Kathi Lipp (00:09) 

Hey friends, welcome to Clutter Free Academy where our goal is to help you take small doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And I am here with my clutter comrade. It is Tonya Kubo. Hey Tonya. 

Tonya Kubo (00:24) 

Hey Kathi! 

Kathi Lipp (00:26) 

Guys I Okay. So let me ask you this Tonya When do you attack your clutter most deeply? ? I have noticed that for me. I I have a little bit more bandwidth in the summer and When it gets really hot here, I don’t want to go outside So I try to find indoor projects like my my garage never gets decluttered in the summer, but every other room does 

Tonya Kubo (00:53) 

Mm. 

Kathi Lipp (00:56) 

So, but I, you and I live very different lives. So how about you? 

Tonya Kubo (01:01) 

Well, it’s the same for me, but for different reasons, right? So my kids are home during the summer and Brian, he teaches in June, but he doesn’t teach in July. And so we really do a deep dive on our decluttering when we’re both home, because as you know, we both have cluttery issues or cluttery habits, but they’re different cluttery habits, which means that we have a much bigger clutter issue. So I find it’s easier. 

Kathi Lipp (01:16) 

Mm-hmm. 

Right. 

Tonya Kubo (01:28) 

take a deeper dive when we’re both here so that we can both address our individual perspectives on clutter. 

Kathi Lipp (01:34) 

You know, I don’t know that I know the answer to this question, even after we’ve probably done at least 100 episodes together. ? But I don’t think I know the answer to this question. ? Did Brian grow up in cluttery circumstances or very neat? Or is this not something we should talk about? I don’t know. 

Tonya Kubo (01:55) 

So I’m not sure that Brian’s memories or perspectives on his upbringing would match outside perspectives. So Brian would tell you, no, he did not grow up in a cluttery environment at all. However, when he points to an area and says, well, this is how my house was growing up, I would label that area as clutter. 

Kathi Lipp (02:08) 

Mm-hmm. 

Interesting. So, okay, not to be like, I don’t mean to have you laying on the couch analyzing, but when you say that you guys have different cluttery issues, how would you summarize that? 

Tonya Kubo (02:29) 

Mm-hmm. 

Yeah, so, well, he’s much more of a sentimental clutter person than I am. And part of that is access, right? Because my mother was a hoarder, I don’t have very much stuff from my childhood, right? It rotted in her house. So I don’t have stuff from childhood. I don’t have stuff from middle school, right? He does, because his stuff was all kept in much better condition. 

Kathi Lipp (02:38) 

Mmm. 

Right. Mm-hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (02:58) 

So, and he is very attached to a lot of that stuff. Like he still has, he is the kid who did want all of his awards from grade school. Like we hear from our members, know, they’ve saved all this stuff for their kids and their kids didn’t want it. No, he did want it. He does enjoy having it. So he has a greater volume of sentimental clutter, or sentimental items, I should say, than I do. And both of us, you know, come from that time when printing pictures was very expensive. 

Kathi Lipp (03:19) 

Mm-hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (03:27) 

So both of us hesitate to throw away printed pictures, even if they’re bad printed pictures, but back to Access, he has a much larger storage of printed photos than I do just because I didn’t have any. So he’s more sentimental. For me, my clutter, what I have discovered is much more about overwhelm. 

Kathi Lipp (03:34) 

Yeah. 

Mmm, okay. So, yeah. Yeah. 

Yeah. Okay, how does that manifest? 

Tonya Kubo (03:53) 

So 

for me, things just get out of hand when I’m working long hours, when we’re out of the house a lot and I’m not doing the daily maintenance. I do a lot of, just put this here for now and it piles up. But when I go to address that area, it’s not like, the area is up to my nose and I wanna keep the stuff that’s up to my mouth. 

Kathi Lipp (04:06) 

Mm-hmm. 

Mm, okay. 

Tonya Kubo (04:20) 

Right? It’s like 

when I go through the area that’s up to my nose, it’s all trash or recycling. 

Kathi Lipp (04:25) 

Yeah. 

Okay. So now who in the family, because there’s one of these people in every family, who is the one who’s like, okay, that’s it. We’re cleaning everything out. We’re taking, you know, all weekend. Like, this is it. We’re going to do it. Is that either of you? No. Interesting. 

Tonya Kubo (04:45) 

No. No. Maybe that’s the problem. 

Maybe we need that person in our house. 

Kathi Lipp (04:55) 

Maybe maybe you need to invite somebody else into you need a great aunt who’s gonna boss you around But you guys have done big decluttering projects before 

Tonya Kubo (05:00) 

you 

Same we don’t, but there’s not one of us who is, I guess it’s my perception of the question, right? So neither of us are the type of people who say, that’s it, tomorrow we’re clearing the calendar and nobody is going to do anything except for this one thing. We are both people who will say, okay, this is out of hand, let’s look at the calendar, when would be a good day to tackle this? Okay, so for instance, Abby had a birthday party last Saturday. 

Kathi Lipp (05:12) 

Mm-hmm. 

Mm-hmm. 

Mm-hmm. 

Mm-hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (05:34) 

And 

Brian was just like, just so you know, while you and Abby are gone, I am going to be doing these decluttering projects. So text me when you’re on your way home so that I can wrap that up. 

Kathi Lipp (05:43) 

? 

Oh, nice. Because I, I know that one of the how do I know you’re a cluttery person? That I’m going to attack this, it’s going to happen. And that way, our lives are going to get better. And I think one of the things that are, you know, especially people in our free group who haven’t really been through, let’s just call it our indoctrination, that’s the nicest way of saying it. 

Tonya Kubo (06:06) 

Mm-hmm. 

Mm-hmm. 

Kathi Lipp (06:19) 

? They think if I can clean this out once it’s going to stay that way I’m going to be naturally motivated to keep up on it and you know, it was Cheri Gregory who said clutter is never one and done and I love that quote because I this is back when we were writing when I was wearing clutter free we were writing overwhelm ? You know, it’s never one and done. You have to you have to keep 

up on this. And I know that a lot of our listeners are waiting for the perfect time to declutter. And I am going to be 58 in two days. Never once in my entire life is like, ? this is the perfect time that I am motivated. There is time on the calendar. I have energy. I have a plan. I know what to do. Like that has never once happened. And so 

If your clutter keeps coming back, it’s really important to me that you understand ? that one, you are not broken and you maybe haven’t either had the right system or the right support or either. I think that much of our clutter battle is we are working, we feel like 

This should be easy. We should know what we’re doing. We should, we should, we should. Or ? everybody in my family should be pulling in the same direction. We all want the same thing. I don’t think our families want the same thing. Oftentimes they want to be left alone so that they can be on their phone watching YouTube videos. Like that, that doesn’t sound like a half bad way of spending 45 minutes to me either. And so 

For the people who don’t know how to do this naturally, which I think is very few of us, studies show that 60 % of women in the United States say clutter is an issue for them. Like it’s a big issue for them. ? For those of you who need that accountability, support, training, ? we do have a ? sale coming up. 

Tonya Kubo (08:29) 

Mm-hmm. 

Kathi Lipp (08:42) 

for clutter free for life. And this this sales a little different. I well, it’s the end of an era. Let me just say that it’s an end of the era. Can you explain that Tonya? 

Tonya Kubo (08:53) 

Yeah, and the sale is actually going on right now. But the end of the era. Clutterfree for Life started back in 2019. It’s hard to believe. I feel like I was not alive before the pandemic. That is how I truly feel. I feel like I was born. I was birthed in the middle of the pandemic and my memory doesn’t go much farther back. and in 2020, you know, is when we because we piloted it and then 

Kathi Lipp (09:09) 

I understand. 

Tonya Kubo (09:22) 

Everybody was like, oh my gosh, this is awesome. And we’re like, right? Right. This is awesome. And you were like, hey, like we know stuff. This is good stuff. So in 2020, you know, we kind of settled on our pricing. And so it’s $299 a year, $24.99 a month. And then once a year, we put it on sale for $118. And so it’s been the sale price has been $118 a year every December since 2020. And unfortunately, nothing. 

Kathi Lipp (09:30) 

Yeah. 

Tonya Kubo (09:51) 

has stayed the same price since 2020. So yeah, so we’re gonna have to raise the price this year. And you know, I was the person who did the math and said, Kathi, we gotta do this. And you said, no, we don’t. And I said, but no, really. And you said, but no, really. And so where we’ve landed is… 

Kathi Lipp (09:53) 

I know. I know. 

I just say, Roger and Tenneil 

here’s the thing I know yes they do they do I’m a nice person but I also don’t want to drop the quality of the program and so it had to be either we raised the price a little bit or we dropped the quality a lot and I just wasn’t comfortable with that so here we are 

Tonya Kubo (10:19) 

Nobody needs to know that! 

be real, right? You have made some, like in our internal discussions, you’ve made some really good points, right? Which is $118 a year as a sale price when it’s $299 the rest of the year, feels really, really good to our community, right? It’s a 60 % discount. That feels really good. ? The fact that we’ve only put it on sale 

Kathi Lipp (10:53) 

Mm-hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (11:01) 

that deeply once a year allows people to plan and to budget and to look forward to the sale break. They get to make a very strategic, thoughtful decision. ? And when you shared that, all of us went, you know what? mean, because ultimately what you said is that’s all fine and good, but we can’t just drop that on people when they’ve been expecting a big 60 % off sale in December. And so what we’re doing is we’re honoring one last hurrah. 

at $118 a year on sale right now. 

Kathi Lipp (11:30) 

Mm-hmm. 

And let me tell you why I’m excited about this for summer because I do feel like Summer gives us some options that the rest of the year doesn’t When it comes to decluttering so first of all the days are longer. I don’t know about you Tonya Well, I do know a little bit about you in the winter. I want to be in bed at 430 like I I As it gets darker and I know you’re in early to bed not 

necessarily early to sleep all the time, but early to bed. I was just on a podcast with Valerie Burton, who’s the psychologist, and I said, I love sleep. I think about like at, at, you know, 430 in the afternoon, thinking I can crawl into bed in three hours. Like, nothing brings me such joy to know that I can get into the sheets. I can have moose with me, I can have my book or my phone or my tea. 

Like it just makes me so happy. But in the summer, I stay up later. We eat dinner later because we’re trying to take advantage of all the sunshine. And so, and I feel a little ridiculous going, getting into bed when it’s still bright, shiny out. But so I think we have longer times we can work with that energy. And then ? unless it’s getting too hot, we have better weather for dump runs, donation drop-offs. 

Even a yard sale or two you can start planning those for as the summer is winding down and getting a little cooler I didn’t know this but I was looking at some statistics real recently and ? Thrift stores I would think that they’d get the most of their traffic around Christmas because you know two things made me think that one was because You know more people are dropping off after Christmas 

Tonya Kubo (13:16) 

Mmm. 

Kathi Lipp (13:27) 

So there would be a lot, and I think also people, some people shop secondhand for Christmas. But it turns out thrift stores get their highest amount of traffic in the summer. So you know that if you’re dropping things off, can take advantage of it. ? Kids and clutter. Now I don’t have kids living at home. I do have kids coming this weekend and I am not making them go through their stuff while they’re here because. 

Tonya Kubo (13:32) 

Mm-hmm. 

Kathi Lipp (13:54) 

if TikTok has taught me anything is that kids will make fun of you if you try to make them go through their stuff when they’re home. So I’m like, I’m just gonna pitch it all. But your kids are home. Does that help or hurt? Or yes? Yeah. 

Tonya Kubo (14:09) 

Yes. 

But here’s what I will tell you. What I have discovered is it hurts if you don’t have a plan. Right. So part of the thing that I do, right, because I’m on this mission to not raise hoarders because my mom was a hoarder. Right. And I just don’t want that generational curse to be repeated. So we spent the month of May really setting expectations of what summer was going to look like. And Brian ? has been 

Kathi Lipp (14:25) 

Mm-hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (14:39) 

And this is something we haven’t talked about. We should actually have an episode on this. But Brian has been listening to a lot of podcasts that have talked about people who lost their homes in the LA fires. And one thing that has really hit him is when people talk about what they don’t miss. And so, you know, back to his connections with sentimental clutter, it’s really got him thinking about everything very differently. 

Kathi Lipp (14:49) 

yeah. 

Mmm, it’s so true. 

Tonya Kubo (15:05) 

And so, you we set some expectations with the girls. It’s like, okay, so we’re the house is not working for us right now. And we’re in a difference in phases. And you know this, we talked about this around Christmas time. know, Abby is 11 or she’ll be 11. And this is the year where at school they transitioned to chapter books only. 

Kathi Lipp (15:28) 

Mm, okay. 

Tonya Kubo (15:29) 

which means 

we have now reached the stage where we don’t need picture books at home. And we’re not the kind of people that are saving books for our grandchildren. Almost all of the books we have in this house were hand-me-downs from other people whose kids had graduated out of them. So we’re seeing that now as she’s shifting, she’ll be in fifth grade, there’s a lot of those childhood toys and things that we don’t need to have anymore. And so we just set the stage, this is gonna be a great time for us to sort of switch up the house 

Kathi Lipp (15:33) 

Mm-hmm. 

No. 

Hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (15:58) 

toward teenage years. And the girls were on board with that and they entered into summer knowing that they were going to have an active role. 

Kathi Lipp (16:00) 

Yeah. 

love that reframing, giving them something to look forward to, to say, Hey, we’re growing out of this phase, let’s adjust our lives. Never really heard it talked about like that. And I think that’s really, really, that gives them something to look forward to, it helps them embrace a new phase in life. I love that. ? I think another thing is, you know, you may have some more time in summer, depending on what your family situation is. 

but we also tend to have more time at home during the holidays. But holidays can be very triggering when it comes to clutter. It’s, don’t, yeah. 

Tonya Kubo (16:42) 

Can I talk about this, Kathi? Because I have been married to Mr. Kubo now for 16 years. And of those 16 years, he has been a teacher for roughly 13 of those years. And every year, the house, because the house gets kind of cuckoo in the fall, and it’s like November, it’s right after Thanksgiving break where he starts telling me how all we have to do is make it to winter break and he’s going to do all these things. 

Kathi Lipp (16:45) 

Of course you can! 

Yes. 

Mm-hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (17:11) 

And let me just say that no teacher has any energy from winter break during winter break, right? Because that fall period is so insane for them. So I’ve spent a good 13 Christmases thinking that that was going to be a great time to get our house decluttered. It has never been a great time ever, ever. 

Kathi Lipp (17:11) 

Okay. 

Yeah. 

Mm-hmm. 

Right 

and I think you know whether it’s a teacher or you’re just a civilian That it’s a tough time to try to think about that now I will say the one exception is I really do think after Christmas the idea of like a boxing day is a beautiful thing like Okay, I got you know these three new t-shirts are there six t-shirts I can get rid of now those kind of things. I think that’s wonderful, but 

Tonya Kubo (17:41) 

Mm-hmm. 

Mm-hmm. 

yeah. 

Kathi Lipp (18:00) 

trying to create a deep declaim during the holidays just doesn’t seem very fabulous. 

Tonya Kubo (18:05) 

Mm-hmm. 

Well, and that’s also part of it, Is going into the holidays, right? The days before Christmas kind of feels too late almost because you’ve got so much that’s coming into your home at that time, right? You’re bringing in more food for holiday prep. You’re buying decorations or gifts that you’re gonna give away. I mean, there’s just a lot of stuff that ends up piling up. ? So yeah, so I find that summer for us is just a little bit more relaxed. 

Kathi Lipp (18:18) 

Yes. 

Yeah, I love that. Okay. And this is also a good chance to, I feel like, get prepped for fall. Fall feels like the beginning of the year to me, and then it’s just like vroom until, you know, after Christmas. And so if you can lay the foundation, I think that that’s really, really helpful. ? Okay, so we… 

Tonya Kubo (18:53) 

Mm-hmm. 

Kathi Lipp (19:02) 

If you’re thinking about Clutter Free for Life, we have a couple of members who have made real changes. And Tonya, I’m going to ask you to talk about some of these people. Tell us a little bit about the journey of Jackie. ? You can either read or quote, or you can tell us what you know, but I would love to hear that. 

Tonya Kubo (19:11) 

Mm-hmm. 

? 

Oh, well, OK. So I will say this about everybody. So I will because I want to be like, oh, Jackie’s my favorite. But everybody is my favorite in one way or another way. But, you know, Jackie is somebody who believes very strongly in sustainability. And so because she believes so strongly in sustainability, she is one of those people who sees life in everything. And she hates seeing stuff go to landfills. And so that led her to sort of. 

being this archivist of all things. And so, Jackie got to the point though where she did recognize she just didn’t have any more real estate. There was no more available space in her home. And she had been listening to the podcast for several years. And she admits that when she started listening to the podcast, she wasn’t so sure about the idea of just letting things land where they’re supposed to. That was something that you had mentioned years ago. 

about you have to release things and just trust God will make sure that they get to the right place. She didn’t really have that level of trust. But then, after listening to the podcast for a while, she was just like, well, maybe, but she couldn’t quite figure out how. And so when she joined the program, she was pretty quiet. She didn’t really make herself known the first year or so, but a couple of years ago, we started talking and she really started decluttering in earnest. Now, 

I will say when she started, she was so overwhelmed. She didn’t know where to start. Right. So part of it was just carving out a starting place. But, you know, just recently, I don’t have the exact number, but I want to say she got rid of like 1200 items in a week. 

Kathi Lipp (20:59) 

That’s incredible. It’s incredible. That’s amazing. And I know she is such a creative person. She does big, big projects, but still that, that is insane. I, I am so proud of the progress she went from not being able to have anybody over to her house now to being able to have people in her house without embarrassment. That that’s huge. 

Tonya Kubo (21:01) 

Like, weak, Kathi. 

Well, she gets to have 

her granddaughter there. That’s the big thing for her. That was her major motivation. That’s what pushed her over is wanting to be able to spend days with her granddaughter and feel like her granddaughter was safe. 

Kathi Lipp (21:25) 

Yes. 

Yeah, because yeah, I mean, just as a potential grandparent at some point in my life, I know how unsafe my house is right now. My house is built for adults. So to get it over that threshold with the stuff and everything, that’s huge. Okay, tell me about Carrie. 

Tonya Kubo (21:46) 

Mm-hmm. 

You should talk about Carrie. Carrie is delightful. Yes. So Carrie is somebody who, ? know, for them, they were living in kind of a smallish space, but they had storage units. And Carrie’s first step was to focus on the home, like on her actual home space where she lived. But then the monthly cost of the storage units started to eat at her. 

Kathi Lipp (21:57) 

I love Carrie. Yes, Carrie’s wonderful. 

Yeah. 

Tonya Kubo (22:22) 

So last year, we worked together and she was able to release one of two storage units. Now the other storage unit, she’s discovered as a necessity. That’s housing some things that doesn’t make sense to have at the house, but they do need to keep. And so she released one whole storage unit, which was huge, but she has gotten, I think she is at 9,000 items in two years. And part of why we know this is because Carrie has such a heart. 

Kathi Lipp (22:39) 

Amazing. 

That’s incredible. 

Tonya Kubo (22:49) 

for everybody and she’s so generous. She wants everybody to know the good, bad and ugly of her journey because she knows how helpful it was when people shared their struggles as well. And so part of why we have such a beautiful story with her is because she’s made it so transparent for us. 

Kathi Lipp (22:55) 

Mm hmm. Yeah. 

She’s she’s so generous of heart. She really is and then Kathi not me But we have other good Kathi’s in our group We do have a lot of Kathi’s it’s a very 60s name. I’m assuming that’s where most of them come from. Yeah 

Tonya Kubo (23:14) 

Not you, Kathi ? we have actually a lot of Kathi’s in our group. It is a very, maybe, 

maybe that’s it. So yeah, so, you know what I love about Kathi is she doesn’t quit. So Kathi is a founding member. So she’s been there for going on six years now. And… 

She is the prime example of the person who’s like, this year is the year we’re gonna do it. And then life slaps her upside the head from every possible direction. And so she has been going like gangbusters and like, this is the year I’m finally making headway. And then something has happened and she has had to just change her focus for several months at a time. But the thing with Kathi is she never quits. She keeps moving forward. And what I love is she’ll reach out to me like, I won’t hear from her sometimes for six months, seven months. 

Kathi Lipp (23:49) 

Right. 

Mm-hmm. 

Tonya Kubo (24:09) 

And she’ll say, just want you to know I haven’t given up yet. And I just went through one box. It’s the only box I’ve been able to go through all month, but it’s a box that I’ve gone through. And for Kathi, you know, the big lesson that she has taught me, and I, you know, I don’t know what she would say that she has learned specifically, but the lesson that she has taught me is that community is everything. 

Kathi Lipp (24:15) 

Mmm. 

Tonya Kubo (24:35) 

because what has made an impact for her is initially after a period of not being able to focus on her clutter, she’s come back in and she’s just been very ashamed and apologetic with everybody. Like, I have no excuse. I’ve been part of this community since this long and why am I still dealing with this? And people would just be like, yeah, no, we get it. We have good days. We have bad days too, but we keep coming. And the fact that she would keep showing up. And so now she’s just like, you know what, what I love is I tell people, 

Kathi Lipp (24:57) 

Yeah. 

Tonya Kubo (25:04) 

that I’m embarrassed and all of them tell me all the reasons why I don’t need to be embarrassed and that automatically lifts me from the shame. 

Kathi Lipp (25:12) 

Mmm. Yeah, all three of these women and so many people in clutter free for life are just a gift and their encouragement and you know how I talk about Clutter free people are the meanest people in the world, but only to themselves ? We’re starting to lift some of that as well and people are being kinder to themselves, too Okay, so let me just tell you Clutter free for life is a very different group. It’s ongoing support ? 

Tonya Kubo (25:28) 

Mm-hmm. 

Kathi Lipp (25:39) 

It is not a one and done, you take this one class and you’re done, no. And so every month we give you a monthly action plan that you can adapt to your season of life. We have weekly coaching calls. Now, ? let me just say, we have four a month. If it’s the fifth week of the month, there’s not a call. We just wanna give you that time back so you can go do something. But there are check-ins in this private community, so. 

If this is a struggle for you to talk about, this is a really safe place. There’s a big library of resources. So if you’re struggling with something in particular, ? you can find the resource on that. And then every spring we have our Abundant Home Conference, which is amazing. And this year we’re offering something a little bit different. Some people are like, well, I need more one-on-one. So if you are interested in a… 

coaching call with me. There’s an option for that. It’s an additional charge, but ? we want to help you if you need something that you need to talk over to break through. finally, the rate you join at, $118, is the rate you keep forever. So if you keep renewing, you’re going to be at $118 forever, even when we raise the price. ? We’re not going to offer this price again. And so if this is something you’re interested in, come check it out. ? 

If you visit Kathi, so that’s k-a-t-h-i dot link slash c-f-l, and we’ll put that in the show notes. You can go sign up over there and ? we will be happy to answer all your questions. Tonya, did I miss anything? 

Tonya Kubo (27:20) 

No, you covered it all. ? and also, I mean, have awesome people. They’re just awesome. And you totally want to hang out with them. 

Kathi Lipp (27:26) 

The best the best the best the 

best Okay, friends. We would love to see you in there It They’re favorite people in the world and they’ll be your favorite people in the world, too 

Kathi Lipp (00:00) 

Hey friends, welcome back to Clutterfree Academy and today I am thrilled to welcome a friend, fellow author, fellow podcaster. She’s all things amazing. Her name is Rachel Adams. 

And we are welcoming her back to our things that have earned a place in my clutter free home segment. And let me tell you, this devotional has done it. ? This is her beautiful new book, Everyday Prayers for Love, learning to love God, others, and even yourself. Rachel, welcome to Clutter Free Academy. 

Rachael Adams (00:33) 

Well, Kathi, thank you. It’s an honor to be here. And I’m just thrilled that I’ve earned a spot in your clutter free home. 

Kathi Lipp (00:39) 

You know, so you guys let me tell you how what what my book like processes I was telling Rachel this earlier. Yes, I, I get sent a lot of books and a lot of them are not. I’m sure you do too as a podcaster and a lot of them are things that one I might not you know, I wouldn’t read and two, they’re not appropriate for the podcast. So I donate a lot of books. 

Rachael Adams (00:56) 

Mm-hmm. 

Kathi Lipp (01:06) 

But when I find something I love, especially a devotional, and I’m pretty much a one-time devotional girl, that’s how I roll. And I don’t write in my books because, I don’t know, it’s something from being in fourth grade and getting yelled at for writing in a book. So I have my little journal, but I’m going through your devotional right now. And what I’m doing is I’m keeping notes in my journal. But then what I do is I either pass this on 

Rachael Adams (01:21) 

I’m 

Kathi Lipp (01:36) 

to somebody who comes to a retreat at our house. And I asked them, hey, if you like it, please share about it on social media because that’s the best way to say thank you to an author. Or I have a couple of friends who financially books are not, they’re a luxury, not a necessity. And so they are really grateful. So I’m excited to finish this up so I can give it on to somebody else. And you’re a tremendous writer. I just, I wanna. 

talk to you about a moment that sparked this whole journey for you when you saw a love offering envelope at church. Can you talk a little bit about what that moment was and what it meant to you and how that kind of started you on this journey to this book? 

Rachael Adams (02:21) 

Well, thank you for spreading the love. So that’s what the whole message is about. So you’re doing it so well. So that really this happened about a decade ago. I attend a pretty traditional church and in front of me was a love offering envelope in the pew. And in that moment, I sense the Lord whispered to my heart, Rachel, you are my love offering. I’ve given you my love. And how are you going to give my love to the world around you? 

Kathi Lipp (02:23) 

Yes, exactly. 

Hmm. 

Rachael Adams (02:47) 

And in essence, how are you going to live out the greatest commandment to love the Lord God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself? But I honestly struggle with some insecurity and inadequacy and endowed the gifts that God has given me and the talents that he’s given me. So in that moment, I thought, you know, I don’t know how I’m living out my faith in ordinary, everyday, practical ways. My life feels pretty insignificant, honestly. And am I doing this? 

Kathi Lipp (02:53) 

you 

Rachael Adams (03:14) 

And so I just started having conversations with family and friends and realized I wasn’t the only one struggling with this tension. And so one specific friend that I was having a conversation with, said, Rachel, it’d be neat to start to record these conversations. And so I thought, okay, so downloaded a free podcast app and seven years later, here I am. So there was no master plan. Well, the heavenly father’s master plan, maybe, but not mine, just one conversation at a time. 

Kathi Lipp (03:20) 

Yeah. 

Bye. 

Rachael Adams (03:42) 

Gosh, it’s been a gift to get to have people like you on the show and ? just meet new friends and to be inspired by the ways that they’re living out their faith in their everyday lives. 

Kathi Lipp (03:54) 

There are a lot of devotionals on God’s love and I have read many of them. enjoy what why do you think this one is for right now? Because what one thing that you just said is you’re looking for ways to live out God’s love and I I’m sure there have been other times in my life in history but 

I don’t know for something right now, it feels so critical. ? Not just because we want to show God’s love, but also because the world is in deep need. And so why this devotion? Why now? And how are some of the ways that you are seeing your readers live out that love? 

Rachael Adams (04:43) 

Yeah, for such a time as this, right? I really do believe it was timely when it released. We were right on the tails of the election. ? you know, just when the reality is we look around at our neighbors and we’re not going to always believe the same way or have the same morals or the same values or the same likes and preferences. And so, and to your point, the world needs God’s love. There are so many natural disasters. There are so many people far from Him. 

Kathi Lipp (04:45) 

Yeah 

Rachael Adams (05:13) 

And so I think every single person that we come into contact with has some kind of need. And we are God’s hands and feet. Some of Jesus’s last words were to love one another and that we would be known as His disciples by our love. So that should be our trait that people experience when they encounter us. And so I really do feel like this is a timely and a timeless message. 

something that we want to live out. I pray that through these words, it just encourages people that not to overcomplicate what God intended to be simple. It really is just a smile, a hello, kind text, sharing a meal, an invitation. It’s in much smaller ways that we can make a significant impact than we think. 

Kathi Lipp (05:54) 

Yeah, you know, it’s so interesting. I am on the sermon team from my church that I went to several years ago. We’ve moved since then, but I zoom in as we do these days. And we were talking about a sermon about wise love and how do you love with wisdom. And I was talking about how I am frustrated with many of my neighbors right now. 

Like my neighbors, not just the people who live close to me, but the people that I know I’m supposed to love. And I’ve, I have found the only antidote besides prayer is going out and serving. And I think you’re exactly right. Like going out and saying, how can I help my community? How can I reach out to my neighbor? How can I reach out to, you know, the, community around me? It’s, it’s the only thing. 

that brings peace to my heart because my heart is not naturally peaceful and ? it is spending time with God in his word, talking with him, but then putting that into action. can’t just, and that’s what I love about your book. It’s not just theory. It’s deeply practical. Can you share a favorite example of how love moves from prayer into action? 

one of your favorite examples in there. 

Rachael Adams (07:21) 

Well, I just want to echo what you were just saying that we want to be hearers, not just hearers of God’s Word, but doers of God’s Word. that James, like he talks about that faith without works is dead. And I think when you’re talking about even loving our enemies or those that feel unlovable, that’s what Jesus did. Think about how he had Judas as one of his disciples and he washed his feet. He was serving him right before he died on the cross for him too. That while we’re still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Kathi Lipp (07:24) 

Yeah. 

Okay. 

Yeah. 

Yeah, right. 

Rachael Adams (07:50) 

So apart from prayer and the Holy Spirit residing in us as believers, there’s no way that we can live out this greatest commandment without Him. And so I think one of my favorite ways, it just comes honestly from 1 Corinthians 13, four through eight to love is patient, love is kind. doesn’t envy, it doesn’t boast, it doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, et cetera. And so I think that those little characteristics, it’s verb, it’s action, it’s not, 

a feeling and so we’re not always going to feel loving towards the people around us, but we’re going to choose. And so to answer your question, not long ago, I had a lot of people in my home and tensions were high and I was just stressed out to be honest and I didn’t feel like serving in that moment and everybody else was just enjoying their time and I was kind of feeling just… ? 

Kathi Lipp (08:33) 

Yeah. 

Rachael Adams (08:40) 

grumpy for lack of a better word at my role that day. And so I ended up, I just felt like the Holy Spirit just was speaking to my heart. Rachel, how would love act in this situation? Love would be patient. Love would be kind. Love wouldn’t envy it, boast, it wouldn’t be easily angered, et cetera. And so I feel like that’s a way that we can kind of regroup ourselves and serve and love anyway, again, through the Holy Spirit and His empowerment. 

Kathi Lipp (09:02) 

Yeah. 

Yeah, I yes like that attitude change because people can feel it in the room can’t they they can absolutely feel it in the room. Yeah, so ? When people come on and I say who the who is this book for and they say everybody I’m like, no, our books are not for everybody Who is the woman right now? Who who this book what like that it would meet them exactly where they are. What’s her? 

Rachael Adams (09:12) 

Yes. Yes. 

Kathi Lipp (09:37) 

What’s her struggle today? 

Rachael Adams (09:40) 

I think her struggle is that she feels unlovable. She needs to know that she’s beloved by the God of the universe, that he adores her and delights in her and treasures her apart from anything that she does. That’s the key. We first, we love because he first loved us. So we have to accept his love first before we have anything of value to give. So it’s the woman doubting her own lovability, if that’s even a word. And that’s me. 

Kathi Lipp (10:06) 

Yeah. ? I have been there. 

Yes. Yeah. Okay. I have a really practical question. How do you find time to read? How do you find time in your daily life? Because I know we are all struggling and I can I just say I think I’ve gotten stupider. As we have done social media and I struggle with sitting down and finding time to read. So I always love to ask that it’s really practical. But how do you find that? 

How do you carve it out and create a rhythm? 

Rachael Adams (10:39) 

So I actually don’t sit down to read. I walk and listen to books. I’ve been trying to, based on atomic habits, pair things that I love with things that I don’t necessarily love as much. And so I try to get in my 10,000 steps a day. And so to pass that time, I’m also listening to something that is filling my mind as I’m trying to move my body. 

Kathi Lipp (10:42) 

? 

Yes. Okay, yes. 

Rachael Adams (11:07) 

Because in this season of my life, I don’t have much time to just sit and just savor a book. I’d love to, I love doing that, especially in the summer or on the beach or whatever, but ? it doesn’t, my life doesn’t always lend itself to that right now. 

Kathi Lipp (11:07) 

Okay, and. 

Yeah. Yeah. 

And guys, if you’re not familiar with the book, Atomic Habits, it’s about pairing, exactly what you said, pairing habits that come very naturally to you or very, so which is the one that you struggle with? Are you one of these people who’s like, I love my 10,000 steps a day, it makes me so happy? Or are you pairing the book that you love with the habit that’s hard? Which is the hard habit for you? 

Rachael Adams (11:45) 

The hard habit is the walk. I do enjoy it and I’m always glad that I did it, but an hour a day, if I’m not doing anything, if I’m not listening to anything or watching anything, it can feel, or if I’m not talking with a friend, it can feel long if I’m just in my own head for that long. And so I would say that the reading is the pleasure and the walk becomes a pleasure too, but I need the extra stimulation to make it the hour. 

Kathi Lipp (11:47) 

Okay, good. Yeah. 

Yeah, my goodness, I can’t. 

Right. Yeah. Yes. Yes. 

It’s so hard. 

Yeah, it’s so hard to get out there. Okay, guys, you can find everyday prayers for love. ? Everywhere. mean, everywhere books are sold. So your big retailers, your your Barnes and Noble, you can find it everywhere. ? Can you just sign us off with a word of encouragement for the woman listening today who is struggling to feel that love? 

Rachael Adams (12:39) 

Yeah, absolutely. I would say that God has always been in pursuit of mankind from the very beginning. When you think about Adam and Eve and when they sinned and fell short of the glory of God, what did he do? He said, where are you? And he pursued their hearts and pursued relationship with them. And so he’s done that from the very beginning. then he sent his son Jesus, then he sent the Holy Spirit, and he’s coming back again in pursuit. 

Kathi Lipp (12:58) 

Yeah. 

Rachael Adams (13:06) 

God is pursuing your heart and he wants to be pursued by you too. And so just be intentional with that. There is so much of his love that the world needs. And so the prayer for us is to help to introduce other people so that they can come to know the God who loves them and is pursuing them as well. 

Kathi Lipp (13:27) 

love it. Rachel Adams, Everyday Prayers for Love. Thank you so much for being here today, Rachel. I so appreciate you. ? you are love. You are love. And friends, you are loved. You know how much I love you. You have been listening to Clutterfree Academy. I’m Kathi Lipp Now go create the clutter free life you’ve always wanted to live. 

Rachael Adams (13:35) 

Thank you for making me feel loved, Kathi. I appreciate you having me on.