“God has done so much for us in Christ Jesus, and it is beautiful and it is wonderful, and it should change the way we live out our faith—both externally and internally." — Natalie Abbott Today, Natalie Abbott talks about how the book of James is like an ice plunge—a wake-up call for us to live out our faith. And James 1:27 (our memory verse) is where the rubber meets the road, calling us to consider both the external and internal expression of our beliefs. She discusses who modern-day orphans a...
Jun 05, 2024•20 min
"These are not just good words, these are powerful, true, universe-creating words that you are speaking into your soul...these words have the power to completely transform your life. We believe that. We've experienced that." — Vera Schmitz On today's episode, Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz are talking about their new book Dwell Differently: Overcome Negative Thinking with the Simple Practice of Memorizing God's Truth . They discuss how sometimes we get stuck in thought paths that are so consist...
May 29, 2024•25 min
“The words that we speak simply are revealing what’s already there—they’re not making it, they’re not creating it, they’re just the thing that spills over.” — Courtney Doctor Join Natalie Abbott and Courtney Doctor as they discuss how what we say reveals what’s going on inside us, how seeing the ugliness within us come out can sometimes be a gift, and how Jesus enables us to be people with transformed hearts and good that spills out. God himself is our ultimate good and the one who bears good fr...
May 22, 2024•35 min
“Memorizing Scripture…actually stores up the good thing in my heart. The only good things I have are from the Lord. The only good in me is from the Lord….Any goodness that I perform or any kindness that I have first comes from a truth that I’m believing about God or about myself.” — Vera Schmitz What are you filling your mind and heart with these days? Join Vera Schmitz and Natalie Abbott, sisters and co-founders of Dwell Differently, as they talk honestly about their own struggles, encouraging ...
May 15, 2024•23 min
“We have that ability—we can take God’s Word and when it’s ingrained in us we can just take it and pick it up and pray it over ourselves and pray it over our loved ones.” — Jennifer Dukes Lee Today, Jennifer Dukes Lee joins Natalie Abbott to talk about Luke 6:45a, and you won't want to miss it. Jennifer talks vulnerably about how God has met and sustained her and her family in hard seasons through his Word. She encourages us to love our future selves by investing right now in knowing and loving ...
May 08, 2024•38 min
“What you store up in your heart—either good or bad—has a real effect in your life. And the good things that come out of your heart, or the bad things, are the result of what you’re putting inside of you. So here’s the thing: we can know what’s going on inside of us by evaluating what’s coming out of us.” — Natalie Abbott Have you ever said something and been shocked by what came out of your mouth, or maybe even how you said it? Join Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, as she unpack...
May 01, 2024•20 min
“God invites us to participate in what we’re seeing there in Ezekiel 36 and 37. It’s not that we’re making this heart of stone into a heart of flesh—God’s the actor. It’s not that we’re making these dry bones come alive—God’s doing that. But he invites us to be a part of that. That is an incredible privilege and it’s exciting.” — Mike Grenier If you're honest, do you ever feel like you should want to share the gospel more than you do, or that you just don't quite know how to talk about Jesus in ...
Apr 24, 2024•39 min
“When you get to the end of yourself and you’re truly honest with yourself, and then you hear this, and you hear that God comes right then with the promises, ‘I’ll give you a new heart and put my spirit in you,’ that is so good.” — Vera Schmitz We can be tempted to think we just need to be “cleaned up” before coming to Jesus, but our verse this month helps us see the amazing truth about a God who does far more than just clean things up—he brings dead things to life. Join Vera Schmitz and Natalie...
Apr 17, 2024•21 min
"The very thing that we most deeply need as human beings we can’t actually do for ourselves. It’s the work of God in us.” — Natalie Abbott What do you do when you find yourself not caring spiritually, when your heart feels cold toward God? What does it look like to have a heart that is soft toward the Lord? Join Natalie Abbott and Nicole Zasowski as they dig into how Ezekiel 36:26 continues to impact the lives of God’s people. They share practical hope for what to do when our hearts feel callous...
Apr 10, 2024•36 min
“God has given us his own Spirit, and that’s how as believers we are able, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to follow him and to do what is right. But so often, we don’t. And that’s where this verse has been following me around. This verse has been convicting my heart where it’s hard and convicting my spirit where it’s unwilling and not wanting to follow the Holy Spirit who is in me and to listen to his voice and his guidance.” — Natalie Abbott Have you ever read a Bible verse that just keeps ri...
Apr 03, 2024•19 min
“We have a God who first loved us…and sacrificed for us and served us, and that’s a beautiful, beautiful thing." — Jason Abbott This month’s verse raises so many questions: Why is Jesus able to be a ransom for us? What does this verse teach us about the kingdom of God? How does our servant-King’s example impact the way we live our lives? What should I do when I know the right way to serve and love others but just don’t want to? Join Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, and her husban...
Mar 27, 2024•34 min
“If we make Christ greater, then we are thinking of ourselves less…I just want my life to be about Christ…it’s Christ above all , Christ greatest , Christ more . That’s what I want. And so I think that if that is true of me, then service out of that is easier and also I stop vying for position and rank and approval.” — Vera Schmitz Do you tend to keep a scorecard when it comes to serving others? Our verse this month, Mark 10:45, helps us reframe what serving like Jesus really means—especially wh...
Mar 20, 2024•21 min
“Jesus is trying to flip everything you expect upside down so that you can see him as he actually is.” — Caroline Saunders Caroline Saunders joins Dwell Differently’s Natalie Abbott for a super honest conversation about what greatness really is, how to explain the truth of this month’s memory verse to a 10-year-old, what a ransom is, and more. You won't want to miss the practical implications and encouragement they share, helping us serve others like our Savior has served us! This month’s memory...
Mar 13, 2024•39 min
“He came to serve us because we are actually incapable of doing the thing that we most desperately need, which is to be made right before God.” — Natalie Abbott How would you answer the question Jesus asks twice in Mark 10: “What do you want me to do for you?”? If you’re anything like us, you may wrestle with what you think that answer should be and what it really is. Join Natalie Abbott to learn more about the context of this month’s memory verse, Mark 10:45, and to see what these three interac...
Mar 06, 2024•21 min
When it comes to control, we often tend to fell like we have it all under control or like everything is spinning out of control. Our verse this month tells us neither is true. Jesus is the one who is in control. On todays episode our guest, Joanna Kimbrel, shares just how easy it is for us to live under the illusion of our self control, asking Natalie if she's been reading her journal. And she also shares specific times when she felt like everything feels out of control. Joanna tells us why we w...
Feb 28, 2024•43 min
“He sees everything, and there is a peace that comes when you remind yourself of how big and capable he is to hold all things together.” — Vera Schmitz What do you do when peace feels elusive and all the plates that are spinning feel like they’re about to crash? Join Dwell Differently co-founders and sisters, Vera Schmitz and Natalie Abbott, as they talk about times they’ve felt a lack of control in their lives, share how praying the Lord’s Prayer has been so formative, and invite us to give the...
Feb 21, 2024•20 min
“But the Lord, I believe, in his mercy brought me to the end of myself and just said, ‘Actually, Jen, you can’t do it all. You are not self made. You are not self-sufficient. I made you—and I made you for me . And that’s where you’re going to find peace.’” — Jen Oshman What do you do when overwhelm strikes? Or when you find yourself in a place of relying only on your own efforts and self-sufficiency? Join Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, and Jen Oshman as they talk about what to ...
Feb 14, 2024•35 min
If you've ever felt like everything depends on you (maybe you even feel that way right now), like you're the one holding it all together, then today's message is for you! Here is the good news: everything does not depend on you, you are not the one holding it all together. Jesus is. He made, sustains, and will redeems all things. And this is exactly the reminder our weary souls need. On today's episode, Natalie Abbott takes us to God's Word to help us see the beautiful truth of who Jesus is and ...
Feb 07, 2024•17 min
Have you ever struggled with fear, control, or busyness? Who doesn't?! We wanted to revisit this topic today by sharing one of our all-time most helpful episodes (first released in August 2022). Dwell Differently co-founder Vera Schmitz shares how memorizing specific truths from God's Word has helped set her free from these struggles in her own life. She relates how the truth about God's transcendent peace in Philippians 4:6–7 has helped her in anxious moments. She shares how Exodus 14:14 has re...
Jan 31, 2024•9 min
What is God's purpose for us in our pain and suffering? How do we walk through our trials in faithful prayer and even joy? In this episode, Kristen Wetherell answers these questions with vulnerable honesty. Kristen is a pastor's wife, busy mom of three, author, speaker, and she also suffers from chronic pain. In our conversation today, she helps us see how knowing God in his Word is absolutely essential—it's the lens through which all of life makes sense, especially in our suffering. This month’...
Jan 24, 2024•33 min
Our verse this month is Romans 12:12: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." How in the world do we live like this? How do we have joy in our unrealized hopes? How do we patiently endure hardship? How do we faithfully pray in all of it? On today's episode, Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz wrestle through how they try (and often fail) to live like this, pointing us to the foundation and source of our joy, patience, and faithfulness: Jesus. This month’s memory verse: "Be jo...
Jan 17, 2024•24 min
Have you ever wanted to pray but couldn't find the words? In today's episode, Natalie talks with Andrew Peterson and Doug McKelvey about prayer—how we find time to pray in the midst of our lives, how we find words to pray when words are elusive, and how God wants to meet us in all of our emotions and situations with himself. This month’s memory verse: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer " — Romans 12:12 Today's Dwell guests: Andrew Peterson is a recording artist, songwr...
Jan 10, 2024•43 min
Are you good at waiting? Do you want to be? Our verse this month is all about waiting well. In it, we're encouraged to be joyful and patient and faithful in the unrealized and even difficult parts of our lives. But how do we do that? Tune in as Natalie Abbott walks us through the book of Romans, looking at the themes we see in Romans 12:12, and pointing us to the God in whom we can have confidence while we wait. This month’s memory verse: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in pr...
Jan 03, 2024•21 min
Join Vera and Natalie, sisters and Dwell Differently co-founders, as they look back at 2023 and take a sneak peak into some exciting updates for Dwell Differently in 2024. They talk about which verses impacted them the most, their favorite podcast guests of the year, and what they're looking forward to in the new year! This month’s memory verse: "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." — Titus...
Dec 27, 2023•26 min
Tara-Leigh Cobble is convinced that everything we long for in life is found in knowing God and reading his Word—but she didn't always feel that way. In today's episode, she shares with Natalie Abbot her own story of how God moved her from a place of not wanting to read the Bible to actually loving it. She talks about being surprised and encouraged by some totally weird parts of the Bible, and shares about her passionate commitment to helping people understand the Bible on The Bible Recap podcast...
Dec 22, 2023•35 min
Do you feel like you have to get everything right all of the time? On today's episode, Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz talk about the freedom Jesus offers us when we trust in his perfection instead of relying on our own performance. Vera shares honestly about her regular struggle of trying to prove her worth and how verses like Titus 3:4–5a help her refocus on the truth of Christ throughout her day. There's so much encouragement and practical advice in this episode not just for perfectionists, b...
Dec 20, 2023•22 min
Randall Goodgame of Slugs and Bugs joins Natalie Abbott to talk about how memorizing Scripture has impacted his life. They dig into how he found freedom in pointing his kids to Jesus as a dad, the mercy and kindness of God in Titus 3:4–5a, and the ministry the Lord has given him to help families have fun and learn Scripture together! This month’s memory verse: "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his ...
Dec 13, 2023•33 min
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the Christmas things, this episode is for YOU today! Listen in as Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, walks us through the context of this month’s memory verses, highlighting 3 things from the book of Titus: who we were , who we are , and being who we are. Jesus came—and he came for us . This is the kindness and love of God our Savior. This is "good tidings of great joy" for all people! This month’s memory verse: "But when the kindness and love...
Dec 06, 2023•13 min
Tune into this raw conversation between Jarred Lopes of Dad Tired and Matt Schmitz (husband of Dwell Differently co-founder Vera Schmitz) as they offer real encouragement and hope for dads who want to find their identity in Jesus, be spiritual leaders in their homes, and walk in the freedom of the gospel. And for any men who long to live like this, but don’t (and for the women who love them), don’t miss the end of the episode where Jarred shares the miraculous story of how God rescued him out of...
Nov 29, 2023•27 min
Vera Schmitz brings us a heart check-up today: If we truly take inventory, are we just wanting the blessings of God, or are we wanting God himself? Tune in to hear a powerful quote from John Piper, the story of Vera’s battle with anxiety and what she learned in that season, and some helpful questions to evaluate what your heart is truly treasuring today. This month’s memory verse: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." — Matthew 6:21 Memorize Scripture with us: Find out mor...
Nov 22, 2023•9 min
