We say we want peace. We pray for it. We look for it. We try to build lives that might finally give it to us.

But if we're honest, many of us don't actually feel peaceful. Our minds race with thoughts we can't seem to quiet.

Our bodies carry more tension than we know what to do with. Our homes and relationships hold stress,

conflict, and questions we wish we could resolve. And underneath it all sits a deeper fear

that maybe peace is something other people get to have, but not us. This season on the Just

Connolly podcast, we are in Shalom Season.

We're asking honest questions about what it means to live with that kind of peace.

We'll explore peace in our minds, in our bodies, in our homes, in our marriages,

and even in the complicated spaces of motherhood and community.

I'm so glad you're here. This is Shalom season. Let's go.

Hello, friends. It is Shalom season. And today on the podcast, I have one of the dearest people

to me in my whole world, my sister, Katie Walters, and we are talking about Shalom in your marriage. So we're talking about

how to have peace on the easiest days. And we're talking about how to have peace on the hardest

days of marriage. We're talking about what it looks like to grab hold of biblical peace in the

midst of chaos and brokenness, which is honestly what marriage is sometimes. If you're not married, I think you'll still be encouraged by this episode and it might give you some hope and some encouragement. Either way, I'm so glad you're here. Let's go. Katie Walters, welcome back to the podcast. Thank you, Jess Connolly. I'm so glad to be here. I don't feel like we say each other's last names. Never. That's why I did it. Okay, listen, I'd inside our info. We were just talking to mom. I just recorded Mom's episode. And we were talking about the fact that, you know, she's about to become a great grandmother. I do need like an honorable mention for like, I can't believe you're about to become a grandmother. Really? Does it mess with you at all? Like a little. Really? But I will say like, now that you're a grandmother, I'm like, I'm ready. You're feeling like, oh, it's time. I'm ready to be a grandmother. Yeah. Yeah. It's so interesting. I mean, I'm not to my children to like watch it you know what I? Like hold. Yeah. I was thinking about that the other day with mom. I was like, gosh, I feel like people don't check in on her as much as me of like, you're a great grandmother sooner than maybe you thought you would be. Yeah. Because I feel like for people, it's so odd that I'm a grandmother that they feel more shocked by it than I do. You are such a hot grandma. Oh my gosh. You're so sweet. You're so funny. Yeah. I don't know why it does not feel any kind of way. You know what it feels like today? I had a meeting with Abigail before I came here and I'm so obsessed with her.

I'm so obsessed with seeing her pregnant. I know. And I'm literally holding back so much because Abigail is Katie's daughter who's about her daughter. She's my daughter. Yeah. And she does not like attention. Yeah. So she doesn't want people touching her belly, talking about her belly, talking about her body. It's really hard for me. So gracious about it, you know.

But today, you know, when I see her, I'm just obsessed. And I'm really holding back every time. Like, I'm giving her my two when really like at 100. Sure. And so today I was like, I just don't know that you know how much I'm holding back. And she was like, oh, I do, Mom.

I was going to say, I definitely do.

She was like, I feel like all of our family is, like picking up on my vibe of like, please don't keep staring at me. Yeah. You know, and she's like, I just can't wait until the baby comes. So there's attention on someone else. Oh my gosh. But anyways, I was telling her, I was like, it's like, the only thing to compare it to is being pregnant and having a child was like incredible is even though I was miserable being pregnant. Yeah. I loved like birthing. We always say like baby day was our favorite day. And so. I always tell people if I could pay to be in labor right now, I'd pay to be in labor. Yeah, like we loved a baby day. And so it's like being like a prima ballerina, I would guess, in New York City ballet. And you're like, this day is the best performing it until your daughter is doing it. And so your daughter's doing it and everything inside of you feels like you're doing it. But it's even better.

Does it hurt?

And it's even better because you're like they're in the game.

And so I think that's how I felt about it is like I am so excited to not be birthing.

...