| The Grit and Grace Project

How Do I Deal with Grief During the Holidays? with Nancy Hicks – 170

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast, Relationships

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreMaybe this is your first year—or one of several—trying to balance the joy of the holidays with grief over a loss. The conflicted feelings can make it difficult to celebrate or even consider being around others. Speaker and author Nancy Hicks joins Darlene Brock and Julie Bender to discuss how we can come to terms with our grief when the holidays are approaching. Nancy speaks from her grief journey after dealing with the loss of her son this year. She encourages us to give ourselves grace as we experience the vast set of emotions that accompany loss, and shares some ways we can cope with grief during […]

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Holiday Tips | Avoiding Stress

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / Life & Culture

You can picture it now: jammed parking lots, countless credit card transactions, string lights, large meals, perfectly-wrapped presents and that one difficult family member you’re reluctant to invite. You guessed it—the holidays are upon us! The most wonderful time of the year can also be the most stressful. But here at Grit and Grace Life, we’re taking out some of the guesswork and sharing our tips for a smooth holiday season that will get the best gifts for everyone on your list and help you deal with that pesky family member. Check out all of our holiday content here.

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13-Holiday-Safety-Tips-to-Help-Ensure-It’s-Merry

Why We Need the Hope of the Evergreen More Than Ever This Year

By Rachel Hagstrom / Life & Culture

If there’s ever been a year our hearts yearn to embrace Christmas early, it is without a doubt, this one. I, like many of you, stepped into 2020 wide-eyed with wonder and anticipation of what the year might hold. Then March blew in and turned our world upside down. Businesses and schools closed. Parents became homeschool teachers. Anxiety levels surged. Marriages suffered. Long-existing racial injustices came to the light and protests ensued. Then, an intensely charged election season. For some of us, this year triggered layers of grief, loss, and depression. For those living with compromised immune systems or health issues, we’ve sheltered in longer, drastically limiting our get-togethers with others outside our immediate families. We’ve felt the sting of missing loved

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This Is Why We All Need Holiday Traditions

By Amber Koehn / Life & Culture

I love Hallmark Christmas movies. It drives my family crazy, but each year on the last weekend of October, my television is tuned to Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas through the end of the year. And if I am unable to view a premier, I record it to watch later. I have a checklist, a system, so I don’t miss any of the new shows. One of this year’s movies I had to record for later was Two Turtle Doves, a film about continuing treasured holiday traditions in the midst of grief and loss. I’m going to be frank: it hit a little too close to home. Now, initially when volunteering to write about holiday traditions, I was planning on providing a generic

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This Is Why I Love Hallmark Holidays and I’m Not Backing Down

By Amber Koehn / Relationships

If I had to pick a favorite week of the year, hands down it would be the last week of October. It’s the week of Halloween, and you know what that means, right? It means handing out Halloween candy amid Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas music, and Hallmark Christmas movies! Not what you were expecting to read, huh? I live for Hallmark Christmas movies (like, literally, they’re my lifeblood). And when the last week of October rolls around, it’s a sure bet you can find me parked in front of my television ready for the first premier of the season. I have my Countdown to Christmas premiere list, and I check it twice (or 10 times). My DVR is scheduled and ready

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How to Avoid Relationship Conflict Over the Holidays – 111

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreThe holiday season is full of wonder, hope, and love. But, it can also be a season full of stress, pain and emotional agony. The holidays bring so much “togetherness”. Yes, this “togetherness” can be an amazing opportunity to spend quality time with our loved ones and create meaningful memories, but it can also cause conflict and become way too stressful to actually enjoy. In this episode of This Grit and Grace Life podcast, hosts Darlene and Julie have a much-needed chat about this topic. They discuss how to avoid relationship conflict during the holiday season. This can apply to any important relationship in your life, whether

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Darlene and Julie Recommend These Unique Christmas Gifts – 066

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreAre you looking for unique Christmas gifts this year? Something a little different and more personal than what you will find in the avalanche of sale guides that hit this time of year? Since this is an excellent time to start your Christmas shopping you have to look no further. This episode will introduce you to a collection of 7 unique shops which will offer something special for every person on your list. Darlene and Julie would like you to meet a few friends of This Grit and Grace Life who make specialty items. They will offer a little insight into why you’ll want to buy from

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Stop the Holiday Hustle: Celebrate More, Stress Less – 064

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | More The holiday season is upon us, and with it: the stress. We find ourselves with an overloaded schedule, and often in the midst of the fun is family drama. Maybe this is the year you’ll get ahead of the hustle of the season and find a way to slow down. Wouldn’t we all like to experience real celebration and enjoy it, not merely survive “the most wonderful time of the year?” Darlene and Julie discuss what they love about each holiday as well as ways to get the most out of the gatherings and how to make memories that will be cherished by you and yours

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7 Organizations to Support (That Might Help You Complete Your Gift List)

By Stephanie Ramos / Life & Culture, Purpose

In case you missed it—the holidays are officially in full swing! Amid the countless errands to run and get-togethers to attend, you might find yourself wanting to give some time or money on giving back… Here are some solid organizations to support this holiday season: 1. Dressember If you know me, you probably predicted this as my first choice! In 2009, college student, Blythe Hill, gave herself a simple challenge: to wear a dress every day for the entire month of December. Thus, Dressember was born. In the following years, Hill’s friends approached her to participate, and each year the numbers kept climbing. By 2013 the movement blossomed into a partnership with International Justice Mission, a global organization that combats sex trafficking. In the

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5 Tips for Careful Spending This Christmas

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money, Life & Culture

This time of year it’s easy to get caught up in the out-of-control Christmas shopping! Giving is a wonderful way to show your loved ones that you care, but this joyful season can turn into credit card panic when the January statement arrives. Whether you’re prone to purchasing obligatory gifts at your place of work, the “oh they always buy me a gift so I can’t forget them” or the “one more cute thing they would completely love and it’s on sale”—you need to take charge! Do these 5 things to make sure the snowball of spending doesn’t roll out of control: 1. Decide. Determine your budget while in the comfort of your non-pressured, no-great-sales-staring-you-in-the-face living room. Decide how much you can spend on gifts this

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9 Ways to Give the Gift of Experiences to Your Kids

By Carey Melton / Motherhood

On Christmas morning, everyone has their own traditions. It’s funny because when my husband and I talk about our Christmases as kids, it’s not the gifts we remember. We remember the traditions. We remember having Christmas morning breakfast with the people we love. We remember Christmas dinners with family. We remember being all together. So this year our family has talked about giving experiences rather than toys. I know it’s fun for young kids to see the bottom of the tree overflowing with presents, but there really is so much more to Christmas. If you still buy and wrap gifts to give, I’m not disagreeing with you at all! I love to buy, I love to wrap, and I love to see their faces while they

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Surviving the Holidays with Grit and Grace – 015

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | More The holidays are here and often with them comes stress, drama and financial strain. It’s our goal to apply both grit and grace to “the most wonderful time of the year” choosing to slow down, connect with loved ones and enjoy every part. Darlene and Julie admit where they struggle, then share practical ways to put the holly and jolly back into this important season. Taking a just a few minutes to be thankful for our blessings, the biggest one being the birth of our Savior. Grab a peppermint mocha, take a seat to savor the lights of your tree, and enjoy! Challenge of the episode: We asked you

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Talking About the Funny Things We are Thankful For – 013

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | More Do you find yourself joining the social media trend of creating your own “thankful list” this time of year? It is a wonderful reminder that we should be grateful for the good things in life. Several weeks ago, before Julie had to step out for a bit, Julie and Darlene came up with their own list which turned out to be just plain funny. After their laughter died down they turned the mics on to share the fun with you. So take a listen, and after you do, share your own funny things to be thankful for on social media. Tag it with #gritandgracelife so we

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When It’s Gray and Cold: Embrace the Light

By Sharita Hanley / Faith

Oily raindrops collided with my windshield as I sat in traffic under a dark sky. It made no sense to me at all. 5:30pm and pitch black. I had never admitted it, but I hated this time of year. Cold. Dark. And rainy. All I wanted to do was sit in the house and dream of better days. Summer days. But the endless amount of brake light brought me back to reality. Irritated, I cursed the season. What kind of wonderful season was this? It was everything I despised. Drowning in tradition. Full of far-fetched expectations. Gray. I wanted one thing and one thing only. Sunlight. “Maybe you should get one of those light therapy lamps,” my boss suggested as I confessed

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What Growing Up in a Blended Family Taught Me at Christmas

By Teresa Christian / Relationships

My family is not unlike many families in America. When my dad married my mom in 1976, my two brothers and I gained two younger sisters and one younger brother. It was in December, very close to Christmas when they married. I don’t remember much about that first Christmas as a blended family, but over the years I noticed a pattern. My mother was deceased, so there was no other parent for my brothers and me to visit over the holidays. By contrast, my stepmother was divorced, so my new siblings spent time with their dad and other family. They also got more presents, more candy, and more attention. I was presented with an interesting dilemma … one that I wish I

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