Gracy Olmstead is a beautiful writer, her pieces published regularly in the New York Times and many others. As someone who ingests thousands of words per week, I make a point never to miss hers. She's writes about culture, faith, politics, policy, farming, food and more -- and does so with a voice all her own. Her pieces are often focused on compromise, human dignity and life and she has a knack for luring in both sides of an issue and helping them hear one another. So important! Gracy is the mom of two little girls and grew up in rural Idaho. She's now in Virginia, where she gardens, bakes, writes and stays at home with her girls. In today's interview, we talk about the freelance writing lie and her process for coming up with ideas, … [Read more...]
Manda Carpenter: A 28-Year-Old Foster Mom on a Mission
Manda Carpenter is 28 years old and has already been a foster mom for several years. It's a passion God put on her heart years go, in childhood, and she was just waiting for the opportunity to go for it. She met an incredible man, married him and the two set out on their foster journey. They even signed up to take on kids with significant psychological issues, those cases that not everyone might be willing to take on, She's an incredible advocate and a humble servant of Jesus. In the midst of motherhood, Manda is also thriving as a writer, speaker and leader. She recently came out with a devotional, "Space" and is working on her first full-length book. She has a couple of life mantras, including "Impressing is Exhausting" and "Get … [Read more...]
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah: President & CEO, Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah is one impressive -- and gracious -- lady. She's the President & CEO of Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service (LIRS) and has been working hard during our country's recent immigration struggles. Prior to this position, Krish ran for Governor of Maryland and was Policy Director for First Lady Michelle Obama -- very cool! I get her to answer a few questions about working with Michelle in this interview :) I first encountered Krish while researching a piece I wrote on families in the immigration crisis for the Washington Post. I so enjoyed chatting with her that I knew I wanted to have her on the podcast right away! She has a lot of important insight on history and current immigration policy and … [Read more...]
Rachel Barkley: Fighting a Spinal Tumor with a Newborn
A spinal tumor isn't something Rachel Barkley ever thought she'd know much about. And I never thought I'd be interviewing her about one of the scariest moments of her life. Three weeks after giving birth to her first baby, Rachel woke up unable to feel her leg. In a whirlwind of events, she was soon rushed into surgery in attempt to remove a massive spinal tumor that had been growing for years. Not knowing if the tumor was cancerous or if doctors would be able to get it out, she went into surgery with the understanding of how grave the worst case scenario really was. Throughout it all, Rachel relied on her faith in God to get her through -- and the way she's handled it all has been nothing short of amazing. Thankfully, she … [Read more...]
