In this podcast, they talk about three options that can help you when it comes to pre-deciding how you will behave:
Personal Manifesto – Creating a “personal manifesto” sets up a code of ethics that helps you pre-decide what you need and want and how to ask for it. (Kathi and Cheri’s manifesto can be viewed here)
Acknowledgment – Acknowledge a pattern and discuss it. Perhaps the person is willing to change or you can change your reaction to their actions.
Leave – Don’t subject yourself to disrespectful behavior.
Kathi and Cheri run through multiple scenarios to help you pre-plan your responses and help you deal with the overwhelm.
Our new book is NOW AVAILABLE! And only until midnight on December 31, we are offering some amazing freebies. Check out all the details here.
Have you endured the Christmas Party where someone just pushes your buttons and you want to scream? Or the family dinner where Aunt Myrtle points out all the things wrong? We all have challenging people in our lives. Sometimes we can be the challenge. This is when a people plan can help. Pre-deciding how we will behave when we are in those challenging situations helps us be the best person we can be. Kathi and Overwhelmed co-author, Cheri Gregory, discuss various situations where a “people plan” can turn challenging events into less overwhelming situations.
Creating your personal manifesto is an amazing way to pre-decide how you are going to handle certain people or situations. Check out Kathi and Cheri’s and even a few of our favorites from those that sent them in that have already read Overwhelmed.
Meet Our Guest
Cheri Gregory
Cheri Gregory is a teacher, speaker, author, and Certified Personality Trainer. Her passion is helping women break free from destructive expectations. She writes and speaks from the conviction that “how to” works best in partnership with “heart, too.”
Cheri is the co-author, with Kathi Lipp, of The Cure for the “Perfect” Life and the upcoming Overwhelmed.
Cheri has been “wife of my youth” to Daniel, her opposite personality, for twenty-eight years and is “Mom” to Annemarie (25) and Jonathon (23), also opposite personalities.
Cheri blogs about perfectionism, people-pleasing, highly sensitive people, and hope at www.cherigregory.com.
“When you go through a major crisis in your marriage, you have a choice to make,” says Cindy Beall, author of Rebuilding a Marriage Better Than New. “If you decide to stay together, a few simple cosmetic changes won’t do. You need to radically start over. What this means is, we faithfully and intentionally find a new way of relating to each other, a new way of spending time together, a new way of being open with one another, and new ways of nurturing and growing our marriage.”
Beall believes that God doesn’t waste pain and that a couple who has experienced healing and is moving forward can now invest generously by ministering to others in similar circumstances. Today, Chris is a campus pastor for Life.Church and Beall ministers to pastors’ wives and women in ministry. The two often minister to other struggling couples.
“God wants to give you a new marriage,” says Beall. “But that new marriage can’t happen without a new husband and a new wife. Both of you have to participate. Let me tell you, when you change and believe who you are in Christ, your marriage will change. It will be better than you thought possible. It will be beyond your wildest dreams.”
When there has been betrayal in your marriage, restoration doesn’t seem possible and rebuilding a marriage seems daunting. Many of us just wouldn’t go down that road, but other times, when God’s plan includes rebuilding your marriage, He uses it to move mountains. So how do you go from a completely broken place, to a marriage that is better than new, fully restored and more connected than you ever realized it could be? Kathi talks to Cindy Beall, a woman that has gone from shattered to restored, betrayed but now, with a lot of honesty and hard work, in a marriage that is beautiful. She is the author of Rebuilding a Marriage Better than New, and Healing Your Marriage When Trust is Broken. Kathi and Cindy discuss what that honesty and work look like and how life can look on the other side of broken.
Meet Our Guest
Cindy Beall
Cindy Beall is a writer, speaker and mentor to women. She enjoys watching college football, hanging out with her sons, and sitting on her back porch sipping coffee with her husband, Chris. The Bealls have been married since 1993 and have spent most of their marriage in full-time ministry. They have three sons between them which means there is very little pink in their home but a plethora of air soft guns and camouflage. Cindy’s husband, Chris, serves as the Oklahoma City Campus Pastor at Life.Church and also oversees half of the OKC metro Life.Church campuses. Cindy oversees the Equipping arm on the Leading & Loving It team that ministers to pastor’s wives and women in ministry. Her first book, Healing Your Marriage When Trust Is Broken, released in 2011.
Your first challenge is simple. All I want you to do is say something nice to your husband. That’s it. Really. Let’s just love him with words.
Because the truth is: often we wives have the power to change the way our husbands walk through the world by choosing the words we speak to them.
How you do it is up to you.
Here are a few ideas for ways to love him with words:
Say it to him
Text it to him
Put it on a Post-it Note in his truck
Call him
Whisper it to him
Put it in a card in his computer case
Write it in lipstick on the bathroom mirror
Have you got your great idea of how you’re going to say it? Great. Now what to say … maybe a simple “I love you” or “I appreciate how you _______ .” Maybe you want to tell him he is sexy or handsome.
But don’t worry if you’re having a hard time coming up with something. I have you covered! Here are some additional ideas for how to love him with words. Something to get the creative juices flowing. These are from The Husband Project: 21 Post-it Note Sized Encouragements.
And remember, tell me in the comments what you did (or are planning to do) to love him with words. (And post a picture to my Facebook Page so I can share your love with the world!)
Win!
Answer the Question of the Day on Kathi’s Facebook page for your chance to win a copy of 101 Ways to Tell Your Husband You Love Him!
Today’s question: What words most encourage your husband? Scripture, I love you’s, or I appreciate you’s?
WHEN: August 1-September 5 WHERE: On Amy Carroll’s blog and on Facebook too! WHY: There are lots of great reasons to do your study online. Here are just a few:
This is easy study format, and you can participate as much or as little as you like. Twice a week, you’ll get a lesson in your email box by subscribing here, and you can join the private Facebook page here for more interaction.
You’ve got an irregular schedule because of work, kids, appointments, or other interruptions. You can do an online study on your own time–right on schedule with the group or at your own slower pace.
You’re mobility is limited, and you’re at home. This is a way to connect with other women right in your living room.
This is a safe place to build relationships with others while maintaining your privacy. You can share freely without fear of judgement. Authenticity is a cornerstone of my book, and I was very vulnerable in writing. I hope it makes you feel free to be your truest self too.
This is a super-easy way to lead a small group. The group can meet together once a week to discuss your personal take-aways, but I’ll lead the weekly assignments. If you’d like to have a Leader’s Guide with tips, videos, and a schedule for leading your group, click here to purchase it.
10 Steps of Fun and Transformational Things You Can Do Today to Stop Trying to Be Perfect
Trying to be perfect is exhausting. Start taking steps to break up with perfect TODAY by using this FREE download from Amy. Thank you Amy!
Are you striving and trying hard to do everything right? Is this beginning to hurt your relationships with friends, spouses, even God?
Breaking up with perfect is about grace. Grace for myself and grace for others.
Trying to be perfect is exhausting. Start taking steps to break up with perfect TODAY by using this FREE download from Amy. Thank you Amy! Click here to download.
Meet Our Guest
Amy Carroll
Amy Carroll is a speaker, writer, and International Initiatives Coordinator with Proverbs 31 Ministries. She’s the author of Breaking Up with Perfect as well as the director and coach of Next Step Speaker Services. Amy and her husband live in lovely Holly Springs, NC with a bossy miniature dachshund. You can find her on any given day texting her two sons at college, typing at her computer, reading a book, or trying to figure out one more alternative to cooking dinner. Share life with Amy at www.amycarroll.org
If someone suddenly needed a place to stay, whether it be a natural disaster or a family “situation,” would you be ready to take them in?
It’s actually a lot simpler than it sounds. Listen as Erin and I discuss the few necessities you can have on hand in case Extreme Hospitality is at your door.
*Win a free copy of The What’s For Dinner Solution book by leaving a comment below! Share an idea you have in order to be prepared for Extreme Hospitality. One commenter will be chosen as the winner!
Baked Ziti
1 lb. ground beef
¼ chopped onion
16 oz. penne pasta, parboiled and drained
6 cups spaghetti sauce
6 slices mozzarella
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Prepare: Brown ground beef and onions together. Add spaghetti sauce. Combine sauce and cooked pasta, mix well.
Freeze: Spread pasta in 9×13 pan and cover with foil. Attach two freezer bags to pan, one with the mozzarella cheese slices, one with gated Parmesan cheese. Freeze.
Serve: Thaw casserole and cheeses. Place mozzarella cheese slices over casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove the foil and bake for 5 more minutes. Serves 4.
FREE DOWNLOAD
When we have the opportunity to provide food, shelter and hospitality to someone we love or even a stranger that needs help, being ready makes them and your family more comfortable. Click to download.
Meet Our Guest
Erin MacPherson
Erin MacPherson lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Cameron, her sons Joey and Will and her daughter Kate. She is the author of “The Christian Mama’s Guide Series“, a staff writer for Dun & Bradstreet and a freelancer for publications like Thriving Family Magazine, MOPS MomSense, FamilyLife Magazine, Daily Guideposts and BEMag. She blogs about her life, her kids and her faith at ChristianMamasGuide.com.
When I make the choice to control the clutter, I find freedom waiting in the living room. A lot of family life happens in the living room, and I want to make it a point to spend a lot of time in there with my hubby and three kids. But I can only do this well if I keep the clutter from sucking the life out of the living room. Our living room needs to be a place where we connect and laugh together, not trip over junk and shift piles of books to find a spot on the couch.
Here’s what I know: The kids won’t remember if the pillows, couch and rug coordinate but they will remember the tickle fights. Guests won’t remember if clean floors or dust bunnies greeted them when they crossed the threshold of your living room but they will remember your kind hospitality. Why? Because these are the things that actually matter, not sparkling floors and not throw pillows.
Contain clutter and gain freedom to live—really live—in your living room. [Tweet “Contain clutter and gain freedom to live #clutterfree”]
Here are seven ideas to get you started.
1. Dance Party
Turn up the volume on some of your favorite tunes and dance until you drop. Learn a line dance together and hilarity will follow.
2. Indoor Picnic
Spread out a blanket on the living room floor and break out the picnic foods, whether it’s 95 degrees or raining outside! Bonus: Dinner is easy peasy!
3. Game Night
Choose a night and invite a few friends over for pizza and games. The invitation and the fun are all that matter. Enjoy your guests. Repeat.
4. Lightsaber Fight
It just doesn’t get much better than a lightsaber fight. Get ready to watch the force in action—everyone is a kid with a lightsaber in hand. For extra fun, make it as dark as possible to stay safe and then record it. Everyone loves to see the action over and over again.
5. Coffee Shop
Make (or buy) a batch of cookies or muffins. Set out books, magazines, and candles. Brew your favorite cup and turn up some background music. Relish the blissful sips of clutter free life with family or friends!
6. Putt-Putt
We have a little putting mat that we bring into the living room now and then because…well, why not? Make a game of it and see who can sink the best out of ten putts. Winner gets to choose the snack.
7. Date Night Movie Night
After the kids are in bed, break out an appetizer extravaganza, whether its from your grocer’s frozen section or an exotic array of cheeses and fruit. You pick the food, fancy or fun, and hubby gets to choose the movie.
Q4U:
• What’s your favorite way to live — really live — in your living room?
• How does becoming clutter-free make it easier to enjoy life in your living room?
While you’re at it, how do you connect with your kids? Each of them has a different personality and each has different needs to feel loved. With 21 Ways to Connect to Your Kids, you’ll learn each of his/her personality traits and how to use that information to create real connection.
When we have the opportunity to provide food, shelter and hospitality to someone we love or even a stranger that needs help, being ready makes them and your family more comfortable. 
