BONUS - SUMMER READS: Holy Unhappiness: God, Goodness, and the Myth of the Blessed Life with Amanda Held Opelt
Release Date: 08/11/2023
58. The Courage to Pause with Host of Courage Becomes Her - Laurel Emory
Courage Becomes Her
In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, host Laurel Emory shares a decision she has made concerning the podcast and invites you to take a listener survey about the future of the Courage Becomes Her podcast. Resources: · about the future of Courage Becomes Her · Corey and I share · : · Michele and I talk about · Erin and I talk...
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57. Sexual Intimacy in Mid-Life with Professor, University Administrator, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Wife, and Mom – Dr. Bev Wiens
Courage Becomes Her
In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Dr. Bev Wiens talks about sexual intimacy in mid-life. She shares that a satisfying sexual relationship is the result of a satisfying relationship outside of the bedroom. She educates us about the different types of sex drives and how our drives impact our sexual intimacy. She talks about the impact that perimenopause and menopause have on our sexual intimacy, and how our aging bodies can limit our sexual enjoyment. She shares, from her personal experience, about the impact that physical pain and disability have on sexual intimacy. She talks about the...
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56. Transitions in Mid-Life with Author, Podcaster, Wife, Mom, Grandma, and Dog Mom – Joanna Teigen
Courage Becomes Her
In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Joanna Teigen shares about major mid-life transitions, including going back to school, adopting a foster child, moving back to her home state, welcoming adult children back home, and facing unknowns in her physical health. She talks about how she has navigated these changes and how she has learned to view them as invitations to grow. She talks about the necessary trade-offs in times of transition and learning trust and humility by doing so. She talks about how she has learned more about herself and has grown in confidence about who she is because of...
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55. Friendship in Mid-Life with Writer, Podcaster, Wife, and Mom – Laura Tremaine
Courage Becomes Her
In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Laura Tremaine talks about her experience with loneliness and going through a season without friends. She shares about how friendship does change with the seasons of life and that it is good to be forward-thinking about what we expect out of friendships both now and in the future. She encourages us to flex the muscle of putting effort into our friendships and to default to saying yes more than we say no to relationship. She talks about the value of consistency in friendships and her belief that women in mid-life do that well. She shares about the...
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54. Loving Yourself and Your Life in Mid-Life with Author, Motivational Speaker, Philanthropist, Wife and Dog Mom – Rhonda Nelson
Courage Becomes Her
Southern lady, Rhonda Nelson, is an author, motivational speaker, and philanthropist. Her love of music led her to meet her husband while watching his band, the Little River Band, in a concert in Nashville in 1999. Rhonda loves sharing her gifts and talents with people and organizations and is grateful for the ability to support good work being done for children’s charities, cancer research, animal rescue, and women’s empowerment. She is passionate about helping women embrace middle age and discover what fulfills them and to love the life they live. In this episode of Courage...
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53. Parenting and Caregiving in Mid-Life with Author, Speaker, Motivator, Cancer Crusher, Wife, Mom, and Gigi – Dawn Barton
Courage Becomes Her
In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Dawn Barton talks about being in the “sandwich generation” of parenting a teenager while also caregiving for parents. She talks about making the decision to be a multi-generational family with three generations living on one property. She shares about how her priorities have shifted in the last several years and even though there have been incredibly difficult moments, experiences, and emotions, that she doesn’t see it as a sacrifice and wouldn’t have it any other way. Dawn Barton is an author and speaker who leads retreats for women who...
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52. Finding New Purpose in Mid-Life with Chair Artist, Wife, Mom, and Grandma – Jenny Ellis
Courage Becomes Her
Jenny Ellis is an Enneagram 9 who loves time with her family and making and sharing beautiful pieces of art. She and her husband have a blended family of five grown children and five grandchildren. She spent her career as a high-end dressmaker and moved into the upholstery world 10 years ago and now has her artistic chairs featured in stores, restaurants, and hotels like the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Jenny Ellis talks about needing to re-invent herself in her late 50s and choosing to learn something new that was artistic,...
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BONUS - SUMMER READS: Free and Fully Alive: Reclaiming the Story of Who You Were Created to Be with Karrie Garcia
Courage Becomes Her
In this bonus episode of Courage Becomes Her, we conclude our summer reads series with Karrie Garcia to talk about her new book, . Karrie talks about the value of facing the hard parts of our lives and not just leaving the past in the past but surrendering our stories to the kindness and care of God. She talks about the false freedom that is found in behavior modification and what it looks like to not just settle for relief but to find lasting freedom. Karrie is a pastor, author, certified life coach, trauma-informed story coach, and CEO who shares her journey to inspire change in...
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51. Friendship when Your Tank is Empty and Making Peace with Mid-Life with Wife, Mom, Cancer Survivor, Executive Coach, Presentation Coach, Author, and Speaker – Michele Cushatt
Courage Becomes Her
Michele Cushatt is an Enneagram 2 whose tank gets filled by hiking the Colorado Rockies. She is a wife and a mom to six, a three-time cancer survivor, and an executive coach, presentation coach, author, and speaker. Through her lived experiences, she is an expert on trauma, pain, and the deep human need for authentic connection and enduring faith. In this episode of Courage Becomes Her, Michele talks about friendship during hard seasons and what it’s like when your tank is empty and you’re unable to reciprocate or give to your friends. She also talks about how we make peace...
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BONUS - SUMMER READS: I Used to Be ______: How to Navigate Large and Small Losses in Life and Find Your Path Forward with Ashley Elliott
Courage Becomes Her
In this bonus episode of Courage Becomes Her, we continue our summer reads series with Ashley Elliott to talk about her new book, : How to Navigate Large and Small Losses in Life and Find Your Path Forward. Ashley helps us courageously process our losses when we enter the realm of what “used to be.” She talks about what it looks like to grieve, the downsides of unprocessed grief, and how feelings like anger are signals of grief. She points us to positive coping mechanisms and how we can neutralize the things that trigger grief within us. Ashley and her husband, Chuck, co-wrote the...
info_outlineIn this bonus episode of Courage Becomes Her, we continue our summer reads series with Amanda Held Opelt to talk about her new book, Holy Unhappiness: God, Goodness, and the Myth of the Blessed Life. Amanda talks about how disappointment, restlessness, and the feeling that life had let her down led her to realize that she thought she was entitled to happiness. An opponent of the health and wealth prosperity gospel, Amanda came to see that she was believing a similar ideology about happiness, that since she had done “all the right things” that God would grant her emotional prosperity and a blessed life.
Amanda Held Opelt is a speaker, songwriter, and author of two books, A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing and Holy Unhappiness. She believes in the power of faith, community, ritual, worship, and shared stories to heal even our deepest wounds. Amanda has spent the last 15 years in the non-profit and humanitarian aid sectors. She lives in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina with her husband and young two daughters. Please take the time to connect with her through Instagram or her website.
Enter the giveaway to win a copy of Holy Unhappiness, as sponsored by Worthy Publishing, through the August 11th post on Laurel’s Instagram.
Resources from my conversation with Amanda:
· Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
· The Evangelical Imagination by Karen Swallow Prior
· You are Not Your Own by Alan Noble
· Strange Rites by Tara Isabella Burton
· Self-Made by Tara Isabella Burton
· Amanda’s books:
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Production by Studio C Creative Sound