• Starting Raising Kids on Your Knees

Great quotes from Tina:

Relationships that begin in deceit end in deceit.

It takes a lot of years to grow old friends.

Pray for your kids.

Resources we mentioned:

• Tina’s website Raising Kids on Your Knees

Related episodes:

• Laura Flanders and the Mentored Life

The post Tina Smith the Praying for Your Kids appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Randall Garcia is a pastor, online businessman, and podcaster. Randall shares the story of growing up an overachieving pastor’s kid, secretly wandering away from his faith, and the funeral that convinced him to change his ways. Around that time, he confessed his lifestyle to his dad and received love instead of rejection, an experience that had a profound effect on him. Randall shares how he balances his desire to achieve with an active relationship with the Lord and how lectio divina helps. He’s pursuing ministry and creating a Christian podcast network to serve Christian leaders. Randall’s story reminds us that no matter what we do, the Lord is always pursuing us!

Listen to Randall’s story now!

Stories Randall shared:

• Growing up as a pastor’s kid in the Assemblies of God

Great quotes from Randall:

I knew in that moment that God was going to use me.

God is our heavenly Father.

Wherever you’re at in the journey, continue putting one step in front of the other.

Resources we mentioned:

• Randall’s website

Related episodes:

• Mark Waltz and Radical Acceptance in Relationship

The post Randall Sean Garcia and the Father’s Love for Us appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Lauren Gaskill, author, speaker, podcaster, and founder of She Found Joy. Today, Lauren shares the story of growing up in a family of new Christians, dealing with severe health issues, and the healing the Lord has brought her. Lauren describes her journey from accepting illness to asking the Lord for healing and receiving it. The whole experience has changed the direction of her ministry. Lauren’s story reminds us that God is not done working yet!

Listen to Lauren’s story now!

Stories Lauren shared:

• Growing up in Indiana in a baby Christian family

Great quotes from Lauren:

There are moments in life when revelation comes and you just finally understand what you’ve been missing.

There’s no such thing as a perfect journey.

He knows how to encourage our hearts with exactly what we need.

Children don’t make formulas out of things. They just follow their father.

Resources we mentioned:

• Lauren’s website

Related episodes:

• Sarah Koontz is Changing the World One Person at a Time

The post Lauren Gaskill and the Joy of Healing appeared first on Eric Nevins.

John Matarazzo is a television producer and podcast host. Today, he shares the story of how he joined YWAM, the burnout he experienced after years of leading, and following his passion for broadcasting. John also tells us about amazing steps of faith he took as he followed the Lord’s direction. For instance, he started volunteering at a Christian television station before he started working there because he believed God wanted him there. His story reminds us that obedience is often the most important thing.

List to John’s story now!

Stories John shared:

• Hosting Along the Way Podcast

Great quotes from John:

There’s a lot more to people than the facade they wear.

The things that God isn’t saying are as important as what he is saying sometimes.

God can speak to you however he wants to get your attention.

Pay attention to the people God is bringing into your life.

Resources we mentioned:

• John’s podcast Along the Way

Related episodes:

• Tonya Blessing and the Servants Who See the Miracles

The post John Matarazzo and Learning Along the Way appeared first on Eric Nevins.

• How her family is weathering the quarantine

Great quotes from Julie:

We don’t know when our last day is, but in all of that, we learn God is good.

What’s normal to us is magic to other people.

You never know what God has in store for you and that’s why you have to trust Him.

Resources we mentioned:

• Julie’s website and podcast

Related episodes:

• Troy Greenwood and his Mid-Life Awakening

The post Julie Hamilton and Trusting Over Pleasing appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Kyle Strobel is the associate professor of spiritual theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. Today, Kyle shares the story of how he discovered spiritual formation, feeling abandoned by God and surrendering to him, and studying the works of Jonathan Edwards. Kyle brings a unique historical perspective to the spiritual formation conversation. We also talk about his newest book, Embracing Contemplation: Reclaiming a Christian Spiritual Practice. Kyle’s story reminds us that our tradition is rich if we only take the time to mine it.

Listen to Kyle’s story today!

• Growing up at Willow Creek

Great quotes from Kyle:

If prayer is performative then the psalter makes no sense.

It took me wrestling profoundly with myself to open up others people’s lives.

The journey to God is a journey to love.

Prayer isn’t something you generate, something you start; it’s something you enter.

Resources we mentioned:

• Embracing Contemplation: Reclaiming a Christian Spiritual Practice edited by John H. Coe and Kyle C. Strobel

Related episodes:

• Phileena Heuertz and Christian Contemplation

The post Kyle Strobel and Integrating Spirituality and Theology appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Katie Hornor is a best-selling author, business coach and international speaker. After leaving all for a ministry opportunity overseas only to have it pulled out from under them, Tap & Katie built a business and a movement in their second language among in the fastest growing market demographic in the world, changing the future of education for Hispanic families. Today, Katie shares the story of wanting to go overseas as a child, wrestling with postpartum depression, and learning to see rain as a blessing from God. Katie turned a series of  closed doors into an international business and her story reminds us that God always has something better for us.

Listen to Katie’s story now!

Stories Katie shared:

• Growing up in North Carolina

Great quotes from Katie:

If I really believe God is in control and everything he does is good, then I’ve got to look for the good.

Why are we working so hard for a harvest and all we’re getting is rained on?

He taught me to see the rain as a blessing.

Your title is about who you serve not who you are.

Resources we mentioned:

• Katie’s website

Related episodes:

• Chris & Joi Copeland Say When God Calls You Go 

The post Katie Hornor and Rain as a Blessing appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Stories Jeff shared:

• Serving as an administrator at Western Theological Seminary

Great quotes from Jeff:

We go to books and we want lots of different things. But we want books that change our lives. That’s what Buechner did for me.

Pain is a universal human experience.

I spend the whole week figuring out the ways I don’t believe in God and then the community calls be back every week.

Resources we mentioned:

• Reading Buechner: Exploring the Work of a Master Memoirist, Novelist, Theologian, and Preacher by Jeff Monroe

Related episodes:

• Douglas Groothuis and Walking Through Twilight

The post Jeff Munroe and Stewarding Your Pain appeared first on Eric Nevins.

D. L. Mayfield is a writer and podcaster who is just trying to be a good neighbor. Her podcast is the Prophetic Imagination Station Podcast and her new book is The Myth of the American Dream. Today, D.L. shares her journey wanting to be a missionary as a child, experiencing the Holy Spirit in college, and working with refugee communities in Portland. D.L. says paying attention to her neighbors changed the way she sees the world and it can change us, too.

Listen to D.L.’s story now!

Stories D. L. shared:

• Growing up as a pastor’s kid all over the place

Great quotes from D. L.:

I didn’t fundamentally understand the main thing Jesus talked about and that terrified me.

Now that I’m free to be honest with God, I don’t feel God’s absence necessarily.

The only true prayers are honest prayers.

Resources we mentioned:

• D.L.’s website

Related episodes:

• Jordan Vargo and Justice on a Mission

The post D. L. Mayfield and the Gift of Paying Attention appeared first on Eric Nevins.