The key to success is contentment.

I mean, think about it—if you can find a way to truly be content, to be happy in every circumstance, wouldn't it be awesome? Every day it would be incredible. I mean, we'd wake up so grateful and so happy because we're content! This episode is about fighting for contentment with simple habits in our lives. Habits that can help us pause and realize just how good we have it. Habits that help us to live at ease and to live content.

I recently shared the news that after this year, my twelfth year of business, the doors of Nancy Ray Photography will close. I’m sharing with you the three questions that I asked myself during this journey, and I’ll ask you as well.

I think it's pretty safe to say that when it comes to our work, we want to be part of something that we are called to do— something that is full of meaning and has purpose, something that is in line perfectly with our passions and giftings. But today I want to challenge our way of thinking, and really the language that we use describing our work and our calling.

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.

Well friend, this is my last episode of Work & Play before I take a two month break from the podcast and a six month break from work and social media. I just want to use this time and space to encourage you. And I want to speak life over you. And I want to encourage you to speak life over the people around you.

Over the last several months, I have been working on a project I haven’t told anyone about, but you, my dear work and play podcast listener, are going to be the very first to know about it.

Today’s episode is part 1 of a three part episode series giving you a glimpse inside this new audio course (I honestly hesitate to call it a course because it’s more of a comprehensive way that I look at my life broken down into three categories: faith, home and work).

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.

Today we are diving into one of the most difficult seasons of our friendship, the season of five years where my best friend and sister-in-law, Sam, was walking through infertility and I had three babies. I'm just so honored to share today's podcast episode with you, because what it feels like for me is a precious gift that I'm giving to you, that you can hear Sam's heart and her story. And it feels like we are sharing this really vulnerable part of our journey together as friends and sisters with you.

Today, I'm going to share with you the value of doing this, the value of giving up something in your life that's easy and convenient and even good, to challenge yourself; and specifically the value of the Contentment Challenge this year and what I learned this time around.

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.

I'm doing something different today! In celebration of the 100th episode, I asked you all on Instagram for 100 questions to answer, and I'm really excited just to have fun and allow you guys to get to know me on a different level. A lot of these are personal, a lot of them are lighthearted, a lot of them are fun and hopefully some of them you'll find helpful to you and your life. Believe me, you want to listen to the end.

Today, I'm going to talk about how we don't actually know what 2021 is going to hold, but how we can approach it with wisdom.

Today, I'm going to share three extremely simple prayers that I pray. You have my full permission to take them with you and use them for the rest of your life, and I hope that they bless you.

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.

Today, I'm going to be sharing all of our favorite Christmas traditions. And sharing this is really just to encourage you to make time for the most important things, and hopefully just to invite you into our family for a little bit in sharing how Will and I have brought our different sets of our own family's traditions and made them our own.

So when I became a mom, during that newborn phase of life, it was very hard to determine which way was up or down. The Lord taught me this simple practice. It doesn't take a lot of time, but still to this day, it speaks straight to my heart and it grounds me. It's simply focusing on one word throughout your whole day.

In today's episode, I want to remind all of us of three things the Lord calls us to, in any and every season of our lives. Three things that, if I'm honest, I feel like they've been pushed to the side. Three things that I believe were part of the founding of this country and three things that we absolutely must maintain if we are to move forward.

In it, Rebecca outlines four rhythms for a life of peace and purpose. I couldn't help but think back to my episode just a couple weeks ago on self-care, because I feel like this book is a deeper dive and how we can live out these rhythms and have a healthy, mature life as a believer. All in all, I love the book. I feel like Rebecca is somewhat of a soul sister and I can't wait for you to hear my top takeaways.

We are constantly hearing and seeing the message of self-care. Take time for yourself. Don't forget to care for yourself. Drink water. Exercise. Go get your nails done. I have had so many mixed feelings about the phrase “self-care” for a long time.

So, today, I'm going to dive into the good and bad of self-care and offer a better, more holistic approach.