Impossible Beauty

Kellie Haddock is a self-proclaimed hope giver. The kind of hope Kellie exudes is not naïve or shallow, but real and hard won. Kellie is a singer, songwriter, wife, and mom. She is also a former widow who has lived through tragedy and found hope and joy on the other side. To learn more about Kellie’s story of living through the tragedy of losing her first husband, please check out our conversation in episode 41. In that episode, Kellie talks about The Thank You Project, a short film featuring Kellie’s story of gratitude after tragedy. The film has attracted more than 150 million views and has been featured on The TODAY Show, The Huffington Post, and Cosmopolitan among other national and international media outlets.

Kellie has performed in Iraq, Israel, China and across the U.S., offering music that engages the soul. She has worked alongside Sara Groves and Sandra McCracken and has sung and spoken alongside Tim Keller, Christine Caine, Andrew Peterson and Bethany Hamilton. In today’s episode, Kellie tells us all about her new album, Orchids from Fire; what inspired it, how she experienced God while creating it, and why this project is different than any other album she’s made. She also talks about how she is able to remain hopeful and connected to God amidst life’s struggles and tragedies, the importance of women celebrating versus competing with one another, and why she believes the role of creatives is to bridge the gap between heaven and earth.

This week’s guest lives and breathes Attachment Theory. In today’s show, I am thrilled for him to share how our early-learned blueprint for relating impacts our adult relationships and even our relationship with God. Krispin Mayfield is a Licensed Professional Counselor in private practice in Oregon, where he and his wife live with their two children. Trained in attachment-based emotionally focused therapy, Krispin has served for over ten years in church-based trauma recovery programs. In his writing, podcasting, and speaking, Krispin explores the integration of faith and psychology.

In our time together, Krispin helps us explore what the four main attachment styles are, how these styles impact our adult romantic relationships, and how they impact our relationship with God. Krispin also helps us understand how we might move toward experiencing a more secure attachment with God. So often, how we relate to God has much more to do with an insecure attachment we experienced early in life and much less to do with the true character of God and the beauty revealed in Jesus.

My hope is that today your eyes might be opened to how you might connect more deeply with others in your life. I also hope that any untrue ideas about the Divine might fall away, so you might experience the true beauty of God and connect more deeply with Him.

We all have something beautiful to bring to the world. Simply being who we are or creating from a place of authenticity, we have the opportunity to bring good and beautiful things into being. Today’s guest is doing just that and, in her work and in her words, she inspires others to do the same. Jena Holliday is a Minneapolis-based graphic artist, children’s book author and illustrator, wife, mother, and the founder and Director of the online shop and platform, Spoonful of Faith. Her work can be found at retailers such as Target, Michaels, and Kirklands and her recent children’s book release, A Spoonful of Faith, was featured on Good Morning America.

In our time together, we talk about Jena’s transition from a full-time marketing career to creating her own business as a graphic artist, and what she felt God telling her in that transition. Jena also shares how she creates from a place of worship and sees her work as an incredible opportunity to co-create alongside God. Jena is inspired by the beauty of our differences. My hope is that this conversation might remind you of your own unique beauty and inspire you to create the next beautiful thing that God is calling forth from within you.

Tara Owens is the founder and executive director of Anam Cara Ministries, where she has been accompanying others in their journeys with God for 15 years as a certified spiritual director and supervisor. Tara holds a Masters of Theological Studies in Spiritual Formation, combined with a certificate in Death, Dying & Grieving, from Tyndale Seminary, and the Advanced Certificate in Supervision from the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University. Tara also teaches rabbinic Scripture study groups, educates spiritual directors, teaches in several spiritual direction programs across the U.S., and teaches a variety of spiritual formation courses. Tara was the Senior Editor of Conversations Journal for 7 years and has authored two books, Embracing the Body: Finding God in Our Flesh & Bone (IVP, 2015), and At Play In God’s Creation: A Contemplative Coloring Book (Franciscan Media, 2016).

In my conversation with Tara, we talk about soul friendship; what it is, how it impacts the world, why Tara refers to it as “living art,” and how soul friendship plays a crucial role in resisting culture. We also talk at length about Tara’s book, Embracing the Body. Tara helps us move away from cultural trends of objectifying or criticizing our bodies, to instead befriend our bodies and see them as good. She reminds us that God speaks through our bodies, so often reminding us of His care and presence in the midst of our own embodiment.

On this week’s episode, I interview author, speaker, and former litigating attorney, Lisa Appelo. In her new book, Life Can Be Good Again: Putting Your World Back Together After It All Falls Apart, Lisa details the story of becoming a widowed mother of seven and what she’s learned in the process.

In her writing and in her ministry, Lisa offers hope to those struggling with disappointment or grief. She offers compassionate, Biblical insight to help others find their footing, process raw emotion, and offer the hope that life can be good again. Lisa also writes at the popular site LisaAppelo.com, founded a team of writers at hopeingrief.com, administers the Facebook group Widow Mama Collective, and serves on the Executive Team for COMPEL with Proverbs31Ministries.

In our time together, we talk about what got Lisa through the days following her husband’s death, her passionate invitation for us all to live life deeply, and how all of life can be viewed as an opportunity to be shaped into the people God’s created us to be. So, may we be reminded that amidst life’s struggle and chaos, something deeper is also at work. Currents of healing, redemption, and love continue to form us. And, even amidst or following those seasons of struggle, may we know and be reminded that life can be good again.

I am grateful to have had numerous significant spiritual mentors in my life, but one of the most significant mentors in my young adult years was Dr. Jeffrey Crafton. Dr. Crafton is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church, an adjunct professor at North Park Theological Seminary, and a Sacred Studies teacher at Minnehaha Academy, teaching classes in ethics and faith formation to eleventh and twelfth graders.

This year, Dr. Crafton is retiring from Minnehaha Academy after 26 years of mentoring thousands of high schoolers as they wade through pivotal faith-related questions. In my time with Dr. Crafton, we tackle some of the same issues and themes that arise in his classes, including issues of faith and doubt, how he sees science as complimentary to faith, and, after studying the uniqueness of Christianity for decades, what he believes to be most captivating about the person of Jesus. Spiritual mentors don’t offer easy answers but bring us hope and grounding in an often-chaotic world. My hope is that today’s conversation will do just that.

There’s something so mysterious about music. It can shift our mood, connect us with other people, or help us experience God. For years, I have been enamored with the power and mystery of music. And that is why I am thrilled about today’s interview. Chenoa Murphy started the violin at age 3 and was trained in and completed the Suzuki Violin method. Simply put, she has been immersed in the art and beauty of music throughout her lifetime.

She has achieved both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violin Performance from the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music, as well as her Doctoral studies from the University of Iowa. She has taught violin and viola and is a member of several symphony orchestras in her area. Her opinions on race can be found on CNN, NPR Illinois, and Huffington Post. Chenoa is married to the love of her life, Victor of Glasgow, Scotland, and is the mother of two, and bonus mother of four. She also hosts her own podcast, entitled “Black, White & In Color.”

In our time together, we talk about what it was like growing up immersed in classical and Gospel music, why black representation in classical music matters, and why she believes authenticity is cornerstone to embodying true beauty.

Sometimes light shines brightest in the darkness. And that’s exactly what’s happening at the Polish-Ukrainian border, as Davide Martello plays his baby grand piano. Davide Martello, also known as Klavierkunst, is a German pianist of Italian descent. Martello is known for traveling around conflict zones to play his baby grand piano, which he tows behind his bicycle, using a powered trailer. His mission is to bring peace through music.

Martello’s work has been featured by outlets such as CNN and has previously been recognized by the European parliament for his “outstanding contribution to European cooperation and the promotion of common values.” Martello is currently playing at the Ukrainian-Polish border for refugees, fleeing the Russian invasion. And that is where he was, when I recently had the pleasure to speak with him about his mission and about beauty.

Sumner Brooks is a registered dietitian (RDN), author, and mom who has spent over 13 years working in the field of nutrition and eating disorders. She most recently co-authored her second book, entitled How to Raise an Intuitive Eater: Raising the Next Generation with Food and Body Confidence. Sumner earned her RDN credential and M.P.H. in Community Health Sciences from UCLA in 2008. Her experience includes providing nutrition therapy for adolescents and adults with eating concerns for over a decade, public speaking and pursuing advanced training in trauma-informed, weight-inclusive healthcare. She is also the founder of EDRD Pro, a global, online continuing education platform for eating disorder dietitians.

Raising two kids in Oregon, Sumner knows the importance of informing caregivers and medical providers on how we can ultimately prioritize mental health as we move toward the common goal of building a true sense of wellbeing for our future generations. In this week’s episode we talk about how diet culture disrupts our relationship with food and our bodies, why fear-based messaging is unhelpful in those relationships, and how to go about raising kids with food and body confidence. In a culture where we are inundated with unhelpful messaging that so easily disconnects us with the gift of food and our very own bodies, Sumner Brooks kindly and articulately helps us let go of diet culture messages, so we can usher in something different for the next generation.

Nicole Zasowski is a licensed marriage and family therapist, author, and speaker. Back in Episode 36, I had the privilege of speaking with Nicole about her first book, From Lost to Found. In that book, Nicole shares how her journey of multiple miscarriages and crippling anxiety gave her empty hands to experience God in new ways. In her new book, entitled, What If It’s Wonderful? Nicole invites readers to trust joy and find the courage to celebrate when we have endured seasons of disappointment and despair.

In this conversation, Nicole invites us to open our hearts and minds to joy and celebration in authentic and grounding ways. She also makes a psychological and spiritual case for the importance of embracing joy and celebration, even when it feels scary, and discusses tangible practices to help us move from worry and “what ifs” to embracing the vibrancy of the present moment.

So, whether your struggle with worry or perhaps find yourself in a season of disappointment, may Nicole’s words fuel the flame of courage within you; the courage to engage the goodness of the present moment and look toward the future with hope and imagination.