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.

There is something so sacred about food during the holidays. The taste of your grandma's casserole or your aunt's monkey bread, or your mom's Christmas Eve dinner. It can fill your heart and mind with so many wonderful feelings and memories. Food represents so much more than just a meal. It represents feelings of nostalgia and it represents just the most important parts of the holiday season, which is bringing people together around the table in love. I'm so excited just to have a little bit of fun on this episode and encourage you just to think about the food that you are having in your family over this holiday season.

I'm pumped to talk about a Christmas budget and Christmas gifts today. Guys, this can get so outta hand so fast, and also it can have such a negative connotation to it. Just making a Christmas budget feels like it's stifles all the Christmas cheer. But I'm here to say it doesn't. It doesn't. Making a Christmas budget actually brings me a lot of joy because it helps me to stay organized and focused on what I really, really want to be spending my money on.

And it helps me not get so carried away that in January I look back and have a lot of regret. I don't. When I make a Christmas budget, I don't. And so today we're gonna talk all about how to make a simple and effective Christmas budget for you to follow, as well as how to create a gift tracking document so that you can keep track of everything really well this Christmas.

Okay. Deep breath everybody. It is time to tackle the holiday schedule. Dare I say, this is the main source of stress that we encounter during the holidays. There are so many different invitations, obligations, so many people and organizations who are all asking something of us. And today I am here to remind you, you get to choose your yeses and your nos.

Today I'm kicking off a new series on the podcast, and I am giddy about it because it's all about the holidays. We're all thinking about it already. It's the last week of October. We're looking at November and December, and I think we can feel equal parts overwhelmed and excited. So today I am starting a five-part podcast series. It's gonna be very short podcast episodes just to get you thinking about how you can create holidays that are full of joy and contentment.

And I'll get into all the details of it. But here's what you can expect. The first episode, which is today, is gonna be about traditions. Next week it's gonna be about creating your holiday schedule. Then the next week, your holiday budget, and then your gifts, and then food. And I'm gonna be sharing all of the things that our family does while also just inviting you to think through and really, I don't know, analyze and consider what you want your holidays to look like. And I'm excited. I'm so excited about this. So I'm glad that you're here. Let's jump in.

One thing I have realized recently is that all of us in one way or another are seeking wisdom from God in our work. Whether that is working in our home and serving our kids and raising them, or whether it is running a business, managing a team, developing a new product, just maintaining something that we've had for years. As we get older, we need more wisdom. Life continues to get more complicated and more challenging, and especially in our work. And today's episode is gonna be simple. It's gonna be about three promises that we can find in scripture regarding wisdom in our work.

Okay. I felt like it was just time for a more lighthearted podcast episode and that is why I am bringing you 10 things that are saving my life, fall edition. Are they actually saving my life? No, but they’re really helping it and I think they’re making my fall a little bit better, and I’m just gonna share those things with you today. So I hope you enjoy listening.

I had a friend recently ask me, “How in the world do you do chores in your family with all four of your kids?” And I thought that would be a great podcast episode. So today I am gonna share with you how we do chores in the Ray household.

Today, I am gonna be telling you all about how I create a strategy for my life. And I know that sounds very broad and possibly overwhelming, but hang with me because I feel like I have been given some amazing tools to help me in four main areas of my life: my faith, my home, my work, and my legacy or my life overall.

So that's what we're gonna talk about today, how to create a strategy for your life. If you're feeling like you need some clarity, then this episode is for you.

So we all know that play is such an important part of our lives. It's easy to talk about work all the time, and it's a little bit more difficult as we get older to talk about play and incorporate play into our lives. But what I found out is it's so important to do it in small ways every day. If you can incorporate small play into your life on a daily basis, it really makes your lives and your work that much better. And that is what we are talking about in today's episode.

Well, it is back to school for the Ray family this week. I know everybody starts school at different times, but for us, school starts back this week. I’m so excited. And with school comes a lot of different ideas about new rhythms and routines that we wanna implement as a family. I personally get really excited about it, but one thing that God has been putting on my heart over and over again this year is implementing rhythms of faith to go alongside our rhythms of school and that is what today’s episode is all about.

Here's a job description that life handed me that I just didn't really see coming. I have to be a cook like every day and I have to be a fairly good one because the tiny humans that I feed around my table are fairly opinionated about food. Actually, they're very opinionated about food. And here's the deal: I'm just supposed to be good at it. I'm supposed to be good at it and I'm not. I'm not normally good at this whole cooking thing, but it is a skill that's required of me as I have to feed my family and it's up to me, and this year I put some new habits into place—nothing huge, nothing massive—that have changed everything for me. 

Here are some habits that I have recently put into place, just the last three months really and I've committed to them and I'm gonna share them with you today. Take them or leave them, but maybe just take one or two because honestly they've all served my family really well and served me in my sanity well, and I feel like at least one is gonna serve your family well, too. 

Alright, it's time for the Nancy Ray Book Club 2023 edition, and in these episodes I'm gonna share my three biggest takeaways from the books that I'm reading. Today I'm gonna be giving an honest review of Four thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mere Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman.

Today I'm sharing our philosophy on educating our kids why we chose the University Model route, and a little peak into what a typical day in the life looks like for us on one of those homeschool days.

My most downloaded episode, maybe ever, was Episode 007 called You Can Do Hard Things. Today, I'm gonna introduce her sister to you: You Can Do Fun Things.

I've decided that this year I want to make more of these Work & Play episodes about play, and I'm gonna try to be a little more lighthearted, which can be kind of hard for me. But that's the goal for this year, and that's what today's episode is all about—encouraging you (and me) to incorporate more play in your life and to do fun things.

Just a few months from now, in the start of 2023, that will mark 10 years since I did my first Contentment Challenge, where I give up shopping for three months straight to pursue a more content life and a closer walk with the Lord.

A few years ago, I came up with a core purpose statement for my work and this podcast, and that is: Practical tools for an integrated life. That is what I'm after. I want my teachings, my content, everything that I give to you or anyone who's listening to be very practical, and I want them to be implemented into an integrated life.

Everyone right now is telling us that we should be buying more, that we should have more, that we should be dressing in cuter clothes and decorating more perfectly. And today, I just want to be a voice that says: You don't.