Crunchy Stewardship

Starting the Crunchy Journey: An Introductory Episode

• Katie Jones

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Introduction to Crunchy Stewardship: A Holistic Approach to Health and Finances

In this introductory episode of Crunchy Stewardship, cousins Katie Jones and Chrissy Rombach share their passion for holistic living rooted in a biblical foundation. They discuss their personal journeys towards embracing a 'crunchy' lifestyle, covering topics like natural pregnancy, non-toxic living, and financial stewardship in alignment with Christian values. Katie and Chrissy also introduce their motivations for starting the podcast, aiming to inspire and equip listeners to steward their health and finances in a way that honors God. They encourage listeners to join their new Facebook group, 'Crunchy Christian Mamas on a Budget,' as a space for sharing knowledge and fostering community.

00:00 Welcome to Crunchy Stewardship
01:07 Katie's Journey to Crunchiness
03:42 Chrissy's Path to a Holistic Lifestyle
07:33 The Financial Side of Crunchy Living
09:38 Meet Your Hosts: Katie and Chrissy
17:17 Join Our Community


LINKS

FREE How to Afford Non-Toxic Living Workbook: https://crunchystewardship.com/how-to-afford-non-toxic-living

Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crunchychristianmama

Katie Jones:

Hey, and welcome to Crunchy Stewardship. My name is Katie Jones,

Chrissy Rombach:

and my name is Chrissy Roach. Katie and I are two cousins who are passionate about learning and sharing knowledge to equip others to steward their financial, mental, emotional, financial, and physical health in order to honor God in every aspect of their lives.

Katie Jones:

In this podcast, we are taking a deep dive into what it means to steward our lives as God originally intended for us with the resources that he has given us. We are going to look at topics like food, medicine, finances, mental health, and tons of others that we have ideas on. More through this kind of natural lens and with a biblical foundation. So without further ado, we're gonna dive into this kind of introductory podcast episode to talk about what we're doing a little bit more, why we're doing it, and kind of our passion behind it.

Chrissy Rombach:

Hmm. Yeah. So Katie, what was the first thing that really kind of made you click into becoming crunchy?

Katie Jones:

Yeah, it's kind of funny. I, I don't know if I have like a really, really defining moment, but it really kind of started when. When we were trying to get pregnant, so this was back in 2020, which also had a lot of, there was a lot of crazy stuff going on, right? Obviously 2020 brings up a lot of emotions for many of us, but that was the year that my husband, Wes and I, we had officially made the decision to start trying to begin our family and. At that time I started reading a lot of books, right? Like, like I do. And, and as we begin this podcast and go into it, I'm sure I will mention lots of these books, but I just, I got a few books that were talking about getting pregnant and eating and, and what we should be doing in order to like boost our fertility. And so I started to recognize like, oh, there's a lot of things that I could be doing differently with my lifestyle in order to. Kind of bring my body to a place that was like prepared and ready to grow a little baby inside of it. So that was probably one of the first, uh, the first kind of like points of entry into this crunchy lifestyle. But I would say what really pushed me over the edge was. Once I finally became pregnant several years later, which we'll talk about at some point, I was dedicated to not using an epidural, and it was mostly out of fear of needles for myself. And at the same time, I had heard things like, oh, maybe epidurals aren't the most natural. You know, the drugs might be not great for you and the baby, and all these things. And so. I was like, you know what? I wanna learn more about this, and so I want to figure out how can I have a baby without having an epidural, because that's kind of what everybody does, right? Mm-hmm. I, I've heard that it's painful. And so I started researching this and I started getting into kind of this more holistic side of pregnancy and birth, and that's, that's really where my like super crunchy journey began. It, it. It started with the whole pregnancy stuff, but then really the tipping point was actually becoming pregnant and wanting to, to do it the most non-toxic way as possible. But I don't think I would've defined myself as crunchy until probably the last handful of months, like once I became a mama and I was like, I am dedicated to this. So. How about you, Chrissy? What, do you have like a defining moment, or was it just kind of like a, A ripple effect?

Chrissy Rombach:

Yeah. You know, I think it was also kind of a ripple effect. I think the foundation was originally laid, um, back when I was in eighth grade, so 13-year-old me. Yeah. My mom was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and she, yeah. Got super sick and I remember like, she was so skinny. I think she got down to like maybe 105 pounds and she's five seven. Wow. She's not a short human. Um, I just remember always like sitting at the dinner table and her not being able to make it through a meal because she needed to go to the bathroom and, um. The doctor had threatened to resect her colon because it had gotten so bad, and she did a last stitch effort so that the doctor did not have to do the surgery and she decided to change her diet and, um. I, of course was 13 years old. I didn't really care all that much. I just wanted my mom to be better. So I didn't really know exactly what she was doing, but I do remember her constantly making yogurt and boiling bones. Yes. And I didn't understand. I was like, you're always making this bone broth and you're growing your little baby yogurt cultures in the corner of the kitchen. I don't understand what's going on, but. She healed and now to this day, like she has the capability to eat a Chick-fil-A chicken nugget and not die. And it's just looking back, I realize like how she really did use like the benefits and the food that God created for us originally to heal her body from. This life altering illness, you know? So that was the original foundation, but I really didn't actually start quote unquote becoming crunchy until maybe about two years ago when my husband and I moved out to North Carolina. We're trying to save money, you know, build up an emergency fund, pay off our debt, save up for our house, all of these goals. And so I was really just looking for ways of like, how can we cut our daily expenditures? In order to meet these financial goals quicker. And one of the things that just killed me every time I went to the store was having to buy detergent, like laundry detergent and dish detergent. I was like, I feel like we're gonna go in debt just by buying detergent. And so I found a way to create a year's worth of laundry detergent that cost me only$5 and has four ingredients and is completely non-toxic. I love it. And after making that switch, it kind of led to a very slow snowball. It started with cleaning supplies and has transitioned into food and water and all the other fun, crunchy things. So, yeah, I guess with me it's also been a little transition, slow process.

Katie Jones:

You know, it's funny, I actually very much remember your mother growing her yogurt. I think that might've been around the time that I was living with you guys and mm-hmm. I just remember it being, and I, I didn't really understand. I remember her having some gut issues and. Stuff. But it's so interesting now, like through this lens that I have today, looking back at that and being like, wow, I can't believe that some of these things that I'm learning now actually worked for her. Yeah. And that has really solidified a lot of what I'm learning about and want to continue to dedicate. Myself too, and, and being, you know, really focused on being a good steward of, of these things, right? Our body, our finances, right? And so I think this really kind of brings it back into a little bit more of our why behind what we're doing. And I think that this will be a great time to talk about it because. My journey too has been, you know, I'm, I am a certified financial counselor and mm-hmm um, I'm helping Christians learn how to manage their money in light of the gospel, and so on my journey to becoming more crunchy and wanting to live this non-toxic lifestyle, again, I'm really dedicated to doing this, but what I've run into many times is like, oh my gosh, switching some of these things is really expensive. Oh, absolutely.

Chrissy Rombach:

It's kind of a financial

Katie Jones:

burden, but at the same time. Getting back to like, my body is a temple and I do want to protect it. I want to, um, be a good steward of it. And, and same thing for our family. I, I wanna do what's best for my baby and I wanna do what's best for my husband and, and just. Really be intentional about that. Mm-hmm. But asking these questions like, how do I do this in a way that also makes sense for our finances? Because I'm, I wanna be a good steward there, right. And right. So for me, in this budgeting mindset, I'm always like, how do I do this? And so you and I, uh, started this conversation many months ago when we were talking about. How do, like we were both like in the space of like, I wanna be organic and I wanna do these things. What are you doing, Chrissy? In order to save money. And so, and every time somebody ask me that

Chrissy Rombach:

question, I always go off on my laundry detergent.

Katie Jones:

Yes. Yes. And I love it once a year and it cost me five. And it's so great and so many people don't know about these things, and so what you and I started learning through our own conversation and then conversations with our other cousins over Christmas. Mm-hmm. We, we have a lot of knowledge, the two of us, because both of us are kind of like spearheading this research and we're really interested mm-hmm. In learning about it. Um, and we found out that a lot of our friends and family want to kind of know about what we're learning. And so, yeah, we thought we'd start a podcast to kind of talk about this more stewardship side of being crunchy. Like how do we steward both our health and our finances together and. Yeah. I, I think that's really unique that we both have this perspective on it. But before we get a little bit further, and I, I wanna give people who maybe don't know us, right? Yeah. That are not our friends and family members, I want to give them a quick introduction of like. Who are we? Where are we from? What are we doing? You know, that way people can get to know us too, that, that aren't our moms who are probably listening to this episode. I, I already had a conversation with my mom who was like, I can't wait till this comes out. I wanna know everything. So, hi mom. That's a shout out to you.

Chrissy Rombach:

I definitely have not told my mom about this one yet.

Katie Jones:

I love it. She's gonna be listening to this. She excited, she's gonna be listening and be like, what is this? So why don't you, Chrissy, start us off with a just a little introduction of like, yeah, who are you, where are you from, what are you doing? Yeah. That kind of stuff.

Chrissy Rombach:

Yeah. So, um, I was born in Chicago, but I was raised for the most part in Texas. So I do consider myself a Texan. Yeah. I grew up in Texas. Loved my life there. Met my husband while I was in college, actually just at the beginning of nursing school. And um, after we got married and I finished nursing school, we moved out to North Carolina so I could start working as a nurse in a local hospital out here. And um, yeah, that has really kind of grown into developing a desire within me to see. Just the whole public really cultivate their health well in every aspect. Um, I work in an orthopedic unit and it actually used to be a trauma unit, so I really was seeing people down, um, at their worst point in their lives. And I came to realize, you know, health really is more than just physical health. It is emotional health, spiritual health, um, mental health, and. You know, it all comes together. And then recently I learned as my husband and I, um, started. Opening a financial coaching business and, um, talking to people about their finances, I really realized that financial health really is woven into that. And so I've developed a desire to see people really, truly be the healthiest that they can be and working in a hospital environment. I think it's kind of kind. We don't necessarily always address the health of the whole person. Um, and so that is one thing that I really want to get into is helping people. To really cultivate the health of their whole person physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and financially. Because if you're missing the health in one of those aspects, you know you're not gonna be really, truly healthy. And so, um, that is one thing that I really wanna do and I wanna get into. And I think working in a hospital environment kinda just gives me a little bit of a kickstart into. Having a little bit of a background of what health is and how the body works and everything like that. Um, and so, yeah, I just wanna share what I've learned with other people. I. Cool.

Katie Jones:

Well, I am Katie Jones. I currently live in Denver, Colorado as we record this, but by the time that this is actually published, I, many people will find out we are actually moving to rural Michigan and I, I, it. Just, it cracks me up right now saying that, um, it's been kind of a long time coming and I'm sure as the podcast unfolds, we'll, we'll share more about that story, but Yep. So when, when people hear this, we will be in the process of kinda getting ready to actually move. Um, so we'll talk more about our, our process of moving to rural Michigan and. What that looks like for our lifestyle. I'm, I'm actually, there's a lot of things that I'm excited about in this kind of crunchy endeavor, um, and what that means for it. Um, moving to more farmland, you know, we already know that people at the church that we're moving to have dairy cows, you know, and things like that. Wow. So just like. I'm really curious, I'm really interested to kind of dive deeper into some of that, because right now in the suburbs of Denver, uh, it's a little bit, uh, it's interesting, it's, it's challenging, but also not to find resources like that. You know, obviously we're in the city, there's an abundance of things, but it's hard to weed through what is. What is truly kind of that holistic, non-toxic stuff versus who's just trying to make money off of this health and wellness, you know, craze that's going on, um, with Mamas across America and stuff, and so. Yeah, it's, it's interesting. I'm excited about the, the move, but for me right now, I, so I'm a mom, I'm also a foster mom, um, which that's a lot of what I do for work, right? Of being a mom is lots of work and so. My husband and I have been parents for two years, um, to our foster kiddos, and then we have a, a little baby who, um, by the time that this podcast comes out, he'll be about one years old. So it's really exciting. Um, but besides being a mom, um, I. Am a certified Christian financial counselor. So I do help individuals learn how to manage their money in light of the gospel, which means, you know, teaching them how to build excellent money management skills so they can kind of free their money up to do what God is calling them to do. And this case, like, I'm really passionate, I'm really excited about helping moms and families live this kind of non-toxic, holistic lifestyle and, and do it in a way that's really. Honoring to God that doesn't, you know. Put their faith to the side because all this is really for the glory of God. And I think that that is something that we should also really mention is like, that's like you and I, Chrissy, I, I know that we're super aligned in that and, and really passionate and dedicated to being true disciples of Jesus, you know, walking in his way and, and teaching other people too about that. And so I'm also a youth pastor's wife. My husband is a youth pastor. And um, that's been a fun journey as well. Mm-hmm. Um, or we love board games and just kinda, yeah. We love being outside and I love gardening too. I'm sure we'll talk about that at the, on the podcast. And. I, I am really excited. I'm really excited about this podcast and what it's going to mean for the two of us in our journey because I think it'll help inspire us to continue to learn and to grow, but also what it means for our friends and family who will listen and grow with us, um, as well as Christians across the United States, and how we can be helping and equipping them to learn these things. Um. And so yeah, that's, that's kind of all of this in a nutshell. Christy, is there anything else that you wanted to add before we kind of wrap up this introductory, kind of first episode of ours?

Chrissy Rombach:

Um, not that I know of right now. I'm really just looking forward to see how God uses this podcast to, um, reach others for his glory and to help others really, truly steward every aspect of their lives well. Yeah,

Katie Jones:

yeah. Well said. Um, if you. Are wanting to really kind of jump in this journey with us and, and become our friends. Like if we, if we don't know you already and you're listening, you're like, Chrissy and Katie sound really cool, uh, come join us. We we're creating a Facebook group to. Really just bind together to learn all this stuff and share. But Chrissy and I are by no means experts. Sure. Chrissy works in the medical field. Her and her husband also do some financial coaching. Yes. To do. Um, and so we're, we're both, you know, in kind of that money space and, but we're by no means the experts on all this. And so I think what we really. Our passion about is just sharing the knowledge that we have, but also coming and, and asking more questions to each other, and, and that's how we all grow. Like ne, neither of us is claiming to have all the answers, and so we'd love for you to join us in our Facebook group.

We've called it Crunchy Christian Mamas on a budget.

Katie Jones:

So come over there and, and join us in the conversation. Feel free to post questions that you have. Um, share your knowledge, share your resources and tips on how you are able to kind of live this non-toxic lifestyle that is, um, also not extremely expensive. We mm-hmm. Yeah. We just, we wanna grow together and glorify God and, and really see the kingdom come, um, here on earth, um, through all of this. So. Join us over there and we hope to chat soon. We'll see you next time. See you later.