by Barb Roose | May 9, 2018 | Better Together Podcast
Are you or someone that you know a planning a wedding? Are you a soon-to-be-bride, mother-of-the-bride, or mother-of-the-groom?
If so, this episode of the Better Together podcast is a must-listen for some of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to wedding fashion and family dynamics.
My guest this week is my fabulous friend and America’s leading Christian fashion consultant, Shari Braendel. She’s a popular guest on my Better Together podcast and on this episode, Shari shows up with some important rules and must-do’s when it comes to weddings.
Not only does she provide helpful information, but as Shari will be the mother-of-the-groom at her son’s wedding in just a couple of weeks, she lets us into what God has been teaching her about loving and letting go. It’s a touching, emotional conversation that any mom with a wedding coming up needs to hear. (You might want to grab a tissue!)
In our conversation, Shari answers questions like:
- What are the rules for when the mother-of-the-bride and mother-of-the-groom decide to pick their dresses?
- What kind of dress is best for your body type?
- When it comes to making decisions about the wedding, who should get first choice?
- How can you navigate hurt feelings and difficult moments while planning the wedding with the other side of the family?
- How can a mother-of-the-bride or mother-of-the-groom prepare her heart for the emotional “letting go” on the wedding day?
AND WAIT, THERE’S MORE! Are you attending a wedding this summer? If so, Shari helps you identify your body type and what kind of dress will look best on you. Friends, I use Shari’s style advice all of the time, so listen and be blessed!
BONUS! If you’ve got wedding fashion questions or questions of the heart, Shari would love to answer them. Leave them on the blog page of this podcast!
GET CONNECTED TO SHARI
Website | Facebook
Shari’s 27 Hangers Online Course
Shari’s book – Help Me Jesus, I Have Nothing to Wear
Breakaway 2018 Conference on June 15-16 in Concord, NC
About Barb…
Barb Roose is the host of the Better Together podcast. She’s a popular conference speaker and author of multiple books and Bible studies including her new book, Winning the Worry Battle and six-week Bible study called, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle. Barb and her family live in NW Ohio. She loves travel, chocolate peanut ice cream and fabulous high heel shoes. Connect with Barb at Barbroose.com for new episodes of the Better Together podcast on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
by Barb Roose | Apr 25, 2018 | Joshua & Winning the Worry Battle
Last week was an incredible week! On Tuesday, I celebrated the launch of my new Bible study, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle AND my new book, Winning the Worry Battle. It was a thrill to partner with the lead pastor of my church, Ben Snyder, to host a launch event titled, “Finding Freedom from Worry and Anxiety” Event on Tuesday, April 17. Here’s a quick slideshow of some of the fun photos from last week. (Pictures change every six seconds 🙂
[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”13″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_slideshow” gallery_width=”800″ gallery_height=”600″ cycle_effect=”fade” cycle_interval=”6″ show_thumbnail_link=”0″ thumbnail_link_text=”[Show thumbnails]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]
Over 400 people attended the one-hour event at my church and the event ran on Facebook Live with over 1700 views. Rather than just host a “buy my book” event, I dreamed of encouraging and equipping people to win their worry battle. Ben and I talked about the spiritual impact of worry and anxiety. My friend and church communications director, Eric, was our emcee and he worked behind the scenes to help me organize the entire night. I interviewed my friend and fellow leader, Lauren Snyder. Eight years ago, Lauren had to fight her own worry battle when a friend of hers passed away after battling cancer. Lauren talked about how God led her toward health and wholeness with the help of her healthcare provider, wise voices in her life, and an ongoing commitment to community and accountability.
After the Tuesday night launch event, I joined the Aspire Women Events tour for three days of events in Cincinnati, Medina, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. What a thrill! Holy moly friends, it was such a wonderful experience! Not only did I have a chance to share a message from my new Joshua Bible study and Winning the Worry Battle book, but I partnered in ministry with some extraordinary women. Aspire Events emcee and worship leader, Mia Koehne has an incredible talent for music and an inspiring personal story. Comedians Anita Renfroe and Kristin Weber made my face cheeks hurt with their hysterical stories and great songs.
The cherry on top of every event is connecting with the ladies, whether they stop by to buy a book or just want to say “hi.” God uses the women that I meet to bless me, encourage me, and remind me of just how much God takes care of us.
Friends, for those who have been praying for me over these months, thank you. You know that it’s been a long road. Writing two books in less than a year, losing my dad, and navigating a few other life situations has made for quite challenging year. So, to God to be the glory! He has brought me through and I am celebrating with you!
Thank you all for your love and support!
by Barb Roose | Apr 10, 2018 | Better Together Podcast
“Focus on the person you are fighting for, not the person you are fighting with.” -John Geurin
Do you have a secret that you’re keeping from your husband? Some of us might sneak in a few pairs of shoes inside brown grocery bag or perhaps there is a secret Amazon account attached to an off-the-radar credit card, secrets are never good for a relationship.
But what about a bigger secret?
Are you hiding secret feelings from your husband about the guy at the office who gives great shoulder rubs?
Do you feel a growing affection for your neighbor who always has time to fix something when your hubby is busy?
On this episode of the Better Together podcast, I’m talking with speaker and author Shannon Geurin. Shannon and her husband, John live in Colorado and they are parents of two daughters.
Twelve years ago, Shannon began an emotional affair with a man that led to a physical affair. As Shannon says, “and that affair led me to do the unthinkable. I was going to leave my family – husband and my little girls.”
This is a raw conversation, friends. Shannon speaks with humility about the mistakes that she made, the lies that she believed, the forgiveness that she received, and the long five-year road that she walked with her husband after her affair.
Even if you think that it isn’t possible for you to even find yourself in Shannon’s situation, there are plenty of other ways in life when we can get off-track in life. Listen as Shannon shares not only the warnings signs, but take heart and have hope as Shannon also shares how you can find your way back if you’ve made big mistakes and you’re wondering if you can ever overcome them. In Jesus’ name, you can!
THREE STEPS TOWARD FORGIVENESS & RESTORATION:
- Surround yourself with people who are supporting the decision that you are making.
- Write down God’s promises and post them where they can encourage you.
- Don’t let shame and guilt rob you of God’s forgiveness and your future.
LINKS FROM TODAY’S SHOW:
Connect with Shannon: Email | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Finding Joy Ladies Night Out Tickets – click here
Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle Bible Study by Barb Roose
by Barb Roose | Apr 3, 2018 | Better Together Podcast
I love the word “gutsy.”
In fact, a gutsy woman is always inspiring to me! She’s the kind of gal who knows that the odds are stacked against her, but she makes a big move anyways. In a world where women are fighting against so much, we need brave, courageous women who are willing to risk it all for something better.
Sometimes, the greatest gutsiest risk we’ll ever take is the one that involves confronting our painful past and choosing to walk the road of healing.
Today, my Better Together podcast guest is Jennifer Renee Watson. I caught up with Jennifer as she was hiding out in a hotel room writing her upcoming book called Freedom: The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough and Life Beyond It” (February 2019). Jennifer is a speaker, writer, pastor’s wife, student ministries leader, and mother of two. Her life journey has been one of brokenness and healing. Now, Jennifer’s passion is to equip others to take their healing journey as well.
As the child of an alcoholic and divorce, Jennifer spent her younger years trying to cope with the ache and pain of the loss of her dad to addiction and the break-up of her family. “My dad had such a great heart and loved people but over the years, his addiction became bigger and louder than who he was as a man.”
Jennifer came to faith in Christ when she was 11 years old. Her new life and hope in Christ helped Jennifer to see that she needed to deal with the brokenness in her life. “When I was in my teen years, I worked hard to deal with my junk. I wrote stories, angry poetry, danced. I needed an outlet to work through things.” Not only that, but young Jennifer made one of her first gutsy moves in life and said “yes” when she felt God putting a life of ministry on her heart.
During today’s conversation, Jennifer talks through what her “healing journey” looked like. Most of all, Jennifer tells us about the powerful way that she knew that healing had taken place when she got the word that her dad died three years ago.
There are times when we hear women talk about the shock-n-awe brokenness of their lives, but Jennifer longs for us to not let our brokenness define us. Rather, she invites us to learn how to offer the fractured parts of our lives to God and let those broken places be a platform to glorify Him.
On today’s Better Together Podcast, Jennifer and I discuss:
- What it means to be a “gutsy” woman;
- How you can use creative outlets to work through your junk;
- What you need in order to take a “healing journey”;
- How to let your brokenness glorify God instead of letting it define your life.
LINKS FROM TODAY’S EPISODE
Jennifer Renee Watson website | Facebook
Finding Joy Ladies Night Out Tickets – click here
LEAVE A COMMENT: Who is the gutsiest woman that you know? Tell us about her and how she inspires you.
About your host…
Barb Roose is the host of the Better Together podcast. She’s passionate about teaching women how to win at life with strength and dignity. Barb’s new book, Winning the Worry Battle and her new six-week Bible study on the book of Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle release in April 2018. Both products are available at your favorite online retailers and stores across the country.
by Barb Roose | Mar 27, 2018 | Christian Living/Discipleship, Joshua & Winning the Worry Battle
By Barb Roose
For most of my adult life, I thought that being a worrier was a sign that I cared about others.
If I worried about someone that meant that I cared about their safety and happiness. So, I would devote my mental energy to identifying all of the ways that my family or friends might miss optimum happiness, hurt or kill themselves. It didn’t matter if they were thinking about trying a new hairstyle or daring to attend a college across the country, I was going to point out everything that could possibly go wrong so that they could avoid a tragedy.
But, what happens to us when we spend our time thinking about all of the things that could hurt, harm or kill the people in our lives? Eventually, our minds get stuck in that kind of worst-case scenario thinking. Did you know that 85% of what we’re afraid of happening never actually happens? So, when you’re churning all of the “what-if” scenarios about your daughter going on a missions’ trip or your son heading off to college, 85% of what you are stressing out about won’t happen.
Why do we believe that worrying is a symbol of caring for others?
If we worry about people because we care about them, then why does worry only produce negative feelings in us? I don’t know about you, but the more I allowed myself to worry, the more trapped I felt in a world of worry. Instead of feeling happiness for the people that I loved, I began to only feel fear, which opposes and tries to suffocate the power of love.
Here are three ways that worry makes us feel crazy:
1. Worry pretends to be productive.
When nothing changes, you feel crazy because you thought that by worrying you were actually doing something to make positive change happen.
2. Worry doesn’t have to work hard work to take over your mind.
Worry feels like your subscription to Netflix. It’s always available and once you begin streaming WorryFlix, you end up binge-worrying your entire life before you know it.
3. Worry produces horrible feelings that stress you out during the day and keep you up at night.
Isn’t it amazing how something in your mind makes your body respond in real ways? While you’re imagining the worst, your heart is racing and you feel real fear. Have you ever finished worrying and REAL tears were streaming down your face? And it was all in your imagination…
How worry made me feel crazy and out of control…
Seventeen years ago, my battle with worry peaked when one of my kids was struggling at school. Her teacher sent home notes and we had numerous meetings. I loved my sweet girl, but my fear over her future consumed me. Dozens of “what if” worst case scenarios drove me crazy! For weeks, I stressed out over my child’s health during the day and I paced the floor because I couldn’t sleep at night. Like Jesus said in Matthew 6:27, all of my worries didn’t add a single quality moment to my life or my child’s life.
So, what changed? I had to admit that worry was my flawed way of playing God instead of taking the time to pray to God.
Then, I had to replace those places in my mind where worry got good and comfortable with God’s Word. I had to commit myself to filling my brain with Bible verses that spoke against worry like this one:
Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
—1 Peter 5:7
If you’ve always been a worrier, can I suggest that you either memorize this verse or type it into your cell phone. Whenever worry tries to take up space in your life, allow God to use this verse to kick that worry out of your mind and replace it with peace. Trust me, it does work! But, you’ve got to put the work into it!
Do I still worry at times? Yes! I’ll always have to fight against worry, but I don’t have to live as a worrier.
When you know how to use God’s Word to win against worry, you will wake up energized every day and excited about life because you know that God will give you victory over any worry that comes your way. Don’t waste another day of your life fighting a losing worry battle!
Don’t waste another day of your life fighting a losing worry battle!
LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW: Are you a worrier? What things do you worry about most?
About Barb Roose…
Barb loves reaching women and teaching them to win at life with God-empowered strength and dignity. She is the author of multiple books and Bible studies, including April 2018 releases, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle (Bible study) and Winning the Worry Battle. She is the host of the Better Together Podcast and loves diving into tough topics that women want to know. Barb and her husband, Matt, are the parents of three daughters. Barb loves Jesus, travel, her FitBit, chocolate-peanut butter ice cream, and fabulous high heel shoes.
Are you or someone that you know a planning a wedding? Are you a soon-to-be-bride, mother-of-the-bride, or mother-of-the-groom?
