Grounded Growth

Nicole Ghirardi & Stephanie Petry

Hosted by Nicole Ghirardi and Stephanie Petry, Grounded Growth is a faith-inspired personal growth podcast for women who want a calmer, more intentional life without hustle, burnout, or overwhelm. This podcast is designed for busy women navigating full schedules, multiple roles, and constant demands who are craving balance, clarity, and peace rooted in faith. Through real conversations and gentle, faith-centered encouragement, Grounded Growth helps you slow down and build simple, sustainable routines that support your mind, body, and spirit. Each episode offers practical tools for intentional planning and weekly resets, encouragement for spiritual growth without pressure or perfection, and honest conversations about overwhelm, boundaries, and real-life seasons. You’ll learn how to create daily and weekly rhythms, faith-based routines, and grounded systems that help you feel steady, focused, and aligned. Grounded Growth is your weekly pause. A space to reset, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters so you can build a life that feels meaningful, balanced, and aligned with your values. Subscribe to Grounded Growth for weekly episodes on intentional living, faith-based personal development, calm productivity, and spiritual growth that feels gentle, grounded, and sustainable. Follow along and stay connected Website https://www.groundedgrowth.org Instagram https://www.instagram.com/groundedgrowthmo/ Facebook Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/groundedgrowthcommunity YouTube @groundedgrowthmo Stay grounded and keep growing.

  1. 6d ago

    Praying for Your Children

    Praying for our kids is not about finding perfect words or guaranteeing an outcome. It is about depending on God and trusting His character. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie continue Motherhood Rooted in Grace with a conversation about what it really means to pray for the children we love. God’s Word shapes what we pray for our kids, moving our prayers beyond today’s circumstances and toward their hearts and their walk with Him. Teaching our children to pray is a chance to model a relationship with God, not just hand them a routine. In This Episode Why prayer is an act of dependence, not a parenting strategyWhy praying for our kids consistently is so hard to keep upWhat it looks like when prayer quietly becomes an afterthoughtWhat the Lord’s Prayer teaches us about praying for our children, phrase by phraseFour practical ways to grow this habit in everyday lifeWhat It Means to Pray for Your Children Prayer begins with remembering whose our children are. They are God’s before they are ours. We teach, guide, correct, and love them, but we cannot regenerate their hearts or control their choices. Prayer is one way we acknowledge we are not their savior, and we bring them to the One who is. Scripture also shapes our hopes for them, moving our prayers beyond safety and good grades toward wisdom, holiness, and knowing Christ. Why It Is So Hard to Pray Consistently Prayer feels invisible, so it quietly slides to the bottom of the list. Nothing falls apart today if we miss it, and our default when worried is usually to do something or worry harder, not stop and pray. We do not always see immediate answers, so it can feel like talking into the air. The hard truth is that prayer is the most powerful thing we can do for our kids, even though it is the thing we treat as optional. What It Looks Like When Prayer Becomes an Afterthought We can confuse thinking about our children with actually bringing them before the Lord, praying about circumstances instead of character, or treating prayer like a spiritual emergency button we only reach for in a crisis. We can also miss the privilege of praying with our children out loud, where they hear us depend on God instead of only hearing that we are praying for them. Faith Layer “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matthew 6:9-13 The Lord’s Prayer keeps our prayers from becoming only a list of things we want God to fix. It begins with who God is, surrenders our expectations to His will, brings Him our everyday needs, asks for repentant hearts, and asks Him to guard and strengthen our children. Resources Mentioned A Praying Life, Paul E. MillerThe One Year Praying Through the Bible for Your Kids, Nancy GuthrieSpiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald WhitneyFinal Encouragement Praying for your children is not a small or last resort thing. It is the most powerful and loving work you will do for them. Pick one anchor this week, one moment in your normal day, and start praying for your kids there. Small and consistent beats big and rare. Next time: Family Worship Time. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org - Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

  2. Oct 29

    Letting Go of Our Children and Trusting God With Them

    Our children are gifts entrusted to us, not people we are ultimately responsible to control. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie continue Motherhood Rooted in Grace with a conversation about letting go and trusting God with the kids we love most. God chose us to be our children’s parents, and He equips us for the calling He has given us. We do not have to measure up to someone else’s parenting, because God intentionally placed our children in our care. Our job is not to guarantee outcomes. Our job is to be faithful. In This Episode Why trusting God with our kids is different from stepping away from themWhy letting go feels so hard when we love our children this muchWhat it looks like when we try to control instead of trustWhat Jesus shows us about training, not instant results, in Hebrews 12:11Four practical ways to release our children to God in everyday lifeWhat It Means to Trust God With Them Trusting God with our children begins with remembering whose they are. They are God’s before they are ours. We have been given the responsibility and privilege of raising them, but we are not their Savior, and we are not sovereign over their lives. God chose us to be our children’s parents, so we do not have to become some imaginary perfect mom to be the right mom for our kids. Letting go is not stepping away from our responsibility. It is releasing the responsibility that was never ours to carry. Why Letting Go Is So Hard We love our kids with an intensity that makes us want to protect them from everything, and control feels like the way to do that. Deep down, a lot of us believe it all depends on us, that if we stay vigilant enough we can keep them safe. Control masquerades as love. Gripping tighter feels responsible, when really it is fear dressed up as diligence. We think of Abraham, asked to lay his own son on the altar and trust God with the one thing he loved most. They were never really ours to control in the first place. They are God’s, on loan to us. What It Looks Like When We Try to Control Instead Sometimes control looks like being convinced our way is the best way, judging other families for choosing differently. It can also look like worry that never switches off, hovering to fix and prevent instead of letting our kids struggle and grow, or praying about something and immediately picking it right back up. What steadies us is remembering that God loves our kids even more than we do, and He is with them in every place we cannot be. Faith Layer “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 Training happens over time, not all at once. Our job is not to manufacture immediate righteousness in our children. It is to faithfully train them, trusting that God is working through the process, and that He is often shaping us as parents in the very same moments. Resources Mentioned Grace Based Parenting by Tim KimmelFinal Encouragement Letting go is not giving up. It is handing our kids to the God who loves them even more than we do. Pick one fear you have been gripping this week and release it to God on purpose, then do it again tomorrow when it creeps back. Next time, we continue Motherhood Rooted in Grace with Praying for Your Children. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org - Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

  3. Oct 22

    When You Feel Like You're Failing as a Mother

    Feeling like we are failing is not the same as actually failing. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie continue Motherhood Rooted in Grace with an honest look at why so many moms carry that feeling, and what Scripture says about it. Three enemies work to convince us we are disqualified. The world measures us by its standards, the flesh pulls us toward self-glory, and the enemy reminds us of past sins to paralyze our faith. But in Christ we are already declared righteous, even while still being sanctified, and that struggle is evidence of a battle, not evidence that we do not belong to Him. In This Episode Why our identity is not the same as our role as a momWhy the standard we measure ourselves against is impossibleWhat it looks like when we believe we are failingWhat Jesus shows us in Psalm 73:25-26 and Luke 10Four ways to measure faithfulness instead of perfectionWhat It Means to Be Enough as a Mom Motherhood is an important calling, but it is not our ultimate identity. Elizabeth Elliot said being a Christian makes us a different kind of woman, so before we ask what kind of mom we are, we remember what kind of woman we are in Christ. We live in the tension of already and not yet. We have already been declared righteous because of Christ, but we have not yet been made completely righteous in practice. So the fact that we see our failures and feel uncomfortable with them does not mean we are failing. It can be evidence the Spirit is at work in us. Why We Feel Like We're Failing The standard we measure against is impossible, and there is no finish line in motherhood. We compare constantly, and social media shows us everyone's best moments held up against our hardest ones. Faith Chang names this in Peace Over Perfection as the perfectionist's ache, believing in grace with our heads while still feeling like we never measure up. We think of Moses at the burning bush asking, who am I. Feeling unqualified is not new, and it is not proof that we actually are. What It Looks Like When We Believe That Lie The world tells us to conform to its mold. The flesh turns our attention toward self-glory, measuring our motherhood by our children's behavior or the praise we receive. The enemy wants to paralyze us with past failures, but our failures are never greater than Christ's grace. Believing the lie can look like isolating, snapping and spiraling, overcompensating, or speaking to ourselves in a way we would never let anyone speak to our own children. Faith Layer "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26 This does not pretend our flesh and hearts will not fail. They will. The answer is not convincing ourselves we are limitless, it is recognizing that God is limitless, and we depend on Him. Like Mary in Luke 10, we come to Jesus not because we have enough to offer, but because He has everything we need. Resources Mentioned Peace Over Perfection, Faith ChangBecoming MomStrong, Heidi St. John"My Portion," Shane and ShaneFinal Encouragement Feeling like you are failing is not the same as failing. Your worth was settled by Jesus, and no hard day can undo it. Pick one lie you have been believing and hand it to God on purpose. Next time, we continue Motherhood Rooted in Grace with Letting Go and Trusting God With Them. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org - Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

  4. Oct 19

    Raising Kids Who Know God

    Our children need more than information about God, they need to know Him. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie continue Motherhood Rooted in Grace with a conversation about raising kids who know God, not just know about Him. We cannot manufacture saving faith in our children. Salvation is the sovereign work of God, and our responsibility is faithful teaching, modeling, discipline, prayer, and discipleship, not controlling the outcome. In This Episode Why knowing God is relational, not merely informationalWhy passing on our faith is so hard when the culture shouts the oppositeWhat it looks like when we try to raise faithful kids on our own strengthWhat Jesus shows us about children and faith in Mark 10:13-16Six ways to layer faith into ordinary, everyday momentsWhat It Means to Raise Kids Who Know God I can teach my children Bible stories and verses, but ultimately I want them to know the God those things point to. My children are not projects I can successfully complete with the right formula. Shepherding a Child's Heart says the goal is not simply to modify behavior but to help our children understand that life is found in knowing and serving the true and living God. A child can obey out of fear or a desire to look good, and none of that necessarily means their heart has been transformed. Grace based parenting asks us to entrust our children to Christ, not try to control them into Christianity. Why Passing On Our Faith Is So Hard We cannot actually manufacture faith in our kids. The culture is loud and relentless, and it can feel like we are whispering truth while the world shouts the opposite. James K.A. Smith writes in You Are What You Love that we are formed less by what we are told and more by our habits and daily rhythms, so faith is caught in a thousand ordinary moments. We think of the father in Mark 9 who brought his struggling son to Jesus and said, I believe, help my unbelief. We do not have perfect faith to hand our kids, but we can keep bringing them, wavering hearts and all, to Him. What It Looks Like When We Try to Do It on Our Own One danger is turning parenting into behavior modification, managing behavior rather than shepherding the heart. High control or image control parenting can reveal something about our own hearts, correcting a child because their behavior is inconvenient rather than out of love. Discipline shifts from how dare you disobey me to let me help you understand your heart and where you can run for forgiveness. Faith Layer "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God." Mark 10:14 Jesus does not tell us to manufacture our children's faith, He just says bring them to Him. Salvation is not dependent on our performance. We can teach, pray, and model, but only God regenerates a heart, so we do not have to parent out of panic. Resources Mentioned Shepherding a Child's Heart, Tedd TrippYou Are What You Love, James K.A. SmithBecoming MomStrong, Heidi St. JohnWise Words for Moms, Ginger HubbardFinal Encouragement You do not have to be a perfect Christian to raise kids who love Jesus. Just keep pointing them to Him. Pick one small faith rhythm this week, a prayer at bedtime or a verse at breakfast, and start there. Next time in Motherhood Rooted in Grace: When You Feel Like You're Failing. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org - Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

  5. Oct 8

    Mothering from Rest, Not Guilt

    Motherhood is a role God has given us, not the identity He has given us. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie begin a brand new series, Motherhood Rooted in Grace, starting with a conversation about mothering from rest instead of guilt. Mom guilt convinces us that if we are not doing more, we are failing. But grace changes the goal. God never asked us to be perfect mothers. He asked us to faithfully steward what He has entrusted to us, and to trust Him with the rest. In This Episode Why rest is not the absence of responsibility, but the presence of trustWhy mom guilt feels impossible to satisfy, and where that ache comes fromWhat it looks like when guilt, not grace, is running the show at homeWhat Jesus shows us about rest in Matthew 11:28-30Six practical ways to grow from rest instead of guilt in everyday motherhoodWhat Mothering From Rest Actually Means Rest is not the absence of responsibility, it is the presence of trust. We can have a full calendar and still have a heart resting in God. Motherhood is a role, not our identity or our soul's ultimate purpose. When it becomes our ultimate purpose, we can begin to idolize the very role God gave us. Gospel Mom reminds us that motherhood happens east of Eden. There will be hardship and things we cannot fix, and grace meets us right there. Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is hold something loosely and say, Lord, I trust You with this outcome. Why It Is So Hard to Let Go of the Guilt Mom guilt is hard to shake because the standard is impossible. No matter how much we pour out, it never feels like enough. We compare ourselves to other moms, and social media hands us everyone's highlight reel while we live our own behind the scenes. Faith Chang calls this the perfectionist's ache in Peace Over Perfection, believing in grace with our heads while still feeling like we are never quite enough. We think of Martha in Luke 10, so busy she missed Jesus sitting right there, while Mary simply sat at His feet. What It Looks Like When Guilt Runs the Show Guilt can become a subtle form of self reliance, compensating for every mistake by working harder instead of trusting God's grace. Conviction says, that response was not loving, come to Me, repent, and grow. Condemnation says, you will never get this right. Left unchecked, guilt can look like saying yes to everything, being present in body but not in mind, or snapping and piling on more guilt for snapping. Faith Layer "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 Jesus does not say come to Me once you have gotten your life together. He says come when you are weary and carrying a burden. Rest begins with coming to Him, not with finally getting everything under control. Jesus never asked us to become our children's savior. There is already a Savior, and we are not Him. Resources Mentioned Gospel Mom by the Risen Motherhood teamPeace Over Perfection by Faith ChangBecoming MomStrong by Heidi St. John100 Days of Less Hustle, More Jesus by Shanna NoelFinal Encouragement God is not asking you to be a perfect mom. He is inviting you to be a rested one who leans on Him. Pick one guilt you have been carrying and hand it to God on purpose. Next time, we continue Motherhood Rooted in Grace with Raising Kids Who Know God. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org - Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

  6. Oct 1

    Walking in Trust

    Trust begins with recognizing that God is God, and we are not. We can make plans, seek wisdom, and steward what He has given us, but we are not the author of our story or the controller of its outcome. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie introduce our new Walking in Trust ROOTS Morning Journal and unpack the three-part rhythm behind it, surrender, guidance, and peace. Walking in trust is not a one-time decision. It is a daily practice of releasing control and resting in God’s presence while we wait to see what comes next. In This Episode Why surrender is not giving up, but releasing our demand to control the outcomeHow to seek God’s guidance for the next step without needing the whole mapWhy biblical peace is rooted in God’s presence, not peaceful circumstancesBreaking down Proverbs 3:5-6, verse by verse, as the building block for trustThe daily ROOTS rhythm behind our new Walking in Trust journal What Walking in Trust Actually Means Surrender is not passivity. It is loosening our grip on the outcome while remaining obedient in the present. We can steward what God has given us without trying to be sovereign over it. Guidance comes after surrender, because we cannot genuinely ask God to lead while still demanding control over where He takes us. Sometimes He gives us enough light for today because He wants us depending on Him, not on the plan. And peace is not the absence of unsettled circumstances. It is rooted in the presence and character of God, who meets us again and again, not just once. Why It Is So Hard We want the entire plan and an explanation of how every part fits together, not just the next step. Fear can sound like wisdom, and impatience can create false urgency, so it takes discernment to tell our feelings apart from God’s actual direction. Ruth Chou Simons writes in Now and Not Yet that faithfulness to God sometimes puts us on a course where circumstances get worse before they get better. That is where knowing His character, not our comfort, becomes essential. Faith Layer “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 This is the verse our new journal is built around. Trust begins with the object of our trust, the Lord, not our own preparation or understanding. It is wholehearted, covering every dream, fear, and unknown, not just the parts we don’t mind releasing. And it promises not an easy path, but a directed one. The straight path may still include waiting, detours, and opportunities we never imagined. Resources Mentioned Now and Not Yet by Ruth Chou SimonsWalking in Trust ROOTS Morning Journal. groundedgrowth.org/store Final Encouragement You do not have to solve everything today. Begin with one honest prayer, one surrendered decision, and one faithful step. You may not know what comes next, but you can trust the One who does. Next time, we’re beginning a brand new series, Motherhood Rooted in Grace. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org - Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

  7. Sep 24

    Self-Control When You Want to Give In

    Self-control is not about gripping our lives tighter. It is about handing the controls to the One who is actually in charge. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie close out our Fruit That Lasts series with self-control, the fruit that shows up the moment we want to give in. Self-control is not a personality trait we achieve through willpower. It is a fruit of the Spirit, grown as we surrender to God's authority instead of gripping our own. In This Episode Why true freedom comes from knowing God is the Author, not usWhy willpower always eventually runs out, and what actually sustains changeHow giving in rarely looks dramatic, and shows up in the ordinary yeses we regretWhat Jesus in Gethsemane and David sparing Saul teach us about surrendered strengthSimple, everyday practices for choosing obedience when your feelings pull elsewhere What Self-Control Actually Means Self-control is choosing obedience when our feelings pull us somewhere else. It does not mean controlling everything around us. We can control how we respond, but not another person's response or tomorrow's outcome. Second Peter 1 describes self-control as part of a growing life of faith, not an isolated discipline. J.I. Packer reminds us that knowing whose we are changes how we approach ambition, productivity, and failure. True freedom is found under our Father's loving authority, not in authoring our own story. Why It Is So Hard We live in a world built for instant gratification, where almost everything we want is one tap away. Willpower runs out, and a lot of giving in is really just soothing a feeling we do not want to sit with. We think of Esau, who traded his entire birthright for a single bowl of stew. Proverbs 25:28 says a person without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. That is exactly how it feels, one small yes at a time, until there is no fence left. Faith Layer "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." Luke 22:42 Jesus shows us that self-control begins with surrender. In Gethsemane, He knew what was coming, yet He prayed not my will but Yours. That is not weakness. It is the ultimate picture of strength submitted to the Father. Sometimes the most self-controlled thing we can do is open our hands and say, God, I do not understand this, but I trust You. Resources Mentioned Living Well, Spending Less by Ruth SoukupKnowing God by J.I. PackerROOTS Morning Journals. groundedgrowth.org/store Final Encouragement Self-control is not gritting your teeth and trying harder. It is a fruit of the Spirit, and if you belong to Jesus, the power to grow it already lives in you. Think of David, who had every chance to strike down Saul in that cave and chose restraint instead. So on the days you give in, do not quit. Bring your desires back under the care of Jesus and take the next faithful step. That's a wrap on our Fruit That Lasts series. Next time, we're beginning a brand new series, Motherhood Rooted in Grace. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org · Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

  8. Sep 17

    Gentleness in a Harsh World

    Gentleness sounds beautiful until someone pushes our buttons. It is easy to be gentle when we're rested and getting our way. The real test comes when we're frustrated, misunderstood, or under pressure. In this episode, Nicole and Stephanie continue our Fruit That Lasts series with gentleness, the fruit that gets tested the moment life stops going our way. Gentleness is strength under control, not weakness or passivity, and Jesus was both truthful and tender. In This Episode Why gentleness is strength surrendered to God, not a naturally calm personalityHow hurry becomes the quiet enemy of a gentle spiritThe subtle ways gentleness slips out, as a tone, a sigh, or a clipped answer we regretWhat Jesus shows us through the prodigal son's father and His gentle correction of MarthaSimple, everyday practices for staying soft when the pressure is real What Gentleness in a Harsh World Actually Means Gentleness is not weakness. It is strength surrendered to God. We hear the word gentle and picture someone who never speaks up or lets people walk all over them, but Jesus was incredibly gentle and incredibly strong. James 3:17 says wisdom from above is peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits. Gentleness takes care with people because people matter to God, and it makes room for vulnerability, so the people we love know honesty won't cost them our love. Why It Is So Hard Gentleness is hard because we live in a harsh, loud world, and the quickest, most cutting response is usually the one that gets rewarded. Gentleness takes margin, and most of us are running on empty. Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life, and when we are hurried, we are harsh. We are also afraid that if we soften, we will get walked on, so we armor up instead. Our sharpest tone often comes out with the people we love most. Faith Layer "Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15 Jesus shows us that gentleness and truth belong together. He never watered down truth to make people comfortable, but He also never used truth as a weapon. Think of the prodigal son's father, who does not wait on the porch with a lecture. He runs toward his broken child. That is the posture God invites us into, making repentance feel like a doorway back to grace. Resources Mentioned The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark ComerGrace-Based Parenting by Tim KimmelROOTS Morning Journals. groundedgrowth.org/store Final Encouragement Gentleness is strength surrendered to God. It is not a weakness, and it is not just having a naturally calm personality. It is fruit that Jesus grows in you as you stay close to Him. Jesus said of Himself, "I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29). The One with every right to be harsh with us is the gentlest person we will ever meet. Next week we are continuing the series with Self-Control When You Want to Give In. Stay grounded and keep growing. www.groundedgrowth.org · Instagram: @GroundedGrowthMO

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Hosted by Nicole Ghirardi and Stephanie Petry, Grounded Growth is a faith-inspired personal growth podcast for women who want a calmer, more intentional life without hustle, burnout, or overwhelm. This podcast is designed for busy women navigating full schedules, multiple roles, and constant demands who are craving balance, clarity, and peace rooted in faith. Through real conversations and gentle, faith-centered encouragement, Grounded Growth helps you slow down and build simple, sustainable routines that support your mind, body, and spirit. Each episode offers practical tools for intentional planning and weekly resets, encouragement for spiritual growth without pressure or perfection, and honest conversations about overwhelm, boundaries, and real-life seasons. You’ll learn how to create daily and weekly rhythms, faith-based routines, and grounded systems that help you feel steady, focused, and aligned. Grounded Growth is your weekly pause. A space to reset, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters so you can build a life that feels meaningful, balanced, and aligned with your values. Subscribe to Grounded Growth for weekly episodes on intentional living, faith-based personal development, calm productivity, and spiritual growth that feels gentle, grounded, and sustainable. Follow along and stay connected Website https://www.groundedgrowth.org Instagram https://www.instagram.com/groundedgrowthmo/ Facebook Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/groundedgrowthcommunity YouTube @groundedgrowthmo Stay grounded and keep growing.