How we start our mornings matters.

Before the emails, the to-do lists, the school drop-offs, and all the other voices and whispers start telling us who we need to be today, what if we intentionally started with Jesus?

Not perfectly. Not peacefully. Just honestly.

Some mornings we wake up joyful. Some mornings we're exhausted. And some mornings, before our feet even hit the floor, our brains are already rehearsing the worries, what-ifs, people we love, and things we can't control.

So we begin with one simple question:

Jesus, what do I need from You today?

For a Good Morning: Carry Peace is a short morning practice for the days when the answer is...peace.

Save this episode and press play while you make your coffee, drive to work, walk the dog, or get ready for your day. We'll slow down, breathe, pray, quiet some of the noise, and practice beginning the day differently—not by pretending the worries aren't there, but by remembering we don't carry them alone.

Because every morning, our brains rehearse something.

Today, we're practicing peace.

Carry Peace Prayer

Jesus, You are my peace.
Help me release my worry to You.
Thank You that You are holding me.
Amen.

This is one of six short For a Good Morning practices designed to be saved and returned to. Each morning can begin differently, but imagine if each one began with Jesus.

So wherever you are today, start here.

Jesus, what do I need from You today?

And if a tangible reminder would help you return to this practice, I have a little engraved Love Moves Awareness Spoon that says Carry Peace and comes with this same prayer. Send me a message or email if you'd like one of your own.

Today, friend...carry peace.

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

Have you ever wondered if you finally messed up one too many times?

Maybe you lost your patience with your kids. Maybe you snapped at your spouse. Maybe you keep falling into the same old habit you promised yourself you'd break. Maybe you're carrying shame from something that happened years ago and quietly wondering...

• Did I finally cross the line?
• Can God still love me after this?
• Do I have to earn my way back?

If you've ever felt like love is something you have to perform for—or like one mistake could disqualify you from God's affection—this episode is for you.

Today, we're talking about a powerful concept called secure attachment and how it changes not only the way we understand our relationships, but also the way we experience the heart of God.

And believe it or not... the teacher for today's lesson is my seven-pound rescue poodle, Izzy.

Through toilet paper rolls, Nerf darts, carpet stains, and one very unexpected morning, she reminded me of something I think many of us desperately need to hear:

Correction isn't rejection.

Your mistakes don't cancel God's delight in you.

And maybe the goal isn't to become someone who never makes a mess.

Maybe it's to become someone who knows exactly where home is when they do.

So pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and let's talk about secure attachment, brain science, Scripture, and the kind of love that never asks you to earn your way back into the family.

In this episode, we'll explore:

• Why so many of us live as though love is always on probation.
• What secure attachment is—and why it matters.
• How secure attachment changes the way our brains respond to failure.
• Why correction and rejection are not the same thing.
• What Psalm 18:19 reveals about the heart of God.
• The surprising lesson a 7-pound rescue poodle taught me about grace, belonging, and coming home.

✨ If this conversation encouraged you, I'd love to invite you to Good Morning, Friend, my Saturday morning email where we digitally caffeinate together, breathe a little, pray a little, and remember what's true before the day gets away from us. You can join us through the link below.

Remember, friend: You don't have to earn your way back into the family. You're invited to grow there.

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

The biggest divide between us isn't always our beliefs. Sometimes it's forgetting to see the person before the problem.

Why can two kind, intelligent people look at the exact same situation... and walk away with completely different conclusions?

Whether it's politics, theology, AI, parenting, or a difficult conversation, our brains naturally become certain that we're seeing reality exactly as it is. But what if that certainty is keeping us from seeing the person in front of us?

In this episode, we'll explore the neuroscience behind why good people disagree, what the Bible teaches about leading with people before problems, and one simple framework that can help you hold open hands and strong convictions at the same time.

You'll learn:

•  Why our brains naturally become certain 
•  What "naive realism" is (and why almost all of us experience it) 
•  How Jesus consistently put people before problems 
•  A practical way to have more compassionate conversations without compromising your convictions 

If you've ever wondered why someone else sees the world so differently—or you've found yourself stuck in an argument you never wanted to have—this conversation is for you.

🤍 Want to keep the conversation going? Start here

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

What's the secret to making people feel seen? 

What makes someone truly unforgettable and equipped to make a greater kingdom-impact?

Most of us assume it's charisma, confidence, or a larger-than-life personality. But what if the people we remember most aren't the ones who impressed us... they're the ones who made us feel seen?

In this episode, we're exploring four simple practices—grounded in neuroscience and inspired by Jesus—that can help you leave people lighter than you found them.

Because becoming unforgettable isn't about having the "right" personality.

It's about practicing the kind of love that helps people remember they matter.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  Why small moments often leave the biggest impact 
•  The neuroscience behind feeling seen and remembered 
•  Four simple practices to help people feel safe, valued, and loved 
•  How Jesus modeled unforgettable presence in everyday interactions 

💛 If today's conversation encouraged you, I'd love for you to share this episode with someone who makes others feel seen—or someone who could use the reminder that they matter.

🎧 Loved today's conversation? Be sure to listen to Do You Know What Your Name Means?  (Episode: 9/10 of Us Don't Know What Our Own Name Means. Does It Even Matter?)—a companion episode about why names matter so much to our brains, our identity, and the heart of God.

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

Ever feel stuck in your head? (Learn why it happens...and how to get out.)

Have you ever found yourself replaying conversations in your head long after they've ended?

Maybe it was a text that felt off, an awkward interaction, an argument with your spouse, a conversation with your boss, or something someone said years ago that you just can't seem to let go of.

In this episode, we'll explore why your brain keeps replaying conversations, what neuroscience says about replay loops, and how those repeated thoughts slowly shape who we're becoming. You'll discover why replay isn't just remembering—it's rehearsal—and how Jesus gently invites us to stop rehearsing fear's version of the story and begin practicing a different one.

If you've ever wondered why you can't stop replaying conversations in your head, or wished you could quiet the mental loop and experience more peace, this episode is for you.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why you keep replaying conversations in your head—and how to finally let them go
• The surprising difference between replaying and rehearsing
• How repeated thoughts strengthen emotional pathways in the brain
• Why fear brain is an inaccurate storyteller
• What it means to "hand it back" to Jesus
• A simple prayer you can use whenever you catch yourself spiraling
• Why spiritual maturity isn't about never ending up in fear brain—it's about coming home sooner

A simple reminder to carry with you:

Fear brain isn't your home.

Love is.

And with practice, you'll come home a little sooner...and stay a little longer.

Want to keep practicing with us?

If this episode resonated with you and you've been wishing for a place to keep practicing instead of just listening once a week, I'd love to invite you into The Brim.

It's my little corner of the internet where we practice returning—not perfectly, just consistently.

Inside you'll find:

• My growing collection of Love Moves
• The Brim... a.k.a. Portable Love Moves Gym (Okay...I think I accidentally renamed it while recording this episode! 😂 I'd genuinely love to know what you think.)
• Monthly encouragement
• A simple practice tracker
• Gentle tools to help you practice wherever life happens

As a thank-you for joining before the upcoming rebrand, use the code ALLOWED for a special surprise. ❤️

I'd absolutely love to practice with you.

If today's conversation encouraged you, would you take a moment to follow the podcast, leave a review, or share this episode with a friend who's been carrying a conversation they were never meant to carry alone?

One small share really does help this little community grow—one conversation at a time.

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

• What if your mornings didn't have to begin with chaos?
• What if we didn't have to wait until adulthood to untangle the stories we believe about ourselves?

This week, I walked into summer camp carrying an old canvas bag with one simple goal: to help a group of kids think differently about fear.

What happened next surprised all of us.

It also made me wonder...

What if a calmer morning isn't about finding the missing shoe or remembering the sack lunch?

What if it's about helping our brains return from Fear Brain to Love Brain before we ever walk out the door?

In this episode, I'm sharing the story of a room full of curious kids, a simple question that changed everything, and the moment I realized we may be giving children one of the greatest gifts possible—a language for remembering what's true.

We'll talk about Fear Brain, Love Brain, why language matters, why rituals matter, and how just a few intentional minutes each day can help children (and the grown-ups who love them) build a different story from the inside out.

Whether you're a parent, teacher, grandparent, coach, counselor, or someone who's still untangling old stories yourself...

this episode is for you.

Because maybe the goal isn't to raise fearless children.

Maybe the goal is to raise children who always know where to run when fear shows up.

•  The surprising lesson a group of campers taught me 
•  Why children borrow our language long before they understand it 
•  What Fear Brain and Love Brain actually mean 
•  Why neuroscience and faith both point to the importance of remembering 
•  How simple daily rituals help shape identity 
•  Why this message isn't just for kids... it's for us too 
•  How we can help children practice truth before fear writes their story 

FREE Fear Fighters Love Move

I created Fear Fighters as a free 6-minute morning Love Move to help children practice remembering what's true before they head into their day.

It's designed especially for school-age kids and works beautifully:

• ☀️ Before school as part of a calm, encouraging morning routine.
• 🎒 Before heading into camp, church, or activities to help them feel grounded and ready.
• 💛 After a hard day when they're carrying disappointment, worry, or big emotions.
• 🧠 Anytime they're stuck in Fear Brain—whether they're anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, discouraged, or simply need help remembering what's true.

It combines simple movement, faith, neuroscience, and repeated language to help children build healthy thought patterns over time.

👉 Get the FREE Fear Fighters Love Move here: Let's become fear fighters

But, can I ask you to do one small favor first? 

Before you share it with a child... I hope you'll try it first. Seriously. Open your hands. Walk through the 6 minutes yourself. Receive the words before you ask a child to receive them. Because children don't just learn from what we teach. They learn from what we practice.

When we begin living from a place of being loved, safe, and not alone... our children notice. And that's often where the deepest transformation begins.

If this episode encouraged you... 

would you send it to another grown-up who loves a child and maybe could use an easier morning?

Maybe that's a...

•  parent 
•  teacher 
•  grandparent 
•  coach 
•  counselor 
•  youth leader 
•  children's pastor 
•  aunt, uncle, or family friend 

Because language spreads. Let's give children a language worth borrowing.

Because somewhere there's a child who needs to remember they're loved.

Let's help them remember what's true.

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

Have you ever climbed into bed completely exhausted... and still wondered if you did enough?

Enough for your kids.
Enough at work.
Enough around the house.
Enough for everyone else.

If you've ever carried that invisible weight, this conversation is for you.

In this heartfelt conversation, I'm joined by Stacy Goldstein, host of the Golden Spark Podcast, to explore what's really happening beneath mom guilt, overwhelm, and the mental load so many women quietly carry every day.

Together, we unpack the hidden questions that shape our thoughts, the stories we unknowingly believe, and why understanding the root of our stress is often the first step toward lasting peace.

We also talk about the surprising research behind motherhood—including the invisible mental load many women carry—and why so many moms feel like they're failing when they're actually carrying far more than they were ever meant to.

If you've been longing to stop surviving your days and start experiencing them more peacefully and beautifully, I think you'll find hope in this conversation.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why mom guilt is often a symptom—not the real problem
• The hidden emotional weight women carry every day
• The invisible mental load of motherhood
• Why so many women quietly wonder, "Am I enough?"
• How childhood patterns can continue shaping adult life
• Why naming the root of a struggle begins to loosen its power
• Practical ways to move from survival mode toward greater peace and presence
• How faith and awareness work together to create lasting change

Connect with Stacy 💛 

I know you're going to love Stacy's heart and her work. Here are a few places to connect with her:

🌿 Golden Spark Podcast

🌿 Renewed Mom Community (Facebook Group)

🌿 Free Motherhood Truth Worksheet & Email Community

🌿 Substack

🌿 Instagram

🌿 Freebies, coaching program, book a call and more!

🎁 A Gift for You

If today's conversation made you "feel things", I'd love to invite you to experience one of my favorite Love Moves.

The Latte of Love is a guided 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover designed to help you calm your body, refocus your thoughts, and gently shift your attention from fear toward love.

Think of it as our next coffee chat together!

☕ I've opened 10 coffee tabs for this episode! Use code COFFEECHAT and I'll cover part of your Latte of Love, so you can enjoy a 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover for about the price of a cup of coffee (while tabs last).

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

Have you ever been completely convinced you knew what someone else was thinking… only to find out you were completely wrong?

Maybe it was an unanswered text. A short conversation. Your spouse's tone. A medical test result. Before you knew it, your brain had filled in the blanks and written an entire story.

In this episode, we're talking about why your brain naturally creates stories, why those stories feel so believable, and—most importantly—how to begin rewiring the pattern.

Together we'll explore:

• Why awareness is one of the greatest gifts God has given us
• The surprising neuroscience behind "intentional activity"
• Why fear brain gets certain while love brain gets curious
• A simple three-step practice (NOR) you can use this week!
• Practical ways to interrupt spirals and retrain your attention
• How tiny acts of faithfulness create lasting transformation

If you've ever found yourself overthinking, catastrophizing, assuming the worst, or replaying conversations in your head, this episode is for you.

💚 Keep Growing:

If today's conversation helped you recognize some of the stories your brain has been writing, Love Moves was written for exactly that journey.

It's not a book to race through—it's a tool to return to.

Through faith, neuroscience, everyday stories, reflection questions, and practical exercises, Love Moves will help you grow awareness, practice intention, and begin rewiring the patterns that shape how you experience your life.

Grab your copy, or the audio version, here: Love Moves...the book

Remember:

Awareness turns the lights on.

Intention helps us choose a different path.

And tiny things, repeated faithfully, create a beautiful life.

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

We all want a map. God keeps handing us a lamp.

Have you ever wished God would just hand you the plan already?

Not a hint.
Not a nudge.
Not a lamp.

A map.

A five-year plan. Clear directions. Confirmation that you're making the right decision and not accidentally wandering into the wilderness with a coffee and a dream.

In this episode, we're talking about the pressure to figure everything out—and why so many of us struggle to move forward without certainty.

As I've been reading through Genesis, I keep noticing a surprising pattern: God rarely gives people the whole map. Instead, He gives them enough light for the next faithful step.

Together we'll explore:

✨ Why perfectionists often struggle to follow a calling

✨ The difference between building a tower and following God's invitation

✨ What Noah, Abram, and the Tower of Babel reveal about control, trust, and uncertainty

✨ Why your nervous system craves certainty (and what to do when it doesn't get it)

✨ The four layers God often provides when He calls us forward:

• Instruction
• Provision
• Protection
• Timing

If you've been overthinking your future, questioning your purpose, feeling behind, or carrying the weight of trying to get everything right, this episode is for you.

Because maybe faith isn't having the whole map.

Maybe it's trusting the lamp.

📖 Want to keep exploring this journey?

My book, Love Moves, isn't a map for your life—but I hope it feels like a lamp.

 Through faith, neuroscience, practical tools, and simple daily practices, it will help you notice your patterns, renew your mind, calm the noise, and build from connection instead of fear.

Grab a copy on Amazon, request it from your local library, or grab the book, ebook, or audiobook here: LOVE MOVES 💛 

If this episode encouraged you, would you leave a review or share it with a friend? It helps more women find the show and reminds the algorithm that thoughtful conversations still matter. Let's remind em!

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]

Be confident... but not intimidating.

Take up space... but not too much.

Shine your light... but don't make it about yourself.

Care about beauty... but not too much.

After a while, it's no wonder so many women feel confused.

We're surrounded by competing messages about who we're supposed to be, how we're supposed to show up, and what we're allowed to enjoy. Somewhere in the middle of all that noise, many of us have stopped asking a simple question:

Am I allowed to live beautifully?

And maybe more importantly: What does God think about that question?

In this episode, we're exploring a surprising lesson hidden in the wilderness. While the Israelites were still wandering, still becoming, and still waiting for the Promised Land, God asked them to build something beautiful.

Not later.

Not when everything was fixed.

Not when they finally arrived.

Right there in the middle of the mess.

Together we'll explore:

• ✨ Why beauty sometimes feels suspicious
• ✨ The whispers that convince us to shrink ourselves
• ✨ Why living beautifully has less to do with vanity and more to do with worth
• ✨ How identity and behavior begin to match
• ✨ Why God cared about beauty in the wilderness
• ✨ How to stop postponing joy, peace, and becoming
• ✨ Why beauty is at its best when it points us toward God

Because maybe the beautiful life isn't waiting somewhere in the future.

Maybe God is inviting us to notice it, build it, and live it right here.

To recognize instead of apologize.

To celebrate instead of diminish.

To let beauty point us toward God.

Not from the outside in. But from the inside out.

It's a beauty manifesto... and it's time to live beautifully!

The 3 Resources Mentioned:

💜 Wonderfully Made to Live Beautifully 6-minute inside-out makeover video

&

📖 Get YOUR copy: If you're learning how to stop apologizing for beauty and start living from your God-given worth, Love Moves is the guidebook I wrote for that journey. (Snag a fresh copy, the audiobook, or the ebook! Which is your fav?)

&

☕ The Brim (Before the Rebrand) This is my imperfect invitation.

The Brim is currently in its own becoming season. As Love Moves and Called & Curious continue to grow, this community will eventually be refreshed and renamed to better reflect where we're headed.

But if you'd like to join us before the rebrand, I'd love to have you.

Inside you'll find:

• ✨ The Wonderfully Made to Live Beautifully experience
• ✨ 18 additional Love Moves designed to help you makeover stressful moments again and again
• ✨ A portable gym for your nervous system
• ✨ Practical tools to help you experience more peace, joy, confidence, and connection with God in everyday life

Use code: ALLOWED for 50% off of The Brim while we're still in the messy middle.

START HERE IF YOU WANT MORE PEACE →

• ✨ Love Moves (the book) — your starting point for the six-minute inside-out makeover

Start your inside-out makeover with Love Moves

• 💌 The Monthly Pour — pour a little peace into your inbox each month

Get the Monthly Pour

• 🌿 Try Love Moves: The 6-Minute Inside-Out Makeover — simple, guided practices to reset your nervous system and actually feel better in mind, body, and spirit

Try a 6-minute Love Move

• ✨ Join The Brim — where peace becomes a habit and you build your portable gym for your nervous system 

Join The Brim

• 🔗 Explore more at Called & Curious

Visit Called and Curious

• Questions or hellos? I’d love to hear from you:

Email me at [email protected]