Story Matters Podcast

In this episode we explore the concept of "window of tolerance" seeing its connection to meekness. What we often consider weakness is actually a strength of spirit and mind.

One of the reasons we find healing so elusive is that we refuse to engage the heartaches of our lives. It can seem un-American or even un-Christian to look upon the past in a negative light. However, this is exactly how Scripture beacons us to grow...by first going into our suffering.In this episode we will explore Jesus' words, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comfort

Why do we look back at childhood stories of harm? We discuss internal vows we make, agreements about who we are and protectors that develop. These were ways we needed to mitigate shame that are still patterns by which we live our adulthood. Jesus invites us to lay down these fig leaves when he begins his Sermon on the Mount.

Take off your shoes, this is holy ground! God desires for us to live in bodies that feel safe and loved. Selah is an ancient word from poetry and we see it in the Psalms. Emily developed a Selah practice with five steps to make space for self care using God's words as a guide. Pause. Feel. Turn. Receive. Flourish! We hope you can be aware of how your body is holding sorrows, trauma

Christians in the modern era are often confused about the role our bodies play in our growth. In this episode we explore the need to be tuned into our bodies which carry many of our wounds and are also instrumental for living fully integrated lives.

Let's unpack the power of narrative focused trauma care (NFTC). We discuss a way to approach healing that combines scripture with modern psychology. We want the Church to take back what should be ours as we talk through how modern Psychology was birthed out of a shift that left modern Christians lacking. "In the late 19th century, while the Church's understanding of the unconscious

We close out the Shalom series by unpacking the final stage: Shalom Restoring. We seek to imagine what healing can look like in our particular stories of suffering.

We explore our tendency to seek protection from our wounds in ways that don't ultimately lead to our flourishing. Building on the shalom arc developed by Dr. Dan Allender, the concept of this episode is shalom sought as false rescues from the myriad and particular ways shalom has been shattered throughout our lives. What is important to grasp is that these ways were often very nece

In this conversation we explore the reality that something went wrong. In order to grasp how our own stories fit into the larger story of redemption we must examine the particular places where evil has assaulted us.

In this episode we outline the framework of the Biblical narrative which all of our individual stories find their basis. Humans were made for shalom which began in the garden and yet still exists inside all of us - the longing to live without shame in the presence of our Creator and others.