Just as so many of you are, Courtney Burg is a season of life that often feels, as she has coined it, like “mombo jombo.” As a writer, PhD student, and mom of four, her days are filled with all the beautiful, exhausting, messy blessings that mom-life has to offer. But over the past several years, her work and her message has gone far beyond just the mom-blog sphere.

Courtney shares with us how at five months into marriage, she finally addressed an alcohol and pill addiction she’d been battling for years, and with kind help from her husband, went to rehab. Writing and journaling quickly became a crucial part of her sobriety journey, and the tender words she originally wrote to heal herself are now actively helping to heal others – not just from substance addiction, but from the addictions of busyness, achievement, and a consuming desire to feel needed by others.

Even in her sobriety, Courtney still felt burdened by deep shame, and as she started unpacking that shame with others (personally and on Mombo Jombo blog/social media), she began to find some freedom.

Much of the work she does now via Mombo Jombo and in her online workshops centers around boundaries, a concept we hear about a lot but often don’t take the time to address honestly in our own relationships.

“Boundaries is not just pushing people [out of our lives],” Courtney explains. “Setting boundaries is God’s work. It’s loving. It’s how I can help you without hurting both of us. It’s how I can be the best steward of the time, talents, and treasures that God has given me. It helps me know what’s mine and not mine to fix.”

Because we are finite, flawed humans, no relationship will ever be perfect. We know this. But where is the line between sacrificial love that the Bible calls us to, and the kind of self-sabotaging love that leaves us over-extended and resentful? What do healthy boundaries look like, and is setting them really the way we best care for ourselves and love our people well?

Courtney walks us through these tough questions and many more! There is hope and encouragement for any woman, in any season in this week’s episode, whether struggling to set boundaries with others or to understand “who am I when I’m not _________?” – fill in the blank!

 Where to find Courtney?
www.mombojombo.org
@courtneyjburg  

A few of Courtney’s favs:
Boundaries, Henry Cloud
Atomic Habits, James Clear