Happy Delight Day! You will hear me greet every Friday this way because I've spent years crafting a life where I (just Leslee) gets an actual day of rest. Seems crazy in a world where every second of our schedules are spoken for, but it's possible!

Years ago I read a fascinating book called, The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Pete Scazzero, and I was introduced to what Sabbath rest actually was. Did you know it doesn't have to be on a Sunday?! Here I was a professional minister for 13 years and I thought just being at church checked off that commandment... wrong.

Keeping the Sabbath day is about being still and delighting in the Lord with what brings you delight! Now, I purposely do not work on Fridays, turn off all work, and keep my day slow and open to what brings me joy:

- Long conversations with friends
- Belly laughs
- Dancing in the kitchen
- Bubble baths in the middle of the afternoon
- Uninterrupted naps

All of these things can be holy when we invite the Lord into them and it's a rest I've never experienced before.

You may be thinking theres is no way you could take a day to yourself with your current schedule... but could you take 15 minutes, 1hr, a half day? Get creative and challenge the status quo of our hustle culture to create quiet space that honors you and the Lord.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
The Emotionally Health Leader by Pete Scazerro
The Power of Fun by Catherine Price

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Are you looking out into the unknown inches away from leaping into something incredible? I'm there right now and my stomach is in knots. I have a list of reasons why I am so unqualified and why jumping now is too soon, too premature, and too risky.

Are you on this ledge too? The truth is we will never be 100% ready. I can think of many times I leapt and ended up right where I needed to be, but I still get to the ledge and become paralyzed with fear.

In today's episode I list the 5 steps I use to start before I am ready and I know they will help you fall into the things that light your heart up too!

This is what life is about, living it to the fullest and without regrets. Fear doesn't get to have the final say and I am here to make sure you do what you have been dreaming of for years.

I am standing here with you! Let's start before we are ready together.

Show notes:
Everything is Figureoutable By Marie Forleo 
Jesus Calls His First Disciples - Mark 1:16-20 NIV

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There is no way around the fact that you were given a body to live out your mission and motherhood. I recently came across a quote by Aundi Kolber that says, "your body is the home that holds you." When I read this I immediately thought about what state my home was in.

If I am being honest, I have pushed through so many aches, pains, skin issues, and more because, "that's just life as a working mom." In fact, in 2021 I had so many health issues that happened back to back it forced me to go from just dealing with my symptoms to being derailed by them.

I see this in the women I coach constantly. We are so disconnected to our bodies, and I am talking way beyond the appearance of it. We've lost touch with the overall vitality of our physical bodies.

In this episode, Dr. Maegan Stanga, Functional Medicine Practitioner and Immune System Expert, joins me in a deep conversation on what our physical symptoms actually mean and how ignoring them can lead to a complete health crisis.

We can have every intention in the world to live out a vibrant mission and motherhood, but if our bodies fail us, we accomplish neither.

You symptoms are telling a story, are you listening?

Resources listed in this episode:

The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
drstanga.com 
https://www.instagram.com/drmaeganstanga/
https://www.facebook.com/drstanga

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Do you wake up wondering what type of mood your children will have that day? Does your home feel more like a battle ground than a sanctuary?

There isn't one thing that makes me doubt my mission and motherhood more than a struggling child at home. Tantrums irk me... like really irk me and I feel the boiling blood rise throughout my body. When no parenting strategy seems to stick, I immediately believe it's because I am not home enough, available enough, attentive enough to my child.

In this episode with Sarah Wilburn, Behavioral Analyst, we break down the science of tantrums, what they mean, why they happen, what they cause in us as moms, and what we can do to actually change our kids behavior!

Isn't this perfect timing right before the start of the new school year?

You are a good mom! You are doing a lot and should be proud of the way you are showing up for your kids.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
You Are a Bad Ass - Jenn Sincero   
Babes Support Babes - babessupportbabes.org
@sarahelwilburn
[email protected]    

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You have the dream, you are doing the work,  raising the kids... but it's getting really lonely.  You may not want to admit it, but you actually feel clueless when it comes to making friends.

Listen, it wasn't long ago we were forced into isolation and now we are all stumbling around wondering how to re-engage with others. I can't tell you how often I hear women lament about their lack of community and how much it would mean to them to have a group of friends who "get" the mission and motherhood lifestyle. 

On this episode, I've invited my "built-in bestie," my sister, Christine Brinkman, founder of Babes Support Babes. Babes Support Babes is a local all female community in San Antonio, TX with nearly 100 members. The mission of BSB is to grow in friendship, business, and life together. This year Christine opened the Babes Support Babes Co-Space, a physical location for the members and surrounding community to do way more than just co-work, but share life's precious moments together. 

Needless to say, Christine knows how to gather women together and she is not only sharing the transformational power of community within mission and motherhood, but practical ways to make a friend! Yes, we all need this reminder. 

Being a woman that pursues both her career and motherhood needs a tribe of women to cheer her on. Find out how to do that in this episode! 

To learn more about the incredible work Babes Support Babes is doing, check out their website at babesupportbabes.org and follow them on instagram @bsbsatx. 

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If motherhood has ever felt like an endless checklist of things to be done and little people to keep alive, then you and I have a lot in common.

Many of us are really good household managers. We run our homes like a tight ship and, let's be honest, when it's done our way there is a sense of control that soothes our anxious minds and hearts.

In the last couple of years, I began to sense a stirring from the Lord asking me about my motherhood. What was the point of motherhood? Why did it feel like there was depth lacking in my relationships with my children and yet discovering it felt so out of reach?

I believe the purpose of motherhood is to not only pass down our faith and raise up disciples of Jesus, but to be mindful of everything else we pass down. Did you know only 2% of our DNA is the stuff that makes up our kids appearance? The rest of the 98% is all of our learned behavior and personalities.

Proverbs 4:23 talks about guarding our hearts for out of it flows the springs or rivers of life. This spring of life or energy that flows from my heart is felt by my child. They can also feel when it's blocked. What are we passing down to our children? How much of us are they really receiving? If I'm called to raise disciples, what am I actually discipling?

Motherhood isn't about the doing. It's about the being. Motherhood doesn't start with our children. It starts with us.

You are not called to be a manager of your home. You are called to be a mother.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
It Didn't Start with You By: Wolynn

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If you've ever felt like you needed permission to look outside your role as mom for significance, this episode is for you.

I've spent years feeling guilty and ashamed for needing more than my motherhood to bring me purpose and I pray this episode sends relief to your tired heart. Today we talk all about the importance of mission, what it is, and how to find it.

In sharing my own journey of purpose, I guide you through the pitfalls of "going with the crowd" and allowing others to  direct our lives. One day we will look up and realize we've lived a life we never actually wanted and abandoned dreams we desperately desired. 

For some,  this conversation may be painful. I know what disappointment after disappointment in life feels like and to dream again may mean to be hurt again. Dream anyway! You deserve a life you enjoy and not one you merely endure.

Resources mentioned in today's episode:

The Emotionally Healthy Woman by Geri Scazzero

Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing

The Demartini Value Determination Process

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Have you ever experienced motherhood whiplash? You know, going full throttle in your career only to slam on the brakes because you've realized you left your family in the dust. How about when you decide to turn in the laptop and spreadsheets for full time carpool and laundry sorting? You try to squeeze every ounce of fulfillment out of those dirty dishes, but it's obvious this is not doing it for you. 

So where does that leave us? Do we have to choose? It's a soul-draining back and forth and I am done getting stuck in the middle. 

On this episode of the Mission and Motherhood podcast, I share my journey to saying no more and how I discovered the freedom in saying yes to both! 

Listen, subscribe, and leave a review so other ambitious women like you can be set free from this trap. 

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