What happens in those seasons where you feel like you don’t have anyone there for you? Or when it seems like nobody cares? When your friends move away? When your trust has been betrayed? When you’ve asked for help but haven’t received it? When you’ve asked for prayer and no one prays with you? When you don’t even know how to express what you’re feeling inside? What happens if you’re a ministry leader and don’t feel you can talk to others in your church? What happens if what you’ve been through f...
Jun 14, 2022•9 min•Ep. 70
Hey, my friends. Welcome back to Let’s Encourage One Another. Today, we are going to talk about one of the most common things we experience when we have a friend who is hurting. “I don’t know what to say.” It is a problem we all struggle with when someone we care about is hurting. We’re afraid of being the one who messes it up. We don’t want to be the person they remember as saying the off-handed comment at the funeral. We don’t want to push our friend away because of some careless words that sl...
Jun 07, 2022•9 min•Ep. 69
Today I am talking with fitness coach Carmen James about her journey with cancer and how she has—or has not—experienced God through it. Perhaps you’re a bit taken aback by the combination of the words “cancer” and “fitness coach.” And Carmen was, too. It was never something she thought she would have to face. Yet it was something that came knocking on her door anyway. Throughout our conversation, Carmen and I talk about things like when others worry about you because you’re sick, the power of pr...
May 31, 2022•46 min•Ep. 68
Today we are going to talk about something that all of us deal with, and that is fear and anxiety. I have to admit that there are times when I get so afraid of something that my thoughts just start going crazy. I can start thinking about all kinds of scenarios that just get me worked up even more, afraid and anxious and restless, and it just is not good. Perhaps for you, it’s worrying about a medical diagnosis, or the safety of your children, or protecting your home from natural disasters. Whate...
May 27, 2022•6 min
Today, we are going to talk about a problem that so many of us struggle with—and it’s actually a two-fold problem: saying no to someone’s invitation to help and then also accepting no as an answer to your offer of help. But why are we talking about this in the first place? I mean, do we really have a hard time saying no to others when we need to? When they offer something we don’t really need? Are we really okay when we offer help to someone else and they decline? Here’s why I bring this up: whe...
May 24, 2022•11 min•Ep. 67
Some of my favorite episodes on other podcasts are when coaches let you listen into a live session. You can hear them as they are talking with someone about an issue or problem that they want to figure out. And I knew that this was something that I would love to incorporate on my own podcast as a spiritual director. What better way to give you a taste of what it’s like than to let you listen in to a session? But I ran into two problems. The first problem is that a spiritual direction session is ...
May 17, 2022•14 min•Ep. 66
There are times when we are caring for others—or when they are caring for us—when something rubs us the wrong way. Maybe they say something to us. Maybe it’s their tone of voice when they say something to us. Maybe we can’t even identify what it is, exactly, but we know it doesn’t sit well with us. Let’s be honest… this happens even when we’re not caring for others, right? But I’ve found that when we are interacting with someone we love, especially when we are trying to help them, we can be more...
May 10, 2022•11 min•Ep. 65
I mentioned last week that I have been meeting so many amazing gals online and I can’t wait to introduce you to them all. Today is one of those conversations. Eva Kubasiak is the host of the Bible Study Made Simple podcast and is passionate about breaking down barriers to Bible study so beginners can learn and love God’s Word. But there was a time when anxiety had Eva questioning God and her relationship with Him. If you struggle with anxiety, doubt, or questions about your faith, I know that Ev...
May 03, 2022•31 min•Ep. 64
Today’s guest is blogger and writer Celia Miller, and she and I met on Instagram. We both follow one particular writer, and somehow or another, we found each other and realized pretty quickly that we’re both passionate about Christian spiritual practices, especially the more contemplative ones like prayer and journaling. As Celia and I have gotten to know one another, I knew I wanted to introduce you to her. So in today’s conversation, we dive more into spiritual practices and some of the ones t...
Apr 26, 2022•38 min•Ep. 63
I know that many of us think about more traditional spiritual practices like Bible study, Bible reading, prayer, and service. But what I’d like propose to you is that almost anything can be a spiritual practice—if you invite God into it. Washing the dishes. Doing the laundry. Caring for your kids. Today, I want to introduce you to a spiritual practice I have been trying to incorporate into my daily rhythm. It is something that helps me both start and end my day with God. And I call it, “Good Mor...
Apr 22, 2022•10 min
Have you ever made a decision that you knew was the right one for you, that you felt was aligned with God’s will and calling for you, and then found yourself worrying about it or second guessing yourself in the days and weeks—maybe even months—following it? I think we all face times when we wonder, Did I make the right decision? Or maybe, Did I hear God correctly? Is this what He wanted me to do? Whether we made a decision to care for someone else or to move our family to another town or to purs...
Apr 19, 2022•13 min•Ep. 62
If I had to pick one author who has most deeply impacted me and taught me about life with God, I daresay it is Sharon Garlough Brown. The way she is able to weave spiritual insight into a story format resonates with me, and I am able to connect not only with her characters but also connect more deeply with God. And that is just one of many reasons why I am excited to share this conversation with you today. Sharon and I were able to talk about her books, but also about her own experience in spiri...
Apr 12, 2022•46 min•Ep. 61
It seems like the moment I finally settle into a good rhythm or routine, there is a changing of the seasons. Something comes up that requires me, that invites me, to make adjustments. We are contemplating a pretty big change in our family and that has left me praying about these very things. I’m thinking about priorities and schedules and what God has called us to and weighing it all before the Lord to see where He leads. Perhaps you, too, are facing a season of change. Not just changing from wi...
Apr 05, 2022•13 min•Ep. 60
Most of us, throughout our lives, will have someone who is struggling with something really heavy. And we want to be there for them. We really do. But when we think about being able to help them or care for them, we feel completely lost and overwhelmed. And I think a lot of that boils down to the fact that we try to do too much on our own. Think back to episode 49, about finding your stretcher bearers. Sometimes, it is enough for us to have one or two close friends supporting us as we limp throu...
Mar 29, 2022•19 min•Ep. 59
In this episode, we are going to go through a liturgical prayer together that was written for those who have experienced a loss and are about to leave that time of marked grieving and return to daily living. To go back to school, back to work. To start paying the bills again or resuming whatever schedule we had prior to the loss. It is a difficult season to be in—still grieving, yet required to step back into life. I know that so many of you have experienced loss recently—whether that was the lo...
Mar 24, 2022•7 min
What do you do when you feel like you don’t have a purpose? Or maybe let me ask it this way, Do you feel like you are living life on purpose? Do you struggle to find meaning with the work you do—whether that’s a traditional job, a ministry you lead, or even caring for your own family and loved ones? I have seen, time and again, that when people feel purposeless, they struggle to have hope. They struggle to find meaning. Have you ever felt that way? And if so, what do you do in those moments? To ...
Mar 22, 2022•48 min•Ep. 58
Today, I am going to be sharing with you a session I led at the Women’s Ministries Conference offered by Small Church Summits. I spoke specifically to women’s ministries leaders about ministering to the gals in their church who were going through a difficult season, such as grief, depression, anxiety, or caring for an aging parent. This is a true heart-to-heart conversation. I want so desperately to help leaders understand what it might be like for someone they know to be going through a trying ...
Mar 15, 2022•31 min•Ep. 57
Today I want to conclude a sort of mini-series about journaling and reflection with a reflection of my own, and it’s going to center around a personal retreat I took a couple of weeks ago. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 27:8 (NLT), which says, “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’” And to me, that speaks of an invitation from God and spend time with Him, to talk with Him about what’s weighing on my heart, and to hear what He might h...
Mar 08, 2022•16 min•Ep. 56
This week, we are going to dive deeper into our conversation about journaling and reflection as I talk with business strategist and podcast host Elizabeth McCravy. As I have listened to Elizabeth’s podcast episodes, I have seen how she so naturally incorporates reflection and journaling into her everyday life, both personally and for her business. It is just something that she does so well. And so I asked her if she would be willing to talk more with us about that. We got to talk about the big p...
Mar 01, 2022•48 min•Ep. 55
For those of us who are drawn to journaling, whether we are new to it or have been at it for years, there are still some obstacles and questions that come up. I don’t have time to journal. I don’t know what to write about. Writing by hand is hard for me. Is there a way to journal where I don’t have write it out by hand? I started journaling, but it’s hard for me to make it a regular practice. What if I don’t want anyone else to read it? So today, while I can’t dive into everything there is to kn...
Feb 22, 2022•16 min•Ep. 54
This is another bonus episode, where we tend to focus on spiritual practices and faith. And in today’s episode, I am sharing a message I gave a couple of weeks ago at my church. As you can see from the title, this focuses on Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, and it piggybacks on what we are learning in the Soul Care Group this month. We are looking at this passage and we are exploring the SOAP Bible study method, breath prayers, and art journaling. If you want to join us there, you ca...
Feb 17, 2022•31 min
Today, I have the pleasure of introducing you to certified coach and author Rayna Neises. Rayna is my go-to resource when it comes to those who are in a season of caregiving. What is caregiving? It’s simply a season of caring for someone else. For some of you, this means caring for a child with special needs, for others it means taking care of someone who is chronically ill or after they have surgery and need someone helping to take care of them. In Rayna’s case, it was caring for her dad after ...
Feb 15, 2022•48 min•Ep. 53
These past few days, there has been a lot of talk in my world about music. Music as one way to worship God. Music we miss hearing on the radio. How we all like different types and styles of music. People also talk about how they use music to set their mood for whatever activity they are doing, so if they need a power hour at work, maybe they use energetic and upbeat music to keep their energy up and moving at a quick pace. Or if they are reading quietly, they might have soft piano music playing ...
Feb 08, 2022•13 min•Ep. 52
A couple of weeks ago, in episode 49, we talked about finding your stretcher bearers, those people who can carry you through difficult and challenging seasons like illness, grief, and depression. But how do you choose who to go to for help? Who do you choose as your stretcher bearers? Today, I want to narrow in on finding those safe people we can trust and depend on. What makes them safe? How do we discern who is safe and who is not? While there is no definitive answer, I want to suggest some gu...
Feb 01, 2022•16 min•Ep. 51
“Grief isn’t something you get over; it is something you learn to accept. In order to heal, we need to get uncomfortable. We need to make space for our grief by spending time in the quiet, by leaning on a community of people who truly get it, and by doing things that soothe our soul.” Those words come from an email sent from Jessy Paulson on the fourth anniversary of her sister’s death as she shared four things she learned about grief. And in today’s episode, Jessy and I sit down and dive deeper...
Jan 25, 2022•41 min•Ep. 50
One of the books that have meant the most to me in this season of caring for others is Becoming a Stretcher Bearer , by Michael Slater. The whole premise of Slater’s book is how we can be like the four men who carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus on a mat, digging a hole through the roof, even, to get him to Jesus. We can help carry our friends through their difficult seasons until they are well enough to walk on their own again. But today, we’re turning that around and thinking about when we...
Jan 18, 2022•11 min•Ep. 49
In today’s bonus episode, where we try on some spiritual practices together, I would like to read you a chapter from my Imagine devotional, which incorporates imaginative prayer in the writing. Imaginative prayer, as we talked about in episode 47, is about really trying to enter into the story and watch it unfold in front of you. Or, perhaps, you try to enter in as one of the characters in the story. It’s much like reading a fiction book and experiencing what the main character is experiencing. ...
Jan 13, 2022•8 min
Pre-deciding is exactly what it sounds like: making a decision before a decision actually has to be made. This eliminates the pressure of having to make a last-minute decision that may not be thought out, and it also helps with decision fatigue, those times when you’re making decision after decision after decision and you just don’t want to make another decision. And it’s incredibly important during difficult seasons to decide some things in advance. So join me for this episode as I share some e...
Jan 11, 2022•17 min•Ep. 48
It is the beginning of a new year, and I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely determined to spend more time with God in His Word—not just reading it and not just to check it off my to-do list, but to actually engage with Him and listen to see what He wants to share with me this year. Has He laid that desire on your heart, as well? But I know that sometimes, I get stuck in what to actually do in my quiet time with Him. Sometimes I need something to help me do more than just read, but to enga...
Jan 04, 2022•15 min•Ep. 47
Can you believe we are just a few days away from the new year? It’s a time full of reflection and planning (both of which I love). It’s a time of identifying our word for the year or setting goals or intentions. And honestly, there’s a lot I enjoy about starting a new year or a new season. So as we get ready to enter into 2022, I want to offer you some special encouragement. I know it’s so easy for me to hear what other people are doing and compare myself to them, often feeling like I don’t meas...
Dec 28, 2021•10 min•Ep. 46
