A Longer Table

Does the fear of what other people think hold you back in life? Manda's husband, E, joins her to share encouragement and wisdom on how to overcome this fear so you can put yourself out there, chase your dreams courageously, and live freely. Follow Manda on IG @mandacarpenter

Tanorria pulls up a seat at the table to candidly share her experience on life after divorce and the pursuit of racial reconciliation. This episode sheds light on what to do if your marriage is falling apart and offers a black perspective on the fight for racial equality.

Feelings. How do we know which ones to pay attention to and which ones are steering us in the wrong direction? In this brief episode, Manda challenges listeners to count the fruit when feelings are confusing. She explains a method that she uses to asses everything in her life (her relationships, work, spiritual life, habits, etc.) and encourages you to do the same.

Have you ever felt like your passions were silly or superficial? Listen to this brief conversation where Manda's friend, Hannah, shares how she uses the gifts and passions God gave her to help people in her own unique way. This episode also contains tangible pieces of fashion advice that you won't want to miss!

Andrew, Manda's friend who also answers to "Drewski," pulls up a seat at the table to share his story of coming out, owning his identity as a gay Christian, and how it impacts his faith and relationships. This episode has no intentions of changing anyone's beliefs about LGBTQ, rather it's intended to introduce you to a potentially brand new perspective and give you food for thought. It requires op...

Noel Huddleston, a friend of Manda, pulls up a seat at the table to share about her job as a social worker and how her faith and ethnicity play into her role. She sheds light on the brutal realities of abuse and also shares how she copes and implements boundaries to keep herself healthy. We apologize for the sound quality on this episode - due to COVID-19 we didn't record in person as originally p...

Rocio Vallejo, Manda's mentor and friend, pulls up a seat at the table to share her journey of becoming real. She opens up about her struggles with perfectionism and pretending. In their conversation, Rocio dives deep into how God has transformed her in the last 10 years. If you long to be more authentic and conscious, this episode is for you.

Manda sheds light on the 10 most common misconceptions about foster care from her perspective as a specialized foster parent. If you're a foster parent, you'll appreciate this one and want to share it with others so they can learn about your world in less than 20 minutes. If you're thinking about fostering, this will help you prepare!

Manda welcomes her husband, Eric (aka: E), to the podcast to discuss when he came home from work 6 months into their marriage to share that he no longer knew if he believed in God. Manda and E open up on how they navigated his faith crisis, found common ground, and stay unified despite their ongoing faith differences.

Today's bonus episode features some extremely special guests. If you've followed along, you're definitely going to be familiar with them. Bear, Goof, and Skittles (Manda's foster sons) each hop on the mic for a quick Q + A. They cover all the important topics including favorite food and super hero. They also get serious about foster care and living with Manda and E. This episode is a fun, behind t...

Manda sheds light on the "Purity Movement" that shaped her upbringing: how it made her view sex as a teenager, how it altered her choices pre-marriage, and how it has impacted her current sex-life. If you're: saving sex for marriage, currently having sex and loving it, currently having sex and NOT loving it, struggling with your sexual past, or concerned your sex life isn't "normal" - this episode...

Manda welcomes her brother, friend, and pastor of South Bend City Church, Jason Miller, to the table to discuss how (or even if) we can be sure of and defend our beliefs. Jason shares refreshingly honest insight for parents specifically.

Manda compares cleaning out her filthy car to the practice of confessing sin. She answers the question, "Why Confess Your Sin When You’re Just Going to Sin Again?" and challenges listeners to consider confession rather than justifying or sweeping it under the rug as a spiritual practice to move forward in faith.

Manda spills the tea on various times in her life when she's felt super confident and other times when her confidence is lacking. She challenges the cliche "fake it till you make it" phrase, shares the only way to truly increase confidence, and asks listeners to consider the source of their identity as it relates to confidence.

Join author, writer, and advocate, Manda Carpenter, as she invites you into new conversations that reflect what connects and unites us all: love, understanding, and communication. You'll hear from both new and familiar voices, but you'll always leave ignited to create to a longer table. Subscribe now for updates and new episodes.