A Longer Table

Manda's friend Lindsay gets honest about: Relying on God & discernment when it comes to big decisions Embracing singleness joyfully as a thirty-something woman who hopes to get married one day Finding joy and purpose in her day to day life & how her faith plays a huge role in that. Follow her @thefaithfeast.

Shannan had it all: dream home, comfortable paycheck, & a tight-knit Christian community, but God challenged her to exchange it all for something more abundant. Her family moved to "the wrong side of the tracks." She's learning everyday what it means to love your neighbor. Tune in to hear about re-defining the American Dream & how learning to love people who are different than us might completely...

Multi-talented, Chicago native, David Bell joins Manda to share about his journey to becoming a professional actor. From his favorite role to his audition struggles, he gets candid about what it's really like to chase his dream and talks about how mental health and his relationship with God ties into it all. Connect with him @princeofbellair & @humbellfitness!

Like so many of us, when transitioning into adulthood Holli was unsure what she was supposed to do with her life post-college. In this episode she shared a bit of her story... of praying and fasting and ultimately feeling lead to move across the globe to China. As scary as it was, Holli followed God’s prompting and became a teacher in China. What she didn’t expect was to meet her husband, but that...

While fighting for her country in the Middle East, Diana was commanded to run over an Iraqi child. She was confronted with a choice she never thought she'd have to make: God's call to love her enemy vs. her country's command to be willing to kill. Diana chose to wage peace in a place of war. It led her to spend the rest of her life as a peacemaker. Tune into the full conversation for tips on how t...

After trying to teach her sons a lesson, Manda realizes the lesson might actually be for her. In this brief 7-minute episode, she shares some quick wisdom about how to remain composed when the rest of the world is trying to rattle you. Follow her on Instagram at @mandacarpenter or visit her website at www.mandacarpenter.com

Shortly after Amy got married at age 23, the red flags started piling up. In this episode, she goes into detail about why her first marriage crumbled - emotional abuse, alcoholism, lying, infidelity - and gets raw about all the emotions that come with being divorced by 25. Amy also reminds us that being alone is not the worst thing that can happen to you; being stuck and miserable is so much worse...

Jena Holliday is a talented illustrator and entrepreneur from Minnesota whose mission is to #doitasworship. She opens up about her relationship with Jesus as a Black woman and how it has transformed throughout the years. She offers encouragement to women who want to use their gifts but aren't sure how or lack the courage to begin. Follow her @aspoonfuloffaith and check out her shop at www.spoonful...

After finding herself in an unhealthy cycle of food and exercise obsession, Annaliese realized she needed to make changes to actually live out a healthy lifestyle. She shares about the dangers of diet culture, how she got herself out of her toxic "health" obsession, and how she found true health through Intuitive Eating.

Chris & Tracy Warhop have been married for 11 years. Manda picks their brains about being an interracial couple in the current climate, how to make sure your marriage continues to thrive throughout the years, and tips for parenting biracial children. Connect with them on IG: Tracy Warhop @twarhop & Chris Warhop @mrwarhop

Fellow podcast host, Jesus Follower, and internet share-er, Lindsey Maestas, understands the challenging world of social media. She shares her thoughts on Cancel Culture & provides tips on how to set boundaries, check your heart, and respond like Jesus would. She brings a lot of scripture into this episode! Give it a listen if you want to better understand how to communicate and navigate conflict...

With wisdom and truth, Author, Speaker, Professor, & Entreprenuer Chalet Jean-Baptiste joins Manda to talk trauma, anger, and growth. She's faced a wide variety of challenging experiences in her life from sexual assault to infidelity and has discovered that anger is valid and necessary, but can't be where we live forever. Follow her @chaletjbaptiste!

Jamie shares her experience as a mother raising a transgender child. Her son, who was assigned female at birth, first expressed he was a boy at age two. By supporting him, Jamie has navigated hardships, but has also experienced beauty in changed relationships with her husband, kids, church and more. She reiterates over and over that she wouldn't change a thing. Connect with her at @jamie__parnell...

Jacari's life began in foster care while his biological mother was incarcerated. He dealt with some behavioral and academic troubles in school before he realized he was in control of his own life. This mindset shift has led him to massive success as he has worked to prove to everyone and himself that he can do anything he sets his sights on. He is an openly gay Black man who advocates, runs a nonp...

For Meg, taking a prescription pain killer after a wisdom teeth extraction turned into a 3 year heroine addiction that derailed every aspect of her life. She tells Manda what life was like as a drug addict, how she met Jesus in rehab, and her life today as a sober person, wife, and inmate counselor at a men's prison. Connect with her on Instagram at @megjohnston123

Manda sits down with a loyal reader and podcast listener, Carrington, to hear about all the different facets of her motherhood journey. From being a single, teen mom, to later going through infertility, to eventually becoming a foster mom, Carrington openly shares how she navigated unexpected beautiful and brutal parts of motherhood.

Host Manda Carpenter sits down with an anonymous guest who openly shares what went down before, during, and after her husband's affair. She's honest about her feelings and encourages listeners to remove the stigma that surrounds counseling because sin cannot be healed in the dark or isolation. This is one woman's perspective of a marriage that can survive infidelity, which she attributes to her fa...

Unexpectedly at the age of 17, Tara learns that she's infertile and will never have biological children. In a candid conversation with Manda, she recounts her initial reaction to the news, discusses how it impacted her dating relationships, and details how it ultimately lead her to becoming a mom through foster care.

Kayla Craig is a former journalist, podcast host, writer, and mom to 4 via birth and adoption. Kayla is an advocate for God's upside down kingdom and pulls up a seat at the table to vulnerably share her heart and perspective specifically on raising a child with Down Syndrome. Follow her @kayla_craig on Instagram!

A long-time expert of the Enneagram, Professor Drew Moser joins us to talk about his brand new book, The Enneagram of Discernment: The Way of Vocation, Wisdom, and Practice. He explains how the Enneagram is so much more than just a personality test and why it's beneficial to use it as a tool to help us make major decisions about our career paths and life-callings. Follow him @drewmoser and grab a...

Karly and her husband TJ applied to be foster parents at 25. Everything changed when their first phone call was for a pre-adoptive placement of a 9 year old boy. They adopted him and a teenage girl. She opens up about what their family dynamic looks like, how pre-adoptive placements actually work, and why she thinks everyone should welcome foster children into their homes. Follow their story and g...

After receiving a discouraging DM from a follower, Manda addresses some ways that social media negativity can be harmful and talks about how she flips her thinking to help her navigate the challenges that sharing online brings.

Kaycee, a friend of Manda's for over a decade now, shares her experience as a Guatemalan-American at a small Christian college. She sheds light on what life looked like post-college when she formed her own faith beliefs. This 20 minute conversation covers some pros and cons of attending a small private university, minority perspective in predominately white spaces, and an honest recollection of wa...

Clare, a Saint Mary's alumnus, shares how she got into working with people with disabilities, what she's learned from one of her closest friends who has Down syndrome, and explains her pro-life views. *Spoiler alert: If we truly stand for life, we stand for Black lives, LatinX migrants lives, students trapped in underfunded schools, and men and women who are incarcerated. Being pro-life extends be...

Tori Hope Peterson is a former foster youth who emancipated and by the grace of God, beat every statistic to be who she is today. She's a wife, a mom to her biological son and a baby girl on the way. In addition, she and her husband holistically foster a teenager who comes and goes. In this brief episode, Tori shares why she entered the foster care system, her journey throughout it, and so much mo...