Podcast

Underestimated: From a Single-Wide Trailer in West Virginia to Yale Law School with Mary Marantz

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Mary Marantz

Mary Marantz knows how fear can hold us back. Even though she was able to leave the musty single-wide trailer of her childhood in West Virginia and make her way to Yale Law School, she always carried the fear that she would be found out. Even though she had worked hard and earned every grade and scholarship she received she thought others saw her as an imposter. So, she strove to be the best at everything she did, and she was. But the life of perfection has a way of draining the joy out of you.

From Lonely to Loved: A Blueprint to Building Lasting Friendships with Carol Roper

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Carol Roper, Julie and Frieda

When I started this podcast Frieda and Julie graciously agreed to be my first interview. We wanted to help other women find and experience friendship like ours, because good, godly friends can have an amazing impact on your life, as we all can testify. One of the things Frieda said during that interview describes the foundation of our friendship.
She said, “We started with [honoring God in our get-togethers]. When we started with that, God knit us together. That’s why we don’t have huge arguments because we’re knit together by God. He started our friendship, and I think we’ll be friends till we die.”
I sure hope so.
You might be listening to this thinking, “Good for you, Carol. I’m glad you found your friends but I’m still lonely, wishing I had at least one good friend I could count on.” And I understand. I remember how hard those days were when I was a young mom. Or maybe your kids have moved out and you’re struggling to learn how to live this new empty-nest lifestyle and would love to pour out your heart to other women in the same stage of life. Or you may have recently moved to a new community, and you don’t know how to find someone you can relate to.
As I look back at how our friendship formed, I see lessons I’ve learned and things we did right when we weren’t even aware of it. So, here’s a list of things I hope will help you find your own lifelong friends:

Hope and Humor After Divorce: Thriving as a Single Mom in Christian Comedy with Kerri Pomarolli

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Kerri Pomarolli

Christian comedian Kerri Pomarolli knows what’s it like to feel hopeless. After she and her comedian husband divorced, she didn’t think anyone would want to hire her for Christian events again, so she holed up in her bedroom and hid under the covers, binge-watching all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, drinking coke and eating a balanced diet of M&M’s and salt and vinegar potato chips. Becoming a member of the Single Moms’ Club wasn’t exactly on her bucket list, but God revealed a plan for her to reach a whole new group of people. That was the motivation for her to get out of bed and start working again as He provided opportunities she’d never expected. Kerri’s resume includes being on the Tonight Show 29 times and named one of LA’s Most Inspiring People by LA Voyage Magazine and Comedian of the Year by The Hollywood Red Letter Awards in 2022.

The Bravest Thing I’ve Ever Done with Carol Roper

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Carol Roper

As I pondered the topic for this week’s kitchen table episode, the same thing kept coming to mind. An important question I’d like to ask you: What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

When I first thought about that question several things immediately came to mind. Quitting my job as an architectural draftsman and buying a flower shop with my sister-in-law with neither of us having had any background in floral arranging. Buying a computer and learning AutoCAD so I could freelance drawing house plans while working from home–after we lost money in the floral business and had to sell it. And going to a writer’s conference all alone and barely knowing a soul there.

These decisions all took considerable courage, and they had a huge impact on my life. But as I dug deeper, I realized the better answer to that question. Not only because it changed the trajectory of my life, but it also changed me, my marriage and my family.

Beauty from Ashes: How Grief, Loss and Caregiving Revealed God’s Faithfulness with Jessica Ronne

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Jessica Ronne

Jessica Ronne has endured more heartache than most can even fathom. She found out when she was pregnant with her second son that he’d had a stroke in utero and would be profoundly disabled if she carried him to term. She and her husband made the decision to carry him to full term and let God handle the details. Lucas does have those disabilities but Jess and her husband never wished they’d made a different choice. Then, several years and two more children later, Jess’s husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor and passed away at the age of 33, leaving her to take care of their four small children.
But God didn’t leave her in her grief. She met a wonderful man, a widower with three children and they married, blended their families and even added one more to the mix. Even though Jess has a hard story, she’s used her experience to create The Lucas Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to serving parent caregivers with respite, recognition and resources. She is also the associate producer of the documentary Unseen and the author of four books, including her most recent, Caregiving with Grit and Grace.