Listen up.

Story telling has been the way of teaching and learning since the beginning of time. Raising Grace is about parenting - Raising children with love and grace while also giving ourselves love and grace when between the failures and joys.

“We are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling.” --Jimmy Neil Smith

Episode 05: Amy Stanton

Amy Stanton is a very busy business owner, an involved mother of 3 very busy kids spanning elementary, middle school and highschool. She talks about her journey with a heart condition that could have easily killed her had she not followed her intuition and taken care of her own health. Since surviving heart surgery she has taken her life by the horns and lives every moment to the fullest - no matter how chaotic it may get.

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Episode 04: Vanessa McBride

Vanessa McBride is a longtime friend of mine. She works as an elementary school counselor and manages to stay somewhat sane as a mother of 4 children. She is also a military wife to a Marine and the daughter of a strong single mother. Vanessa unexpectedly got pregnant just after graduating high school. Her and her boyfriend chose to stay together and parent this new life they created. They have been together ever since. Their story isn’t the norm, it’s extraordinary. It didn’t come easily. Together they are created a solid foundation for their family and tell us what it takes to survive the hardest of moments.

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Grace, Parenting, Forgiveness, Young Children Sheila Chester Grace, Parenting, Forgiveness, Young Children Sheila Chester

Sheila’s Take on Forgiveness

My sons bike go stolen last week and I've been processing a lot of feelings as well as figuring out how to help him through his own feelings. I hate feelings. Feelings are something I've tried avoiding most of my life - but avoiding feelings has left me in many many therapy sessions. So how can I help my kids confront their feelings - especially those of anger and loss? This may be a dumb old bike being stolen, but there is a lesson to learn here.

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Parenting, Adoption, Open Adoption, Single Parent Sheila Chester Parenting, Adoption, Open Adoption, Single Parent Sheila Chester

Episode 02: Brenda Herbrand

Brenda Herbrand is a dear friend, teacher, and dedicated and very intentional single mother through domestic infant adoption. Brenda talks about what it took for her to adopt as a single woman and the difficulties she faced during the adoption process. She talks about her deep love for her childs birth mother. She has built a community around her to support everything she needs to be the best mother and woman she can be. I am so grateful I get to be part of that community.

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Grace, Parenting, Forgiveness, Young Children Sheila Chester Grace, Parenting, Forgiveness, Young Children Sheila Chester

Sheila’s Take on Grace

What is Grace? Is it a religious term? And why are we raising grace? What does any of this mean? Here I give you a bit of back story - what my current life looks like and why I think we need to work together as parents to raise our kids with grace and give ourselves a little grace. My less serious introduction to this podcast and to who I am. It's funny, it's serious, its short. I think I say the "s" word once.

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Season 1 Trailer

Season 1 Trailer: Being a parent is hard. How can we raise our children in the hardest of times with grace? How can we as parents of young children come together and encourage each other to see their child with grace and understanding? I am an amateur parent like the rest of us. Lets support one another with love and grace.

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