Ep 23: Miracle Mornings, Owning our Voice, and the Homeschooling Mom in all of Us with Lindsay McCarthy

I’m excited to bring you this Episode #23 of the Mother’s Quest Podcast. I’m just back from an amazing week at one of my most favorite places, UCLA’s Bruin Woods Family Camp in Lake Arrowhead, where I felt like I had an amazing reset…a chance to unplug and notice some patterns from a fresh perspective.

It’s so perfect then, that I came back to put the finishing touches on this episode with author of the Miracle Morning for Parents and Families, Lindsay McCarthy. I’ve been wanting to have Lindsay on the podcast for a while now; I knew I had a lot to learn from her about how to change my relationship with mornings, but I didn’t realize our conversation would inspire a collaborative 30 day Mother’s Quest Miracle Morning Challenge that will start Monday, July 17th.

Lindsay is a wife and homeschool mom of two kids. She is the co-author of The Miracle Morning for Parents and Families, has a facebook community of the same name, and is creator of GratefulParent.com where she blogs.

Lindsay and I have a lot in common in that neither of us could have imagined we would step into owning and sharing our voice and our story with others until fairly recently, she through her book and me through the podcast.

We go deep in this conversation about the epic journey that brought Lindsay from attending a conference where she met Miracle Morning author Hal Alred to essentially writing a manual for bringing the Miracle Morning practice to parents and families.

We talk about our mutual love of frameworks and acronyms and how she and her husband adapted the Miracle Morning’s SAVERS to create their own acronym, CHARMS, which brings Creativity, Health, Affirmations, Reading, Meditation, and Service to her children every morning.

I love how Lindsay brings intentionality and mindfulness to her parenting and how she’s living her own version of an E.P.I.C. life, one rooted in being an amazing mom and co-creating incredible learning experiences for her children. She helped me change my perception of what homeschooling can look like and realize that we are all like a homeschooling mom when we seek opportunities for our children to pursue their curiosity and passions.

I’m also impressed by how committed Lindsay is to this Miracle Morning practice which has dramatically changed her family’s life and the lives of so many others through her book and group.

I’m thrilled I finally got a chance to talk with Lindsay and that together we will create this collaborative challenge. I have a strong feeling that this Miracle Morning practice will make a huge difference for me and I know I need some support and accountability to make it happen. I can’t imagine a better guide than Lindsay and I hope you’ll choose to come along with us.

This Week’s Challenge:

Join us for the 30-Day Mother’s Quest Miracle Morning Challenge. Sign up to follow us with daily prompts and reflections in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Lindsay’s mother modeled creating opportunities for her children by setting up a field hockey team for her and other girls in their community.

• How attending Hal Elrod’s One Life Fully Lived conference in 2014 provided an opportunity for Lindsay to create what became like an operating manual for her family

• The importance of having a morning practice.

• How the C.H.A.R.M.S. (Creativity, Health, Affirmations, Reading, Meditation, Service) framework works in their family and how it can be adapted for other families.

• Tips on “Habit Stacking” and adding mindfulness and purpose to everyday activities.

• Working with a spiritual coach to support self discovery.

• Slowing down to have the space to create what you truly want.

• How Lindsay came to homeschooling her children, how she accesses other resources outside of her home as part of that, and how we are all homeschoolers in some way with our children

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Miracle Morning for Parents and Families: How to Bring Out the Best in Your KIDS and Your SELF by Hal Elrod, Mike & Lindsay McCarthy

• The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM) by Hal Elrod

• One Life Fully Lived Conference

• Gobundance, the company and mastermind of Mike, Lindsay’s husband

• Spirit Coach Training with Jenai Lane, Lindsay’s spiritual coach

• Make Me App

• Grateful Parent, Lindsay’s blog

• The Miracle Morning for PARENTS & FAMILIES Facebook Community

• The Miracle Morning Community

• 30-Day Mother’s Quest Miracle Morning Challenge at the Facebook Group

Announcements

If you haven’t yet visited the website, head over to www.mothersquest.com to explore some of the ways you can get more connected. At the site, you can sign up for our email list (to get show notes delivered to your inbox and our new “Mothers on a Quest” features), click the link to join the Facebook group and press record to leave a voice message for me. You can also download the FREE Live Your E.P.I.C. Life Planning and Reflection Sheets.

Sign up! – Free 30 minute Discovery Session

I’m rolling out my new coaching offerings and I’ve been having great conversations with women who are ready to live a more E.P.I.C. life and interested in coaching. If you’ve had a spark moment setting you on a new path or are at a crossroads but feel unsure, guilty or overwhelmed, I’d love to talk with you about how working with me could help light the way, get you clear about what you want, shift your mindset from fear to faith, and get you moving into action. I’ve been there, I’m still on the journey myself, and I’d love to bring all I’ve learned from a decade of coaching, 13 years of motherhood and all the lessons from my podcast guests to support you. Send me an email at julie@mothersquest.com or sign up for a free discovery call at mothersquest.com if you’re interested in learning more.

Acknowledgements

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

• Tonya Rineer, founder of The Profit Party, who provided this week’s dedication

• Liane Louie-Badua

• Cristin Downs of the Notable Woman Podcast

• Erin Kendall of Fit Mom Go

• Niko Osoteo of Bear Beat Productions

• Erik Newton of The Together Show

• Claire Fry

• Divya Silbermann

• Rachel Winter

• Caren and Debbie Lieberman

• Cameron Miranda

• Fran and David Lieberman

• Debbie and Alan Goore

• Jenise and Marianne of the Sustainable Living Podcast

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Two of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution http://mothersquest.com/be-a-supporter/

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/