In this episode, I share my excitement about Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl. One song in particular, “Eldest Daughter,” has deeply resonated with me. It’s a mirror that has invited me into a season of reflection.

As I’ve listened, I’ve found myself connecting with the themes of responsibility, identity, and the often-unspoken experiences that come with being the one who’s always “had it together.” In this episode, I open up about how this song has stirred something within me and the insights that have surfaced as a result.

If you’ve ever found yourself reflecting on the roles you’ve carried in life and what they’ve meant for your own personal journey, this episode may speak to you too.

In this episode, I wanted to share something that has been on my mind lately. It’s about what it’s really like to have adult children.

There’s a lot of conversation online about how hard it is to parent grown kids, but that hasn’t been my experience at all. I don’t actually feel like I’m parenting anymore. I’m supporting, encouraging, and cheering them on as they live their own lives.

Somewhere along the way, I made a mindset shift that changed everything. I wasn’t raising children. I was raising adults. That simple difference shaped how I approached responsibility, independence, and what “family” looks like as they’ve grown up.

Now, with Meagan married and thriving, Matthew living at home while studying to become a high school math teacher (and possibly preparing for a study-abroad year in Japan), and McKenna navigating her senior year of college while applying to law schools, I’m finding so much joy in watching them become who they were created to be.

Every lunch, every random chat, every moment we get together feels like bonus time. Even when I miss the days of having them all under one roof, I wouldn’t trade the pride and gratitude I feel now for anything.

This episode is a reflection on learning to release control, embrace who our children are becoming, and find peace in a season that looks different but is just as beautiful as the one before it.

If you’re navigating the transition into parenting adult kids, or if you’re still in the thick of raising little ones and wondering how it will feel on the other side, I hope my story brings you comfort, perspective, and maybe even a little laughter along the way.

And if you’d like to talk about your own journey, whether you’re trying to reframe expectations, find your peace, or just need a space to process, send me an email at stephanie@stephanieravenscraft.com. I’d love to hold that space with you.

Until next time, live your life with purpose.

This summer turned out to be one of the most intentional and joy-filled seasons of my life. At the beginning of the year, I set out with my Soul Planner and my accountability group to design what I wanted summer to look, feel, and even taste like. I imagined a season of creation, rest, and simple pleasures.

But as life unfolded, things looked a little different than I expected. Vacations, moving kids into apartments, workshops with Cliff, and everyday family life all played their part.

Even though I didn’t check every box in my planner, or write a single page of the book I thought I’d start, I still ended up with what I now call my “summeriest summer ever.”

In this episode, I share:

• How using my Soul Planner and accountability group helped me plan with intention
• Why summer 2025 felt like the first season that was truly mine
• The difference between planning and forcing and why grace and space matter
• What I actually experienced (vacation, family transitions, simple joys)
• How intentionality made the season remarkable, even when plans shifted
• Why I’m now excited to set intentions for fall and beyond

Sometimes living with intention doesn’t mean following the plan perfectly. It means creating the vision, holding it loosely, and allowing life to unfold in ways that surprise and delight us.

Thank you for joining me as I continue to share this journey of growth, change, and living life on purpose.

In this very personal episode of Thriving Mosaic, I’m doing something a little different. What started as a simple car ride with my dog and a random shuffle on my Taylor Swift playlist turned into a profound moment of reflection.

As many of you know, I’ve been a lifelong Taylor Swift fan. Recently, with Taylor now owning her full masters, I’ve been revisiting some of her earlier albums that I had paused listening to out of honor and respect for her ownership journey. That’s when Tied Together With A Smile came on, and it stopped me in my tracks.

Even though Taylor wrote this song as a teenager, I first heard it at 28. The lyrics reflected a kind of unpretty that wasn’t about my appearance, but about my struggle to feel enough, to set boundaries, to use my own voice, and to stop performing for acceptance.

In this episode, I share a written reflection that I created with the help of my trusted GPT companion, Betty. It’s my story of how this song met me where I was, how it revealed truths I hadn’t yet spoken aloud, and how choosing to love myself has been the sacred work of coming home.

If any part of this speaks to you, please know I would be honored to hold space for your own unfolding. You can always reach out to me at stephanie@stephanieravenscraft.com.

Thank you for walking this journey with me.

Until next time, live your life on purpose.

In this episode, I share a quote that’s been sitting with me for over two years. A quote that stopped me in my tracks the moment I first read it:

“Healing also means taking an honest look at the role you play in your own suffering.”

That one sentence cracked something open in me. Not because it was easy to hear, but because it was undeniably true.

This isn’t about blame or shame. It’s about freedom. Ownership. Liberation. It’s about asking bold, honest questions like:

“Is this belief actually true?”

“Who told me this about myself?”

“And do I still want to carry that story?”

I reflect on the years I spent performing different versions of myself. Trying to be the daughter, wife, woman, and friend that others expected me to be, all while feeling completely misaligned inside. I share about the retreat that changed everything for me in 2012, when I began asking the question:

“Who does God say that I am?”

That question became the doorway to a year of deep internal reckoning and the beginning of becoming my true self.

This conversation is raw and real. I talk about trauma, limiting beliefs, the lies we absorb from culture and childhood, and how I started breaking free by choosing awareness and responsibility.

If anything in this episode stirred something inside you, I invite you to email me:

📩 stephanie@stephanieravenscraft.com

Tell me what you’ve always believed about yourself... and whether it might be time to ask, “Is it true?”

Let’s walk this journey together.

Until next time,

Live your life on purpose… fully aligned with who you were created to be.

Stephanie

This episode has been on my heart for a long time.

I’ve known I wanted to share this part of my journey, but I had to allow myself the time and emotional space to truly process what it means—to let go of a role I’ve held for so long as a mom, specifically as the “barrier” between my daughter McKenna and the world.

In today’s conversation, I take you all the way back to 2010, to the television show Parenthood, and how the character Max first opened my eyes to signs in McKenna that I hadn’t yet understood. I share how that recognition grew over the years, and how I parented with a deep intention—offering McKenna safety, advocating for her while also teaching her to advocate for herself.

And then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, it all clicked… She made a phone call to reschedule a dentist appointment, completely on her own, and it hit me—she no longer needs me in the same way.

It’s a simple thing. But it unraveled something deep within me.

This episode is about so much more than parenting. It’s about identity, transition, and permission—permission to grieve a role that’s no longer needed, even when that change is a mark of success.

I talk openly about:

• What it looked like to raise McKenna with love, presence, and discernment, without rushing toward labels or diagnoses.

• How her recent diagnosis of Level 1 Autism (formerly known as Asperger’s) helped her make sense of herself, in her own timing, on her own terms.

• What it means to let go of being the protector, the interpreter, the advocate... and to trust that I did my job well.

• The emotional paradox of feeling both celebration and grief in the same breath.

If you’re navigating any kind of identity shift—especially if you’re a parent of a neurodivergent child—I hope this episode speaks to you.

Letting go of a role is part of the process, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
And just because something is hard… doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

If this resonates with you—if you’ve been through something similar—I’d love to hear your story.
Email me at stephanie@stephanieravenscraft.com with the subject line "Letting Go."

This is a beautiful new chapter for McKenna.
And it’s a new chapter for me, too.

Until next time,
Live your life on purpose.

Okay, so I've got to make a confession - I finally changed up my music playlist after listening to nothing but Taylor Swift for the past year. I know, I know, I'm a huge Swiftie, but I just felt like I needed a palate cleanser. So I started shuffling through some old Daughtry songs, and let me tell you, one of the lyrics just hit me right in the gut.

It was this line about how I'm "still just me on the inside" - and that really got me thinking about the goals I set for myself at the end of 2024. I mean, here we are six weeks into the new year, and I haven't made any real progress on them. Why? Because I haven't changed the habits and patterns that are keeping me stuck in the same old cycle.

I look around my house and it's a mess - I've got books and Amazon boxes everywhere, and I just keep walking by them instead of taking care of it. And I keep telling myself, "Wouldn't it be easier to just move and start over?" But the truth is, my outer world is always going to reflect my inner world. If I don't change the way I talk to myself and the beliefs I have about myself, nothing on the outside is going to change either.

So I've decided that one of my big goals for this year is to really work on my inner narrative. I grew up in an environment where negativity and "roasting" was the norm, and I realize I've carried that over into how I speak to myself. But I don't want to be my own worst critic anymore. I want to be my biggest cheerleader.

It's going to take some work, but I'm committed to building small, daily habits - like actually washing my face and moisturizing every night - that are going to help me become the person I want to be. Because if I don't change me on the inside, nothing on the outside is ever going to change either. Gotta start with that inner transformation, you know?

Anyway, I'd love to hear from you all - what habits or patterns are keeping you stuck in the same old cycle? Let me know, because I'm in this with you, and I'm ready to break free.