It’s all too easy slip into believing lies over God’s truth. My guest today shares that healing is possible and opens up about her personal healing journey from both physical and emotional abuse and chronic illness.

An author, radio host, and national speaker, Susie Larson, talks about how intertwined our emotional, spiritual, and physical health are. We talk through stories that are in her new book, “Fully Alive”, and she shares about some powerful experiences she’s had with the Lord.

“The Lord whispered through the chaos in my bathroom. The storms reveal the lies we believe and the truth we need. The enemy’s railing and saying I’m going to get you. I’ve got you by the throat and I felt like my throat was starting I could swallow and my esophagus was spasming. It’s just horrifying to hear the whisper again. Storms reveal the lies we believe and the truth who need.”

There’s so much hope and truth in this episode for all of us who are believing for healing this side of heaven. For more inspiration from Susie, I highly recommend her book, “Fully Alive”**, which is available for pre-order right now.

What we chat about:

• Susie’s experiences with abuse both physical and emotional
• How our bodies hold onto trauma and hindrances to the healing process
• Storms reveal the lies we believe and the truth we need
• The idea of blessing guilt and surrendering to God for healing
• The lie of learned helplessness and the truth that we’re not helpless with Jesus
• Rejecting the lies of the enemy and addressing unbeliefs in our soul
• Confronting the scar tissue of our past and the life that’s on the other side of it
• God absolutely heals and it isn’t specifically a lack of faith that keeps us from receiving healing
• Jesus entered in to other’s pain and suffering, that’s our calling too
• The dangers of over medication and distraction that can keep us from being healed
• The integral role of rest in the healing process

Links Mentioned:

• The Uncommon Woman
• Fully Alive: Learning to Flourish–Mind, Body, and Spirit**
• Your Powerful Prayers**

**Amazon affiliate link to help support the production of this podcast.

So much of the Old Testament in the Bible is devoted to the traditions and celebrations of the Jewish faith. It is all a part of the rich heritage that Jesus was born into and the prophecies he fulfills. As Christians, we often skim over the Jewish feasts and traditions and focus on the New Testament.

My friend Amber Lee shares why we should all consider celebrating one or more of the traditional Jewish feasts and how the rhythm of pausing and celebrating the Lord’s provision can be a life-giving practice for you and your family.

For me it’s a gift that the Lord continues to unfold. It’s like a dad saying, ‘Hey, here’s a way to live life better. Here’s something that is better for your soul. If you would just pause the crazy rat race that you’re running for just a minute, for just two hours, and talk with people that you love about what’s going on.’

We talk about the various feasts and about the practice of keeping the Sabbath. But, more importantly, we acknowledge that participating in these traditions is not about being a better Christian or another thing to put on your to do list. It’s really about intentionally pausing life to celebrate God and inviting others into that celebration.

And in each of the feasts, there’s this foreshadowing of bringing in the Gentile or bringing in the outsider. I think it’s just beautiful and the Lord saying it was always my intent to include everyone.

What we chat about:

• How and why Amber started celebrating feasts
• The biblical background of Jewish feasts and how Jesus interacted with them
• It’s about pausing and celebrating how the Lord has provided
• The names and differences between the various feasts
• The way the feasts were meant to include outsiders and Gentiles
• Learnings about Jewish traditions and observing the Sabbath
• The Sabbath is really about pausing with intention and processing life with the Lord
• All about the feast of Pentecost and how the layers of prophecy fulfillment enrich the understanding of all that Jesus did
• How to start with Jewish feasts and tips for starting in small ways

Links Mentioned:

• Website to learn more –> Hebrew4Christians
• Celebrating Jesus and the Biblical Feasts**
• Celebrating Biblical Feasts**

**Amazon affiliate link to help support the production of this podcast.

Many of us avoid and struggle with conversations about race or disabilities because it’s uncomfortable. When our children ask innocent questions about someone who is different than they are, it can make us feel tongue tied or embarrassed.

Author Dorena Williamson has created some lovely children’s books to help parents respond and invite their children to join them on the journey of learning to love and speak worth over every person that God created.

And I kept feeling frustrated thinking that’s not the solution to teach your children to be colorblind because that’s minimizing the beauty of God’s handiwork. And as Christians we should be the biggest proponents of celebrating the beauty of our racial diversity and not minimizing it or sort of washing it away and this colorblind land.

She shares powerfully about how to engage with your children about racial and cultural differences and how we can model what it looks like to grow in the area of loving and accepting people who are different than us.

As our children get older, I think that these are valuable conversations to have with them because the beauty of it is that it tells your children you are teachable and that you don’t get it right all the time and that you’re continuing to learn and grow.

What we chat about:

• All about Dorena’s family and their multiracial church, Strong Tower Bible Church
• Her book ColorFull and the background behind why she wrote it
• The creativity of God and how he uses color in all that he created
• Looking for opportunities to share the beauty of racial differences with our children
• Language for parents to use to help teach children and avoid shaming
• Reinforcing the idea that “Different is not bad” and calling out the worth of people
• Why equipping kids early is important
• Modeling how we are all growing when it comes to loving and accepting people who are different than us
• Encouraging our children to ask questions even when they are uncomfortable
• Engaging with our kids about other cultures whether we can travel internationally or experience cultures in our own cities

Other books/sites that Dorena recommends: 

• Brownicity.com site with helpful resources (created by a Godly woman Dr. Lucretia Berry)
• The Beatitudes by Carole Boston Weatherford
• The Other Side  by Jacqueline Woodson
• Beabridgebuilder.com
• A list of 28 picture books (aren’t about boycotts, buses or basketball)  –listed created by ScottWood

**Amazon affiliate link to help support the production of this podcast.

Contemporary Christian musicians Chris Rademaker and Jodi King followed God’s call to pursue a musical adventure as the husband-wife duo Love & The Outcome. They share their experiences of selling their home, walking through grief, newlywed life on the road as musicians and their transition into parenting.

Jodi especially talks through how she leans on the Holy Spirit in her parenting, managing expectations and other people’s reactions.

I’ve had to learn how to just know the Holy Spirit. So in the moments when we’re in public and I’m parenting, I focus on Him. It’s so easy to turn and see everyone else’s reaction to what I just did was or I can just try and do my best to really listen to the Holy Spirit in the moment so that I can feel confident in my decisions.

I love how Chris and Jodi open up about playing shows and bringing their two young sons Milo and Ziggy along for the ride. There’s so much encouragement for moms of littles in this episode, including letting our standards slip a little so we can still experience community even if it’s messy and involves take-out food instead of handcrafted meals.

Maybe it’s just a season. But maybe it’s forever. I don’t really know what the Lord has. But letting go of some of my ideals has been so good. I have to acknowledge that I have a 2.5-year-old and a 1-year-old. Life looks like this right now, and it is the dream if I choose to be present to it and enjoy it.

What we chat about:

• When Jodi and Chris met and started a touring band
• Their Enneagram types and how they work together as a couple
• How the Lord directed their path through grief and loss
• Parenting and challenges that come when touring with kids
• Dwelling in the Holy Spirit to make decisions
• Transitions in parenting and learning to lean into the Holy Spirit vs worrying what others think
• The concessions you make to connect with community when you are in a busy season
• Freeing yourself up from pre-conceived plans of what life “should” look like
• A new way to look at living the dream and choosing to be present in what your life is like now

Links Mentioned:

• The God I Know music video
• The King of My Heart music video
• He is With Us music video
• L&TO albums: These Are the Days** &  Love & The Outcome**

**Amazon affiliate link to help support the production of this podcast.