You Were Made for More

In this episode, Sammie continues our relationship "crash course" series and covers more questions that students (and adults!) frequently ask.

We talk about these four questions:

1. What role should my parents play in my dating life?
2. What happens if I'm rejected?
3. What happens If I've already messed up?
4. How do you even start building a healthy relationship?

Things we mentioned in this episode:

• Episode 4: Relationship FAQ, Part 1 
• Sammie's Story
• The Next Right think by Emily P. Freeman
• Time Magazine Study On Marriage
  
  

Be sure to stay up to date with Abundant Life: You Were Made for More by visiting our blog.

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In this episode, Sammie interviews her friend, Lexi Moles, and they talk about Lexi’s calling – Lexi serves as the Director of Middle School Outreach at Ciudad Nueva, a non-profit that serves the community of El Paso, Texas. 

Lexi is one of the most relational humans you’ll ever meet in your life, and thankfully, that energy plays into her role as she is learning what it means to do life with middle schoolers. Lexi has chosen to take the head-on approach and has shown an admirable initiative in educating her students and equipping her youth leaders to have healthy conversations about relationships and sexuality, all based on her experience in youth group growing up.

If you’ve ever wondered why it’s important to be consistent in teens' lives, how in the world someone can actually enjoy hanging out with middle schoolers, and why it’s important to stay and fight for the hearts of our kids, this episode will really speak to your heart.

 Things we mentioned in this episode:

• Ciudad Nueva
• Abundant Life Curriculum

You can stay up to date with Lexi and her middle schoolers by following her on IG. That’s where all the good stuff goes!

Be sure to stay up to date with Abundant Life: You Were Made for More by visiting our blog.

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In this episode, Sammie covers three of the top questions about relationships that students (and some adults!) ask. Welcome to part 1 of our relationship "crash course!"

We talk about these three questions:

1. How do you define dating?
2. How far is "too far" physically? 
3. Should I date someone who isn't a Christian?

If you have questions you'd like to see us answer in part 2, please send them to Sammie ([email protected]).

Things we mentioned in this episode:

• Single. Dating. Engaged. Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age by Ben Stuart
• Module 3 of Abundant Life: You Were Made for More (Purity: Rethinking, Restarting, Reorienting)
• Practical Tips for Dating in the Hook-Up Culture Blog
• Studies about Marriage, Relationship, and Teens

Be sure to stay up to date with Abundant Life: You Were Made for More by visiting our blog.

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We love y'all! Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to follow us on social media :-)

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Disclaimer: This episode does mention pornography, masturbation, and other mature content. We encourage parents and students to talk about these topics together before listening.

In this episode, Sammie interviews Kristie Cossel - a youth director from El Paso, Texas. Kristie has been married for almost two years to her husband, Mark, who she started dating in high school.

Kristie has personal experience with what it really means to struggle over sin and seek healing because of the impact that it had on her life, her relationships, and her identity. Not only does she truly believe that things she's saying in this interview, she vulnerably lives them out each day - something that I admire about her so much.

Truth is, we are all affected by pornography (whether directly or indirectly, which Kristie does a great job of highlighting in this episode):

• 12% of websites on the internet are pornographic – that’s 24,644,172 sites. 
• 1 in 3 porn viewers are women. It’s not just a “guy problem.”
• Porn sites receive more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon, and Twitter combined each month.
• Watching porn diminishes relationship commitment. Porn increased marital infidelity, or cheating, by 300%. A few studies reported in Psychology Today show that people who watched porn were more likely to engage in flirting (or more) outside their relationships and were more likely to cheat and hook-up with someone other than their partner.
• 50% of all adults do not think that porn is wrong – and most teenagers are encouraging, neutral, or indifferent about opinions of pornography. They say it’s “not a big deal.”
• Porn is a $57 billion-dollar industry worldwide - $14 billion-dollar industry in the US. That’s larger than all the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball, and basketball franchises AND more than CBS, NBC, and ABC combined.
• A pastor in Cincinnati, Ohio polled all the 7th graders in his church and 100% of those 11-year-olds admitted to having exposure to pornography.
• 50% of Christian men are addicted to pornography.

Pornography is a phenomenon that not many youth groups aren’t talking about, despite the epidemic running wild within the lives of our young men and women. Kristie personally relates to the statistics listed above, and I know that many of you listening will be impacted by what she has to share. At the root of the pornography problem lies a tragic misunderstanding of who we were created to be and what relationships are supposed to be about.

You were made for more than the counterfeit love that pornography offers you, and our prayer is that this conversation would allow you to wrestle with the weight of it's destruction in the world.

Things we mentioned in this episode:

• Kristie's instagram: @kristinajoy
• Kristie's blog on Abundant Life's website (Pornography: It's Not Just a Guy Problem)
• The Link between Human Trafficking and Pornography
• Harvest USA
• Fight the New Drug
• Fortify Tracker
• The Difference Between Shame and Guilt by Brene Brown
• Carolyn Allen's Book: Journey Into Wholeness

In this episode, Sammie interviews her friend, Taylor Hartz, about what it means to follow Jesus in your early 20's as a single gal.

Taylor brings a ton of wisdom to the table - not only because she's submitting to what the Lord is teaching her, but also because she's learned from her past relational decisions. I'm so thankful for Taylor's heart, her vulnerability, and how she shares honestly about why God makes us for "more" than we even realize!

Our prayer is that you know redemption is waiting for you, too. You are not too far gone. You are not too messy, too broken, too impure, too unclean. You are seen, known, loved, and purposed for a life free of the bondage of sexual sin. The leap of faith is wild, it's countercultural, and many times, laughed at - but the grace you jump into is liberating, satisfying, and soul-resuscitating.

Things we mentioned in this episode:

• Taylor's instagram: @t.hartzz
• Taylor's blog: https://freedomindeed.wordpress.com/
• The Unaltered Tour
• Defiant Joy by Stasi Eldredge
• Mighty Grace by John Mark Pantana

Be sure to stay up to date with Abundant Life: You Were Made for More by visiting our blog.

Send guest recommendations to us!

We love y'all! Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to follow us on social media :-)

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In episode 1, you meet our host - Sammie Gallo - and learn all about her heart behind making sure every person hears the words "you were made for more."

Be sure to stay up to date with Abundant Life: You Were Made for More by visiting our blog.

Send guest recommendations to us!

We love y'all! Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to follow us on social media :-)

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram