Becky Johnson - Nourished: A Search for Health, Happiness, and a Full Nights Sleep

Becky and Rachel invite us to their table and dish up much-needed encouragement to deeply nourish our body, mind, soul, and spirit so we have more to offer our loved ones and the others God brings into our lives; while at the same time, experiencing real peace and tranquility in our own spirits. I, for one, embrace their challenge. I encourage you to do the same.

Rozanne Frazee, pastors wife and co-author of Real Simplicity

If dealing with lifes stressors is a goal, this book offers real help. In all my years, Ive never seen anyone who weaves expert storytelling, humor, vulnerability, and real help together in such a compelling way. Rachel and Becky will leave you laughing, identifying, and implementing similar strategies for tackling the stressors in your life.

Lucille Zimmerman, licensed professional counselor, author of Renewed: Finding Your Inner Happy in an Overwhelmed World

This is a most enjoyable and practical book on how to find replenishment in the midst of a busy life. Becky and Rachel have a wonderfully healthy perspective on life. They are totally authentic; readers will be filled with great ideas and hope and have a smile on their face.

Jim Burns, PhD., President, HomeWord, author of Getting Ready for Marriage and Confident Parenting

One of the most humorous and talented writers I know, Becky Johnson has written a must-read for women. Co-authored with Rachel Randolph, their new book Nourished: A Search for Health, Happiness, and a Full Nights Sleep inspires readers to not only nourish themselves, but also their children and marriages in creative, life-giving ways.

Cheri Fuller, author of What a Girl Needs from Her Mom and What a Son Needs from His Mom

Forget TedTalks and Oprah, the secrets to your best life lie within the pages of Nourished.

Rachel St. John-Gilbert, author of The Well-Lived Laugh (Designing a Life That Keeps You Smiling)

Like flashing red warning signals, everything about the last three years of my life screams, Abandon ship! This mamas going under! Whether the culprit is the chronic health crises, the special-needs children, or my terrific knack for overscheduling, it doesnt really matter. Any one could take a girl under. It is here, into the chaotic space of real life, that the soothing voices of Becky and Rachel speak with wisdom, wit, and the warmth of a truly empathic friend. If youre exhausted and overwhelmed, youve just found a lifeline.

Michele Cushatt, author of Undone: A Story of Making Peace with an Unexpected Life and emcee for Women of Faith

Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph have done it again! With refreshing honesty, roll-on-the-floor humor, and proven strategies, they have written a book that will entertain you while simultaneously giving you a blueprint for living a more healthy, vibrant, and meaningful life. As co-authors, this mom-daughter duo rocks!

Carol Kent, speaker and author, Unquenchable: Grow a Wildfire Faith that Will Endure Anything

Also by Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph

We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook

A Mom and Daughter Dish
about the Food That Delights Them
and the Love That Binds Them

ZONDERVAN

Nourished

Copyright 2014 by Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph

ePub Edition January 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-33104-9

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johnson, Becky Freeman, 1959

Nourished : a search for health, happiness, and a full nights sleep / Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-310-33101-8 (softcover)

1. Christian women--Religious life. 2. Well-being--Religious aspects--Christianity. 3. Randolph, Rachel, 1983- I. Title.

BV4527.J6335 2015

248.843--dc23

2014026270

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with the literary agency of WordServe Literary Group, Ltd., Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80130 (www.wordserveliterary.com).

Cover design: Connie Gabbert

Cover and interior photography: Maglara / Shutterstock

Interior design: Beth Shagene

First Printing November 2014

To Ruthie
Beloved Mother and Granny

Whose life has been a blessed
and nourishing role model for all

Contents

Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort.
Deborah Day

One thing we, as mom and daughter, have learned the hard way: women cannot afford to put off self-care until life eases up, the toddlers are in school, the kids leave for college, or were through with the crisis at hand. It was precisely in the moments of complete overwhelm that we realized if we did not start practicing nourishing routines, we would sink. And if Mama starts going down, the whole family ship goes on tilt with her. Whether you are twenty or fifty, burning the career candle at both ends, or cleaning up baby messes at both ends, its vital to know how to put emotional oxygen over your own mouth regularly, before some ER nurse does it for you, literally (though weve both been exhausted enough for a little nap on a hospital gurney to sound rather lovely).

The tone we want to set in this book is not one of a therapist, life coach, personal trainer, or self-help guru though weve collectively watched enough talk shows, done enough lay counseling and mentoring, and led enough food discussions and exercise classes to push a few motivational buttons when needed. Plus weve long been practicing our own form of kitchen-table therapy, without a license, on our family and friends until they either start to feel better or get tired of humoring us.

Mostly, we are empathic friends in the process of learning to better nourish our own lives and hope you can profit from reading about our journeys. Or at least be entertained by them. We will share not only our successes but our failures, because as women who love to laugh, we find it is usually the miserable flops that make the most hilarious stories. In addition, failures have a way of teaching their own searing brand of lessons we never forget.

In her book When the Heart Waits, Sue Monk Kidd wrote, Crisis is an invitation to cross a threshold. Whether your crisis is a true-life drama, an existential crisis where you are searching for more joy and meaning, or a mini-crisis, like a bad day where you just need us to say, Take a guilt-free nap! or Put your feet up and enjoy a latte! we invite you to join us in crossing new thresholds to more nourishing ways of living, moving, and being.