Melinda joins me once again. If you missed it, she has started a blog. I think she is a wonderful writer and definitely has interesting things to say. The blog is called The Reinvention Experiment. Check it out!

We delve into a variety of topics and, of course laugh, and maybe border on tears as well.

If you haven’t already friended both Melinda and me on Facebook: here’s Melinda and here’s mine.

You can also follow us on Twitter @melindaschmidt and @anitalustrea.

And Like the Friends of Midday Facebook page where we post interesting articles and book giveaways as well.

Daniel Hill is the founding pastor of River City Community Church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. It is a vibrant, multi-ethnic church. With his new book White Awake, he takes an honest look at what it means to be white. Daniel has wrestled with issues of race and justice and decided to lean in even when things become uncomfortable.

In light of what is going on in our country, this is the right time to be talking with Daniel Hill. Daniel mentions the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and also the Equal Justice Initiative.

Follow him on Twitter @danielhill1336.

Michelle Van Loon joined me again on the podcast. This time we talk about The Perennial Gen, a new blog for middle-aged and older adults. We also talk about God’s discipleship program for us which often involves suffering and hardship. We point to a recent blog post of Michelle’s where she references Job meets George Bailey and the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life.

Check out Michelle’s two books, Moments and Days and If Only.

It’s great to have Melinda Schmidt back on the podcast. On this week’s episode I read emails from podcast listeners. We get real. I give out info on how to donate to the podcast. If you missed it, you can either give via PayPal or mail a check. For PayPal, use the email address: [email protected]. If you are mailing a check, send it to 8 White Oak Terrace, Sarasota, FL 34237.

Melinda is in the process of launching her blog. Find her here: www.reinventionexperiment.com

And, shoot me an email and let me know what you thought about our conversation this week. Email me at [email protected].

Caryn Rivadeneira and Jennifer Grant join me on this week’s Faith Conversations. The main topic is writing. To be more specific, writing for children and middle grades. Both of these amazing authors have ventured into the children’s literature category and I give their works a big thumbs up. Evidently so do publishers because both of them have other children’s books in the works.

Caryn’s book, Grit and Grace: Heroic Women of the Bible, is written in creative first-person retellings of 17 different stories of female biblical characters. A great Christmas gift for kids and grandkids.

Jennifer’s book, Maybe God Is Like That Too, invites children to see God in the fruit of the spirit wherever they’re found.

These are two creative writers whose books are worth checking out!

Lori Neff joins me on the podcast this week. We worked together for years on Moody Radio. Today Lori is working as a marketing specialist for InterVarsity Press. We cover a lot of ground on the podcast. We talk radio and publishing and poetry and looking forward after a difficult season.

Here is a link to the poem we talk about, “Roads” by Ruth Bidgood.

Josh Larsen is co-host of the radio show and podcast Filmspotting, as well as an editor and film critic at Think Christian, an online faith and culture magazine.

He has recently written Movies Are Prayers: How Films Voice Our Deepest Longings. On the podcast we delve into how movies function as expressions to God of lament, praise, joy, confession, and more. The podcast is as much about prayer as it is about movies.

I’m on the road for a month. Currently back in Chicago and recording new podcasts that will release starting next week. Gonna leave this great conversation with Jennifer Grant up for another week on the homepage.

Jennifer Grant is a terrific author. She’s written on everything from adoption in Love You More, the very personal story of one of her children, to writing a children’s book titled Maybe God Is Like That Too.

When I recently talked with Jennifer, her latest book was resonating with many. When Did Everybody Else Get So Old? speaks to the heart of what I’m feeling these days. It is a book filled with truth and humor and everything in between.

If you find yourself in midlife and beyond, you’ll want to listen to this week’s podcast!

ANNOUNCEMENT

Nominations are now open in the 2017 Podcast Awards. You can vote for Faith Conversations in both the Religion & Spirituality category and the People’s Choice category. Learn more at the Podcast Awards website.

Voting ends July 31. Nominees will be announced in mid-August, followed by the awards ceremony at the end of September. Show your support for the podcast and vote now!

I’ve been a fan of Christine Valters Paintner for a long time. She has authored a number of books, but her book The Soul of a Pilgrim came along at just the right time in my life.  It’s a helpful resource for someone going through a transition or for a person who desires to attend to their interior life.

Also worth checking out is Christine’s Abbey of the Arts. Many offerings for growing your soul there.

On this edition of Faith Conversations we talk about how to attend to the soul of a pilgrim.

Pete Scazzero has been talking and writing about living an emotionally healthy spiritual life for years. I often quote this line from Pete’s book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: “You can’t be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” Too many Christians don’t believe this statement or live it out.

Pete is an engaging communicator and he knows, first hand, the fallout of not having a life or a faith that was emotionally healthy. I highly recommend the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality book and workbook. If you grab a group of friends and go through the materials, you will never be the same!

Pete mentions what he thinks is the most important book in the history of the church, so I thought I’d better include a link here. It is Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross.