A Longer Table

Lucretia Carter Berry, PhD is a wife, mother, and an antiracism curriculum specialist. She is the President & Learning Community Director of Brownicity, which is exists to provide education that inspires justice & belonging. In this episode, she explains the importance of teaching our kids to be anti-racist and having conversations about skin color. She's incredibly gifted at providing safe, gracious spaces for those who want to learn and do better. Brownicity offers affordable resources & online courses that offer an analytical framework for examining race and racism in the United States. Learners will be equipped with a historical, political and social context for understanding race/ism and how it is sustained.

After a domestic dispute, Courtney's two sons were removed from her care by child protective services. She later discovers that her file claims the boys were removed due to Fentanyl trafficking charges, which came as a shock since Courtney is not a drug user, and never has been. She is doing everything she can to get her kids back home and provides us an in-depth look into foster care from a bio mom's perspective. Follow along with Courtney's reunification journey here: @prayingforreunification

After hustling for years, Mary Marantz reached the pinnacle of her career and realized there had to be more than the accolades. In this episode, she shares about her transformation from Yale Law Student and award-winning photographer to a slow, authentic and present author. She dishes out wisdom from her new book, Slow Growth Equals Strong Roots. You're going to love her! Her books, Dirt and Slow Growth Equals Strong Roots are available everywhere books are sold.

Even though she was raised as a Christian and has a degree in religion, Phylicia Masonheimer came to a realization that she didn't know why she believed what she did. After seeking answers to her questions, she made it her goal to teach others how to discern truth, know what (and Who) they believe, and live their faith boldly in a post-Christian world. In this episode, she answers all Manda's burning questions about discernment, the Western Church, theological differences and more. Follow Phylicia on Instagram, check out her site Every Woman a Theologian, and her podcast Verity.

Skywalker is an intelligent, peppy 10 year old girl who is one of five kids in a family that fosters. She shares her perspective of what it's like being a sibling to kids in foster care and more in this short, sweet conversation. We believe our table isn't truly "longer" until we include and value listening to ALL voices...in this case, the voice of a young girl with big ambitions and lots of spunk. Follow Skywalker's journey @skywalker.hughes (account managed by mom)

Lindsey Nobles wanted to be a mother, but as a single woman in her early-forties she had to pursue this differently than many of her married peers. This is her story of not only becoming a mother, but a journey of choosing to prioritize herself and her desires. Instead of adoption, Lindsey became pregnant through a donor and IVF. This isn't just encouragement for the woman who finds herself single and longing for motherhood; this is a conversation that reminds all of us to value ourselves and to learn from families that don't fit the nuclear family model.

While the conversation wasn't focused on her professional life, Lindsey works for Onsite, which is an amazing organization dedicated to changing lives through enhanced emotional health. You can follow Lindsey and Onsite to learn more.

Model, actress, and activist Corey has a different gender identity than the gender she was thought to be at birth. She opens up about when and how she realized she was transgender, her transitioning process, and shares more of her truth with Manda, who ultimately wants us all to consider: how might we love and create safe spaces for transgender folks?

Mentioned in the episode: watch Disclosure & read The Transgender Child

Trigger Warning: Suicide. Kristen shares her story of being in and out of foster care and eventually becoming a single adoptive mother at a young age. She encourages everyone to build longer tables for aging out youth. She believes we need to be cautious in our culture of setting healthy boundaries so they don't become justifications for an aversion to hard work and loving others well. This conversation will remind you to be authentic in understanding your limitations, but encourage you to quit sitting on the sidelines when just one dinner, coffee date, or conversation could make all the difference for them having enough hope to carry on another day. Connect with Kristen: @kbuergey 

As a follow-up to our latest conversation about sex (no. 90), Manda sits down to chat with Sex Coach, Dan Purcell, to hear his professional insight and wisdom on intimacy, masturbation, toys, and so much more. His answers to our sex Q's are through a Christian lens. Dan and his wife Emily Purcell are the founders of Get Your Marriage On! They created an app for the bedroom called Intimately Us and host retreats for couples Dan and Emily have been married for 18 years and have 6 kids.