I am not a tear it down kind of person. But keeping things intact is not a character trait. It's a decision, and it's not always a good one.

The painful truth is that sometimes in order to experience wholeness, first we have to tear something down. It sounds counter-intuitive, and you'd better believe it often feels that way, too. But God himself understands the necessity of being torn down to be remade.

We don't want to be people who shut our eyes to reality, hiding in comfortable corners and declaring the world is not our problem. We also realize every story has nuance and there's no such thing as an "issue." It's all people and stories of people and I'm learning to pay attention. If you're learning too or at least want to learn along with me, listen in.

Links + Resources From This Episode:

• My sister turned her love for decorating Barbie houses into a way to serve others in creating comfortable spaces for themselves. You can find her at The Nesting Place or @thenester on Instagram.
• To learn more about my friend Stephen Roach, you can listen to his podcast Makers and Mystics or read about The Breath & The Clay creative arts movement here. His band Songs of Water is pretty great, too.
• Episode 98: Don't Preach to Your Emotions
• Sam Yoder's All Things Rise
• Grab a copy of my book, The Next Right Thing
• Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman
• Download Transcript at my website