Girlfriends, episode number 284. Saints Around the World with Meg Hunter Kilmer.

Hello and welcome to Girlfriends. I'm Danielle Bean. I'm a wife and a mom and I'm on a mission to

help you know your worth as a woman so you can find peace, balance, and joy in family living.

This week we are talking to children's book author Meg Hunter Kilmer. You're going to really get a lot out of this conversation.

Can't wait to share it with you. Let's go.

Hey, girlfriend. How are you? Glad you're able to join me here again this week on the Girlfriend's Podcast.

I always pray for the people who listen to the Girlfriend's Podcast, and I pray before starting

recording each podcast. So, congratulations. You have been prayed for. But truly, I'm just glad

that you're here. Thanks for showing up.

Thank you for giving the Girlfriend's podcast a try. If you are a first time listener, I'm thrilled

that you're joining us and want to give you a special welcome. Okay, so this week, I have Meg on,

but first, I want to acknowledge the season that we're in because we're in that kind of beginning,

you know, back to school season. And this is something that I've referred to in the past and

shared on social media about. I call it the goodbye season. So around the time when I started

having big kids going away to college and that sort of thing, I came to kind of dread this time

of year, like mid to late August. It was really hard for me because it was a lot of letting go, a lot of goodbyes. And you know what? This year's no different. It's a time of transition. It's a time of change. It can be really challenging. If you're experiencing that for the first time in your home, perhaps you have a child who's done with high school and moving on to a job or going away to college for the first time. This can be difficult. I want to encourage you to give yourself grace

during this time period. Also, if you just have little kids and you're starting the back-to-school

routine and that's challenging, give yourself grace. This is a time of transition and it can be

challenging for many of us. Here in our house. Both my daughter Gabby and my son

Stephen are going to begin their first year of college down in Florida at Ave Maria University.

We're thrilled for them to have that opportunity, but it's going to feel a little bit weird around

here. It's going to be just me and Dan and our two youngest, a freshman and a sophomore in high

...