This week on Cultivating the Lovely, host MacKenzie Koppa chats with Chrystal Evans Hurst. Chrystal is a wife, mom and grandmother who ministers to women and writes in the margins whenever she can. Today’s episode is a conversation centered on prayer and Chrystal’s new book The 28-Day Prayer Journey. (Affiliate links are used in this content.)

• Chrystal talks about prayer in terms of prioritizing communication
• The goal of The 28-Day Prayer Journey as a way to build a habit and a relationship
• Taking time several times throughout the day to pray and talk with God
• Doing the thing you need to do in order to learn to love doing that

You learn to communicate with God by communicating with God.

Chrystal Evans Hurst

• The power of prayer to change how you interact with your family and friends
• How Chrystal decided what aspects of the practice of prayer to include in the book
• Dealing with disappointed hopes and unanswered prayers
• Choosing to believe even when you don’t understand God’s ways
• The effectiveness of journalling and writing down your prayers
• You have to do the work to build the relationship with God
• A typical day for Chrystal currently

Current Lovelies-

Chrystal: listening to music and burning candles to set a warm atmosphere

Resources Mentioned-

Books:

The 28-Day Prayer Journey

Movies:

Pretty Woman

Find Chrystal-

You can find Chrystal on her website ChrystalEvansHurst.com. You can also follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Find MacKenzie-

You can find MacKenzie Koppa on Instagram, Facebook, and the CTL Facebook Group, of course! Join us on Patreon at Patreon.com/CultivatingtheLovely.

Thanks to Our Sponsors-

Today’s episode of Cultivating the Lovely is sponsored by Shapermint. Save an extra 10% on top of their already discounted prices at Shapermint.com/LOVELY when you use code LOVELY.

Today’s episode of Cultivating the Lovely is sponsored by Magic Spoon Low Carb Cereal. Visit MagicSpoon.com/LOVELY to order a variety pack, and use code LOVELY get free shipping!

This episode of Cultivating the Lovely is brought to you by Plan to Eat meal planning service.Visit PlanToEat.com/LOVELY to start your free 60-day trial instead of the normal 30-day trial.

Today’s episode of Cultivating the Lovely is sponsored by Theragun. Try Theragun risk-free for 30 days with this special offer for CTL listeners. Go to Theragun.com/lovely to get your own Generation 4 Theragun today.

On today’s episode of Cultivating the Lovely, MacKenzie talks with her good friend Katie Duckett about the challenges and changes of heading into the school year amidst the pandemic. They talk about being honest with what the school year is going to look like and how to make the best of difficult situations while valuing relationship with your children.

• How Katie’s school year is changing this year from what her family was expecting
• Check out MacKenzie’s Lovely Homeschool Course for help scheduling in the way that Katie talks about
• Katie’s struggle with burnout and changing seasons in her homeschooling journey
• MacKenzie talks about making the adjustment to public school with her kids
• Learning to trust God with your children when everything feels out of control

Even now, with all of this being out of our control, we know that God is in control.

Katie Duckett

• Watching your children rise up and learn resilience, fortitude, and perseverance
• Katie talks about watching her boys deal with the disappointment of team sports being delayed
• The challenge of setting a tone of love and joy at home when you don’t really feel it
• Taking care of yourself and using some shortcuts to save your sanity
• Katie shares the verses that centered her homeschool in the past and that she wants to be the focus going forward:
  • Philippians 2:12-13
  • 2 Timothy 1:14

Find Katie-

You can find Katie Duckett on Instagram @may_these_arrows_fly.

Find MacKenzie-

You can find MacKenzie Koppa on Instagram, Facebook, and the CTL Facebook Group, of course! Join us on Patreon at Patreon.com/CultivatingtheLovely.

Thanks to Our Sponsors-

Cultivating the Lovely is sponsored by GiveWell. When CTL listeners become first-time donors at GiveWell.org/lovely, you can have your donation matched up to $100. Be sure to select “Cultivating the Lovely” at checkout.

This episode of Cultivating the Lovely is brought to you by Freshly. Get $40 OFF your first 2 orders when you go to Freshly.com/LOVELY.

CTL is also sponsored by BetterHelp private online counseling. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOVELY for 10% OFF your first month of counseling.

This week on Cultivating the Lovely, host MacKenzie Koppa chats with Kendra Adachi. Kendra is a writer and podcaster, as well as a wife and mother to three beautiful children. Today MacKenzie talks with Kendra about her new book The Lazy Genius Way and what it means to make it easier to do the things that bring you to life. (Affiliate links are used in this content.)

• What the basis is for the “Lazy Genius Way”
• Figuring out what matters to you and what you need to make the most of your time
• What MacKenzie loves about this book and why she thinks you need to read it
• Letting ourselves be honest about what it means to be a person with unique needs and wants
• Recognizing and naming what matters to you

If you don’t name what matters underneath it all, you are just going to keep trying and being tired.

Kendra Adachi

• Observing your own life and noticing what works and what doesn’t work for you
• Stop using levels of order or messiness as a measure of morality
• How the book is broken down into principles for every situation
• Navigating this season in our lives with grace and a teachable spirit
• A typical day in the life of Kendra and her family

Current Lovelies-

Kendra: painting her nails almost daily and loving it for the first time in her life

MacKenzie: curating her family’s playlists for different times of the day

Resources Mentioned-

Books:

The Lazy Genius Way

On the Bright Side

Stand All the Way Up

Podcasts:

Tsh Oxenreider and The Good List

The Lazy Genius Collective Podcast

Kendra’s episode: How to Make the Perfect Playlist

The Popcast

Music:

Penny and Sparrow

Movies:

Sense and Sensibility

Find Kendra-

You can find Kendra on her website The Lazy Genius Collective. You can also follow her on Instagram.

Find MacKenzie-

You can find MacKenzie Koppa on Instagram, Facebook, and the CTL Facebook Group, of course! Join us on Patreon at Patreon.com/CultivatingtheLovely.

Thanks to Our Sponsors-

Today’s episode of Cultivating the Lovely is sponsored by Magic Spoon Low Carb Cereal. Visit MagicSpoon.com/LOVELY to order a variety pack, and use code LOVELY get free shipping!

Cultivating the Lovely is also brought to you by Crayola School Mask Pack. Get your family a mask pack today at schoolmaskpack.com/LOVELY.

On today’s episode of Cultivating the Lovely, MacKenzie Koppa goes solo to give us all some coaching on how to get ready for a crazy new season heading into this fall. We know here at CTL that everyone’s routines are looking very different this year, so MacKenzie wants to help you get planned and prepped up to make the best of whatever situation you are facing. And if you want an even deeper dive into what this can look like for you, head over and join the CTL Patreon supporters to get daily content to guide you through your fall planning.

• What MacKenzie and her kids are going to have to deal with for schooling this year
• What are “the givens” you have to consider when planning?
  • Meal planning

This episode of Cultivating the Lovely is brought to you by Plan to Eat meal planning service.Visit PlanToEat.com/LOVELY to start your free 60-day trial instead of the normal 30-day trial.

• Take some time on the weekends to plan out the coming week
  • Using Trello as a planning tool
• Creating good routines for yourself and your family to add predictability to your days
• Consider the work spaces and other places you need to prepare to make them more conducive to getting things done well
• Have a back-up plan for when things don’t go so well

If I put in the work on the front end of things, it is going to make my day to day life a lot easier.

MacKenzie Koppa

• Take a look at your own personal logistics in scheduling and self-care
  • What things can you prepare in advance each week to take the stress off your daily routine?
  • What helps you feel more centered throughout your day?
• Tips for staying on top of things and not losing your mind this fall:
  • Give yourself and those around you lots of grace
  • Be willing to cut some corners in certain areas
  • Get up and get dressed and presentable for your day
  • Help facilitate independence in your children
  • Create time and space for everyone to have some alone time daily
  • Foster friendships and community for yourself and your children

CTL is also sponsored by Postmates delivery service. Download the Postmates app, and use code LOVELY100 for $100 FREE delivery credit!

• Books to help you with dealing with stress and planning well:
  • The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi
  • Don’t Overthink It by Anne Bogel
  • On the Bright Side by Melanie Shankle
  • Stand All the Way Up by Sophie Hudson
  • Adore by Sara Hagerty

Find MacKenzie-

You can find MacKenzie Koppa on Instagram, Facebook, and the CTL Facebook Group, of course! Join us on Patreon at Patreon.com/CultivatingtheLovely.