Melanie talks with Shawn Smucker, author of the new novel, The Day the Angels Fell. They cover Shawn's Amish roots, his connection to Auntie Anne's pretzels, his harrowing RV experience in Willie Nelson's old touring bus, developing relationships with Syrian refugees, and his incredible new book. Shawn is a fantastic storyteller, from the pages of his book to his conversation on this podcast, so listen in and lighten up!
Melanie talks with Heather Avis, author of The Lucky Few: Finding God's Best in the Most Unlikely Places. They rank kids' movies from tolerable to "please, God, I can't take it anymore,” and they discuss parenting kids with Down Syndrome. They chat about how Heather’s kids are a light in their community, and she says, "I've understood the heart of God more fully in the places that have been hard for me."
Melanie talks with Catherine McNiel, author of Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline. They talk about the greatest popcorn in the world, how they find time for spiritual disciplines, finding God in the chaos -- in changing diapers, in washing dishes, in driving to work -- and also how they need to lighten up about other people's advice about their parenting. They also dig into the importance of bringing women's voices into the forefront, and Star Wars bad lip reading, so listen in and lighten up!
Melanie talks with one of her favorite podcasters, Sarah Bragg, of Surviving Sarah. They unpack Sarah's extreme deer fear, that's right, her fear of deer, like the kind with spindly legs and antlers, and Melanie shares her own irrational fear…it’s too weird to write down. They also process living on a sailboat, what Sarah loves about podcasting, and lightening up about school and homework.
Melanie talks with KariAnne Wood, the DIY expert behind the award-winning lifestyle blog, Thistlewood Farms, and the author of So Close to Amazing. They share their pancake-making fails, talk about smiling at strangers, and how they can embrace imperfection. KariAnne is fun and funny, so listen in, and lighten up!
Melanie talks with Jeannie Cunnion, author of Parenting the Wholehearted Child and a brand new book, Mom Set Free, about how they chose their kids' names, not having to prove anything, why they put so much pressure on themselves to parent perfectly, and also a fun Somebody Posted This on Facebook segment involving hilarious historical words. If parenting is stressing you out, Jeannie wants to help, so listen in, and lighten up!
Melanie talks with Lisa Lloyd, a professional actress and author of Chasing Famous: Living the Life You’ve Always Auditioned For. They talk about how they overanalyze everything they say in conversations, their issues with people pleasing, and Lisa also shares about healing after her abortion. She tells a funny story about trying to give her book Chasing Famous to an actual famous person, and for all you Bachelorette lovers out there, Lisa explains why she thinks the Bachelorette chose wrong.
Melanie talks with Leslie Klipsch, author of Mama Bear's Manifesto and cohost of the Mama Bear Dares podcast. Whether you have kids or you love on some kids around you, she is going to talk about how to identify your rumble. What is it in the world that makes you mad? What keeps you up at night? Where do you want to spend your mama bear energy? Grrr. They also discuss their opinions on RompHims, flossers, gender reveal parties, and which Schuyler sister they think they'd be.
Melanie talks with Kari Sowers, owner of Manifest Collab and the Manifest Collab+Create Podcast about important things like how Kari multitasks in the shower, Melanie's toilet-cleaning saga of woe, and their inability to Vox. And Kari offers great advice on lightening up, saying, "Own your own priorities,” so listen in, and lighten up!
Melanie and Courtney Westlake talk about traveling with kids, her experience with Whole 30, and summer reading. They also do a “hellish" round of Somebody Posted This on Facebook.
Melanie and Courtney DeFeo talk about pool etiquette and disturbing swimsuit trends. Melanie meant for this to be totally family-friendly but accidentally described her wetsuit as a body condom. You’ve been warned.
Melanie and Zach Hoag talk about their most embarrassing moments in church and he shares his “You May Have Grown Up in a Cult If...” list.
Melanie and Logan Wolfram talk about surviving summer and cultivating relationships with everyone from coffee shop hipsters to neighbors. HOT DANG IT’S SUMMER, so listen in, and lighten up!
Osheta Moore and Melanie talk about all things summer camp-related and camp-adjacent, including tender camp love, Jesus camp, camp foods, packing for camp, and favorite camp movies. This kicks off Melanie's HOT DANG IT’S SUMMER! series, so listen in, and lighten up!
Melanie talks with Emily Freeman, author of several books including Grace for the Good Girl and Simply Tuesday, and co-founder of hope*writers. They talk about 90s pop music, writing, building benches, blogging, and what song she’d perform in an epic lip sync battle. Tornado sirens go off during the interview and Melanie wonders if talking to Emily is worth dying for. So find out if she survives, listen in, and lighten up.