There will never be adequate words to describe what these book series have meant to me over the last year. They have been some of the best parts of my life. I kid you not, over the last 12 months, I sobbed at the end of each one. Not an exaggeration. And if I'm honest, today's podcast episode almost didn't happen because I already know it's gonna fall short of what I want to say about each of these series, but I decided to move forward with it because if it encourages you to read them with a kingdom mindset, I believe it will have been worth it. Let's dive into the three best children’s series of all time.

Welcome to May is for Mamas, where I dedicate every episode in the month of May to the Mamas listening. We are kicking it off with a beautiful, encouraging conversation with Ashlee Gadd on why it's so important to keep creating in the margins of motherhood. Ashlee is the author of Create Anyway, which is a beautiful book. It just came out and I could not get my hands on it fast enough.

Y'all. It's so good. Listen, Ashlee is a wife, a mom of three, a follower of Jesus, a writer, a photographer, and she founded Coffee and Crumbs, which is a beautiful online space that brings mothers together through storytelling. Ashlee is just the kind of person who has a beautiful heart, and I'm so grateful I got to spend time with her today.

Also, side note, Coffee and Crumbs has a podcast and it's one of the very few podcasts I actually listen to regularly, and what a gift it was to just to get to know Ashlee, to get to know her heart. I know you're gonna love our conversation on creating in motherhood.

Alright, it's time for the Nancy Ray Book Club 2023 edition, and in these episodes I'm gonna share my three biggest takeaways from the books that I'm reading. Today I'm gonna be giving an honest review of Four thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mere Mortals, by Oliver Burkeman.

Today I'm sharing my top 10 books of 2022, and why I loved them!

Today I'm talking with my dear friend Nicole Jacobsmeyer, who is a fellow mama of four. She is an author and a kindred spirit. Her first book, Take Back Your Joy, just came out and if you open the first two pages of the book, you'll read my endorsement, which is so much fun! I hope you enjoy our heartfelt conversation today.

Today, I had the absolute privilege of talking to my friend Graham Cochrane. He is the author of How To Get Paid For What You Know, and we talk all about his book! I've read the whole thing cover to cover and it's so good.

Hello and happy June! Today is a full and exciting episode because I have some updates for you for the Summer and it's a book club episode, which are always my favorites. This book kind of has a funny story with it—which I'll get to.

We are out of school, we're getting used to new rhythms with all the kids home and I've got some fun Summer episodes coming up. Lots to talk about today, but today's book is called The 4 Disciplines of Execution and it was a doozy of a business book. There was a lot in there, but I'm really excited to simplify it and kind of translate it to how we can apply it to our work and our homes. It's going to be good.

Today, we have the privilege of hearing from my friend and mama mentor, Renee Swope, who is a wife and a mama of three and an author and speaker. She's so wise and I love that she is ahead of me in the motherhood journey, she has so much to offer.

This month, I read the Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. A book that came really highly recommended to me by a few trusted friends and it did not disappoint. So yes, today we are talking all about money and our relationship with it.

Now, today I'm going to be talking about The Self-Driven Child, which is a book that's going to stay with me throughout the rest of my parenting journey.

Today I'm going to be talking about my first book, The 12 Week Year and why this book was just what I needed to read at the start of this year, between having baby number four and this pandemic. I don't know about you, but it felt so hard to plan and to dream and set goals—but 12 weeks? 12 weeks? I can do that. I can plan the next 12 weeks.

Today, I have a conversation with a friend and author Hannah Brencher. Hannah is such a breath of fresh air. She is a writer, a TED speaker, an online educator with a heart for building leaders. She has written three books. Her third, which we're talking about today, is Fighting Forward. It has been exactly what I have needed to read. It's incredible. I think you're going to love our conversation today about how you can fight forward in your own life.

Today's book is Parenting by Paul David Tripp. He outlines 14 Gospel Principles that can radically change your family. This book isn't as much a practical book on how to handle a tantrum or discipline your child or what to feed your kid or how to raise teenagers. Instead, it's a book that speaks to the “why” of parenting the heart of parenting, and really how to view our role of parents as believers.

Welcome to the Nancy Ray Book Club, where every month I share a book worth reading and invite you to read it along with me. Today's book is The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer—highly recommending this one friend.

I'll be honest—I almost took this book off of my reading list this year, because I felt like it was cruel and unusual punishment to myself to read a book about sleep the year that I would have a newborn baby. BUT I'm really glad I read it anyway, because it's helping me now in pregnancy and it will help during that newborn phase, as hard as it's going to be, as well as prioritizing sleep for our whole family for years to come.

I get pretty nerdy today—fair warning!

I'll be honest—I almost took this book off of my reading list this year, because I felt like it was cruel and unusual punishment to myself to read a book about sleep the year that I would have a newborn baby. BUT I'm really glad I read it anyway, because it's helping me now in pregnancy and it will help during that newborn phase, as hard as it's going to be, as well as prioritizing sleep for our whole family for years to come.

I get pretty nerdy today—fair warning!

Booker T. Washington's life story has impacted me so deeply. I can honestly say, this is one of those books that has changed me. I hope you'll listen in to his inspiring story, my top three takeaways, and I really, really hope that you're going to pick up this book.

I decided to start off 2021 with my friend Chrystal Evans’ new book called The 28 Day Prayer Journey after experiencing all of 2020. After my talk with Chrystal back in Episode 080 (which was fantastic, you should go back and listen to it), I just knew in my heart, this was the way I wanted to start off this year, and I am so grateful I did.

Today's episode is a recap of the very last book in our 2020 Book Club: Parenting with Love and Logic. We read it in December. It was highly recommended to me by so many friends, and it's already proven to be such a gift in our own family and my own parenting. I hope today's podcast will be super practical and helpful for any moms and dads listening.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of surface, trite, make-it-what-you-want-it Christianity. I want the real God of the universe. I want what He has to say, even if it's hard to hear it. This book showed me the practices that we can do as believers to welcome Jesus into our very real lives and to hear His very real voice a little bit clearer. I'll be honest. These disciplines, they aren't easy. They are not for the faint of heart, but they are good. And they have changed me.