The rich, young man in the New Testament sometimes gets a bad rap, but there's probably more of him in us than we realize. I mean, to join Team Universe, and really be on that team, in that KINGDOM, we're asked to give up some stuff.....But how though? Sometimes we feel like giving something up means losing, or having something taken away. So how to embrace the surrender, even when we're surrendering really great stuff?

Sometimes you need to go to Team Universe with questions, or with faith and a few actions in order to grow and develop. But sometimes, life is so painful, so confusing, and so exhausting that you what you need is someone to come to you. Good news. They've promised that's an action they can take.

Milk and Honey. Two things humans don't technically need, yet it's offered in a whole lot of promises to us from Team Universe throughout scripture. Could it be they're trying to tell us something? Could it be they want us to have things that simply enhance or enrich our human experience because we enjoy them?

How do we embrace this idea? How do we get around our guilt, shame, or fear to really embrace the gift of wanting things?

Which miracle is greater: a purified and forgiven heart, or a healed and whole body? Which is easier to perform? Which is easier to give? Turns out there are layers of lessons in the account of a man who came through the roof looking for a miracle. Team Universe gave freely, and taught us some things about our own hearts in the process.

Sometimes, Jesus challenges us to ask the really tough questions--questions that have us looking inward instead of outward. In a world where there is plenty to find fault with, how do we learn to tame our own hearts instead of blame others for the wrong we see out there?

Having faith in, and asking for miracles is all well and good, but it doesn't always turn out the way we want. There are times when the answer to our begging, heartfelt pleas is, "No." How do we face Team Universe, and our lives, after not receiving our desires, especially when that answer causes pain, anger, and grief?

"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you," is a promise repeated to us in several scriptures. But how do we know what's ok to ask for? How do we seek and knock? What does it all mean when experimenting with our faith?

Part two of our Suicide Awareness series dives in to the how of getting the help you need when dealing with trauma and its many symptoms. If you are feeling some effects or symptoms, help is out there, resources are available, and you are worth it.

With September being Suicide Awareness month, let's talk about the darkness of depression. How do we navigate the heaviness of anxiety or depression that can take us to the very edge of our will to live? How do we reach out and keep reaching, when the inner demons sap our energy with their ugly and frightening lies? How can we come to understand how valuable we each are, and how much our quality of life matters?

I'm not a jealous person...until I get jealous. None of us like to admit it, but sometimes, when we look at others' lives, we might just feel the teensiest bit envious about what someone else has or experiences that we don't. And how do we navigate relationships with others and with Team Universe when we feel life hasn't been fair, or that we wish we had what someone else has? This episode explores the comparisons we make and why.