Ernie leads off by asking his three favorite questions:

1. What do you want
2. What do you fear
3. What price are you wiling to pay

Janet's chief desire is to Love More Like Jesus (or equivalently to draw closer to Him). Her fear is self-sabotage, and she is willing to pay the price of discipline to overcome that.

This led to an extended discussion on the apparent necessity of suffering for spiritual (and emotional) maturity. They identified three types of suffering (circumstantial, voluntary, and inflicted), as well as how those categories sometimes blur as we mature. 

We wrap with Janet sharing her challenges with staying productive during this season.  That nagging voice in our head can be a useful taskmaster, but ultimately (like the Law) we want to replace it with a nurture teacher.  Perhaps next episode we can figure out how to be, have, and create more teachers like that...

References

• Automated Transcript
• Ernie's Rules of War
• C.S. Lewis on Pain