Quick to Listen Podcast--Soul Care to Heal the World

Learn what Gen Z brings to the table, why we need them desperatly in our world, and how we can love them better.

Sue Bates, ICF Certified Leadership Coach, Next Gen Career Coach, and Spiritual Director, offers her expertise around helping Gen Z expand as they play to their strenghs of being "Digital Natives", able to communicate openly and honestly about their thoughts and feelings, and have great capacity for creativity and innovation.

You can learn more about Sue's work at https://www.batescoachinggroup.com

Lauren Bennett Breshears, a Gen Z fitness coach and social media influencer, talks candildy about how she is growing in self-confidence online and off, how she is trusting her truth and creativity, and how she is meeting God in these places. She encourages us to keep life simple and fun, never over identifying with our apprearance.

Lauren (Beth's daughter) also shines insight into how the Enneagram has influenced her self-awareness and new marriage with Tyler. Listeners of all ages will be inspired to grow beyond the tempation to stay stuck in mindsets that limit their potential and happiness in every area of life.

Look for Lauren on Instagram at domorewithlaur

What happens when we give ourselves permission to unpack the doubts and fears in our faith journey?

In this episode, we sit down with Karen Guess, Community Pastor at Immanuel Anglican. Karen is a true reformer and a faithful, tender guide for the inner journey. She brings breathtaking insights into the role of women leaders in the early church, challenging us to look deeply at the invitations of Jesus.

Together, we explore her profound theology around what it means to "wrestle with God and win"—an invitation not of combat, but of deep, transformative intimacy. If you’ve been looking for permission to let God transform your deepest, quietest parts, you’ll want a notebook for this one. Every community needs a Karen in their corner, and we are so honored to feature her voice today.

Kelly McSwain, spiritual director, helps mothers shift from a performance paradigm of correcting every friction point in our children immediately... to a contemplative motherhood paradigm, where we hold space and allow room for our child's unique soul to unfold without rushing to control it. She connects spiritual direction to the motherhood journey, where the work a mother and grandmother does on her own soul is the greatest spiritual gift she passes down, far outlasting any formal instruction.

Beth and Emily get real about changing seasons and re -working their personal soul care plan, aka Rule of Life, and giving women and leaders permission to ask some tough questions about what is draining us and not giving us joy. All for God's glory, our benefit and ultimately for the sake of others.

Rule of LIfe Resources

In honor of Women's History Month, Beth mentions several women of the past that have shaped her spiritual formation. They are all reformers, most from Europe, who possessed rich, personal and deeply devoted inner lives with God, which informed their remarkable outer actions.

As Emily Reed interviews Beth, she focuses on St. Clare of Assisi, a 13th century woman who walked out of her noble home, cut off her hair, and staged a quiet revolution that the Vatican never saw coming.

Clare was told she needed a protector; she chose poverty. She and the women in her order went barefoot and slept on the floor, as a means of solidarity with the poor they served. She was told she needed a man’s rules; she became the first woman in history to write her own.

Today, we’re uncovering the radical, barefoot, and utterly unbreakable Clare of Assisi. Let’s dive in.

Jon Bennett, beloved husband of Beth for 37 years, describes a time in his life as a pastor that he calls the "dark night of the soul", when things that were working no longer worked, and when certainty was replaced by uncertainty. Beth and Jon discuss how letting God out of the box, self-awareness, brain science and welcoming their humanness have been saving graces in their marriage.

Buz Mayo, Enneagram coach, spiritual director, pastor and men's ministry leader, talks with Beth about his experience in Wales, England on a 30 day silent retreat following Saint Ignatius' 20th annotation. He speaks of his evolving faith and of the many facets of Christianity that have guided him on his faith journey, and the courage to heal and grow with new tools and practices. Buz, in partnership with Jesus, gives us permission to turn shame into being honest about what brings life.

Josh Davis, ordained pastor, spiritual director and podcast host of Neurodivergent Faith, has autism and ADHD. This honest, riveting conversation opens up the possilbilty for our culture to learn from people whose brains may work differently than ours. And instead of being afraid of our differences and being shamed into conforming, leaning in and learning how to be embraced as the unique human we all are.

Stephanie Johnston, former missionary and church staff leader, now counselor and non-profit leader, talks openly about the journey that led her to spiritual direction, a more contemplative way of life, and the amazing transformation she has discovered in her personal life and ministry. This episode will encourage leaders to say "yes" to the invitations of the Spirit, leading them to a nurture and joy they long for.