Grit 'n' Grace: Good Girls Breaking Bad Rules

Denise Hughes, author of the Word Writers series of inductive Bible studies, delves into how to study God's Word with reflection and joy. She tells about her own practices and how they've led her into a closer relationship with God as well as explaining how we can lead others to love scripture more.

Cheri and Amy talk about practical tools for building a supportive network of friends: spending intentional time, taking trips, and treasuring differences as well as commonalities. They also discuss the difference between being friendly and being friends. If you've been longing for the joy of female friendships, this one's for you!

Mary Snyder, author of Authentic Girlfriends: Real Women Finding Real Faith, shares with us about how to develop a wide range of friends that enrich our lives. Rather than pouring all our neediness on one person, Mary gives down-to-earth advice and practical tips for healthy, happy friendships between women. You're going to love her wisdom on this fraught topic!

Our husbands often get our left-overs. Our friends, our parents, our children and our co-workers get our premium efforts while our husbands have to survive on the compassion, love, and listening that remain after we're drained. Cheri and Amy process how to bring our best to our marriages, prioritizing our husband and valuing him as our friend.

From her book No More Perfect Marriages, Jill Savage shares painful lessons learned as her marriage healed from infidelity. She gives practical advice on avoiding the "slow fades" of marriage and letting God use our spouse's differences to stretch and mature us. Jill's solutions are grace-filled and wisdom-soaked.

Kathi Lipp shares how she puts the strategies from Overwhelmed into practice in her everyday life. She gives us a road map for steady but imperfect progress in overcoming overwhelmed in our messy lives.

As Cheri and Amy process their interview with Cindy Bultema, they come to some lightning bolt "aha" moments. The realization that the Gospel must be a winsome combination of tenderness and truth leads to some practical steps toward sharing Jesus with the people around us... and developing accountability in our own lives.

Through the study of the Corinthian church, Cindy Bultema, author of Live Full Walk Free, reveals a timely word for the church. We can share the light of Jesus with our dark world with both love and truth. They aren't mutually exclusive, and both are essential. Join Cheri and Amy for many "a-ha moments" with Cindy.

What if we just stopped competing and comparing? Would the world stop or would it actually be better? Cheri & Amy discuss Emily Freeman's challenge to be smaller and process the beautiful possibility of deeper friendships that could result.

In Part 2 of the interview with Emily Freeman, Emily calls each of us into our full glory, and she challenges us to use the power of our authenticity to draw our friends out too. Emily ended with thoughts that made both Cheri & Amy cry. You won't want to miss it!

Sharing from her book Simply Tuesday, Emily Freeman encourages us to be like Jesus, embracing the power embedded small and humble. Instead of running and climbing and competing, we can seek relief in the presence of Jesus.

Cheri & Amy discuss the difficulties of being truly kind and the foundation of kindness. Not only does kindness change our relationships for us, it changes us for our relationships. Choosing to be kind is transforming and makes us more like The Kindest One, Jesus!

In this bonus "mini-side", Shaunti Feldhan, author of The Kindness Challenge, discusses one specific obstacle* to kindness that many women wrestle with and offers specific strategies for intentionally overcoming it. (*HInt:  Amy 'n' Cheri used to call it "helping"...!)

In a riveting conversation with Shaunti Feldhahn, author of The Kindness Challenge, Cheri & Amy learn the most effective tool for improving relationships that aren't what they could be--kindness. Shaunti reveals the shocking truth that most of us aren't truly kind and gives three practical steps to increase our kindness quotient.

"My wait is harder than her wait." Have you ever had that thought? Cheri & Amy confess they have too! Instead of comparing our waits, leading to more isolation, Cheri & Amy discuss ways to wait together.

Wendy Pope, author of Wait and See, shares a new perspective on waiting. What most of us see as distressing or discouraging, Wendy has learned to see positively. God wants to use our waits to do something wonderful.

Feeling self-conscious and unsure about how the world will receive your most authentic self? Cheri & Amy process the profound wisdom shared by Glynnis Whitwer in Episode 31, realizing that we can only crush competition with a celebration of courageous uniqueness.

Although perfectionism often manifests in production and performance, sometimes it can lead to procrastination. What do you do when can't get started because you're afraid you can't do it well? Or you're scared to finish because the product might not be perfect? Glynnis Whitwer, author of Taming the To-Do List, shares a new perspective that helps us to do our best, most authentic work.

Although life is inevitably overwhelming at times, we don't have to stay stuck there permanently. Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory, co-authors of Overwhelmed, share practical steps to moving from anxiety-filled to peace-filled when everything seems like too much.

In this episode, Cheri and Amy wrap up the Holiday Break series by sharing the flaws and fabulous of their Christmas with their usual humor and candor. The lessons learned are ones that all reforming perfectionists and people-pleasers will embrace.