I Don’t Want to Optimise Anymore is a conversation with Rach, Britt, and Bec about productivity and hustle culture, barriers to rest, and what we are learning about pursuing rest.

The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories.

In today's episode, we explore:

🎧 What drives us to pack our schedules full, tick boxes, and get stuff done

🎧 What gets in the way of us saying no and carving out deliberate margin to rest.

🎧 What we are learning about rest, limits, finitude, and prayer.

For everything mentioned in the show today, check out our show notes [http://www.storiesidtellyouatdinner.com.au/podcast/s1-e6-i-dont-want-optimise].

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/] in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa [https://ketsa.uk/]. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/].

I Don't Want to Optimise Anymore

Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 3 of The After Dinner Mint, a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

We are interviewing all of our regular contributors in Season 1 of the podcast for you to get to know them better. Today’s guest is Sarah Burt, who lives on a farm in the Great Southern.

In today’s episode, we explore:

 * The joys of amateur theatre and getting out into nature
 * The slow process of coming to Christ from a secular family through friends, Christian Union, and God’s gentle leading.
 * Sarah’s experiences of postnatal depression, what she learned about God’s character, and what helped her heal.
 * Encouragement for those struggling with depression and for those struggling postpartum.

If you are struggling postpartum, you can contact the PANDA National Perinatal Mental Health Helpline [https://www.panda.org.au/], or with depression in different circumstances you can contact Life Line on 13 11 14.

You can also book an appointment with your GP for a Mental Health Care Plan. They can refer you for sessions with a psychologist or social worker under Medicare. If you’re in regional or remote Western Australia, these can even be done via telehealth.

Check out the show notes [http://www.storiesidtellyouatdinner.com.au/podcast/s1-e5-when-i-felt-like-a-failure] for everything mentioned in this episode. 

Sign up to our free, weekly newsletter Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/] to get honest stories from Christian women straight to your inbox on Wednesday. Never miss a thing - podcasts, essays, poems and fun events. 

What I Learned When I Felt Like a Failure. An Interview with Sarah Burt

Today’s episode is a conversation about what we are learning about pursuing depth in friendships with three of our regular podcast hosts: Rach, Britt, and Bec. The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories.

In today's episode, we explore:

🎧 How we’ve gotten to know our actual neighbours

🎧 Our barriers to going deep in our real relationships (and they were different for all of us!)

🎧 Escaping the “catch-up trap,” and complaints about the price of eggs 🍳

🎧 What we are learning about intentionality in our friendships and the fine dance between oversharing, validation, and the ever elusive authenticity.

You can check out our https://www.storiesidtellyouatdinner.com.au/podcast/s1-e2-doubtshow notes here [https://www.storiesidtellyouatdinner.com.au/podcast/s1-e4-escaping-small-talk].

If you enjoyed the honest storytelling in today's episode, sign up for free encouragement [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/] in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa [https://ketsa.uk/]. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/].

Escaping Small Talk

Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 3 of The After Dinner Mint, a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

We are interviewing all of our regular contributors in Season 1 of the podcast. Today’s guest is Amy Stopher.

In today’s episode, we explore:

 * The joys of gardening and sneaky walks with secateurs.
 * Reading the Bible and doing life with other women and how to get this happening in your life, without being weird
 * Amy’s experiences with burnout in ministry, what she learned about God, and what helped her heal.

About Amy:

Amy grew up by the beach, the third of four sisters, and first learned the gospel from her parents. She taught high school students Politics and English, before studying Theology at Trinity Theological College in Perth, WA. Now Amy serves on the ministry team at Providence City, and delights in seeing women grow in their confidence to teach God’s word. Amy loves gardening, cooking for people and eating with them, and early mornings at the beach. She lives with her dog, Billie. You can find more of her work on Substack [https://substack.com/@aymesto].

Check out the show notes [http://www.storiesidtellyouatdinner.com.au/podcast/s1-ep3-amy-stopher].

Want honest stories in your inbox from Christian women in Western Australia on Wednesdays? Sign up to our newsletter, Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/about] ❤️

What I Learned When I Burned Out in Ministry: An Interview with Amy Stopher

Today’s episode is a conversation with three of our regular podcast hosts, Rach, Britt, and Bec. The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories.

In today's episode, we explore:

- How we came to faith

- The doubts we experienced in the Christian life

- What made doubts harder to process

- What helped us process doubts

- The surprising role of Christian community.

You can check out our show notes here [https://www.storiesidtellyouatdinner.com.au/podcast/s1-e2-doubt].

If you enjoyed the honest storytelling in today's episode, sign up for free encouragement [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/] in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa [https://ketsa.uk/]. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/].

I Love God... But What Do I Do With My Doubts?

Thanks for listening to Season 1, Episode 1 of The After Dinner Mint, a podcast of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. Thanks for sharing your day with us!

In today’s episode, we explore:

 * The joys of running (Maddy, not Bec) and cooking
 * How Maddy became a Christian from a non-Christian time with a spiritual mother and an atheist father
 * What Maddy learned about God’s character and the doctrine of providence through the suffering of a molar pregnancy

Mentioned in this episode:

Want honest stories in your inbox from Christian women in Western Australia on Wednesdays? Sign up to our newsletter here [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/about]❤️

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy [https://amzn.asia/d/cPYcSoT] by Mark Vroegop

When the Noise Won’t Stop [https://amzn.asia/d/3EnyNaz] by Paul Grimmond

You can find Joseph’s story in Genesis 37-50 in the Bible. The verse we reference is, “But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.’” Genesis 50:19-20 (ESV)

Maddy nominated Sarah Michaels as someone who has encouraged her and would love to hear from next 🫶🏻

PS. I did my best to cut out the background child noise, but there’s still some in the background. I’m never going to record while my kids are awake again! We live and learn 😆🙈

Check out our show notes [http://www.storiesidtellyouatdinner.com.au/podcast/s1-ep1-loss-maddy-rhodes].

Intro and outro music: Come Back by Ketsa [https://ketsa.uk/]. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/]



What I Learned Through Loss: An Interview with Maddy Rhodes

Introducing the After Dinner Mint, the podcast for Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner, launching in March 2025. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories. These are the stories we pass to you, along with the bread and the wine, not to make us look good, but to remind ourselves of His goodness.

Sign up to our free newsletter and Wednesdays from March - November, Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner will land in your inbox. One week, you get essays and poetry from our team of local Christian women. The alternate week, you get the latest podcast episode. We alternate interviews with local Christian women about what they have learned about God through suffering, with chatty episodes with hosts Bec, Britt, Rach, and Maddy about what we are learning about faith, hope, and the right pair of jeans.

Sign up to the Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/]newsletter to get honest stories and encouragement from local women in your inbox on Wednesdays.

Welcome to The After Dinner Mint, the podcast for Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner

The After Dinner Mint is a podcast of Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner. We bring Christian women in Western Australia together through honest stories. One fortnight you get an interview with a local Christian woman about how she became a Christian, who encourages her, and what she has learned about God through suffering that she would not have learned otherwise. On the other fortnight, we have chatty episodes with hosts Bec, Britt, Rach, and Maddy about what we are learning about faith, hope, and the right pair of jeans. Sign up to our newsletter, Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner [https://storiesidtellyouatdinner.substack.com/] to get honest stories from local Christian women in your inbox on Wednesdays.

Rebecca Fergie

Shows