Love Where You Are
August 28, 2023
Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood with Ashlee Gadd
Welcome to the Love Where You Are podcast!
This week I sat down with Ashlee Gadd.
Ashlee Gadd is the author of Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood and she is the founder of Coffee + Crumbs – a beautiful online space where motherhood and storytelling intersect. Ashlee has spent her entire motherhood creating in the margins, that means using whatever free time she has to become creative and connect with God through that creativity.
Do you love to write? Draw? Paint? Garden?
Each of these are creative expressions and are a result of the beautiful and unique way God has designed you and me. Creativity is great for our brains but also our spirits and can give us new energy and bring us closer to the God who gave us that creativity in the first place. But when we become moms, finding time and margin for those creative outlets can be difficult. Depending on our season of life those margins may be smaller than others, but as my guest on this week's episode, Ashlee Gadd says, start somewhere even if its small.
In this episode we discussed:
- How to steward the creative gifts God has given us
- Paying attention to the gifts others see in you
- And how creating every day can actually make you a better mom
Thank you for being here today.
Now, let's dive into the conversation!
You can connect with Ashlee through Pinterest, Instagram, and her website.
You can also order her new book!
FAVORITE TAKE-AWAYS:
*Creating every day can make you a better mother.
*We should be stewarding the creative gifts God has given us; it is an act of worship, honoring and glorifying Him!
*Experiment and find your niche! Maybe try painting, and if you realize it isn't for you, try something else!
*Other people can see things in you that you might not see, like your talents–listen to those voices who see your gifts!
REMEMBER:
*Kids pick up more what's caught than taught. If we don't want our kids to become phone zombies, then we also can't be phone zombies!
*Assess what creativity does to your mind, spirit, and the physical energy it can provide.
*Assess what is possible in your current season of life. Have reasonable expectations and find your margins. For Ashlee, it means getting up at 5am in the morning so she can spend a couple hours writing. And remember, we are never stuck in one season forever, it will change.
*Start somewhere even if its small.
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Love Where You Are is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual advice to help you grow into the parent you want to be visit http://www.ChristianParenting.org
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About Love Where You Are
Equipping Christian Moms to embrace their season, live life on mission and share Jesus right where they are!
Like a weekly coffee date with the girls, Somer and her guests come together to ask the hard questions, have honest conversations and dive deep into God’s Word. Her heart is to equip and encourage Moms who are seeking to model an authentic Christian walk for their families while also making an impact for the kingdom through love in action wherever God has them in their current season of life. Following the Deuteronomy 6 model, Somer encourages listeners to identify their gifts, talents and current season of life as opportunities to impact the lives of others and bring their children along in the journey reminding us there are opportunities everywhere and every day to love right where you are!
About Somer Colbert
Somer Colbert is a writer, speaker and host of the Love Where You Are podcast. She is the Director of Adoption and Foster Care Ministry at Crosschurch and Connected Champion with the Arkansas Baptist Children and Family Ministries where she creates support, awareness and advocacy for families seeking to serve in the areas of adoption and foster care. She creates weekly podcast episodes and resources to equip and empower Christian families to identify their influence for the gospel in every season, live life on mission and share Jesus right where they are. Somer is passionate about equipping spiritually healthy families and seeing a movement of God's people step into confidence in their ability to change the world around them through the way they love!
She resides in Arkansas with her husband, three kids and three dogs. She's obsessed with British docudramas and cooking shows and can always be found with a cup of hot tea in hand. Her life has been forever changed by the love of Jesus, marriage to her favorite person, parenting her crazy crew and walking multiple adoption journeys.
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