Finding Joy In Our Journey

In this episode we catch up on the latest. Earthquakes, corona and conference oh my! But for us, the most important topic discussed tonight is that our parents and family know that our faith transition is not their fault. All we need to do is be patient with each other and love so fiercely that we know that no decision is too hard to move past together when it isn’t quite what we expect. Comfort zones are being stretched and we can learn so much from each other.

Tonight we discuss the things we’ve found helpful in the past year to deal with the transitions and changes in our lives. We’ve found some very valuable tools and groups that have helped us cope with our world being turned upside down and we want to share these with you.

After a several week hiatus (life happens….) we’re back. We discuss the beginning of the new year, new stuff that’s been happening with us, and also touch the dreaded topic of…..wait for it…..what happens with our son who’s turning 12???? DUN DUN DUN….. This milestone is a hard one to grasp as dynamics, beliefs, goals, and ultimately life has changed for us the past year in very huge ways. We discuss the challenge of our son wanting vs. not wanting the priesthood and how pressures from peers, family, etc., are affecting that.

So...Ryan is flying solo tonight, with a (suggested by Brandi) impromptu moment of raw and open expression of the pain and loneliness he's feeling right now. We all too often avoid feeling the emotions associated with pain, fear, nervousness, anxiety, etc. And instead we replace it with things that help numb it or avoid it altogether. Sometimes in order to get through something, we just have to allow ourselves to feel all the feels. That's what tonight's about. Allowing ourselves to feel it.

Totally being facetious by that title of course. But for some people, “goals” might be a trigger word. Triggering in the sense that expectations are sometimes tied to a persons sense of self-worth. And in relation to the church, it causes some to feel like they’ll never quite be enough and thus can be hard for someone to attain goals. We talk about the potential challenges this can bring up and how we plan on fixing it.

Whoa....tonight Brandi kind of took over. But in a much needed, very vulnerable way. Her inner child was screaming it's time for me to feel all of this! We shed some tears most definitely tonight, but hope that someone can find some comfort in knowing they're not alone in where SHE's at also.

Ryan went to church today!! This Sunday as a family, we experienced a new church, and in this episode we introduce our kiddos and asked each of them to share what they thought. Very different from the norm, and it was awesome to get new perspectives and new experience.

Tonight we address questions from friends and listeners. Some really good questions were sent to us, and we hope you'll enjoy hearing our answers.

Went to ThriveDay this last Sunday and it was amazing!! Being in the midst of 1700 people that are in the same boat (on both believing and non-believing sides) was overwhelmingly awesome. We were able to laugh, cry and learn together. Ryan found healing through it and Brandi learned that support systems for both people are vital and to really find value in where everyone is at. Email us with questions/comments/suggestions at findjoyinourjourney@gmail.com or on Facebook.

Tonight is heavy folks. Ryan's been struggling the last few days with some intense feelings of loneliness and grief. We discuss the importance of reaching out to those who are in AND those who are out. The silence from community and neighbors isn't something that is conducive to people feeling loved and important. We all have a duty to be there for each other, regardless of where we are at in belief, church, religion, and social status.

Often times in a mixed faith journey, we can become so entrenched in our own beliefs, ways of thinking, and even mourning, that we often can forget where the other person might be in their own head and heart. This week, we discuss ways that we can focus our efforts and attention on how to support the other spouse in where they are at. Comments? Suggestions? Please email us at findjoyinourjourney@gmail.com.

So......kids...... They bring us joy, happiness and laughter, but cause our hair to go gray, throw our hands up and realize we have no control, and wonder what we've done wrong. Being facetious of course, but in all honesty, a faith crisis can become a very sticky and more rocky place to navigate when kids are in the picture. How do we teach them? WHAT do we teach them? How do we guide them without the church being the defining authority in our lives. We discuss some of these issues in this weeks episode.

In this episode, we discuss a vital and yet very personal piece to our puzzle of where we are now, both me being out of the church, and Brandi being more nuanced than she previously was. This week and weekend were heavy for us for various reasons, but some of the issues brought up in conference are things we touch on in this episode.

Often times, people who lose their faith or enter a faith crisis are labeled as many things, mostly negative. The attitude that, "they're wanting to sin," or, "they were offended" is simply not true in most if not all cases. There are various reasons as to why someone leaves the church, and the pain that is associated with it, is intense for both the believer and non-believer. We discuss this in this episode.

This is an intro to us! This will give you a little bit of insight into our story and how we came into our mixed faith marriage after being married for 17 years. We hope listeners will get a bit of understanding about the trials, blessings, and challenges that come from a mixed faith marriage, and hopefully for some, this will give them some hope that this is ok and can work!