The Collide Podcast

We’re excited to have a Collide community member on the podcast today to share her personal story of the road to adoption and her deep longing for motherhood. Katy Sooter’s real, personal, and heart-wrenching story will drive you to consider what it means to hope, how to shut down the voice of fear, and what it looks like to search for authentic joy in the journey of waiting.

Today on the podcast we're sharing a message by Mariah McCleary from our spring Collide conference that made us reflect and consider just as much as it made us laugh out loud. Mariah is a gifted speaker whose voice draws listeners closer to Jesus as well as disarms us with her top notch sense of humor. Her work with Young Life for the last 18 years has brought her around the globe experiencing the brokenness of people and the redemption of Christ in a way that will compel you to believe God has great things for you and great things to do through you.

We all have two voices that live inside of us - one of fear and one of faith. This is audio of a skit that was performed at one of our conferences that personifies those voices and inspires the listener to remember that God sees her through every season, including the painful ones.

Today on the podcast we're sharing a message by Emily Jamieson from our winter Collide conference that was just too good to keep to ourselves! Emily is an incredible leader in the Younglife space, as an academic coach, and in her own family and ministry involvement. We were so blessed to be joined by her and are excited to share her poignant message about hearing God's voice.

Who are you underneath all the roles you play, the expectations you carry, the things you've accomplished, and the opinions of everyone around you? And when life gets hard, how do you want to show up?

Coach, consultant, and mediator Sarah Murphy Kangas joins Willow for a thoughtful conversation about what it means to come home to your true self—to reconnect with who you really are and become more intentional about how you respond to the circumstances around you.

Sarah shares a powerful question she uses in her own life and with others: “How do I want to show up here?” We may not get to choose what happens to us, but we can become more aware of how we're responding and take an active role in our own mental and emotional health.

Together, Sarah and Willow talk about finding your true essence underneath your roles and accomplishments, allowing yourself to actually feel grief, anger, anxiety, and disappointment, and recognizing the patterns that can keep you stuck. They also explore the difference between taking responsibility for your own healing and trying to control or fix everyone around you.

This isn't about pretending hard things don't hurt or forcing yourself to “get over” them. It's about learning to move through what hurts, becoming present to yourself again, and recognizing the choices that are still yours to make.

If you've been feeling stuck, disconnected from yourself, or caught in patterns you don't know how to change, this conversation will encourage you to slow down, become curious about what's happening within you, and ask a simple but powerful question: How do I want to show up?

Sarah Murphy Kangas is a coach, consultant, mediator, business owner, wife, and mom with an MA in Organizational Psychology. She specializes in organizational trauma and healing, Enneagram training, mediation and conflict management, and leadership coaching. Sarah helps organizations and individuals intentionally live out their mission and values while creating space to discuss what she calls “the undiscussables.”

Sarah is also the creative voice behind In Praise of Leftovers and is passionate about helping people become more present to themselves so they can show up more authentically for others.

• When life hasn't gone the way you wanted: Recognize the difference between what you cannot control and the choices that still belong to you.
• When you're hurting: Don't rush yourself to “get over it.” Give grief, anger, fear, and sadness the space they need so you can move through them.
• When you keep reacting in ways you regret: Catch yourself in the pattern and ask, How do I want to show up here?
• When you feel responsible for fixing everyone: Notice whether you've stepped into the “hero” role and remember that other people are responsible for their own choices.
• When anxiety takes over: Slow down, reconnect with your body, and give yourself space to choose your response rather than immediately reacting.
• When you feel stuck: Ask for help. Reaching out to a trusted friend, mentor, therapist, or coach can be one of the first steps toward moving forward.

You don't have to deny what happened, minimize your pain, or force yourself to “move on” in order to become unstuck. You can acknowledge what hurts and recognize that you still have choices about how you participate in your life.

Sarah's encouragement is simple but powerful: become present to yourself, notice the patterns keeping you stuck, ask for help when you need it, and keep asking, “Who do I want to be here?”

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Have you ever heard about an injustice and thought, I have to do something about this? That's exactly what happened for our inspiring guest, Kelly Welk, who saw a need and didn’t just stand by and hope someone else did something but leaned into her specific gifts and abilities to create incredible impact. She is the founder of Freedom Dinners, which takes the power and community that happens around a table, and utilizes it for the freedom of others. Her work has expanded into Ciderpress Lane, which includes a Fair Trade shop, online community, and more - all to contribute more to Rescue:Freedom in order to liberate people from human trafficking. Tune in as Kelly shares how creating spaces and giving herself permission to put value on her everyday life is being leveraged to bring freedom to women near and far.

This week’s guest is the vibrantly talented and deeply thoughtful Scott Erickson, who is an artist, speaker, author, and thought-leader amongst christians and creatives. We were fortunate enough to have Scott as a guest at our recent event, and he joined us again on the podcast to continue the conversation on what it means to him to leverage his life for greater purpose and impact.

In this episode, Scott speaks to the idea that comparison is the antithesis of contribution. He encourages listeners to pay attention to our desires and follow God on our own unique pathway of purpose, even if it means letting go of what we thought was our dream in pursuit of something deeper and truer to who we were made to be.

Fear, comparison, and self-doubt can quietly keep us from stepping into the life God has designed for us. In this encouraging conversation, Collide founder Willow Weston sits down with pastor Julie Burleson to talk about overcoming insecurity, trusting God's calling, and why the encouragement of others can make all the difference. If you've ever questioned whether you're "enough," this episode will remind you that God doesn't call the qualified—He qualifies the called.

Julie Burleson is the Community Groups Pastor at Christ the King Church in Bellingham, Washington. Called into ministry as a teenager, Julie has faithfully pursued God's leading despite facing opposition, self-doubt, and the unique challenges of serving as a woman in pastoral leadership. She is passionate about discipling leaders, investing in the next generation, and helping people discover how God has uniquely gifted them to serve His Kingdom.

• How to overcome self-doubt when you know God is calling you to something bigger.
• Why surrounding yourself with encouragers is essential for living out your purpose.
• The importance of finding mentors and examples who inspire you to pursue God's calling.
• How comparison can keep you from embracing the unique story God is writing through your life.
• Why taking small, faithful steps is often how God leads us into our calling.
• How older and younger generations need one another to build God's Kingdom.

Whether you're sensing a new calling, wrestling with insecurity, or wondering if God can really use someone like you, Julie's story offers hope. Her journey reminds us that courage isn't the absence of fear—it's trusting God enough to take the next faithful step. You don't have to have it all figured out before God begins using your life.

What if the losses and detours that have left you feeling lost are actually helping God lead you toward the life you were made to live?

What do you do when the life you thought you were building suddenly falls apart—and you don't have a backup plan?

Kate Ahl knows what it feels like to have no idea what comes next. After getting married and moving to Portland with her husband, Dave, who was serving as a youth pastor, Kate found herself struggling with depression, loneliness, and a lack of vision for her own life. She had assumed she would support her husband's calling, but she didn't yet know what her own calling was.

Then came one unexpected loss after another: Dave experienced a nervous breakdown and had to leave ministry, Kate experienced a miscarriage, they struggled with infertility, Dave lost jobs, and their family faced financial uncertainty. Through it all, Kate learned to repeat a simple truth: "God is a good God and I will obey and see goodness in His choices for me."

Eventually, those years of loss and uncertainty opened a door Kate never expected. What began as a small side hustle managing Pinterest accounts grew into Simple Pin Media, a successful woman-led business where Kate now leads a team of around 40 people.

In this honest conversation, Kate shares how God unfolded her calling one step at a time, how her business changed the dynamics of her marriage and family, and what she's learned about women, leadership, motherhood, and the pressure to do it all.

If you're feeling lost, stuck, or unsure what you're made to do, Kate's story will remind you that you don't need to see the whole path. You can keep walking in faith, give thanks in the middle of uncertainty, and trust that God can bring clarity and purpose from seasons you never would have chosen.

Kate Ahl is the founder and CEO of Simple Pin Media, a Pinterest management company she built after a season of unexpected career changes, financial uncertainty, and searching for direction. Before launching her business, Kate worked in college and camp ministry, navigated life as a pastor's wife, and spent years as a stay-at-home mom.

Today, Kate leads a team of around 40 people and uses her leadership to invest in other women, helping them recognize strengths and gifts they may not yet see in themselves. She is passionate about servant leadership, generosity, developing women, and using the opportunities God has given her to create opportunities for others.

• When you don't know what you're called to do: Keep walking in faith instead of assuming you need the whole plan before you begin.
• When loss and disappointment keep piling up: Learn how giving thanks in difficult circumstances can help you continue trusting God's goodness.
• When you're tempted to compare your life to everyone else's: Remember that God's vision for your life doesn't have to look like anyone else's.
• When you're a woman trying to lead and care for your family: Give yourself permission to say no, ask for help, outsource what you can, and focus on what matters most.
• When the opportunity you've been praying for finally appears: Dream big, walk through the door, and step into what God has put in front of you with confidence.

You may not have a clear vision for your life right now, and that's okay. Keep walking, keep giving thanks, and trust that God can unfold your path in ways you could never have planned for yourself.

Simple Pin Media: simplepinmedia.com

Instagram: @simplepinmedia

This week on the podcast we are lucky enough to welcome pastor Doug Bunnell to converse with Willow about women in leadership in the church and beyond. This episode is all about unique gifting - how to find it, how to use it, and how to encourage others’ in their own potential. We are passionate about celebrating women and the way God wants to use them to bring more beauty, healing, and hope to this world and we can’t wait to share this conversation with you!