The Lighten Up Podcast

GOODBYE 2025, HELLO 2026!!! First of all, I just want to say THANK YOU all so much for joining me on this new journey with Lighten Up! It has been such a blast connecting with y’all in this new way, and I hope you have been loving it as much as I have 💕

Rather than beating ourselves up about what we didn’t get around to in 2025, or obsessing over the laundry list of resolutions to accomplish in 2026, let’s all just take a second to LIGHTEN UP and share some laughs over your submissions to The Group Chat 💬! And if I wasn’t afraid of hurting your feelings as your sister in Christ, I’d give you THIS advice: Fully embrace the joy that the Lord offers this year, and prioritize your relationship with him over your internet habits, your desires, your friends, everything. Absolutely everything. 

CHECK OUT THESE MOMENTS TO HEAR MORE: 👇🏼

00:00 Welcome to 2026!!!

05:18 The Group Chat 💬: Gifts that make you say, "Ummm, thanks?"

09:12 hannahTEA 🫖: Leave Stranger Things in '25, bring Seinfeld back in '26

11:44 Exploring the early church Fathers deepened my faith 

14:21 Advice for a JOYFUL 2026 

BOOK MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

https://amzn.to/4plqz1c

ALSOOO We have some verrrry big things in the works coming to you in 2026 on Lighten Up 👀 More interviews with familiar friends (Christian Bevere - coming soon 😉), some introductions to new friends with aaamazing testimonies, our first theological series, and more JIUCY pop culture tea! If that sounds fun to you then you’ll definitely want to stick around this year and tune in every other Monday at 7pm CST!

Welcome back to The Lighten Up Podcast, y’all! 

You guys, we have a very special episode for you this week! My mamma, Starla✨, has joined us to share her powerful testimony of God’s faithfulness through her divorce.

Life isn’t always all sunshine and rainbows, and finding joy and trusting God during seasons of heartbreak is easier said than done. However, navigating relationships and marriage without Jesus is MUCH harder. Can I get an AMEN?! 🫳🏼🎤

It’s important to remember that in challenges like divorce, we can lean on each other, learn from each other, and encourage each other as sisters in Christ. That’s why Starla is here to share her testimony with you - she gets real about the pain of her marriage ending and offers thoughtful advice for anyone in a similar situation. AND Spoiler alert! Starla’s testimony doesn’t end there. By the grace of God, she has found love again 🥹with the man of her dreams. Her testimony is a perfect example of how God restores our brokenness and blesses us when we submit to his will entirely. 

We hope this testimony helps you to feel like you’re not alone ❤️and we want you to remember that God is still in the business of match making! Trust him with your whole life because he is able to do EXCEEDINGLY more than we could ever ask for or imagine!

Ephesians 3:20

A BREAKDOWN OF STARLA’S WISDOM:

00:00 Everybody say welcome Starlaaaaa 👋🏼

05:39 Trusting the Lord for a husband 

08:09 An opportunity to look inward AND in scripture

12:24 Isolation after divorce and loneliness 

21:03 Scripture as a weapon 🗡️

25:09 Trusting God to fight your battles

27:38 Resources for reconciliation (SEE LINKS BELOW)

33:54 Identity in Christ through divorce

37:05 Starla’s eharmony honey 😍

40:50 GOD IS GOOD… now say it back 🫵🏼

43:54 THE GROUP CHAT 💬: Your questions for Starla

54:22 Final Thoughts: Trust God. Always.

STARLA’S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

https://www.amazon.com/shop/hannahcrews.blog/list/2RTTSOUBRQF48?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aip_sf_list_spv_ons_m_HRKJ4GMFDSH25G8RA1PJ&language=en-US

If you know someone who is going through a divorce we’d encourage you to send this episode to them - testimonies heal ❤️‍🩹for real.

Put on your tin foil hats, people! We’re diving into some conspiracy theories in this episode of Lighten Up 🛸

Is the earth flat? Is Brigitte Macron a man? Did we really land on the moon? Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the misinformation out there? Or angry at the thought of being lied to by people in power? Well, guess what. Those feelings are totally normal and they’re part of our human nature.

But we serve a constant and understanding God. And we can take joy in his perfect truth. The story of Joseph in the Bible is a great illustration of someone who maintained perseverance and faith amidst adversity (from his own family!!). We’ll take a look at his story in the second half of this episode and chat about how important it is to constantly seek to have a heart like Jesus even when life seems unfair and when people do us dirty… like when they lie to us about the vaccine 🫢

This week, I encourage you to consider giving thanks to the Lord for healing you from a situation where you’ve felt persecuted. And if you’ve already done that, go ahead and ask him to bless the person(s) that persecuted you 🙏🏼

If you missed the last episode where I discussed my homeschooling routine, you can check it out here 👇🏼

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XknuT_ewD6s&t=28s

MOMENTS TO LOCK IN 🫡 FOR:

00:00 - Truth seekers, assemble!

03:30 - hannahTEA 🫖: JFK, flat earth, Brigitte, moon landing, covid 🧐

11:11 - The Group Chat 💬: Umm, is Garth Brooks is a serial killer⁉︎ And other odd things

16:31 - Dear God, please forgive me for hoping a piano falls on my enemies' head 🙏🏼

19:27 - Clinging to perfect peace with Joseph

23:00 - The key 🗝️ to unlock joy when life is soooo unfair 

25:17 - You're not alone in your struggle: God is with you

Get ready for a special interview in the next episode - Monday, December 22!

Welcome back to The Lighten Up Podcast, friends!

How many homeschool moms do we have out there?!! 🙋🏼‍♀️ In this episode we are going to dive into my experience in the world of homeschooling so far! Let’s be honest, homeschooling sounds pretty scary especially if you have a tendency to lose your patience sometimes, like me 🤪 But luckily we live in a time where we no longer have to sacrifice our time with our kids in order for them to get a quality education. And you don’t have to be an Einstein to do it!

This decision to homeschool my kids was daunting to say the least, but let me tell you… my whole family is happier because of it. We spend more time together, have more flexibility, AND we’re actually paying less in tuition fees than what we would normally pay for private school!

If you’re interested in learning more about Liberty Online Academy, the program that we use with our kids, you can click the link below! It’s a Bible based, affordable option that is PERFECT for first timers!

https://www.liberty.edu/lp/online-aca...

If you are a homeschool mom and have any helpful hacks that make your homeschool life easier, send them in using the form on my website or by sending me a DM on Instagram. We’ll share them with each other in The Group Chat 💬 next episode, Monday, December 8th! Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel to make sure you stay caught up on all the juicy tea and fun convos with the girls 💛

Moments you’ll love:

0:00 hannahTEA 🫖: Tim Tebow and Making Pineapples Normal Again

5:50 The Group Chat 💬: Learning how to spot a swinger 👀

12:38 Why we decided to start homeschooling our kids

18:20 Finding Liberty Online Academy

20:43 To college, or not to college, that is the question 

23:47 That sounds great, but how much is it? For real

25:45 Our daily homeschool schedule 

32:30 The unexpected gifts of homeschooling

In a world filled with social media comparisons and the pressures of daily life, walking in confidence can feel like an uphill battle. Yet, understanding our identity in Christ and fostering a sense of self-worth can transform our lives and the lives of those around us. Confidence is a crucial aspect of our lives, especially for women navigating today's complex society. In today's episode, we look at the profound connection between confidence and joy, through the lens of scripture, encouragement, and real-life testimonies.

Moments you won’t want to miss:

0:00 Joy & confidence - you can’t have one without the other

3:25 Instilling confidence in our kids 

9:34 Confidence built on the WORLD vs. confidence built on the WORD

13:17 The truth about anxiety

19:29 Action steps for confidence 

25:58 THEE infamous Proverbs 31 woman 

27:35 A BEAUTIFUL example of confidence 🩷

29:41 Welcome to The Group Chat 💬

Hey there, friends! Fasten your seatbelts! In this episode of Lighten Up, I'm sharing my personal testimony of how God used overwhelming challenges in my life to make me the woman, wife, mother, and daughter I am today. We’ll be taking a deep dive into my life so far and I'll be reflecting on my childhood experiences growing up in a Christian family, attacks from the enemy, and the incredible power of praying continually and rejoicing always. I’ll also introduce you to my “Crews Crew,” aka my wonderful family 🩷

I hope this gives you a peak behind the curtain of my life and encourages you to find something to be joyful about in whatever season you’re walking through. I would also love to hear YOUR stories of how God’s mercy carried you through tough situations. And if you’d like we can talk about them in our segment The Group Chat 💬 This is a safe space to encourage each other and glorify our amazing God. Click the link below 👇🏼 to share!

Tune in Monday, November 10th for the next episode!

Moments you won’t want to miss:

0:00 Hannah’s backstory 

3:39 Meet the fam

14:35 When things took a dark turn

22:20 How God spoke to me

26:02 Embracing God’s identity and finding true joy

28:48 God works through our testimonies

33:24 Action steps for joy

42:18 God loves to show off and restore