364: There's Hope for Your Relationship - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
Most of us don’t realize how much of our relationship pain is rooted in old stories—until those stories start playing out with the person we love most. It’s easy to blame our partners for the chaos in a relationship. But what if the truth is that we’re all just scared kids trapped in adult bodies, equally making messes as we search for safety? In this raw and redemptive episode, Justin and Abi share the full arc of their healing journey—from trauma bonding and codependency to finding internal safety, building emotional resilience, and learning to love without self-abandonment. They...
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363: Love that never fails - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
In this heartfelt episode, Justin and Abi discuss the profound impact grief and suffering have on humanity, exploring how the radical love of God can overcome the despair and hopelessness we all face during overwhelming and painful experiences. Justin shares his personal journey of nearly losing Abi to her illness, revealing how his breaking point became a turning point for hope and freedom. Abi reflects on how her struggles have redefined her understanding of God’s love. Together, they offer a fresh perspective on suffering and fondly recount the goodness of a Creator who has remained...
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362: Bouncing Back from Betrayal - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
Betrayal cuts deep—not just because of the actions themselves, but because of what they shake inside of us. We choose to trust, to be vulnerable, to let someone in… only to have that trust disregarded. The pain isn’t just in the betrayal itself—it’s in the shame, the humiliation, and the reality-shattering confusion that follows. In this episode, Justin and Abi unpack the emotional toll of betrayal and why it feels so destabilizing. They explore how gaslighting fuels the madness, why short-term efforts at repair aren’t enough to rebuild trust, and how holding strong boundaries is...
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361: Why You Push Love Away - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
We’ve all experienced those people that seem hot one minute and cold the next. Their mixed signals keep us wondering if they want to be besties or secretly planning our demise. The ups and downs of it can feel like a whiplashing rollercoaster. Solving the mystery can seem impossible, but we might just have your answers! In this episode, Justin and Abi are joined by their long-time friend and fellow Life Consultant, Rachel, to shine a light on disorganized attachment and its impact on relationships. As three people who’ve operated out of it, they unpack the origins of this pattern, the...
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360: A Guide to Expressing Your Emotions - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
Most of us were never taught how to feel emotions—let alone how to express them in a way that feels safe for us and the people we love. From family dynamics to gender norms to childhood survival strategies, our emotional patterns were shaped long before we had words to describe them. In this episode, Justin and Abi dive into one of the most common relationship struggles: how we respond to emotions—both our own and others’. They explore the battle between “too emotional” and “not emotional enough,” sharing personal stories that reveal just how often those extremes are...
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359: Overcoming Emotional Hurdles in a Relationship Pt. 1 - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
Most of us were never taught how to share pain in a way that brings connection. We were taught to explode, shut down, or stay silent—and those patterns don’t just disappear when we get into relationships. In this episode, Justin and Abi explore the messy ways they both used to express pain—and the chaos it created in their marriage. From nonverbal shutdowns to emotional overwhelm and assumptions that turned into judgments, they explain how unspoken pain builds walls and leaves both people feeling powerless. You’ll hear how their childhoods shaped their reactions, how misreading each...
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358: Toxic Empathy Vs Healthy Empathy - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
Empathy can be one of the most destructive forces to connection—or one of the most powerful. Without it, relationships become cold and judgmental. But too much of it, without boundaries, and we lose ourselves trying to carry everyone else’s pain. So how do we find that middle ground? In this episode, Justin and Abi unpack what healthy empathy looks like, and what happens when it gets twisted into judgment or codependency. They share raw and personal stories from their own marriage—navigating chronic illness, financial stress, different upbringings, and PTSD—to show how empathy helped...
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357: What to Do When Your Partner Won’t Change - Greatest Hits
The Connected Life
Nothing is more frustrating than feeling stuck in a relationship where your partner refuses to change. Maybe you’ve had the same conversation a hundred times, but nothing ever shifts. Maybe they acknowledge the problem but don’t take action. Or worse—maybe they don’t even see an issue at all. In this episode, Justin and Abi dive into what to do when you’re hitting a wall with your partner. They unpack the emotional toll of waiting for change, the difference between healthy patience and self-abandonment, and how to navigate the tension between acceptance and advocating for your needs....
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356: When Intuition Opens the Door
The Connected Life
Following your intuition can feel confusing. Sometimes it sounds like fear, sometimes like desire, and sometimes like silence when you need it most. But when you learn to tune into that deeper voice, it can become one of the most life-giving guides you have. In this episode, Justin and Abi share how a forced pause in their first year of marriage exposed all the fears, survival patterns, and limiting beliefs they had been running from—and how listening to their inner voice slowly transformed their lives. They talk candidly about panic, PTSD, and financial stress, as well as the practices that...
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355: How I Started Trusting Good Things
The Connected Life
We’ve all felt it—the pit in your stomach that says the good can’t last, or the ache that whispers the pain will never end. Living braced for impact robs us of the very joy and resilience we’re longing for. In this episode, Justin and Abi get personal about financial fears, health crises, PTSD, and the cycles of marriage that tested their ability to trust goodness. They share how childhood pain shaped their anxiety about loss, and what helped them shift from sabotage and foreboding to presence and freedom. From bite-sized safety practices to the science of post-traumatic growth, they...
info_outlineIt’s easy to bury the past, and the dead, in our hearts, but left unprocessed things can start rotting. The loss of those we loved, reviled, and were indifferent about can leave us with many unspoken and unresolved matters. But, what if it was possible to have much-needed hard conversations even when the person you’re dealing with is dead?
In this episode, Justin and Abi discuss unique ways of approaching loss. They explore powerful moments of reconciliation with the dead through healthy reflection and inner dialogues, while also tackling the necessity of forgiveness and the reality of the redeemed eternal self. Lastly, Justin shares wild stories of being visited from beyond the grave, but does he really see dead people?
If you’re looking to truly put to rest those that you’ve lost, this episode will give you plenty to think about!
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