30 Oct 2018

Coffee with Rebecca Wright

by Kimberly | posted in: Coffee with... | 2

I love hearing what people are excited about, how their relationships and creativity work, and what they do in their world.

Rebecca Wright married into a family that I love. Her in-laws, Steve and Tina, have made a huge impact in my life, marriage, parenting. Steve trusted me with a huge writing project and design curriculum. I loved it. Rebecca is newest adult member in the family. You will love her too after you check out her lifestyle blog and this interview.

I wish I could actually sit down in SoFla with her – maybe one day! Enjoy the interview and go give her social media some love!

So Rebecca, tell us a little about you and your family?

I am a midwestern girl that enjoys fashion, beauty, home decor and being a wife. I married my incredible husband William on October 15th, 2017. He truly is my better half! I don’t say that to degrade myself but William has really challenged and encouraged me to be my best self. I wouldn’t have started my blog without him! We don’t have any babies yet as we are enjoying newlywed life and are looking forward to starting our family in the near future!

You’ve been married just over a year – how has the first year of marriage been maybe the same and different than your expectations?

Our first year of marriage is a year I will always treasure and look back on. We grew so much as individuals and as one in our marriage. I expected our first year of marriage to be filled with excitement and spontaneity – it definitely lived up to that!! They say the first year of marriage is the toughest but we can vouch that even through life’s trials we definitely came out of our first year with a stronger appreciation for one another and are even more in love than the day we said “I Do”!

You are a lifestyle blogger? Why blogging?

Great question! I have wanted to start a blog for years (probably 4 or 5 years) and never did. I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously since I was so young at the time! I still am young, but being a young wife I feel that I have a lot more I can share now. I have always loved sharing things with others, whether thats a recipe I am loving, a new product I found or just my personal style. I would not consider myself an author by any means but I do enjoy writing and would say that I write as if I am talking to a friend! It wasn’t until I launched my blog where I found myself loving the creative process of each post. I have so many ideas and this is just the beginning of my blogging journey!

How does your faith meet your creativity (your writing, design, fashion)?

never want to push my religion on anyone however, being a Christian is integrated in pretty much everything I do. My hope is that someone who visits my blog is encouraged or inspired by what I’m sharing and can see a reflection of Christ through myself and my marriage. If I am doing that, then I feel that I am fulfilling my purpose.

How has community played a part in both your work

and your young marriage?

Community has been so crucial specifically with the launch of my blog. A short time after William and I got married, he got an incredible job offer farther south than where we were living. To make the commute easier we moved almost an hour south of where we had went through our engagement season, just settled into and built our little community. Luckily we have family that has been incredible and we try to get together with our old friends as much as we can. With my blog – having a virtual community has been such an encouragement to me. There are people that I went to high school with that are reaching out and subscribing to my blog. It really means a lot and I am grateful for their support!

Where do you want to be in five years?

Dream or reality? Haha! In 5 years I will be 27 – If it all pans out how we would like we will have 2 babies and maybe a 3rd on the way, we will have just finished up building our dream home and forever home, living close to Will’s family and plugged into a community we love. I’d love to be home with our kids (playdates multiple times a week with my sister in law and her babies and at grandma and papa’s house lots too!). I will still be blogging and featuring motherhood content on my blog as well! I would love to write a book one day, so maybe I will be working on that 🙂

You live in sunny SoFla. Where is your favorite place to “work”?

Not many people following my blog know this (I just haven’t mentioned it) but I actually don’t blog full time! Well, I don’t blog full time yet at least – that is a goal! I do have a full time job as the executive assistant to the owner of 4 luxury consignment furniture showrooms. I handle some of their accounting, customer service, buying, projects and what not. My job has been a blessing to me and I am grateful to have flexibility with it! So to answer your question – I am at one of our locations most of the week and when I work from home I enjoy working in whichever room has the most natural light pouring in with a candle lit, jazz music playing and a warm cup of coffee! I will occasionally take my lunch break by our pool 😉

When do you work and what is a typical schedule for you?

As I just shared, I do work a full time job outside of blogging – so Monday – Friday (with the exception of Thursday when I work business hours from home) I am at one of our locations from 9:45am until around 4 or 5pm. I will then come home, get a quick workout or run in and start on dinner while working on my next blog post. I do a lot of my blogging work at night and on the weekends as well. I do my photoshoots either on Saturday or for an hour on Thursday. I love blogging so much that working on it after my day job is fun for me!

You just got back from Savannah, definitely one of my favorite cities,

where else would you like to travel?

We had a wonderful time in Savannah! I would love to feature more travel content only blog for sure! Some of the destinations on our list include Charleston, New York, Europe and a family ski trip in the Colorado mountains!

Who are your inspirations? In the blogging world?

In fashion my inspirations are the timeless and classy Kate Middleton and Jackie Kennedy. In the blogging world I really admire Rachel Parcell from Pink Peonies as well as Julia Engel from Gal Meets Glam. I really connect with their style and they have both created great success with the growth of their blogs and clothing lines.

1 Dec 2017

Coffee With: Asheritah CiuCiu

by Kimberly | posted in: Books, Coffee with..., Uncategorized | 0

Advent starts this weekend. And one of the books out there for you to read, by yourself or with your family, is Unwrapping the Names of Jesus. And today, I get to share with you some fun thoughts from the author, Asheritah. Asheritah and I wrote for the same blog a few years ago and her writing has been a continual source of encouragement for me.

I hope you enjoy the interview.

So what some people might want some help with is how to pronounce your name. And can you give us a little bit of your background: like your family, what you do, etc?

Sure! My name looks intimidating at first, but it’s easier than it looks. Asheritah, my first name, is pronounced like “margarita” and my last name, Ciuciu, is pronounced choo-choo like the train. It sounds like a silly way to explain pronunciation, but my name has deep significance. My father made it as a compound name, based on Asher, to mean “God is my happiness.” And that’s been the guiding light of my life ever since, and it’s the foundation of One Thing Alone Ministries as well, as we strive to help women find joy in Jesus.

I grew up in Romania as a missionary kid and met my husband in sixth grade summer camp. It took eleven years for us to eventually marry, but I’m so blessed to have him as my husband. We have two spunky little girls and currently live in Northeast Ohio.

With all the Christmas books out there – why this one? Why now? What compelled you to write an Advent book?

Believe it or not, I didn’t really enjoy Christmas growing up. Even into young adulthood, the Christmas season brought more anxiety than anticipation, and when I was expecting my first daughter, a mentor of mine encouraged me to begin new traditions for my own family. As I began praying, asking the Lord to help me rediscover the meaning and joy of Christmas, He pointed me to the names of Jesus.

If we really believe that Jesus is the greatest gift of all, wouldn’t it make sense that we would want to learn more about Him? What does it mean that He is the Lion of Judah? The Lord of Lords? The Alpha and Omega? Each name is a promise, a unique identity that reveals a facet of His character, and when we unwrap them one at a time, we discover the beauty of Jesus, Son of God, made man for us.

My desire with Unwrapping the Names of Jesus is to help readers rediscover the joy of Christmas by growing deeper in their knowledge and love of Jesus, learning to worship Him with all their hearts, so that when Christmas morning rolls around, we’ll all join in to sing, “O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!”

Can you share a special holiday memory that you have?

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a box of English books my dad managed to secure for me in Romania. English books were so hard to find, and he hid a treasure trove under my bed one year, and instructed me to take out only one at a time. Oh, the anticipation of each new book made me both excited to read the next book and also slow down to relish each book I held in my hands. In a way, this special gift inspired the format of Unwrapping the Names of Jesus, as I want readers to have that same experience: excited to read the next day’s name, but also slowing down to relish the beauty of who Jesus is today.

You graduated Cedarville. What was the best part about being at a Christian university?

So much goodness! Cedarville was where I learned to think for myself, to hold up my own beliefs to inspection and really own my faith. But it also taught me the importance of defending my faith with gentleness and respect, something I struggled with as a teenager. I loved having a safe place to wrestle with the difficult parts of my Christian faith, and I still look back with fondness at many of the late nights spent debating transubstantiation, amillenialism, and arminianism, debates I don’t touch much today, but conversations that laid a foundation for my desire to help women dig deeper into the truth found only in Jesus.

Being a mom to spunky children, do you ever wonder how you do it? What about parenting and being in ministry (outside the home)?

Oh, this is a challenge, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter whether you’re climbing the corporate ladder or climbing the lego-strewn stairs, there’s always more tugs on your time and body than there is energy to do it all. I think it’s important to enlist the help of others, especially those whose strengths fill in the gaps of your weaknesses.

I’m blessed to be surrounded by a community that supports me in life and ministry. From my husband (who is my biggest champion and a huge support in the technical part of running our ministry), to my mom and mother-in-law (who take turns babysitting our girls), to my team of assistants around the world (from South Africa to San Diego and everywhere in between), to the countless women who respond to my SOS prayer texts before I jump on a radio interview or when I’m facing a book deadline, I am blessed with so much help. Seriously, I couldn’t do this all by myself, nor would I want to even try.

Out of all the names of Jesus that you unwrap in your advent book, which has been the dearest to you?

This is the hardest question of all, because I don’t really have a favorite. Instead, I’ve found that different names take on new meaning in different situations in life. Just today, I got an email with some bad news, and for a few moments I panicked. But then the Spirit reminded me that Jesus is the Lord of Lords, and that means He’s in control of this situation too. His Names are either true all the time or they’re not true at any time, and it’s moments like those that require us to live out what we say we believe. (BTW, everything turned out ok in the end, because Jesus really can handle our crises, can’t He?)

This blog series is called Coffee With…so if we were sitting down having coffee somewhere, where would we be and what would you get?

Easy. We’d be sitting at the copper-topped tables at Artisan Coffee Shop, where you can find me most weeks working on some new project. And I’d probably be sipping on a Dark Chocolate Orangeman, which is part of the secret menu, but if you wanted to try one, I’d order it for you too. 🙂

14 Sep 2017

Coffee With: Sarah Bragg of Surviving Sarah

by Kimberly | posted in: Coffee with..., creatives, Women | 0

Though we are no longer Atlantans, I still think of many of the friends that I came to know during our 3+ years of living in the city.

One such friends who welcomed me into her world, listened over coffee, prayer, empathized, cheered on, and encouraged me in the Gospel, was Sarah Bragg. She is a podcaster, wife, mom, author, cheerleader, and gingham-wearing, coffee-drinking friend.

Her podcast has been such an encouraging feed to me over the last year and I encourage you to go read her blog, her book, and hear her talk to many others, championing what they do, and encouraging women along the way.

So, here’s a little interview with her. I hope you love her as much as I do. Friend, I’m thankful for you!

1. Can you tell my tribe a little about who you are?

I am in my late thirties (its strange even typing that), married to Scott for 12 years and we have two elementary age girls, Sinclair and Rory. I worked full-time student ministry for about 6 years and then transitioned to work for a non-profit organization, Orange, who helps equips those to work in ministry. After creating resources for middle and high school students, I currently lead a team who creates small group material for adults. My first book, Body. Beauty. Boys. The Truth About Girls and How We See Ourselves chronicles what I wish I’d known when I was a teenager—how to learn to be content to be who God made me to be. But my most favorite and fun thing that I do is host a weekly podcast called Surviving Sarah where I get to have conversations with different people about how they are surviving life. We talk about all the things that relate to women.

2. With so many other forms of “social”, why a podcast?

Before kids, I used to travel and speak to young women or women groups around the country. I absolutely loved using my voice to inspire and encourage others. But when my kids were little, it was difficult to even put words together to form sentences so using my voice stopped. As elementary school approached for my kids, I would pray, “God what do you want me to do?” And for two years, I felt like God answered with, “I want you to push others forward.” But I didn’t know exactly what that meant. I would tell God that I just wanted to use my voice again. I liked writing but I loved speaking. I was still unsure of what God would do. But in October of 2015, God spoke to my heart and said, “I want you to start a podcast so that you can use your voice to push others forward.” I still get to inspire and encourage women while shining a light on the guest on my show.

3. I know you learn so much from each person on your show, but has something really stood out to you in the past eps?

With nearly 100 episodes in the books, I have had several favorite episodes. For me, my favorites tend to be ones about motherhood since that is the state of life for me. I’ve loved chatting with Sissy Goff, David Thomas, and Julie Barnhill. And one of my all time favorite episodes was with Suzanne Stabile, the author of The Road Back To You, as we discuss what the enneagram is and how when you understand who you are wired or those around you, then you are able to extend grace more for yourself and others.

4. How do you balance it all? Is balance such a thing or just this lofty idea?

I definitely wished that I was able to balance it all. Most days I feel like I’m dropping the ball on something. I think it looks different in different seasons. My kids are a priority, but in this season I can’t volunteer weekly in my kids school. I can’t lead in the PTA. And I can’t bring homemade cupcakes to the Christmas party. I have to be realistic about my schedule and my own limitations. But I can send in money to help with something. Or volunteer once a month in their classroom. It also requires some effort on my part to schedule well. And not just my work hours, but family hours and personal hours. Some days are good and some days are a struggle. And at the end of the day, I have to receive a lot of grace.

5. I love your thoughts on hospitality and your kitchen table, your intro the blog each week. Can you talk about how you use your home for hospitality other than your podcast guests?

I have learned a lot over the past several years about not waiting for perfection until you allow others to step into your world. If we wait for perfection, then we’ll be waiting for a long time. Hospitality is about letting others in. It’s about sharing what you have. It’s about vulnerability. I want our home to be a place where people are welcome and feel comfortable enough to be their authentic self. So we have people over for dinner or impromptu sprinkler fun outside. In fact, our front yard has really become an extension of our home. We spend a lot of time in the front yard. My girls know all the dogs in the neighborhood. It takes effort to know the people around you and sometimes the last thing you want to do after a day of working is to talk but that is what hospitality is. Come as you—even if its messy or untimely.

6. If I was still in ATL, and we could sit down at your fave place to chill and chat…where would we go and what would you be drinking?

Well, that depends on the time of day! But my favorite place to sit and chat with someone is my local Starbucks. I can always count on my drink being just right. And I always see people I know from the community. In the summer months, my drink of choice is an iced coffee with cream and vanilla. In the winter months, I stick to a Misto which is basically coffee and steamed milk.

11 May 2015

Coffee with Trillia Newbell

by Kimberly | posted in: Books, Coffee with... | 0

I’ve just been recently introduced to the life, ministry, grace, humor, and writing of Trillia Newbell. She does some great things for the kingdom in race ethics, CBMW, and for the ERLC. But, today, I’m not talking to her about those things – though I would definitely like to.

I’m getting the privilege to introduce to you her new book, Fear and Faith, by Moody. Ladies (gentleman, keep reading because your wife will thank you for the book) – this is one of those books, and they have been rare in my life – that I think every woman should read. Married, single, mom, widow, barren, adoptive mom, divorced…you name it – its for you. Because I think Trillia has hit on a topic all women struggle with. FEAR.

I’ll save my book review and the GIVEAWAY for next week, but right now you can hear from Trillia herself. And while I didn’t get to sit down with her face to face and have coffee, this is what I would ask her if I could have:

1. You write a part about always being in a hurry. How do you manage to write books, minister to women and others through CBMW, ERLC, and be a wife and a mom?

When I first began writing I had a desire to write as often as possible for as many organizations as possible. In part, I was simply excited to write. I also thought it was a great way to grow. As my responsibilities have increased at the ERLC and speaking opportunities have also increased, I’ve had to say no more often than I’d like to. That, I think, is how I’m able to balance. As new seasons come I have to make decisions to stop doing certain things. Before I was writing books, I was a fitness instructor, as I began to write more and my husband and I saw this as a ministry I ought to invest in, I gave up fitness.

I simply could not do this without my husband’s support, encouragement, and blessing. He helps me evaluate opportunities and balance serving the home, family, church, and broader ministry work. God’s grace is sufficient and he enables me to work.

2. When you got finished writing this book: what had you learned the most about yourself and what would be the first chapter in Fear and Faith part 2?

I’m not sure what I learned about myself but what I did learn is that fear is universal. I knew that it was a common struggle but the response has been such that I realize it’s almost a temptation for everyone. If I had a Fear and Faith part 2—the first chapter might be on finding our identity in Christ as we seek to fight these fears, especially the fear of not measuring up.

3. What verse or advice would you share w women on how to conquer social media and its push on what we do in life?

I think if a woman is secure in her identity in Christ and looks to Scripture to define for her what womanhood is, she will be able to fight the temptation to compare on social media. I don’t think that social media is all bad. I think we should be able to look on these various sites and rejoice with other women who receive what we do not or who are gifted differently than us.

But we also must know that we do not have to be on social media. I think many fear missing out so we check often. But if social media tempts us to sin rather than is a means of grace, don’t get it on it. There’s freedom to miss out—and honestly, we aren’t missing out on much because real life around us still goes on.

I hesitate to throw out Scripture because it depends on what aspect of it someone is struggling on. There’s plenty in the world about running our own race, not looking to the left or right, and encouraging one another. I would say anything in that category would be a good start.

4. Random question just for fun for your readers to get to know you better. If you could go on one trip just w your husband, where would it be and why?

Mine is Paris!! I studied abroad, in Swansea, Wales, and while over there I visited France. I traveled to Paris a few times and it was by far my favorite city. My husband, Thern, has not been to Paris (though he has been abroad). I would love to sit at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with him. Oh man, that would be so wonderful!

5. What is your favorite coffee shop where you live and what is your “regular ” order?

I love to work at the Frothy Monkey and The Good Cup. I enjoy fruit tea and various delicious coffees.

4 May 2015

Coffee With Courtney Reissig aka The Accidental Feminist

by Kimberly | posted in: Books, Coffee with..., Women | 2

One of the women who have shaped my theological thinking and has been a friend to me the last 8 years is Courtney Reissig. I first met Courtney in Louisville when we both worked for deans of the SBTS and had some ministry with CBMW. She then got married and I moved away to Raleigh.

Then I got married, and she moved to Little Rock. Then we moved to Little Rock. Even though we were at separate churches, I was glad to meet up with her every now and then to talk life, marriage, parenting, and ministry.

If I still lived in Little Rock, I would probably pick up some coffee and head on over to their house (about a mile from where we used to live), let our boys play, and share this conversation with her in person. She’s due any day now with another little boy. Since I’m not in Little Rock, I used modern technology and asked her these questions about her new book, The Accidental Feminist, and about coffee. You’ll get a chance to hear how writing this book shaped her heart and family and her relationship with her heavenly Father…and about her coffee direction.

Thanks Courtney.

1. Writing a book is a time-heavy endeavor. How did you manage 2 toddlers, a husband, and serving in your church – while writing a book?

That’s a question I get often. In all honesty it was by the complete grace of God. The prevailing theme in my life as I wrote the book was unexpected weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9 was very dear to my heart throughout the entire process. It says:

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” I got pregnant halfway through writing the book, sadly it was followed by a pretty complicated miscarriage that seemed to drag on. In God’s kindness, I got pregnant again right as the editing process was starting and was fairly sick through most of the editing. There were many days where I thought I would not be able to get it done, but God was faithful to give me words when I needed to write them, and provide the necessary energy to write and think. Practically speaking, this book has been in my head for a long time, so in a lot of ways it flowed out of me primarily because I had done so much thinking and writing about it before I ever had a book contract. Also, my husband was a tremendous blessing in providing me space and time to write. When I wasn’t pregnant, I would get up early in the morning to write and he would get our boys started with the day. I also did a couple of overnight writing retreats and that really helped with getting large chunks of writing done. For the most part, though, the book was written during nap time and in the early morning hours. I just process better earlier in the day, rather than later.

2. You’ve obviously thought about this topic of feminism much. What is one new thing you learned in your research for this particular book?

I read a book on the history of first wave feminism towards the end of the process and I was struck by how white the early feminist movement was. One of the dividing lines of the early feminist movement was whether or not they would include African-American women’s issues on their platform. Many of them, largely influenced by the spirit of the age, did not see a need to include African-American women in their fight. I had always known that some early feminists, like Margaret Sanger, wanted to eliminate those she saw as unfit for society (like minorities, disabled people, and the poor), but I didn’t know that within the larger movement there was such a lack of minority representation. That was really interesting to me–and of course, really troubling. It showed me that it’s easy to only think in terms of our own culture and context when we apply truths to our lives without looking at people who are different than us and really trying to understand where they are coming from and how our ideas might be interpreted by them or applied differently to their lives.

3. The local church is important in this shaping us to look more like Christ. What is one way that women can be purposeful in their relationships with other women in the church to help each other grow in our womanhood?

I think the primary way woman can be purposeful in their relationships with other women is to take initiative themselves. It’s easy to assume that no one has time for you, or that others aren’t interested in your life, when in reality everyone is waiting for someone to approach them first. I know I do that more often than I should. If we want to see women flourish in their understanding of God and his word and we want to see relationships develop among women, then we have to be willing to make the first move. In my own life, I know my reticence to taking initiative is often owing to fear (which is really pride). I’m afraid of rejection or afraid that the person will think I’m too needy. But I am needy. We all are. We need the body of Christ to encourage each other, fight sin together, and remain steadfast in the faith. One of the encouraging things that I see in the local church today is the desire women have to study God’s word. That is one practical way relationships can be forged, through intentional study of the Bible together. There are many more, of course, but that is the best place to start.

4. How did writing this book shape your relationship with your husband and your children?

That’s a good question. First, with my husband, it really showed me how much he truly supports me. Writing a book is not an isolated effort. Of course, there is a lot of time spent alone as you crank out chapters (which is a challenge for an extrovert like me!), but it’s also about the community that shapes your thoughts. My husband has probably talked more about feminism than he ever thought he would! He is my greatest support, but also my toughest critic. In the early stages of writing, I struggled with his criticism because I took it so personally when he said something didn’t make sense or didn’t sound true. But as we’ve walked through this process together, I’ve learned that because he is my greatest supporter, I can trust his criticism. His critiques are faithful and in my best interest. He’s not out for my evil, but for my good. And he’s a really good editor. If only it didn’t take me so long to appreciate it! With my children, it’s a little different. They are two (and as of right now, my third son is still in utero), so they can’t read yet. But as I researched for the book and learned more about feminism’s influence on men and how our culture perceives them, I became more convinced of the need for understanding the far reaching impact feminism has had on all of us. I want to raise my sons to be men who love God, love and respect women, and love God’s word. That is counter-cultural in a world that expects very little from our men, and it frankly scares me to raise them in a world where they are expected to be either ignorant boys who never grow up or aggressive sexual predators who use women for their own pleasure.

5. What kind of coffee do you drink? Or tea? Maybe more so when you aren’t pregnant.

I do drink coffee. I didn’t drink it during the first 16-17 weeks because I couldn’t stomach anything, especially coffee. But I love coffee in the morning, so I eventually gave in around 20 weeks and started drinking it again. With the twins I didn’t, but since I actually have other kids now I feel like it’s a necessity to function in the morning 🙂 I love Caribou coffee, but we don’t have that here, so I drink the Kroger Columbia blend (to save money). I like it with some milk in it. Since I have gestational diabetes, for a treat, I’ll get a decaf skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks if I’m out for coffee. Normally I get the normal kind. 🙂

interview

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