Embodied Holiness

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Anger seems to be everywhere these days, from our homes and workplaces to social media and the evening news. But how do we deal with angry people without becoming angry ourselves? Susan sits down with licensed psychologist and author Dr. Bev Smallwood to discuss her new book, All the Rage: How to Deal with Angry People Without Becoming One Yourself. Together, they explore the different ways anger shows up in our relationships, how to recognize our own emotional triggers, and practical ways to respond to anger without escalating conflict. Dr. Bev offers helpful insights for maintaining our peace, responding with wisdom, and refusing to allow someone else's anger to determine who we become.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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When Michelle Cowan's husband is killed by a drunk driver, she is forced to figure out how to move forward with a grieving teenage daughter. Susan talks with Michelle Cowan Schroeder, author of Better Not Bitter (which is being made into a feature film), about how she and her daughter faced the difficult task of trying to change a political system and an industry in need of reform while navigating grief and embracing forgiveness. 

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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Are you running on empty? Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or disconnected from what once brought you joy? You may be experiencing burnout. Susan sits down with Mike Maxwell, founder of Side Porch, a rest-and-renewal ministry for Christian leaders, for an honest, hope-filled conversation about recognizing, preventing, and recovering from burnout. Drawing from his own experience, Mike shares warning signs, common causes, and practical ways to cultivate healthy rhythms of rest, renewal, and soul care. Whether you're already burned out or hoping to avoid it, this conversation offers encouragement and hope for a healthier, more abundant life.

Connect with Mike Maxwell:

• Website: https://sideporch.life
• Instagram: @mike.maxwell.3
• Facebook: Michael Thomas Maxwell
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 804-433-6215

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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What does it mean to truly accept someone who is different from us? In this episode, Susan sits down with Tony and Emily Lymon and their daughter, Colette, for an honest and thought-provoking conversation about race, identity, faith, and belonging. 

The Lymons share their personal experiences with racism, acceptance, and rejection, including the unspoken conditions that sometimes determine who is considered “acceptable.” They reflect on how their faith shapes their identity and their responses to prejudice, their hopes for the next generation, and how white people can become more aware of their own biases and more intentional about building relationships across racial differences. 

At the heart of this conversation is a simple but powerful reminder: Different isn't bad. And learning to embrace our differences rather than fear them is an important part of learning to love one another well.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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Susan sits down with brother-and-sister duo Josh Burris and Zoe Burris, who share a passion for leading the people of God into wholehearted worship. In this fun and dynamic conversation, they explore what worship really is, why it matters, and how worship shapes us as followers of Jesus. Whether you lead worship or simply want to better understand the heart behind it, this conversation will deepen your understanding of how and why we worship.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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In an era of widespread theological misinformation, Christians need clear, practical tools to identify and address distortions of the faith. Susan Eaton and Smith Lilley speak with Michael Adam Beck about his new curriculum, Distortions, which gives pastors, church leaders, and laity an accessible visual guide to understanding and responding to false representations of Christianity in contemporary culture, including Christian Nationalism, Churchless Christianity, Consumer Christianity, the Prosperity Gospel, Conservative Family cults, and Jesus-less Progressive Christianity. 

Get Distortions Here

Michael's Website

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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What does it really mean to live a whole and holy life? Susan talks with Grace Hamman, author of Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life, to discuss how the medieval language of virtues and vices can inspire us to deeper self-reflection and greater faithfulness that leads to transformation. 

GRACE HAMMAN, Ph.D. (Duke University) is a writer and independent scholar of late medieval poetry and contemplative writing. She is the author of Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life and Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages. Her work has been published by academic and popular outlets, including Plough Quarterly and The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. She lives near Denver, Colorado with her husband and three young children.

Grace's Website

Grace's Substack

Buy Ask of Old Paths

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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In this episode, Susan talks with author and spiritual director Deborah Svec-Carstens about her new book, Toward the Light, a coming-of-age memoir about trauma, resilience, healing, and the courage it sometimes takes simply to stay. Deborah shares her story of navigating the aftermath of sexual assault far from home and the journey toward reclaiming her life and her faith.

Purchase Toward the Light here. 

Deborah's website

You can also follow Deborah on Substack at The Spiral Staircase. 

DEBORAH SVEC-CARSTENS, JD, MTS, is a writer, book coach, and spiritual director. Her debut memoir, Toward the Light: A Year in Paris, traces her search for healing after a traumatic assault abroad. Deborah’s essays have appeared in bioStories and the Brevity blog and have received recognition from Writer’s Digest, WOW! Women on Writing, and Memoir Magazine. She writes The Spiral Staircase on Substack and offers workshops and presentations. Deborah and her husband live in Central Iowa.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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In today's episode, Susan and Cliff talk with Christy and Ainsley Richardson as they share the remarkable story of Ddembe mission, a ministry founded by Christy's late husband, Rodney Richardson. “Ddembe” means “freedom” in the native Luganda language, and it reflects the desire to see tangible love generously given, to see hope restored, and to see those the mission serves know the freedom that is found only in Jesus!

Register for the Rodney Richardson Water Run here. 

Go to the Ddembe website here. 

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website. 

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Have you ever looked at your life and wondered how you ended up here? The diagnosis came. The relationship fractured. The dream died. The future you imagined disappeared. Suddenly, you're living in unfamiliar territory—an exile of the soul. In this episode, Cliff Burris and Anna Valentine talk with Embodied Holiness host Susan Eaton about her latest book: Even in Exile –Rediscovering Hope and Joy When Your World Turns Upside Down. This discussion offers hope for anyone navigating disappointment, anxiety, relational brokenness, loss, or unanswered prayers. 

Use this link to access your copy of Even in Exile. 

ABOUT SUSAN: Rev. Susan Eaton is a pastor, author, mentor, retreat leader, and host ofThe Embodied Holiness Podcast. Passionate about helping people encounter God in practical, life-giving ways, she guides others toward deeper spiritual formation through Scripture, spiritual practices, teaching, and soul care.​

​Susan is the author of Reclaiming Joy, You're Gonna Be Okay, and Even in Exile, which releases August 18, 2026. Through her writing, speaking, retreats, and pastoral ministry, she encourages people to discover God's presence and faithfulness in every season of life, especially during times of disappointment, uncertainty, and suffering.

 She holds degrees from the University of Mississippi and Asbury Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Formation and Soul Care at Friends University in Wichita, KS. Susan serves as Discipleship Pastor at Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where she helps people cultivate meaningful relationships with God and one another.

​When she’s not writing, teaching, or podcasting, Susan loves walking the family dog (Mabel), practicing yoga, spending time outdoors, reading, and watching movies or Netflix series with her family. She and her husband, Stewart, live with their two children in Hattiesburg.

​You can connect with Susan at revsusaneaton.com and on Instagram @suseaton and @embodiedholiness.

Thanks for listening to the Embodied Holiness Podcast.  We invite you to join the community on Facebook and Instagram @embodiedholiness.

 
Embodied Holiness is a ministry of Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. If you're in the Hattiesburg area and are looking for a church home, we'd love to meet you and welcome you to the family. You can find out more about Parkway Heights at our website.