Go With God

First time moms and multi-time moms, we need each other. NOTM favorite, Whitney, jumps in to share her own insights into arguably the biggest 'no one told me' season some women ever experience. With fresh baby waiting for her at home, Whit talks about what she wishes more women knew about motherhood and why changing her sheets has become a non-negotiable. (Those two things aren't actually related.)

Long title, right? And that barely covers everything talked about in this episode with Amanda Held Opelt. She's one of my favorite guests ever on NOTM because of her genuine honesty and authenticity as she figures it all out right along with us. What should we be more worried about than figuring out what to do with our lives? Why is learning to steward where we are more important than uncovering where we're going? Why do we believe that being bored or frustrated means we're getting life wrong? Is it okay to sometimes be restless even though you have a good life? What are the red flags that pride is making more of your decisions than humility?

See? I'm telling you - we cover all the bases and then the outfield, too. Okay, so maybe a sports analogy isn't exactly on brand around here, but you get it. Listen and then share it with all your friends. They need it, too.

When you find yourself in the uncomfortable, unexpected and *maybe* unwanted seasons of life - there's one thing we can all agree on: Bangs are not the answer. Here's the thing, you will undoubtedly land yourself in moments you wish would pass a little faster. And moments you wish would slow down.

So, how do you navigate the rollercoaster?

My friend, Kaley, has been on this coaster with me since my early 20's. We've figured out how to make decisions when none of the options seemed great, how to keep moving forward when you don't know what forward looks like and how to avoid trying to control all the small things when the big things start getting out of hand.

If you've ever wanted to push fast forward on where you're at - just go ahead and push play.

There are few seasons of life filled with more "no one told me" moment than motherhood. This podcast launched from a living room tirade against the hospitals that let people who know nothing about babies take a baby home (i.e. hospitals *fairly* send babies home with their first-time parents). Three kids deep and I'm still trying to navigate all being a mom requires - so I brought in a mom with 40+ years experience under her belt to look back and harness her own hindsight on behalf of all the mothers coming after her. My mom, who I lovingly call Carol Barrel, sits down and shares the top things she wish she'd learn sooner when she moved into the mother-hood.

Two things we're usually terrible at: transitions & incredibly high expectations. We spend so much time imagining the other side of a transition - the new role, new relationship, new job, new addition to the family...we forget the toll of what it takes to get there. Expectations hold more power than we think, and most times all it takes is a transition to show us that truth. I find myself in the heart of transition, within multiple areas of my life, and what makes or breaks each day is how I navigate what I expect versus what I experience.

In our final installment of the mini series, Good To Know, Sam and Katelyn take on what drives much of our fears: Failure. But there's freedom in knowing no failure is ever final. There's always more to your story.

What if we viewed fear as an invitation into faith? What if we decided to keep walking in spite of our fear? What if we spent less time imagining scenarios that will probably never be and more time claiming the promises of rooted in all God has already done?

What if we stopped asking, "What if..."?

These are choices. And we're choosing to claim that fear will not be our future. Sam and Katelyn continue their NOTM take over with an important conversation full of Truths that are good to know - Fear Is Not My Future.

You know what complicates? Feelings. Whether it's deciding which job to take, which relationships are healthy or if your heart wants Chick-fil-a or Moe's for dinner - it feels almost impossible to separate the onslaught of emotion from the final decision made. So how do we train our hearts and thoughts to recognize feelings without letting them dictate our everyday? While our host, Callie, is still on baby leave, our friends Sam and Katelyn step in with NOTM mini series, Good To Know, focusing today on what we all need to know: Feelings Are Not Facts.

Sam and Katelyn are putting a different spin on things around here over the next few weeks. They’re going to take a look back on the past few years of their lives and share insights in their mini-series, Good To Know. What was actually really useful to be aware of what advice needed to go straight in the garbage?

That kind of insight really would be Good to Know.

We have to identify and fight our hesitation to do anything until we understand everything. That's not a life of faith. We don't have to see the full picture to be confident in our next step. I can't wait for you to hear more from Katie Davis Majors as she shares her story of faithful steps on a path she couldn't always see clearly.