The Best of the Holidays with Grit ‘n’ Grace
Need a friendly voice? A little laughter? Some understanding?
Sit down with your favorite mug filled with something hot and yummy. Scan the list below of our past holiday episodes, pick your favorites, prop up your feet, listen … and exhale.
Episode 18 – Holiday Expectations & Traditions: Keeping the Good and Letting the Ugly Go
In the first of the Holiday Break episodes, Cheri and Amy tease out the difficult issues of holiday expectations and traditions. How do we decide what’s worth keeping and what needs to go? They come up with key questions to ask and a permission slip to enable you to move away from holiday dread and move toward more delight.
Episode 19 – Creating Intentional White-Space in a Black-Out Season
Is there an alternative to filling our calendars and emptying our wallets with endless activities and trips this Thanksgiving and Christmas? This holiday season we can make proactive decisions that leave more margin for joy in our interactions with others. Cheri and Amy give two word mash-ups that will help us identify what’s worth it and what’s not.
Episode 20 – Savor the Gift of Giving – Navigate the Challenges Without Breaking the Bank
There’s nothing better than seeing someone light up when they open your gift… until you open the new year bills. Cheri and Amy talk about giving out of our abundance as a solution for the post-Christmas blues, and they give practical suggestions for great gifts you can give this year!
Episode 21 – Decking the Halls for Delight – How to Decorate for Enjoyment Not Approval
We’ve all tried to achieve decorations that live up to the pages of a magazine only to fall short and fall-out with exhaustion. Amy and Cheri offer solutions that will delight your heart and express your truest self.
Episode 22 – Truly Yummy – Making Holiday Food Nourishment for the Heart
Although it’s pretty funny to have a host and co-host who are challenged in the kitchen talking about the ultimate holiday meals, Cheri and Amy get to the heart. Food isn’t just fuel for our bodies; it’s juice for relationships too.
Episode 23 – How to Add Wow to Your Holiday Wardrobe
What to wear? What to wear? With humor and practical tips, Amy and Cheri, along with special guest Kim Nowlin, attack the bad rules of holiday fashion and body image. Dress yourself to match your inner sparkle this holiday season!
Episode 24 – Alone but Not Lonely – Facing a Solo Holiday With Peace
Every holiday image we see is centered around family, friends, and rooms full of smiling people. Facing a holiday spent alone—or feeling alone—is hard. Cheri and Amy talk about shifting our perspective so that a “silent night” isn’t a painful night but one filled with peace instead.
Episode 25 – Sticky and Prickly – Dealing with Our Tricky Holiday Emotions
The holidays inevitably boil up some difficult emotions. Childhood hurts fly reemerge, too many people around fray our nerves, or loneliness leaves us feeling hollow. Amy and Cheri process helpful ways to deal with our emotions instead of just pushing them down only to have them pop up later.
Episode 73 – Retrospect – How One Simple Word Can Help You Have Your Best Year Yet
Want to learn from 2017 & get the most out of 2018? Examine your life with our new Retrospect series! Join Amy and Cheri in celebrating imperfect progress and committing to continued growth.
Episode 74 – Retrospect – Living an Abundant Life Full of Love and Delight
There is power in a Personal Manifesto! Cheri and Amy discuss how they created their own and share an invaluable, free resource for you to write yours. This week they share the point in their manifestos that determine identity, the foundation of a richer life, and the steps they’ll take in 2018 to live on those firm footings.
Episode 75 – Retrospect – Finding New Ways to Be Better Together
How’s the strength of your personal community? Amy and Cheri discuss their goal to continue to build a strong friend network, pursue tight-knit relationships and turn away from isolation. Let’s make 2018 the year that we draw close!
Episode 76 – Retrospect – How to Be a Safe Person for Your Family and Friends
It’s a tough goal, but Cheri and Amy long to BE the kind of friend that they want to have. Keeping confidences and taking care of their own needs are just a couple of ways they’re working to be better friends. Join us to think through how you can be a safe harbor for your friends too!
Episode 77 – Retrospect – Anchoring Your Life in the Word of God
It’s good news to know that we have a place to turn for ultimate solutions! Scripture holds the answers for our big questions and our everyday life. It’s the source for both comfort and challenge. Amy & Cheri discuss how their understanding of scripture has grown over the years and how Truth has become increasingly valued in their lives over their own opinions. Gasp! Smile.
Episode 78 – Retrospect – What You Need to Know About Dreams, Needs, and Wants
Which of your dreams have been left in the dust? Cheri & Amy plan how to recapture lost dreams in 2018 by paying attention, taking care of our own needs, and creating white space. Let’s make next year the year to dive back into the dreams of our hearts!
Episode 79 – Retrospect – What Happens When You Choose Your Focus
What happens when we focus on God in ALL we do, including our work? Amy and Cheri discuss a new paradigm that changes everything to which we put our hands. If you need a fresh perspective on your work — no matter if you’re a care-giver, a career woman or a mom — this one’s for you!
Episode 80 – Retrospect – What You Need to Know About Making Changes
Creating change is tough, and maintaining change is even harder. Cheri and Amy discuss the self betterment changes they want to make in 2018 and two crucial steps to keep up the momentum. If you have goals for change in the New Year, you won’t want to miss this one!
Episode 81 – Retrospect – Making Sure People Know They Matter Most to You
In a flash, our people can seem like obstacles instead of priorities. How can we make sure that the most important people top the most important list? Amy & Cheri process how tasks can get in the way, but how the ones God gives us to love are what matter most. This episode on putting people first holds the key to joy in the New Year.
Episode 82 – Retrospect – How to Handle Conflict With Confidence
In the end-cap episode of the Retrospect series, Cheri & Amy talk about a topic that most of us avoid: conflict. Both of them included points in their manifestos that address conflict resolution in relationships because this has been an area of struggle. It’s been a pain point that kept them from having strong, intimate relationships. Find out how we can employ both grit and grace to walk through conflict well.
Episode 128 – How to be “Prepared Enough” for the Holidays
The holidays pose a real challenge for reforming perfectionists and people-pleasers, and those of us who are Highly Sensitive People! In this episode, Amy and Cheri discuss how to know when you’ve done “enough” … and what’s really of greatest importance (hint: it has nothing to do with Pinterest!)
Episode 129 – When You Need to Do Less This Year
Jesus is our “Prince of Peace” — so why do we place so many expectations on ourselves this time of year? Cheri and Amy reflect on times they’ve had to scale back on their usual holiday decorations and celebrations and discuss how to keep accidental “Christmas creep” from taking over our lives. Be sure to listen for the one word Amy is eliminating from her vocabulary … plus the new theory she’s testing! Most of all, rest in the assurance that Jesus replaces all your try-hard efforts with the peace of knowing Him.
Episode 130 – How to Make it the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
If you’ve ever promised yourself, “This year, I’m going to focus on the reason for the season!” only find yourself in full-blown perfectionism come December 25th, this episode is for you. Amy and Cheri share why and how they’ve handed over too much authority during the holidays. Plus, they discuss a Biblical litmus test for discerning the difference between healthy accommodation and unhealthy people-pleasing … this time of year, and all year long.
Episode 131 – The Best Way to Be Yourself at Christmas
With so many expectations swirling around us, even the most reformed perfectionist can revert back to old ways during the holidays. In this candid convo, Cheri and Amy contrast their “ideal” holiday selves with their “real” holiday selves and discuss what hinders us from being our most authentic selves during the Christmas season. They also share and reflect upon two specific scriptures that will help you stay secure in your identity in Christ, all the way into the New Year.
Episode 132 – One Thing You Need to Know About Heavenly Peace
Even as we sing about “heavenly peace,” we recovering people-pleasers, perfectionists — and those of us who are Highly Sensitive People — can struggle not to over-react to circumstances we can’t control. (You knew “The C Word” had to make an appearance!) In this episode, Amy and Cheri discuss practical ways to avoid “contact crazy” at Christmas, and they also unpack the “HSP Pivot” Cheri’s been practicing. They return to the truth that even when external circumstances are less-than-ideal, internal peace isn’t just possible—it’s a promise: a gift God offers each one of us.
Episode 133 – How to Dial Down the Crazy on the Big Day
Cheri and Amy talk candidly about how to recognize when we might be the ones driving others crazy and discuss practical ways to recalibrate on the fly. Amy shares an all-new attitude she’s practicing this year … plus some exciting news. Here’s to a joy-full Christmas!
Episode 134 – Why Being Free to Forgive is the Best Way to Live
While the holidays give us a chance to reconnect with family and friends, they can also be a time when old sore spots get re-bruised. In this bonus post-Christmas episode, Amy and Cheri tackle the timely topic of forgiving holiday hurts. Oh, the freedom we receive when we embrace—and extend—God’s grace!