Today, I have the absolute privilege of talking with Megan Fate Marshman about her new book called, “Relaxed.” Let me just tell you, this conversation was so special. It is one that I am going to listen to over and over again. I hope it means as much to you as it has meant to me.

Today I have the privilege of talking with my friend, Hannah Brencher, the author of The Unplugged Hours: Cultivating a Life of Presence in a Digitally Connected World. Hannah is such a gift! I am so excited to share her with you today and the message of her new book that is already changing my life.

Welcome back to part two of my conversation with Graham Cochrane about his new book, Rebel, which is so great. If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode, definitely go back and listen to that one first. This is a continuation of my conversation with Graham. I told him when I was talking with him, “I feel like this is a sermon for me. How is it that we’re talking about your book called ‘Rebel’ right now?” It’s so good. I hope you enjoy our conversation. It was such a challenge and such a blessing to me all at once. I know you’re going to love it. Here’s part two of my conversation with Graham Cochrane.

Get excited for today’s episode (and next week’s episode) because I get to talk with Graham Cochrane, who is a dear friend of mine. He and his wife Shay are good friends of mine and WIll. He is also my business coach. He has coached me in different seasons of my business and he just wrote a book. He loves the Lord. He is a brilliant entrepreneur, thought leader, author. It is a joy to get to talk to him and ask him questions one on one. You guys are in for a treat. The episode was packed full of so much goodness, I decided to break it up into two episodes. So don’t miss next week’s episode as well, as Graham and I talk all about his new book,

I’m so excited to welcome you back to another episode of “May is for Mamas” where every episode in the month of May is dedicated to mamas. Today, we are talking with an expert on health, nourishing ourselves, and how to change our families forever by taking care of our bodies with the food that we eat. I’m so excited for you to hear from Ilana Muhlstein. Now, if you’ve ever been part of the “Beach Body” program or heard of the “2B Mindset”, this is who created it. Guys, I’m geeking out. I don’t usually say “Yes” to people who I get random emails from in my inbox, but when I saw hers come thorough, I started geeking out because I personally have done “2B Mindset”, I’ve gone through her program (I’ve done it last year, I’m doing it now), I believe in it and it works. So I thought to share something that’s been so life changing for me with my listeners with Illana herself would be such a gift, especially in the month of May for “May is for Mamas.” So I’m so excited. She is a dietician, a nutritionist, and a best-selling author. Guys, at the age of 13, Ilana weighed over 200 pounds. Her story is so inspiring. She came up with this model that really works and I can say that honestly because it works for me. It is like a track to run on; so helpful. The conversation is going to be so great. I hope you enjoy this episode of “May is for Mamas” with Ilana Muhlstein.

Welcome to the first episode of my “May is for Mamas” series, where every episode in the month of May is dedicated to the mamas listening. I’m starting out with a great conversation with my friend, Molly Stillman, who just wrote an amazing book called, “If I Don’t Laugh, I’ll Cry.” It’s so good. We talk all about it, but it really honors the life and story of her mom, which is just amazing. You’ll hear all about it. I’m so excited for this series! I hope you love it.

This week’s episode is part 2 of a conversation I had with my husband Will all about how we have observed the Sabbath as a family for a year now and how it has changed us forever. If you missed the first part of our conversation, go back to last week’s episode and listen to that before you listen to today’s episode. I’m so excited to finish out this conversation with you today.

Well it has been one whole year of our little Ray family embracing the Sabbath as a weekly rhythm. This episode is a conversation with myself and Will all about how it has changed us forever.

We are back with the second half of my conversation with Jess Connolly talking all about rest because the month of April on the Work and Play podcast is all about the importance of rest in our lives. I’m so grateful you’re here! I can’t wait for you to listen to the rest. If you haven’t listened to part one already, go back to last week’s episode and start there.

Well, I’m trying something new here at Work and Play with Nancy Ray and that is months that have themes. So the theme of April is rest and this conversation is not going to disappoint. I’m talking to Jess Connolly today all about why women are so tired. We’re all so tired and this conversation is full of practical and spiritual answers as to why we’re so tired and what we can do differently. Guys, this conversation was so good, I decided to divide it into two episodes. I can’t wait for you to hear it and I think it fits perfectly with the theme of rest for this April. Enjoy and come back next week to hear part 2!

Okay guys, get ready for part 2 of my conversation with Barbara. If you missed last week’s episode, you’re going to want to go back and listen to it. She is so full of wisdom, so gracious, she loves the Lord, and she’s teaching us all about how to maintain our homes, get rid of clutter, and set up systems in our life that will help us do the work that we’re meant to do and live the life we’re meant to live. Loved these conversations so much. Can’t wait for you to hear part 2!

Today's episode is so special! We have Barbara Hemphill chatting with us about how to manage all of the stuff and clutter in our lives. Guys, she has been doing this for over 40 years! She is THE pioneer to the decluttering industry. Before minimalism was a thing, she was out there helping people declutter their homes. She has so many systems and so much wisdom. I feel like I could talk to her for hours and never get tired of it. It's such a great conversation - so valuable and helpful. I plan to go back and re-listen to it and take notes. I'm so excited! It was so good that we're splitting it across two episodes so you'll get to hear from Barbara this week and next week. Get excited because it's a good one.

Today I'm talking with my friend, Paige Brunton, who is a website expert; specifically in Squarespace. She teaches others to design their own Squarespace websites and she also teaches others how to become professional Squarespace web designers which is pretty cool. She has totally ditched social media, but has an amazing online business and a very engaged Youtube following. She now lives in Switzerland with her husband, which is amazing. I know you're going to love her and whether or not you have a Squarespace website, you're going to be so encouraged to know the most important thing that you need to do with your website after listening today.

I'm back with another May is for Mama's episode, and today I'm releasing one of my Patreon-only episodes into the world. This episode was published to my Patreon community last year, and it's the first time I've ever done this, but I love this precious woman so much, and I loved what she had to say so much that I knew eventually I had to share it with everyone.

Elizabeth Ray, who we affectionately call Grammy in our home, is my husband's mom, so she is my mother-in-law and she is one of my favorite people on this earth. Now, it's not lost on me that I am calling my mother-in-law one of my favorite people. I realize this is very rare and it is truly the greatest gift. Now, she always told me that she had the privilege of having an incredible mother-in-law herself who modeled that to her and now I am receiving that gift because she's now passing it down to me and I'm learning what that looks like.

I'm learning it because I'm watching it in action and I love that we have such a good, healthy relationship. But let me just say, whether you have a great relationship with your mother-in-law, a mediocre one, or maybe even a terribly painful one, I know you'll be encouraged today as Grammy simply shares about what she's learned from her mother-in-law—the power of words. And we can all take notes and decide now the kind of mother-in-law that we want to be one day.

I am so excited about the guest that I have today on the podcast because I kept thinking “If I could choose someone who would deliver a lot of value to my listeners who are mamas this month of May, who would it be?” And I kept thinking about Megan Michelson.

Megan is the co-creator and co-host of Birds & Bees, an online course with an amazing woman named Mary Flo Ridley. The two of them teach about sex and how to talk to your kids about sex in a healthy way. Let me just say—it is such a fabulous resource. Will and I have watched the course, we have taken so many notes, and I have even watched it a second time. It is such a great resource that I thought “You know, if I could have her on the podcast to share this information with you guys, it would be a game changer.” Megan has three kids of her own, is married, and lives in Dallas, Texas, and she is just a wonderful human being. I am very grateful to their generosity to you and I hope you enjoy!

I'm back with another May is for Mama's episode, and today I'm releasing one of my Patreon-only episodes into the world. This episode was published to my Patreon community last year, and it's the first time I've ever done this, but I love this precious woman so much, and I loved what she had to say so much that I knew eventually I had to share it with everyone.

Elizabeth Ray, who we affectionately call Grammy in our home, is my husband's mom, so she is my mother-in-law and she is one of my favorite people on this earth. Now, it's not lost on me that I am calling my mother-in-law one of my favorite people. I realize this is very rare and it is truly the greatest gift. Now, she always told me that she had the privilege of having an incredible mother-in-law herself who modeled that to her and now I am receiving that gift because she's now passing it down to me and I'm learning what that looks like.

I'm learning it because I'm watching it in action and I love that we have such a good, healthy relationship. But let me just say, whether you have a great relationship with your mother-in-law, a mediocre one, or maybe even a terribly painful one, I know you'll be encouraged today as Grammy simply shares about what she's learned from her mother-in-law—the power of words. And we can all take notes and decide now the kind of mother-in-law that we want to be one day.

Welcome to May is for Mamas, where I dedicate every episode in the month of May to the Mamas listening. We are kicking it off with a beautiful, encouraging conversation with Ashlee Gadd on why it's so important to keep creating in the margins of motherhood. Ashlee is the author of Create Anyway, which is a beautiful book. It just came out and I could not get my hands on it fast enough.

Y'all. It's so good. Listen, Ashlee is a wife, a mom of three, a follower of Jesus, a writer, a photographer, and she founded Coffee and Crumbs, which is a beautiful online space that brings mothers together through storytelling. Ashlee is just the kind of person who has a beautiful heart, and I'm so grateful I got to spend time with her today.

Also, side note, Coffee and Crumbs has a podcast and it's one of the very few podcasts I actually listen to regularly, and what a gift it was to just to get to know Ashlee, to get to know her heart. I know you're gonna love our conversation on creating in motherhood.

Today I'm talking with my dear friend Nicole Jacobsmeyer, who is a fellow mama of four. She is an author and a kindred spirit. Her first book, Take Back Your Joy, just came out and if you open the first two pages of the book, you'll read my endorsement, which is so much fun! I hope you enjoy our heartfelt conversation today.

Today, I had the absolute privilege of talking to my friend Graham Cochrane. He is the author of How To Get Paid For What You Know, and we talk all about his book! I've read the whole thing cover to cover and it's so good.

Today, we have the privilege of hearing from my friend and mama mentor, Renee Swope, who is a wife and a mama of three and an author and speaker. She's so wise and I love that she is ahead of me in the motherhood journey, she has so much to offer.