Ballerinas and figure skaters are graceful. Some folks exhibit grace under pressure. We say grace before a meal (at least, that’s what people call it where Steph and Beth live). So, what IS grace anyway? Steph asks Pastor Beth to explain “grace,” and together they explore how grace exists culturally outside of any religious context. What is the connection between …
For two years, the COVID pandemic has been our shared global experience. Two years in, we have to ask, have things changed FOR GOOD? Have they changed permanently? Have things changed in a way that is beneficial? Steph and Beth review their own lives and find new commitments to public health as well as new friendships and other positives that …
From the earliest days of dreaming about the podcast, Steph and I knew we wanted to have Dr. Jill (Steph’s psychologist) as a guest. The long-awaited day has arrived! Dr. Jill joins us for a conversation about the kinds of people we can all stop wasting our emotions on. This is a great conversation about narcissism, psychopathy, sociopathy, and more. …
More like this from Beth: Lent Isn’t About You The Compassion of Christ The Reality of Lent
Let’s face it, no one gets through life without some brokenness. We don’t choose our brokenness, but we can choose how we react to it. Do we see our brokenness as something ugly, or can we see the beauty in our healing and recovery? We aren’t saying we are broken but nonetheless beautiful, we are saying we are broken and …
Some words trigger an involuntary reaction or feeling in us. In this episode, Steph and I share personal experiences with words that bother us. For me, it’s hearing someone claim the Bible CLEARLY says something. For Steph, it’s being called GIRL. For both of us, it’s being told we SHOULD do or say something. Sometimes trigger words are a minor …
When Ryan was a little girl, she told people that when she was all grown up she wanted to be a chair. When she was sixteen, a car accident left her a paraplegic. She wouldn’t be a chair, but she would live life from a wheelchair. From the days immediately following the accident to trying out for the US Paralympic …
Sandy was just a teenager who loved her church. It was a place she felt accepted and celebrated. When a new youth pastor was hired, he saw Sandy’s love for the church and used it against her. He started grooming her for a long-term abusive relationship before her sixteenth birthday. When the abuse was finally discovered, the church moved the …
I once heard someone say that when she experienced an unexpected moment of goodness, she thought of it as a love note from God. When she experienced something especially sweet, or when something she expected to be hard turned out to be easy, she felt like she received a love note from God. I like that, don’t you? Maybe you …
Discovering Our Scars Podcast, Episode 104 The pandemic has caused some of us to live in a sort of hibernation. Instead of spending time with friends in real life we’ve either not spent time with friends or we’ve settled for Zoom, social media, or some other slightly disconnected form of connection. As Steph and I spend time with friends again, …