My guest today is Rachel Booth Smith. If you’ve ever read the Bible and wondered if your 21st-century self might be missing a few things, same! And we are! Rachel faces that question today with an eye on the very first pages of Scripture. Her new book is Rest Assured: What the Creation Story was Intended to Reveal about Trusting God, and it is so timely as we take a fresh look at what it means to truly rest. I’m learning that rest is tightly connected to my idea of trust, and Rachel offers some fantastic clarity on how that looks on any given Tuesday. I’m so grateful for her wisdom and for this conversation.

Rachel Booth Smith has a contagious love for God’s Word. Her passion to teach accessible theology has led her to develop curriculum and leadership summits, write Bible studies, and teach. Rachel has a Master of Divinity degree from Pillar Seminary, where she learned to study the Bible in its original languages while being trained in ancient Near East context for both the Old and New Testament. Find her online at rachelboothsmith.com and on socials @rboothsmith.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KimberlyStuart.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more from this episode.

Do you ever careen into the Christmas season? Maybe arrive at the Christmas Eve service sweaty? Saying to yourself, “Quick! Be peaceful and contemplative and remember what this season is all about!” Then this is the conversation for you (and for me). My guest today is Amanda Bible Williams. Yes, that is her real name and of course I sure did ask her about it. You might know Amanda for her beautiful work at She Reads Truth, the collective that’s been going strong for fourteen years. Amanda and her team have steeped themselves in how to not just acknowledge Advent and the arrival of Christmas but how to truly savor it. Advent begins December 1 this year, so we are chatting in plenty of time to avoid the sweaty candlelight service.

Happy news! Amanda and her team have offered listeners of For Real a special discount for their advent resources. Go to SheReadsTruth.com and use the code KIMBERLYS15 for 15% off your order. Offer good through January 5, 2025.

Amanda Bible Williams is co-founder of She Reads Truth, a brand that creates beautiful, accessible Bible reading plans and resources that help women read God’s Word every day. She is also the editor of the She Reads Truth Bible and co-host of the She Reads Truth Podcast. Amanda, her husband David, and their four children live in a loud and lively farmhouse just south of Nashville, Tennessee. Find her on Instagram @biblewilliams.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KimberlyStuart.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more from this episode.

This episode was like a deep breath for me. Sarah Clarkson joins me to talk about reclaiming quiet. This is an audacious goal in such a relentless and noisy world, right? Sarah definitely lives in that real world, as you will hear. She is not cloistered, though she does live in an actual vicarage in actual England. Obviously I trusted her immediately. What I loved about this conversation is that Sarah puts up this beautiful scaffolding of what we get when we pay what she calls “holy attention” to the lives we’ve been given. Sign me up.

Sarah Clarkson is an author and blogger who writes regularly about literature, faith, and beauty at SarahClarkson.com. She studied theology (BTh, MSt) at Oxford and is the author or coauthor of six books, including This Beautiful Truth. She has an active following on Instagram (@sarahwanders) where she hosts regular live read-alouds from the poems, novels, or essays that bring her courage. She can often be found with a cup of good tea and a book in hand in her old English vicarage home in Oxford, where she lives with her Anglican vicar husband, Thomas, and their four children.

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KimberlyStuart.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more from this episode.