The Restorative Man Podcast

Andrew Osenga has spent more than 25 years making music, from playing with Caedmon's Call to touring with artists like Steven Curtis Chapman and working behind the scenes in the music industry. Now, he's bringing that creative experience to The Quiet Hours , a series of books designed to make ancient Christian prayers and spiritual practices accessible to everyday people. In this conversation with...

A clean garage can feel a whole lot easier to deal with than a messy heart. In this episode, Cody Buriff and Jesse French unpack why men often turn to productivity, work, busyness, and getting things done when fear, shame, conflict, or uncertainty starts stirring underneath. What looks like motivation on the outside can sometimes be a way of avoiding our emotions, especially when being useful give...

Porn recovery is about more than stopping a behavior, it can mean learning how to understand your emotions, your story, and the ways you relate to the people you love. In this conversation, Chris Bruno sits down with Jake Kastleman, a Porn Recovery Coach who specializes in emotional mindfulness, neuroscience, healthy masculinity, and lifestyle transformation, and who has helped hundreds of men bre...

What does it actually look like to show up well as a dad in the middle of everyday life? Jesse French and Adam Benjamin talk about four often-overlooked ways dads can connect deeply with their kids: focused time, generosity, creativity, and levity. From putting the phone away and giving your child your full attention to sharing your own stories, mistakes, and experiences, these moments communicate...

Sometimes it’s the words we say in ordinary moments that stay with our kids for years. In this episode of The Restorative Man Podcast , we talk honestly about the weight of a father’s words, from the ones that wound to the ones we leave unsaid. We explore cursing, silence, and blessing, and what each one can communicate to our children about who they are and whether they belong. We also unpack wha...

When dads think about providing for their kids, it's easy to focus on paychecks, packed schedules, and making sure every need is met. But what if the thing your children are longing for most is simply you? In this episode, Chris Bruno and Cody Buriff unpack why a father's presence, attunement, attention, and intention shape a child's heart far more than anything money can buy. They also explore ho...

Brotherhood isn't about avoiding conflict. It's about choosing not to run when it finds you. In this episode, Jesse and Cody unpack how conflict, forgiveness, and honest conversations shape healthy friendships and stronger relationships between men. Real brotherhood isn't about getting everything right. It's about learning how to repair what's been broken, rebuild trust, and keep moving toward res...

What if accountability has been aimed at the wrong thing all along? This conversation explores why behavior-focused accountability often leaves men trapped in shame instead of leading them toward healing. Chris and Cody unpack what it looks like to stop keeping score and start reminding each other of the deeper story God is telling. Because maybe the question isn't, "What did you do?" but, "Who ha...

What does it take to move from having guys around you to having true brothers beside you? In this deeply personal conversation, Jake Kissack shares how growing up on a Wyoming cattle ranch shaped his longing for connection, belonging, and the kind of friendship that goes far beyond shared activities. Together, Jake and Jesse explore why story is often the missing ingredient in male relationships a...

Most men have people they spend time with, but very few have someone who actually knows them. In this episode, Cody and Jesse talk about the difference between having buddies and having brothers, and why so many men still feel lonely even when they’re constantly around others. They get honest about the risk of being known, the fear of rejection, and why surface-level friendships can only carry us...

We sat down with Trevor Olson thinking we’d talk about surfing, but the conversation took us somewhere much deeper. What started as a story about chasing waves became an honest look at how easily we start chasing control instead of connection. Trevor shared how the surfers getting the most out of the ocean aren’t the ones catching the most waves, but the ones who’ve learned to be present in it. Th...

It starts with something small, like a kid reaching for your hand, and realizing those moments don’t last forever. Somewhere along the way, good intentions quietly turn into things we never actually do. This conversation gets honest about fear, scarcity, and why it’s easier to stay in the idea phase than risk showing up. There’s also a quiet invitation here to rethink what actually matters, especi...

This part 2 of our conversation with Doug McKelvey feels like sitting with someone who kept showing up even when it felt like nothing was working. He shares what it was like to write in the middle of doubt, where faith looked less like clarity and more like staying. There is something grounding in hearing how these prayers were shaped slowly, quietly, and sometimes without any sense of momentum. Y...

This conversation drifts through the quiet places most people try to avoid, where calling feels unclear and life doesn’t follow the script you expected. Doug McKelvey shares how years that looked like failure slowly became the very soil that shaped his most meaningful work. There’s something grounding in the idea that even the smallest, most ordinary moments are not wasted but somehow tied to a mu...

What happens when the idea of God as only Father starts to feel incomplete? In this episode, Beth Bruno joins Cody for an honest conversation that is both stretching and grounding. Beth takes us on a thoughtful journey that explores the often-overlooked motherly imagery of God in Scripture, why it makes some of us tense up, and what might open up if we approach it with a posture of what if instead...

In Part 2 of our conversation with Jeff Zaugg , we move past surface-level fatherhood advice and into the deeper work of becoming present, wholehearted dads. Jeff unpacks the six core discoveries that shape a man’s journey and explains why intent alone does not transform our families. We talk honestly about how modern dads often default to provision and protection while quietly losing wonder, deli...

Jeff Zaugg joins us to talk about fatherhood, but we end up talking about something deeper first. What if the pressure you feel as a dad is coming from a scoreboard God never set up? Jeff shares the story of the clipboard, the bridge, and the moment he realized he was trying to earn a love that was already his. This conversation is honest about the whispers that say you are not enough and clear ab...

Discipline sounds simple until you realize how much of it is actually about you. In this episode, Jesse French and Cody Buriff get honest about the moments they got big, shut down, or simply forgot their kid in the hallway. They explore what is really happening underneath our anger, why something in us feels threatened, and how that spills onto our sons and daughters. This is not about perfect beh...

Ash Wednesday is almost here, and for a lot of us Lent used to mean one thing: fish sandwiches and people with ashes on their foreheads. In this episode, Cody and Jesse unpack how Lent is actually an invitation to face suffering instead of numbing it, powering through it, or pretending we are fine. They wrestle with the idea of an “all-suffering God” and what it means to follow a Christ who meets...

What if the most dangerous men are not the loud ones, but the ones who quietly stopped showing up. This episode wrestles with a different kind of threat, the man who abdicates his place in his own life, marriage, friendships, and story. Through a simple gift and an unexpected phrase, Jesse and Nic explore how passivity can wound just as deeply as aggression, and why presence is a form of courage....

In this episode, Jesse French sits down with Greg Ehlert for an unhurried conversation about noticing God’s activity in everyday life. They explore spiritual direction as the practice of holy listening and what it means to pay attention without rushing toward answers. Greg shares how contemplative practices reshaped his understanding of God from performance to presence. The conversation makes room...

Young sons have a fire within them. But how is that fire channeled and not extinguished? In this episode, Beth Bruno joins Chris for an insightful conversation about the reality of mothering sons. Beth generously shares her own experience of navigating the emotions and shifts during her son's teenage years.  She unpacks the importance of mothers adopting a posture of space and delight with their s...

One of the shaping but not well-known voices of Restoration Project is Beth Bruno. This episode tells some of the origin story of Beth's creation of the feminine categories of Fierce and Lovely. Beth shares her desire to create language that was exploratory rather than prescriptive for her own daughters and for women across the world. She graciously shared this framework with Restoration Project a...

This is part two of our conversation with Michael Krommendyk, and it goes even deeper into the places many men quietly carry. We talk about church hurt, belonging, and what it feels like when your faith still matters but the structures around it no longer fit. Michael shares what it looks like to step away without walking away from God, and how community can hold you when certainty is gone. If you...

What happens when the place that shaped your faith is also the place that wounds you? In this first part of a 2-part episode, Michael Krommendyk takes us through his journey from growing up in church to stepping into ministry and eventually stepping away from it all. He opens up about the weight of expectations, the quiet moments of doubt, and the small discoveries of grace that reshaped his story...