Breathing Room with Caroline Schandel

This week Erin Puckett joins Caroline for a conversation about your unique and God-given identity. Together they unpack who God says you are, how to release lies you're believing, and prayers you can pray (anytime and anywhere!) to live your true identity. You'll be equipped to discover, believe, and live uniquely as God created you to be!

This week's episode is a conversation with Michael Hindes, a coach and mentor, who shares his wisdom on such topics as offense, gratitude, disappointment, and building character. You'll learn the importance of your words, how to sow into those around you, and how curiosity can refresh your faith.

How do you create vision for your life? Or how do you enhance the vision you already have? This week Jacob Hoyer joins Caroline to talk through practical ways to develop and improve your vision. You’ll learn common roadblocks, what to do with past failures, and intentional rhythms that you can begin implementing today.

How do you hold fast to your faith in the middle of difficult seasons, or when taking risks, or as fear creeps in? This week Monica Ritchie joins Caroline to talk all about how she continues to pursue her faith in the midst of motherhood, seminary, and while growing her online influence (@Pineapple_Momma). The episode will inspire you to go for your dreams, love God with all your heart, and welcome the clunkiness of trying new things!

How do you enjoy the process of showing up, especially when you're not seeing what you're trusting God for most? This week Stephanie May Wilson joins Caroline to talk about her journey to motherhood, what she’s learned about wrestling with God, and how she stays so consistent with all she does.

How can you effectively work through anxious thoughts and receive more peace? This week Caroline closes out the 6-week study through the book of Philippians, discussing what to do when anxious thoughts arise. The episode will teach you how to identify anxiety in your life and make known to God what concerns you most. You'll be equipped to release worries, receive peace, and draw closer to God who is with you.

How do you keep moving forward when you feel pressed in or pushed back? This week Caroline dives into the “one thing” Paul does, breaking down what that means for your everyday life. The episode will inspire you to release what is holding you back, to renew your vision for what God is doing ahead, and to lean yourself forward into all God has purposed for you.

How do you see and understand what is most challenging in your life today? This week Caroline has you reconsider current obstacles, difficulties, and disappointments not as what you are losing but what you are gaining. God is actively moving in your story. So what is he giving you? How is he growing you? And how can you participate in what God is doing in and through you? Listen in and be freshly inspired to reconsider what you see through the lens of God presently engaging in your season.

What does it mean to think like Jesus thought and live like Jesus lived? This week Caroline continues teaching through Philippians and unpacks how to show up to your everyday life humbly, uniquely, and consistently. This episode will inspire you to be just as God has made you to be and to keep going with what is in front of you to do.

What anchors you when the storm comes and what grounds you when everything feels shaky? This week Caroline continues teaching from Philippians 1 and discusses what it means to carry eager expectation and certainty in the midst of surrounding uncertainty. This episode will remind you of what does not change and challenge you to continue where you are, trusting that God is doing far more than you may know in this moment alone.

Where does your confidence reside? What are you most confident in? This week Caroline unpacks what it means to be confident not in you measuring up a certain way or in circumstances going as planned but in God's work in you. It’s confidence that doesn’t get threatened or diminished when you (naturally) fumble or fall but that remains fully intact no matter what comes. This episode will challenge you to rethink your limitations as opportunities and your confidence as igniting courage in others.

What does it mean to hold space for words and for silence? This week Caroline discusses how Mary spoke and pondered, she declared and treasured. This episode will remind you that there is room for both with God, and there is need for both with God.

To kick off the Advent season, this week's episode is focused on when Mary heard that Jesus would be born from her. Caroline discusses how Mary was troubled but favored, and wondered how it was even possible for God to do what he was planning. If you're feeling unsure of what's ahead or wondering how God will move where you are, this episode will remind you that you're in good company.

How do you live with gratitude no matter what is or is not happening around you? This week Caroline dives into the topic of living a thankful life and discusses practical ways to cultivate gratitude in your everyday life.

How does the Holy Spirit affect your everyday life? Closing out the 3-part discussion on the Holy Spirit, Caroline talks about what the Holy Spirit means for who you are and how you live what's before you. You'll learn where you belong, how you are affirmed, and what it means to adventure with God in expectant anticipation for what's next.

What does the Holy Spirit give? Caroline continues the conversation this week about the Holy Spirit, talking specifically about when Jesus breathed life into his disciples (John 20) and when fire came upon them (Acts 2). Life and power were both given to them and both are available to you. Listen in and get ready to learn more about who is the Holy Spirit!

Who is the Holy Spirit? On this episode, Caroline discusses what it means that the Holy Spirt is the "another helper" (John 14:16). You'll learn 3 keys to developing a deeper friendship with the Holy Spirit and you'll understand more clearly his purpose in your everyday life.

What do you do when your dream remains delayed? Or when it's still not time to step into the next season? This week Caroline discusses how to keep going when you find yourself waiting. She teaches on the miracle of Jesus turning water to wine and that even though it wasn't time for Jesus to do everything, he still chose to do something.

Feeling pressed in by life? Overwhelmed by challenges? This week Caroline digs into Psalm 27 and discusses how David chose to trust God in the middle of difficult circumstances. This episode will encourage you to show up today with honesty, confidence, and courage that God’s hand is on you and his presence is with you.

How does God respond and what does he do when he remembers? On this episode Caroline unpacks the story of Hannah with the birth of Samuel, and discusses what it means that God remembers you in your sorrow. If you feel forgotten or heartbroken, this episode is for you. It’ll remind you that your pain is meant to draw you to God and that as you wait, God remembers — by doing, moving, and working on your behalf.

What does it mean to run your race? How can you stay focused to run where you are with all you have? On this episode, Caroline dives into the topic of comparison and offers you 3 practical tools for overcoming the trap of comparing yourself to who or what is around you. You can show up to where you and fully sink yourself into what God has for you there — and this episode will teach you how!

What do you do when you find yourself offended? And how can you resist becoming offended to begin with? In this episode, Caroline teaches you what offense does, where you find it, and how to work through it. Listen and learn the powerful key for resisting offense's bait and staying free from its negative impact in your life and relationships.

What does it mean to live with resolve and determination? On this episode, Caroline discusses how Jesus set his face and lived his days in line with God’s calling. No matter what others are doing or saying around you, God has uniquely purposed your story and your season. So where are you to set your face and commit to the path that yours to walk?

Feeling discouraged? Whether it's due to reasons you’re aware of or not, you know what it's like to wake up some days and feel discouraged. In this episode, Caroline discusses 1 verse, 2 questions, and 3 practices that will help you to strengthen yourself on those extra difficult days. Listen and get ready to be inspired!

What if one thought changed your life? In this week's episode, Caroline invites you to reconsider what thoughts are determining how you show up to your days. Digging into Mark 5, she challenges you to think differently about where you are and who you are there. An ordinary day is all God needs to do an extraordinary work in your life. So what is the one thought that shifts how you show up and live today?

What is the identity you are sitting into and where are you resting? This week Caroline discusses when Jesus declared who he was as God’s anointed one and then took his seat there. He rested into what he knew to be true. On this episode you’ll learn where you sit, why it matters, and what it means to take a seat with God into the words he is speaking over your life.

What does it mean that God is renewing you day by day? This week, Caroline digs into 2 Corinthians 4:16 to discuss this daily renewal by God—and the answer may surprise you! It's an episode sure to encourage you to dig into the hard and stretching areas of life today because you're reminded how purposeful God is growing you wherever you are.

Where is there chaos in your life? Where do you feel empty or out of sorts? Right there is where God hovers. In this week's episode, Caroline unpacks the first two verses of Scripture, Genesis 1:1-2, and teaches how God is present over your chaos. Even more, where God hovers is where he promises that life and beauty will come forth by his power at work in you. 

At times God will call you to charge forth with boldness and strength, and at times God will call you to draw back in quietness and trust. On this week’s episode, Caroline talks about when you find yourself tucked away by God. There you must trust what God is saying more than what you see him doing. While your seasons of hiddenness do not define your story, your story with God will require seasons of hiddenness—which lead you toward his goodness ahead.

In continuing the discussion on hearing God speak, this episode is for when you find yourself in the desert—where all feels dry, fruitless, and rugged. Caroline unpacks a portion of Psalm 23 and teaches how the desert is where you really hear God. You don’t need to get out of there; you just need to learn how (and where) to pause within it. Because in the desert of your life God is speaking and you can hear him.

What happens when you speak out words in line with what God is saying? Life happens. What is dry and barren is infused again with breath and strength. On this episode, Caroline dives into Ezekiel 37 and the valley of dry bones. She teaches about the powerful opportunity to hear God's voice and speak out words that bring hope and comfort into those around you. God wants to release the power of life through your words!

You are always able to speak words infused with the power of life into your environment. On this week's episode, Caroline talks about the opportunity you have every day to release words in line with what God is whispering to you that change the people and places around you. God doesn't want to only speak to you, but he also wants to speak through you!

What does it mean that God is speaking and how can you hear his voice? In this episode, Caroline unpacks the truth that God is communicating and that you, as his child, can hear his voice. She talks through practical ways to quiet the noise around you, as well as the distinct ways he communicates. You'll finish the episode empowered by the reality that God is speaking personally and uniquely to you!

Do you have a dream that you know God is prompting you to get going with? In this episode, Caroline gives you 4 reasons it's time for you to move forward with what God is stirring. You simply must start, despite the environment around you or how unprepared you may feel. What's important is that you walk out and get going toward seeing what God has put in you released from your life.

What if your weakness isn’t something to fix but to find God in? This week’s episode is about how those areas where you can't seem to get over or get right can lead you all the more to God’s power working through you. How? By drawing you into God in the moments and with the things you need him in most. You’re not called to live this season perfectly, but you are invited to live it powerfully. 

Your perspective makes all the difference to how you live your days. You can’t control a lot of what is happening around you, but you can choose how you approach it. In this episode, Caroline encourages you to fight to see the potential over the problem. Because from that place, everything changes for how you live now and the story you tell of your season.

How can your challenges serve your growth? This week Caroline teaches on the story of Peter walking on water to Jesus. Peter didn’t ask Jesus to calm his surroundings; he asked to join Jesus in the middle of the storm. You don’t need a new season or a new environment, but to change how you approach what you see. Your current challenges aren’t meant to limit you but to promote you becoming who you’re made to be.

What if you think differently about your current season or environment? Instead of seeing what isn't, what if you began with what is? This week's episode is about the disciples transitioning from informing Jesus of what they didn't have to focusing on what they did, which changed everything. Immediately they participated in God's miracle through their own hands. If you're feeling overwhelmed or discouraged, this episode will challenge you to reconsider your challenges as powerful opportunities for God!

What does it mean to keep moving forward in the middle of our current season? This week Caroline encourages you to run with endurance what's before you right now, even and especially if it's difficult or unexpected. She dives into Hebrews 12:1-2 and discusses what it means to run well your present story. How you show up today is so important for where God is taking you!

When fear arises in your life, how do you work through it? How do you move closer to God? How do you not let fear keep you from living your season? In this episode, Caroline shares 3 practical tools to transform your fear arising in this current time of Covid-19 into what draws you into God's presence. You'll learn how to displace fear by God's love, train your thoughts to truth, and keep walking out what you're believing for.

Our world has drastically changed the last two weeks and one pressing question is what God is doing in this unprecedented season. How is he moving and what is he giving?  In this episode Caroline dives into Acts 1 and discusses how Jesus' departure brought the promised presence and power of the Spirit. What felt like God taking from the disciples was him giving to them: God in a new form for a new season. So for us, God is offering his presence and power to come on and go with us for whatever comes next.

Caroline follows up from the previous episode and shares on three more choices you have in the middle of your waiting - the choice to get back up, take back, and rest in. You may not know what comes next or when things will change, but you do have choice in your current season. And knowing the choices available to you is important, because how you wait determines so much of who you will be and where you will head in the coming seasons.

Who will you be and what can you do in the middle of your waiting? This episode dives into the actual choices you have in your season. Because while you may not have control over when things will change or how long it will take, you can decide how you will respond in the tension, uncertainties, and pressing questions.

What does it look like for God to amaze us in our every day lives? This week Caroline shares a recent story of when God moved powerfully in her family by healing their son, Brant. She explores what it means to make space for God in our days, get specific in our prayers, and grow in faith as we wait. This episode will inspire you to walk into your week ahead anticipating how you will experience God's presence and power.

What does it mean that we have access to God? Or that he's available to us? This week Caroline unpacks the reality of an open heaven above us, which directly impacts how we live our days. It changes our perspective, our approach, our prayers. There is always an invitation to engage with God wherever we find ourselves. So get ready to be empowered by the access you have to God and expectant for how his power will flow through you today.

How can you show up and live today no matter what it holds? In this episode Caroline shares 5 practices she uses daily that enable her to press into life with power and purpose. You’ll learn how to increase gratitude, celebrate where God is moving, speak words of life, and so much more! You’ll gain actual tools you can implement today to stay focused, present, and thankful. Because if now is where God is, then now is where we’re meant to live.

In this episode Caroline challenges us to get to work with the dreams God has placed in us. God is always the one who does the breakthrough in our lives, but we’re called to settle into it and do the work. If you’re looking for fresh motivation to show up in the middle of your days and move forward with the dreams God has placed within you, this one is for you!

This week Caroline digs into the power of God’s rest in our lives no matter what circumstances are taking place around us. She teaches on the story of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4), and how the rest we find in God changes our environment. It’s the rest not necessarily having to do with more sleep or margin in life, but with the ability to transform what’s happening around us by the power of God flowing through us. If you’re feeling tired, stressed, overwhelmed, or just plain blah, this episode is for you! Get ready to radically alter the way you live out whatever comes your way today! 

What does it mean to step out in faith? And what does it look like to hold space for God to move beyond what you know, see, or imagine? Join Caroline this week as she dives into how you can partner with God in the middle of your everyday life.

What would it look like for God to amaze you this year? And how can you join him in making that happen? In this first episode, Caroline digs into Joshua 3 and has you consider what it would look like for God to do above and beyond what you could ever imagine in this new year.

Welcome! In this first episode Caroline invites you into the Breathing Room, a podcast designed for you to inhale God's presence with you -- and then exhale his reality all around you. Are you overwhelmed? Feeling stuck or lost? Wondering where God is or what he's up to in your season? This podcast will equip you to encounter God right in the middle of your everyday life with power and purpose. And it will empower you to live and dream far beyond today.