We Are Free

What's getting you through your days? It's so easy to turn to Starbucks, ice cream or Netflix. Wendy offers a different, more fulfilling answer to our lives. What if we gave up sugar and instead ran to Jesus? Listen in as Wendy and I chat about surrendering sugar and consuming Christ in lieu of consuming something else.

What is our anxiety telling us? Why does the same jealousy, fear and anger keep popping up? Author Anjuli Paschall encourages us to STAY, right where God has us to figure it out. We talk about her new book out spring of 2020 and all the ways God has spoken to her when she did what was hardest, staying put in the mess and difficulties, instead of running away.

When Sally was 22 years old, she was given unexpected and emergency custody of her three brothers overnight. Hear Sally's heart-breaking but inspirational story and how foster care and adoption has influenced her life, the decisions she's made with and for her family and the drive she has to love others well.

Why are we so hard on ourselves? How do we reconnect our bodies, minds and hearts? How do we find and live out the potential and power we have in Jesus? Arielle Estoria, a spoken word poet, joins me to dive into these topics. She also shares one of her poems with us and it is both inspiring and convicting. It WILL move you. You don't want to miss this one!

Christmas is special for so many reasons. Most of those are obvious and universal. But something so sacred happened on Christmas Eve 2017 for Jesse and me. We said a resounding YES to adopting our daughter. In this Ep. 015, I tell the story about the first time I met Vera (in a dream God gave me, years before she was born) and how that dream ties into our best yes yet.

Vanessa thought she'd grow up, get married, have a normal job and a beautiful home. She liked the idea of stability and order. But she married an academic whose career took them overseas and since then, a handful of different states, living a pretty nomadic lifestyle for someone who'd rather not. Vanessa shares what has helped her most in seasons of big moves, transitions and changes.

Since she was 12, Suzy's been convicted and excited to adopt a child. Twenty years later, she's still waiting for God to deliver on that idea he planted. But now, even though the desire hasn't changed, God is changing her heart to accept her husband's ideas and desires, too. God, marriage, motherhood...right order. Sometimes, easier said than done.

Everyone's getting married. But you. Or, your bestie. In this episode, Sarah Jung shares all about living single in her 30s. She always dreamed and assumed she'd be married by 25. That's not what happened. For 4 years in her mid-30s, she remained single. But, in the midst of that waiting, Sarah says God dismantled old ways of thinking, provided healing and offered his love, just as she was.

This is a special edition episode! I wanted to introduce you to my hubby and I figured our 10th wedding anniversary was a great excuse to bring him on the show. Jesse and I tell the story of how we met, the things we've loved most about being married and the things we would have changed. Episode 011 is super candid and we hope it makes you laugh, at least a little bit.

Natalie is a successful entrepreneur. She could build a big home. Buy a big SUV. Collect more things. Show something for her success. But overcoming a benign brain tumor and fighting infertility have convicted her to live a freer life where her family prioritizes experiences, relationships and adventures over more stuff. If you're contemplating scaling back or trying to keep up with the pressures of society, but realizing you might be living someone else's dream...this one's for you.