But How Though? And other spiritual conundrums

Season Finale: Portia felt like her life was pretty normal, until it took a sharp turn in a very difficult direction when she went to prison on a real estate charge. While there she felt, well, imprisoned. But not just physically. She knew there was a way to free herself, mentally and emotionally, but she didn't know how. One day a courageous soul in Portia's treatment program shared a shockingly honest moral inventory with the group and Portia knew it was her way out. Turns out owning your past is the key to unlocking your future, but it's way easier said than done.

Sometimes a door closes, like, right in our faces. Maybe it was a job, an audition, or some blessing we thought was totally happening, and didn't. Sometimes we feel like we got ripped off by that door closing, and it feels like a missed opportunity that SHOULD have been ours. That hurts. But Team Universe doesn't operate on missed opportunities. So how do we learn to shift our gaze from the closed door we wish would open back up, to the other doors in our path that are, in fact, opening?

A crisis of faith can feel super scary and disorienting. It can feel like you're unbecoming everything you thought you were. But then, what if that process is necessary to your faith becoming as grown-up and strong as it can be? By opening your mind to what answers your questions might bring, you can start with the basics in a whole new way.

In the final episode of our Modesty series we examine how modesty is an actual super-power. We can use it as a way to build self-love, trust, and confidence in our abilities to show up and give, no matter how anyone else views us or our gifts.

Welcome to our second of three modesty topics, modesty in speech. We'll examine how we use our speech, whether through stories, conversations, or specific word choice. The language we use has power to connect us or divide us, build us, or tear us down. Modesty in speech is a great tool to keep us connected and full of love.

Modesty: it's a pretty loaded topic. We're going to spend a couple episodes on it so we can really get into how its true power in dress, speech, and behavior. Widely misunderstood and often misused, modesty is a tool we have a tendency to underutilize. Once we understand what it isn't, we can finally take advantage of what it IS.

The word "repentance" can sometimes carry some complicated connotations. That word may make us feel grateful and relieved, maybe. But for some, even thinking of the word creates feelings of shame or defensiveness that make us want to turn away from, rather than to, Team Universe. Jesus took the stigma out of "repentance" in one powerful analogy, though, and if we can learn to see it like the healing it is, repentance might be one of the most empowering tools we ever have the privilege of using.  

We all experience friction in our relationships at home, at work, in our social circles. And SOMETIMES that friction shows up in patterns, returning over and over in similar ways. We find ourselves facing the same types of problems with different faces and different scenarios. We may not necessarily want to look too deeply at that, because in all those friction patterns, we're the constant in a sea of variables, so what would that mean about us? It means we're part of the problem. One of the biggest issues is the running narrative we're telling ourselves about the world and others in it. If we're playing out a storyline that isn't serving us, our deep-rooted-and-often-unhelpful beliefs about ourselves and others drive our emotions, thought-patterns, and behaviors in every single interaction. This week's episode is an interview between Rachel and Dr. Alli Mangrum. Dr. Mangrum helps point out the unhelpful stories we sometimes tell ourselves, and gives us ideas and tools to better let go of them. Enjoy!

We've heard the stuff about forgiveness: Forgive and you'll be forgiven. Forgiveness is for the victim. Forgiveness is Divine. But, how do you let go of anger, resentment and pain, when you feel like those feelings are the only things tying you to justice? Trying to let go can feel like you're giving the person who harmed you a pass, as if you're saying it doesn't matter, and that's why you're letting go. The parable of the unforgiving debtor can shed some light on the process of forgiveness, and if we learn to see it as a process, instead of a prize or destination, maybe we can use it as the beautiful tool for the harmed and broken that it's meant to be.

Welcome to our Valentine's episode! Don't get too excited, this episode might feel UNCOMFY. Romantic love is not for the faint of heart. When you're talking about building a life together, we've got to understand each other--and ourselves-- DEEP to really make that work in a healthy way....which may come only after years of trying to make it work in unhealthy ways. Or maybe it's just me.

One of the ways we get to show up for each other is in our grief. But how? Grief is heavy, grief is unpredictable, and grief is UNCOMFY. What does Team Universe teach us about showing up in our relationships when someone is feeling deep pain?

It's LOVE MONTH! In exploring different ways we give and receive love, we take a deeper look at some of the reasons we resist and even block our own ability to give and receive love. Starting with the ways we view another's opportunities, how do we get around the sometimes gut reactions of discouragement we feel and express when helping others with their dreams?

Once upon a time I went to Denver to meet with 3 mediums for an unrelated podcast. There we got to unravel a seriously cool mystery and help two spirits break free of a toxic relationship cycle they'd become trapped in. Sound weird? It was! But the best part was the layers of lessons Team Universe taught us about love, forgiveness, acceptance, and good-old-fashioned connection. Alive or dead, we MATTER to each other and we MATTER to Team Universe. They don't hold anything back, they'll do anything for us. They'll even bring 4 carefully selected people into Denver just to help you. Even if you're dead.

What is the role of our fear when developing our faith? Can we use it? How? What does fear teach us about our own personal process?

The faith to ask for a dream or a miracle in our lives can sometimes be difficult, and even a little scary. The faith to act requires even more stamina. How do we continue to take steps toward our goals and dreams, and how do we recognize Team Universe's presence out there on the water?

What happens when we ask for something big, Team universe says "sure," and we have to walk a scary path? I mean scary like walking on water with wind and waves threatening to swallow our belief whole? How do we acknowledge that kind of fear without it overtaking us?Peter did it. And Team Universe taught him exactly which questions to ask in order to do it.

So, trials, huh? Don't love 'em? Yeah, me either. We all know there's no progress without them. No forward momentum on the ocean without the winds and waves. But how to learn to see challenges, storms, and trials as the bonus--the blessing--they are? 

Mary and Zacharias both got visits from an angel, both got good news, and both asked the question, but how, though? Then, they were each handed a trial that would test them, show them just how personally Team Universe knows us, and through them, bless the world. Huge promises were made to both individuals, and in order to get there, they had to go through their individual storms.

Does giving thanks in all things mean we ignore the hard stuff in order to pretend we only see the positive side of things? Is gratitude required just to make me a polite, pleasant type of person? Why gratitude as a commandment, then? And how do I use it when mustering gratitude in difficult circumstances seems, at times, impossible? Let's dive deep into this unique and healing tool given by Team Universe, not for their benefit, but for ours.

Forgiveness is divine. And Friggin' hard. Here's what Team Universe taught me about my own heart so I could finally feel the freedom and peace of ACTUAL forgiveness. Turns out I had it all wrong. 

The rich, young man in the New Testament sometimes gets a bad rap, but there's probably more of him in us than we realize. I mean, to join Team Universe, and really be on that team, in that KINGDOM, we're asked to give up some stuff.....But how though? Sometimes we feel like giving something up means losing, or having something taken away. So how to embrace the surrender, even when we're surrendering really great stuff?

Sometimes you need to go to Team Universe with questions, or with faith and a few actions in order to grow and develop. But sometimes, life is so painful, so confusing, and so exhausting that you what you need is someone to come to you. Good news. They've promised that's an action they can take.

Milk and Honey. Two things humans don't technically need, yet it's offered in a whole lot of promises to us from Team Universe throughout scripture. Could it be they're trying to tell us something? Could it be they want us to have things that simply enhance or enrich our human experience because we enjoy them?How do we embrace this idea? How do we get around our guilt, shame, or fear to really embrace the gift of wanting things?

Which miracle is greater: a purified and forgiven heart, or a healed and whole body? Which is easier to perform? Which is easier to give? Turns out there are layers of lessons in the account of a man who came through the roof looking for a miracle. Team Universe gave freely, and taught us some things about our own hearts in the process.

Sometimes, Jesus challenges us to ask the really tough questions--questions that have us looking inward instead of outward. In a world where there is plenty to find fault with, how do we learn to tame our own hearts instead of blame others for the wrong we see out there?

Having faith in, and asking for miracles is all well and good, but it doesn't always turn out the way we want. There are times when the answer to our begging, heartfelt pleas is, "No." How do we face Team Universe, and our lives, after not receiving our desires, especially when that answer causes pain, anger, and grief? 

"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you," is a promise repeated to us in several scriptures. But how do we know what's ok to ask for? How do we seek and knock? What does it all mean when experimenting with our faith?

Part two of our Suicide Awareness series dives in to the how of getting the help you need when dealing with trauma and its many symptoms. If you are feeling some effects or symptoms, help is out there, resources are available, and you are worth it.

With September being Suicide Awareness month, let's talk about the darkness of depression. How do we navigate the heaviness of anxiety or depression that can take us to the very edge of our will to live? How do we reach out and keep reaching, when the inner demons sap our energy with their ugly and frightening lies? How can we come to understand how valuable we each are, and how much our quality of life matters?

I'm not a jealous person...until I get jealous. None of us like to admit it, but sometimes, when we look at others' lives, we might just feel the teensiest bit envious about what someone else has or experiences that we don't. And how do we navigate relationships with others and with Team Universe when we feel life hasn't been fair, or that we wish we had what someone else has? This episode explores the comparisons we make and why.

Sometimes we have problems that take a looooooong time to solve. Sometimes we pray about these problems for a looooooooong time. And sometimes we may even feel like Team Universe is getting sick of us asking for more help with the same old things. We've been told to pray always and to ask and we shall receive, but how, though? Does it show a lack of faith to pray about the same things over and over? DOES THAT EVER GET OLD?

We don't all have to believe the same things about God and the Universe, but we could all use a team. But how, though? How do we reach out to God or the Universe and really know they're listening? And how do we know if they've let us onto the team?