| The Grit and Grace Project

For Shirley, the Wonderful Neighbor Who Made Everyone Feel Special

The air on the porch was heavy and the cicadas chanted their morning prayers. I peered past the redwood fence separating our yard from that of the most wonderful neighbor. Katie concentrated, brushing her Barbie’s tresses. “Did you hear anything?” I asked my sister. “Nope,” she responded. I wondered how much longer it would be. “We’re so hot, Mom,” I yelled into the kitchen. “It’s not even 10:00,” said Mom. “Not yet.” Clink. The pool gate, a sure sign that it was time. My heart raced a bit. I was 9 years old, and it was time to go swimming. Past the pool towels that danced, long and loose on the clothes line, popped a sun-glassed head. “You girls wanna swim?” she […]

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I Gave Up Being a Party Girl to Build a Better Life

By Lindsey Encinias / Life & Culture, HerStory

My first memories were created within the walls of the sweetest little preschool, St. Stephen’s. I can’t recall entire days; just bits and pieces of the time I spent there. Some moments are very vivid in my memory bank. The education building was simple: one long hallway with lots of nursery doors of which the top halves were swung wide open, welcoming little children into the cheerful classrooms. The smell of original Lysol filled the preschool, indicating the sky blue nap mats were clean. Rubbing my fingers along the vinyl mat during rest time is still a comforting thought today. After nap time, I loved to play “Family.” Often, I would pretend to be the mom and invite my friends in for

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Behind Her Struggle With Alcohol With Lindsey Encinias – 161

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreIs social drinking just a glass of wine at dinner (the answer is yes), or can it become something else (the answer is also yes)? Current statistics show that many women find themselves in a struggle with alcohol, experiencing a significant upswing after the stress of 2020. With this knowledge in hand, Darlene Brock and Julie Bender interview Lindsey Encinias, writer for Grit and Grace, who bravely shares her battle overcoming alcoholism. In this personal story, she recounts contributing factors- her family history, the tragic loss of her father while she was a teenager, and wrestling with her identity after leaving an exciting corporate role after becoming

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Find Healing and Freedom From Sexual Abuse With Jill Monaco – 157

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreIt can be tough to heal from trauma and pain from abuse in your past. It becomes even more challenging when you’ve kept it to yourself for years, hiding it from others. Author, speaker, and coach, Jill Monaco, has lived this life story and joins Darlene Brock and Julie Bender to share her experience with sexual abuse at the hands of church leaders. She offers hope as she walks us through her road to healing. This honest discussion will help you know how to spot signs of abuse (some are clear, others more subtle) and what to say (and not say) to someone in this heartbreaking scenario.

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Julie Graham’s Untold Story of Heartbreak, Healing and Hope – 101 This Grit and Grace Life

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / HerStory, Purpose

In this gripping and emotional podcast, Grit and Grace Life‘s own Julie Bender (previously Julie Graham), brand ambassador and podcast co-host, talks about the sudden loss of her husband and the difficult season of marriage that preceded it. Now, more than two years later, Julie shares the heartache that accompanied raising her son as a single mom and how she turned to her faith to for strength and encouragement during a time that was anything but stable.

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HerStory of a Grit and Grace Life

By Our Grit and Grace Life Videos / HerStory, Life & Culture

We are here to tell our stories, even the hard ones. HerStory documents the stories of heartbreak and debilitating challenges that rattle the life of a grit and grace woman. We believe that by exposing their vulnerabilities, these women help us to see that there is hope and healing during situations that seem insurmountable. If you’re needing encouragement today, read some of these strong women’s stories here.

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The Field—My Path From Innocence To Abuse

By Allison McCormick / HerStory, Life & Culture

The field was a place of childhood imagination, a land filled with underground forts, wood crate castles, and a path that wandered over dirt mounds and through a labyrinth of tall grasses and wildflowers. Fruit trees were scattered throughout the property, apples and plums. The lot was blocked from the street by shrubs that seemed to stretch from the ground to powerlines. It was a meeting place for the kids in the neighborhood, a place where you could dream, getting lost in the fairy-tale minutes of youth. But for me, this magical playground held my secrets. It was the path I took to get to the Petersons. The Petersons The Petersons were an elderly couple. They owned a large house on the

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My Husband Fought for His Nation, But Lost a Battle at Home

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / HerStory, Life & Culture

My family and I love going to Washington D.C. I’ve gone countless times since I was a kid, especially because my dad did so much work there when I was younger. This past October, my husband and I took a trip to D.C. sans-kids. It was probably the best trip we’ve had since our honeymoon. He had this obsession with John F. Kennedy’s assassination, so we decided to map out all the homes in Georgetown connected to the family. Of course, the closet realtor in me also had Zillow pulled up as I wanted to know how much these historic homes went for—and what they looked like inside. When we went to see the Declaration of Independence (something he had never seen),

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This is How My Son's Suicide Rocked My Faith

My Faith Was Rocked by My Son’s Suicide

By Carla Howatt / HerStory, Life & Culture

The world as I knew it ended on July 19, 2015. It was a day that shook my faith and my sanity. I walked into the basement suite in my home. My son was renting the suite from us and I needed to talk to him. I found him lying on his side, in the fetal position. He had a rifle between his legs. He was lying in a puddle. The puddle was black, and it took me a split second for it to sink in that it was blood. I turned on my heels and ran back upstairs, screaming and sobbing for my husband to call 911. The next few hours were a blur of police, emergency personnel, and the coroner’s

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Your Life Can Inspire Others – 141

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreEvery woman has a story. You may not think so but, whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or have all the letters behind your name, your journey can always impact someone else. We need each other. When we share life by telling our story, we’re offering our hard-earned wisdom to uplift each other. It is in these moments when our grit radiates grace. Your past struggles are precisely what another woman is going through today. It is you she can look to right now in the difficulty; it is your journey that will help her believe she can and will get to the other side, stronger. But before

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This Is How My Mother Changed Her Identity for Love

Why My Mother Hid Her Race for Love

By Allison McCormick / Life & Culture

My parents were married in the mid-1940s. My siblings and I are not certain of the exact date. In fact, we are learning there were many things we don’t know. My parents came from the South: Arkansas and Tennessee. They left soon after marrying for the freedom of the West. Mixed marriages were not accepted in the South, especially not in 1940. And this is where the story takes an interesting twist, because until very recently, I was not aware it was a mixed marriage. For my entire childhood and into my adult life, my mother held a secret close to her heart. She told her children that she was French Creole, a rich mix of French and Black ancestry, with a

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How I Made Beauty From Ashes and Burnt Toast

By Meaghan Dawson / HerStory, Purpose

I have been many things in my 40 years. I’ve tried on many different hats. I have been a fashion-forward retail worker in New York City and an avid runner who defined herself by her race times and lap splits. I have been a stay at home mom, priding myself on my perfect children, successful husband, and well-crafted athleisure attire. I was a homemaker, a make-it-from scratch smug cook who relished in making my own baby food and feeding my family straight from the farmers market. And this was long before being “organic” was a thing. I was constantly searching for something, an identity, my sense of self. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was a function of low self-esteem.

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Sex Trafficking: Why Kids are at Risk and What You Can Do to Protect Them with Christy Ivie – 121

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | More We need to talk about sex trafficking. We assume it’s not a problem that is occurring in our backyard, or even in our country, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Whether you like it or not, it’s happening in every community across the United States—even in yours. It doesn’t always look the way we think it would. A victim could look like a middle-class teenager at your kids high school who is still living at home. In this episode of This Grit and Grace Life podcast, hosts Darlene and Julie are joined by Christy Ivie, the founder of Christy’s Cause, a non-profit working to eradicate

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When God’s “No” Became My Best “Yes”

By Allison McCormick / HerStory, Faith

I sat on the edge of the exam table, a sheet draped over my lap, exam gown tied in the back. I was waiting for the doctor to enter the room. I needed him to tell me why I couldn’t get pregnant. It was difficult to understand—there were women all around me that just looked at their husbands and got pregnant. So many stories on the nightly news of babies being found in dumpsters, abandoned in the cold, young women ending their babies’ journeys out of convenience. What was wrong with me? I wrestled with my emotions and if I am completely honest, I was angry. Mad at myself for failing to be a real woman and mad at God for not

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I Never Wanted to Be a Pregnant Widow

By Ashby Duval / HerStory, Relationships

This is part one of a three-part series following Ashby’s story. A pregnant widow: two words I never thought I would use to describe myself, especially considering I never wanted to get married or have children. However, I’m grateful to say God had very different plans for me. I met my husband, Spencer, at a fundraiser where an organization we were both a part of called CREW was raising money for my mission trip to Africa. In his mind, he had pictured me as a 26-year-old black man and was surprised to see that I was a 5-foot tall blonde, young woman. He said he fell in love immediately, but much to his amusement, I completely ignored him—something his handsome and funny

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I Never Thought I’d Find Purpose in My Pain

By Katey Maddux / HerStory, Faith

I was still reeling from the shock and pain of breaking up with my boyfriend of 5+ years just minutes before. He was my first love, and I loved him with everything I had… I was sitting in the car with one of my best friends, “D and I are done. We have to go out tonight. I can’t think about this.” Going out in Austin, Texas typically means going to 6thstreet. A row of bars, clubs, and debauchery that goes on into the morning. I think this is where my shame stems from… I wanted to go out and get drunk. I wanted to forget. And not face the pain that I knew was coming. I got more than I asked for.

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This Is Why Choosing Life Was Hard

By Shannon Barbosa / HerStory, Motherhood

On June 20th, the most heartbreaking thing happened in my state. Rhode Island state senator, Gina Raimondo, passed an “abortion protection bill.” She stated, “The essential protections instilled by the RPA will ensure all Rhode Islanders—and especially people of color, people with low incomes, and anyone who struggles with barriers to health care—can access the reproductive health care services they need,” she said in a statement. “Abortion is health care, reproductive care is health care, and health care is a human right.”1 How anyone can fight so hard to protect the act of abortion and not human life and call it a human right, I will never understand. I fell under two out of the three categories she described as hardships. I,

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