Have you struggled with grief this past year? Your life has fallen apart due to one big crisis or perhaps a series of crises that feel like death from a million paper cuts. Sweet friend, you are not alone. Join Kathi and her trusted friend and fellow trauma navigator Michele Cushatt as they discuss Michele’s newest book “A Faith That Will Not Fail: Ten Practices To Build Up Your Faith When Your World Is Falling Apart.” The practices in Michele’s newest book are not homework for you to complete. Not even close! They are less about doing and more about being. Kathi and Michele discuss these practices as they share very personal stories of grief and trauma. Listen in as they give a sneak peek into some of the practices that can be found in Michele Cushatt’s latest book, such as:
When we’re overwhelmed, we need to make things smaller, not bigger.
One of the best things we can do is get grounded in THIS moment.
How these practices and more help us lead a clutter free life.
A Faith That Will Not Fail: Ten Practices To Build Up Your Faith When Your World Is Falling Apart
Life can be hard. Although there are moments of beauty and goodness, more often than not, life is marked by fear, struggle, disappointment, and loss. And we don’t know what to do with it. We’ve tried to find hope and security in various people and places–but each has proved unworthy of our trust. We need more. Something–or Someone–who won’t fail us when our world falls apart.
In this book, beloved author and Bible teacher Michele Cushatt presents a better way. By exploring powerful personal, historical, and biblical stories of people of extraordinary faith, she curates and shares ten practices to help you deepen your confidence and certainty in the God who can be trusted with your worry, questions, confusion, and grief. As a woman who has been through immeasurable suffering, she writes with both deep compassion and practical insight as she guides you to:
understand what keeps you from trusting God and how to navigate doubt with trust
learn simple ways to foster shalom and gratitude on a daily basis
develop a fresh, eternal perspective that delivers both peace fro today and hope for tomorrow
savor daily “Faith-Builder” practices to strengthen your confidence in God’s love and purposes for you, no matter what happens
There is hope in your hardship and a God who is both with you and for you. These ten practices point the way to the only One you can truly trust, and ultimately, to a faith in him that will not fail.
Order your copy of A Faith That Will Not Fail: Ten Practices To Build Up Your Faith When Your World Is Falling Apart here.
If you pre order Michele Cushatt’s newest book “A Faith That Will Not Fail: Ten Practices To Build Up Your Faith When Your World Is Falling Apart,” you will receive the companion book “A Faith That Will Not Fail: Five Minute Faith Builders” as well as an add on to the book, The Practice of Prayer, 11th practice that extends the Faith that Will Not Fail book for five days.
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Meet Our Guest
Michele Cushatt
A storyteller at heart, Michele Cushatt communicates on leadership, resilience, and faith in the hard places. An experienced executive and three-time cancer survivor, Michele is a (reluctant) expert on trauma, faith, and our deep need for authentic connection. She lives in Colorado with her husband and six children. Learn more at michelecushatt.com.
Do you feel guilty that you’re not doing more? Keeping your house up to snuff? Taking care of yourself and others? If guilt seems to follow you around wherever you go, then this episode is for you!
Kathi is talking with author and Bible teacher Barb Roose about her struggles with perfectionism and performance, and how that affects both her closet and her faith in God.
Here are Barb’s 3 rules for a better closet:
Don’t wear it if it makes you sad.
If it doesn’t fit your current body or style, get rid of it.
Don’t let fear or shame make you keep clothing that doesn’t fit your current size.
Barb says that our closets are full of memories, and our relationship with God is the same way. How can we move on from experiences in our past that bring up feelings of guilt today? Barb has been on a spiritual journey: moving from a place where guilt robbed her of feeling like she could connect with God, to a place of freedom and understanding of how big God’s love is.
Her life has been changed by focusing more on the promises of God, and less on her performance for Him. Her favorite prayer in a time of need? “Save me O God.” That 4 word prayer is a whole prayer. Barb reminds us of God’s promise from Isaiah 43: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.”
So take a deep breath, remember God’s promises to you, and then do the next right thing.
Giveaway
Barb is giving a copy of her book to one lucky Clutter Free Academy listener! To enter, let us know in the comments below what is one thing, figuratively or literally, that you want to declutter from your closet.
Finding Jesus in the Psalms: A Lenten Journey
Looking for less guilt and more Jesus? That is what Barb Roose promises you will find in her new book, Finding Jesus in the Psalms: A Lenten Journey. Inside you will find an exploration of Jesus in the Old Testament as we see Jesus through the Psalms of David. Each week features one psalm that focuses on how Jesus is showing up in the reality of life. God has a much bigger plan and we have a hope that is not just for today, but is a hope for eternity, especially when life is feeling really hard.
Sponsor Highlight: Get affordable, private therapy with BetterHelp anytime, anywhere.
Special offer for our Clutter Free community – get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/clutterfree (code clutterfree will automatically be applied)
Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.
Subscribe on iTunes or subscribe to our newsletter now.
Meet Our Guest
Barb Roose
Barb Roose is a popular speaker and author who is passionate about teaching women to live beautifully strong and courageous in spite of their fears so that they can experience God’s great adventure of faith and purpose for their lives.
Barb is a real woman who has experienced depression and anxiety, parenting challenges, family addiction trauma and long seasons of walking by faith in unanswered prayer. Rather than teaching audiences to follow God to get what they want, Barb inspires audiences to discover that God is all they need!
Writing creative and challenging Bible studies brings Barb great joy! She’s the author of multiple Bible studies, including: Surrendered: Letting Go and Living Like Jesus, I’m Waiting, God: Finding Blessing in God’s Delays, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle and Breakthrough: Finding Freedom in Christ. She is also the author of multiple books including Surrendered: 40 Days to Help You Let Go and Live Like Jesus Devotional, Winning the Worry Battle: Life Lessons from the Book of Joshua and Enough Already: Winning Your Ugly Struggle with Beauty . Her newest book is Finding Jesus in the Psalms: A Lenten Journey.
Barb lives in NW Ohio and she is the proud mom to three adult children. Barb enjoys traveling, reading, walking and whenever possible, she prefers to eat dessert first.
Decluttering with Kathi and Discover Freedom in the Holidays
with Special Guest Barb Roose
Are you feeling entangled by holiday clutter?
Join in to Declutter with Kathi and special guest Barb Roose to talk about how we can experience more freedom and less fear during the holidays and any celebrations. Barb always brings wise encouragement and you won’t want to miss this conversation while you are preparing your own celebration.
Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.
Subscribe on iTunes or subscribe to our newsletter now.
Meet Our Guest
Barb Roose
Barb Roose is a speaker and author who is passionate about teaching women to live beautifully strong and courageous so that they experience God’s great adventure of faith and purpose for their lives. She’s the author of multiple books and Bible studies. Barb lives in NW Ohio and is proud mother of three adult daughters. Whenever possible, Barb prefers to eat dessert first.
Are you facing a problem in life that you can’t fix, no matter what you do?
Are you disappointed by unchanging circumstances? Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “Let go and let God,” which suggests that surrender is God’s path for peace for your life. It maybe true, but it’s easier said than done, isn’t it?
In this six-week Bible study, you’ll learn how to let go by exploring Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness.
As you look to his example, you’ll discover six principles that will equip you to let God lead you to victory as you deal with the problems and pain you are facing. Along the way, you’ll compare Jesus’ responses to those of the Israelites, who also faced a long wilderness season centuries earlier.
This study will equip you to give up control, reach for God, let go of fear, and experience the blessings of the surrendered life. It’s possible to let go and live like Jesus and the result is experience God’s power and peace as never before.
There you are, going about your everyday life, minding your own business and it hits.
Out of nowhere.
A phone call. A text. A conversation. A situation.
You didn’t expect it or maybe you’ve been running from it, but you can’t run any longer. It just became real and rocked your world.
Maybe it’s a diagnosis, a divorce, a demotion, a detour, but all of a sudden you’re experiencing tough times.
I remember it like it was yesterday. We were minding our own business, enjoying a family vacation visiting my husband’s parents in Pennsylvania. While feasting on pancakes after church at a large rural restaurant known for their just-tapped homemade maple syrup, I could tell our youngest, who was 11 at the time, wasn’t feeling well. I took her to the bathroom thinking she needed to throw up and a few minutes later she was in my arms, sprawled across the floor, with her lips turning blue after her body collapsed in what I assumed to be a grand mal seizure.
What was going on? I remember thinking to myself, “I must be dreaming, this isn’t happening to me, am I being punked?”
This was the straw the broke the camel’s back. You see, we were already going through tough times as my husband had quit his job as a pastor at a large church in the DFW metroplex about four months earlier. At God’s prompting we decided together that it was time for him to take a leap of faith and pursue the dream that God had placed in his heart years earlier.
In the previous four months we experienced so much “stuff” that I started to keep a list on my phone. I called it “My Redemption List.” This was a list of all the bad things that were happening during our leap of faith season. Every day I believed and decreed that God was redeeming those things one by one as well as the entire season for our family.
But this was a low blow. This one really hurt. Shortly after this bathroom experience our daughter, our sunshine, was diagnosed with epilepsy.
Maybe you’ve been there too… or are there… or for sure will be there.
You’ve been standing on a promise, following a dream, or just living your life.
You may have just been knocked down and feel like you have been punched in the gut. The wind has been taken out of your sail. Where do you go from here? How do you keep the low blow from keeping you down? Should you get up or move on?
How to Overcome Tough Times
You may not be able to control a lot of the things that happen in life, but you can control how you respond to the blows. You have four choices. They are truly up to you. But how you respond will determine what happens next.
Give Up
It’s been too hard for too long to stand on the promise without seeing the results. You just don’t know how to keep going. You can choose to give up and move on.
Give In
You can give in to what’s happening. Give in to what you feel, become negative and live in what is happening in your natural circumstances. You may be tired of being tired so it seems easier just to give in.
Give It Over to God
You can’t do it, but God can. You can choose to lay it at His feet, maybe for the first time or the millionth, and seek Him. Seek the giver, not the gift. Let Him be your source for everything you need right now.
Give It A Loud “Heck no satan!”
Stand your ground, hold onto the promises God has given you and move forward bravely with boldness.
So, what response do you choose?
Maybe it’s a mixture of these.
I would propose you spend some time with God and give it over to Him. Then, give it a loud “Heck no satan! Not this time, Not ever.”
Don’t give up. Don’t give in.
“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.” Proverbs 24:16a (NIV)
Get up!
Next Steps: What’s your battle cry? When you get punched in the gut or life doesn’t go as planned, what’s the promise you stand on? If you don’t have one, dig into the bible today and come up with a life verse to stand on when the going gets tough.
Here is a battle cry you can use today as you give it over to Him…
“The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid? For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek His face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” –Excerpts from Psalm 27
Fighting the good fight,
Tiffany
Tiffany Jo Baker MA, CLC
Tiffany Jo Baker is a mom who has birthed seven children, but only two of them were her own. This three-time Surrogate, Speaker, Writer and Couples Life and Fertility Support Coach, continues to help women and couples birth their dreams and thrive thru infertility. If you or someone you love find themselves on a harder than expected path to parenthood, you can find hope, free resources and more to help navigate the road and relationships while trying to conceive at www.tiffanyjobaker.com.
What would you do if you received a hand-written letter in the mail telling you how amazing you are? In today’s podcast you will find out just how much one person’s heart-felt idea helped make a difference in other people’s lives. Hannah Brencher, author of “Come Matter Here: An Invitation to Be Here In a Getting There World, ” and Kathi, sit down to talk about Hannah’s love letter movement.
In this inspiring interview, you will learn how to:
Make a difference one simple step at a time.
Be encouraged to show up.
Be ready to learn in whatever situation you find yourself in.
I’m thrilled to have Hannah on the show!
Listen to today’s podcast to find out how you can learn to make a difference one simple step at a time.
Share this show on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.
Meet Our Guest
Hannah Brencher is an author, blogger, TED speaker, and entrepreneur. She founded The World Needs More Love Letters, a global community dedicated to sending letter bundles to those who need encouragement. Named as one of the White House’s “Women Working to Do Good” and a spokesperson for the United States Postal Service, Hannah has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Oprah, Glamour, USATODAY.com, The Chicago Tribune, and more. Find Hannah at hannahbrencher.com.
Hi friends! Yesterday I got to sit down with Author Pam Farrel and talk about Hope. We all need hope in a world where it’s sometimes very difficult to see the good. I admitted to you in yesterday’s post and in our conversation that I haven’t been a fan of the adult coloring trend. Here more about that and get a pick me in the video below.
What I really want you to know about is the awesome giveaway we are doing. I am giving away 5 of Pam’s new book, Discovering Hope in the Psalms, plus a super fun Quiet Time pack filled with all of my favorite things to have with me when I am doing quiet time with the Lord including:
• Discovering Hope in the Psalms
• This beautiful Study Bible for Women
• A set of colored pencils for exploring God through creativity
• My favorite cup for hot and cold drinks Hydro Flask
• My very favorite pen, the Uniball Air Micro
• An assortment of teas (to keep those creative juices flowing).
Tiffany Jo Baker is a mom who has birthed seven children, but only two of them were her own. This three-time Surrogate, Speaker, Writer and Couples Life and Fertility Support Coach, continues to help women and couples birth their dreams and thrive thru infertility. If you or someone you love find themselves on a harder than expected path to parenthood, you can find hope, free resources and more to help navigate the road and relationships while trying to conceive at www.tiffanyjobaker.com.
Barb Roose is a speaker and author who is passionate about teaching women to live beautifully strong and courageous so that they experience God’s great adventure of faith and purpose for their lives. She’s the author of multiple books and Bible studies. Barb lives in NW Ohio and is proud mother of three adult daughters. Whenever possible, Barb prefers to eat dessert first.