Change rarely happens on our timetable. Whether a transition is welcomed or painful, the in-between can leave us feeling unsettled and disoriented.

In this episode, Sarah reflects on a summer day when shifting winds unexpectedly changed her family's plans, and what that experience taught her about navigating seasons of transition. She shares three practices for finding our footing when life changes.

If you're walking through a season of change, this episode offers encouragement to slow down, pay attention, and trust that God is present even in the uncomfortable middle. Ready to go deeper in your faith? Take the Connect with God quiz here

In this episode, Sarah talks with author Monika Kirkland about her book Ever With You and how prayer becomes a lifeline in the middle of busy, overwhelming seasons.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How exhaustion and anxiety became a turning point toward deeper dependence on God

• Three common barriers to prayer

• Why waiting seasons can cultivate deeper trust and intimacy with God

• The shift from chasing "mountaintop" moments to encountering God in everyday life

• The balance of praying boldly while surrendering outcomes to God

• How hustle culture impacts our spiritual lives, and why rest is an act of trust

• Simple, practical ways to begin abiding with God in prayer

Get the show notes here

Take the Connect with God quiz here

In this solo episode, I share a story from my teenage years that unexpectedly shaped how I think about faith, spiritual practices, and knowing God. What began as a reluctant cup of coffee became a metaphor for how our spiritual appetite develops over time—and how many of us settle for a limited experience of God without realizing there is more.

Together, we explore what it means to "taste and see" for ourselves, how our formation influences our relationship with God, and why expanding our spiritual practices can deepen both our faith and our connection with others.

Join the Practicing Together community here: https://sarahkbutterfield.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Sarah sits down with spiritual director and author Cindy S. Lee to explore a more expansive, embodied approach to knowing God. Drawing from her book Our Unforming, Cindy unpacks the difference between knowing about God and experiencing the sacred in everyday life, while gently challenging the Western assumptions that often shape our faith.

Tune in to hear how awareness, humility, and simple spiritual practices can open us to deeper connection with God—and how the ongoing work of "unforming" helps us release what no longer serves us so we can grow in freedom, trust, and authenticity.

In this episode, you'll gain:

• A fresh, accessible starting point for engaging your faith • Insight into how Western culture has shaped your view of God • Permission to trust your experiences and desires in your spiritual life • A framework for letting go of limiting beliefs and practices • Practical encouragement to slow down and become more attentive to God

Click here for the shownotes: https://sarahkbutterfield.substack.com/s/podcast

Take the Connect with God quiz here: subscribepage.io/BtMXx4

This episode invites listeners to rethink what freedom in Christ is for: not self-focus or spiritual striving, but love. Through everyday examples and a gentle challenge, Sarah reflects on how our freedom is meant to be lived out in service to one another—and how even good things like spiritual practices can become burdens when they are disconnected from love.

She also shares an invitation to go deeper through a new monthly practice-based community connected to her newsletter, offering space to grow, reflect, and pursue faith together. Check it out here, and if you join before August 9, 2026, get a 20% discount with this link.

In this episode of Theology on Purpose, Sarah talks with pastor and author Doug Basler about how fiction can become a powerful spiritual practice. Drawing from his book All Swirling and Weaving, Doug shares how stories can awaken our hearts, deepen our faith, and reshape how we see God and the world.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What the "Christian imagination" is and why it matters

• How fiction can form us in ways nonfiction sometimes can't

• A story about how a novel revealed hidden ambition in Doug's life

• How reading expands empathy and helps us love others well

• Practical ways to incorporate fiction into a busy life

Whether you love reading or want to rediscover it, this conversation will inspire you to see stories as more than entertainment—they can be a means of spiritual growth.

We all live by stories—about who we are, who God is, and what it means to live a faithful life. But what if some of those stories aren't actually true? In this episode, we explore the subtle narratives that shape our identity and faith, how they can fail us, and what it looks like to realign our lives with what is actually true.

What if time with God felt less like a task to complete and more like a place of rest? In this conversation, Cara Ray invites us into the practice of "holy leisure"—a way of relating to God marked by delight, attentiveness, and peace rather than pressure and performance. Drawing on the themes of truth, goodness, and beauty, she shares how shifting our mindset can transform our spiritual rhythms and help us experience deeper joy in God's presence.

Cara also introduces her simple DWELL framework for engaging Scripture and offers a vision of fruitfulness that isn't driven by productivity, but by abiding in Christ. Whether you're feeling spiritually dry, busy, or burdened, this episode will encourage you to rediscover time with God as a gift—not a checkbox.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What "holy leisure" means and why it matters

• How to move from duty to delight in your time with God

• A simple framework for slowing down and savoring Scripture

• How meditation fits into a vibrant spiritual life

• The difference between a productive life and a fruitful one

Take the Connect with God quiz here

Get the show notes here

In this solo episode of Theology on Purpose, I share how an unexpected interruption became an invitation to slow down and rediscover joy. In a season marked by full schedules and creeping productivity, I began to notice how difficult it had become to truly rest—and even harder to remember how to play.

This episode explores the connection between spiritual formation and delight, and how practices like creativity, leisure, and embodied rest can draw us closer to Jesus. Through small, intentional changes, I found a renewed sense of freedom, spaciousness, and joy in my everyday life. You can too! Just listen in.

Take the Connect with God quiz here

In this tender conversation, Lara D'Entremont, author of A Mother Held: Essays on Anxiety and Motherhood, shares her journey through postpartum anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and OCD, and how motherhood brought both deep love and deep vulnerability. We explore how anxiety can challenge our understanding of God's goodness and sovereignty, and what it looks like to rebuild trust in God when fear feels overwhelming.

Lara offers a compassionate vision of God as one who draws near to us in our suffering with tenderness and care. This episode is an invitation to practice "theology from the floor"—coming to God in the middle of exhaustion, doubt, and uncertainty, and learning to receive God's grace right there.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How motherhood can magnify anxiety and our sense of lack of control

• Lara's experience with postpartum anxiety, OCD, and intrusive thoughts

• Wrestling with God's sovereignty and goodness in seasons of fear

• What it looks like to bring honest questions to God

• Engaging faith in the midst of real life

• Simple spiritual practices for anxious and weary seasons

• Reframing God's character as compassionate, not condemning

• The role of community, therapy, and honest conversation in healing

Get the show notes here

Take the Connect with God quiz here