Keeping Intentional Priorities Plus 200th Episode including BLOOPERS

Do you wrestle with societal pressures of being Super Mom while learning how to balance time and priorities? Do you find it difficult to keep your priorities when life gets difficult? We talk about it this week in the 200th episode and four-year anniversary of the Practically Speaking MOM Podcast.

 Val Harrison is joined by her husband, Rich. They've been married over 30 years and have seven children and four grandchildren. And is also joined by their youngest daughter, Emma to co-host this milestone episode!  If you listen to the very end you'll also hear the debut performance of grand little VIP Felicity!

This might be a celebration episode, but it is still packed with wisdom for your busy and blessed mama heart, to help you and your family to thrive!

We’ve come a long way in the last four years, reaching out to moms all over the world who all share the same goal - being intentional in partnering with God to strengthen their families.

The celebration doesn’t end here! As we look forward to what lies ahead in the rest of season four and beyond, we’re inviting you, our cherished listeners, to join in. Get ready to participate in our special drawings! We will have one winner for every 10 entries up to six winners.  Celebration drawings end 8/29/2023!
Two ways to enter:
1. Rate or review the podcast
AND/OR
2. Share the podcast
Then let us know what you've done so we can enter you in the drawing. Let us know by looking for the 200th episode POST @PracticallySpeakingMOM on Instagram, Facebook, or in the Private Facebook group Intentional Mom Strong Family!
If you have questions, DM val @PracticallySpeakingMOM on Instagram or Facebook.

The most common places to rate & review podcasts is on Google, Apple, and Spotify.
You can share the podcast by posting about it on your social media, sending a text or an email to moms you know who may need some encouragement or solid support in the worthy role of being mama to their God-made masterpiece family!
If you don't know how to share, you could share the website in a post and it will take them to the podcast. Our website is www.PracticallySpeakingMOM.com.

Transcript

Val Harrison: 0:00

THIS TRANSCRIPT WAS GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY AND HAS NOT BEEN EDITED. We want to identify what hangups might be there that stand in the way of living out a thriving, abundant life that Christ came to let us have. He did not create us for us to be defeated in bondage, a lacking purpose being in mediocrity, staying within our comfort zone. Welcome to the Practically Speaking Mom Podcast.

Emma Harrsion: 0:26

I'm Emma and this podcast is about me. Well, it's also about my older siblings and what we've taught our parents. I mean what they've learned from raising us. I'm not all the way raised yet.

Emma Harrison: 0:39

Whoa, whoa wait a minute. That was my 9 year old little kid voice, so let's try that again. Hello intentional mamas, welcome to the 200th episode and the four year anniversary of the Practically Speaking Mom Podcast.

Rich Harrison: 0:52

I'm Emma Harrison and I'm Rich Harrison.

Emma Harrison: 0:55

We are today's hosts for this special occasion. Let's begin with some stats about the podcast. We have some listeners from six continents. Daddy, do you want to guess how many countries have registered listeners to the Practically Speaking Mom podcast?

Rich Harrison: 1:09

45.

Emma Harrison: 1:11

Guess again. Did you look at those numbers before you guessed yes, but that's what I would have guessed before I looked at them. That's not truthful. That is what.

Rich Harrison: 1:21

I would have guessed before. I would have looked at them.

Emma Harrison: 1:23

Actually.

Rich Harrison: 1:24

I think so 45.

Emma Harrison: 1:28

We have listeners from 118 countries.

Rich Harrison: 1:31

What.

Emma Harrison: 1:32

And 3,657 cities in the world.

Rich Harrison: 1:35

Wow.

Emma Harrison: 1:36

We also have 95,000 downloads of the show. We have 88.7,000 downloads in North America, in Europe we have 1,880. In Africa we have 2,323 downloads and in Asia we have 1,246. In Australia we have 422 and in South America we have 177. We are giving a great big shout out to all of the listeners from all over the world, so that means that all of you have shared the podcast a lot.

Rich Harrison: 2:12

And that means a lot to us, because our family's mission with this ministry is to strengthen families.

Rich Harrison: 2:18

Those 95,000 downloads represent a lot of families that we are so honored to play a little role in strengthening each family who is part of the Practically Speaking Mom podcast and ministry. Emma, we started this podcast when you were just nine years old you just turned 14. So mom and I are very thankful for the contribution you make to this ministry. We've got an episode coming up where you and mom talk about how to grow confidence in kids and the importance of growing confidence in kids. That's just one example of the many times you've been vulnerable enough to share from your heart for the sake of other kids who may be listening or for their parents. Now we're going to have you come back at the end of today to share what drawings we're doing this week in honor of our 200th episode and four year anniversary. Well, now I want to bring into the conversation our main weekly host, the Practically Speaking Mom herself, my incredible wife Val Harrison. Welcome to episode 200. Congratulations on this huge milestone.

Val Harrison: 3:20

Well, thank you and congratulations to you also because, for sure, this is a joint effort. We are partners in all areas of our life, including this ministry. So you do the editing and the producing of the podcast, but, most importantly, you are my sounding board for ideas. You're my resident theologian. You keep me grounded, you encourage me when I feel like I'm not making a difference in people's lives, in fact, I would say, when I feel discouraged. Usually your answer is, I think that that is the sound of tiredness talking and you just need a good night's sleep and you will have a better perspective tomorrow. And that is usually the truth. I am thankful you believe in this message, the message of this ministry.

Rich Harrison: 4:07

I really do. And speaking of that message of this ministry, what is it? Can you explain one more time what the purpose and what the point of the Practically Speaking Mom podcast is? Why do you keep doing this now, heading into your fifth year?

Val Harrison: 4:22

Well, I would say that there are three things today. I mean, I think every year you ask me that question, and so this time I'm actually prepared for it OK.

Val Harrison: 4:33

And I would say that I feel called. I feel compelled and I feel compassion. I feel called by God to do this, to to be there for moms and to impact moms hearts and hope. I also feel compelled to do that. So most of the time, like it really is, I'm compelled to. I don't think I could stop myself if I wanted to this is who I was made to be is to really encourage and equip moms.

Rich Harrison: 5:04

Yeah.

Val Harrison: 5:04

And then I would also say that I have compassion and that is a real driving force for me, because I have been where these moms are. You know I have kids. Now my youngest is 14. You've all just met her a minute ago, emma. She's 14, and then we have seven, so they range all the way up to turning 30. We have three of them married. We have grandkids.

Val Harrison: 5:33

So I have really lived in a lot of stages of motherhood and what that really means is that I've made a lot of mistakes in motherhood and what I have found is that mistakes are not a bad thing. It is what we do with those mistakes. So really I I have compassion for the mom who feels overwhelmed or confused or frustrated or hopeless. I feel your pain and I want to tell you there is hope beyond that, and then I want to give you some practical help to do that. So I would say one main aspect of what kind of directs this ministry is that I want to be a visionary for moms. I talk about in my book wearing all your hats, without wearing out that moms have four main hats you need to wear, and one of those is being a visionary for your children, helping them see what they can't yet see for themselves. Our kids are here for a purpose. They are God's artwork. It says in scripture that they were created in Christ Jesus to do good works that he prepared in advance for them to do. He has purposes for their life. Some of those purposes are little and some of them are great, but he ordained their days and sometimes they don't feel very ordained. Sometimes they don't feel like a work of art, and we moms are there to be their visionary, to help them see in themselves what they can't yet see, but also to help them identify not just those positive things that are down the road, but what is in their life that might be roadblocks to their thriving and their abundance.

Val Harrison: 7:18

Jesus said that he came that we might have life more abundantly, and yet much of the time our life does not seem so abundant. We have all this stuff in the way of abundance. We have wrong habits, we have wrong thinking, we have deficiencies, we have broken parts of us. There are so many things that stand in the way and what we want is to develop the right habits and have the right perspective. We want to fill the deficiencies, we want to heal the brokenness, we want to identify what hangups might be there that stand in the way of living out a thriving, abundant life that Christ came to let us have. He did not create us for us to be defeated in bondage, lacking purpose, being, in mediocrity, staying within our comfort zone. So this is the role of mothers and parents. Mothers and fathers intentional parents, are visionaries for their kids.

Val Harrison: 8:25

Well, I guess I see that a role for me in this ministry is that I'm a visionary to moms. To help mom see, you are created with a purpose and God has ordained your days, the little things and the big things. He has ordained, so many important. The small ones are important too. You know, changing a diaper is still very important. Feeding a baby is still very important. Teaching our kids to pick up their clothes still important. All of these things that seem little, they all play a role in the design of our life and the artwork that we are. And then helping moms identify the habits, the hangups, the heart condition, the deficiencies, the brokenness, the things that stand in the way of your thriving. I want to help you with that. So it is this visionary mindset, I guess you could say, that really shapes the mission of my ministry here.

Rich Harrison: 9:27

Well, you just mentioned roadblocks and I got to say, speaking of roadblocks, the last couple of months for this ministry has looked a little different. I mean, our listeners have probably noticed, I'm sure, that you've missed some weeks of putting out a podcast here and there. Do you want to explain that?

Val Harrison: 9:45

Yes, I can do that. I could tell you a list of reasons why that has happened and maybe I'll do that here in a second, but ultimately, what it is is this God has called me first to follow him moment by moment, whatever he calls me to do and not do in any given moment. That is my first obligation. My second obligation is being a wife, being a partner in life with you and nurturing our marriage and making sure it stays strong. And my next calling in life is to be a mom and a grandma. And when you have seven kids Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

Val Harrison: 10:26

Three in-law kids, four grandkids, that is a lot of life and I want to stay intentional and involved in their lives and playing the role I'm supposed to play.

Val Harrison: 10:38

I shouldn't overplay my role in their lives, but I also should not underplay it.

Val Harrison: 10:44

So ministry for me comes in slot number four, and so sometimes God says there will be no slot number four this week, because this moment right here, this situation right here, this is your first obligation, this is where you're supposed to be, and I hope that, in my being faithful to God's priorities for my life, I hope that I set an example to the moms in doing the same thing.

Val Harrison: 11:15

Sometimes we moms may feel like we come across as irresponsible or I'll use the word flaky, or not being the star of our life. Like sometimes we're not going to get to be the greatest mom in the group who made the cookies and brought the to-do list all checked off and looking awesome and sound and awesome because we've had more important things to do that week than the cookies. So I hope that I'm setting an example for all of you and keeping my priorities straight. So I'm going to continue to always seek the voice of the Lord and what he calls me for to do each week. I still feel passionate. I still feel called and compelled for this ministry. It's just life has been really big lately with some other things.

Rich Harrison: 12:10

Yeah.

Val Harrison: 12:11

I've mentioned on the podcast before that our daughter Tori was expecting her first. She's our oldest daughter, but and she they've been married eight years, almost nine years.

Val Harrison: 12:23

They just had their first baby and there was some difficulty in the delivery and then, after delivery, her sweet little girl, eden, had some troubles and I wanted to be involved, grandma right and be there and go there and help and assist and and continue to bond with Tori through that process and get to bond with Eden through that process and spend time with my other grandkids and I've like done a lot of traveling over the last few months and we had some house project big remodel going on that we weren't expecting to be that big but Domino's fell and and so it turned into a bigger time consuming thing than we thought it was going to be. Yeah, so anyway, these things happen in life. I lost a really good friend to cancer and that also kind of stopped me in my tracks.

Rich Harrison: 13:19

Right as it should.

Val Harrison: 13:21

Yes, we need to take. I'm learning in life the importance of taking time to process each thing, to be fully engaged in whatever important thing is happening at the time, and all that pressure can wait. All of that other stuff doesn't matter. God has called us to this moment. He'll provide what is needed for the other moments, and maybe we won't be superstar mom and all the other things while we're being all in on that issue in front of us, but we're going to give our full attention and we're going to be in that moment that God has us in, and so that's what I've been doing. So there you go All right.

Rich Harrison: 14:02

Well, that makes sense to me, but I have the perspective of one who has walked through all this with you, so I get it. But I think that's hopefully that's inspiring to other moms as well that, yeah, we have our slots and we need to keep them in the right order. And, man, is it easy to get them out of order Because the cultural voices and the temptations for whatever can be loud sometimes.

Val Harrison: 14:29

So yeah, I appreciate that perspective.

Val Harrison: 14:31

I would actually call it that. We're kind of wrestling with our time. All the time I'm wrestling with no time and pressure. You will not take over, because I am going to listen to God's voice of how he wants this moment to look. I am going to be all in in this situation that is going on. So it's. It is a constant wrestling, but it's good if it really. It does feel great to be finally learning how to do those things better than I did before. All of life is a growing process where we're gradually, if we are seeking to grow and if we are listening to the Holy Spirit, we are gradually growing. The Holy Spirit does the work in us. We just have to let him do it. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't require work for us to continue to partner with him. It requires work for us to continue to lay down our agenda, lay down our label. You know I want to wear the label of Super Mom but, that is not the right label for me to wear.

Rich Harrison: 15:42

That was all really good. Now we're celebrating our 200th episode, so that's fantastic. However, we're not quite to the end of our season four, so we still have a little bit of that left. What's coming up from here? What can our moms expect to see?

Val Harrison: 15:58

So I will tell you that we have more on the agenda. Some of it's already recorded but some of it is not yet recorded but it's in my heart and head. But there is more of dear younger me habits to thrive. We haven't really gotten into how to raise confident kids but we have some stuff recorded for that already and my heart is hugely on the concept of wholeness and I still want to get that in this season. If I don't, it will be coming in the next season for sure. And the fact is we will take a break. We took a break the last two holiday seasons, part of November through part of January. We will for sure take that break again, but I'm going to be listening to God on whether that break is supposed to be even longer. Like this is what I'm praying about when that break comes. Do I take the break until I'm done with my book answering the six questions of your child's heart? Because he just has so given me content for that, but it is.

Rich Harrison: 17:05

He keeps giving you content.

Val Harrison: 17:07

And I'm very excited about it. But I really want to get it to the people.

Rich Harrison: 17:11

Yes.

Val Harrison: 17:11

And they want it and it takes time. So I don't know yet how long he wants that break to be, so I don't know when season five will start, but there is more of season four and then there will be a break and then there will be season five, as far as we can tell. You know, according to always, according to whatever God says, he could change the plan at any time. Okay.

Rich Harrison: 17:35

And that's exciting to think about you having the opportunity to really finish up this book. It's been a long time in the making and in the long time in the God giving it to you, so it's still moving along Well. At this point, I want to say again congratulations. 200 episodes, that's fantastic and God's doing great things through this ministry. We hear a lot of feedback from moms, a lot of help and encouragement that you've been able to provide, so praise the Lord for that. At this point, let's bring Emma back on the show now and we're going to wrap up this 200th episode. She's going to share with our listeners what drawings we're going to be doing this week and how our listeners can be in those drawings.

Emma Harrison: 18:19

All right, moms, are you ready? I'm about to announce the drawings that we will be doing in the celebration of our 200th episode of the Practically Speaking Mom podcast. Winners will receive a $20 gift card or cash, your choice. We will have one winner for every 10 entries. We will have four giveaways this week to celebrate this milestone and to thank you all for being a part of this ministry to strengthen families.

Emma Harrison: 18:45

To enter a drawing, there are two things you can do. Number one you can rate or review the podcast. There are lots of places to rate podcasts. Google, spotify and iTunes are the three most common places to leave ratings or reviews. The second way to be entered in the drawings is to share the podcast. Share it on social media or text or email it to a friend. When you share the podcast, you are giving a mom some encouragement and some tools for strengthening her family. So share the podcast Sharing is caring right. Whether you rate and review the podcast or if you share it.

Emma Harrison: 19:19

Either way, to be entered in the drawing, you'll need to let mom know that you did this, so she has made a social media post about our 200th episode. Look for this post on Instagram or Facebook, at PracticallySpeakingMom, or in the private Facebook group, intentionalmomstrongfamily. The post will have all the details. Just comment on the post to let her know what you did so she can add you to the drawing. The details are also in the show notes of this episode. Of course, you could also DM mom on Instagram or Facebook, at PracticallySpeakingMom, to let her know. So let's get started. Deadline to enter is Friday at noon on September 19th 2023. So, moms, leave us a rating or review and share the podcast. Then jump over to one of mom's 200th episode celebration posts on Instagram or Facebook at PracticallySpeakingMom, or in her private Facebook group, intentionalmomstrongfamily, to enter and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are so grateful to spend each week with you on the PracticallySpeakingMom podcast, the place for intentional moms to build strong families. Can I say Australia for Oceana.

Rich Harrison: 20:34

Yes.

Emma Harrison: 20:35

Okay. Why does it say that?

Rich Harrison: 20:39

Because Oceana includes the other things around it. New Zealand.

Emma Harrison: 20:44

Right Papa and Guinea.

Rich Harrison: 20:46

Yeah, there you go.

Emma Harrison: 20:48

Whether you share, whether you share and rate their. Oh, my goodness.

Rich Harrison: 20:55

Okay, can we do this again? Make a big deal of 200th? Welcome to the 200th episode in the four year anniversary.

Emma Harrison: 21:04

Was I not doing that. I was trying to do that.

Rich Harrison: 21:06

Okay, do it. Try it again A little more pep.

Emma Harrison: 21:10

Welcome to the 200th episode and the four year anniversary of the Practically SpeakingMom podcast. We have listeners from 3,657 cities in the world.

Rich Harrison: 21:21

Wow.

Emma Harrison: 21:22

We also have 95,000 downloads of the show.

Rich Harrison: 21:27

Wow, that's. I don't want to say wow twice. My goodness, that's better, isn't it? No way. Lol LOL, all right, good enough, very good, thank you.

Emma Harrison: 21:40

That's all, yes, okay.