Find a Moment

How do you love and support your adult children while respecting their roles as parents? How do you know when to step in and when to step back? And how do you navigate the boundaries and conversations that help preserve those relationships?In this episode of our Courage in New Seasons series, we visit with Gretchen’s Aunt René about finding purpose and learning to embrace the changing roles that come with retirement and grandparenthood.After 23 years in the beauty industry, René has entered a new season as a stay-at-home Mimi. She enjoys the atmosphere and freedom of her six-acre farm where a schoolhouse is taking shape for her daughter's homeschool co-op.  As you might imagine though, this new season has also included some challenges. We talk about the courage to find new ways to contribute, the importance of trusting our adult children, caring for aging parents while pouring into the next generation, and being sure to make time for personal time to enjoy our own hobbies and interests. This is a conversation about letting go of control, choosing connection over correction, and finding purpose in the many ways we are called to love and serve.Some of our favorite parts of this conversation involve hearing about how René has described her working relationships with her family. There’s an unmistakable tone of humility and a genuine desire to serve others in a way that nourishes both the needs of today and the memories of tomorrow.  No matter where you are in the generational journey or what season you might be walking through, we hope you’ll find a moment to listen.Send us Fan Mail

In the second part of our conversation, Crystal shares how you can learn more about Journey to Heal and bring hope and healing to women in your community or church. What would it look like for every church to have a plan to help women who have been through sexual trauma and abuse? How can we walk with our friends and family and begin the journey of healing? Crystal also sheds light on the complex nature of the healing process, sharing that her own healing journey did not begin when the abuse ended at the age of 15. Healing began many years later, after finally becoming aware after so many years that she was a victim. In a vulnerable moment, Crystal opens up about how her wedding night was interrupted by painful reminders of her past and the realization that her future as a wife would be unavoidably impacted by her trauma. Even if you have not been a victim of sexual abuse, the statistics reveal a sad reality that you likely know someone who is.  To hear more from Crystal and her story of courage and faith in the face of unavoidable pain, and to learn how to respond to and love those who have survived, we hope you’ll listen.  Our prayer is that you will be inspired and willing to take steps of courage in your own life, no matter what’s happened in your past or what may lie ahead. Send us Fan Mail

Healing from deep wounds takes courage, and sometimes God uses our most painful experiences to help others find their way toward healing. In this first episode of a two-part interview, Gretchen and Jennifer find a moment with their friend, Crystal Sutherland. After experiencing childhood sexual abuse and walking through years of healing and recovery as an adult, Crystal sensed the Lord prompting her to write a book to serve others who have experienced similar trauma.Although she faced self-doubt and feelings of overwhelm at times, Crystal continued to receive confirmation and encouragement from those around her. Through prayer, the support of others, and the faithfulness of God, she found the courage to bring the Journey to Heal curriculum to completion, including securing a publisher for her book. Her nonprofit ministry, also called Journey to Heal, will celebrate its tenth anniversary within a month of this episode’s release.We hope you will find a moment to listen to Crystal’s story. Her honesty and vulnerability offer a powerful testament to the freedom that comes from living with courage, no matter the cost.Send us Fan Mail

What does it really mean to have courage when God leads you into a new season? What role does discernment play as we prepare to take a leap of faith? How can we be certain of our calling when it involves risks and possibly a great cost to us and even our family?In this introductory episode, Gretchen and Jennifer are talking about biblical courage, what it looks like to take a step of faith when we can’t see the outcome, and why courage isn’t about having confidence in ourselves, but trusting in God. Sometimes He prompts us to take a step…Sometimes He uses the people around us to confirm the direction… And sometimes we have to move forward without feeling completely ready, trusting that peace will come on the other side.As we learn to trust Him with the unknown, we begin to recognize His faithfulness in ways we might have missed before. We hope you will find a moment to join us as we explore what it means to walk in courage, surrender the outcome, and discover what God can do with our willingness to say yes.Send us Fan Mail

We can hardly believe it! Season 3 of Find a Moment with Gretchen and Jennifer is here!Kicking things off, our intro episode spills the tea on our new branding!This time around, we will be talking to women who have chosen to move forward in a new season with courage…We will be exploring the value of generational diversity…And of course, we can’t resist a follow-up parenting series! (we will definitely be saying the quiet part out loud again)Our lives rarely look exactly like we have imagined or planned, and yet we are still called to live faithful and fruitful lives. We’re all navigating the space between ideals and everyday life, and we are committed to sharing our conversations along the way of our own journeys. No matter what season of life you find yourself, you’ll hear encouragement and wisdom in each episode. We hope you’ll find a moment to join us! Send us Fan Mail

What do spanking, suffering, and art have in common? Those are just some of the topics Gretchen and Jennifer explored during season two recap of Find A Moment. During this episode, we reflect on some of the difficult ideas, beautiful stories, and plenty of fun moments we encountered along the way.Our second season included a series on grief and suffering, we explored artistic expression and beauty with artists from different generations, and we bravely tackled some important questions related to parenting, including myths and hot-button topics such as spanking. We also explored the changes in liturgical seasons and then wrapped up with our Summer Book Club.It was a season full of honest questions, thoughtful conversations, and learning how to navigate the space between our ideals and everyday life. Whether you are a longtime listener or new to the show, we hope you’ll find a moment to join us as we look back at Season Two!Send us Fan Mail

In part two of our nonfiction book club discussion, Gretchen and Jennifer finish working through Try Softer by Aundi Kolber. The second half of the book takes the conversation deeper into emotions, relationships, our inner critic, and self-compassion.As we walk through the remaining chapters, we share personal stories and talk about what it looks like to take some of these ideals and actually live them out in everyday life. Because, as we all know, what sounds realistic in a book can be a little harder to practice as we navigate family, work, ministry, and community relationships. We hope you'll find a moment to listen in with us. Whether you're working through the book yourself or simply curious about what it might look like to approach life with a little more gentleness, this conversation will bring a sense of hope and courage to your heart.Send us Fan Mail

For our nonfiction book club selection, Gretchen and Jennifer dive into the first half of Aundi Kolber's Try Softer. Each chapter presents faith-informed therapeutic wisdom, encouraging readers to become students of themselves while crafting a gentler internal narrative. Whether through awareness of thought patterns or noticing physical sensations that accompany difficult moments, Kolber instructs us in “compassionately listening to our needs so we can move through pain--and ultimately life--with more gentleness and resilience.”While discussing the individual chapters, quite a few personal stories are shared as well.  Jennifer recounts her recent experience of applying some of the book's grounding techniques, and Gretchen offers a thoughtful reflection on her approach to the timeline exercise (recommended in the book).  Whether you're just starting the journey of processing and healing from the hard parts of life or you're getting curious about respectfully establishing boundaries, this episode will get your wheels turning towards an emotionally healthier version of yourself.  We hope you'll find a moment to listen.  Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to our Summer Book Club! This is the second of four episodes in the series, and this week we’re talking with author Keelia Clarkson about our fiction pick, Chapter One Again.Keelia shares with Gretchen and Jennifer the story behind the story, what inspired her to write the book, and some of the themes readers connect with most, including second chances, healing, hope, forgiveness, and finding the courage to begin again.Whether you’ve already finished the book or are reading along with us, we hope this conversation gives you a deeper appreciation for the story and encourages you in your own life. We hope you’ll pull up a chair and find a moment to join the conversation!Send us Fan Mail

To kick off our Summer Book Club series, Gretchen and Jennifer are discussing Chapter One Again by Keelia Clarkson. This new release is a thoughtful novel that explores the universal search for purpose, the longing for recognition, and the pursuit of life’s “mountaintop” moments. Some of the discussion includes discovering faith, finding meaning in unexpected places, and how the quiet rhythms of small-town life often cultivate the things that matter most. There are so many layers of connections and relationships in this book, all with their own unique struggles and passions, and it left us eager to discover what lies ahead for each of them. We hope you’ll find a moment with us for this rich conversation, and don’t miss our next episode when we’ll have the privilege of interviewing Keelia Clarkson herself!Send us Fan Mail