Welcome to the Simply Joyful Podcast
Episode #22 with Nicole Johnson
Stepping Off the Crazy Train: Tips for Creating Calm in the Center of Crazy
Life can get a little crazy at times. Sometimes seasons of “crazy” seem to keep hitting over and over again. There may never seem to be a break from the chaos. Now, I say this as a homeschooling mom of five who currently has another family of six living under her roof. If anyone gets crazy, it’s me.
Creating balance and calm in the middle of craziness is a must. It’s an art. I’ve learned to step back and say no to a lot of different things when we have busy seasons. Yet, sometimes that’s not enough.
Today I have a very special guest, Nicole Johnson. We are going to be chatting about her new book, Creating Calm in the Center of Crazy. Like so many of us, Nicole found herself in a vicious cycle of “crazy.” She shares about her turning point in her crazy life that drove her to create more calm in her life. We can’t always control the circumstances in our lives that are causing a little “crazy” in our lives, but we can find ways to create more calm right in the center of our crazy.
On a “Simply” & “Joyful” side note…
Guys! You are in for such a treat today, because this entire podcast with Nicole is about how to she creates calm and how she's learned to simplify her life!
'Nicole Johnson shares how to create calm and simplify your life on this week's Simply Joyful Podcast with Kristi CloverClick To Tweet
In This Episode
Today we’re going to talk about finding joy in the midst of crazy. Parenting. Life. You name it. It’s crazy. Sometimes there are just seasons of crazy–when everything seems to be hitting all at once—and that’s normal. It’s important to create margin.
You may know Nicole Johnson best because of her work with Women of Faith for years. Well, today we’re discussing her new book Creating Calm in the Center of Crazy. I’m excited about this book because the subtitle says it all—making room for your soul in an overcrowded life. Moms are often multitasking, and it’s so hard to get those margins in our life. We have to figure out how to create that calm and joy in the middle of it all.
Nicole Johnson is an accomplished entertainer. She has preformed in churches all over the past 25 years. Also the creator of Seasons Weekend—a spiritual retreat for men and women. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband and two kids and is the author of Fresh Brewed Life, Keeping a Princess Heart, and The Invisible Woman.
Grab your favorite drink and settle in—you are going to LOVE this episode!
Here are a few fun quotes from this episode. Please feel free to “click to tweet” (below) or share the images below on social media.
Highlights from the Show . . .
—Nicole shares a little bit about writing and performing dramas (for the last twenty-two years!)—mostly with Women of Faith. She shares a little about working with Women of Faith for fifteen years.
“My wake up call for how crazy life had gotten was there wasn’t any joy. There wasn’t room to feel. It wasn’t fun. It didn’t have the kind of fun life should have.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“When the only way you don’t know if something is working is that it explodes, it’s not right.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“Make peace with distraction.” NICOLE JOHNSON
—I ask Nicole to share a little about her crisis (which she also shares in her book) that caused her to stop and look at the crazy in her life.
“This is the power of a crisis. It focuses your attention. There’s a lot of clarity and a lot of things you can see more clearly when the bottom falls out.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“Women are the worst about trying to taking care of ourselves.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“Heart attacks are the number one killer of women. Not because we have more heart attacks than men, but because ours are more fatal because we ignore our symptoms.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“It’s hard for women to stop and say ‘I’m going down and I need help.' The big message of this book is “Slow down while you still can. Slow down while you still have something to slow down for.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“Taking care of yourself is so important in order to take care of others.” KRISTI CLOVER
—I ask Nicole to share how we get past that guilty feeling we get when we take care of ourselves first.
—I mention how Wendy Speake’s episode (Life Creative Starts at Home) is one of my most downloaded episodes. When we talk about her book, Life Creative, we talk about how important it is not to give up on your dreams and talents.
“I want to show my daughter that her dreams matter because my dreams matter.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“It’s very natural in motherhood to be juggling a lot of balls, you just have to pick and prioritize which balls you are choosing to juggle at one time.” KRISTI CLOVER
—I ask Nicole to share about the seven letter word that she would like to see eliminated.
What word does Nicole Johnson want to see eliminated? Listen to find out! Click To Tweet
“I make peace with limping. I can’t have balance—life doesn’t work that way.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“We have this value that says, ‘Jesus is coming. Look busy.'” NICOLE JOHNSON
“We have substituted busy for meaning.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“As a culture we are addicted to crazy. We are always on the bleeding edge of burn out.” KRISTI CLOVER
“When your life is crazy busy for a long time, it’s more about crazy that it is about busy.” NICOLE JOHNSON
—I ask Nicole where on the crazy busy scale she would put the Proverbs 31 woman.
“We have to look at the long view. We have look at the capacity as well.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“Often times the most joy comes from the simplest, most innocent, most honest things.” NICOLE JOHNSON
—I ask Nicole to share about distractions and the art of being still and ask her to share tips on how busy moms can find a moment of stillness in their day.
“Making peace with getting still is one of the biggest steps.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“It’s amazing what comes to our mind when we get still.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“Getting still is the best solution I have found to getting calm.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“We need to learn to breathe.” KRISTI CLOVER
“Christians have lost their connection with ancient practices that used to be the norm.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“We need to give ourselves permission to down shift into stillness.” NICOLE JOHNSON
Give yourself permission to shift into stillness. Don't miss this episode with Nicole Johnson! Click To Tweet
“We’re never going to stop having stress in our life until we’re standing face to face with the creator—but we can reduce it.” KRISTI CLOVER
“When we say no, it allows other people to say yes.” KRISTI CLOVER
“The only way to build a team is to stop doing everything.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“The ‘no' that we offer is a ‘yes' to our families.” NICOLE JOHNSON
—I ask Nicole to share a little more about the rejection, pain, and hurt that we feel from the crisis.
“Any survival skill can become a way of hurting others if we’re still using it to survive when we don’t need it to survive anymore.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“What isn’t transformed, is transferred.” NICOLE JOHNSON
—Nicole shares a personal story about her daughter having the courage to share about a fear.
“You have to face your fear or you will always be running.” NICOLE JOHNSON
“If we don’t run to Him, we can’t receive His healing.” KRISTI CLOVER
“Practice makes perfect. Practice makes habit. Practice makes routine.” NICOLE JOHNSON
Books Mentioned…
Here are a few of my favorites titles on reducing stress and creating calm…
…Help Support the Simply Joyful Podcast!
Anytime you purchase things from my site and my store, it blesses the podcast. The Simply Joyful Podcast is put together not only by me, but my team of amazing and talented assistants! As I prayed about starting this podcast I knew I'd need help to maintain it in order to keep balance in my family life. So after episode #12, I hired three people to help me put all the elements together for this podcast. It's been a tremendous blessing.
When you get your Simply Joyful Podcast mug, be sure to take a picture of it and use #SimplyJoyfulPodcast or #SimplyJoyfulMug. I'd love to see them!
Covenant Eyes is the online filtering program that my family will be installing on our computers and devices to protect everyone from inappropriate content on the web. Internet safety is extremely important to me. The have both filtering and accountability functions. Find out more HERE.
Whether you are a coffee or tea drinker, you will love this adorable Simply Joyful Mug! The back is equally inspiring with Nehemiah 8:10 written out. When you get your Simply Joyful Podcast mug, be sure to take a picture of it and use #SimplyJoyfulPodcast or #SimplyJoyfulMug. I'd love to see them!
Check them out HERE!
Let's Get the Word Out…
My prayer is that this podcast would be a blessing to all who hear it. If you enjoy this podcast, it would be such a blessing to have you “Subscribe” to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher and leave me a rating and review. This helps the podcast to rank in iTunes and be more “visible” for people searching for new podcasts to listen to. If you wanted to share this episode with friends or on social media, I've created several great images that are share-worthy. Thanks!
How to Listen to The Simply Joyful Podcast!
If you are new to the concept of listening to podcasts, then “Wow!” are you in for a treat. It's kind of like an OnDemand radio station. They are so easy to listen to when you are on the go running errands or shuttling kids or just getting projects done around the house. My favorite time to listen to my favorite podcasts is while I'm out for a walk or folding laundry.
1) Subscribe to the Podcast! You won't miss an episode when you subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. You can always access the podcast from either of these venues by searching for “Simply Joyful Podcast.”
Subscribe via iTunes HERE (for Apple devices)
Subscribe via Stitcher HERE (for Android devices)
2) Listen on your Phone! This is my preferred method of listening. If you have an iDevice (iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch), then you can listen on Apple's purple podcast app that comes on your device. If you have a non-iDevice, then Stitcher Radio is great to use. You can easily search for podcasts, subscribe, and — my favorite part — speed up the audio.
3) Listen right here on my Website! Super simple! All you have to do is just click on the play button on the podcast player located at the top of this post.
A Special Thanks to…
Rend Collective for allowing me to use their incredible song “The Joy of the Lord is My Strength.” This song has so much special meaning to me and it highlights the theme verse for my podcast — Nehemiah 8:10. Be sure to check out their music! They are such a fun band to listen to…and to see live.
Let's Connect!
Connect with Nicole Johnson…
Nicole Johnson is the author of the new book Creating Calm in the Center of Crazy (Zondervan, June), Fresh Brewed Life; Keeping a Princess Heart (in a not-so-fairytale-world), The Invisible Woman and several other bestselling titles. As an accomplished entertainer, she has performed in thousands of churches and venues over the last twenty-five years, including more than a decade of touring with the national conference Women of Faith. She is also the creator of the popular Seasons Weekend, a spiritual retreat for men and women. Johnson lives in Santa Monica, CA with her husband and two children. Keep up with Nicole at nicolejohnson.org.
You can check out Nicole's books HERE on Amazon! Be sure to visit her site as well at www.NicoleJohnson.org.
Connect with Kristi…
I hope you enjoyed this week's podcast! My prayer is always that you will be blessed and encouraged by each episode.
Blessings and joy,
**This post may contains a few affiliate links, both Amazon & others. Please see my disclosure page if you have any questions.
Leave a Reply