Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 13 of The After Dinner Mint, a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

Why Do The Sads Feel So Sad? is a deep dive into grief with a Mental Health Social Worker, a woman in ministry, and a Clinical Psych Registrar. Britt, Maddy and Bec explore our experiences of grief including bereavement but also discuss loss through transitions, aging, and the loss of dreams and potential. Life in a fallen world means we, collectively, are well acquainted with grief.

Can grief be a gift? How do we learn to live with it when our bodies shut down? How do we grieve in community? How do we grieve as Christians? As always, we have questions. Join us around the dinner table as we flesh this one out.

In Wednesday’s episode, we discuss:

🎧 What grief is and the common responses of either ignoring it or being consumed by it.

🎧 How our lives have been shaped by sitting with grief and what it means to grieve as a Christian.

🎧 Making space for grief and being able to sit with it, through therapy, deep friendships, prayer and lament, and what makes this vital skill difficult.

🎧 Grieving in community: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories. Maddie Richards is a singer-songwriter and a regular contributor to Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We are interviewing all our contributors in Season 1 for you to get to know them better.

In today’s episode, we explore:

• The slowness of the creative process and how Maddie started writing and producing music
• Growing up in a Christian family but coming to faith in her twenties
• A life changing diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in her twenties, which deepened her trust in the Lord and relationship with church community.
• Her shift from wanting to do life on her own and feeling like she had to bring perfection to the Lord and her growing conviction that she can bring her mess to the Lord because he loves her.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or anywhere you get podcasts.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

Check out Post Swim, Maddie’s most recent single.

About Maddie

Madeleine resides in the sleepy town of Perth Western Australia where she mostly spends her days writing, singing and dancing. With a tone made to mesmerise and lyricism that is tender and true, Madeleine takes the listener to a Heavenlike sort of realm. When not creating songs, she is found down by the seaside or at her favourite local coffee shop. You can find more on Instagram @toastoastbaby

Want honest stories from Christian women in Western Australia in your inbox on Wednesdays? Sign up here.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

When You Are Not Quiet and Gentle is an exuberant conversation with Rach, Maddy, and Bec about extrovert personalities (the personality type that calls out to a speaker from the back of the room), the downward mental spiral when you compare yourself to Maud Flanders, and what on earth “quiet and gentle” actually means. Is it a personality type or something much more? Join an ED nurse, a women’s ministry worker, and clinical psych reg on a tour through nineties church culture, 1 Peter 3:3-4, and Greek words.

Disclaimer: We really, really emphasise that we are 100% not experts here. We’re processing what we’re learning about the application of biblical principles to life in the hope you might have these conversations with your friends too.

In today’s episode, we:

• Deep dive the concepts of quiet and gentle
• Discuss our experiences of not fitting the “quiet and gentle” mould
• Explore personality, internal vs external quietness, restless hearts, and dependence on the Lord
• Discuss what faithfulness to God has called you to do and be looks like in different women

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories. We are interviewing all our regular contributors in Season 1 for you to get to know them better. Khaiah Thomson is a social worker and the author of the Blackwood series.

In today’s episode, we explore:

• Turning your creative hobby into your job and finding ways to get unstuck
• Growing up as a pastor’s kid in the country. Khaiah believed she was a Christian, but when she moved to Perth as a teenager she wrestled with feeling alone and unloveable. God said to her, “You don’t know me.”
• In a time when people want to outsource discipleship of their kids, the value of growing up in a big family where she felt like it was a safe place to wrestle with all her big questions about faith and life.
• Working as a hospital social worker on the renal transplant team whilst also diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease. We discuss coming to terms with eventually needing a kidney transplant when she wanted to ignore it and learning to rest in the fact that God is in control.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

Check out Welcome to Blackwood, the first book in the trilogy. So fun!!

About Khaiah

West Australian Author Khaiah Thomson pens the Blackwood series. The first book Welcome to Blackwood won the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize in 2020. Khaiah first decided to write young adult fiction novels as a way to exercise her brain while on maternity leave. She wanted to create a magical escape for young readers, all the while gently weaving in themes of God’s love through the timeless battles of good versus evil, unconditional love and the power of redemption.

Khaiah lives in Perth with her husband and two sons. When she isn't working or in her home office writing, Khaiah can usually be found nose-deep in a book, gaming or at the nearest cafe, hovering close to the coffee machine. Khaiah’s Welcome to Blackwood series can be found in all good bookstores and Hawkeye Books.

Want honest stories from Christian women in Western Australia in your inbox on Wednesdays? Sign up here.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 9 of The After Dinner Mint, a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

You’re So Vain, You Probably Think This Podcast is About You is a conversation with Rach, Britt, Maddy, and Bec about our vain interests (see: fashion, deep-diving true crime podcasts, mindless celebrity knowledge, trashy novels, and music you scream-sing in the car with no kids around). The kind of stuff you wonder… “As a Christian, should I even be into this?”

In today’s episode, we:

🎧 Discuss what we are learning about pleasure, freedom, gratitude, and boundaries.

🎧 Deep dive about personality, identity, stewardship, and the authenticity trap

🎧 Share how we work out (even on air), whether a book or a show is a good thing for us

🎧 The role of community in working out what we watch and don’t watch, read or don’t read, listen or don’t listen to.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show. 

Learn more about the Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner team.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 8 of The After Dinner Mint podcast. The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories.

We are interviewing all our regular contributors in Season 1 for you to get to know them better. Mariah is a singer-songwriter and drummer from Perth, Western Australia.

In today’s episode, we explore:

• The joys of writing and performing music, as well as feeling close to God through music.
• Growing up in a musical family in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a mother who was Catholic and a father who was Pentecostal. In her twenties, Mariah attended a Bible teaching church with her family and came to realise how deeply God loved her.
• Mariah’s struggles with comparison in relation to her body image and music, and wanting to quit music because of this. She shared how God met her in this and what helps her fight discouragement and comparison.
• How these periods of struggle have influenced her new EP, I’ll Be Counting Still, releasing in July 2025.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get podcasts.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

Mariah is launching her new EP, I’ll Be Counting Still, live at The Ellington on Tuesday 1 July.

About Mariah

Mariah Hlatywayo (lutch-why-oh) is a singer-songwriter and drummer from Perth, Western Australia. She grew up in a musical family and enjoys writing, singing and playing songs inspired by her  Christian faith and life experiences. When she is not making music, you can find her teaching music to teenagers, drinking coffee, and annoying Felicity – her fluffy rag-doll cat. Find more at mariahhlatywayo.com

Want honest stories from Christian women in Western Australia in your inbox on Wednesdays? Sign up here.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 7 of The After Dinner Mint podcast. The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories.

We are interviewing all our regular contributors in Season 1 for you to get to know them better. Tenielle is a train driver and singer-songwriter from remote Western Australia. She is married to a NZ born camera-man & teacher, Daniel, and they have three precious, young children.

In today’s episode, we explore:

• The joys of writing and performing music, as well as feeling close to God through song.
• The slow process of coming to Christ as a young adult through her brother’s conversion and Christian friends. Tenielle was raised in a family that went to church on Easter and Christmas and her parents separated when she was eight years old.
• Tenielle’s struggles with, “How could God love me?” and feeling alone in certain periods of her life.
• How these periods of wrestling have assured her of God’s love and have influenced her new album, The Way of Love, releasing in July 2025.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

You can pre-save Tenielle’s new album, The Way of Love, on Spotify, or see her perform live with John van Deusen at Freo Church on 18 and 19 July.

About Tenielle

Tenielle Neda is a train driver & singer-songwriter from remote Western Australia. She is married to a NZ born camera-man & teacher, Daniel, and they have three precious, young children. Tenielle has studied at Trinity Theological College in Perth, and hopes to continue her theological studies, amidst busy mum life and music creation. She finds that studying God's word - knowing him and loving him more - deeply inspires and informs her songwriting. Her music is an expression of her faith and experience of life through the lens of the gospel. You can follow her music at tenielleneda.com

Want honest stories from Christian women in Western Australia in your inbox on Wednesdays? Sign up here.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

I Don’t Want to Optimise Anymore is a conversation with Rach, Britt, and Bec about productivity and hustle culture, barriers to rest, and what we are learning about pursuing rest.

The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories.

In today's episode, we explore:

🎧 What drives us to pack our schedules full, tick boxes, and get stuff done

🎧 What gets in the way of us saying no and carving out deliberate margin to rest.

🎧 What we are learning about rest, limits, finitude, and prayer.

For everything mentioned in the show today, check out our show notes.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 3 of The After Dinner Mint, a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

We are interviewing all of our regular contributors in Season 1 of the podcast for you to get to know them better. Today’s guest is Sarah Burt, who lives on a farm in the Great Southern.

In today’s episode, we explore:

• The joys of amateur theatre and getting out into nature
• The slow process of coming to Christ from a secular family through friends, Christian Union, and God’s gentle leading.
• Sarah’s experiences of postnatal depression, what she learned about God’s character, and what helped her heal.
• Encouragement for those struggling with depression and for those struggling postpartum.

If you are struggling postpartum, you can contact the PANDA National Perinatal Mental Health Helpline, or with depression in different circumstances you can contact Life Line on 13 11 14.

You can also book an appointment with your GP for a Mental Health Care Plan. They can refer you for sessions with a psychologist or social worker under Medicare. If you’re in regional or remote Western Australia, these can even be done via telehealth.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in this episode. 

Sign up to our free, weekly newsletter Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner to get honest stories from Christian women straight to your inbox on Wednesday. Never miss a thing - podcasts, essays, poems and fun events. 

Today’s episode is a conversation about what we are learning about pursuing depth in friendships with three of our regular podcast hosts: Rach, Britt, and Bec. The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories.

In today's episode, we explore:

🎧 How we’ve gotten to know our actual neighbours

🎧 Our barriers to going deep in our real relationships (and they were different for all of us!)

🎧 Escaping the “catch-up trap,” and complaints about the price of eggs 🍳

🎧 What we are learning about intentionality in our friendships and the fine dance between oversharing, validation, and the ever elusive authenticity.

You can check out our show notes here.

If you enjoyed the honest storytelling in today's episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.