Work Hard Mom Harder

This episode takes a little break from our Hudson Month "Meet Baby Dub" book reading to bring something that's been on my heart since summer 2026 into focus. I actually started writing this one back in June and never finished it... which, as it turns out, is kind of perfect, because I had no idea how the story was going to end. What you'll hear in this episode: The 12U All-Stars journey — My son Anson's team hadn't won a tournament game in years. Two games, two L's, go home — every single year. But this year felt different, and I take you through the whole wild ride, starting with a tough 2-0 loss in game one. A prayer from my journal: Back in May, I wrote down a prayer asking God for victory, success, and an incomparable experience for these boys. When that first game was an L, I had to wrestle with what "answered prayer" really looks like. Coach Dad goes down, a comeback game, and Triumph Stories The tension of unanswered prayer — I don't want to retrofit every disappointment into a neat "God answered it, just differently" bow. Sometimes the story goes somewhere you couldn't have written ahead of time. Sometimes you're still disappointed. And that's where we live — in the tension. Scripture referenced: John 16:33 — "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." The real question: Not just "what triumph story do you need to write today?" — but "what triumph story have you already lived that didn't end the way you thought it would?" Go back and revisit it. You might be surprised by what you see now that you couldn't see while you were in it. Until next time — work hard, mom harder, love hardest, and let's go change the world.

'Cuz I'm almost out of hosting space on my account this is going to be the last podcast for July.  But that doesn't mean you can't support our Hudson's Heroes fundraising efforts!  Buy the book on Amazon! Run a 5K and use the #hudsonsheroesrunners + tag me @workhardmomharder!  You can also donate directly by clicking here.

A quick fun one!  Can you believe I was talking about iPhone 5 in this episode? Sheesh. This was recorded on my 2 year old iPhone 16 LOL. Buy the book on Amazon if you want to see pictures of Hudson! Run a 5K this weekend use the #hudsonsheroesrunners + tag me @workhardmomharder! I'm donating the 'race fees' to the Forget-Me-Not Program. You can also donate directly by clicking here.

One entry and a longer ramble about the book of Esther and how even when God isn't mentioned, He's working. I meant to say this when I recorded it (I thought it while on a walk) - God doesn't need credit.  More links I made sure to include:  Buy the book on Amazon  One final weekend left to run a 5K and use the #hudsonsheroesrunners + tag me @workhardmomharder! I'm donating the 'race fees' to the Forget-Me-Not Program. You can also donate directly by clicking here.

We finally had the birthday cake for Hudson with family today. I had high expectations of myself and my ability to communicate very deep and loving things to the people who carried us through those tough weeks after Hudson died. But I was basically a shell of a human. And sometimes you just have only that much to give.  I'm realizing how much of our experience with Hudson has been sanded down to only reveal the uplifting, the 'what we get because of her' stuff instead of the 'what we don't get and were robbed of' angle. And maybe its heavier than I'm realizing, or maybe I'm just exhausted from the day I had. Either way I felt like these show notes were important to include something about the fact that you can be both - both angry and hopeful, totally zoned out but still a good parent, great at loving your family but bad on this particular day with words. This is the more eloquent way of saying what I ramble on for 5 minutes about at the end of today's episode. But hopefully you're still enjoying the listen. I'm so grateful for the support. More links I made sure to include:  Buy the book on Amazon  Run a 5K ANY TIME in July and use the #hudsonsheroesrunners + tag me @workhardmomharder! I'm running one every weekend and donating the 'race fees' to the Forget-Me-Not Program. Donate directly by clicking here.