Info

Surviving Sarah

The Surviving Sarah Podcast is hosted by Sarah Bragg, and each week she brings a different guest on the show to talk about what it looks like to survive--survive life, yourself, your kids, your job, your relationships. Each guest brings their unique story to the table in a real and casual way. The conversation is curated for you much like listening to your favorite playlist to inform, inspire, encourage and entertain women.
RSS Feed
Surviving Sarah
2024
March
February
January


2023
December
November


2022
June


2021
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: August, 2017
Aug 29, 2017

You are joining me for Episode 90 and for this episode we recorded a live show in front of a group of women. There is a non-profit organization who works to be the church and bring a different kind of church to their community in the East Cobb area of Atlanta who invited me to record a live episode with them. The women of East Cobb Gathering get together on a regular basis to connect, grow and enjoy the company of other women from their area.

So I sat at the table with my good friend, Katie Peters. She is a wife and mother of 4, recent graduate with a Masters in Pastoral Counseling and Life Coaching and she is the founding director of East Cobb Gathering.

The women East Cobb Gathering get together in a regular basis to connect and grow and enjoy the company of other women from their area.

We sit down together with a live audience to talk about why we need community to survive. So pull up a chair to the table and join the conversation.

Takeaways From Our Conversation:

  • August tends to be a season of starting. Now is a great time to look for community. Maybe your kids are going back to school. Or maybe you are starting a new job. Or maybe you had a life change. And many churches are ramping back up for fall. Now is a great time to look around to see where you can find some women to come alongside you. In fact, I just gathered a group of women at our church to start a community group. It can be awkward but its worth it. We all need someone to be a support or to celebrate with or to lean on.

  • "Your real you is worthy of community." 

  • At some point, take a risk and ask someone: what is God doing in your life right now? That's how you start to cultivate deep friendships.

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

Aug 22, 2017

Kathleen Hamer and her son Derek join me around their kitchen table in the Seattle area. I had been wanting to introduce you to them for a long time now. In fact, they were one of the first guests that I listed out when I first brainstormed the podcast. You see, Kathleen was an almost emptynestor when she and her husband, Dan, decided to adopt Derek who was age 5 and his brother, Reggie, who was age 3. And now, Derek just graduated high school. 

They adopted the boys 13 years ago. And I know so many adoptive parents who are on the front end of adoptive or even in the thick of the middle years of adoption. And just like in so many things, sometimes its helpful to have a perspective who has walked the road longer. And I thought it would be helpful to hear from an adopted son's perspective. 

You will hear their story of how they found each other, what it was like when he lived on the streets of Kitale, Kenya at age 4, his advice for adoptive families and what it was like when he returned to Kenya years later. So pull up a chair to the kitchen table and join the conversation.

Takeaways From Our Conversation:

  • There is something powerful to their story. Isn’t it remarkable how God orchestrated their meeting? I think it’s always a good reminder that God speaks even to the hearts of little children. It’s heartbreaking to think of a 4 year old living on the streets, but God sees. I love seeing the man Derek has become. I’m so thankful that he is willing to share his story. 

  •  God can make something good out of something painful.

  • The best question to ask yourself is: "What can I do?” It starts with you.

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

Aug 15, 2017

Back in early July, I took the podcast on the road to Seattle. Seattle now is home to so many people that I love and who were influential in my life during my early twenties. So I took the opportunity to fly out there to sit down around the table with a few of them and Neely McQueen was one of them.

I enjoy being around Neely so much. She is the real deal--what you see is what you get. She is a wife to her husband, Josh, for 18 years. They have 3 kids--2 biological and 1 adopted from Ethiopia. And she oversees student ministries at Overlake Christian Church in the Seattle area.

With over 20 years of student ministry experience, we talk about loving teenagers and advice for parents of teenagers. And we also have a conversation about adoption--why they chose to step into that, what helped her walk through the early days and how adoption changed her.

Takeaways From Our Conversation:

  • One of my takeaways was the reminder to be mindful of where you are in life. Take time to remember and look back because time will pass. You need to be reminded in the middle of the eye rolls that they were cute and you have made progress. Sometimes parenting feels like you are walking in quicksand. So taking time to look back and look around truly does help.

  • What's great about teenagers: When they are younger they believe you. They believe that they can change the world. They are more willing to try things. They have less cynicism to life. They feel loved just by your presence.

  • What do you say to parents who fear what is coming? Keep trying. Your kids really do want you and need you. You are their constant. You are their solid foundation. Take small nuggets of time together. Step into their world--their interests. Be intentional. Be willing to push through and make yourself available.

  • "The conversations you avoid become the conversations that are the problems." Don't be unwilling to have the hard conversations.

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

 

Aug 8, 2017

Suzanne Stabile joins me for Episode 87 and I’m not gonna lie. I was sorta geeking out that she was joining me. Suzanne is an internationally renowned teacher who offers a unique and creative approach to the practice of spiritual formation. She is viewed as a master of the Enneagram and her first book, The Road Back to You was published in 2016. If you haven’t read it yet, I can’t recommend it enough. I feel like I’m seeing the Ennegram everywhere these days, but maybe you just said, “Enne-a-what? Is that like an email version of Instagram? But the enneagram is a unique way to understand who people are wired and how they see the world. So we have a conversation about the Enneagram—what it is, how to determine what number you are and for those of us who are parents—how to be the best parents for our children based on enneagram wisdom. 

Takeaways From Our Conversation:

  • I’ve thought about the different people in my life and how I can better understand who they are so that I can love them better. Because when you begin to understand how God has wired you and others that you are in relation with, then you can develop a sense of compassion with yourself and with others.

  • "We don’t really know ourselves by what we get right. We know ourselves by what we get wrong."

  • "Your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength."

Be sure to listen to get the coupon code for 20% off of any mp3 or CD on Suzanne's website.

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

Aug 1, 2017

Lisa Lloyd joins me for Episode 86. Sometimes you meet people and you feel like you could have been friends for years. That is exactly how I felt about Lisa. She is an actress, speaker and writer. I was intrigued by her when I saw her book called Chasing Famous: Living the Life You've Always Auditioned For.  I can totally relate that life seems to be full of auditions--in friendships, dating, marriage, parenting, and in our jobs. Sometimes we are enough and accepted and sometimes we are rejected. So we sit down to talk about rejection, God’s redeeming grace and the idea of chasing fame.

Links:

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

1