Impossible Beauty

Justin McRoberts has a way with words. He has a way of breathing new life into familiar topics and inviting us to out of the box thinking that inspires the mind and heart. As Justin puts it, he creates to provide language for the process of faith and life.

In official terms, Justin is an author, musician, host of The @Sea Podcast, retreat leader, and leads workshops on the creatives process. He lives in the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children and has been teaching, storytelling, and songwriting for nearly twenty years. In our time together, Justin expands and deepens the ideas of happiness, creativity, and art. He also shares his desire for people to live fully, allowing our souls to actively participate in the world around us. He reminds us that each of us is an essential element in our communities and in the world and that our creative decisions done in love at home and at work deeply matter. Simply put, you and your life deeply matter. Take a listen and Justin helps us remember why.

We live in a world fraught with disconnection and distraction. In today’s episode and in her book, The Connected Leader, Montana-based psychotherapist and author, Karen Hardwick, shares all about how to re-connect with our true selves, our purpose in the world, our connection with God, and with other people.

Karen Hardwick is a clinically and spiritually trained psychotherapist-turned-leadership coach, podcast host, and speaker. She helps others awaken, courageously lead, and unlock the power of connection in their lives and at work. As a globally recognized leadership consultant, Karen has witnessed a transformation in the lives and performance of thousands of leaders at companies like ESPN, Turner Broadcasting, UPS, and Intercontinental Hotels Group.

In today’s episode, Karen reminds us that our lives deeply matter. She recenters us in our purpose of being stewards of the gifts we’ve been given, including the people who have been entrusted to our care, and how her own life has served as the training ground for the lessons she now shares with others. In short, Karen gives us insight how to live this “one wild and precious life” more fully ourselves and more connected to God and other people.

This is a big week for Tori Hope Petersen. On October 18th Tori’s memoir entitled "Fostered: One Woman’s Powerful Story of Finding Faith and Family through Foster Care" will release. Then this coming weekend, Tori will be hosting the Survivors Thriving and Writing Workshop in North Carolina. It is Tori’s desire to help survivors of human trafficking, foster care, and abuse tell their story; to know they are heard and that they deeply matter. The writing retreat is part of the Beloved Initiative, a nonprofit that seeks to change the narrative for youth in foster care. To learn more about Tori's nonprofit, check out belovedinitiatitve.org.

Tori Hope Petersen is a former foster youth, foster care advocate, and is passionate about foster care reform, adoption advocacy, and vulnerable populations. In addition to her advocacy work, Tori was crowned Mrs. Universe in 2021. In today’s episode, I talk with Tori about the powerful story she tells in her forthcoming memoir about growing up in the foster care system, how God’s love has shaped her story, what are helpful and not so helpful ways to support foster youth, and her authentic thoughts on being in the pageant world. This is an episode you don’t want to miss; Tori’s heart and her story are truly incredible.

Liz Wienke wanted to help others find healing in their relationship with food and body image in the same way she had. Her own journey of finding intuitive eating changed her life and she wanted to help others break free from diet culture. Liz Wienke is a therapist, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, and a fellow Minnesotan, working at Venture Therapy in White Bear Lake.

In today’s episode, Liz talks about why she gave up dieting, what intuitive eating is and why she’s so passionate about being an intuitive eating counselor, the prevalence of diet culture, the importance of self-compassion, and how faith communities have often gotten it wrong when it comes to our relationship with food and our bodies. If you are someone who longs for more freedom in your relationship with your body or with food, this episode is for you.

After spending a decade as a radio personality in markets that included Las Vegas, Cara Whitney found herself longing for the simple life. Having grown up on a cattle farm in Northern Wisconsin, she found her way back to the country, this time a horse farm in Nebraska. That is where Cara now lives, along with her husband Dan, known as “Larry the Cable Guy.”

Cara is the author of the bestselling books Fields of Grace and Unbridled Faith. Her latest book is called Country Soul: Inspiring Stories of Heartache Turned to Hope. In today’s episode we talk about lessons of life and faith Cara has learned from the farm, how others’ stories of hope amidst brokenness inspire our own perseverance and faith, and how that “cloud of witnesses” reminds us we’re not alone on this journey home.

I am guessing we all want to be healthy, right? In today’s episode, I talk with licensed clinical psychologist and eating disorder specialist, Dr. Colleen Reichmann all about the trends of wellness culture and clean eating. Dr. Reichmann helps us see how, through the lens of diet culture, our ideas on health and wellness may be a bit warped.

In addition to being a licensed clinical psychologist and eating disorders specialist, Dr. Reichmann is the founder of Wildflower Therapy LLC, and the coauthor of the book, The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery: Advice from Two Therapists Who Have Been there, along with Jennifer Rollin. Colleen practices in Philadelphia, PA and also specializes in mental health specific to college students, maternal mental health, anxiety, and depression.

In today’s episode, we talk about how and why Colleen found herself specializing in eating disorders. We also talk about wellness culture, the prevalence of disordered eating, and why Colleen refers to clean eating as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Dr. Colleen Reichmann’s voice and work are a force in helping people move away from disorder and diet culture and into more healing and wholeness. I am so excited for us to learn from her today.

On today’s show, I welcome Dr. Curt Thompson back to the podcast. If you remember Curt from Episode 33, you already know that the conversation ahead is a special one.

Dr. Curt Thompson is a psychiatrist, author, speaker, and the host of The Being Known Podcast. Curt’s work largely lies at the intersection of interpersonal neurobiology and spiritual formation, connecting our intrinsic desire to be known with the need to tell truer stories about ourselves. Curt desires to show us how to form deep relationships, discover meaning, and live integrated, creative lives. Using the tools of neuroscience, attachment research, and Biblical knowledge, Curt names the depths of what it means to be human; to long to be deeply known and live into and in light of the true hope of the Gospel.

In today’s conversation, Curt and I discuss themes and insights from his most recent book, The Soul of Desire. Curt explains why beauty makes all the difference in our lives; how we can put ourselves in the path of oncoming beauty, and why it’s so important to do so. Curt also names the importance of community in helping us see beauty in ourselves and envisioning beauty amidst the chaos of our own lives. Perhaps most importantly, Curt reminds us that God is a God who wades into the chaos of the world, and the chaos of our lives, and not only sees beauty but is intimately involved in bringing that beauty about.

Manda Carpenter is an author, speaker, advocate, and the co-host of A Longer Table Podcast, alongside her husband, Eric. Manda has written two books, the most recent being Soul Care to Save Your Life. Manda is very passionate, about “Seeing people own their full identity and do their inner work,” as she puts it. And that is exactly the kind of beautiful work she models and invites others into in her latest book. Foster care is also not only part of Manda’s family's life, but a large part of her advocacy work as well.

In today’s episode, I talk with Manda about why she’s so passionate about foster care, the importance of radical honesty in her own story, why tending to our inner world and wounding is so important, how slowing down is pivotal for self-awareness and soul work, and how beauty so often occurs in the unseen. This conversation left me feeling so grounded and encouraged. My hope is that it does the same for you.

On today’s episode, I talk with Registered Dietitian, Dylan Murphy, all about breaking free from societal lies and ideals around beauty and body image.

Dylan received her Food Science and Human Nutrition Degree from Clemson University, completed her Dietetic Residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and has provided individualized nutrition coaching for hundreds of clients. Her specialty areas include eating disorders, disordered eating, Intuitive Eating, body image concerns, peri- and postnatal nutrition and women’s health. Dylan is also the founder of Free Method Nutrition, based in Nashville, Tennessee. Free Method Dietitians practice from a non-diet, Health at Every Size (HAES) approach with an emphasis on Intuitive Eating and mindset work.

In my conversation with Dylan, we talk about unhelpful cultural messages around food and body image that get in the way of women feeling trust, respect, and safety in their bodies. We also discuss why postpartum bounce back culture is toxic, why commenting on body shape and size in general is not helpful, the normalization of disordered eating, and how we can move toward feeling more confidence and peace in our relationships with food and our bodies. Dylan is doing such important work to help women break free from damaging cultural messages around food and body image. I can’t wait for you to hear from her today.

Today’s episode is a big one. Today we are celebrating 100 episodes with Bob Goff. Back in Episode four, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob at Dream Big at Magnolia in Waco, Texas. It was actually at that event that I decided to take the official plunge into podcasting and Bob helped me get things rolling.

For those who may be new to Bob, he calls himself a “recovering lawyer,” is a New York Times bestselling author, hosts the popular Dream Big Podcast,” is co-owner of The Oaks retreat center in San Diego, California, and in 2002 he saw a need in India and founded what is now known as Love Does. Love Does is committed to fighting human rights, caring for the vulnerable, and providing education in conflict zones.

In today’s episode, I talk with Bob about his new book, Undistracted, and how we go about living a life of purpose. I also talk with Bob about the importance of dreaming, why he left his law practice after 25 years to dream big himself, why courage is beautiful, and the importance of letting go of rules or stories were telling ourselves that no longer serve us. I can’t wait for you to hear this encouraging conversation with Bob Goff. Whether you’re a brand-new listener or have been here for a while, thank you so much for joining us today. I’m truly so grateful you’re here.