Amy Stanton is a very busy business owner, an involved mother of 3 very busy kids spanning elementary, middle school and highschool. She talks about her journey with a heart condition that could have easily killed her had she not followed her intuition and taken care of her own health. Since surviving heart surgery she has taken her life by the horns and lives every moment to the fullest - no matter how chaotic it may get.

Matt Mattson is a professional speaker, author and entrepreneur, but most importantly, Matt is a dad . He is passionate about coaching his kids sports teams and is a firm believer in being present. Matt doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but he has a few ideas that might inspire us to be better parents.

Vanessa McBride is a longtime friend of mine. She works as an elementary school counselor and manages to stay somewhat sane as a mother of 4 children. She is also a military wife to a Marine and the daughter of a strong single mother. Vanessa unexpectedly got pregnant just after graduating high school. Her and her boyfriend chose to stay together and parent this new life they created. They have been together ever since. Their story isn’t the norm, it’s extraordinary. It didn’t come easily. Together they are created a solid foundation for their family and tell us what it takes to survive the hardest of moments.

Erica Koller is a lifelong friend of mine, a Veterinarian, a business owner, the wife of a business owner, a quick draw sharp shooter, a dancing fool, a full life liver and mother of two kids. To say she is a busy woman is putting it lightly. Erica survives every day with her community by her side. She couldn’t do it without her posse which includes friends, neighbors, and her family. She lives on her families ranch with her two kids and her husband outside of our rural home town in South Dakota.

Simon was adopted at 5 weeks old and told so young he didn't ever remember not knowing. All went well until he found out that his teddy bear was a gift from his birth mother when he was 40. That unleashed an eruption of anger, feeling rejected and unloved. That led to a quest to heal, healing and a desire to help others. 15 years later he works with others who want to support adoptees through my podcast, consulting, webinars and any other way he can.

My sons bike go stolen last week and I've been processing a lot of feelings as well as figuring out how to help him through his own feelings. I hate feelings. Feelings are something I've tried avoiding most of my life - but avoiding feelings has left me in many many therapy sessions. So how can I help my kids confront their feelings - especially those of anger and loss? This may be a dumb old bike being stolen, but there is a lesson to learn here.

Brenda Herbrand is a dear friend, teacher, and dedicated and very intentional single mother through domestic infant adoption. Brenda talks about what it took for her to adopt as a single woman and the difficulties she faced during the adoption process. She talks about her deep love for her childs birth mother. She has built a community around her to support everything she needs to be the best mother and woman she can be. I am so grateful I get to be part of that community.

Why is it so hard to make friends as adults? Why do I even need friends as an adult? This episode is about how I have connected with people in every avenue of life.

Beth Schaffer, a friend, a teacher, singer, dancer, single mother and birth mother. Beth has a lot to share about living as a single mother to her 11 year old daughter as well as her experience as a biological mother to a son she placed for adoption over 25 years ago.

What is Grace? Is it a religious term? And why are we raising grace? What does any of this mean? Here I give you a bit of back story - what my current life looks like and why I think we need to work together as parents to raise our kids with grace and give ourselves a little grace. My less serious introduction to this podcast and to who I am. It's funny, it's serious, its short. I think I say the "s" word once.

Season 1 Trailer: Being a parent is hard. How can we raise our children in the hardest of times with grace? How can we as parents of young children come together and encourage each other to see their child with grace and understanding? I am an amateur parent like the rest of us. Lets support one another with love and grace.