Have you ever noticed how we tend to keep only the highlights?

Whether it's the pictures on our phones, videos of our kids, a scorecard on the golf course, or even the stories we tell ourselves, it's easy to celebrate the wins while trying to erase the moments that didn't go as planned.

In this episode, I share a few personal experiences that made me stop and ask, Why am I so quick to delete the hard parts? We'll talk about how joy and sorrow can exist together, why we don't have to wait for life to be perfect to experience joy, and how God sees so much more than our highlight reel.

Maybe the moments we're tempted to erase are the very ones shaping us into who we're becoming.

And maybe we should start asking: "What part of my story have I been trying to delete that maybe God is asking me to keep?"

Many of us spend our lives mentally living somewhere else:

• Thinking about what happened yesterday.
• Worrying about tomorrow.
• Planning the next thing.
• Scrolling.
• Multitasking

But the only place joy can actually be experienced is right now.

Joy is a present-moment emotion.

And how often are we truly present? I find my mind wandering to the future, worrying about the "next" thing, anticipating, problem-solving, and overthinking about things of the past. These are JOY KILLERS!

Join with me as we learn more about JOY!

How it lives in ordinary moments, not big fancy vacations or places in the mountains. It is in the little things every single day. We will discuss how the scriptures repeatedly remind us to remember! A word that connects us to the presence, one of the most sacred spiritual practices.

We will discuss how joy can co-exist with grief, sorrow, and homesickness, and the enemies of joy!

And, we will give ourselves a challenge to go on a Joy Hunt where we will look for five things in our ordinary, present moments!

Listen in, become present, and experience more JOY!

With the 250th celebration of the United States being this year, what better way to honor America's past than by shaping its future through service? In this episode, we talk about why kindness is more than simply being nice, how small acts of service create lasting change, and why the greatest legacy we can leave is the way we love and lift those around us. We discuss how ordinary people, through everyday kindness, can make an extraordinary difference! How kindness and service benefit the give AND the reciever, and how we can try to do a little better to be KIND rather than just nice!

Does your load feel too heavy right now?

While responsibilities like work, parenting, relationships, and service can fill our plates, often it's the other things that add the most weight. In today's podcast, we discuss 5 things that add weight to our loads.

1. Responsibilities
2. Worries
3. Expectations
4. Emotional Backpacks
5. Other people's "stuff"

We will discuss each of these and how they can all add up to the weight that we feel. We will also discuss how to help manage that weight and load.

We will talk about making two lists:

1. My responsiblities
2. Things I'm worried about but can't contol.

Most importantly, we'll reflect on Christ's invitation to those who are "heavy laden" and how learning to surrender our burdens can bring greater peace, strength, and clarity.

If you've been feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or emotionally exhausted, this episode offers a reminder to get clear on what it is that is adding weight and reminding us all that we don't have to carry everything alone.

Questions to consider as you listen:

• What am I carrying right now?
• Which burdens belong to me, and which do not?
• What might I need to place in the Savior's hands?

Join me as we explore how to lighten the load and find greater peace in the middle of life's demands.

As Mother's Day has come and gone and Father's Day approaches, I've been thinking about the ways our parents continue to shape us long after childhood. Many of us can still hear their voices in our minds, the "one liners" they repeated, the lessons they taught, and the encouragement they offered when we needed it most.

When people say, "I miss my mom" or "I miss my dad," they often miss more than the person. They miss the comfort, guidance, protection, encouragement, and love that person provided.

What happens when we need those things as adults?

In this episode, we'll explore how the nurturing and strength we received from parents can continue to bless our lives today. We'll discuss how we can learn to offer ourselves compassion, encouragement, and support during difficult moments, and how we can become a source of comfort and strength for others.

We'll also look at parenting through a spiritual lens and consider how our longing for "home" may reflect our desire to feel closer to our Heavenly Parents. Through the love, service, and kindness of those around us, we can experience glimpses of Their influence and love.

Listen in as we explore the legacy our parents leave behind, not just in memories, but in the qualities we carry forward and share with others.

Fear has a way of pulling us into imagined futures. What if I fail? What if I get hurt? What if I let someone down?

In this episode, we talk about lessons from by baseball, missionary goodbyes, and everyday life: when fear starts telling stories, it's time to come back to the facts.

Using a simple framework called FACTS, you'll learn how to recognize what you're feeling, reconnect with what you know to be true, identify your support system, and take the next small step forward, even when fear is along for the ride.

Whether you're facing a difficult conversation, a big decision, a challenge at work, or simply feeling overwhelmed by life's uncertainties, this episode will give you a practical tool to help you break the fear spiral and move forward with greater confidence and peace. State the FACTS!

F — Feeling What am I feeling?

A — Area Where do I feel it in my body?

C — Certain What do I know for certain right now?

T — Team Who is on my team?

S — Small Step What is the next small step I can take?

Remember: courage isn't the absence of fear. Courage is knowing the facts and stepping forward anyway.

"There's no place like home."

This is something we've heard and felt our whole lives.

It's that feeling when you walk through the door after a long day or a long vacation.

That feeling after you cross home plate on the baseball field.

And that feeling after a long stressful day.

HOME

Our bodies do all that they can to maintain "homeostasis."

We sweat, release chemicals, shiver, and get defensive all in an effort to maintain or get back to a state of peace and rest.

Sometimes our bodies just do their thing, and it works, and sometimes we use unhealthy coping mechanisms that can get in the way of our natural rhythms.

In today's podcast, we talk about avoidance, overuse of external substances, and other methods we use to get a "quick fix" feeling of home, but they aren't a long-term solution.

We also talk about those long-term solutions that are better for us in the long run, like sleep, connection, acceptance, and processing of emotions, and controlling the controllables.

Listen in to today's podcast and learn ways to get back to HOME!

In today's episode, we are going to discuss prayer, proximity, and a concept called the two-step drill. This week my daughter Megan gave her farewell talk before she leaves on her mission to Louisville, Kentucky. In her message, she talked about prayer and how prayer is a way for us to gain a closer proximity to our Father and Heaven and the Savior. She used some personal experiences about her dad and Diet Coke that are amazing illustrations!

Megan then taught us about the two-step drill. This is a method that was done for employers to see who would act first in a room full of interviewees, and who would "two-step" or act second. Megan related this to her own experience when she saw that she was "two-stepping" and how she wants to be quicker to act after she prays.

This message is powerful, relatable, and full of truth and wisdom!

Enjoy!

This week on Lifting the Lifters, we're talking about the power of influence and how the small things we do every day quietly shape the trajectory of our lives, marriages, families, and future generations.

I kept coming back to one important question:

Who is influencing you?

In this episode, we talk about the women in our lives who influence us? What we learn from them, and how their influence impacts our lives and the lives of others.

We talk about Eve and her influence on the entire human family!

We also talk about: • Why small daily actions matter more than we think • The influence parents, spouses, friends, and mentors have in our lives • How little consistent efforts eventually create generational impact

The little things really do add up.

Choose today who you allow to influence you and in turn, be an influence for good in other's lives!

In this week's podcast, we discuss the lines of thinking. I don't know if we ever really break them down to help us understand what goes on in our heads.

We have what others think about us (or mostly what we THINK they think about us.)

What we think of others.

What we think about ourselves.

We spend a lot of time in a day with all three of these lines of thinking, but do we put more mental time and energy into what others are thinking? If we are, we may consider this: What do we have control over?

The only lines of thinking we have control over are what we are thinking about ourselves and about others.

In this podcast, we break ALL THREE lines of thinking down.

We talk about how when we try to get into other people's heads and read their minds or manipulate their thinking, we lose a sense of ourselves, and we become disregulated and put ourselves into a stressed state, fearing judgment and scrutiny.

We talk about what we think about others, how we can be more kind and compassionate toward other people.

And what we think about ourselves. We talk about creating a resume of all of the good qualities we possess.

Listen in to this week to learn more about our lines of thinking and how each one has an impact on our stress, connection, and peace!