Real Talk With Rachael Podcast

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm talking with author Jennifer Dukes Lee about her new book Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-Hurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl. Jennifer lives on the fifth-generation Lee family farm in Iowa, where she and her husband are raising crops, pigs, and two beautiful humans. She writes books, loves queso, and enjoys singing too loudly to songs with great harmony. Once upon a time, she didn't believe in Jesus; now he's her CEO. Key Points from Our Conversation: Jennifer has lived a life of "go big or go home," but the problem was more than what was on her calendar, it was her hurried heart. A change in her physical condition required a mindset shift. Once she embraced the mindset, growing slow became her superpower. We don’t always cheer people who grow slow, but overnight success is a myth. Seeing life through the lens of a farmer changed Jennifer's understanding of what it means to grow slow. She paid attention to what God was doing in different seasons. We get distr

This week on Talk Therapy I want to share a story of redemption. Our world is full of heartbreaking news and I wanted to share a story that builds your faith. A fun fact you may not know about me is that my son and I share a birthday (May 4th) and every year it serves as a reminder of the goodness and redeeming power of God. He is my rainbow baby. How about you? What has been lost perhaps even in this last year of the pandemic? Be bold and ask God to redeem it. Start by pouring out how you feel then have faith to believe God will do what he says. John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." When God redeems, he brings healing into the area the enemy brought destruction. Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm talking with recording artist Rachael Lampa. Rachael has been enjoying music industry success since her teen years, yet ask her what her richest accomplishments are, and you’ll hear a lot more about the relationships that have formed her on the road, the fans that have become dear friends, the beauty that has bridged impossible gaps in ministry to the marginalized and the miracle of her own growing family and sense of home. Even while her own story continues to unfold, Rachael’s driving passion is to elevate the stories of those around her, using the vehicle of soul-filled music to help her access hearts in a way nothing else could. Faithful is an organic continuation of Rachael’s journey, connecting the souls of modern women with the heroines of the Bible who birthed their spiritual heritage and proved time and again a God completely devoted. Key Points from Our Conversation: Rachael got a record deal after singing at a Christian festival when she was 14. For the next

Today's episode is a bit different than my regular Talk Therapy. I recently gave a TED Talk for my university that many of you said you were interested in hearing about EMDR and emotional eating. I'm presenting this from an academic standpoint, but it contains great content from professional journal articles. I encourage you to lean in and see the Holy Spirit wants to teach you in this conversation.  Resource mentioned: EMDR International Association Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm talking with Dr. Irini Fambro. She's is a wife and mother, teacher and student, speaker and listener. She and her high school love, Kenneth, have two children: Kalila and Kenneth. Irini's passion is to increase the contributions within organizations through valuing a greater definition of intelligence. Out of that desire, Intelligent Leadership was birthed from her dissertation work on Multiple Intelligence in leadership. Her experience includes a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in management from The University of Alabama, was ordained through the Wesleyan Church, and gained her Masters of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School while being a youth pastor for five years. Following that season, she became a college pastor, curriculum development contributor, and wrote Made for More. She completed her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in Ecclesial from Regent University. Currently, she consults into churches on Intelligent Leadership

As a counselor in training, I have discovered that many people suffer from chronic stress and anxiety simply because they do not allow themselves to feel the emotions that arise. Anger and other emotions are normal human responses.  Ephesians 4:26 says: "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger..." You’ve probably heard sermons before that remind us anger itself is not the problem, rather it is the sin that follows that anger. I believe anger gets lodged in our hearts when we fail to process it. It then gets expressed in ways that we don’t even notice….such as passive-aggressiveness, avoidance, and stonewalling, and not letting others in.  Here are four simple ways to feel and release your anger: Talk to God about it.  Journal about it.  Talk to the person about it.  Anger iceberg exercise. The Anger Iceberg represents the idea that, although anger is displayed outwardly, other emotions may be hidden beneath the surface. These other feelings—such as sadness, fear, or guilt—might ca

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm talking with the host of the Truth for your Twenties podcast, Katie Bulmer. The mission behind everything Katie does is to be who she needed when she was younger. She is an author and keynote speaker to over 50 colleges nationwide, mom of two girls, TikTok creator, and a big fan of guacamole. Key Points from Our Conversation: Katie was a quiet child who never could have imagined God would call her to public speaking. After a meltdown in adulthood, she realized was focusing her reach on the wrong audience and God was calling her to speak to women in sororities - women who were similar to her when she was younger. The Biblical story of the woman at the well revealed to Katie that she was filling up her cup with things that were temporary. The revelation that she was looking for another human to heal her broken places was a game-changer for her. Katie came to believe that sorority girls can change the world after seeing their influence while working in marketing. She focu

This week I felt God drop it on my heart to speak to you about why we need to retreat in order to advance. This word came to me for the JOYmail newsletter I send once a month. By the way, if you aren’t on that list click here to join.  I love to look to Jesus to learn how to set healthy boundaries and create space to process emotions. Jesus would often retreat to a quiet place to be alone and pray. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. Mark 6:31 We live in a world that does not give us natural pauses to retreat so we must be intentional about this practice. This week take a look at your schedule and set intentional times to retreat. We must first retreat to be refueled before we can charge into what God has in store for us.  Retreat to be recharged and released in his timing.  During this retreat, it’s a good time to process emotions. Next week on talk therapy we will discuss why it’s OK to fee

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm talking with author Kat Armstrong about her new book The In-Between Place. Kat was born in Houston, TX where the humidity ruins her curls. She is a powerful Mexi-German Bible teacher and author of two books (No More Holding Back and The In-Between Place). As the co-founder of The Polished Network, an outreach to working women navigating careers and exploring faith, she is invested in the lives of women eager to learn about how the scriptures are relevant to their everyday lives. She has a master's degree from Dallas Seminary and she is starting her Doctorate in New Testament context next year in 2022. She and her husband Aaron have been married for eighteen years, and live in Dallas, TX with their son Caleb and attend Dallas Bible Church where Aaron serves as the lead pastor. Key Points from Our Conversation: In her first book No Holding Back, Kat challenges us to ask, “Why am I allowing limitations on my pursuit of Jesus’s calling?” By debunking five common myths abou

Today's episode is the last in my series leading up to Easter about 5 topics that will help us prepare our HEART -  Holy Spirit conviction Embrace grace Align your heart with His Restore union Thanksgiving As we focus on thanking Jesus this Easter, I also want to discuss thanksgiving as a Biblical principle that helps our mental health. When we give thanks to God with a posture of gratitude, something shifts in our spirit. It lifts us out of despair.  I want to encourage you to make a gratitude list this week and to continue to add to it daily. You can even include your family and friends and see how many things you can all think of together.  "To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory." Isaiah 61:3 Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook

This week on Real Talk with Rachael, I'm chatting with author Jen Weaver. Jen is passionate about helping women know the love of Christ and engage in life with Him. She’s the author of "A Wife’s Secret to Happiness" and serves as Bible teacher, ministry coach, and contributing writer for various publications. Married to her best friend Jared, she’s a happy boy mom of two young sons and is most likely to be found with her hair full of dry shampoo and a coffee mug in-hand. Key Points from Our Conversation: Jen's latest book "A Wife’s Secret to Happiness" is about seeing marriages as expressions of faith, but she faced her own marriage challenges through the writing process. God was faithful to bring her health and healing through the process and used it to equip her to write the book. Lately, Jen has felt lead to help other believers walk in relationship with God and break free from religious traditions that are "responsible routines instead of a life-giving relationship with Him.” Jen found herself doing thin

Leading up to Easter, I'm doing a series about 5 topics that will help us prepare our HEART -  Holy Spirit conviction Embrace grace Align your heart with His Restore union Thanksgiving Today's episode was inspired by the phrase from John Eldrige's book Get Your Life Back. In it, he writes about the act of taking a 1-minute pause to realign your heart with God to restore union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God's desire is to be in union with us all day, every day. I encourage you to download the Pause App and use it throughout your week as a reminder to be intentional about restoring union in your life. Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm talking with author Charlotte Gambill. Charlotte has an infectious love for life, a deep love for people, and zealous love for God’s House. Her passion is to build the local church across the earth, to see people reach their full potential, and to develop and strengthen leadership. Charlotte is known for her practical, humorous, and passionate application of God’s Word. Charlotte is an author, speaker, pastor, and mother, she leads Life Church in England with her husband Steve and together they have two children, Hope Cherish and Noah Brave. Key Points from Our Conversation: Charlotte was inspired to write Today I Choose after her everyday choices became restricted because of the pandemic. Instead, she chose her confession, her attitude, and her actions. What started with her making videos on her phone became a gathering point for people all across the world to daily join in and together choose faith over fear, connection over isolation, and trust in the trials. We are

Leading up to Easter, I'm doing a series about 5 topics that will help us prepare our HEART -  Holy Spirit conviction Embrace grace Align your heart with His Restore union Thanksgiving This week I’m focusing on aligning our hearts with His. When we can do that and pray from a position that's in line with God's will, we will see doors bust open. It just takes a simple prayer. Here are 2 simple ways to align your heart with His: 1. Get in the Word It reads you while you read it. If you're looking for somewhere to start, I suggest Hebrews 4. 2. Submit your heart Start your day by saying, "Father, I yield to you as my shepherd today." God is not as concerned with the words you're saying as He is with our heart posture. Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook

This week on Real Talk with Rachael, I'm talking with Christy Wright about her new book Living True: 40 Days to Get Back to You. Christy Wright is a #1 national best-selling author, personal development expert, and host of The Christy Wright Show. She’s been featured on Today Show and Fox News and in Entrepreneur and Woman’s Day Magazines. Since 2009, Christy has served at Ramsey Solutions, where she teaches on personal development, business, and faith. Key Points from Our Conversation: Christy started writing books and doing events and moving into the online space was a natural way to market her brand. What you're seeing now is the online evolution of the brand in response to the market and where God is leading her. The Christy Wright Show was created from her call to build a bridge between the faith world and the personal development world. We often depend on God to show up or we put it on ourselves and take God out of the equation. It’s not either/or, it’s a both. We are called to be good stewards. Christ

Leading up to Easter, I'm doing a series about 5 topics that will help us prepare our HEART -  Holy Spirit conviction Embrace grace Align your heart with His Restore union Thanksgiving This week I’m focusing on embracing grace. We could sum up the Bible in the phrase “God’s grace.” “Grace” is God’s favor to humans through Jesus. He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins, we just have to choose to receive it. Have you received grace through the gift of salvation? Do you receive it daily for the forgiveness of your sins? "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm speaking with Karen Ehman about her new book Make Their Day: 101 Simple, Powerful Ways to Love Others Well. Karen is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker with Proverbs 31 Ministries, and a writer for Encouragement for Today, an online devotional that reaches over four million women daily. She has authored 15 books and has been featured on numerous media outlets including FoxNews.com, TODAY Parenting, Redbook.com, Crosswalk.com, and HomeLife Magazine. Key points from our conversation: The inspiration for Karen's latest book came from her mom who was always looking for practical, inexpensive ways to bless others. The book is broken into 8 categories such as family, friends, co-workers, strangers, etc. so you can start reading anywhere. It also has recipe cards, gift tags, and certificates in the back that can be used for many of the ideas in the book.  If you're feeling discouraged about your life, get your eyes off yourself and serve others in need.  When we get

When I asked God what He wanted me to share for today's Talk Therapy, He laid on my heart this phrase, "Prepare your hearts for my Son.” Leading up to Easter, I'm going to be doing a series about 5 topics that will help us prepare our HEART -  Holy Spirit conviction Embrace grace Align your heart with His Restore union Thanksgiving This week I'm sharing about what it looks like to be convicted by the Holy Spirit and why it's necessary for us to listen and obey. If there's something you feel would be good for you to do or say, but you really don't want to hear about it, it's likely the Holy Spirit prompting you. God loves us too much to let us stay stuck in our sin. What is He gently nudging you about today? Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook

This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm excited to talk with Dr. Caroline Leaf about her new book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. She is a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist with a Masters and Ph.D. in Communication Pathology and a BSc Logopaedics, specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology. Since the early 1980s, she has researched the mind-brain connection, the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory. She was one of the first in her field to study how the brain can change (neuroplasticity) with directed mind input. Dr. Leaf is also the bestselling author of Switch on Your Brain, Think Learn Succeed, Think and Eat Yourself Smart, and many more. She teaches at academic, medical, and neuroscience conferences, churches, and to various audiences around the world. Dr. Leaf is also involved in the global ECHO movement, which trains physicians worldwide on the mind-brain-body connection, mental health, and how to avoid physician burnout. Dr. Leaf is currently conduct

This week as I was feeling anxious, I began to analyze myself when God interrupted my thought process and reminded me to pray. Anxiety, worry, and fear are not from God. Whenever those things pop up, we can use them as reminders that we must make it a daily habit to cast our cares upon God. Casting requires action, but it also lightens our load and does something to fix the problem. What is God asking you to cast on him today? 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxieties on the Him because He cares for you."