What does it look like to parent a child with a mental illness — and keep your faith intact? Kelly Jackson has lived it. This conversation is for you.

There are moms sitting in church pews right now who are exhausted, confused, and quietly wondering if they're the only ones.

Their child is struggling — with moods, behaviors, diagnoses they didn't see coming — and no one is talking about it.

This episode is for them and for those who know someone who has mental health concerns.

Kelly Jackson is the Executive Director of NAMI Johnson County and a mom who has walked one of the harder roads in parenting: a husband who experienced a suicide attempt, a daughter who began hearing voices at eleven, and the long, winding journey of learning to love her family well in the middle of it all.

She doesn't speak from theory. She speaks from Tuesday mornings and medication trials and moments of grace.

Together, Misty and Kelly talk through

✦ what mental health conditions actually are (and why "one in five" is a number every mom needs to sit with), ✦ how to find the right therapist for your child, ✦ what guilt and grief look like from the inside, and ✦ why Kelly believes the church has more room to grow in this conversation.

Kelly also shares the one daily rhythm that has kept her anchored through all of it — and it's simpler than you might think.

This isn't a heavy, clinical episode.

It's a conversation between two women who love Jesus and love moms, trying to make sure no one has to figure this out alone.

Kelly's honesty will meet you wherever you are — whether you're navigating a fresh diagnosis, wondering if what you're seeing warrants concern, or just trying to understand someone you love.

NOTE: This podcast is for educational and encouragement purposes only and does not constitute professional counseling, therapy, or medical advice. Misty Hughes is an ICF-certified life coach. For mental health support, please consult a licensed professional.

Resources mentioned:

NAMI: https://www.nami.org/

Child Mind Institute Symptom Checker: https://childmind.org/symptomchecker/

MISTY'S RESOURCES: Episode #22: There is Such A Thing As Good Grieving with Laurie Goddu https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/there-is-such-a-thing-as-good-grieving-and-busy-moms-can-do-it/id1738069561?i=1000668456618 Rhythms Of Renewal Guide: A FREE tool to help you Discover God's life-giving rhythms of life. https://mistyhughes.com/resources

Check out Misty's New Website: https://mistyhughes.com/ Join the BECOMING WAITLIST for the next Group Coaching Cohort

One hundred episodes of real conversations for real women — and for this one, I brought someone new into the studio. My husband Craig. The first man to ever sit across from me on Mom~2~Mom Mentoring.

Craig and I are wired completely differently.

👀 I see the world through rose-colored glasses full of sparkle and shine. He sees it through spreadsheets.

📣 I process everything out loud. He goes quiet and sits with it for days.

💃🏻 I live out loud. He surrounds himself with a few close friends and lets the world carry on without him.

And somewhere in the middle of all that difference — we have built something that is genuinely life-giving for both of us. Not because we became the same. But because we kept choosing each other anyway.

In this episode, we get honest about what connection actually is — and what it isn't.

We talk about ➤ core fears, ➤ the cycle that trips most couples up, ➤ what safety has to do with reconnection, ➤ ➤ ➤ and what Craig's spontaneous Neil Diamond reference in the middle of our conversation taught me all over again about why we work.

This isn't a perfect marriage episode. There's no formula here. Just two people, six years in, still

learning — and still choosing.

What you'll take away:

• Why connection is not the same as proximity — and how to feel the difference

• The core fear cycle that trips up most couples (and how to interrupt it)

• What safety has to do with reconnection — and why God is the safest place first

• What it looks like when the dreamer and the realist stop defending their own plots and tend the garden together

LINKS MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE

Notice, Name, Feel, & Free Your Emotions - A FREE RESOURCE

https://mistyhughes.myflodesk.com/feelings

Contact Misty & Craig For Symbis (Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts)

https://mistyhughes.com/inquire

Your calling is supposed to shift. Your purpose never does. Misty shares the testimony that will free the Christian mom striving in the wrong season.

Have you ever felt on fire for God — heart so full it needed somewhere to go — and then had Him redirect that fire somewhere you weren’t expecting? Somewhere smaller, quieter, and far less visible than you had in mind?

In episode 99 of Mom2Mom Mentoring, I get honest about one of the most significant redirects of my life. In the mid-nineties, in the middle of a genuine community revival, I experienced an awakening to the love of God that lit me on fire. I was wired to build, to connect, to pour — and I was ready. But God’s answer to my fire wasn’t a platform. It was a kitchen table and four kids.

What followed was decades of faithfulness in unsexy, unglamorous, often invisible assignments — a homeschool co-op, teenagers at church, a children’s ministry, people always around the table. And when the bottom fell out in 1998, and my marriage ended, I had to find her footing all over again. It was in that broken season that God gave me the longer vision: give it twenty years.

This episode is for the Christian mom who can’t see evidence that her faithfulness is doing anything. The one asking God to show her He’s working — and almost missing the answer because it comes in the form of a little boy quietly singing a worship song while playing with his toy cars on the floor.

In this episode:

• The difference between purpose (your why) and calling (your how) — and why your calling is supposed to keep shifting
• Why staying faithful in a hard, slow season costs something real — and why that’s worth naming
• The exponential math God showed Misty about faithfulness in her own home
• What Isaiah 61:3 says about oaks of righteousness — and why some plantings take decades
• The harvest belongs to God, not to you — and why that is the most freeing truth you’ll ever stand on
• A direct invitation to the BECOMING Cohort for women ready to stop striving and start living from purpose

Key Scripture

• Jeremiah 20:9 — His word like fire shut up in my bones
• Isaiah 55:8–9 — My thoughts are not your thoughts
• Isaiah 61:3 — Oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord
• 1 Corinthians 3:6–7 — I planted, Apollos watered, God made it grow
• Philippians 1:6 — He who began a good work will complete it

Free Resource

Grab the Rhythms of Renewal Mini-Guide — a free workbook walking you through rest, restoration, and relationship, with a Discovery Bible Study through Matthew 11:28–30.

Download free at https://mistyhughes.myflodesk.com/discoverrhythms

Ready for More?

The BECOMING Cohort begins May 5th — a 12-week small-group coaching experience for the Christian mom who is ready to stop striving and start becoming. Only 11 spots. mistyhughes.com/cohort

Don’t Miss Episode 100

Craig Hughes joins Misty for the very first time — and they’re talking about connection. Subscribe now so you don’t miss it.

You feel a stirring you can’t name — and the harder you chase it, the more exhausted you become. Misty Hughes unpacks the difference between purpose and calling, and why you were called before you were busy.

Have you ever been asked what you feel called to — and frozen? Because...you have no idea how to answer that question, and the very question itself feels weighty, and the last thing you need is more weight to carry.

In this episode of Mom2Mom Mentoring, Misty Hughes gets honest about a season when she had four kids, a baby on her hip, and a persistent yearning she couldn’t put language to. She was homeschooling, working, serving — and still felt like the real calling was somewhere out there, just beyond her reach. Like God was holding this carrot in front of me, asking me to chase after something that I was too tired to run after (but was desperate to please God so I kept chasing)

What she discovered changed the way she understood everything — purpose, calling, and what it actually means to be a woman who feels stirred for more.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why purpose-chasing is one of the top drivers of burnout in high-achieving Christian women
• The powerful distinction between purpose (your identity in Christ) and calling (your seasonal assignment)
• What Ephesians 2:10, Jeremiah 29:11, and Jeremiah 1:5 reveal about the works already prepared for you
• Why the mom in the trenches with toddlers is not on the sidelines — and why the woman with a stirring doesn’t need to chase it down
• How to stop striving and start walking with the One who holds your calling

This is episode 98 — just two away from 100. And something is coming for that milestone you won’t want to miss.

Grab the free Rhythms of Renewal Mini-Guide at mistyhughes.com

— which includes a Discovery Bible Study through Matthew 11:28–30 for the tired, searching, capable woman who is ready for a different way of living.

What if the most powerful thing you could do for your child today takes less than five minutes — and it's completely free? In this episode, I sit down with Dana Williams, author and founder of Redeemed Identity Ministries, to talk about praying Scripture over your children: what it is, why affirmations alone aren't enough, and exactly how to start — even on your most exhausted days.

Dana walked through 25 years of a difficult marriage — and in the middle of it, she picked up her sword. She learned to pray the living Word of God, not just over her own life but over her children. And she is going to show you how to do the same.

In this episode:

→ Why Scripture does something in your child that even the most beautiful affirmation cannot

→ The "breacher" illustration that will change how you see yourself as a praying parent

→ A live example of praying Jeremiah 17:7 with your child's name inserted

→ Simple, realistic first steps for busy moms — no spreadsheet required

→ The one thing Dana says to do tonight, even if you only have five minutes

Resources mentioned:

📚 Dana's free book on praying Scripture (email dana@redeemedidentity.com) ·

🎙️ Dana's podcast: Redeemed Identity After Divorce

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ Misty's Free workbook: Rhythms of Renewal: https://mistyhughes.myflodesk.com/discoverrhythms·

Community: Christian Moms in Business and Ministry on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/christianmomsinbusinessandministry

Father's Love Letter: https://www.fathersloveletter.com/

"When you shine, you give others permission to shine too." — Misty Hughes

You become what you behold — so where are your eyes today? This episode is for the mom who is highly capable, deeply called, and quietly exhausted from staring at everything that feels broken, missing, or not yet fixed. If that's you, this conversation was made for you.

I get personal in this one. Like, really personal. I open up about the season I found myself raising four kids — ages two to thirteen — with a vacancy in our home that no amount of striving, surviving, or smiling through could fill.

And what I discovered in that hard, holy season will empower you to think a new way of seeing your problems, something today.

Here's what we dig into 👇

We unpack the Greek word idou — what John the Baptist actually meant when he said "Behold the Lamb of God" — and why it is so much more than a glance.

We sit with the raw, honest prayer of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:12, the prayer of a man who was outnumbered, out-resourced, and completely out of answers.

And we talk about the vacancies — the holes, the hardships, the places where something was supposed to be and simply isn't — and why those exact places might just be God's favorite address. 🙌

This isn't a name-it-and-claim-it pep talk. This is real. This is hope with roots.

Your ONE THING is waiting for you at the end — and beloved, it's a good one.

✨ Come celebrate with us! Episode 96 means we are FOUR away from 100 and April is a party around here.

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS MONTH...

🎂 It's my birthday month — send me a high five on Instagram!

https://www.instagram.com/the_mistyhughes

📖 Join the community: Facebook Group — Christian Moms in Business and Ministry

https://www.facebook.com/groups/christianmomsinbusinessandministry

🔥 Learn more about the BECOMING Cohort — 12 weeks, 11 women, your God-given identity

https://mistyhughes.myflodesk.com/becomingwl

📺 Free Facebook Live: Rest Is Not a Reward — details in the Facebook Group

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BAWBTMKSK/

When you shine, you give others permission to shine too. ✨

What do goats have to do with raising great kids? More than you think. 🐐 This episode started as a conversation about mentoring and ended up as one of the most unexpected, Spirit-breathed teachings I have ever sat inside — straight from the Song of Solomon, through Luke 9:48, and into your living room.

If you have ever felt like the most difficult person in your life — your child, your student, the woman you mentor, maybe even yourself — is just too much, too stubborn, too far gone: this is for you.

In today's episode, I invite you to sit with me in the Word. Here is some of what we unpack together in this episode:

🌿 Song of Solomon 1:8 — why the Shepherd told the searching woman to tend her young goats (and what that has to do with finding God in the middle of a season you didn't choose)

📖 Luke 9:48 and the Greek word MIKROTEROS — three layers of meaning inside the word 'least' that will completely change how you see the people in your care

🐐 Why your most stubborn, most chaotic, most headbutting goat is not a problem to manage — they are a calling to honor

🔥 The shift from chaotic goat to the GOAT — greatest of all time — and the one thing that makes the difference

🤍 A word about the season you are in right now, from a woman who has lived in 30 countries and is currently in the hardest season of her life — and is still standing

I also sit with the brilliant Dr. Charity Campbell-Kapella — global leadership expert, founder of International Mamas and Mentors, and mama to a very spirited two-year-old she lovingly calls her own personal goat 😂 — whose words throughout this episode will make you laugh, catch your breath, and finally exhale.

This is Part 2 of 2. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, go back — it is the foundation. But if you came back because of the goat teaser at the end of last week's episode? I am so glad you're here. You are not going to be disappointed. 🙌

🎁 FREE RESOURCE: The Rhythms of Renewal Mini-Guide — a free, prayerful workbook to help you trade survival mode for Spirit-led living. https://lead-her-ministries.myflodesk.com/renewalminiguide

💬 COMMUNITY: Join Christian Moms in Business and Ministry on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/christianmomsinbusinessandministry

🔗 BECOMING COHORT: Ready to stop living from your to-do list? Waitlist open. mom2mommentoring.com/rhythm

Have you ever felt completely called and completely stuck at the exact same time? 🙋‍♀️ This episode is for every mom who knows God put something in her — and wonders if that something still has a future.

Meet Dr. Charity Campbell-Kapella — global leadership expert, doctorate in management, founder of International Mamas and Mentors, and a woman who has led leaders in over 30 countries. She was living her dream. Then at 37, everything changed. And what happened next is not a story about putting your calling on hold. It’s a story about discovering that your calling and your chaos were never actually in conflict.

Dr. Charity was a solo female traveler, university professor in China, and cultural intelligence consultant across U.S. embassies in Vietnam, Iraq, and beyond — leading leaders in 30+ countries. Then at 37 she got married, got pregnant, moved countries, and found herself raising her son alone while her husband waited overseas for a visa she couldn’t control. 🌍

She didn’t give up her calling. She gave in to the season. And God met her there.

What You’ll Discover in This Episode

✨ What it actually feels like to surrender a season you didn’t choose — and why that surrender is not defeat

🌱 Why “giving in” is not the same as giving up — and why that distinction will set you free

👶 What it looks like to raise a global leader from your living room

🌍 How to parent with purpose when your family is scattered across time zones

💪 Releasing shame around not having it all together — physically, emotionally, spiritually — and receiving God’s grace for the one thing that actually needs it most right now

📖 Isaiah 8:18 — the verse that will change how you see every child God has placed in your care

🤍 The difference between passing the test on paper and actually being at peace in your season

About Dr. Charity

Dr. Charity Campbell-Kapella holds a doctorate in management, has worked with U.S. embassies across China, Vietnam, and Iraq, and is one of the sharpest cultural intelligence experts working today. She’s a wife to a man from Zambia whom she met in China 🌏, a mama raising a rising global leader, founder of International Mamas and Mentors Virtual Community, and now runs an AI integration and automation agency. She is brilliant, honest, and she will make you laugh, cry, and immediately text your best friend.

Don’t Miss Part 2

Stay until the very end — because what Dr. Charity said next about goats? You are not ready. 🐐 Part 2 drops Thursday, March 26th. Subscribe now so you don’t miss it.

Links & Resources

🎁 FREE RESOURCE: Download the Rhythms of Renewal Mini-Guide — because your weariness might actually be an invitation from your Creator to discover a different rhythm of life. http://mom2mommentoring.com/rhythm

💬 JOIN THE COMMUNITY: Our Facebook Group — Christian Moms in Business and Ministry. Link in show notes. https://www.facebook.com/groups/christianmomsinbusinessandministry

📩 REACH DR. CHARITY: info@mamasandmentors.com — Tell her Misty sent you.

🔗 THE BECOMING COHORT: Ready to stop living from your to-do list? 12 weeks. Your God-given identity. Your best season yet. mom2mommentoring.com/rhythm