Here’s a fun little podcast update for you.

As most of you (hopefully) know, Heather MacFadyen of the Don’t Mom Alone podcast and I have a little sideshow we do once a month called Sidetracked. Basically, it’s an unfiltered conversation between the two of us discussing life’s goings on, parenting, faith, etc. It comes out the first Friday of the month on Don’t Mom Alone, and It’s been a big hit.

So, spinning off from that concept this week, we’re doing a second episode of Sidetracked in the summer months that includes a surprise guest aired on both of our shows. And today is the day we kick it off with our friend Toni Collier. Please hear me: You do not want to miss a second of this conversation.

If you don’t know Toni, she’s the author of Broken Crayons Still Color as well as a podcaster, speaker, and mom of two sweet kiddos. Toni chats with us about everything from getting tattoos with Ann Voskamp to seeing God show up through “God winks.” 😜

Next week we will be back to our “How do I _____” series that will continue through the summer. But once a month I hope you enjoy these little editions of Sidetracked with various surprise guests!

All things Cynthia

Life is Messy, God is Good

My Amazon Must Haves

• Website: HOME | Toni Collier

• Facebook: Toni J Collier

• Instagram: Toni Collier (@tonijcollier)

• PODCAST | Toni Collier

• Brave Enough to Be Broken: by Toni Collier

• Broken Crayons Still Color: by Toni Collier

• Ironman movie

We’re answering “how to” questions these days on MESSmerized, and today we’re tackling the awesome yet complex topic of friendships. I think of all the things I’m asked to talk about from my book, most often I’m asked about the topic of friendships and how to cultivate the really deep, meaningful ones.

Thankfully the queen of friendships (I made that up on the spot by the way) is with us today. Amy Weatherly is covering the good, bad, and ugly of doing life with others, and why it’s so important we prioritize friendships.

Amy gives us five great take-aways on friendship today, but I’m going to give you just a few below and let you listen to the rest on the show:

1. Deep friendships require time

2. Deep friendships mean creating rituals and traditions

3. (DO NOT MISS the rest of her amazing points)

I also want to mention that summer is a GREAT time to show some intentionality by gathering friends and strengthening relationships. I’ve done several book clubs in the past and always been grateful I put myself out there.

If you’re interested in a book club this summer with friends, I’ve got an amazing idea for you. My publisher, Esther Press, has named Life is Messy, God is Good as their summer book club book, and you can join today and receive book club questions, videos for each chapter, and lots of other fun things.

This is a great way to do a book club with either an online community, or with friends in your neighborhood that you hope to bond with this summer. So jump in today and listen to Amy’s friendship fine points today and then consider who might want to join you for a summer book club on Life is Messy, God is Good.

So grateful for you guys!

Sign-up for the Life is Messy, God is Good summer book club!

All things Cynthia Yanof

Here for it by Amy Weatherly and Jess Johnston

It’s week two of our new series asking “how do I _____” questions. Each week we’re bringing in amazing guests with practical advice for all areas of life. If you missed last week with Courtney DeFeo, we talked about cheering on other women, and you definitely need to go back and listen if you missed it. So so good. 🎉

This week we are tackling marriage, and I’m so excited for you to meet Dave and Ann Wilson. They are pastors, speakers, and hosts of the nationally syndicated radio show Family Life Today. But more than that, they are hilariously honest and real as they talk about marriage and how they’ve gotten it wrong over the years, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Today Dave and Ann are giving us five tips for improving our marriage, and you don’t want to miss them. I’ll give you two of them to peak your interest (but definitely go listen to the show for all five points and lots of fun discussion around them):

1. Don’t run away from conflict

2. Deal with your family of origin baggage

Yep, that’s just the beginning, and I promise you will leave encouraged and full of practical ways to work on your marriage this week.

So grateful for you guys and I would be incredibly grateful if you would leave a review for the show so that others can find us!

Have a great week!

All things Cynthia Yanof

Life is Messy, God is Good

Dave and Ann Wilson

Art of Marriage by Family Life

It’s May and if you’re anything like me, you’re already tired just thinking about all of the end-of-year conferences, award ceremonies, track meets, class picnics, and everything else headed our way. But don’t worry, we will survive it all together!

That being said, I’m SUPER EXCITED that May is finally here because TODAY is the day we start a new series on MESSmerized. (And trust me, you’re going to LOVE it! ❤️❤️❤️)

The next few months we’re examining “how do I _______?” questions on the show. In other words, each week will be conversations with amazing guests who will give their top 5 tips for “how do I” topics like these:

• How do I save money?

• How do I deepen my friendships?

• How do I strengthen my marriage?

• How do I accept my child’s hard diagnosis?

• How do I find joy?

• How do I survive summer with teens?

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what’s coming your way. So tune in each week for shorter, summer-friendly podcasts complete with 5 timely, practical, and biblical tips for living out the messy places of life.

Oh, and speaking of practical and biblical, I can’t think of anyone better than my dear friend Courtney DeFeo to kick-off this series today. Courtney is host of the Pardon the Mess podcast and joins us to talk about cheering on other women in our lives. This is especially near and dear because Courtney has done this so incredibly well in my own life.

Tune in this week as we kick-off our new series with Courtney DeFeo. Oh, and leave a review and rate MESSmerized pretty please wherever you listen to podcasts!

All things Cynthia Yanof

Order Life is Messy, God is Good

All things Courtney Defeo

Christian Parenting

Pardon the Mess Podcast

Have I told you this week how much my family loved Duck Dynasty? It was/is such a genius way to get people laughing while still instilling biblical truth and good old fashioned family values. The prayers around the table at the end of each show still get me.

Today I have the privilege of chatting with Willie Robertson about all things Duck Dynasty, and it’s far past due since I’ve interviewed basically everyone in his family except for him.

Willie’s stories are amazing, including how he tried to fire Cy, how Duck Dynasty got started, and how he got Phil signed on to the idea of reality TV.

But Willie is really passionate about sharing his faith, and that’s a big part of our conversation today. He talks about how his parents instilled this in his life, and how he’s trying to do that for his children as well. Willie’s new book Gospeler (which I mispronounced all throughout the show 😅) challenges us to let go of our excuses and get bold about sharing our faith to a culture who desperately needs it.

When I think about fun interviews I’ve had the privilege of being a part of—this one definitely lands somewhere near the top! I can’t wait for you to listen.

Cynthia Yanof

P.S. For those interested, I’m currently booking speaking engagements for the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025. I would love to be a part of your next event, so click here and fill out the form if you’re interested.

Gospeler: Turning Darkness into Light One Conversation at a Time

All things Cynthia Yanof

Life is Messy, God is Good

Seeing as though I have a first-grader and all, empty nesting seems a lifetime away. But for so many of us it’s one of those things that sneaks up in an instant leaving us and wondering what’s next and how to parent these new adults in our lives.

Jim Burns is an absolute delight and comes today with lots of practical information on how to prepare for the empty-nesting years. We discuss how women tend to cope with kids leaving home versus men, and he shares plenty of super relatable insights from his own experience.

We also talk about how to parent our adult children and when to give advice and when to shut-up and smile until called upon. I think one of the mic drop moments in this interview for me came was the reminder that “our words have the power to bless and to curse.” (Remind me to buy a gag for my mouth.)

Please take a few minutes to listen to this fun conversation with Jim Burns, and then share it with your friends who are approaching this same empty-nesting road.

All things Cynthia

Life is Messy, God is Good

Jim’s ministry: HomeWord

Finding Joy in the Empty Nest

Doing Life with Your Adult Children

I hope you enjoyed the solar eclipse yesterday and the reminders of God’s majesty and power over all things on heaven and earth. Not to mention, if the stats are accurate I’m guessing you listened to Bonnie Tyler at some point during the day because. . . . why not?

Her 1983 hit song, Total Eclipse of the Heart, reached number 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart in the US during the solar eclipse yesterday. Bless our hearts for being so predictable and slightly cheesy when it comes to eclipse protocol. But whatcha gonna do, every now and then we fall apart. (I apologize in advance for my lyrical references throughout this email, it’s stuck in my head now.)

Monica Swanson is with us today, and she’s a wise friend with lots of wisdom on raising kids, building strong family relationships in our families, and the pitfalls to avoid in each stage of parenting. But what I like the most about Monica is she’s one of us who knows all too well those moments of thinking I don’t know what to do, I’m always in the dark.

She also has several kids out of the house and great advice for when we worry that the best of all the years have gone by. She suggests several things we can do now to help further our relationship with our kids later. And don’t miss her thoughts on working through body image issues and the importance of rescripting our thoughts to line up with God’s truth. It’s her way of saying turn around bright eyes, and wake up to who you really are. (Okay, that one was a stretch).

Thanks for listening today, and when you’re finished I need you more than ever to leave a review for MESSmerized and also this episode with a friend.

All things Cynthia

Order: Life is Messy, God is Good

Monica’s book Raising Amazing

The Monica Swanson Podcast

I come to you today with a slight problem. Okay, it’s a little bit bigger than slight.

I’m a huge Candace Cameron Bure fan stemming back from Full House and bleeding all the way forward into the Hallmark Christmas movie era and now Great American Family Channel. Not to mention I’m obsessed with QVC and all of that makes me a HUGE Candace Cameron Bure groupie.

Why is this a problem? Thanks for asking.

Well she’s on today’s show and let’s say I was a lot. Like a lot too much, and she was ridiculously precious and even played along. And there was this moment at the end where out of nowhere I began channeling my inner Jimmy Fallon and did a “bit” with her. Yes, I did a “bit,” and it’s somewhere between slightly funny and massively cringy . . . and I apologize.

Nonetheless, Candace is amazing, and today we’re talking about everything from her obsession with sumo citrus oranges to standing up for our faith in today’s culture. Her words about losing dear friend Bob Saget are precious, and the way she met her husband is hilarious.

So listen in today and prepare yourself to go see her movie Unsung Hero later this month in theaters. We MUST support Christian films, and this one is about the Smallbone family (For King & Country) and will be excellent.

And as you find yourself thinking “bless Cynthia’s heart” through this episode—just remember that most of the time, I keep it together! Ha.

Can’t wait for you to listen!

P.S. Can we talk again about how much I love watching QVC? And that Candace is the queen of QVC, and somehow I need to go there with her some day? Who can make this happen? 🤪

Unsung Hero Movie

Great American Family Channel

The Candace Cameron Bure podcast