#128 Rambling with Sarah Roberts

Hooray for spring and more sunshine!  This conversation is a little more serious, but we also ramble about silly things including farm life, radio icons, and a fun spring giveaway with Hello Grace.  Fran shares where she is going for spring break and what she is learning as she prepares for that trip.  We also talk about Psalm 139 and the condition of our hearts. There is so much power in our vulnerability! We have to be willing to ask the Lord to examine our hearts and not be afraid of it, then share what we are learning with our people. 

Do you remember listening to the iconic Delilah on the radio?  

Angela's sweatshirt "pray before you overthink" can be found here

Stay tuned for a fun giveaway with Hello Grace & our precious friend Annika Brooks!

Listen to Grace Valentine on Episode 138

Learn more about Grace Valentine's Purpose Retreat designed to help young women find their purpose

Find Grace White's fun videos here 

Learn more about Union University GO Trips here

Psalm 139:23-24. "Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any wicked, hurtful or offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

The Lord knows you.  The Lord is with you. The Lord made you. The Lord is for you. 

Join us in June for our book club!  Untangle Your Emotions by Jennie Allen 

Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Colossians 2:7 "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

Ask daily: What's the condition of my heart right now? What is the Lord teaching me?  Am I growing in my relationship with the Lord?  

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.

This conversation is pure, classic rambling including life updates and what we are looking forward to this spring. plus an exciting announcement about our new book club! You can also watch this week's episode on our YouTube Channel! 

Learn more about Jennie Allen & the reasons we need to untangle our emotions here

Order your copy on Amazon Untangle Your Emotions: Naming What You Feel and Knowing What to Do About It by Jennie Allen

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.

We are so excited to share this conversation with y'all!  Dr. Dub is back and full of the wisdom and action steps we needed.  We talk about the importance of living humbly regardless of your title or position and how to be more present with the people you encounter each day. Dr. Dub shares practical ways to focus our minds on scripture plus the daily & weekly disciplines that will change your life.  We also asked for his book recommendations which inadvertently led us to our very own "book colloquium" (stay tuned!) and of course, we talk about our beloved college students and all the ways they bring us hope for the future.  Y'all will love this conversation and will learn so much from Dr. Dub. We sure did!

People think we have less agency than we actually do.   We can take control of when we respond on social media.

Prayer: Lord help me to love well the people you have given me to love 

Let's create the space we really want for people. 

Daily reminder: scripture before anything else and scripture above everything else. 

Don't apologize for patterns in your own life that bring health and life and flourishing. 

For sabbath to work, we have to be intentional about it. 

Nobody likes discipline in the moment but then you see the fruit it bears and it's always worth it.

Dr. Dub's book recommendations:

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer 

A Non-Anxious Presence : How a Challenging and Complex World will Create a Remnant of Renewed Christian Leaders by Mark Sayers 

24/6: A Prescription for a Happier, Healthier Life by Matthew Sleeth 

The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitnell Earley 

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

You asked and we answered!  We love hearing from y'all and this was so fun!  In this conversation we talk about travel, how we relax, what we are watching & reading, what’s bringing us joy right now, what exhausts us, our fave go-to meals, and what we do for fun.  We also share one tiny habit we can all incorporate to create an extraordinary life.  We sure do love y'all and hope you enjoy this classic rambling!     

Check out Beis luggage including Angela's favorite - the mini weekender here

Angela's favorite websites & podcasts for Disney trip planning: TouringPlans and WDW Prep School

Listen to Mallory Lamm's episode on Disordered Eating & Body Image 

Listen to Rachel Mitchell's episode on authenticity

Luke 5:16 "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

Our book recommendations:

Wild and Free: A Hope-Filled Anthem for the Woman Who Feels She is Both Too Much and Never Enough by Jess Connoly and Hayley Morgan 

40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger.  A Different Kind of Fast by Alicia Britt Chole

The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers

Never Split the Differrence: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On it by Chris Voss

You can also watch this week's episode on our YouTube Channel! 

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

In this special conversation, Fran sits down with our beloved friend Susie Oliver to talk about doing hard things! Susie recently made a bold decision to become a Pure Barre instructor so she can help women stay active and healthy.  Susie and Fran help us identify the hard thing each of us are facing and then give us practical wisdom for taking next steps in that direction.  Susie candidly shares what she is learning on her journey, why it's worth the risk and how we can all be brave in whatever the Lord is calling us into! We can do hard things with Jesus and one another!

Don't let comparison steal your joy! 

Just because the Lord called you to it, that doesn't mean it will be easy!

It's not about perfection! We will make mistakes and that's okay!

Lean into whatever the Lord has for you to do! 

Pray this: Lord show me what you want me to do, then give me the courage to do it!

Philippians 4 

Learn more about Pure Barre here

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

If you are on Instagram, you will find Grace Valentine sharing all her joy and wisdom there. She can be found here!

You can also find her books, devotionals, learn about the fabulous retreat she hosts, join her facebook group, find the podcast by going to her linktree.  

Her website can be found here. 

Aren't you so thankful for how she is pouring into this next generation?  We sure are! 

Be sure and follow Rambling on IG, TikTok, and don't forget to join our Facebook group. 

This conversation will make you smile and encourage you in your walk with the Lord!  We are a little silly at first but that's what happens when we record at the end of a long day at the end of a long week.  We take a walk down memory lane (including Love Connection and the Newlywed Game), tell funny stories about words we can't pronounce, and wrap it all up with solid encouragement from scripture.  

 Isaiah 41:10 "I will strengthen and help you." 

Check out these meaningful and cute tshirts and sweatshirts from Dear Heart including "Can't throw stones while washing feet" and "May heavenly things constantly interrupt our earthly things" 

We should assign meaning to our time and figure out what is non-negotiable.  Nobody wants to be careless with our time, but you have to be intentional and take control of it.  

Here's a fun and funny conversation to kickoff a new week!  We are SO OVER being snowed in and have lots to share with you including what we are watching, where we are shopping, how we spent our snow days, new hobbies we might be pursuing, and of course, we wrap it all up with solid encouragement and lots of Jesus!   

Want to join us in the Psalms "Real Help for Real Life" Bible Study by Ray Ortlund?  Order your workbook here 

Psalm 78:72 "David led with integrity of heart and skillful hands."

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.

You can also watch this week's episode on our YouTube Channel! 

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

Tori Wilkerson is authentic, engaging, and believes "it is always better to laugh than to cry, even if you have to laugh whle you are crying."  In this conversation, Tori reveals how her life dramatically changed after her mother's death, and how that experience became an unexpected ministry opportunity.  We talk about the importance of community and how to tell our friends what we need from them. Tori helps us undertand grief and what to say to our friends when they are hurting. This is a beautiful, sacred conversation that will be helpful and hopeful for anyone navigating loss personally or alongside a friend.  We are so thankful for Tori and you will be, too! 

Isaiah 66:13 "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you."

"Nobody knows what you need unless you tell them what you need."

"It's hard, but we need to talk about our loved ones. It keeps them alive in our hearts."

"God keeps reminding me that his love for me is not contingent upon my faithfulness" 

Listen to Episode 117 - How to Be Prepared with Rayna Bomar 

Learn more about Story Groups and listen to Tori's podcast with Will Chenault, StoryFormed Podcast

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

This episode is full of laughter, shenanigans and honest conversation about Jesus.  We update y'all on our new habits, how we are growing, and the questions we are asking ourselves each day.  We also talk about the spiritual discipline we are loving right now, and how it will encourage you, too!  If you haven't already subscribed to our YouTube Channel, this one is worth watching especially for the "crash" and the hilarity that ensues.  We sure do love y'all, and we love learning and laughing with you here!

Here's the link to our YouTube Channel!

Learn more about YoungLives on  Episode 123 with Jen Wilson

Learn more about Dr. Mary Claire Haver and her recommendations regarding supplements, menopause, and living your best life

 Find Dr Caroline Leaf on Instagram here 

"Destructive habits drastically decrease & positive habits increase when people spend four days a week or more in God's Word." 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

If I'm made in God's image, how is he shaping me to display his character? 

How can I honor God with my life today?  

Am I learning at the level required for the future me I am trying to become??

From Upon Waking by Jackie Hill Perry  "The truth is, the immutable nature of God is an anchor. It means that at no point in history or at no point in the time to come will God not be good. Or not able to move. He has and will always be a faithful and just and gracious and powerful God. Just because we change our minds every other minute doesn't mean God does. He is the same God today as He was then.  And so, I reckon that the spiritual discipline we'd all do well to cultivate is that discipline of remembering And isn't that what the Word of God is for? To give us sixty-six books worth of memories about who God is and how God works? Which will inform our faith, so that we can always trust the Lord, without hesitation."

"Here's one way I can know that I have forgotton the gospel of grace: when your sin bothers mre more than my own."

Proverbs 16:24: "Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."

We LOVE connecting with you!    Join our Facebook group   • Follow us on Instagram • Follow us on TikTok   • Follow us on Pinterest

If you want to learn more about Union University, check out the website www.uu.edu or email Fran at fthomas@uu.edu - we also have a fee waiver fee if you plan to apply!  Simply use the word TALK on the application.