"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens" - J.R.R. Tolkein

On this week's episode, Scott and Sophia spend time discussing the concept of what it means to be a faithful and loyal friend.

Loyalty and faithfulness tend to be used in contexts where hiding someone's secrets or shying away from honesty to our friends are what's expected. But what if those two traits are actually require us to bring to light what has been in darkness? Or to dive deep into the hard parts of life with someone, instead of running away for comforts' sake?

Scott and Sophia also nerd out about Tolkein and The Lord of the Rings a few times, so give this episode a listen if you also enjoy Tolkein references!

This season, Scott and Sophia are talking about Building Healthy Community. And this week, they dive into the topic of forgiveness.

What does forgiveness have to do with community? Well, when (not if) those in your community let you down.....how are you going to handle it? How would you like others to handle it when you let them down?

Scott and Sophia dissect forgiveness and how to develop this vital skill for life and for building healthy community.

Doing an episode on boundaries in the middle of our season on Building Healthy Community may seem odd. However, boundaries are so important if you want your community to truly be "healthy"!

Scott and Sophia dive into this topic and discuss how boundaries can be a solid tool for you to use in your journey of building healthy community.

Give this episode a listen if you struggle with people crossing lines with you, not knowing where you stand with people, or even if you want to figure out how to better communicate your needs to those around you!

Making friends can be so tough. Where do you even start?

Scott and Sophia take the time this episode to explain how to make friends. They give practical examples and tips/tricks.

Give this episode a listen if you would like to grow in the skill of making friends!

Forgiveness is an underrated aspect of building healthy community.

Scott and Sophia dive into this trait through the lens of community building and maintaining healthy friendships.

Human beings will hurt us, let us down, and disappoint us. How can we handle those moments as Christians and as people that desire to extend what we would like to receive?

Give this episode a listen if you struggle with growing close to others, letting go of hurts, or forgiveness in general.

Scott and Sophia spend this episode interviewing Liberty University's Dean of Students, Mark Hyde, and his wife, Kathy Hyde.

Mark and Kathy have been married for 29 years and have experienced their fair share of hardships and hurdles. Mark and Kathy spent years being foster parents together, as well as adopting kids out of foster care. Mark got Covid in 2021 and was on the brink of death several times.

To say they have experienced hardships and hurdles would be an understatement. One way they were able to stay steady and work through those times of struggle was having healthy community surround them and support them.

Give this episode a listen to learn why building community NOW will come in handy for when life hits you LATER.

In this day and age, it is common to have friendships and communities that are exclusively online.

Scott and Sophia ask the question: Can online friendships/communities be healthy? Are they authentic?

Real life friendships are defined by Scott and Sophia as in person, face to face, relationships.

The theme for Season 3 is Building Healthy Community. If you are finding that the majority of your friendships are online, give this episode a listen. Scott and Sophia do not tell listeners to abandon the online space, but instead offer up insights into how to view those online friendships and how to determine if they can truly be counted in your healthy community.

Building Healthy Community is the theme for Season 3! Scott and Sophia kick things off by defining friendship and talking about what THEY mean when they use that term.

If you struggle with any of these things, you need to give this episode, and season, a listen:

Making friends

Keeping friends

Being honest in friendships

Stating your needs to your friends

Going through hard times and needing support, but having none

Not having a "place" here in college

Knowing what God has to say about friendships

Scott and Sophia sit down to recap Season 2. They discuss themes they noted in each pastor interview episode, as well as individual nuggets that really resonated with each of them.

If you've skipped around and listened to a few of the episodes, this will be a great listen to you to inspire listening to more episodes. If you've listened to all of the episodes, this will be a great listen for you as they'll likely mention some things you noticed as well!

Scott and Sophia are both vulnerable in this episode about what God has specifically done in their lives through this season.

Mike Kunzinger is the Pastor of The Church of the Good Shepherd. It is an Anglican Church here in Lynchburg. Scott and Sophia talk with Mike about the importance of traditions that have been honored and passed down for generations. The importance of reading through the scriptures, as a congregation, on a regular basis. And the purpose behind certain practices during a church service such as baptism and liturgical prayers.

See below for a link to the church's website:

https://www.goodshepherdlynchburg.com/