Episode 152 ::Sopha Rush :: Stories of Pursuing Healing and Living Deeply Rooted in God’s Promises
Release Date: 05/05/2023
Episode 174 :: Douglas McKelvey :: Stories of Leaning into Advent, Lament, and Living with Every Moment Holy
Simply Stories Podcast
Today, I have the absolute pleasure of sharing my conversation with the one and only Douglas McKelvey. Douglas is a songwriter, author, and liturgy writer extraordinaire. I have never met someone like Douglas. His gift with words and passion for Christ cultivates a visceral invitation to be more present in this life, to find your fight again as you walk this weary way, and speaks to our hope of the next life with Jesus. Douglas shares with me his story of what led him to Nashville, TN, his journey from songwriting to fiction writing and the idea of unpacking his belief that every moment...
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Episode 173 :: Carole Holiday :: Stories of Learning Who You Are Again After Loss and Living with Grief
Simply Stories Podcast
A self-proclaimed “accidental author”, Carole Holiday was living a very full life as a wife, mother, and nana, until one day, everything fell apart. Her marriage to her childhood sweetheart of over 35 years ended, followed by losing her job and ultimately filing for bankruptcy. Then she developed heart issues because of all the stress, and a continued windfall of loss, and grief in losing close loved ones, until it felt like there was absolutely nothing recognizable about the life she had known. In her book I Don’t Know Who I Am Anymore, Carole shares her story, but it...
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Episode 172 :: Mike Nappa :: Stories from the Valley of the Shadow, and Blessing Those Who Mourn
Simply Stories Podcast
Over the last several years, I don’t think there is anyone who has not been touched by loss or some kind of grief. Today's guest, author, and literary agent Mike Nappa is incredibly familiar with loss and living with grief. In 2016, he lost his beloved wife, Amy, to cancer. In his learning how to live life without her, God has shown him why grieving is such an important part of losing a loved one. As Mike says, he learned how to cry into his keyboard and produced one of the most poignant books that bears witness to grief that I have ever personally encountered. It is called ...
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Episode 171 :: Gary Miracle :: Stories of Taking Heart, Persevering in Suffering, and No More Bad Days
Simply Stories Podcast
Gary Miracle is an author and a speaker who passionately believes in the power of storytelling and how it unites us and spurs us on when life is tragically hard, and also reminds us who we are and who God made us to be. In this episode, he shares his story of growing immersed in church culture on Sunday but then suffered from an identity crisis the rest of the week as he chased perfection, and changed personas in order to be affirmed by anyone and everyone. Finally, later in his life and career, now a married man with kids, Gary reached his breaking point and reached out to his friend Bart...
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Episode 170 :: Justin & J.L. Gerhardt:: Stories of Encountering God at the Intersection of Story and Worship
Simply Stories Podcast
Justin and J.L. Gerhardt are on the podcast today, and you will love hearing from them! There is an epic retelling of their meeting and falling in love complete with 90’s Hearthrob meet cute and all. More than that, Justin and J.L. share about their journey of God leading them both into ministry with words, calling their family to travel the world, and unleashing their creativity and courage to press into new ways to encounter God and His Word. This journey has given birth to various creative outlets for the Gerhardt family, but the one we talk about the most in this episode is Justin’s...
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Episode 169 :: Nikki Anders :: Stories of The Journey to Bethlehem
Simply Stories Podcast
I am so excited to share with you a really special conversation with the incredibly talented Renaissance woman Nikki Anders. Nikki is an award-winning musician, songwriter, and music producer in the TV and film industry. She shares some of her experiences in the music industry as a solo artist and member of the music group Avalon, her and her husband Adam’s time working on “Glee” as well as many other films, and now are the creative team behind the new movie musical “The Journey to Bethlehem.” Nikki shares how the Lord closed and opened so many doors over the last seventeen...
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Episode 168 :: Travis Thompson :: Stories of Mental Health, Addiction, Faith and Healing
Simply Stories Podcast
Travis Thompson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who practices in Middle Tennessee. He is a PhD candidate who works with clients from many backgrounds to find the deeper meaning of their struggles and embrace long-term recovery from the pains that they experienced. His work is focused on being healed from past hurt and toward future success. During our conversation, Travis shares his journey of wrestling with his own mental health as a teenager, his recovery and healing journey, and entering the world of becoming a mental health professional serving and helping others like...
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Episode 167 :: Kelly Balarie :: Stories of The Power of God’s Word and Taking Every Thought Captive
Simply Stories Podcast
I have a powerhouse on the podcast in the form of Kelly Balarie. Kelly is an author and a speaker who is passionate about Jesus and the Word of God. She is a sister in the trenches and a self-proclaimed spiritual cheerleader. Every book she has written, she writes from a place of “this is where God has been faithful to me in this season.” Or “this is what God has been teaching me,” full of authenticity, and powerful scripture-saturated insights for women who desire to walk well and be filled to the fullness of God. In our conversation today, you’ll hear about her...
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Episode 166 :: Dr. Clarence Shuler :: Stories of Finding Hope in Dark Places and Cross-Cultural Relationships that Can Heal
Simply Stories Podcast
Dr. Clarence Shuler is the President and CEO of his nonprofit BLR- which stands for Building Lasting Relationships. Their mission is to equip others for discipleship in various venues. He and his wife both speak and write about marriage, but also dealing with infidelity, and divorce, but they especially love to minister to singles in the church. Whatever it looks like, the Shulers are committed to “loving people with God’s love with no agenda and see what happens.” During our conversation today, Dr. Shuler shared his story of coming to Christ through a relationship that would impact...
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Episode 165 ::Kayla Craig :: Stories of Curiosity & Questions in Faith & Holding Every Season Sacred
Simply Stories Podcast
Today I have the absolute joy of sharing with you my conversation with Kayla Craig. Kayla is a modern liturgist as the woman behind Liturgies for Parents online. She is a Mama of 4, a supportive pastor’s wife, and just this week she released her second book Every Season Sacred. In our conversation today, you’ll get to hear Kayla’s heart as she shares about what it looks like to pursue an honest and abundant life full of wonder and work. In all the spaces she occupies, she offers an open invitation to be curious, to express our questions, doubts, or confusion as we walk out our faith...
info_outline Sopha Rush is an author, online influencer and encourager, and professional promise proclaimer. Her book 100 Days of Living Deeply Rooted is such an encouraging word for life in the trenches of trying to unpack past narratives about yourself, believing what God says is true about you, and learning to trust Him more wherever you are walking in life.
In our conversation today, Sopha shares a little bit of her family’s powerful story of fleeing the Cambodian genocide and starting their family in Chicago. Her Mom became a single parent after a tragedy at a very young age, and she and her siblings grew up under the umbrella of incredible strength, and resilience, but also so much grief. There is much to unpack growing up as the helper when you become a parent, isn’t there? Learning to find value in yourself and just being who you are, not what you have to offer, seeing the value in taking care of and holding space for yourself to just be but also to heal. Sopha shares about how God has met her in all of these places, showing her what a good and trustworthy Father He truly is, and how He heals and redeems, and when we are deeply rooted in Him, we can come to know Him and find life.
I felt like this was a message for those who need to know the heart of God is for them. The wrestling of standards of the world, and feeling like you are never enough, and those who struggle to understand who God is and who He is not. Our deep fears that came from how we grow up, and how we misunderstood Him, can hold us back from seeing who He has always been. Take the risk, friends. There is so much life, goodness, and hope for you in Him. If that’s you today, I hope you know that you matter, and your story matters.
Connecting with Sopha:
Book: 100 Days of Living Deeply Rooted
Instagram (Living Deeply Rooted) Instagram 2 (Sopha’s!)
Sponsor for this Episode: Hopefuel
Use the code 'SIMPLY15' for 15% off
References:
-Cambodian genocide and the killing fields (also super interesting
-Cambodian refugees in Thailand
-”First They Killed My Father” - film on Cambodian genocide
-”Magic School Bus” -the OG
-”Magic School Bus Rides Again” - the new one, the tree episode I mentioned
-”Moms’ Actually” podcast episode I mentioned
-Ancestoral (or intergenerational) trauma
-The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
-If Our Bodies Could Talk - James Hamblin
-Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself - Nedra Glover Tawwab
-Articles by Sopha for (in)courage
Scripture References:
1 Corinthians 1-3-We have a heavenly Father
Job 38-41, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Matthew 6:25-34God provides for you
Psalm 36 , John 3:16,John 15:13 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Ephesians 3:17-19, Romans 8:35-39-God loves you
Proverbs 9:10, 1 John 4:17-19-Yes, we’re called to fear God but not from shame
Romans 12:2-Be transformed by the renewal of your mind
2 Corinthians 10:5-Take every thought captive
John 1:12-13, 1 John 3:1We are children of God
Acts 1:8,1 Corinthians 3:16 -We have the power of the holy spirit in us
2 Timothy 1:7-We are not given a spirit of fear
Psalm 23:4-He walks with us through the valley of suffering
Romans 11:11-24, John 15:1-6-Without Him we can do nothing, the need for being grafted into the Vine
Jeremiah 17:8 -Being deeply rooted
1 Corinthians 12:12-27-The Body of Christ
Colossians 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:11-Encourage one another, lifting one another up
John 14:3, Revelation 22:12-13-Jesus is coming back for us
Matthew 25:6, Revelation 19:7-The Bridegroom is coming back for the Bride (the church!)
Titus 2:1-5- older women share with the younger women
Jeremiah 29:11-There is hope for you
Psalm 27:13-There is good for you in the land of the living
Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:37-We’re called to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength
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