PRN: Pause, Renew, Next

Join me for 20 minutes today as we meditate together on Hebrews 12. We’ll start our time together with a slow down exercise, then read and reflect together, noticing what this passage can teach us about resilience.

I hope that this time allows you to pause in your day and reflect on the Word of God. Feel free to just listen and soak it in or to get your Bible and read along. We’ll be reading today in multiple translations: The ESV, the NIV, the Amplified Version, and the Message.

May you be encouraged on your...

Are you curious about diving deeper into your story? In this episode, we’re talking about storywork and how our personal narratives shape our spiritual journeys. I am so thankful for this conversation with guest, author, and spiritual director Jenn Suen Chen. She’s recently written a book called, Dim Sum and Faith: How Our Stories Form Our Souls, which we talk about in today’s conversation.

In this episode we’re exploring themes of storywork, culture, resilience, spiritual growth, community, and more. Jenn’s gentle presence and valuable wisdom are a gift that ministered to me, and I’m su...

After a long summer break, I’m so happy to be back with you for Season 8 of the podcast! This season, our theme is resilience, and today’s episode is an introduction into resilience and what you can expect this season. We’ll start our time together taking a few deep breaths, and then we’ll begin to explore the topic of resilience.

I’m so grateful and excited to begin a new podcast season and to learn and grow alongside you as we gain understanding of and capacity for resilience this year.

If you enjoy this...

One of my favorite passages in the New Testament is 2 Corinthians 4, so you can imagine my delight when I found out that today’s guest, Rev. April H. Cranford, recently led her church through a worship series about this passage. They called it the Treasured Clay Worship Series. She says,”throughout the series, we explored the divine power that resides within us as clay pots, each of us carrying the treasure of Christ.”

In this episode, April and I explore themes of disability, worship, advocacy, leadership, and soul-care. I’m really thankful for this conversation, and I hope you...

What does it mean to be in process? As we prepare to wrap up Season 7 of the podcast, I’m offering some reflections on what it means to be a human in process.
We’ll also circle back around to some themes that we’ve talked about this season. I hope that you come away from this episode seeing your own humanity and transformative journey with a little more grace.

It’s been a couple of months since we did a Scripture meditation together, and it seems fitting to focus on themes of suffering and resurrection this week as we approach Easter.

We’ll begin our time together with a breath prayer and then transition into the reflection and meditation time. If you’d like to follow along in your Bible, we’ll be reading Philippians 3: 7-16 together, and we’ll spend the most time on verses 10 and 11.

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.

If you know a child with big, baffling behaviors, then today’s episode is for you! If you don’t, stick around, because this conversation will open your eyes to the reasons behind behaviors you may have dismissed as being a result of “willful behavior” or “bad parenting.”

I am so grateful for my guest today, Fran Ballengee, LCMHC. She has become an expert on this subject working with children for many years as a licensed counselor. She also comes to this topic with personal experience, which she shares about on today’s episode. Fran is a gem, and I ben...

When’s the last time you were curious? To be human means you are a question asker, and in today’s episode we’re going to reflect together on both the beauty and the frustration of this process. I hope you come away from this episode with a new perspective on learning.

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.

In this podcast episode, I’m joined by my colleague Josh Howlett, to talk about an often mentioned, but little understood emotion, joy. Josh embodies joy, and I’m so thankful he could join us to share his perspective on this subject. We talk about cultivating joy, the importance of joyful movement, and Josh shares what it means to enjoy and be enjoyed by God and others.

Before he was a counselor, Josh worked in pastoral ministry. In our conversation, he tells the story of how he transitioned into the counseling field. He also shares some of the...

Ruptures can occur in all of our relationships, but have you ever considered that you can have ruptures within your relationship with yourself as well? Today, we’re continuing our series on being a human in process by examining this idea. We’ll also talk a bit about the importance of attunement and grace.

If you enjoy this episode, and you’d like to hear more about the rupture and repair cycle, you can go back and listen to my previous episode on this topic: Rupture and Repair. Additionally, the Being Known Podcast has a whole series about...

Today, we’re continuing our theme of being a human in process, by considering normal human emotions and reactions that tend to come up as we are navigating life as a human on planet earth. Particularly, we’re looking at emotions and reactions related to the fight/flight response. In January we talked about anger, fear, and stress, and today we’re turning our attention to worry and anxiety.

In this episode, I’ll talk about how anxiety and fear are different, the importance of felt safety, how we can experience anxiety and worry differently depending on our back...

Today we’re looking at the other half of the fight or flight response by considering fear and stress. What are they? What purpose do they serve? In what ways are they often misunderstood? We’ll talk about all of this and also look at some examples of where fear shows up in the Bible.

As always, we’ll begin by doing a slow down exercise and end with a benediction.

Next time, we’ll dig a little deeper by talking about anxiety and worry.

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.<...

Today we’re considering an often misunderstood but necessary emotion, anger. Being a human in process means that we will experience a variety of emotions, both comfortable and uncomfortable. In the next couple of episodes, we’ll be covering some of the less comfortable emotions. In this episode, I’d like to talk about anger, what it is, the purposes it serves, and the ways that it is often misunderstood, especially in faith arenas.

Over the course of this episode, I also reference two past PRN episodes, as well as an episode of the Vox podcast. I will l...

If you love birds or nature, then you are really going to enjoy today’s conversation with guest, Courtney Ellis, about her new book, Looking Up: A Birder’s Guide to Hope Through Grief. This is such a great episode about ministry, grief, mindfulness, and soul-care. It’s also sprinkled throughout with great bird facts!

Courtney is a such a fun person and she wears a lot of hats! She’s an author, a pastor, and a podcaster. If you listen to this episode and find yourself wanting to know more about Courtney, her podcast, and her book, yo...

Today, we conclude our series on the Psalms by examining Psalms of new orientation. We’ll be looking for signs of life, of rescue, of reversal of fortune, and of thanksgiving as we meditate upon Psalms 34 together.

What is clear in all of these Psalms of new orientation is that there is a celebration of the coming of God, who now establishes new rule. So this week, on the second week of Advent as we focus our attention on peace, we can remember that the Prince of Peace himself, came to be with us. He came to ta...

We’re continuing our series on the Psalms and what they teach us about being a human in process. Today, we’re talking about psalms of disorientation. These are songs of darkness, of grief, of anger, of lament, and of complaint. These psalms answer the question of how we might worship and pray when our world is in disarray. Walter Brueggemann writes, “The use of these psalms of darkness may be judged by the world to be acts of unfaith and failure, but for the trusting community, their use is an act of bold faith, albeit a transformed faith.”

A...

Today we continue our series on the Psalms and learning what they teach us about being a human in process. We’ll be meditating on a psalm of orientation today, Psalm 19. Psalms of orientation evoke gratitude for the blessings of creation and God’s good law. It just so happens that we’ll be reading this on the week of Thanksgiving, which is fitting!

If you missed last week’s episode, I hope you’ll go back and give it a listen as it gives a good overview of Walter Brueggemann’s ideas about Psalms of Orientation, Disorientati...

We might call this mini-series, “where faith meets mental health.” More specifically, we would call it, “where worship and prayer meet mental health.” For the next few weeks, we are going to be diving into the Psalms and examining them through Walter Brueggemann’s lens of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. This framework beautifully encapsulates being a human in process, and what that can look like in different seasons of our faith.

In this episode, I’ll be giving an overview of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. We’ll also talk about how this idea intersects with the gospel sto...

How can we find hope when darkness and suffering linger? This week’s guest, Claudia Campbell, shares about her experience of wrestling through just that question. She recently wrote a book of reflections called These Stones Remain, in which she processes the Lord’s faithfulness through dark seasons.

Claudia is full of joy, and her authenticity is so refreshing. In this episode, we talk about themes of loss, special needs parenting, giving and experiencing grace, as well as her love of peonies and coffee.

So, grab your own cup of coffee or tea, make yourself comf...

Join me today for a short and sweet reflection episode about how the Lord’s grace met me in an unexpected way last spring. We’ll start by doing a regulation exercise together called the magic moustache. Then, I’ll share a story about a bird from the Lord.

I’d love to hear your story of how the Lord’s grace has surprised you in big or small ways. Feel free to share below!

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.

It’s time for a biography episode! Today, we’re talking about Helen Roseveare, a doctor, writer, missionary, speaker, and ditch-digger. Her faith and her story will both inspire and challenge you.

I was first introduced to Helen’s story a few years ago, and over the past few months as I was considering who to study next, the Lord brought her back to my mind. Helen, both in the mountains and the valleys of her life, was captivated and compelled by the love of Jesus.

At the beginning of the episode, I mentioned that a frie...

If you feel like you’re in survival mode and white knuckling your way through life, then this episode and this book are for you. It was a joy to have Sarah Pascual on the podcast today to talk with me about a book that we both recently read called, Try Softer, by Aundi Kolber, MA, LPC.

On a previous episode, Sarah and I discussed the book, Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest, and we had so much fun, I invited her back to discuss another book. Sarah is in the process of becoming a spiritual director, an...

Today, we’re continuing our series of being in process by exploring the five grief stages. Loss is a normal part of the human journey, and it’s helpful and empowering to understand the ways in which we may experience it. Although when we think about grief, often sadness is what comes to mind, there is actually so much more to the grief process.

I hope that as you listen, you’ll take time to reflect and notice when you’ve experienced each of the stages described. It may also help you better understand and have empathy for thos...

This week we’re talking about a subject that is an integral part of the human condition, grief. It’s a pretty important topic to start with, when it comes to being a human in process, because to be human, means to face loss: loss of dreams, expectations, people, and relationships.

Although this episode is definitely not exhaustive when it comes to tackling such a nuanced and complicated subject, I hope it does serve as a gentle starting place for us to begin noticing and attending to the places in our own lives that we need to lame...

In this short reflection episode, we’re diving into the theme of Season 7: being a human who is in process. You’ll hear how I arrived at this theme and some of the things that you can expect throughout the coming months on the podcast.

We’ll begin our time together with a slow-down exercise and end our time together with some Scripture reading and a benediction. I hope you’ll come away from this episode encouraged and excited about exploring this theme further with me this season!

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jes...

Welcome to Season 7 of the PRN Podcast! I’m so excited to kick of this new season with a fantastic guest, Sarah Westfall. Sarah recently wrote a book called, The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who We Are and How We Relate. I loved getting to dive into deep conversation with her about such an important topic.

This season on the podcast, our theme is “in process.” We, as humans, are all in process, most of us finding ourselves in the messy middle, navigating our way. Belonging and community is an important aspect of the human experience, and I’m gr...

Do you need a gentle invitation to exhale? If so, then this conversation is really going to minister to you. This is the last episode of Season 6, and I am so happy that we could end the season with this conversation about slow-living. My guest today is author and podcaster, Jodi Grubbs. She and I have been friends online for a few years, and it was such a joy to get to talk with her! I think you’re really going to enjoy this conversation as well.

Jodi recently published her first book: Live Slowly: A Gentle In...

As we wrap up Season 6 about telling our stories, I want to leave you with some practical places to begin your own story work. In this reflection episode, I’m laying out four integral parts of story work: reflection, writing, telling, and listening. I hope you’ll come away from this episode with good ideas, practical tips, and inspiration to begin your own journey of storytelling.

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.

Join me for this 12 minute Scripture meditation episode as we reflect on the imagery of Christ as our Good Shepherd. We’ll be spending time in both Psalm 23 as well as in John 10 if you’d like to read along.

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hike the Appalachian Trail? It sounds epic, right? Well, today’s guest, Julie Long, is here to talk about her family’s Appalachian Trail adventure. Her husband and son are currently hiking it, and are nearing the end. She talks about what their experience has been like, as well as what it has been like for her to support them on their journey.

In this episode, Julie shares fun facts about the AT, things that her family is learning, challenges that they are overcoming, as well as ways...

In today’s reflection episode, I’m exploring an existential spiritual question: Are we supposed to bear fruit in every season? This question relates to both soul care and our stories, because the truth is, we all experience different and unique seasons of life.

Join me for 11 minutes as we do a slow-down and centering exercise and then reflect together. I’ll be sharing some of what the Lord is showing me about resting this year. I am also releasing this episode in blog form, so if you’d like to read along or go reflect by reading...

Have you ever thought about how God’s will intersects with your story? In this reflection episode, we’ll consider specifically what we’re telling ourselves about God’s will and how that affects our thinking, our view of ourselves, and our stories.

So, in story language, we’ll be talking about three parts: the past, the story that’s already been written, the present, the life we’re now living, and the future, the parts that are left to be written.

As always, we’ll begin our time together with a slow-down exercise and end our time tog...

Today, we’ll be examining the characters who show up in our stories through the lens of relationship. Specifically, we’ll be talking about 3 paradigms for relationship: independence, codependence, and interdependence. Each of these relationship strategies affect the way we view relationships, and thus the way we interact with the people in our lives. I hope you’ll join me for this 15 minute reflection episode as we consider how our relationship strategies affect the way we interpret our own stories.

What are emotions and what purpose do they serve? In this episode, we’ll answer that question, as well as talk about how we can recognize, name, and learn to regulate them. It was a joy to talk in this episode with my friend and fellow counselor, Deni Huttula, about emotional regulation and about her book, The Bridges of Chara: an allegory for your brain’s emotional landscape.

Deni shares about her history of working with children who struggle with emotional and behavioral challenges, and how that experience led her to write her book. We also talk abou...

In today’s episode, we’re going to be meditating on one of Jesus’ parables, and gleaning what He is teaching about His kingdom through the story. If you’d like to read along, we’ll be reading from Luke 12. As always, we’ll read the passage 3 times, so that we can spend time thinking, noticing, repeating, pondering, and giving the Word space in our minds and hearts.

I’d love to hear what you noticed or thought about as we read this passage together. Feel free to share below!

May you be encouraged on your journey w...

In the second part of my conversation with Leah, she shares about the unexpected difficulties she has faced as a parent. Leah is a single parent of four adopted children, and she honestly talks about the realities of that journey. She also speaks about being a parent of children with special needs.

Leah is so honest and authentic in telling her story, and it is a story that we all need to hear. Whether or not you’re a single parent, an adoptive parent, or a special needs parent, you will come away from this episode with co...

Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and settle in for quite a conversation today, friends. It was a joy to talk with my friend, Leah Stirewalt, as she shared her story on this episode. It is no easy story, and to say the least, it has layers. Leah has experienced unexpected grief so many times, that she has felt as if she had a “target on her back.”

Whether or not you have experienced grief yourself, you will come away from this episode wiser. Leah shares the nitty gritty about making it through difficult circ...

Did you know that there is more than one kind of memory? In telling our stories, we are accessing both explicit and implicit memories to form a coherent narrative.

In this episode, we’ll begin with a calming exercise, then talk about the role of about explicit and implicit memory in our lives and in our stories. We’ll end with an exercise that can help to access and incorporate both kinds of memory. Make sure to have a paper and pencil nearby for this one!

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.

What is memory, and how does memory affect how we process and tell our own story? In the next couple of episodes we’re going to dive into that subject together. We’re also going to talk about how we are story-bound people. So, join me for this 150th episode of the podcast, as we explore our stories through the lens of memory.

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.

Join me today, as we spend a few minutes together meditating on one the stories of Jesus. His stories, called parables, are earthly stories that carry a heavenly meaning. They share ideas and metaphors to describe his Kingdom. If you want to read along, we’ll be in Matthew 13, in the New Living Translation. We’ll end our time together with a breath prayer.

May you be encouraged on your journey with Jesus.