To celebrate Mother's Day, today's Happy Hour is a little different. I invited four of my girlfriends that are not the kind of mom's you see on billboards and greeting cards. These are real life women with unique but relatable stories and struggles.
In our conversations, you'll hear about one's mom struggle with infertility, and her encouragement to women that are walking that journey as well. You'll hear an empty-nester and her strong counsel for young moms to put their marriages first, and her joy in seeing her grown kids use their gifts in ministry. Another mom shares her story of being a single parent and how the church has cared for her well and her encouragement for those of us around single moms to find threads of their stories that match up with our own to bridge the gap in our relationships. And lastly, you'll hear the heartbreaking story of a mom who lost her 2-year-old son to a brave fight against brain cancer. She shares her wisdom for us that are walking alongside women in our lives that are experiences great loss or suffering. And she closes with her rock and anchor being the promise that God will never fail.
These women are brave, strong and courageous and I loved getting a chance to talk with them and celebrating Mother's Day with them, Happy Hour style.
Below you'll see a little bit more info about each of my guests and a few links from the show. I hope you love our conversations. And I hope that you have a fabulous Mother's Day.
Wynne Elder
Wynne is a mama and wife striving to live in deep and authentic community in Bryan, Texas. She is passionate about connecting and knowing people and creating spaces of belonging for women. She has been married to her guy for almost 10 years, and together they are raising their two kids, Camp and Asher.
Diann Cotton
Diann Cotton has the joy of directing The Austin Stone Institute (a Leadership Residency Program) along with her husband, Larry, through the Austin Stone Community Church. She has been married to her best friend, Larry, for 32 years. Her passion is to lead the next generation to know and love Jesus with all their hearts, to love His Gospel and to live on mission. She is also a writer of “100 Days with Jesus” – an online study of who Jesus is through the names that describe Him. She is a mother to Coby and Cory – co-founders of Dude Perfect; and her daughter Catherine, an illustrator through her business, Marry Me in Spring.
Alisha Gordon
Alisha L. Gordon is a sought after writer, ministry leader, and speaker whose global impact has reached many for Christ through thoughtful preaching, beautiful worship, and intentional grace-filled conversations. An Atlanta native, Alisha's work as a writer and public theologian has helped re-shape the stories of the marginalized and challenged people in both sacred and secular spaces to embrace new ways of seeing God and God's people. She is the mom to fun-loving, 11-year-old, Ashli.
Blog // Twitter // Instagram // Facebook
Aki Slockers
Aki Slockers is a first generation American with no experience with children. She spends her days winging it as a mom to Kai and Maya. She has a past life in the nonprofit sector, and is a soon to be nurse. Aki strives to serve God each day and make each moment count. She and her family live in Austin, TX.
{You can listen to the show HERE. And of course, I would love if you would share with your friends. Just use the FB & Twitter links at the end of this post!}
Links from the Show
Sponsors:
Hooray Mail
Hooray Mail is subscription snail mail delivered twice per month for kids ages 2-6. In each brightly colored envelope find a personalized card and a fun activity! The activities are super simple and can be done in five minutes using supplies you already have around your home. Hooray Mail is perfect for working moms, proud grandmothers or aunts and uncles who want to give the kids that mean most to them a meaningful and lasting gift that delivers joy and love… one mailbox at a time! Use coupon code HAPPYHOUR to get 50% off your first month of Hooray Mail – that’s 2 snail mail cards per month!!
Prep Dish
Prep Dish is a healthy subscription-based meal planning service. When you sign up, you'll receive an email every week with a grocery list and instructions for prepping your meals ahead of time. After a couple of hours on the weekend, you'll have all of your meals ready for the entire week. You'll save time and have some amazingly delicious meals like Smoky Paprika Chicken Legs with Roasted Carrots, Parsnips & Fennel or Turkey & Zucchini Lasagna. And, Allison is offering listeners a special rate of $4 for the first month – that's only $1/weekly meal plan! You can't beat that. Check out Prep-Dish for this amazing deal! Use code: HappyHour
Story Team Weekly
The Austin Stone Story Team is a community of artists who tell honest and encouraging stories of lives transformed by the gospel, leading you to worship Jesus for who He is and remember what He has done. They just launched a new project called the Story Team Weekly podcast, where you can listen to a new audio story of gospel transformation, every week. I recently worked with some of the Story Team narrators to record a few stories that will be featured in future episodes of the podcast. I have been personally impacted by these stories and I know you will be too. Subscribe to the Story Team Weekly podcast and rate them on iTunes, this will help others find the podcast and listen to these powerful stories.
Hey Jamie, the Prep Dish code doesn’t seem to be working! 🙁