My Sister's Keeper.blog

We are here, my sisters, the end of season 1 of My Sister's Keeper.blog The Podcast! I'm amazed that there are 22 episodes of the podcast available for you listeners to enjoy whenever you choose to from now until whenever. In this episode we talk a bit more about the meaning of this holiday season for me and I share some of my family traditions that I've adopted that have given new meaning and renewed joy in this time especially with my son and creating beautiful memories with and for him. 
Thank you so much for being a part of the My Sister's Keeper family and coming on this journey of season 1 with me. I'm looking forward to season 2 in 2023 and what new content I'll bring to the program. The time is going to fly and I can't wait to share with you what I've been working on and what's up next for us.

In this last segment of my conversation with my siblings, Michael Cato & Mishael Cato Williams, we conclude our talk with some powerful memories and a few words of advise for anyone walking through their own grief journey. Again we are not mental health professionals and encourage you to seek out assistance if you have experienced the loss of a loved one. Having someone to talk to who can serve as a guide in the healing process can be so invaluable. Below I have listed several online resources: articles on making plans for the holidays as well as a couple online events as well as in person events where you can connect with others who can help you in your healing journey. We were not meant to live in isolation but community, so I encourage you to reach out to others, share some of your story with someone. Take it one step at a time.


Resources:
Choosing Therapy's Dealing with Grief During the Holidays: 28 Ways to Cope
Hospice Foundation of America - 3 Cs for Coping with Grief
GriefShare Surviving the Holidays
Grief.com Grief & the Holidays
VITAS Healthcare Coping with Grief During the Holidays

Grief is immensely difficult and the holidays can be uniquely triggering as times when family & close friends gather together and traditions including loved ones we've lost are no longer the same. How do we cope? How do we carry on? In this episode, I continue my conversation with my day one siblings, Mishael Cato Williams and Michael Cato, for a conversation about how we've coped and healed during the holidays especially after losing our mother so close to Christmas. We laugh, we cry and we remember together some beautiful memories. We are not, however, mental health professionals and encourage you to seek out assistance if you have experienced the loss of a loved one. Having someone to talk to who can serve as a guide in the healing process can be so invaluable. Below I have listed several online resources: articles on making plans for the holidays as well as a couple online events as well as in person events where you can connect with others who can help you in your healing journey. We were not meant to live in isolation but community, so I encourage you to reach out to others, share some of your story with someone. Take it one step at a time.

Resources:
Choosing Therapy's Dealing with Grief During the Holidays: 28 Ways to Cope
Hospice Foundation of America - 3 Cs for Coping with Grief
GriefShare Surviving the Holidays
Grief.com Grief & the Holidays
VITAS Healthcare Coping with Grief During the Holidays

Grief is immensely difficult and the holidays can be uniquely triggering as times when family & close friends gather together and traditions including loved ones we've lost are no longer the same. How do we cope? How do we carry on? In this episode, I've gotten together with my day one siblings, Mishael Cato Williams and Michael Cato, for a conversation about how we've coped and healed during the holidays
especially after losing our mother so close to Christmas. We laugh, we cry and we remember together some beautiful memories. We are not, however, mental health professionals and encourage you to seek out assistance if you have experienced the loss of a loved one. Having someone to talk to who can serve as a guide in the healing process can be so invaluable. Below I have listed several online resources: articles on making plans for the holidays as well as a couple online events as well as in person events where you can connect with others who can help you in your healing journey. We were not meant to live in isolation but community, so I encourage you to reach out to others, share some of your story with someone. Take it one step at a time.

Resources:
Choosing Therapy's Dealing with Grief During the Holidays: 28 Ways to Cope
Hospice Foundation of America - 3 Cs for Coping with Grief
GriefShare Surviving the Holidays
Grief.com Grief & the Holidays
VITAS Healthcare Coping with Grief During the Holidays

This time of year is always hard for me. The changing colors of the leaves remind me of the fall my mother went back into the hospital. This time of year can be triggering for many in their grief as we approach the holidays without loved ones who've passed away. I hope that my testimony gives hope to someone in grief and inspires you to reach out to a loved one you know who's walking through grief.

I've linked a resource page from the grief counseling service I used. If you or someone you know has experienced a loss, please check out the links below for assistance.
https://www.trellissupport.org/services/grief-counseling
https://www.trellissupport.org/content/supportive-resources

In this episode, Marsha catches us up on her healthy habit formation journey at about day 21. What's working? Where's there room for improvement? Check out the episode to hear what Marsha has learned in this process and where she hopes this goes.  As always, we love to hear from you! Let us know what healthy habits you're working on!You can connect with Marsha on Instagram @mysisterskeeper.blog and on Facebook @Marsha Cato

References:
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/13743-habits
https://www.life.church/media/habits/
Craig Groeschel's 3 Steps for Finding Your Words to Live By
https://finds.life.church/words/
Books to check out:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg  
The Compound Effect by James Hardy

In this episode, Marsha catches us up on her healthy habit formation journey at about day 14. What's working? Where's there room for improvement? Check out the episode to hear the wins of the week and the challenges. As always, we love to hear from you! Let us know what healthy habits you're working on!You can connect with Marsha on Instagram @mysisterskeeper.blog and on Facebook @Marsha Cato

References:
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/13743-habits
https://www.life.church/media/habits/
Craig Groeschel's 3 Steps for Finding Your Words to Live By
https://finds.life.church/words/
Books to check out:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg  
The Compound Effect by James Hardy

In this episode, Marsha checks in with us sisters about her progress in creating good habits and breaking bad habits. Creating a new habit takes 21 days, so we're just about 6 days into this process with Marsha and she shares some of what she's worked on this week and what tools she's utilized to support her in these goals. As always, we'd love to hear from you and any habits you're creating or breaking and what tools you've found useful to the process.  You can connect with Marsha on Instagram @mysisterskeeper.blog and on Facebook @Marsha Cato
References:
Craig Groeschel's 3 Steps for Finding Your Words to Live By
https://finds.life.church/words/

In this episode, Marsha shares the major habit she's struggling to break and replace and the process she's working through. We talked about the inspiration for this habit process last week being the YouVersion devotional and the Life.Church sermon series  and we delve a bit into the teachings Pastor Craig Groeschel shares. This episode I talk more about healthy identity being the basis for healthy habits and begin to delve into what unhealthy thoughts are behind our bad habits. This is largely a heart share of what habit Marsha is working to break right now and I hope it inspires you to look at your own pet bad habit and what you may need to work through too. 

References:
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/13743-habits
https://www.life.church/media/habits/
Books to check out:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg  
The Compound Effect by James Hardy

I'm back!! I know, I know, I'm so sorry I went MIA again last week! This last month has been a mess with me being down for 2 weeks due my son's and my covid illnesses and I've really been struggling getting back into the routine of life now that we're back in the outside world full time. (Can I just say the covid brain forgetfulness thing is real!! It's as bad as milk brain, to any of my nursing mamas!) In this episode I share some of what's been going on in my world and what I've learned and am learning that will aid me in greater intentional living this Mama life as well as better enable me to show up for our weekly time together, my sisters! Pull up a seat and settle in for a little chat about habits and let's see what we can learn together!
References:
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/13743-habits
https://www.life.church/media/habits/
Books to check out:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg  
The Compound Effect by James Hardy