You ever stumble into a friendship? You meet someone randomly or have a brief encounter with them and then realize that you’ve actually found a meaningful connection? That’s how I feel about Rachel Awtrey. 

Rachel had me on her podcast back in 2023 and asked about my marriage during the interview, not knowing I was in the early stages of going through my divorce. After the mics stopped recording, I opened up and asked if we could edit that part out, and Rachel saw me. She kept leaning in when she could have just moved on, and I felt genuinely cared for. Since then, she’s followed the Lord’s prompting to reach out in moments when she didn’t know I needed a tangible reminder of God’s love for me. 

I hope this episode gives you some bravery to start tiptoeing toward strangers and also provides some practical tips on finding and stewarding safe friendships. Rachel uses some gym metaphors for seeking joy in life, and you KNOW I loved those! Y’all go check out her new book too! It’s called Love Your Life (Even When You Don’t Like It All The Time).

Thank you to our two incredible sponsors for this season of the Still Coloring podcast: Bark Technologies and “Unshakeable Moxie” from Our Daily Bread Ministries!

info.bark.us/toni
go.odb.org/toni-moxie

Connect with Rachel:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachel.awtrey
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RachelAwtrey
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-talk-with-rachel-awtrey/id1386475315
Website: rachelawtrey.com
Order Rachel’s NEW book, Love Your Life (Even When You Don’t Like it All the Time): https://rachelawtrey.com/book

Watch podcast episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tonijcollier

Order Toni’s NEW book, Don’t Try This Alone: https://www.tonijcollier.com/notalone

Shop Toni's merch: https://www.shopetch.co/collections/toni-collier

Connect with Toni: 
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonijcollier/
Broken Crayons Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brkncrayons/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colliertoni
Newsletter: ToniJCollier.com/Newsletter
Website: ToniJCollier.com
Purchase Toni’s children’s book, Broken Crayons Still Color: https://amzn.to/3x3I4xD 
Purchase Toni’s book, Brave Enough to be Broken: https://amzn.to/3VoCjVu