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The power of protective maternal love transforms families, communities, and ultimately our world. When Tara Hackney adopted her daughter from India, a transformative realization occurred during a tender moment of singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children" to her traumatized toddler. The beloved song's lyrics—"red and yellow, black and white"—suddenly felt exclusionary. Where was brown? This gap inspired Tara to reimagine the lyrics to "every color, every shade, just exactly as He made," creating a beautiful children's board book that celebrates diversity as an intentional part of God's grand design.

Tara's story weaves together adoption, diversity, and spiritual formation in profound ways. After raising three biological sons, she and her husband adopted two Indian girls, creating what she lovingly describes as twins born "not from my body, but in my heart." The adoption process—what she calls a "paper pregnancy"—required intentionality, sacrifice, and family-wide commitment. Rather than diminishing her relationship with her sons, adoption enriched their family dynamic and cultivated compassion and nurturing qualities in her boys.

This conversation offers a refreshing perspective on the transformative power of motherhood, whether through biological, adoptive, or mentoring relationships. As we embrace diversity and nurture faith in the next generation, we participate in God's grand design—creating a world where every child feels represented, valued, and deeply loved. Ready to explore how your maternal influence can change lives? Listen now and discover how to unleash the power of your presence into the world.

Learn more about Tara Hackney's Work: Jesus Loves

Listen to Jesus Loves the Little Children Adaptation: Jesus Loves on Spotify

Read more on Tara's Blog: Tara Hackney

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Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

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What if the moments spent endlessly scrolling are robbing you of the life you were meant to live? In this eye-opening conversation, Janell welcomes Allie Marie Smith, founder of Wonderfully Made and author of "Social Media Reset: A 30-Day Guided Journey to Unplug, Reconnect with God and Reclaim Your Joy."

Allie shares her profound personal story of battling severe depression as a teenager that led to hospitalization and a suicide attempt at the Golden Gate Bridge. Through a miraculous encounter with God's love, she found purpose in founding a ministry dedicated to helping women know their God-given value. Now, she's tackling one of the biggest threats to women's mental health today: our relationship with social media.

The numbers are sobering. Spending just two to three hours daily on social media equates to losing six to eight years of your precious life to scrolling. "We can now die with more memories of other people's lives than of our own," Allie cautions. She challenges us to consider what we're seeking inside our digital worlds and offers practical boundaries that have helped her overcome addiction while still using social media positively.

Most exciting is Allie's invitation to join the "Unplugged and Flourishing Movement" this August - a simultaneous 30-day reset for women of all ages to unplug, reconnect with God, and pray for the young girls whose mental health is being devastated by social media.

Join us for this transformative conversation, and discover how unplugging might be your path to rediscovering joy. Learn more and join the movement at alliemariesmith.com.

Order Allie's new book: Social Media Reset

Take Allie's Quiz: Social Media + Your Wellbeing

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Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

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What happens when society values people solely by their economic output? In this powerful conversation, Janell welcomes classics scholar Nadya Williams, author of "Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic: Ancient Christianity and the Recovery of Human Dignity" (IVP), to explore how our modern devaluation of motherhood parallels pre-Christian attitudes toward women and children. Prepare to have your perspective challenged.

Nadia's book "Mothers, Children and the Body Politic: Ancient Christianity and the Recovery of Human Dignity" examines the striking similarities between ancient Greco-Roman views of women as "intellectually lightweight" and "vessels" for children, and today's cultural messages suggesting women without children are happier and wealthier. When presidential candidates on both sides agree that stay-at-home mothers are "bad for the GDP," we must ask: Have we lost sight of human dignity?

Order Nadya's new book: Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic

Learn more from Nadya: Nadya Williams

Read The Bloomberg Report: Women Who Stay Single and Don't Have Kids Are Getting Richer.

Read "Does Having Children Make You Happier?"

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

 Dr. Holly Catterton Allen reveals that spirituality is crucial to childhood resilience. She explains that children are born as spiritual beings with an inherent capacity for deep relationships with self, others, and God. She challenges traditional approaches to children's faith formation by emphasizing contemplative practices and "wondering questions" instead of formulaic answers.

• Children are born spiritual beings, not just physical, emotional, and intellectual ones.
• Spirituality encompasses three essential relationships: with self, others, and God.
• Research shows spirituality ranks as a key protective factor in childhood resilience.
• Creating space for questions without immediate answers builds authentic spiritual growth.
• Simple practices like asking "Who are you in the story?" can open meaningful spiritual conversations.
• Children don't need all protective factors to be resilient if they have a meaningful connection to God.
• Knowing God as present, understanding, and healing provides "the most powerful resilience armor."

Try asking the children in your life open-ended "wondering questions" this week, and see how it enriches your conversations and deepens your connections.

Visit Dr. Holly Catterton Allen here: InterGenerate Conference

Order "Forming Resilient Children."

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

What if the secret to truly nourishing your body isn't just about what you eat, but how safe you feel when eating it? This transformative conversation with nutritional therapy practitioner and author Meredyth Fletcher reveals the profound connection between our mental state and physical health in ways you've likely never considered. In her newest book, "The (Good) Food Solution: A Shame-Free Nutritional Journey to Food, Freedom, Spiritual Nourishment, and Whole-Body Health," Meredyth helps us make the divine connection between body, mind, and spirit. She shares, "Our bodies are always scanning and asking, 'Are we safe?'" This is definitely a life-giving, life-changing conversation.

Visit Meredyth's website: Karpos Wellness

Order her new book: The (Good) Food Solution

Work with Meredyth: Get Started Today

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

Today's conversation with Naeem Fazal, author of "Tomorrow Needs You: Seeing Beauty When You Feel Hopeless," explores finding beauty and hope amid trauma and darkness, offering a powerful message of transformation for anyone feeling hopeless.

• Naeem shares his extraordinary testimony of encountering Jesus supernaturally after growing up Muslim in Kuwait.
• The concept that "yesterday has forgotten you" challenges us to reconcile rather than rehearse our past trauma.
• We can either live conserving the past or creating the future – only the future contains hope.
• Beauty serves as the solution to fear when we make something bigger in front of us than the fear inside us (Psalm 16:8).
• Perfect love casts out fear, showing that faith alone isn't the answer to overcoming our deepest anxieties (1 John 4).
• Creating beauty requires loving what you're creating, whether it's families, art, or relationships.
• God loves seeing us grow through all stages of development, even the messy and awkward parts.
• Expressing joy represents one of our most vulnerable acts, but is essential for healing.
• Like Jesus, who endured the cross for the joy set before him, we must put joy before us to endure our challenges.

Order Naeem Fazal's books: Tomorrow Needs You and Ex-Muslim

Visit Naeem's website: Naeem Fazal

Listen to Naeem's TED Talk: The Power of Beauty

Listen to Naeem's Message: Your Part in the Biggest Story

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

Emily Assel shares how the Word of God transforms motherhood and the power of making declarations over our lives and families.

• Understanding how connecting with God changes the way we parent.
• Learning to use small moments with God rather than feeling guilty about lacking hours for study.
• Discovering the difference between "manifestation" and biblical declarations.
• Why do our words, paired with faith, release power, especially when aligned with God's purpose?
• Finding your identity as God's beloved daughter, regardless of your performance.
• Breaking through the fear of hoping when you've been disappointed.
• The feeling of being "too big for your own life" and what it means.
• How restlessness can be God's invitation to something more.

Check out Emily's new book "Wherever You Are" and connect with her on Instagram for more inspiration in your motherhood journey.

Read more about Emily and her passions: Generation Claimed

Order your very own copy of Emily's newest book(s): When It Hurts and Wherever You Are

Read more about Emily's publishing journey: My Writing Journey

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

"Often, motherhood is when we need God the most and yet have the least amount of time to spend with Him. But just as we desire to love and meet the needs of our children, so our Heavenly Father longs to do the same for us. Too often our time limitations and the guilt that comes with them, keep us from his arms and his transforming power. But the truth is, God knows the seasons of your life and sees your heart" (Emily Assell). 

On today's episode, Emily Assell, author of the children's board book When It Hurts: Comforting Promises for Hard Times and the devotional book Wherever You Are: Devotions and Declarations for Moms, opens a beautiful conversation about the hard yet joyous work of mothering. 

Emily's story contains so much strength. Her heart and passion for God shine through this conversation and enliven the need to know God's Word and follow His Truth. 

Read more about Emily and her passions: Generation Claimed

Order your very own copy of Emily's newest book(s): When It Hurts and Wherever You Are

Read more about Emily's publishing journey: My Writing Journey

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

So proud to be in Feedspot's Top 100 Mental Health Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/mental_health_podcasts/

Today's Heartlifting Episode:

Something is stirring in the hearts of women across generations. That quiet voice urging us toward purpose beyond ourselves—toward becoming maternal presences in a world desperately needing wisdom, nurturing, and light.

In this soul-stirring conversation, Leslie Means (founder of Her View From Home and author of "So God Made a Grandma") joins Janell to unpack what happens when women fully embrace their capacity to nurture those in their spheres of influence. Leslie's journey from Nebraska farm girl to creator of a platform reaching millions of women reveals the mysterious way divine whispers guide us when we're brave enough to listen.

"I just felt something else," Leslie shares, recounting the moment she left her broadcast journalism career despite its outward success. Through financial uncertainty, a third pregnancy, and moments of questioning, she followed what she describes as a "gut feeling"—that internal knowing that something more awaited. What emerged was a platform where thousands of women's stories have found a home, including one that literally saved a reader's life.

The conversation takes a powerful turn when Leslie emotionally acknowledges what grounds her work: "I know that God loves me...if it all fails and goes away, I will be okay." This foundation of secure attachment—something Janell notes many women never experienced in their formative years—becomes the launching pad for authentic service rather than validation-seeking.

Whether you're a grandmother, mother, or woman seeking to understand your unique influence, this episode illuminates the extraordinary impact of maternal presence. Through stories of intergenerational influence, Holocaust survival accounts preserved through storytelling, and research confirming women's unique role in family systems, a compelling invitation emerges: What would happen if women fully grasped their value and stepped confidently into their calling?

As Janell powerfully concludes, "Watch out when women grasp that truth that they're loved, because a remarkable revolution will happen in all the right ways."

Visit Leslie's community home: Her View From Home

Order Leslie's books: So God Made a Mother and So God Made a Grandmother

So proud to be in Feedspot's Top 100 Mental Health Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/mental_health_podcasts/

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

Sandra Glahn's journey begins with eight failed pregnancies and a devastating question: If motherhood is a woman's highest calling, what was her purpose? Raised in a culture where women were expected to channel all spiritual gifts into raising children, her infertility triggered not just personal grief but a profound spiritual identity crisis.

This compelling conversation explores how Sandra's quest for answers led her from stay-at-home aspirations to earning a PhD in theological studies. When she knelt before God, questioning whether pursuing seminary education was pushing beyond her proper role as a woman, she received an unexpected answer through Jesus' words about Mary choosing "what is better" over domestic duties.

Sandra's groundbreaking research on Artemis of the Ephesians provides crucial historical context for understanding Paul's instructions about women in 1 Timothy. Unlike previous scholars who dismissed Artemis connections when they couldn't establish her as a fertility goddess, Sandra discovered other aspects of Artemis worship that illuminate why Paul wrote what he did about women being "saved through childbearing."

This episode offers healing for women whose lives haven't followed traditional paths, validating their worth beyond reproductive capacity. It reframes motherhood as a spiritual influence that can transform communities and advance God's kingdom regardless of biological connection. Sandra's story is powerful evidence that God's plans for our lives sometimes exceed our limited dreams.

Order Sandra's new book: Nobody's Mother

Visit Sandra's website: Dr. Sandra Glahn

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon