The Collide Podcast

What if your anxiety isn't a sign of weak faith, but an invitation to healing?

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans will experience an anxiety disorder, and even those who don't often battle overwhelming stress, fear, and worry that can steal joy and keep them from living fully.

In this encouraging conversation, Willow Weston welcomes Dr. Laurie Arndorfer, a psychiatrist specializing in women's mental health, to talk about the difference between everyday stress and clinical anxiety and how we can begin moving toward peace.

Together they explore why anxiety has become so common, how our modern lifestyles, comparison, packed schedules, and constant distractions contribute to chronic worry, and why our bodies often signal when something deeper needs our attention.

Dr. Arndorfer shares practical, research-backed tools that help calm anxiety, including mindfulness, relaxation breathing, exercise, creativity, and counseling, while also pointing listeners to the hope found in prayer and God's presence. Willow and Dr. Laurie also unpack Jesus' words in Matthew 6, reminding us that God understands our struggles and invites us to trust Him one day at a time.

Whether you've struggled with anxiety for years or simply feel overwhelmed by life's pressures, this episode offers compassionate encouragement and practical next steps toward living in what Dr. Laurie calls "the precious present."

• The difference between normal stress and an anxiety disorder
• Physical signs your body may be warning you that something isn't right
• How comparison, social media, and overcommitted schedules fuel anxiety
• What mindfulness really is, and how it helps interrupt anxious thoughts
• Why struggling with anxiety is not a sign of weak faith
• When to seek professional counseling or medical support

Scripture Referenced:

• Matthew 6:25–34

Resources Mentioned:

• Birds & the Lilies Bible Study by Willow Weston
• New Hope Psychiatry for Women
• Mindfulness apps

If this conversation encouraged you, share it with a friend who may be carrying the weight of anxiety alone. Sometimes one honest conversation can be the first step toward healing.

National Bestseller | Collide: Running into Healing When Life Hands You Hurt

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How do you know if it’s God leading you—or if it's just your own voice?

In this inspiring episode of the Collide Podcast, we wrap up our series on discernment with a solo episode from Collide’s Director, Willow Weston. Willow shares 10 practical and powerful tips to help you seek God’s will and follow the Spirit’s lead when you’re facing life’s big decisions. She challenges us to listen closely, take bold risks, and lean into the guidance only God can give. Whether you’re standing at a crossroads or simply craving clarity, this episode will equip you to move forward with confidence and faith.

Willow is the founder and director of Collide, a women's ministry that creates spaces for people to experience Jesus in the midst of real life. As a speaker, writer, and spiritual mentor, Willow leads with vulnerability, humor, and deep trust in God's ability to show up in the messy middle. She’s passionate about helping others hear God’s voice and live out their calling with courage.

• 10 go-to strategies to help you discern God’s will
• How to invite the Holy Spirit into your decision-making
• Why seeking God’s voice often requires stillness and boldness
• What it means to take risks while still trusting God’s guidance

If you’ve ever wrestled with uncertainty about your next step, this episode will offer clarity and comfort. You’ll be reminded that you’re not alone in your questions—and that God is eager to lead you with wisdom, love, and purpose.

Check Out These Resources Inspired by This Episode

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Join us this week as we continue on in our series on discernment and interpreting God’s call for our lives. The episode we have for you this week tells an incredible story of following the confirmation of community in our lives. Listen in as our host Willow Weston continues to roll out the story of her own journey into her calling and inspires you to follow yours, too.

Maybe you've been praying for clarity about your purpose, yet fear, self-doubt, or uncertainty keeps you from taking the next step. In this encouraging solo episode, Collide founder Willow Weston continues her series on discerning God's calling, sharing how God guided her into ministry and the lessons she learned about recognizing His voice, embracing holy discontentment, and saying "yes" even when you don't feel qualified. If you've ever wondered what God is calling you to do next, this episode will encourage you to trust Him one step at a time.

This week, Collide founder Willow Weston takes the mic for another inspiring solo episode in her series on discerning God's calling. Through honest stories from her own journey into ministry, Willow explores how God often speaks through His Word, His people, our circumstances, and the restlessness He places in our hearts. She reminds us that God's plans are often bigger than our own—and that He delights in using ordinary people who are willing to trust Him.

• Four ways God often guides us when we're seeking His direction.
• What "holy discontentment" is—and how to know whether God is calling you toward something new.
• Why your "not me" list may be keeping you from God's best.
• How wise, godly counsel can help you recognize gifts you don't yet see in yourself.
• Why God often calls the least likely people to accomplish extraordinary things.
• How to recognize when an opportunity may actually be God's invitation to your calling.
• Why failure is often part of discovering what you were made to do.

If you've been waiting until you feel more confident, more equipped, or more certain before saying yes to God, this conversation is for you. Willow reminds us that God doesn't call people because they have everything figured out—He calls people who are willing to trust Him. Your next step may not feel comfortable, but it could be the very step that leads you into the purpose you were created for.

No matter where you’re at, or what season of life you’re in, all of us moments where we’re looking around for answers to questions like, “Where am I supposed to go? What am I supposed to do? Where am I called to be? Is this the person I’m supposed to marry? Is this the job I’m really made to do? Is this the city I’m supposed to live in? Are these the people I’m supposed to do life with?”

Discerning God’s direction for your life starts with knowing that God speaks, guides, and directs, and He uses these things to do that:

His word

His Spirit

His People

Your Circumstances

Listen in as Willow walks us through how to make big decisions in your life by tuning into the Spirit and taking action.

What began as our Founder Willow Weston saying "Yes" to mentoring one girl, became a Bible Study group of women, which became a one-day event, which became the non-profit ministry that is now Collide. Our story has God's goodness and provision laced prominently throughout and the next chapter is no exception.

This winter God blessed Collide with our own space large enough to invite women to gather together to learn from Him, and from one another. We are so thrilled about this exciting new office space and this week, we're telling the incredible story of how it all came about.

We hear so often that God loves the people on the margins. But what happens when we really call out who that is? People with special needs. People who have been oppressed and pushed out. People who don’t fit in to our expectation of what it looks like to be chosen. These are the ones Jesus calls out, lifts up, and sets apart as His beloved. Listen in this week as pastor Garret Shelsta talks about what it means to love people on the margins and answers the thought-provoking question “What is the good news of the gospel?” ( along with many others), in The We Collide Podcast.

Every single one of us has incredible gifts. We are born with purpose, talent, and inherent goodness that God wants us to put out into the world. However sometimes we let that potential get road blocked by our insecurity at what others might think or say about us when we succeed. If you need a little encouragement to take your gifts out of hiding and proudly display them for God to use, tune into this week’s episode where we tackle the topic of walking boldly in our purpose.

How often do you find yourself struggling with jealousy, disappointment and discouragement? It’s easy to fall into the fears and lies that bring us to those broken places when we look around and feel like God is delivering on His promises and doling out miracles to everyone around us, but we’re getting left in the dust. As our guest Kristen Mattila said, “Sometimes it feels like God is like Oprah telling everyone ‘You get a car and YOU get a car and YOU get a car!’ but then sneaking out the back door before ever getting to me.”

Join us this week as Willow discusses envy, fear and ways to combat the lie that God has forgotten about you with Collide staffer Kristen Mattila. This episode is jam-packed with everything from deep truths to belly laughs to practical advice and discussions on scripture.