Get Real with Meredith

This week, I have a very special guest. Her name is Becky Savage. She is nationally known as the Founder of the 525 Foundation. 

Her non-profit was created to honor her two sons that passed away on June 14, 2015 from unintentional overdose after going to graduation parties. You can find videos of their story, interviews, speeches and news coverage here. 

She lives right here in Northern Indiana and we first met seven years ago, actually the first time she spoke publicly about it.

Their foundation has a simple mission: to educate teens and families and raise awareness about the dangers of alcohol and prescription drug misuse and abuse.

What happened to her is what no one expects happen in their community, let alone their own home. A tragedy to say the least. But in the wake of her immense loss, she has become a beacon of light in our area and other communities.  She has taken what life handed her and has used it for good. Listen to this week's interview and find out:

This was a very real conversation that will make you want to have real conversations with your loved ones. You don't want to miss it. 

If you've got kids who are smoking marijuana (and they think you know it or not), or binge drink on college campuses - you will want to listen to this. 

Even if you are one of those young people who is partaking in any of it, I recommend listening so you can get a very realistic perspective of what could happen.  

I appreciate Becky's candidness in this interview and her willingness to show up to honor her two boys, to love on her two boys who are still here, and to be an example to the rest of us of what we can do when this kind of thing happens in our community, or our family. 300 people a day means it will come pretty close. So don't miss this.

I pray it blesses you and that you pass it along to everyone you know because it’s incredibly important for our next generation.

This is a word from the Lord that came on my way home from the Able Moms conference in Chicago this past weekend, March 4th. It's a reminder for young women - in your 20s and early 30s, and really any woman to remember who you are and what God can do for you and tell you why what you see on my highlight reel didn't come easily. I fought hard for it, and only got it because I ran back to God and leaned on him through ALL of it and continue to today. I want this to encourage you and meet you wherever you are, to remind you that God has a good plan for your life.

We’re in week two of Lent and every year this passage from Psalm 51:10 comes up for many of us.

 “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” ESV

The question is, what does that really mean? 

How can you go deeper with it? 

What might be blocking you from allowing the Lord to clear your heart? 

Are you willing to open your heart to the Lord? 

To look honestly at what's going on with it? 

Take a listen this week and hear how you can.

There is a move of God happening in our nation. We're seeing it as Asbury and even other places now. It also just so happens to be the beginning of lent - the time when Christians take the time to go deeper with the Lord before Easter. Are you wanting to grow spiritually? Listen to this week's episode as I talk about how God is moving not just on these college campuses but also how he showed up at the Super Bowl in players and advertisements. You will hear some interesting recent research by Barna about how more people thank you think in our nation want to grow spiritually. I pray this episode gives you wisdom about how you want to respond to this move of God and whether or not you want to choose to remain in the darkness or live in the light. 

We’ve all been rejected in some way in our lives. Yes, I’m talking about this on the love holiday because I like to get real and this is something that can block us from the love of God and life, really. If we’re not careful it can keep us consumed with feelings and thoughts that hold us back and eventually it becomes our identity. I want to help you get to the root of that and release it to God.

Do you have a mentor in your life? I’m not talking about career mentors, I’m talking about spiritual mentors. Yes, women who come alongside you right in the middle of whatever season you are in and help you walk through things. They have often lived through very similar things and have had seasons of life change them and give them wisdom. But most importantly - they found a way to lean on the Lord and because of that, they can help point you to Him. 

Listen to this weeks podcast as I interview my friend Janet Thompson who has helped train hundreds of women on how to be and find mentors in the church. She built a program at Saddleback Church in California years ago that is still used today. But that’s not all. She’s written multiple other books on various seasons of life including infertility, cancer and even what to do when your husband retires or stays home and is in your space. She shares what she’s lived through and even what others have been through in her books. I think you’ll enjoy it. I pray it blesses you and makes you more intentional about finding a mentor or finding someone you can mentor in your life or church.

You will want to hear/watch this interview. God connected us and it’s for a reason. Amanda is a mom who is the CEO of the organization Able Moms and she’s got quite a testimony. From her personal experience in a grocery store with her 3 year old daughter in a grocery store, she’s become a fierce advocate to fight child trafficking. But that wasn’t all. Her son drowned (and lived). Her home burned down shortly after Christmas and then had a miscarriage. She’s been through some serious battles and learned to not just know of Jesus but KNOW Jesus through those seasons.

Did you know lack of strong families relationships are a key factor in making a child be a good candidate for trafficicking? Crazy.

Able Moms is about this, AND so much more. Check them out at www.ablemoms.org. Their conference is March 4th and they will get any Mom a ticket who can’t afford it.

You can also find Amanda at www.amandaflo.com and her book on her website or Amazon. It’s called: “Unraveled: Mothering Fiercly in a World Full of Fears.

This week we’re talking about having a firm foundation and how roots can affect a foundation. You have to choose, am I going to seek the Lord and learn how to walk in step with the Spirit? Or am I going to walk in step with the wicked. You have to decide.   Am I going to surrender my life to Christ and let Him build what I can’t build by myself? Do you know how a tree’s roots can permeate a house and mess up the foundation? Have you looked at the roots in your life? Are there bitter ones? Are there past hurts? Is there trauma you haven’t addressed?   This message is about doing an assessment of the foundation of your life. How steady is it? Have you built it on the firm foundation? or on sand. Are you willing to let the Lord dig out the roots and stuff under the foundation so it can become stronger? By the way, it’s not about the roots themselves, it’s about the soil responds to it. It’s not about what happened, it’s about how you responded to it - and that’s what you need to address. Are you ready?

This is Part II of a special podcast for March for Life week. This second part is devoted to Lacy's daughter, Mary Logan who is an absolute FORCE in the pro-life movement already, at a very young age. You've got to hear her story and how beautiful it is to see God use her simply because her mom chose life. To listen with her mom present is just beautiful.

I pray both of these podcasts bless you as much as they blessed me. God is so good and faithful. I pray whoever needs to hear this, gets to hear it. To God be the glory.

This is Part I of a very special podcast for March for Life week. My friend Lacy Miske (formerly Dodd) was a classmate at Notre Dame. We reconnected back in 2019 over baby products when we were both expecting. But the Lord has just been  keeping us connected over conservative values and love for ND and our country. She served in the military upon graduation while I served in the White House.

I knew of her story, getting pregnant senior year at ND, but I didn't know the real story and I wanted her to tell it. This was all God and His timing. Little did I know until about two days before the interview was - this was the first time both her and her daughter would be sharing their story together publicly. Friends, I am humbled and honored to have hosted these two amazing women. You have to hear the story - and this - is just Part 1 with Lacy.

I pray both of these podcasts bless you as much as they blessed me. God is so good and faithful. I pray whoever needs to hear this, gets to hear it. To God be the glory.