Space for Life

In this episode, Tommy sits down with Justin Jones-Fosu, CEO of Work Meaningful and author of Stop Chasing, Start Creating. They talk about forgiving a father who left, why forgiveness is a choice you keep making, and Justin's new book. Find more at TommyThompson.com. 0:00 Intro 2:08 Justin's parents divorce and people pleasing 4:26 The shoebox exercise and therapy 6:52 Choosing to hear his dad's...

Charis Napier, Worship Lead Pastor at Hope Church, joins Tommy to talk about what worship is and why it's so much more than the singing before the sermon. They cover how to worship when you can't carry a tune or don't feel like it, what it means to sing words you're still growing into, and the many ways people worship beyond Sunday morning. Charis also shares how worship carried her through loss,...

Brett McCracken has written about faith and culture for 20 years. His new book,  The Wisdom of Sleep , starts with a simple question: why would God design people to be unconscious for a third of their lives, especially now, when a phone makes it easy to stay on? He and Tommy talk about sleep as a gift you receive, what scrolling does instead of rest, and how a bad night shows up in the people...

Braxton Byerson grew up in a military family, played with both brothers at Virginia Union, then took the game to Uruguay and China before the ball stopped bouncing for him. Now he coaches, speaks, and writes about confidence, choices, and character, including the hard question he puts to young men: who are you when you do not get applause? Tommy talks with Braxton about getting cut, starting over...

You're in a known place, and then you're not. Parenthood, an empty nest, grief, a career, retirement. Tommy spent the summer wondering if this was the year he let Space for Life go, then he found Encore. Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons left big law at 35 to be with her kids, called it front ending retirement, and lost her identity anyway. What You'll Hear in This Episode Tommy takes a sabbatical, wonder...

Tommy revisits a conversation with Lisa Ould, executive director of Barnabas Center and decades-long counselor, on one of the most personal and underaddressed topics he has taken on across all of Space for Life. Whether you tend to suppress what you feel or find yourself regularly overwhelmed by it, this episode offers a clear framework for understanding where emotions come from, why they matter,...

Ana Megrelishvili  went through a troubled childhood: her family was poor and in disarray, and her own father sexually abused her. Nevertheless, she did not let trauma shape her identity, and she eventually found healing and peace after going on a silent retreat. In this episode, Ana joins Tommy Thompson to share how she immigrated to the United States, overcame her resentment of God, and is...

Tommy Thompson sits down with author and attorney Justin Earley to talk about one of the most underdiagnosed crises of our time, an epidemic of loneliness that most people are living with but can't even name. Justin is the author of The Common Rule, Habits of the Household, and his most recent book Made for People, which makes the case that we were created not just for connection but for deep, cov...

Tommy Thompson and co-host Patricia Clark revisit a conversation that cuts to the heart of one of the most common struggles in modern life. Rather than treating stress as something to push through or accept as inevitable, Tommy makes the case that stress is a barometer, a signal worth reading about what is really going on beneath the surface. This episode walks through five practical ways to stop...

Today we're revisiting one of the more meaningful early episodes from Space for Life, a conversation with friend and co-host Patricia Clark recorded shortly after a full year sabbatical he called a Year of Jubilee. Tommy reflects on why he needed to step away, what he discovered when God took the year in a completely unexpected direction, and how creating that space led to a health transformation...

Tommy Thompson brings back one of the earliest and most beloved episodes from Space for Life, a conversation with his brother and 40-year business partner, Litt Thompson. After a business crisis in the early 1990s pushed Litt to his breaking point, one desperate morning spent alone in a university library set him on a path he has been following for over 25 years. In this episode, Litt shares his f...

Keith McCurdy is back on Space for Life for a follow-up to his episode on raising sturdy kids. This time the focus shifts to the adults, because it takes a sturdy adult to raise a sturdy child. After 40 years in mental health and tens of thousands of families, Keith shares why healthy struggle is the engine of growth, how to stop letting your emotions run the show, and the practices that build the...

In this episode, Tommy sits down with Shola Richards, known as The Kindness Extremist and Brother Teresa, to talk about what kindness actually looks like when life gets hard. Shola shares his story of moving from bullying, burnout, and a near tragic moment on an LA freeway to building a global mission around freakishly practical kindness. The conversation gets into the real difference between nice...

Tommy reunites with close friend and collaborator Patricia Clarke for a rich, wide-ranging conversation on one of life's most important and most misunderstood questions: what does it actually mean to find and live a life of purpose? They bring two completely different approaches to the table, one intuitive and spontaneous, one intentional and structured, and together they land on something that ap...

Tommy sits down with Katherine Wolf, stroke survivor, author, and co-founder of Hope Heals, for one of his dream conversations. At 26, Katherine had a massive brain stem stroke that left her permanently disabled, and nearly two decades later she is one of the most compelling voices on suffering, hope, and what it means to live a truly good life in the middle of an impossibly hard one. This is a co...

Tommy sits down with Drew Daniels, founding pastor of Boulevard Church in Richmond, Virginia, to explore what the resurrection of Jesus Christ actually means, not just theologically, but historically and personally. They walk through the evidence, wrestle with the hard questions, and land on why a 2000-year-old event still changes everything about how we live today. Drew brings an honest, grounded...

Loneliness is rising in a world that has never been more connected. In this episode, Tommy sits down with longtime friend and recently retired pastor Dr. Nelson Ould to explore the power and practice of presence. Drawing from decades of pastoral ministry and personal experience, Nelson shares a simple insight: in life’s most difficult moments, people rarely remember the exact words that were spoke...

Fifteen years ago, Pastor Steve Ruetschle was left paralyzed after a catastrophic motorcycle accident. Doctors told him he would never walk again. But this episode is not primarily about a medical outcome. It is about something deeper. In this conversation, Steve reflects on the different ways God heals, the power of community, and what it means to participate in the fellowship of suffering. He sh...

So many people carry the quiet dream of writing something meaningful. A book. A devotional. A story that has been sitting inside them for years. But the question lingers Where do I even begin? In this episode of Space for Life, Tommy sits down with Terry Whalin, acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing and author of more than 60 books, to talk about what it really takes to move from dream to...

Your 30s can feel like a decade full of tension. The tension between freedom and responsibility, living fully now and preparing wisely for the future, wanting clarity without becoming rigid. In this episode of  Space for Life , Joe joins Tommy for an honest conversation about what it really means to live well in your 30s with freedom and intention. Rather than offering formulas or life h...

In this episode of  Space for Life , Tommy sits down with  Mia Sundstrom , CEO of the  National Institute for Play  and granddaughter of renowned play researcher  Dr. Stuart Brown , for a powerful conversation about why play is not childish, frivolous, or optional, but essential to human health, creativity, resilience, and fulfillment. They explore the science of play, the...

This is one of the most difficult and meaningful conversations Space for Life has ever held. In this episode, host Tommy Thompson is joined by David Dwight , Senior Pastor at Hope Church Richmond, and Ray Paul , National Board Chair of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Together, they share deeply personal stories of losing close family members to suicide and reflect on what it means...

In this episode of  Space for Life , host Tommy Thompson is joined by Dan Allan, Executive Director at Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru), for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, renewal, and what’s unfolding across college campuses today. Dan shares his personal journey in ministry, how  The Chosen  has become a powerful catalyst for gospel conversations, and why collab...

In this episode of Space for Life, host Tommy Thompson is joined by  Dr. Wendi Lord , Vice President of Localization for the  Come and See Foundation , the organization responsible for taking  The Chosen  to the world. Wendi shares her journey from the corporate and publishing worlds into a calling that sits at the intersection of faith, technology, and human flourishing. The c...

In this episode of  Space for Life , Tommy Thompson sits down with  Stan Jantz , Global Ambassador for the  Come and See Foundation , the nonprofit behind the global production, translation, and distribution of  The Chosen . Stan shares firsthand stories from around the world showing how  The Chosen  is reaching people across cultures, denominations, and generations....