God is famous for a lot of things - but some of them are hard to swallow. In this episode, we unpack some scriptures with difficult promises and our struggle with believing God is good even when he promises pain.

In this episode of the UnPerfect Podcast, You'll hear some crazy behind-the-scenes stories from my son's wedding and the wink God gave me the next morning in the depth of my exhaustion. But we'll also be looking at some examples in scripture where God led his faithful children into hard. But their absence of immediate redemption did not mean God was absent in their pain.

Grab your free copy of The UnPefect Promises of God here. It's a printable download of 5 Biblical Reflections to settle our hearts as we live in the tension between the now and the not-yet.

Scriptures mentioned in Episode #56

• 1 Kings 19 - Elijah’s exhaustion
• Genesis 37-50 - Joseph’s Story
• 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 - Paul’s thorn in the flesh
• Hebrews 11 - Faithful Followers of God - some who go what they were promised - some who never saw it in their lifetime

Listen to Famous For here! (It's so good, ahhhh!)

Check out this blog on a similar topic, The Darker Promises of God.

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Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

Welcome to Fridays With Friends, where I get to pick the brains of some amazing friends of the UnPerfect podcast!

Today I am honored to chat with Michelle Myers of She Works His Way about the only thing that matters - according to the wisest, richest most powerful man who ever lived.

Listen as Michelle unpacks Solomon's teachings from the book of Ecclesiastes that challenge us to make obeying God our main goal.

Want to read Michelle's conversational commentary on Ecclesiastes or study it with a group? Order it here.

Read my review of her book, She Works His Way, here.

Want to hear more episodes like this one? Check out the following:
Episode #36 (While Waiting - Making the Most of Slower Moments)
Episode #23 (Getting UnStuck)
Episode #14 (Responding to the Unexpected: Derailed)

Feeling like life did not turn out the way you planned? Or worse – the way the Bible promised? We can learn to live well in the tension of the “now and the not-yet” of our UN-perfect lives. Embracing UN-Perfect is a journey to get you started -
a 7-day dive to living fully the life you’ve been dealt. Grab it here.

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Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

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Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

Welcome to Season 3 of the UnPerfect Podcast! Our theme this season is Doing Hard With Hope.  Each Tuesday you'll continue to hear solo episodes from yours truly, but this Friday begins a new show, "Fridays With Friends."

I can't wait to share what God is teaching me about gaining glimpses of Him in the hard, and interviews with some wise, fun, and inspiring people who have experienced hope in their hard as well!

Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter (below) so you have full access to extra content and enjoy the preview clips in today's "Trailer" episode...

Let's "do hard with hope" together!

NEW TO UNPERFECT? Check out some of my favorite episodes:

Episode #11 - How To Reel In Busyness, A Barriar to Balance
Episode #47 - 7 Ways I Compare Myself to Others
Episode #37 - How To Ditch Regret and Embrace Hope
Episode #31 - Restoration for Sexual Brokenness

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

Today’s episode will answer, “Why ‘Un-perfect’?”  Or more directly, why your life can’t be perfect (this side of heaven). No matter what their social media feed looks like, NO ONE is living an ideal life, and it's time we as followers of Jesus - women in particular - choose to let go of perfect and grab on to God's perspective.

Scriptures you'll hear in today's episode:
Philippians 1:6
1 John 3:2
1 Corinthians 13:12
Isaiah 55:11
Proverbs 14:13

The book mentioned in today’s episode:
The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence

The Mayo Clinic Article on Laughter:
Stress relief from laughter? It’s no joke.

STAY IN THE LOOP!

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

Do you ever struggle to trust God's plan for your kid's life? Entrusting our kids to Him is tough - we are often wired as parents to imagine we know what's best for them. But what if God knows better? (Spoiler alert - he does:)

Click here to text me directly! I can't wait to hear from you.

Scripture Passage discussed in this episode:
Isaiah 61:1-3

(Download your free graphic of this Scripture here)

If this episode resonated with you, make sure you check out the following for more on this topic:

#16 Leaving the Results to God

#30 Trusting God With My Kid's Heart

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

Do you ever feel like your gifts, past, age, education, or personality disqualify you from being a woman God can use? Thankfully, his criteria for a life that glorifies Him is much less complicated than ours.

In episode #51, we'll be reminded of the significance of our God-given identity. It's all that matters concerning the impact our lives can have for His glory.

In stories from my life and my husband's precious Aunt Chabba, as well as those God chose to write in the annals of Jesus' ancestors, we'll see the cord that makes each one unique in his greater story of redemption.

Download your free printable copy of The UnPerfect Promises of God here.

Want more on this topic? Check out these episodes:

Episode #28 - How To Know Your Story Matters - On Earth and In Eternity

Episode #35 - How To Appreciate My Scars

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

Have you ever felt rejected? Maybe you felt left out, your opinions dismissed, or that you were somehow not enough for someone else.

In Episode #50 of The UN-Perfect Podcast, author/speaker Jessica Van Roekel offers insights and hope for processing rejected feelings through the lens of the Bible and giving grace to others in the process.

Jessica's book, Reframing Rejection: How Looking through a Different Lens Changes Everything, contains many powerful truths, insights, and strategies for living a life free from the chains that imprison us by rejection and its accomplices—people-pleasing, perfectionism, selfishness, and pride.

In this episode, Jessica shares the 4 main types of rejection and insights to help us reframe our perspectives on each.

Grab her downloadable freebies: Reframing Rejection with Wisdom from Philippians and the 3-Day Reframing Rejection Challenge.

You can find Jessica's book and access to her Grace Notes devotional at her website: Welcome Grace.

Make sure you catch the rest of my conversation with Jessica in Episode #20.

Want to dig deeper into some hurdles that keep us stuck in frustration, hurt, feeling insignificant, worry, or discontent? When you purchase EMBRACING UN-PERFEFCT, you can receive 7 minutes of encouragement on these topics in your inbox each day for a week. Use the coupon code SUMMER, and it's yours for just $5!

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

Do mundane and ordinary moments have you wondering where God is hiding? Welcome to episode #49 of The UnPerfect Podcast - Experiencing God During Mundane Moments: Why Ordinary Time Matters.

Today's guest, author K. C. Ireton, talks with me about Ordinary Time in the Church Year and why our ordinary moments matter. K. C. is the author of several non-fiction books, including The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year. In Episode #49, we discuss the church year, particularly Ordinary Time, which parallels much of our lives as we live out our God-ordained callings.

K. C. offers a strategy for practicing God's presence throughout the day, no matter how mundane or ordinary. She also shares a glimpse of what God has been teaching her in the gospels this year in the lives of two ordinary Marys.

Books discussed in this episode:
* The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence
*

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

When I compare myself to others, I allow myself to be robbed of much more than joy. Comparison robs me of my God-given identity, my time, and my ability to live FULLY in my present reality. Welcome to part 2 of this series.

In Episode #47, I discussed the first 4 ways I compare myself to others:

• My appearance – I’m learning to only compare myself to the me I was yesterday.
• My ministry – Gift envy is a real thing. However, I’m responsible for investing what little or much God has chosen to give me.
• My marriage – The grass is only greener where I tend and water it.
• My personality and abilities – Some of these are within my control to change. But some are the ways God intends to reach a dying world through my uniqueness.

In today's episode, I discuss 3 more ways I compare myself to others. Which ones resonate with you?

• My children 
• My life circumstances 
• My physical possessions

Some Scriptures used in this episode give more insight into the times I compare myself to others:

• 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
• Genesis 39
• Psalm 73
• Mark 12:41-44
• John 21

Finally, three ideas for combatting comparison are discussed. Listen in to hear how to implement them in your own life.

Want to explore breaking free from comparison and other hurdles that keep us from fully living the lives we've been dealt? Check out Embracing UnPerfect here.

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!

There are many ways I compare myself to others, but in this episode, I discuss the first four that women tend to struggle with.

Episode #47 is the first in a two-part encore series where I'll examine some of the top ways I tend to compare myself to others. I'll discuss how I’m learning to combat these traps and what Scripture says to encourage us—or convict us if needed. I hope you’ll find some new motivations and practical tips for ditching the comparison ritual. Make sure you tune in to episode #48 to hear the rest.

In today's episode, we'll examine the first four ways I compare myself to others, what they can look like, and what they truly say about my confidence in God.

• My appearance - I'm learning to only compare myself to the me I was yesterday.
• My ministry - Gift envy is a real thing. However, I'm responsible for investing what little or much God has chosen to give me.
• My marriage - The grass is only greener where I tend and water it.
• My personality and abilities - Some of these are within my control to change. But some are the ways God intends to reach a dying world through my uniqueness.

The only person you should compare yourself to is you yesterday

John Lee Dumas

Scriptures in this episode about comparison:

• 1 Corinthians 12:16-18
• Matthew 25:14-30
• Galatians 5:23

How tragic would it be to get to the end of my life and realize I spent it chasing down someone else’s?

Shelly Snead

For a free downloadable poem to help you avoid the comparison trap, click here.

Support the show

Loved this episode?! Leave a 5-star rating (and review)! Instructions here for the technologically challenged.

Join my newsletter and never miss an episode or update!

Claim your free UnPerfect printable download, The UnPerfect Promises of God: Five Biblical Affirmations for Living in the Now and the Not Yet

I’d love to speak at your women’s event or retreat - check out my website!

*As an Amazon Associate, I make a few cents if you buy one of the books I've linked to above. Enjoy!