Kelly speaks with Sharon Hodde Miller, PhD, author of the new book, The Cost of Control: Why We Crave It, the Anxiety It Gives Us, and the Real Power God Promises. Sharon is teaching pastor at Bright City Church in Durham, North Carolina, which she cofounded with her husband, Ike. She is the author of Free of Me and Nice, and the SheWorships.com blog. Today we are talking about her new book, defining control, how it effects relationships, and the difference between agency and control. 

My guest today is Elena Hall. Elena is a LMSW, adoptee, author, and speaker who has a passion for adoption advocacy that stems from her faith and family. She loves to write, dance, sing, and tell stories. Her goal is to aid those in the adoption triad to promote healing and growth within the adoption community and empower readers to share their own stories. Today, Elena shares her adoption story, what she learned from writing Through Adopted Eyes, a collection of adoptee memoires, and the children’s book Adoption is Both. Elena also shares the role faith has played in her life and powerful insight into how faith language effects adoptees and their identity formation. Alright, let’s get to it! 

My guest today is matthew anthony, formerly Matthew Charles. Matthew is the host of little did u know, a podcast that centers the lived experiences—the learned and inherited wisdom—of transracial adoptees. He is also a poet, and his debut poetry collection, You Can Not Burn The Sun (2020), is sold out, and he is currently working on book 2. Today, Matthew shares his adoption story, how the absence of conversations on race effected his identity formation, the role faith plays in his life, and how creating art is saving his life. matthew shares one of his poems with us, If My Black Body Were more like the black body of a gun. 

Today's conversation is with Kristin Berry, co-founder of The Honestly Adoption Company, Author of Born Broken, Keep the Doors Open and co-author of The Adoptive Parent Toolbox, Honestly Adoption, and Securely Attached. We discuss Kristin's book, Keep the Doors Open: Lessons Learned from a Year of Foster Parenting. Kristin is a strong advocate for family reunification and providing necessary resources to help parents reunite with their children. She also recognizes and details how these supports need to be provided before crisis occurs. Finally, Kristin shares a disturbing situation her family experienced with law enforcement, and the significant gap in the legal system's understanding of mental illness.  Kristin and her husband Mike live in central Indiana with their 6 youngest children and nearby her older daughters and 4 grandchildren. She loves reading, writing, and snuggling her pet donkey Meg.

Terrence Turman is back for another episode! Terrence serves as the Associate Pastor City Region at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. His ministry focus on discipleship, spiritual formation and community impact outside the walls of the church. Today, Kelly and Terrence talk about his new book SignifiCan’t. Guys, head over to amazon and grab his book. It is really powerful and encouraging. Today we are talking about forgiveness, two stories that shaped his understanding of generous giving, and communal repentance. I can’t wait for you to hear this conversation so let’s get to it! 

Kelly talks with the amazing Alli Worthington. Alli is the author of Standing Strong, The Year of Living Happy, Fierce Faith, and Breaking Busy. She is a speaker, podcaster, and business coach. Her goal is to help women reach the next level. Alli founded The Coach School and has helped individuals, small business owners, and Fortune 500 companies reach new levels of success. Alli’s no-nonsense, guilt-free take on business, family, and balance led to appearances on The Today Show and Good Morning America. Today, Kelly and Alli discuss Alli's new book, Standing Strong: A Woman's Guide to Overcoming Adversity and Living with Confidence. Alli offers incredible insight on how to overcome the fear of failure, what it looks like to partner with God to purpose your purpose, navigating new seasons of life, and the importance of taking care of yourself. 

Kelly talks with Blair Linne, a critically acclaimed spoken word artist, writer, actress, and Bible teacher. Blair discusses her book, Finding My Father: How the Gospel Heals the Pain of Fatherlessness. Blair’s moving story of how discovering her Heavenly Father healed her, reshaped her identity, and inspired her to build a different kind of legacy for her own family. Whether your father was present or absent, loving or the opposite, Blair’s personal story and vulnerability is inspiring to pursue healing, and calls the family of Christ to practice hospitality which is an opportunity to show God’s love and comfort to others.

Local therapist, Sara Semenick and Channing Palazzo, join Kelly on the show today! We are looking back at 2021 - celebrating highlights, honoring moments where we thrived, and addressing the challenges of a very hard year. Then, we are walking into 2022 together - we are talking about what we are leaving behind as we enter a new year and what we hope this year will bring. Sara and Channing offer incredible guidance on how they navigated difficult times, and celebration restorative moments.

Kelly talks with Country Music singer and American Idol alum, Lauren Alaina. Lauren talks about her new book, Getting Good at Being You, her time on American Idol, journey of self discovery, and the role faith plays in her life. 

Kelly speaks with Dr. Gregory Jantz, author of So Much to Live for and The Anxiety Reset. He addresses the significant increase of depression, anxiety, and suicide and how we can find help and hope for mental health issues.