Towards Eden

Welcome to the first episode of Podcast 2.0! Learn what we've been up to for the past year, how God has drastically changed our hearts, lives and friendship.

We get pretty deep and vulnerable about some of the dark places we've gone this year, but also HOW GOOD GOD IS to redeem and restore us in every way possible.

Our vision for Towards Eden is to take a deep look at the things life throw's our way, and take them back to how God intended life to be when he created us in The Garden. We plan to learn, grow, and get pretty uncomfortable as we challenge ourselves to further surrender it all to the One who gave it all for us!

Romans 12:2 -

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We took a much needed break for a couple weeks, but we're so excited to be back and catching up! Find out what we've been up to, and what Netflix show's we're binging!

We've missed our little community so much and are so happy to be back and bringing you content that makes you feel loved, seen, and understood! Please let us know what you'd like to hear from us coming up, and how we can pray for you!

This week, we thought it would be fun to play a little game of rapid fire questions!

What's the Bible question you've never asked? Favourite Bible verse? Favourite Bible character? What's your current Bible study plan? A Bible that has a special meaning? Burning questions for Bible characters? How to memorize scripture? And what's the best Bible Study?

Of course, we don't do any sort of conversation "rapidly", so get ready for some long winded answers! Dinosaurs, the story of Hannah, Heather's mom's library, and how neither of us are good at memorizing scripture. It's all here friends!

Send us your answers to be entered into a draw to win Starbs on us! 

This week we get right to it. During trying times, it's especially hard to make God a priority in your life. But now more than ever, we need His grace and truth to get us through. We talk about distractions, and how we can try to overcome them. We cannot control so much right now, but we can control our responses to it. We encourage you to look at how you're responding when things feel hard. We are NEVER going to be perfect, but with God's help, we can work on reframing things positively and keeping our joy and peace. We always have access to MORE (joy, peace, patience, strength) through Him (Ephesians 3:20).

We talk briefly about mommy wine culture, and how we've both fallen victim to using alcohol as a coping mechanism. Like so much in our lives, it's important to be self aware and ask ourselves hard questions (even when we don't want to accept the answers for ourselves).

We love you guys, let us know how we can pray for you. 

This week, we hope you feel like you're sitting with us drinking coffee. We share a few of our thoughts about the pandemic, and how things are currently where we live. We chat homeschool struggles and what we miss most during our second lockdown. We have a big therapy session. Heather shares how she just went back to therapy, what she's working on, what she's learned, and where this all stemmed from. Taylor shares a darker time in her life, and how bad her mental health was during a hard year of her life. We hope you guys feel a little closer to us and know that if you're going through something hard....you are NOT alone!

Head to www.raisingmyjoyfulcrew.com to sign up for Heather's social media mentorship program!

This week we have some sweet new friends on to chat with us about their incredible product, The Giving Manger. We know you'll fall in love with Allison and Lisa just like we did (seriously, instant friends!) They tell us the incredible story of where the idea for the Giving Manger started, as well as share their stories of what giving looks like within their own homes. Culturally, it can be SO easy to lose the true meaning of Christmas, but the Giving Manger is something that can be used all year round to instil kindness and a servant attitude in our children. Of course, Taylor sneaks the Enneagram into our conversation. We hope this conversation makes you feel like you're sitting around our table chatting with us!

Go follow them on instagram @thegivingmanger , and go to www.thegivingmanger.com to purchase your own Giving Manger for your family! 

This week we catch up on mom life. Life has been crazy busy between work, Christmas, and all the things we do as mom's. We touch base on how our kids are sleeping (a common topic), and Taylor talks about how she hates her bed. We talk about our TikTok addictions, and how preteens/teenagers look SO much older than we did at those ages (and briefly discuss all our makeup mishaps). We discuss Taylor's previous hatred of TikTok, and how it is helping her cling to her youth. Help us figure out why Heather's FYP is all emo. Follow us on TikTok @tayblanchard_ & @raisingmyjoyfulcrew . 

We chat about Instagram and give you our top tips. There's so many different ways of planning, and ways to provide value as an influencer (something that is SO important to both of us!) If you're wanting more info on how to grow as an influencer, check out Heather's Mentorship Program. 

We share where we're at with our devotionals and personal development, and then there's a brief break where you'll hear Heather's cat break the house.

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This week....we didn't have much planned. Find out which Grey's Anatomy characters we think we are, and as we settle the great debate - McDreamy or McSteamy? We talk about Elf on the Shelf and when we think our kid's will lose the magic in Christmas. We share our high's for the week, but forgo the lows....because that's depressing and we choose not to focus on that. Find out Taylor's trick for getting her kids to sleep in their own beds (it has about a 60% success rate!). 

Keeping our faith through COVID has looked different for all of us. From losing the familiar and traditional Church setting, we had to find new ways to adapt and find connection with God without the support of our Church and Spiritual family. We both love community worship to help us draw close to God, but this experience has tested and grown us in much needed ways. We talk about our key personality differences and how we both dealt with and felt about the sudden change. We talk about our struggles with missing the physical proximity aspect of our church relationships since we've reopened. As mom's, it's also a struggle to try to contain our young kid's in the new environment, and the stress we feel trying to "control" our kids (we have THE BEST Children's Pastor who helps us with this!). Ultimately, for our families, attending Church and raising Godly children is a priority despite the challenges.

Colossians 3:15 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

We love connecting with all of you! If you have any ideas, or would be interested in some sort of community bible study, book study or other community learned venture, send us your ideas!

Continuing on with our Small Shop Christmas theme, this week we interview our good friend and boss babe, Kendra Lee Redman, owner and genius behind KenLeeCo! Kendra started her business in 2016 with some spare time and a Cricut machine, and she sits here four years later, with a booming business. What sets Kendra apart from a lot of business owners is her belief that there is room at the table for all, and is herself an avid supporter of the small shop community in it's entirety. 

On this episode, Kendra shares her advice for new business owner's, some common mistakes she thinks people make, and some insight on how to avoid toxic competition. She also shares her advice for finding and vetting influencers, and why she feels they're an asset to a small business. We also take a brief pause for Taylor to gush about their mutual enneagram eightness. 

Don't forget to rate and leave a written review for the chance to win Starbs on us!

This week, Heather and Taylor interview their first ever guest, their sweet friend Ashley Langohr! Ashley is the Director of The Mom Market Niagara, Mama of Riley, creator of Busy Bear Bags, and just an all around boss babe! Amongst the many bunny trails featured in this episode, they talk about the challenges small shops face in general, as well as during COVID. Find out which of Heather's many animals was featured on Baby Tula's social. Listen here to find out how you can make a difference and support small shops! Make sure to come out to the Pen Centre on November 21-22 to put a dent in your Christmas list, and make it a small shop Christmas! Remember, support local, don't lick stuff, and wear your mask!