Episode 148
Today is a very special interview. I had the honor of interviewing Sally Clarkson, someone whose work I’ve leaned into often. Sally is such a loving resource for my homeschool, mothering, and spiritual growth. In this episode we’re talking about her new book Teatime Discipleship: Sharing Faith One Cup at a Time. I read it from cover to cover and wow—what a gift. Sally shares from the heart about how simple everyday practices like teatime can be a catalyst for connection, friendship, hospitality, ministry, and encouragement. It’s a foundational tool for women to center their hearts and draw nearer to God and one another. And wow, do mothers need more of that right now—we need the opportunity to be impacted by an encouraging host and the opportunity to be such a host. The world tells us we’re too busy for such things…Sally reminds us that we’re not and that there is everlasting greatness in the small moments with those we love.
Sally’s Bio: Sally Clarkson is a bestselling author, renowned speaker, and beloved mentor who has dedicated her life to inspiring countless women to live for Christ. She’s sold more than a million books and her podcast, At Home with Sally, has received more than 20 million downloads. Sally has been married to her husband Clay for more than forty years. They have raised four adult children. Today, Sally splits her time between the mountains of Colorado and the rolling fields of England.
My Favorite Quotes from Sally’s New Book:
Page 21: “Come here and feast and rest a while. Good food, conversation, and friendship are awaiting you. I have prepared a place for us. You are special and I love spending time with you.”
Page 42: “A host provides for the comfort and security of all who cross her doorstep.”
Page 71: “If wisdom, truth, and love have been built up as resources in our hearts, then when we encounter people, they will draw wisdom, truth, and love from the ways we speak to them and interact with them. People draw from what we have invested in our souls over the years.”
Page 85: “The truth of Scripture is food for your mind—spiritual nourishment for growing in maturity, faith, and wisdom.”
Page 85: “Yet I have found that I often have to be the one who invites, who welcomes, who initiates the very fellowship I need and long for. When women seek out and cultivate fellowship, a community thrives.”
Page 111: “A wise woman takes care of her soul.”
Page 138: “Leaving a legacy of faith requires a lifetime of living steadfastly through each season and its demands.”
Page 139: “What might you do today to help your focus shift from the situation immediately surrounding you to the eternal unseen glory that is being worked out through those situations?”
In This Episode, Sally & I Talk About:
- Her new book Teatime Discipleship
- Creating a space for others that says “come feast and rest awhile”
- The elements that are necessary to be a great host
- How Sally learned to be a great host
- Dealing with lack of confidence about hosting
- Being hospitable the way Jesus was hospitable
- Being bold and inviting people to build a relationship with you
- A heart for hosting
- Curiosity can be a healthy expression of love
- People long to be known
- Building the community you’d like to have
- A host provides for the comfort and security of all who cross her doorstep
- My favorite story from Sally’s time in Vienna
- People for more comfortable when they feel like they don’t have to perform
- Artifacts we have around our house of how we live our lives
- Read every day that you can
- Growing in maturity, faith, and wisdom
- Acknowledging our spiritual needs in a secular world
- Having wisdom within ourselves
- Opting out cultural messaging and feeding our minds with spiritual nourishment
- Education not doing a good job for our kids
- Stepping out in faith and doing what needs to be done
- Be careful what you feed your mind on
- Be careful what you’re reading
- Also read every day
- We have capacity and intelligence
- Fill your life with God’s wisdom
- None of us are perfect
- Investing in the direction of what is excellent
- The honesty of Sally’s messaging
- When we get grouchy as mothers
- Sally’s advice for moms when they get grouchy
- Owning up to your own sin
- More in the direction of growth
- Wise women copy wise people
- When you’re alone you become a target for discouragement
- Getting better every year
- Seeing more of our sin every year
- Humility makes you gentler
- Being able to say to our kids “I’m flawed but growing like you are”
- My call to humility in this season
- How hard it is to move and find new community
- Sally’s advice for mamas who have moved
- Cultivating close friendships takes time
- We want people to understand us in our context
- Keeping up with old friends will encourage you
- Starting your own dinner clubs
- The broken, fearful world we live in
- Not giving in to being a victim and being a victor instead
- Her book Dancing with my Father
- Being a light in the darkness
- The lens through which we see life
- Taking joy
Sally’s Links: Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
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SPONSOR
Homeschool Explained. Today’s episode is sponsored by Homeschool Explained, an online course I created to help parents find their confidence as they begin their homeschool journey. Homeschool Explained is also for families who are already homeschooling but feel they could use more resources and a confidence boost to keep going,
My course is designed to save you time; it can be really overwhelming typing “how to homeschool” into an online search engine then spending hours sorting through the results. I took over 15 years of homeschool experience and condensed it into a 3 hour instructional video. With Homeschool Explained, there will be no more maddening online searches for how to start homeschooling—this is me, a passionate veteran homeschool mom, walking you through homeschool 101 in just under 3 hours. The course is logical and easy to understand.
I’ve recently updated the downloadable PDF and added ongoing encouragement! So your learning doesn’t end when the tutorial video stops. At least once a month I’ll upload a new encouragement for you. This month I’ll be talking about homeschooling while traveling—previous encouragements include an audio for parents who are teaching their young children to read and a video about joyful journaling—how to bring joy into writing and record keeping.
I used to teach in-person workshops when I lived on Maui to help families gather all the information and resources they needed, answer all their questions, alleviate concerns, and help them get organized as they started homeschooling. Homeschool Explained is the online version of those workshops. I totally get it, starting any new journey can be really overwhelming…especially when it comes to re-thinking how your kids are going to get an education—and that you’re going to be the teacher. No worries. There is so much support and freedom in homeschooling. It’s do-able. It’s fun. And it takes way less time than most people think.
In Homeschool Explained I show you what modern homeschool days actually look like—all while covering major topics like curriculum, homeschool styles, subjects to teach, cost, state laws, socialization and so much more. This course takes the guess work out of where and how to begin and leaves you with solid support and resources from day one. I would be honored to help you to start your homeschool journey with confidence! Find out more at www.homeschoolexplained.com
LINKS
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