Can God truly renew not only our hearts—but even the way we think?

In Part 2 of Virginia's conversation with author, speaker, and founder of Milk & Velvet Pearls, Sarah Faulkner shares what happened after doctors discovered her brain aneurysm had returned.

Facing another high-risk surgery during the uncertainty of COVID, Sarah came to a place of complete surrender. Through prayer, Scripture, and the abiding presence of God, she discovered a peace that surpassed her circumstances—and experienced a miraculous recovery that forever changed the trajectory of her life.

Together, Virginia and Sarah explore the beautiful intersection of spiritual formation, biblical truth, and neuroscience. They discuss how Scripture shapes our minds, how gratitude and prayer influence the way we live, and why becoming more like Jesus is both a spiritual and daily practice.

This conversation is a hopeful reminder that God is not only interested in changing our circumstances—He desires to transform us from the inside out.

• How surrender became the turning point in Sarah's healing journey

📖 Romans 12:2

"It is beautiful here. I would walk through the suffering again to know God the way I know Him now."

"God is far more interested in forming us into the image of Christ than simply making our lives comfortable."

Connect with Sarah Faulkner and learn more about Milk & Velvet Pearls @mypearrlgirl on Instagram 

If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share it with someone who needs hope today?

Your support helps more people discover biblical teaching, spiritual formation, and the life-changing invitation to become more like Jesus through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Follow Virginia Wear Kujabi @virginiakujabi and @theformedlife for weekly encouragement, practical spiritual rhythms, and conversations that help you cultivate a life rooted in relationship with the Trinity.

What happens when faith is no longer theoretical—but all you have left to hold onto?

In this deeply moving first installment of a two-part conversation, Virginia sits down with author, speaker, and founder of Milk & Velvet Pearls, Sarah Faulkner, to explore a story marked by profound suffering, miraculous survival, and the sustaining presence of God.

Sarah shares her journey from a difficult and painful past marked by addiction, anxiety, brokenness, and despair to discovering the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ. Through the beautiful symbolism of the pearl, she reveals how God often forms beauty through hardship, shaping us layer by layer into the people He created us to become.

But this episode goes even deeper.

After years of spiritual growth, Sarah experienced a catastrophic brain aneurysm rupture that left doctors stunned she survived. As she endured unimaginable pain, emergency surgery, and a long road of recovery, she discovered something that would transform her life forever: the tangible presence of God in suffering.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that God is not absent in our pain. He meets us there.

• The inspiring story behind Milk & Velvet Pearls

📖 Romans 12:2

"Pearls are like people. Bad things make them prettier on the inside."

Find Sarah on Instagram 

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover biblical truth, spiritual formation, and life with God.

Follow @vwear and @theformedlife on Instagram for weekly encouragement, practical spiritual rhythms, and conversations that help you become more formed into the image of Jesus.

✨ Don't miss Part 2 next week as Sarah shares how God met her in complete surrender and what happened after doctors discovered her aneurysm had returned.

What if the greatest threat to your spiritual life isn't sin in the way you typically think about it—but hurry?

In a culture that celebrates packed calendars, endless productivity, and constant activity, many of us have unknowingly embraced a pace of life that is shaping our souls. Yet when we look at the life of Jesus, we see something radically different. His days were full, but He was never hurried. His life was marked by attentiveness to the Father, presence with people, and an unshakable peace that flowed from communion with God.

In this episode of The Formed Life, Virginia invites listeners to examine the hidden costs of hurry and consider how the pace of our lives is influencing our formation. Through the stories of Mary and Martha, the example of Jesus, and His beautiful invitation to "come and rest," you'll discover why the Kingdom of God is built on abiding rather than striving.

This gentle yet challenging conversation will encourage you to slow down, pay attention, and embrace the unforced rhythms of grace that Jesus offers.

📖 The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

Follow along on Instagram:

Would you take a moment to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? And on Apple will you please take that extra step and WRITE A REVIEW!? Reviews help more people discover The Formed Life and join this growing community of incredible followers of Jesus who are on the narrow road and want to be formed more like Jesus.

And if someone came to mind while listening, share this episode with a friend. You never know how God might use a simple conversation to encourage a weary soul.

What determines the value of a human life?

Is it intelligence? Productivity? Ability? Independence? Or is human dignity rooted in something far deeper?

In one of the most personal episodes ever shared on The Formed Life, Virginia opens her heart and invites listeners into a sacred part of her story as the mother of an amazing son who happens to have Down Syndrome. Prompted by a recent cultural conversation and moved by the Holy Spirit, she explores the doctrine of Imago Dei—the biblical truth that every human being is created in the image of God.

With tenderness, conviction, and theological clarity, Virginia examines the dangerous ideology of eugenics, the Christian understanding of human worth, and why the Gospel offers a radically different vision of dignity than the one often presented by modern culture.

This is not merely a conversation about disability. It is a conversation about what it means to be human.

Raw, heartfelt, and deeply rooted in Scripture, this episode reminds us that our value is not something we achieve—it is something bestowed by our Creator.

"Human worth is not based on intelligence, productivity, ability, or independence. Our worth is rooted in the fact that we were created by God and bear His image."

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover spiritual formation, biblical truth, and life with God.

Follow @theformedlife and @vwear on Instagram for content that nourishes your soul 

Have you ever found yourself believing something about God—or about yourself—that felt true because of your circumstances?

In this deeply personal episode of The Formed Life, Virginia shares a powerful revelation from her own spiritual formation journey: the enemy often recycles the same lies in different seasons of life. Whether you're walking through disappointment, unanswered prayers, suffering, loss, or a season of waiting, your circumstances can make those lies feel convincing.

But feelings and circumstances, while real, are not always reliable interpreters of truth.

Together, we'll explore how followers of Jesus can recognize the lies of the enemy, renew their minds through Scripture, and anchor themselves in the truth of who God is and who God says they are. Through personal stories, biblical teaching, and practical spiritual formation insights, Virginia offers encouragement for anyone struggling to trust God's goodness in difficult seasons.

Why the enemy's primary strategy is deception

How difficult circumstances can make lies feel believable

Common lies Christians are tempted to believe about God and themselves

The importance of renewing your mind through Scripture

How spiritual practices help us discern truth from deception

What it means to live from your identity in Christ

Practical steps for replacing lies with God's truth

John 8:44

Romans 12:2

Ephesians 1:3–8

2 Corinthians 5:17

Hebrews 13:5

What lies have your circumstances made believable? What truth from God's Word is He inviting you to embrace instead?

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps more people discover The Formed Life and grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus.

Follow @vwear and @theformedlife for a community that nourishes your soul 

#ChristianPodcast #SpiritualFormation #IdentityInChrist #RenewYourMind #SpiritualWarfare #BiblicalTruth #FaithJourney #WaitingOnGod #ChristianGrowth #Discipleship #TheFormedLife

EPISODE 30: The Spiritual Discipline of Generosity

APPLE PODCASTS + SPOTIFY SHOW NOTES

What comes to mind when you hear the word generosity?

For many Christians, generosity begins and ends with financial giving. But what if biblical generosity is far deeper than money alone? What if generosity is actually about becoming the kind of person who lives open-handedly with their time, attention, home, friendships, talents, and presence?

In this episode of The Formed Life Podcast, Virginia explores the spiritual discipline of generosity through the lens of spiritual formation — drawing wisdom from Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and John Mark Comer while sharing personal stories from marriage, motherhood, friendship, hospitality, and everyday life.

Together, we explore how generosity forms us more into the likeness of Jesus and how fear, scarcity, hurry, self-protection, and consumerism can quietly keep us from living with open hands.

This conversation will challenge you to move beyond convenient generosity and into a life poured out in love.

In this episode, we discuss:

The spiritual discipline of generosity

Why generosity is more than financial giving

Biblical generosity and spiritual formation

Dallas Willard on trust and open-handed living

Richard Foster on simplicity and possessions

John Mark Comer on hurry and attention

Generosity with time, hospitality, friendships, and influence

Relational generosity and opening your circle

Hospitality as a spiritual practice

Scarcity mindset vs. Kingdom abundance

How Jesus modeled radical generosity

The role of the Holy Spirit in transforming our hearts

Referenced Resources:

The Divine Conspiracy — Dallas Willard

The Spirit of the Disciplines — Dallas Willard

Celebration of Discipline — Richard Foster

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry — John Mark Comer

Scriptures for Reflection on Generosity: 

John 3:16

Matthew 6:19–24

Acts 2:42-47 and 20:35

Romans 12:13

Hebrews 13:2

1 Peter 4:10

Philippians 2:5–11

If this episode encouraged or challenged you, would you share it with a friend and leave a review? Your support helps more people discover The Formed Life and grow in intimacy with the Trinity through spiritual formation 

Connect more with Virginia:

Do you ever feel spiritually exhausted by the constant noise, hurry, distraction, and consumption of modern life?

In this episode of The Formed Life Podcast, Virginia explores the deeply countercultural spiritual practice of biblical simplicity — and why simplicity is about far more than aesthetics, decluttering, or modern minimalism trends.

While minimalism focuses primarily on external possessions, biblical simplicity addresses the condition of the soul. Simplicity is about creating intentional space for deeper communion with God, greater attentiveness to His presence, and a more wholehearted way of living.

Virginia shares personal stories from seasons of motherhood, medical trauma, healing, and recovery, and how God used simplicity to create space for restoration, gratitude, intimacy with Him, and deeper presence with her family.

Together, we explore how overconsumption, distraction, busyness, and constant noise can quietly shape our souls — and how the way of Jesus invites us into something radically different.

In this episode:

Scriptures referenced:

Key themes:

Friend, simplicity is not about deprivation or legalism. It is an invitation to remove what distracts us from deeper communion with God.

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend who feels overwhelmed, distracted, or spiritually exhausted.

Connect with The Formed Life:

Visit @vwear and @theformedlife on Instagram to find a sacred space on internet and content that nourishes your soul 

Have you ever walked through a season that felt invisible to everyone around you?

In this deeply personal episode of The Formed Life, Virginia shares about a difficult few weeks navigating medical appointments, exhaustion, uncertainty, and the emotional weight of parenting through fragile moments. While sitting in a children’s hospital after a long specialist appointment, she found herself wrestling with the ache of feeling unseen — until God brought her back to one powerful story in Scripture: Hagar’s encounter with El Roi, “the God who sees me.”

Together, we unpack Hagar’s story in Genesis 16 and explore the profound truth that God sees us personally in our wilderness seasons. He sees the tears we cry in private, the burdens we carry quietly, the exhaustion no one else notices, and the ache of unmet longing.

This episode also plants an important seed about the spiritual practice of study — not simply reading Scripture, but deeply studying God’s Word so His truth becomes anchored in us during difficult moments.

If you are walking through grief, exhaustion, disappointment, caregiving, uncertainty, or a season where you feel overlooked, this conversation will remind you of the relational heart of God and His nearness in the wilderness.

In this episode, we discuss:

Scriptures referenced:

Friend, if you feel unseen today, may this episode remind you that the God of Hagar is still the God who sees you.

Connect with The Formed Life:

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend who needs the reminder that they are seen by God.

Follow @vwear and @theformedlife on Instagram to connect with a  spiritual formation community and discover a sacred space 

Why does Gen Z feel spiritually stuck—even when they love Jesus?

In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Virginia Kujabi sits down with Gen Z leader and college student Virginia Boyd to unpack the hidden struggles many young Christians are facing right now—burnout, performance-based faith, and the quiet tension between culture and conviction.

This episode goes beyond surface-level Christianity and exposes what’s really holding this generation back from deep intimacy with God.

If you’ve ever felt like your faith turned into a checklist… this conversation will wake something up in you.

🔥 In This Episode, We Talk About:

💡 Key Takeaway:

Spiritual formation isn’t about striving—it’s about abiding.

👤 About Our Guest:

Virginia Boyd is a Gen Z college student pursuing biblical studies with a heart for nonprofit work and reaching young people with the love of Jesus. Her passion is to help the next generation experience authentic discipleship—not religion.

🙌 Resources & Mentions:

📣 Share the Episode:

Know someone who feels stuck in their faith?

⭐️ Leave a Review:

Thank you for being part of The Formed Life Podcast Community. If this podcast is encouraging your walk with Jesus, would you take a moment to leave a review? It helps more people discover The Formed Life.  THANK YOU! 

Is Gen Z walking away from God… or from a version of Christianity that doesn’t feel real?

In this episode of The Formed Life Podcast, Virginia Kujabi is joined by special guest Virginia Boyd—a 20-year-old college student who is actively serving and discipling young people and enjoying her personal spiritual formation journey. 

Together, they explore what’s really happening beneath the surface of Gen Z’s faith.

This conversation dives into the tension many young adults feel today—caught between social media comparison, anxiety, and a deep longing for authentic relationship with Jesus.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

Key Themes

Gen Z faith • spiritual formation • anxiety and comparison • authentic Christianity • discipleship • surrender • abiding in Christ • mentorship

Scripture References

Quote from This Episode

“Gen Z doesn’t need a perfect version of Christianity—they need a real encounter with Jesus.”

Listen If You’re:

About The Formed Life Podcast

The Formed Life equips followers of Jesus to cultivate a life rooted in relationship with the Trinity, spiritual rhythms, and authentic community—so they can be formed more like Jesus.