Episode 50: Melanie Shankle

Melanie Shankle joins me for Episode 50. She is a wife, mother, writer and speaker. I asked Melanie to come on the show so that we could have an honest conversation about friendship. I don't know what stage of life you are in, but regardless, cultivating friendship is not easy. We talk about how to find authentic friends, how to model friendship for your children and what to do when you face conflict in a friendship. So pull up a chair to the table and join the conversation.

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I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Melanie. I think Melanie is one of those people who you meet and instantly want to be friends with. All the things that she talked about modeling in regards to friendship are easy to spot in her own life. 

With this being the week of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to remind you of how thankful I am of you! Thank you for spending some of your week with me. I have loved connecting with you and hope that this show truly does help you survive a little easier.

And in the spirit of thanksgiving and of course black Friday, I wanted to let you know that my book is available for sale at right here. I haven't really talked much about my book here, but if you haven't heard, I wrote a book called Body. Beauty. Boys. The Truth About Girls and How We See Ourselves. So, if you know a young woman--middle school, high school or even college--this would make a great gift. It's designed to help a girl discover how God sees her and how to learn to be content and satisfied with exactly who she is. If you are interested, click the banner below.

Links Mentioned:

  • Melanie's book: Nobody's Cuter Than You
  • Rising Strongby Brene Brown

Survival Kit:

(amazon affiliate links used)

Connect with Melanie: blog // website // twitter // Instagram

Takeaways From Our Conversation:

  • I particularly was @@thankful for her words about handling conflict in friendship@@. As someone who has recently walked through that, I speak to you in such a place of empathy. And I can honestly echo her advice: pray and ask God what to do; ask Him what your role is and what steps of peace you can pursue. You do what you can and then you lay down the reigns of control. I read Rising Strong this year--if you've been listening to the show for awhile then you've heard me talk about it several times--but I can truly say that what I learned in that book really set me up to rise strong from conflict. I highly recommend you reading it.
  • @@Make the effort to cultivate friendships IRL@@. Online friendships can be great, but make sure you have someone that can bring you food if you're sick or can grab your kids from school for you. I know it can be awkward or messy or even scary, but it's worth it. If you don't have that, look outside of your bubble. Join a bible study or book club. You have to work harder but it's worth doing the work. It may require being a little more extroverted than you need to be.
  • Who your child chooses as a friend gives you insight into who they are. It shows you what they value and what they are struggling with. 
  • I loved her advice about how to model to your child what a good friend looks like. "You don't talk bad about each other. Your friends are always kind to you. @@If one makes you feel uncomfortable then that's not a friend@@." You won't always agree or look like you. But they should be kind, loyal, true and you shouldn't worry about where you stand. Give them the best most generous story. That goes a long way. @@Treat each other with kindness no matter what@@.
  • @@Sometimes the way a person treats you says more about their insecurities than anything about you@@.

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation  on Instagram or Twitter or you can send me an email here. 

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

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Podcast, Relationshipssarah bragg