Holiday Hustle Help with Kathi Lipp author SabbathSoup

Join us for this incredibly insightful conversation with my friend and best selling author, Kathi Lipp. Just in time for the holiday hustle, Kathi's book Sabbath Soup is the resource you need to enjoy the holidays with family and friends - without regrets.

Bio:
Kathi Lipp is a Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of 20 books, including The Accidental Homesteader, Clutter Free, and The Husband Project; she has had articles published in national media, including Woman's World as part of their “Ask the Experts” feature, Today's Christian Woman, Proverbs 31 Ministries, Crosswalk.com, Discipleship Journal and many others. She is a
busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four young adults.
Order Kathi's Book: Sabbath Soup - Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest.

FREE - 4 Weekly Meal Plans: https://a.co/d/8KfAyVk

SabbathSoup.com
Books Mentioned:

• Sabbath Soup
• The Accidental Homesteader
• Clutter Free - What Jesus Has to Say About Your Stuff 
• The Christmas Project Planner - Super Simple Steps to Organize for the Holidays 

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"This podcast is for the purpose of mentoring only and is not a replacement for therapy. We suggest you seek out the help of a trained biblical counselor for help with your specific situation.”

Transcript

Rhonda Stoppe [00:00:01]:
Hey, friends. I sound like a bullfrog today, but I did not want to cancel this interview with my friend, Kathy Lip, because you need to know everything she's gonna tell you as we enter into the holiday hustle. I I see you all. I see you scrolling and buying on what is that? Monday, crazy Monday on Amazon. I did it too. I got 15 grandkids. Trust me. I have spent more than I should have.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:00:26]:
But I wanted us to just slow down because this holiday season does not have to be a burden. This can be such a joy, and Kathy is gonna share with us so many insights. So she has a new book out, and it is called Sabbath Soup. And she's gonna talk to us this the the subtitle is Sabbath Soup, Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest. Perfect for your busy back to school and holiday season or for those that are looking to establish new year, new you style changes in January. Love that. Sabbath Soup is your guide and mine to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to experience, get this, the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Kathy is a publisher's weekly best selling author of 20 books, including the Accidental Homesteader, which she and I have lived the same life, Clutter Free, which she's clutter free.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:01:32]:
I am the keeper of all things special. Ask my grandkids who wore their mom's cheerleading uniform for Halloween this year. And the husband project was a super great resource. Kathy has had articles published in national media, including Women's World as part of their ask the experts feature, Today's Christian woman, Proverbs 31 ministries, and crosswalk.com. I write for cross crosswalk also. Discipleship journal and many others. Kathy is a busy conference and re speak retreat speaker. If you want her, reach out now.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:02:08]:
If you want her for your spring event, now is the time to find Kathy and see if she has time on her schedule. She currently speak speaks to 1,000 each year throughout the United States. Kathy and her husband, Roger, love Roger, learn tons from Roger. They live in California, so do we, and they are the parents of 4 young adults. And I feel like I need to say you're the dog mom of Moose, who she is your

Kathi Lipp [00:02:33]:
She's right behind me acting crazy. I'm so sorry, but I know you get it, Rhonda. I know you get it.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:02:40]:
I'm I have 5 dogs, and I raise golden retriever puppies. I am the weird dog lady. I get it. But I am just so happy that you made the time in your busy December schedule to just help my listeners take a breath.

Kathi Lipp [00:02:57]:
Right? It's Yes. Rhonda. Okay. First of all, I would always make time for you. That's not even a question. And 2, you're the cutest frog I've ever heard. And you have accommodated me so much because, as your listeners wouldn't know, of course, Moose is going through, she's in remission from cancer, and we've had to move things around for appointments and stuff. And I know you get it.

Kathi Lipp [00:03:22]:
And when you said anything for Moose, that means anything for you. So, thank you so much for having me here today. It's been I'm just I've been looking forward to it. It's been a busy day, but I've been looking forward to this all day.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:03:35]:
I'm so excited. Me too. And you know what I would love to do before we jump into this is just tell us a little bit about yourself, your life, your marriage to Roger. I feel like a lot of times people see an accomplished author and speaker, and they go, oh, they were raised in a Christian home. The her dad was probably a preacher, and she has, you know, the perfect marriage, 2.5 children. And now she lives in the country living happily ever after.

Kathi Lipp [00:03:58]:
Yes. And I love your real estate. So the only thing, that's even close to any of that is I have a really great marriage. But it is my second time around, and Roger and I are a blended family. And so there are 4 kids, to his, to mine. But, yeah, we we live I I grew up in a home that, for the first half of my growing up time, we didn't go to church. 2nd half, we did go to church. That was not a great experience.

Kathi Lipp [00:04:29]:
My youth pastor was selling drugs to the kids. I'm not even kidding. And, yeah, there was all sorts of drama in that church. But then, I did go to I start going to church with a friend and a different church and have been a part of, you know, a a Christian we we created our Christian family. So that's what I'll say. And, you know, my mom has gone back to church now, for the past 10 years. So, like, you know, God brings everybody home. Right? And, so, but definitely not raised by a pastor.

Kathi Lipp [00:05:08]:
You know, I wrote the book, Clutter Free. My dad was a hoarder. Everybody in my family is somewhere on the ADHD, autism scale, somewhere. And, you know, I'm a dyslexic. So, I'm sorry. My dog is just going crazy.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:05:24]:
I love him. That's Moose, everybody. Pray for Moose.

Kathi Lipp [00:05:28]:
Moose, you are embarrassing the family, friend.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:05:31]:
She's like

Kathi Lipp [00:05:33]:
Out of here. So, yeah. I'm I'm pretty severely dyslexic. So I really was a speaker. And then somebody said, Well, if you're a speaker, you need to be a writer. And so I started writing books, and that's yeah. You know, and those are the people I'm drawn to. I'm not drawn to the natural writers.

Kathi Lipp [00:05:51]:
I'm drawn to the speakers. Those are my people. And so I do love writers who write, but I also love speakers who write.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:05:59]:
Yeah. Right? I met my Harvest House editor, and I'm like, dude, I dangled my participles. I run on my sentences. You don't want me. And he's like, we want you. We'll teach you. And they did. They really did.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:06:10]:
And his work was really hard.

Kathi Lipp [00:06:13]:
Was was your editor Nick? Steve Miller. Steve Miller. Steve's wonderful too.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:06:18]:
I love him. I just saw Nick at, Harvest House's 50th anniversary. They're

Kathi Lipp [00:06:22]:
they're big party?

Rhonda Stoppe [00:06:24]:
I went to Mount Hermon's writers conference 4th. It's the first one I've ever attended, and Nick was at my table, so I met him.

Kathi Lipp [00:06:30]:
Gotcha. That's amazing. Nick is great.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:06:33]:
Yeah. But there's encouragement here for people who want to be a speaker or a writer, because I know I get a lot of people asking those kind of questions. I do too. If the Lord has that for you Yeah. You seek him. You ask him. I remember saying, Lord, I'm not knocking on any doors. Here's my arm.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:06:51]:
Drag me through an open door, but I'm not knocking. And when he did, I cried and said, I don't want to.

Kathi Lipp [00:06:58]:
Oh, that's so funny. Yes. And I did knock on doors, but I by going to a retreat you know, a conference, and that's where I met, you know, my editor, and, started to piece all of that together. And, it was word-of-mouth that I got my first agent, and all of that kind of stuff. But, you know, it's, you just have to be a show or upper. You know, it's showing up and saying, okay, I don't know what 10 steps down the road look, but let me take the next most logical, faith filled step. We'll do that, and then we'll go from there. And, yeah, there's no reason I should have been a writer.

Kathi Lipp [00:07:37]:
Like, I'm really glad my first book did well, because I don't know that I had the tenacity to keep going if it had been a miserable failure. But some of my favorite writers are the ones where the first, the second, the third book didn't do well. And they just kept showing up. And, I I admire that greatly.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:07:56]:
And let's just put a plug for your Red House Writers Collective, because I learned so much. You're gonna start a new one in January, I'm assuming.

Kathi Lipp [00:08:03]:
Yeah. We we it's now just a continuous program, so you can show up at any point. Okay. If if if somebody's interested, you know, comment here because we'll we're it's going on sale here pretty soon. So we we would love to connect you up. But, yeah, that's where we teach about all the things you need to be a writer, including, you know, it's the creativity, building your platform, serving your audience, all of that.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:08:27]:
And that's why I have a podcast. I always knew I wanted to do it, but it scared me. And I remember just, okay. I'm gonna follow these all the things you laid out. Not to mention, Roger is expert when it comes to business planning and having this you know, I have an LLC. There's a lot involved that I didn't know anything about. So I know we're talking all about that, so we'll stop now because we could talk all day about that. And that's a whole group of my audience that you know who you are.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:08:55]:
So go find Kathy Lipp. White Housewives Collective. I'll put the link in the show notes, but let's jump into Sabbath Soup. The first question I'm gonna ask you is what was the inspiration for this book?

Kathi Lipp [00:09:08]:
Yeah. It's so interesting. I I love TikTok. I know that makes peep people are like, well, TikTok's for young people. It's also for old ladies. Thank you very much.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:09:19]:
Because old ladies know stuff.

Kathi Lipp [00:09:21]:
Yes. Old ladies know stuff. And I learned from old ladies on TikTok. And, it was interesting. There was a woman on there who, Jewish lineage, who showed what she cooked for Shabbat, every week. And I'm like, Oh, well, I'll show what I cooked for our Sabbath. And people were really interested. And even within Christian communities, it was really interesting, that a lot of people, you know, Sabbath is, you know, it's been we know it's a gift.

Kathi Lipp [00:09:55]:
And, but a lot of people have still avoided it. Like, okay, that's for the super religious. That's not for me. And, I'm like, okay, I'm not the super religious, but, I have come to figure out if I don't have a day to reset every week, or, or most weeks. Let's be really honest here, most weeks. That I am not a good human being. I'm not a nice wife. I'm not a nice mother.

Kathi Lipp [00:10:18]:
I'm not a nice friend. I'm not great at the whole business thing when I haven't had a break. And so, but if you're trying to cook food and have a break, those two things do not go together. So, this is really where we just decided what we're doing is we cook ahead, and, you know, and then from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, we are just putting things in the oven. We're just reheating. We're putting a pot on the stove. We're not, we're not doing our heavy lifting when it comes to cooking on Sunday. And it's just given us that real opportunity to pull back, take a rest that we desperately need.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:10:59]:
I love that. And here's a ton of my listeners are homeschool moms. So how would they involve their kids in this? Like, teaching your kids life isn't just go a 135 miles an hour with your hair on fire all day every day Yeah. And and teaching them to chop those vegetables. Right? I mean, to myself. I didn't let my kids help in the kitchen because I was like, no. I'll do it. Go.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:11:22]:
And now my kids are the best cooks ever because they figured it out and their kids helped them. It's amazing. Amazing. But right?

Kathi Lipp [00:11:28]:
But, you know, here's the thing I would say. There are a couple of things about having your kids help. One, realizing there's an upfront cost to it, but it's worth it. You know, it the upfront cost is, in time. It's, you know, because it takes longer to teach somebody and be repetitive on those things. A little bit of money because you want to have knives that are safe for your kids. You want to have things that fit their hands. So it takes a little bit of that energy because you have to go in with a plan, but that helps you in the long run.

Kathi Lipp [00:12:04]:
But also, it's been very interesting to talk with people who say, that their kids, are very critical of what they cook. You know, like, you know, you've had a long day at school and you come in and this is what you see. And it's a slow cooker and it's like, and it was very funny because somebody posted that and, you know, he was like 17 and all of these 20, 25 year olds coming in, and it was like, That's the best thing that's ever happened to you. In 5 years, you're, you're not going to know how much you appreciate that bowl of brown stuff. But, when you have picky eaters to, or you know, I don't want to just say picky, there are some kids who have real issues with how things feel in their mouth, or new taste. We have to remember kids have millions more taste buds than we do. You know? So as we get older, we could accept new taste, but kids it's like bam in their mouths. So, letting kids help with the meal planning, and saying, you know, if you have 4 kids, you know, everybody, you know, picks one meal that's going to happen during the week, whether it's lunch or dinner, and they can help prep that meal, and do all of that kind of stuff.

Kathi Lipp [00:13:22]:
But especially for kids who struggle with sitting down to eat what the rest of the family is eating to have input in that. And then that can also lean into budgeting. You know, if you want to have, grilled cheese and, a side salad, how much is that going to cost? How much are the ingredients going to cost? And so letting everybody be a part of that is really an interesting way. It's going to take some time upfront, but you're it's gonna pay off in dividends.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:13:53]:
Yeah. I like that. And, honestly, one of the things that my daughter she has 4 daughters. My 8 year old granddaughter makes the most amazing crepes. Like, literally, I'm all like, don't burn yourself, and she's like, mom. She's got it. Right. What I love is she's taught them when they're served something that they don't like is they don't say, I don't like that.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:14:11]:
They say, I don't prefer that. That really is less hurtful.

Kathi Lipp [00:14:17]:
Yes. Yes. I don't prefer that. And you know, I didn't learn until later to say, you know, I just ask that you try everything because TA like I, I grew up knowing I hated mushrooms and now I can't get enough of them. Tastes change. Right? I do know that I will continue to hate green peppers until Jesus comes back.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:14:43]:
I'm with you though, girl.

Kathi Lipp [00:14:44]:
I'm with you there. There's just the taste there. I, and like, I think at 57, I'm allowed to say, no, thank you. I don't prefer those and I will not be eating those.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:14:54]:
Don't put it on my pizza.

Kathi Lipp [00:14:56]:
Right. Oh, yeah. We order our pizzas half down the middle. Yes. Because so yeah. But to to be able to say, try it, and you don't we don't force anybody to eat anything around here. But, you know, even with, as my kids were growing up, you know where the carrots are. You know how to make your own salad.

Kathi Lipp [00:15:20]:
You know, we don't care that you eat what we're eating, but it needs to be healthy. There has to We also like sweets, that's okay, but there has to be something healthy that you're doing, and you have to try everything.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:15:33]:
I like that. So as you said in the book, why soup? Why not Sabbath casserole or Sabbath barbecue?

Kathi Lipp [00:15:40]:
Yeah. I find soup to be kind of a magical property. You can make that soup on Friday, and it tastes better on Sunday.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:15:50]:
That's true.

Kathi Lipp [00:15:51]:
And also a soup is a great, fridge cleaner outer. Like, you know, I if you have some well, I'll just do an example. So, after Thanksgiving, we did our Thanksgiving late. We had leftover turkey. We had leftover celery. We had lots of chopped onions. We had, you know, we had a bunch of different stuff. And so we ended up making a turkey gumbo, which is not in the, book because I'd never made it before, but I thought, let's try something different.

Kathi Lipp [00:16:28]:
We made a turkey gumbo. Roger said, can this be our annual tradition?

Rhonda Stoppe [00:16:33]:
Oh, wow. So we need that recipe. How are we going to get it from you?

Kathi Lipp [00:16:36]:
I will I will send you that recipe. Yes. I can do

Rhonda Stoppe [00:16:39]:
that. And it will We'll have them sign up for something. We'll sign up for your newsletter, and I'll and then we'll send them that.

Kathi Lipp [00:16:44]:
How's that? That would be great. I would love it. This was so good. And some of you even if you just have chicken you know, frozen chicken or maybe you have some frozen turkey sitting around, you guys, this is you just, the only special ingredient really was andouille sausage. And you could probably do a different, but it's a great way to clean out your fridge with, you know, the vegetables that aren't as crisp as you'd want to put them in dip. Or, you know, you have leftover chicken from Saturday night. Let's put that in a soup for Sunday. And I love it because it can stretch.

Kathi Lipp [00:17:18]:
So one of the things that we do is we have a neighbor. He's either in his late sixties or early seventies, I'm not quite sure, but he's also a volunteer firefighter. So, he's like, hiking down ravines to get people out of car crashes. He just did this on Friday. By the way, a total side note, he was on the national news. This rescue was on the national news because he hiked down there, rescued the guy. When they went back to go get the car, they heard whining. There was a dog that had been encapsulated in the car.

Kathi Lipp [00:17:56]:
Came out unscathed. Wow. Unscathed. It's a miracle. It's a miracle. But, yeah. So, he's doing stuff like that. But when I found out that his 3 meals a day were 3 Lunchables, I'm like, Oh.

Kathi Lipp [00:18:12]:
I said, Here's the good news. I have learned to cook for a crew, and I cannot lose that skill. So now, every weekend, we bring him a cooler full of food.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:18:25]:
Oh, that's so wonderful.

Kathi Lipp [00:18:28]:
It's so easy for By the way, he saved our house from burning down during Khaldor, so I feel like it's an even trade, right? Yeah. Right. I just, I'm like, there's no reason for you to be eating Lunchables. And even soup is the most stretchable food. You can add a little more cream, a little bit more broth. You have a few more vegetables, a few more. There's no reason anybody has to be hungry because of soup. Because we've all read the story of some stone soup.

Kathi Lipp [00:18:55]:
Right? And it's just adding a little bit more, making it special. And soup is that ultimately stretchable meal.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:19:04]:
So for me, I am not my husband has taken over my kitchen. He does all the cooking now. Oh, nice. I'm not complaining. I'm super happy. Nice. But I'm not a great cook. I'm a great baker.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:19:13]:
I love to bake a real estate. Yeah. The real food is like, just eat a cheese stick, and let's have the cheesecake. I mean, I'm Right. Right. I get that. So if you're not a cook like like me

Kathi Lipp [00:19:23]:
Yeah.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:19:24]:
I have my specifics that I do. Sure. What how can your book help with those recipes? Talk to us about that.

Kathi Lipp [00:19:32]:
So my recipes are very basic. I'm not asking you to do anything fancy in those.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:19:39]:
So random spice that you don't have in your cupboard?

Kathi Lipp [00:19:42]:
You know what? There may be a couple of things that are like, okay, we're gonna extend our palate, but it's 99% of this stuff is on everybody's grocery list. I I did ask somebody to get ranch beans, and I found out that those are not available widely. But there are lots of places you can get them, and there are ways to substitute. You know, if you just Google, I don't have ranch beans. What can I substitute? Oh, cool. You'll find out.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:20:12]:
Don't call your mom. Google. Call don't.

Kathi Lipp [00:20:14]:
If your mom knows, that's great. Yes. But, no, these are very basic, simple. And here's the thing, I find nothing wrong with saying, you know, Monday through Sunday, we're going to eat the same recipes until somebody calls uncle. And then we're going to replace one of them with a new recipe. So, do your favorites, and then add in something that you haven't tried before. But soup is the most basic recipe. You can't mess up soup.

Kathi Lipp [00:20:47]:
I, the only way you could really mess up soup is by leaving it on the burner too long, or overcooking your cream soup. Yeah. Otherwise, it's pretty fixable. If you over salt it, you can throw half a potato in there and it absorbs the salt.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:21:03]:
Did not know. Right?

Kathi Lipp [00:21:05]:
Yeah. Or add more cream or, water, not more broth because broth has salt. But put more vegetables in it. Soup is ultra is so fixable.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:21:17]:
And, honestly, I'm all about hospitality. When we moved to Texas, we lived there for 6 years, and we had 200 teenagers in our house every Wednesday night for youth group. They trashed our house in Jesus' name, But my mantra is this, people over possessions. And sometimes we get so hung up on my house is not HGTV perfect. My meal is not a Pinterest, you know, post. Right. But sometimes it's just seeing a family that maybe just is visiting the church. Maybe if they've come a couple times honestly, I'm a pastor's wife.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:21:52]:
You get maybe 3 Sundays of someone visiting your church, and if they don't feel a connection, they're not coming back. Yeah. Your church is your home. If it's your home church, it's your family. And for you to not look someone in the eye, shake their hand, welcome them because you feel uncomfortable, that's not right. This is a call to hospitality. And for some, it's gonna be, hey. I already put some soup on in the crock pot.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:22:19]:
You and your family of 5 children, come on. I'll just throw in some more potatoes or whatever. That that to me, hospitality is something that is so overlooked in our Christian culture. Yeah. We'll go out to eat with people. We'll go to restaurants with people. Well, guess what? You my kids have lots of kids. You take your kids out to Denny's, and it's a small fortune these days.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:22:43]:
So having the wherewithal to say, it's not much, but I got some soup on. I'll throw some French tote or what's it called? French bread in, and we're good. How cool is that?

Kathi Lipp [00:22:53]:
Well, and, you know, that's the beautiful thing. Soup can go from, Oh, it's the 4 of us going home, so everybody has a bowl of soup, to, Oh, we've got guests. Okay. Honey, swing by the store, pick up 2 bagged salads. I've got some brownie mix at home that I'm going to throw some extra, chocolate chips into, and it can go to cups of soup instead of bowls. And, yeah, like you said, the bread You know, it's interesting, at Costco, they have, in the bakery section, they have loaves of bread that are, shelf stable for like 6 months. And so I've got 2 of those at my house right now. So we don't have a lot of drop bys because we live, you know, about an hour and 15 minutes from civilization.

Kathi Lipp [00:23:45]:
But we do have neighbors, and we have neighbors who sometimes need a meal, and we can just pop that in the oven, and we're good to go. And it makes such a huge difference. And yes, to be able to And soup is to always be able to say, I made some extra soup. Can you come over? Or I made some extra I made too much soup. Can I bring you some? Yeah. Is you know, even if you don't feel hospitable coming into your house, you could be hospitable by bringing somebody something when they most need it.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:24:18]:
And in in Jesus' name, like, honestly, a cup of water in Jesus' name is great.

Kathi Lipp [00:24:22]:
But if you bring a cup of soup in Jesus' name Amen. And, you know, to those homeschooling moms who are listening, you know, this is such an opportunity to be able to say, okay, guys, we're going to rally together. And so we've got the soup, you know, somebody else can put the cookies on a plate. Like there are always things even the smallest child can do to help out with this. So bringing it together and could that be a core memory of that we were always able to have people over?

Rhonda Stoppe [00:24:53]:
Love that. And that's honestly what we really want. So I would really love for you to, maybe give us let's see. Let's include your expertise as a clutter wrangler. What are a few key tips that you can give to families that want to declutter, not perfection. I mean, you watched me declutter when we had the fires at our house. Right? It's like that house smelled like fire, and I was throwing stuff out the window that I have had since my kids were little, and it was hard. But I got encouragement from you.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:25:25]:
But, honestly, it's not we feel like our house has to be so perfect, but, honestly, it's just the clutter. I watch those remodel shows, and I'm like, what is so special about their houses? Their kitchen counter is not cluttered with all the things.

Kathi Lipp [00:25:39]:
So some tips on it. So here's a couple of thoughts. If it's one of those, you know, drive bys after church, just get a laundry basket and, you know, the the kitchen table, the kitchen counter, just have one room that feels comfortable. Right? It doesn't have to be your whole house. You know, oftentimes we'll say, okay, we're going to go declutter, and we think about grandma's photo books. Like, no, leave that stuff alone. Go to the go to the high traffic areas. And then also realize people are not looking at your house the same way you're looking at your house.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:26:19]:
That's true.

Kathi Lipp [00:26:19]:
You know, they don't know what perfection looks like at your house. And, you know, just putting the magazines out on a table, just fluffing the couches and throwing a couple, you know, putting the blanket over there, it doesn't have to be perfect. But also, to be able to, have somebody come in. If you invite me in, in the midst of a little bit of your mess, I feel loved.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:26:45]:
Yes.

Kathi Lipp [00:26:45]:
And it's one of the things that can make me feel like, oh, that pastor's wife isn't so scary. Like, you know, there are shoes by her front door too. Yeah. Or, you know, she's got so many pictures on her refrigerator, you know? Yes. Yes. Exactly. It's we want to be invited in not just to the front porch, but, you know, to the to the, in insides. And to that's when you start to be that's when we start to be friends.

Kathi Lipp [00:27:19]:
Connection. When we're invited to the inside.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:27:21]:
Yeah. And and it's interesting. My mom now my mom was a 17 year old mom. I was her second child. Wow. Her parents were both alcoholics. They were the flat fun alcoholic grandparents, but what my mom could control was her home.

Kathi Lipp [00:27:36]:
Right.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:27:36]:
It was perfect. Like, I didn't invite friends over because everything was so put away and perfect that it stressed her out. My mom's gone to be with Jesus now. She came to Christ 6 months before she passed away. We can't. But I remember not wanting my friends to come over because it just it was too much for her to have a story. My friend's little sister was with her, a 5 year old. She put her gum in my mom's candle.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:04]:
And the next time I invited her over, my mom said, no. She can't come over. She put gum in my candle. I'm like, she was 5. Oh my goodness. So we can have our houses so perfect that our own family's not comfortable. And that's the other swing of the pendulum. Right? Yes.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:21]:
So there's a balance.

Kathi Lipp [00:28:22]:
Yes. So I have learned it is not my job. It it it cannot be my goal to live up to somebody else's dysfunction.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:34]:
Absolute oh, wow. That's say that again. That's so good.

Kathi Lipp [00:28:37]:
It is I can I have learned it cannot be my goal to live up to somebody else's dysfunction?

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:43]:
That's so good.

Kathi Lipp [00:28:44]:
A perfect house is dysfunction.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:28:47]:
Because Wow, you just told me my life was dysfunctional. I didn't know. No, I totally knew. I totally knew.

Kathi Lipp [00:28:55]:
But if somebody's house is perfect, there there is something going on. Yeah. And, you know, like you said, she had to control which, so we don't blame her, but we also know that that's not healthy either. And so we have to be in this place where I always feel like, if I could have 5 minutes notice, I would appreciate that. Yeah. But if I can't, you're still welcome in. Yeah. And, you know, and if somebody is expecting perfection out of you, that's a dysfunction on their part.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:29:30]:
That's true. Yeah. And I do feel like you're right. If someone has come to my house, we do a, Easter celebration at our house every Easter. There's 200 plus people that come. We do a baptism. We do barbecue. My house gets trashed.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:29:44]:
Yeah. Floors that can handle the mud, people in and out. And, honestly, I don't even clean till everyone leaves because I used to have friends that would stay and try to clean up after. And I'm like, you know what? Then that sends a message to the people who stay till midnight. It's time to go. And I'll I'll I'll follow through later, and I don't keep a perfect house. Right. I want I want my bathrooms clean.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:30:06]:
I don't want it to be disgusting when they show up. Right. Yeah. I want if my baseboards are clean, that's great. But, you know, you live in the country. The wood stove makes dust. The dirt road makes dust. Yes.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:30:16]:
If you if you wanna hang out with us, we would love it. And, honestly, I have 15 grandkids. And when they're here, I want them to know that Nana's not uptight, that they spilled something, or that they broke something, or that they left the toys out. I have fingerprints on the windows. I will enjoy those for weeks later as I look at their little handprints on my window.

Kathi Lipp [00:30:37]:
Yeah. You know, what's gonna make you comfortable in your own home and other people comfortable in your own home. And it can be as simple as a pot of soup and some,

Rhonda Stoppe [00:30:54]:
you froze up, you

Kathi Lipp [00:30:55]:
know, blankets on the couch. Right. Oh, sorry. The internet is a little choppy. I apologize. You know, w yeah, we all live in the country. We all get it. Yes.

Kathi Lipp [00:31:06]:
But yeah, to, to just, what are a couple of things that are going to make people feel comfortable? One of the things we ended up doing is because people are always like, Oh, I want to take my shoes off. And I'm like, Okay, our floors, even if they were just mopped, are not going to stay that way for very long. So finally what we did, Rhonda, is we bought probably 20 pairs of slippers in different sizes. And so everybody can come in, find a pair of slippers that's going to fit them, and use the so every it's we don't care and we wash them every time, but it's just a way to make people feel comfortable in their home. Yeah.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:31:45]:
So I know I've taken all of the time I promised you I would take. I could talk to you for another hour, or I could let you talk. I know. But what is some closing comments about Sabbath Soup, encouragement for my listeners as we are stumbling into the Christmas season, some encouragement for them.

Kathi Lipp [00:32:03]:
Yeah. So, you know, when I wrote this book, it was really so that you could have, Saturday night offs, Sunday offs, you know, Saturday afternoon, I mean, Sunday afternoon, and then leftovers for a few days so that, you know, it really took most of the cooking onus off of you for dinners. But even if you just get into the habit of saying we are having soup after church, because one, it takes the decision making out of it. Yeah. And 2, it's such a simple meal to prepare. It's so shareable. It's such a gift. So try it.

Kathi Lipp [00:32:40]:
I would just encourage you to try it, especially during this holiday season, to do something simple on Sundays. So you can save the razzamataz for getting together with friends and things like that, but just a simple soup, maybe a loaf of bread and, what a gift it'll be to you throughout the season.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:32:59]:
So I've also seen online that you've had soup groups, whatever you're calling them. What are you calling those? Where I've seen people gather around your book.

Kathi Lipp [00:33:08]:
So, yeah. So it's a cookbook club. Cookbook. And I like to okay. My cookbook was great. I had never thought of that. But the cookbook club is like everybody brings a dish from a cookbook, and you all get together and you try it, and you say, this is the one we would eat again. Maybe not this.

Kathi Lipp [00:33:26]:
That kind of stuff. And so we have a free kit on, if you go to sabbasoup.com, we have a free kit there for the cookbook club, and it's lots of fun.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:33:39]:
Okay. Hang on. I'm gonna put that in the banner.

Kathi Lipp [00:33:43]:
Yes. Sabbath There you go.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:33:45]:
Com. And where can they find your book? Where can they follow you? Where can they learn all things

Kathi Lipp [00:33:51]:
from you? Yes. Sabbath Soup.com, and you know, it's the easiest place to get it, and where it's on super sales of every Monday and all that. It looks like it'll be on sale for a couple more weeks is, Amazon. So right now, it's normally $26. Right now, it's 17 something. So it's a good deal.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:34:14]:
And it's a great Christmas gift for that person who has everything for the new mom for a baby shower gift. Like, the that's a great gift. And also just for having it on your own shelf for those times when you're like, I need to know. I love the final thing is what if you just made Sunday after church soup day and moved in that direction? How special that would be. Okay. And then we will somehow get to you. Follow the show notes, and you'll have a link to go to Sabbath Soup. And if you comment, let me know.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:34:48]:
I will send you Kathy's recipe for her turkey. What was it called? Turkey? Jumbo. Jumbo that is not in the book. So I'm excited about that. Thanks so much for joining me, Kathy. You are a treasure. You are a gift. I enjoy you.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:35:02]:
I meant I think I met you in 2013 when my first book came out in San Jose. I went to an event. You and Cindy McMinneman were together. That was Yes.

Kathi Lipp [00:35:10]:
Oh my goodness.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:35:11]:
Been over a decade that we have been friends, and I

Kathi Lipp [00:35:14]:
I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. Thank you so much for sharing this space with me today.

Rhonda Stoppe [00:35:19]:
Thank you so much. And, this will be in the audio tomorrow on old ladies know stuff. You can share it, subscribe, tell your friends. This is a great one that you can help people start off their new year in a Sabbath rest mode and not being so caught up in all the chaos. Thanks so much. Thanks.