*Please note this episode deals with some serious subject matter like abuse, divorce and harm toward others. While these topics are not discussed explicitly, I encourage you to listen with discernment.*

Make sure you've listened to last week's episode before listening to part two!

Emily J. continues to share how the Lord brought her through one of the darkest times in her life: her dad being arrested, convicted, and sent to prison for murder. However, over the years, Jesus has moved Emily to try to reconcile with her dad; something that seemed impossible more than twenty years ago. 

Though her story of reconciliation is one of hope, wisdom, discernment, and caution, Emily encourages each of us to listen for the Lord's voice and His word when it comes to the issue of forgiveness. She also explains how she's come to understand that reconciliation is something the Lord has led her to do, and that there are times when that is not possible. I pray her wisdom and vulnerability in Jesus minister to you if you find yourself on a similar journey of forgiveness.

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

*Please note this episode deals with some serious subject matter like abuse, divorce and harm toward others. While these topics are not discussed explicitly, I encourage you to listen with discernment.*

Forgiveness is something that we all struggle with from time to time. Whether it's forgiving others or ourselves, we're often faced with a command from Jesus that seems difficult at best, and impossible at worst to see through. 

My guest today is my dear friend, Emily J. And she has a powerful testimony of how Jesus walked her through one of the most horrific times in her life with grace, compassion, love, and truth. And how He led her from a place where forgiveness felt like something that wasn't deserved to a gift given with grace, wisdom, and discernment. I pray you will be encouraged by Emily's story and how Jesus ministered to her in the midst of a circumstance none of us can truly imagine. 

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

No - the title isn't a misnomer. Guacamole does have a sacred space in my story. The Lord used guacamole to show me that there are places in my life that I have hought would do me deep harm. Yet, in believing Him and trusting His voice, that things that have so deeply wounded us and hurt us (whether by our own hand or the hands of others...) that Jesus can redeem. 

My prayer is this story of healing and care would bless you, encourage you, and help you as you face your own stories of stepping forward into hard healing. True healing can often be painful, but the Lord promises to help us through it. To bind up our broken hearts. To reveal His love, grace, and mercy to us in ways that deepen our union with Him. 

Scriptures and Resources Referenced:

• Ecclesiastes 3:11
• Romans 8
• With the Perrys: Christine Caine episode

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

Whether you formally observe Lent or not, we are entering into a sobering, serious time where we contemplate the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And while Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, it's important to take the time to prepare for what the Lord might want to do in our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits. 

Today I've selected seven different groups of Scriptures, all designed to flow together to meditate on the next seven days. However you observe (or don't observe) Lent, my prayer is that these selections will guide us into considering the magnitude of what Jesus has done for us. That we would worship the Father for the incredible gift of His Son and the lavishness of His grace poured out on us through Jesus. That we would thank the Holy Spirit for leading us into all Truth and opening the Word to us. I pray that as we consecrate ourselves to the Lord during this time, we would grow in revelation of Jesus, knowing the Lord in the beauty of His holiness, and deepen our union with Him. 

Scriptures Referenced: 

• Song of Solomon 3:4
• Hebrews 1:1-4
• 2 Corinthians 4:6
• Philippians 2:1-11
• Genesis 1
• John 1
• Colossians 1
• John 5 and 8
• Acts 1
• Revelation 5:11-14
• John 19:16-18
• Revelation 1:5-6
• 1 John 4:9-11
• Luke 24:44-47
• Mark 8:34-37

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

Discipleship is a long journey on a narrow way. But that doesn't mean it is joyless, soulless, and always horrible. There are times, however, it can feel that way. And when it does, the Bible gives us plenty of ways that we can fight against it. 

One of the best ways is worship and preaching the truth of the Gospel to ourselves. Today, I want to take some time, and encourage you to make some space in your day to worship the Lord by following Asaph's pattern in Psalm 77. Remember, meditate, and talk about what the Lord has done. Let's remind ourselves of WHO our God is, the beauty of His salvation, the glory of His cross, the bounty of His love, the purity of His holiness, and how He has been unfailingly kind and faithful to us. 

My prayer is that as we do this, we will once again behold Jesus in all His beauty, aligning our hearts to His truth, and receive fresh boldness and endurance to keep proclaiming the Good News of this great Gospel to a world in desperate need of Jesus. 

Scriptures Referenced:

• Psalm 77:4-15
• Philippians 2:13
• Galatians 6:9
• 2 Corinthians 4:6
• Hebrews 1:1-3
• John 14, 15, and 16
• 1 Timothy 1:15
• Psalm 117

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

I am THRILLED about today's episode featuring my dear friend and mentor, Gary Schneeberger. Gary is a seasoned PR Professional with his own PR firm, Roar, he is a husband, step-father, son, brother, friend, and most importantly a faithful follower of Jesus. 

Today, he shares his journey in sobriety, the verses that keep him strong in the Lord, and why his motto, "I am more than my mistakes and less than my accomplishments" has helped him frame his life in the light of the Lord's glory and love, rather than his sin or his good works. There are also plenty of laughs as I get to reminisce with my friend about fun projects we worked on, the gift of friendship, and the goodness of Jesus. I pray you are blessed and encouraged by Gary's story! 

Scriptures Referenced

• Romans 5:4-6

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

In today's episode, I'm tackling one of the New Testament's most well known verses: "“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness...for when I am weak then I am strong." But what is rarely talked about is Paul's response to the Lord's revelation that the thorn in his flesh is for the Lord's glory. 

There is power available from Jesus to endure the sufferings and afflictions of this life. Paul makes the conscious decision to boast in the weakness of his body so that he can know the power of Jesus resting on him. The Lord isn't cruel in what He appoints, but desires for us to know the beauty of dependence on Him, that His power, mercy, goodness, love, and joy can be manifest within us. This isn't a fleshy optimism, but a choice to trust the Lord and His desire for us to know Him, be sanctified, and grow in our faith. 

Scriptures Referenced:

• 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
• Hebrews 4:12-15
• John 15:5
• James 1:2-4

Interested in inductive Bible study? Check out Precept.org or this list of resources from Precept Austin. (Not an ad, just resources that have helped me immensely in my Bible study journey.)

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

We've all made resolutions to read the Bible more at the beginning of a new year. But soon we find ourselves faltering, hitting a wall, or sometimes feeling convicted and pushing the Word away. 

In this episode, I share how the Lord challenged the motivation behind my goal of reading the Bible in a year. And I talk about how, through Psalm 119, the Lord is answering a prayer He stuck in my heart: how to love the Word more deeply because the Word is Jesus Himself. As we look at Psalm 119 today, my prayer is the Lord deepens our love for the Scriptures and Himself, and that we would see how powerful His word is to revive, correct, and sustain us. 

Scriptures Referenced:

• Psalm 119:25, 71,92,164,172
• Hebrews 4:12
• John 1:1-5
• Matthew 7
• Colossians 1:15-17
• Romans 7
• 1 John 1:1

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

C.S. Lewis once said, "Joy is the serious business of heaven." In today's episode, I talk candidly about how putting together today's episode was a challenge, directly related the word the Lord gave me for the year: Joy. 

Whether it's in a season of needing to confess hidden sin before the Lord, and letting Him dig out deep roots or a season of deepening abiding in Jesus...the Lord's joy is available to us. But it often is cultivated in ways we don't expect.  And it isn't something we can produce on our own. But the good news is that the Lord wants us to have His joy, and He will use whatever means necessary for us to experience His joy in our lives and He will, according to His word, make our joy complete.

Scriptures referenced:

• Psalm 51:10-12
• John 15:1-11
• John 16
• Philippians 4
• Acts 3
• 2 Corinthians 6

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

There is power in remembering the Lord's goodness, especially in the struggle, suffering, and difficulty of life. Today, I'm remembering how Jesus has carried me through the most grievous and horrible year of my life. Yet He has showed up in the most amazing and sometimes quiet ways. 

As I look back, I'm asking two questions: What does remembering what the Lord has done provoke in you and me? And in the midst of what we walk through in this life, what do we think the Lord can provide?

Then, as I look forward, I'm sharing how the Lord has given me the word Joy for this year. Not the kind of head-in-the-sand blind optimism. That's not joy. But delight in Him and who He is. How there is joy and delight in fixing my eyes, mind, and heart on Jesus, following His leading, resting in His love, holding fast to Him in trial, and trusting His will. I pray this episode blesses you as you remember 2025 and look forward to 2026.

Also, check out my favorite books on Instagram! You can also listen to the sermons of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, referenced in this podcast, here. 

Scriptures Referenced:

• Ephesians 3:20-21
• Psalm 51:12
• John 15:11
• Acts 3
• Matthew 6
• Mark 6:7-13
• Hebrews 12:1-3
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13
• John 11:40
• Mark 2:27
• Psalm 30:5
• Psalm 16:11

You can find me on Instagram / Threads