Behind The Mirror

Have big dreams that you just can’t shake? Or a calling rattling inside you? If you have a dream you are passionate to pursue but don’t know where to start, this is the episode for you. Anna talks about how awaken the dreams inside, how to kill the need to apologize for what you are good at and how to reshape your confidence inside your space. She also discusses how your personal view of God will impact how you see yourself and your ability to succeed. With practical advice, Anna offers tools to embrace your purpose and unapologetically become your biggest fan.

Have big dreams that you just can’t shake? Or a calling rattling inside you? If you have a dream you are passionate to pursue but don’t know where to start, this is the episode for you. Anna talks about how awaken the dreams inside, how to kill the need to apologize for what you are good at and how to reshape your confidence inside your space. She also discusses how your personal view of God will impact how you see yourself and your ability to succeed. With practical advice, Anna offers tools to embrace your purpose and unapologetically become your biggest fan.

If you are craving deep, real friendships this episode is for you. So often we spend tons of time and energy on a friendship only to be later disappointed when it didn't pan out the way we thought it would. Frustrated you are left asking, who can you be real with? Or who can be trusted with the intimate details of your life?  THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.  Anna exposes 4 secrets of how to immediately spot a lifelong friend - and equally how to sniff out the bad ones: How do they handle your honesty? How do they treat their other friends? Do they have integrity? Do they love you without trying to change you? The truths behind these 4 questions will empower you to confidently know who to invest your time, engery and heart into. Anna also offers personal insight from her own journey on how to deal with shame based friendships and how to safeguard your spiritual health inside relationships.

You are invited inside one of my hardest moments. I turn the microphone on and let you sit with me as I walk through heartache - in real time. Ugly tears and all, we talk honestly about how to handle heartbreak and grief, what to do with pain when it hits, that lovely topic of forgiveness and how to process anger when you've been wronged. Whether with a friend, family member or significant other we all face emotional pain. Learning how to process it well and rise strong on the other side is one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself. 

Self-described former navy seal Christian, Jonathan Bowles (slingshot show) developed many of the top mega-church youth internship programs in the country. Preaching on Sundays to up to 5,000 people regularly, he quickly became a force in the mega church world.  He shares how he went from fasting 40 days at a time and reading the entire Bible multiple times per year, to a complete deconstruction of faith.  He openly discusses when his theology began to shift and the tension he felt while simultaneously having to tow the party-line. Hitting hard topics like the effects of being “blacklisted” from your community after leaving a church, how different beliefs can alienate you, and the struggles you encounter once you step outside “the box” – Jonathan is brave and honest while equally offering hope (and humor) to those venturing outside the church lines. In our conversation, he defines deconstruction and the difference between spirituality and religion.

Are women able to lead without a male “spiritual authority” over them? Taking a look at church history, American history and biblical history, Anna explores the indoctrinated beliefs of patriarchy and spiritual authority. She discusses what was taught to her inside of church regarding her role as a woman - and how the example of Jesus (and God) in scripture dismantle the typical Christian (and patriarchal) gender roles.

Anna has an unfiltered conversation with friend and worship leader Marley Allenbrand. Challenging the common understanding of the verse, “be in the world and not of it”, they discuss Western Christianity and the culture it claims to be separate from. Are they all that different? Or is it just high school all over again?  Anna takes a different perspective on this verse and how it relates to the political climate, faith groups and social groups.

In a transparent episode, Anna takes a leap of courage and addresses a topic that has been the source of anxiety and stress most of her life: lonliness. Growing up in the evangelical world, she learned to hide her inner thoughts and ideas for fear of being too different or not "Christian" enough. She also learned to avoid closeness, for fear of being too "codependent". She met everyone else's needs - but learned to not meet her own. She shares the crippling affect this had on her dating life, marriage, sexuality and friendships and equally the redemption she is experiencing in finding authentic connection, intimacy and true belonging. 

In a transparent episode, Anna takes a leap of courage and addresses a topic that has been the source of anxiety and stress most of her life: lonliness. Growing up in the evangelical world, she learned to hide her inner thoughts and ideas for fear of being too different or not "Christian" enough. She also learned to avoid closeness, for fear of being too "codependent". She met everyone else's needs - but learned to not meet her own. She shares the crippling affect this had on her dating life, marriage, sexuality and friendships and equally the redemption she is experiencing in finding authentic connection, intimacy and true belonging. 

On a drive home, Anna turns on her phone and records a raw conversation between herself and God. She shares her struggle with trying to control the outcome of situations and how she has learned to embrace the beauty of managing her cicumstances - not micro managing them. In every season of pain, survival or "ending", comes an invitation to new-birth. Peace, joy, adventure and your very best self can be present in the midst of a season of survival.