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Are you down about not measuring up to your own standards? What about being discouraged that your goals remain unmet? As you listen to today's repair episode, I hope you'll take to heart the message that "ideal you" is not the most valuable version of yourself.

Today we celebrate the 100th episode of The Grace Narrative by hosting with a guest! My dear friend Heather Walton shares her insight on the meaning of grace. This is a thought-provoking and inspiring conversation about how God's grace is a constant throughout our journeys. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

“I am a grace representative. I choose to abide in Christ, live in joy and share the love of Jesus at every opportunity.” My calling is to represent Him and I can’t do that unless I am abiding in Him…relying on His presence. If joy is found in His presence, like His word says, then it just makes sense that I would want to notice Him with me. It’s not on me to produce or manufacture His presence. My role is to be aware of His presence. 

Since we’ve just finished the holiday season and giving and receiving gifts have been on our brains maybe I better clarify- we’re going to be talking about P-R-E-S-E-N-C-E, presence; not the things we open on Christmas morning! There are many aspects to this idea of presence and so we’re going to delve into that today and why it’s a priority and what positive results there are when we live with presence.

The idea of heart posture is not new to me, but its impact increases the more I value it. Just as we should be careful in the way we hold, carry and position our physical bodies for our health, our heart posture has an incredible impact on our spiritual formation. In this episode we will be discussing the difference between a default posture and an intentional posture that prepares us for God's vision for our lives. 

Holy Leisure is the practice of "doing nothing for God's sake".  Today we'll learn about this practice and how it leads us to trust and rest.  It starts with adopting these thought patterns: life is a gift; we are a gift; we did not create ourselves or earn God’s love and forgiveness; we did not merit new life in Christ; and our future life in glory is not something we earn. Holy leisure allows us to intentionally live into that knowledge by our actions. Then our minds, bodies and spirits can experience the benefits of this particular gift of rest that God freely gives us and wants us to enjoy.

Today’s episode focuses on what I call the reminder that never gets old, because no matter how long you’ve been a Christ follower, the truth of God’s love is something we need to constantly live in and be assured of. We learn to trust more when we are reminded of His unconditional love. Whether you are doubting your worthiness as God’s child today or you’re feeling confident as God’s child today, I promise this discussion will encourage and inspire you.

Today we begin a series that I believe will encourage us to see ourselves more as God sees us.  We will be reading excerpts from "The Good and Beautiful You" by James Bryan Smith.  The following quote from Smith gives an overview of the subject of this episode: "Seeing our bodies- our good and beautiful bodies- as sacred instruments is essential if we are to live a vibrant life and have wellness in our embodied soul." 

“Home is that sacred space-external or internal-where we don’t have to be afraid; where we are confident of hospitality and love.” That is a quote by Brennan Manning is one that I resonate with so very much. Today we are going to explore how grace meets us in seeing our external and internal homes as sacred places where we find belonging.

Savoring is a practice for connecting with God as a Christ follower. Using our senses as encouraged in Psalm 34:8, can be a powerful act of celebration and gratitude that enriches our lives. Be it in a season that we planned for, or in a season that is unexpectedly hard, we can savor in any season. We can sense God’s provision and presence as we are fully present in surrendered worship. Join me as we learn how to make savoring a daily rhythm.

Today’s episode is going to be a reminder of the big picture promise that brings strength and hope to the life of a Christ follower. We all experience times characterized by a particular circumstance or feature- that’s the definition of season. Our tendency is to view that season as the end all-be all. But that’s not actually God’s view. While He is concerned with the details of our lives, He has an overarching covenant that houses all of our seasons. Let's explore this big umbrella that shelters everything else.

What do you think about that title? I’m wondering if today might be the first time you’ve ever thought of celebration and discipline going together in the same sentence! In this episode we’re going to delve into this idea and discover that celebration is actually a spiritual discipline that grace makes possible to enrich our lives and draw us closer to Jesus.

We’ve talked before on the podcast about the scriptural basis of hope in the life of a Christ follower. But as is with so many things, there can be a gap between having knowledge of it and the reality of it in our actual lives. We’re going to talk about why that is and how we go about sincerely believing that having hope is always in our best interest for joyful living.

Let’s just be honest. At some time or another we’ve all felt a pull to take a plunge into something new, but we’ve held back.  We’ve all procrastinated. I want to share a little pep talk with you and encourage you to take advantage of the energy of this season and do the thing you’ve been putting off.

Today I get to share a reair episode with you - Walking Through Overwhelm. We are all familiar with the feeling of being overwhelmed. Maybe you’re in a place right now where you are in over your head. This episode reminds us that it's not about denying that you are overwhelmed or that there's some magical place where we just deal with it and get over it once and for all, but it’s about finding the strength and encouragement to walk through it- and the incredible gifts of the Spirit that become ours in that process. 

Here we are in August! How are you? I hope you’ve been able to enjoy the rhythm of this summer. As we prepare to bring summer to a close, I think it’s important to consider what worked and what didn’t work as a way to help us take the next step into the future. Today we reflect on that as a way to gain wisdom.

Every once in a while, I like to drop a “best of” episode. The episode chosen for today is “Balance vs. Wholeness” from our series on paradigm shifts. It could be really helpful in what is sometimes a topsy-turvy transition time as we shift from summer to fall. I hope you are encouraged and learn to accept grace in a new way as you listen!

How much more joy would you experience if you could release the worries in your life? I’m not talking about ridding yourself of trials. I’m talking about the habit of endlessly ruminating on concerns and trying to control outcomes with your own means. It’s a trap I fall into and I bet you do, too. Today we are going to talk about developing a rhythm of releasing worry and what is ours as a result of that rhythm in our daily living.

Moving from one stage of life to the next isn’t the only time we experience transitions. Things change. All of the time! That is very important to acknowledge. And I’m going to give you a shot of grace right now with this next statement: Are you ready? Change is quick. Transition is slow. Isn’t that powerful. The grace in that truth ministers to me so much. We talk about what living in that grace looks like in today’s episode.

Back to school time has us thinking about the teachers and students in our lives. Prayer is the most important preparation we can offer them. But we are all scholars in pursuit of the Lord. Even if you’ve been following the Lord for decades, He still has things He wants to teach you. I hope you’ll open up to being a learner, to putting greater trust in Him, and accepting the grace He offers as you grow in His image.