And worry is a fear, and anxietyis fear, and all of those are
different forms of fear.
And so that's why I love thescripture because in so many
(04:02):
different areas of life, youknow, when I'm not certain
what's going to happen and I'manxious, or I'm worried about
one of my children, or there'ssomething that catches me
unexpectedly, or I think aboutwhat happened in the past, and
I'm afraid that the past isgoing to repeat itself.
So many times, the scripture,the Lord will bring it to my
(04:25):
mind, and I'll just say it, youknow, over and over in my mind,
fear thou not, for I am withyou.
He is with us and he promisesthat he will never leave us and
he will never forsake us.
And though I may not know whatis going to happen down the road
or what's going to happen inthis situation that I'm worried
about, he knows and he's notgoing to leave me.
(04:46):
And he promises that he willstrengthen me, he will make me
stronger through this.
And he will help me.
He promises to help us, and hepromises to hold us by his right
hand and to take us through.
So whatever you're going throughin this time, in this season, in
this in this place where you areright now, just know that the
(05:06):
Lord is with you, that he haspromised not to leave you, that
you belong to him, and that heis holding you by the hand, and
he is guiding you through this.
You are not alone, and he isgoing to strengthen you, and he
is going to help you, and he'sgoing to show you the right way.
He's going to show you the way.
(05:27):
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for you arewith me.
And he is with you during thisseason, during this test, during
this trial, during this season.
And and I just I encourage youto take that scripture and make
it your own.
Put it on a note card, stick itin your pocket, put it on the
(05:50):
screen of your phone so that youcan pick it up and look at it at
a moment's notice.
You know, make it a part of yourvocabulary, of of the of just
the way that you thinkconstantly as things come up.
I will not fear.
The Lord is with me.
Fear not, for I am with you.
He will help me, he willstrengthen me, he is upholding
(06:11):
me with his righteous righthand.
You know, it's not about yourrighteousness.
A lot of times when we get introuble, the enemy, well, I
should say we, me for sure, whenwhen something happens and I'm
afraid, the enemy will come tome with all kinds of reasons why
I deserve this bad thing thathas is happening to me.
If I had done this better, or ifI had known this, or if I had
(06:34):
really trusted God way backthen, then today things would be
better.
And so I love that he says hisrighteous right hand.
He is the one who is righteous,not me, not you.
Our righteousness is a gift fromhim.
I can come before him because ofthe righteousness of the Lord
(06:55):
Jesus Christ, not by my ownability, not by my own goodness,
or you know, not it's not aboutme, it's about him.
And so he gives us hisrighteousness, and we don't have
to be perfect.
We're never going to be perfect.
And if we wait to come beforehim and ask him for help when we
get it all together, then wewill never come because we will
(07:15):
never be able to.
So he takes us by his righteousright hand and he leads us.
And I pray that that will giveyou comfort in in any area that
you're struggling with thisweek.
I really want to share with youguys from my heart this week.
(07:36):
I I think of you as my friends.
I've spoken to many of you.
I know many of you personally,and I've met many of you from
the podcast.
And I know there are a lot ofothers out there who I've never
spoken with, who've nevercontacted me, but are faithful
listeners.
And I just want to share my myheart with you this week.
I started Grace for My Home, theblog and the podcast, about
(08:00):
three years ago.
It was actually three years andfive months ago.
And I have I now have 154episodes.
And when I first started thispodcast and blog, my heart was
to encourage Christian moms.
I at the time, at that time, Iwas a homeschool mom, and I had
(08:22):
um I had two who were stillhomeschool schooling.
I had one who had started publicschool.
But I was at almost at the endof my homeschool career.
But I had been a mom for for atthat time 14, 15 years.
And I had had a rocky road inthe beginning.
(08:45):
You know, when I first became amom, I did not have much
confidence as a mom.
I struggled, and I thought thatsomebody else could do this mama
thing much better than me.
You know, why did God give methese children?
Because I just wasn't very goodat this mama thing.
And I just felt bad that mychildren were stuck with me.
You know, I wish they had abetter mom, but they were stuck
with me.
(09:06):
And so over that 14 years, theLord was faithful.
He helped me to grow.
He helped me to become a bettermom, to become the mom that my
boys needed.
And I was so encouraged when Isaw what God could do, when I
saw how he could take someonewho had little to no confidence
(09:27):
in her ability to be a good momand help me, you know, and and
not in a way like where I becamesuper mom or anything like that.
That was just daily grace.
And that's why I named mypodcast and my blog, Grace for
My Home, because I found outthat there's always enough
grace.
He supplies what we need eachday.
(09:48):
And each day, as I put one footin front of the other, he built
my strength, he built myconfidence, he gave me wisdom,
and he opened the right doorsand shut the wrong doors.
And I wanted to share the thingsthat he had shared with me with
other moms.
So when I started the blog andpodcast, Grace for My Home, it
(10:10):
was to encourage moms.
And as the years have gone by,my heart is still for moms.
But when I look back over thesubjects that I've shared on, it
seems that I've I've driftedinto more of a Bible teaching
mode, which really is my heart,my gift.
I've taught at my church formany years, and that's my heart
(10:34):
is to teach women and encouragewomen in their walk with the
Lord.
And so in the, I guess the lastyear or so, I've I've been
thinking, who should what shouldI be sharing here on this blog,
on this podcast?
Why do people come to me?
And during this time, I've beenable to write two books.
(10:58):
The first book was calledCovered in Prayer: 31 Prayers to
Cover You and Your Children andGod's Grace.
And that was a book that Iactually wrote the prayers
before I had the idea to putthem in a book.
For many years, I had beenpraying the same prayers for my
children, and they were prayersthat I covered them with as they
(11:22):
went out into the world andfound their own place, and
they're still doing that.
But I remember I had thoseprayers, many of them written in
a notebook on my nightstand.
And I thought one day, Ithought, here's a morbid
thought.
I thought, okay, when I passaway, when I die, um, that
they're gonna throw this out.
Nobody's gonna know howimportant these prayers were to
(11:43):
me, and they're just gonna bechunked into the garbage.
And I said, you know what?
I'm gonna write those prayersdown because I bet they would be
an encouragement for another momlike me who just needs to know
that God hears her prayers.
And so I wrote those prayersdown and I put them in a book,
and the Lord gave me the greatthe grace to do that, and I
caught it covered in prayer.
(12:05):
And then the next year I wasable to write a devotional book,
which is Seek First 31 QuietMoments with Jesus, and that
just released this past October.
And that was my way of helpingwomen who just want to have a
few minutes with Jesus, don'thave a lot of time maybe, and
(12:28):
just need some help gettingstarted.
When when when my kids werelittle, we would go to the park
and they would get on the swingsand they would need me to get
them going.
You know, there was three ofthem and one of me, and so I was
trying to keep my hands on threechildren and, you know, make
sure everybody was safe and nothurt and you know, doesn't run
into the road.
(12:48):
And but I remember when they goton the swing, if I could just
give them a push, they would getthe momentum going and they
could keep themselves going onthe swing, and then I could take
care of the other one who wasnot on the swing.
And they just need a push.
And so that's how I saw SeekFirst.
It's just a little push in themorning to get you going, to get
(13:11):
you talking with God, to get youfocused on his word, and then
you have your own conversationwith him, and that has been a
blessing.
Both of those books have havebeen a blessing to me, and I
believe they've been a blessingto many.
And that's something that I'mvery proud of.
And during this time, I'vetransitioned from being a
(13:33):
homeschool mom to not being ahomeschool mom.
I opened a coffee shop for mychurch.
We actually opened it, and I'verun that coffee shop for about
two and a half years now.
And in the last nine months, myhusband resigned as pastor of
our church as he focuses on hisPhD and his career in education,
(13:58):
because the entire time he'sbeen pastor of our church, he's
also been a high schoolprincipal.
And so he came to a fork in theroad where he just could not
continue to do both.
And he felt like that the Lordhad called him to be at school,
to be at that school, that thatwas the calling that God had
placed on his life for thistime.
(14:19):
And so during this transitionperiod, the last eight, nine
months, that's that's been aprocess.
So I say all this to say that Iam not the same person I was
when I started Grace for MyHome.
This podcast, this blog hasreally helped me to grow.
And I'm thankful for the peopleI've met.
(14:41):
I'm thankful for theconversations I've been able to
have with women.
I'm thankful for theseopportunities, these doors that
have opened.
It's just been a wonderfulgrowing process.
But I'm at a place right nowwhere I need to make some
decisions on what's next.
I don't feel like I have I havea clear direction right now.
(15:04):
I feel like that, you know, oneweek I'll come and do Bible
study, and then next week I'mtalking about marriage, and then
the next week I'm talking abouthomeschool.
And sometimes I'm just not surewhat my focus should be.
And to be quite honest with you,I'm a little tired.
Now I'm not burned out.
I have been burnt out before,but I'm not burnt out at right
(15:24):
now.
I think I'm just tired.
And, you know, I I've never donethis before.
I do not know another person inmy real everyday life who even
has a podcast.
So I'm just trying to figure allthis out, to be honest with you,
and trying to decide what'snext.
Because I don't want to burnout, because I want to be strong
(15:45):
and I want to do what God'sasked me to do.
But I'm at a point right nowwhere I feel like every week I
am studying the Bible, not toknow Jesus, but to prepare
something for someone else,whether that be the blog, the
podcast, or my ministry with mychurch and the coffee shop.
And so I really need to hearfrom Jesus.
(16:08):
Like, I need to hear from Jesusfor myself.
I need to hear what he is sayingand get direction for this next
season in my life.
And hear, you know, what shouldI be concentrating on?
Who should I be pouring out to?
You know, what is the messagethat he would have me share
right now?
And it's hard to do that whenyou're constantly going.
(16:30):
And right now I'm constantlygoing.
All of the experts have willtell you, don't take time off,
don't skip a week or a monthbecause you will lose followers
and you know, and all of this.
And and so for a long timethat's been in the back of my
head.
And I've been like, no, I can'tstop.
I don't want to lose myfollowers.
I don't want to disappointpeople.
But it really defeats the pointif I don't have anything fresh
(16:52):
and if I don't have anythinguseful to say, or most of all,
if I don't have anything fromGod.
Because my prayer every week isthat I bring you something from
heaven, not something that I'vethought up, but something that
He's let on my heart to sharewith you.
Because my heart is ministry.
My heart is not to make a bunchof money.
I don't make any money from thispodcast or blog.
(17:13):
The only money I make is themoney I make on the books that I
sell.
And and trust me, it doesn'tcover the expenses of the blog
and the podcast and all that.
This is certainly a labor oflove.
And that's why I do it because Ilove doing it and I want to
encourage women.
Because my heart is to helpthose who are where I was, or
(17:34):
who are struggling with walkingwith the Lord and believing him
for good things and being theperson, the mom, the wife, the
friend, the Christian that he'scalled you to be.
And I want to bring you amessage of hope and a message of
(17:56):
comfort and a mess, and I wantto inspire you to go into your
world and to do great things.
I want to come to you each weekand inspire you and encourage
you and you know, give you thatlittle push, give you that push
to keep on going and to get yourmomentum going.
But I can't pour from an emptycup.
And I feel like that's what I'mtrying to do right now.
(18:19):
So I'm saying all of this to askyou to excuse me for a few weeks
while I take a break and I seekthe Lord and I pray and I just
chill for a little bit andfigure out what am I supposed to
be doing at this time?
What should my blog and podcastbe about?
(18:42):
And who needs the messages thatGod has put on my heart?
Because I want to be real.
You know, if I'm not real, if Idon't have a real message, if
I'm not living out the messagesthat I'm sharing to you, then
they're not real to me.
And there's no power in mywords.
They they don't mean anything.
And I want to be a woman ofintegrity.
And so I'm going to take a fewweeks off to pray to seek the
(19:04):
Lord, to think about, you know,what direction I'm going to go
in.
And I don't want you to go away.
Um, I'll be back.
I promise I'll be back.
Um, but you can help me duringthis time.
If you love grace from my home,if this is a place where you
come and you get encouraged,this is how you can help me.
(19:26):
Send me a text, send me anemail, and let me know what kind
of messages you come here for.
What speaks to you?
If you look in my in the shownotes of this episode, you'll
see a link where you can send mea text.
You'll also see a link where youcan send me an email.
Send me one or the other.
(19:47):
If you send a text, I cannotrespond.
It does not give me your umnumber to respond to that.
That's a one-way communication.
If you send me an email, I willrespond.
Let me know what kind of whatkind of messages you come here
for.
Do you come to hear aboutmotherhood?
(20:08):
Are you interested in Biblestudy?
Are you interested in messageson marriage or homeschooling?
I speak on all those topicshere, but sometimes I don't know
if I'm just scattering toobroadly, if I need to
concentrate, if I need to bemore specific.
Just to give you an idea, thenthese are the top five podcast
(20:31):
episodes since I started thepodcast.
My number one downloaded episodeis take care of yourself so you
can take care of those you love.
That was number one.
Number two is hearing the voiceof God.
Number three is the purpose ofmarriage.
Number four is seven pearls ofwisdom from the parable of the
(20:53):
ten virgins.
And number five is discipline,correction, and punishment.
Oh my.
So there's a wide range justright there.
So is there one thing, onereason that you come to me, one
topic that you're interested in?
Or are you interested in all ofthese topics?
So if you could send me a textor an email and tell me what
(21:15):
you're interested in and tell mea little bit about yourself.
I would love to hear from you.
And like I said, if you send mean email, I'll definitely
respond.
I respond to all the emails thatI get.
And just know that I am going totake a few weeks off.
I have been thinking about doinga daily podcast, um, a debate, a
daily devotional, and so that'ssomething that I may play with
(21:38):
in the next few weeks, maybeafter my break.
So be on the lookout for that.
I'm I'm pretty sure I'm leaningthat way, that I'm gonna try
that just to see um how thatgoes.
And I will definitely be back,um, but I am gonna take at least
two weeks off to clear my mind,have Thanksgiving with my
(22:00):
family, not have to think aboutrecording a podcast.
I hope you have a wonderfulThanksgiving, and I'll be back
very soon.
God bless.
Hello, welcome back to Grace for My Home.
I'm Audrey McCracken and I am soglad to be back with you again
this week.
I hope that you're doing welland I hope that you're ready for
Thanksgiving.
This will actually air theThursday before Thanksgiving,
and I have a lot to do to getready for that.
(01:33):
I haven't even thought aboutwhat we're going to have this
year, which is unlike me.
Usually I'm a little fartherahead than I am right now.
And my family will come here tomy home.
That'll be my sister and herfamily, and then my mom.
And we invited a friend from thecoffee shop this year, a friend
of ours who comes in and sees usalmost every day.
And his family live way up inMaine.
(01:57):
And he just wasn't able to makethat trip this year.
So he's going to come and haveThanksgiving with us.
So we're looking forward tothat.
And I'm looking forward tohaving my family all in one
place.
This week we took my middle sonLuke on a campus tour.
We went to Charleston SouthernUniversity and he really liked
it.
I thought he would.
(02:18):
We're not sure right now exactlywhere he's going to go to
school.
He still hasn't made up hismind.
Um he's got a little bit oftime, but he he loved that
campus.
And I had never been.
That was the first time I'dbeen, and I liked it too.
It's a it's a very nice campus,and they were very hospitable.
This week I wanted to share ascripture with you that is one
(02:39):
of my favorite scriptures.
I know I'll probably say thatabout all of them, but I promise
you this is a foundationalscripture from my life.
It's a scripture that isingrained in my mind, in my
heart, and it comes upeffortlessly, and it comes up a
lot because it's just one ofthose that the Lord has helped,
has used to help me renew mymind.
(03:00):
And it's Isaiah 41, 10.
And it goes like this Fear thounot, for I am with you.
Be not dismayed, for I am yourGod.
I will help you, I willstrengthen you, I will uphold
you with the right hand of myrighteousness.
Isn't that beautiful?
(03:21):
And that is a foundationalscripture for me.
And, you know, fear comes at usin so many different forms.
It it's not always that fearwith your heart pounding, you
know, that is a that is fear,but there are so many different
forms of fear.
You know, dread is fear, dreadis a fear of the future.
(03:42):
It's like a low-grade fear, youknow, it's it's just this worry
about what's coming next.
And worry is a fear, and anxietyis fear, and all of those are
different forms of fear.
And so that's why I love thescripture because in so many
(04:02):
different areas of life, youknow, when I'm not certain
what's going to happen and I'manxious, or I'm worried about
one of my children, or there'ssomething that catches me
unexpectedly, or I think aboutwhat happened in the past, and
I'm afraid that the past isgoing to repeat itself.
So many times, the scripture,the Lord will bring it to my
(04:25):
mind, and I'll just say it, youknow, over and over in my mind,
fear thou not, for I am withyou.
He is with us and he promisesthat he will never leave us and
he will never forsake us.
And though I may not know whatis going to happen down the road
or what's going to happen inthis situation that I'm worried
about, he knows and he's notgoing to leave me.
(04:46):
And he promises that he willstrengthen me, he will make me
stronger through this.
And he will help me.
He promises to help us, and hepromises to hold us by his right
hand and to take us through.
So whatever you're going throughin this time, in this season, in
this in this place where you areright now, just know that the
(05:06):
Lord is with you, that he haspromised not to leave you, that
you belong to him, and that heis holding you by the hand, and
he is guiding you through this.
You are not alone, and he isgoing to strengthen you, and he
is going to help you, and he'sgoing to show you the right way.
He's going to show you the way.
(05:27):
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for you arewith me.
And he is with you during thisseason, during this test, during
this trial, during this season.
And and I just I encourage youto take that scripture and make
it your own.
Put it on a note card, stick itin your pocket, put it on the
(05:50):
screen of your phone so that youcan pick it up and look at it at
a moment's notice.
You know, make it a part of yourvocabulary, of of the of just
the way that you thinkconstantly as things come up.
I will not fear.
The Lord is with me.
Fear not, for I am with you.
He will help me, he willstrengthen me, he is upholding
(06:11):
me with his righteous righthand.
You know, it's not about yourrighteousness.
A lot of times when we get introuble, the enemy, well, I
should say we, me for sure, whenwhen something happens and I'm
afraid, the enemy will come tome with all kinds of reasons why
I deserve this bad thing thathas is happening to me.
If I had done this better, or ifI had known this, or if I had
(06:34):
really trusted God way backthen, then today things would be
better.
And so I love that he says hisrighteous right hand.
He is the one who is righteous,not me, not you.
Our righteousness is a gift fromhim.
I can come before him because ofthe righteousness of the Lord
(06:55):
Jesus Christ, not by my ownability, not by my own goodness,
or you know, not it's not aboutme, it's about him.
And so he gives us hisrighteousness, and we don't have
to be perfect.
We're never going to be perfect.
And if we wait to come beforehim and ask him for help when we
get it all together, then wewill never come because we will
(07:15):
never be able to.
So he takes us by his righteousright hand and he leads us.
And I pray that that will giveyou comfort in in any area that
you're struggling with thisweek.
I really want to share with youguys from my heart this week.
(07:36):
I I think of you as my friends.
I've spoken to many of you.
I know many of you personally,and I've met many of you from
the podcast.
And I know there are a lot ofothers out there who I've never
spoken with, who've nevercontacted me, but are faithful
listeners.
And I just want to share my myheart with you this week.
I started Grace for My Home, theblog and the podcast, about
(08:00):
three years ago.
It was actually three years andfive months ago.
And I have I now have 154episodes.
And when I first started thispodcast and blog, my heart was
to encourage Christian moms.
I at the time, at that time, Iwas a homeschool mom, and I had
(08:22):
um I had two who were stillhomeschool schooling.
I had one who had started publicschool.
But I was at almost at the endof my homeschool career.
But I had been a mom for for atthat time 14, 15 years.
And I had had a rocky road inthe beginning.
(08:45):
You know, when I first became amom, I did not have much
confidence as a mom.
I struggled, and I thought thatsomebody else could do this mama
thing much better than me.
You know, why did God give methese children?
Because I just wasn't very goodat this mama thing.
And I just felt bad that mychildren were stuck with me.
You know, I wish they had abetter mom, but they were stuck
with me.
(09:06):
And so over that 14 years, theLord was faithful.
He helped me to grow.
He helped me to become a bettermom, to become the mom that my
boys needed.
And I was so encouraged when Isaw what God could do, when I
saw how he could take someonewho had little to no confidence
(09:27):
in her ability to be a good momand help me, you know, and and
not in a way like where I becamesuper mom or anything like that.
That was just daily grace.
And that's why I named mypodcast and my blog, Grace for
My Home, because I found outthat there's always enough
grace.
He supplies what we need eachday.
(09:48):
And each day, as I put one footin front of the other, he built
my strength, he built myconfidence, he gave me wisdom,
and he opened the right doorsand shut the wrong doors.
And I wanted to share the thingsthat he had shared with me with
other moms.
So when I started the blog andpodcast, Grace for My Home, it
(10:10):
was to encourage moms.
And as the years have gone by,my heart is still for moms.
But when I look back over thesubjects that I've shared on, it
seems that I've I've driftedinto more of a Bible teaching
mode, which really is my heart,my gift.
I've taught at my church formany years, and that's my heart
(10:34):
is to teach women and encouragewomen in their walk with the
Lord.
And so in the, I guess the lastyear or so, I've I've been
thinking, who should what shouldI be sharing here on this blog,
on this podcast?
Why do people come to me?
And during this time, I've beenable to write two books.
(10:58):
The first book was calledCovered in Prayer: 31 Prayers to
Cover You and Your Children andGod's Grace.
And that was a book that Iactually wrote the prayers
before I had the idea to putthem in a book.
For many years, I had beenpraying the same prayers for my
children, and they were prayersthat I covered them with as they
(11:22):
went out into the world andfound their own place, and
they're still doing that.
But I remember I had thoseprayers, many of them written in
a notebook on my nightstand.
And I thought one day, Ithought, here's a morbid
thought.
I thought, okay, when I passaway, when I die, um, that
they're gonna throw this out.
Nobody's gonna know howimportant these prayers were to
(11:43):
me, and they're just gonna bechunked into the garbage.
And I said, you know what?
I'm gonna write those prayersdown because I bet they would be
an encouragement for another momlike me who just needs to know
that God hears her prayers.
And so I wrote those prayersdown and I put them in a book,
and the Lord gave me the greatthe grace to do that, and I
caught it covered in prayer.
(12:05):
And then the next year I wasable to write a devotional book,
which is Seek First 31 QuietMoments with Jesus, and that
just released this past October.
And that was my way of helpingwomen who just want to have a
few minutes with Jesus, don'thave a lot of time maybe, and
(12:28):
just need some help gettingstarted.
When when when my kids werelittle, we would go to the park
and they would get on the swingsand they would need me to get
them going.
You know, there was three ofthem and one of me, and so I was
trying to keep my hands on threechildren and, you know, make
sure everybody was safe and nothurt and you know, doesn't run
into the road.
(12:48):
And but I remember when they goton the swing, if I could just
give them a push, they would getthe momentum going and they
could keep themselves going onthe swing, and then I could take
care of the other one who wasnot on the swing.
And they just need a push.
And so that's how I saw SeekFirst.
It's just a little push in themorning to get you going, to get
(13:11):
you talking with God, to get youfocused on his word, and then
you have your own conversationwith him, and that has been a
blessing.
Both of those books have havebeen a blessing to me, and I
believe they've been a blessingto many.
And that's something that I'mvery proud of.
And during this time, I'vetransitioned from being a
(13:33):
homeschool mom to not being ahomeschool mom.
I opened a coffee shop for mychurch.
We actually opened it, and I'verun that coffee shop for about
two and a half years now.
And in the last nine months, myhusband resigned as pastor of
our church as he focuses on hisPhD and his career in education,
(13:58):
because the entire time he'sbeen pastor of our church, he's
also been a high schoolprincipal.
And so he came to a fork in theroad where he just could not
continue to do both.
And he felt like that the Lordhad called him to be at school,
to be at that school, that thatwas the calling that God had
placed on his life for thistime.
(14:19):
And so during this transitionperiod, the last eight, nine
months, that's that's been aprocess.
So I say all this to say that Iam not the same person I was
when I started Grace for MyHome.
This podcast, this blog hasreally helped me to grow.
And I'm thankful for the peopleI've met.
(14:41):
I'm thankful for theconversations I've been able to
have with women.
I'm thankful for theseopportunities, these doors that
have opened.
It's just been a wonderfulgrowing process.
But I'm at a place right nowwhere I need to make some
decisions on what's next.
I don't feel like I have I havea clear direction right now.
(15:04):
I feel like that, you know, oneweek I'll come and do Bible
study, and then next week I'mtalking about marriage, and then
the next week I'm talking abouthomeschool.
And sometimes I'm just not surewhat my focus should be.
And to be quite honest with you,I'm a little tired.
Now I'm not burned out.
I have been burnt out before,but I'm not burnt out at right
(15:24):
now.
I think I'm just tired.
And, you know, I I've never donethis before.
I do not know another person inmy real everyday life who even
has a podcast.
So I'm just trying to figure allthis out, to be honest with you,
and trying to decide what'snext.
Because I don't want to burnout, because I want to be strong
(15:45):
and I want to do what God'sasked me to do.
But I'm at a point right nowwhere I feel like every week I
am studying the Bible, not toknow Jesus, but to prepare
something for someone else,whether that be the blog, the
podcast, or my ministry with mychurch and the coffee shop.
And so I really need to hearfrom Jesus.
(16:08):
Like, I need to hear from Jesusfor myself.
I need to hear what he is sayingand get direction for this next
season in my life.
And hear, you know, what shouldI be concentrating on?
Who should I be pouring out to?
You know, what is the messagethat he would have me share
right now?
And it's hard to do that whenyou're constantly going.
(16:30):
And right now I'm constantlygoing.
All of the experts have willtell you, don't take time off,
don't skip a week or a monthbecause you will lose followers
and you know, and all of this.
And and so for a long timethat's been in the back of my
head.
And I've been like, no, I can'tstop.
I don't want to lose myfollowers.
I don't want to disappointpeople.
But it really defeats the pointif I don't have anything fresh
(16:52):
and if I don't have anythinguseful to say, or most of all,
if I don't have anything fromGod.
Because my prayer every week isthat I bring you something from
heaven, not something that I'vethought up, but something that
He's let on my heart to sharewith you.
Because my heart is ministry.
My heart is not to make a bunchof money.
I don't make any money from thispodcast or blog.
(17:13):
The only money I make is themoney I make on the books that I
sell.
And and trust me, it doesn'tcover the expenses of the blog
and the podcast and all that.
This is certainly a labor oflove.
And that's why I do it because Ilove doing it and I want to
encourage women.
Because my heart is to helpthose who are where I was, or
(17:34):
who are struggling with walkingwith the Lord and believing him
for good things and being theperson, the mom, the wife, the
friend, the Christian that he'scalled you to be.
And I want to bring you amessage of hope and a message of
(17:56):
comfort and a mess, and I wantto inspire you to go into your
world and to do great things.
I want to come to you each weekand inspire you and encourage
you and you know, give you thatlittle push, give you that push
to keep on going and to get yourmomentum going.
But I can't pour from an emptycup.
And I feel like that's what I'mtrying to do right now.
(18:19):
So I'm saying all of this to askyou to excuse me for a few weeks
while I take a break and I seekthe Lord and I pray and I just
chill for a little bit andfigure out what am I supposed to
be doing at this time?
What should my blog and podcastbe about?
(18:42):
And who needs the messages thatGod has put on my heart?
Because I want to be real.
You know, if I'm not real, if Idon't have a real message, if
I'm not living out the messagesthat I'm sharing to you, then
they're not real to me.
And there's no power in mywords.
They they don't mean anything.
And I want to be a woman ofintegrity.
And so I'm going to take a fewweeks off to pray to seek the
(19:04):
Lord, to think about, you know,what direction I'm going to go
in.
And I don't want you to go away.
Um, I'll be back.
I promise I'll be back.
Um, but you can help me duringthis time.
If you love grace from my home,if this is a place where you
come and you get encouraged,this is how you can help me.
(19:26):
Send me a text, send me anemail, and let me know what kind
of messages you come here for.
What speaks to you?
If you look in my in the shownotes of this episode, you'll
see a link where you can send mea text.
You'll also see a link where youcan send me an email.
Send me one or the other.
(19:47):
If you send a text, I cannotrespond.
It does not give me your umnumber to respond to that.
That's a one-way communication.
If you send me an email, I willrespond.
Let me know what kind of whatkind of messages you come here
for.
Do you come to hear aboutmotherhood?
(20:08):
Are you interested in Biblestudy?
Are you interested in messageson marriage or homeschooling?
I speak on all those topicshere, but sometimes I don't know
if I'm just scattering toobroadly, if I need to
concentrate, if I need to bemore specific.
Just to give you an idea, thenthese are the top five podcast
(20:31):
episodes since I started thepodcast.
My number one downloaded episodeis take care of yourself so you
can take care of those you love.
That was number one.
Number two is hearing the voiceof God.
Number three is the purpose ofmarriage.
Number four is seven pearls ofwisdom from the parable of the
(20:53):
ten virgins.
And number five is discipline,correction, and punishment.
Oh my.
So there's a wide range justright there.
So is there one thing, onereason that you come to me, one
topic that you're interested in?
Or are you interested in all ofthese topics?
So if you could send me a textor an email and tell me what
(21:15):
you're interested in and tell mea little bit about yourself.
I would love to hear from you.
And like I said, if you send mean email, I'll definitely
respond.
I respond to all the emails thatI get.
And just know that I am going totake a few weeks off.
I have been thinking about doinga daily podcast, um, a debate, a
daily devotional, and so that'ssomething that I may play with
(21:38):
in the next few weeks, maybeafter my break.
So be on the lookout for that.
I'm I'm pretty sure I'm leaningthat way, that I'm gonna try
that just to see um how thatgoes.
And I will definitely be back,um, but I am gonna take at least
two weeks off to clear my mind,have Thanksgiving with my
(22:00):
family, not have to think aboutrecording a podcast.
I hope you have a wonderfulThanksgiving, and I'll be back
very soon.
God bless.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.