The Spacious Place, with Kari Levang

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I spent a few minutes talking about some things I have been wrestling with around love and I think you might be surprised to hear the bridge between the patience and kindness of love and growing in the fruit that it brings. Hidden in our discipleship to Jesus, I believe there is an invitation that helps us to receive love and grow in our capacity to give it away. Join...

"We make our decisions, and then our decisions make us. In the beginning we have a choice, but eventually, we have a character." John Mark Comer The new year often makes us think through lots of new things. Wherever you fall on the scale of loving making goals or intentions or absolutely hating it, I think this episode will be a refreshment for you! An opportunity for you to see that God cares abo...

Merry Christmas! A few thoughts on how I've been approaching Christmas this year that I thought I'd share with you today. What if the Jesus that came in a manger all those years ago is also about our daily days? What if its the ordinariness of life that is actually sacred?  Today we'll chat for just a few minutes about what's rolling through my mind this morning. Enjoy!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever Hebrews 13:8 Happy Advent!  In today's episode we're talking about what it might look like to prepare our hearts for Him, to take some moments during this season to purposefully incline ourselves toward the things of God. I'll share with you three things that I've been pondering as I lean into the cadence of this season with hope and expectancy...

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.   1 Thessalonians 5:18 The Message Of course I'm talking about gratitude in this episode before Thanksgiving. I hope that our time together makes room for you to notice whats in your life that you've overlooked and want to note your gratitude for. AND,...

Homer says, "The journey is the thing."   I'm sure many of you can relate to life in the middle space. I'm talking about that place of process where we are trying to figure things out and we often find ourselves without a handle to grab hold of. It can feel so disregulating at times. Join me as I share what its been like for me and as we look back at some others in history who also found themselve...

Purpose in life is far more than property or possessions. Having more to live with is no substitute for having more to live for.   Nicky Gumbel   This worked out so great—-my friend Laurine (who has her own podcast) asked me to come and record (while I was in Seattle, in September) and I enjoyed our conversation so much I thought I'd share it here on the spacious place. We talk all about purpose,...

"In the face of God's glorious creation and his perfect law, we are called to both revel and to repent. God's glory and perfection, like the majestic sun, call us to Himself." — She Reads Truth Bible notes   Today's conversation comes out of some time spent in Psalm 19. This psalm is packed with descriptives about what God is like as well as invitation to commune with Him. As I read it I was deepl...

"Uncorking my thoughts and naming them gives me the ability to receive." Sara Hagerty, The Gift of Limitations   Are you struggling because of some limit your facing right now? What does life look like for you when you find yourself bound by some kind of limitation? I can tell you that for me, I'm often not proud in hindsight about how well I've handled said limitation. I constantly need reminding...

"In the Kingdom of God, weakness is a superpower because in God's Kingdom strength and weakness are not opposites, they're synchronistic with the rule and reign of Christ." Ruth Chou Simons When Paul talks about freedom in Galatians, I think it can feel defeating at times when our lives don't feel like we're necessarily walking in freedom. In this episode I'm sharing some thoughts about what freed...

See what's there, not what you expect to see. See what is really present in your life. See yourself, see each other.       Frederick Buechner   In today's episode I'm sharing an experience I had as I sat quietly at my dining room table, early in the morning. As I looked out the window at a bird, God invited me to watch and listen and it took me to a deeper place that I decided to share with you! I...

Isaiah 49:14-15 But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me." "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.   Waiting is just hard and it can get real messy in our heads the longer it takes for whatever it is we are waiting for. In today's episode we're taking a short peek b...

To be human is to live in the space between our expectations and reality. Katherine Wolf   This is the second part of our time around Mary and Martha. I finished the last one and felt like I'd left some things unsaid. I thought I'd just re-reocrd it, but decided on a part 2 instead. So here we are! In this episode we're taking note of some things around the story of the loss of Mary and Martha's b...

Katherine Wolf, in her book Treasures in the Dark says, "Get curious about what new thing your suffering could be offering you." What if we don't have to fit into a box one way or another but rather there is room for all the parts of us.. Today I'm talking about my thoughts around Jesus interaction with Mary and Martha in Luke 10. We'll discuss some of my thoughts about whether this portion of Scr...

Courage, dear heart. CS Lewis   It takes lots of courage to show up to what's really happening inside of us, rather than hide and perform on the outside. In this episode I'm sharing some of the places of change for me and how I'm learning to navigate them in new ways. You'll also get a peek into the experiences in my life over the last two years that have created places in me that have felt very y...

The Word of God is powerful against our internal traffic. …It replaces the internal chatter of life—-the criticism, the comparisons, and the shoulds—-with the truth of what God sees and thinks and feels. And that's a beautiful sound. Unseen, by Sara Hagerty   In today's episode I'm sharing part of a conversation I had with a friend that served as a wonderful reminder to me about what it means to r...

Grace is often painful because it strips us down and shows us how little we have to offer. Bill Bedell   In today's episode, I'm talking about how that might look as we wait or live in the "not-yet" spaces of our lives.   Everyone finds themselves here at one time or another, so I'm talking about what it might look like to intertwine ourselves and how it might not be as complicated as we might thi...

Sometimes deciding you want to move towards all God has for you means trusting Him enough to let go of things that are holding you back. Ashley Morgan Jackson   I got caught up in the words Abide and Abode this week. I found myself pondering what it might look like to make our home with God and shared some of the reasons why I often don't choose this route. God waiting and saying, "Come home and b...

"It's not the strength of your faith that saves you, but the strength of Him upon whom you rely on." Charles Spurgeon   Today I'm talking through a verse that kinda stopped me in my tracks. It's a verse that I've read multiple times before, but this time, after reading it, I was asked, "what stood out to me?".   What if God isn't frustrated when we keep coming back, but rather delighted by our pre...

Romans 10:11 For whoever believes in him, will not be put to shame   In this episode we'll dive into John 21 and take a look at how Peter was possibly navigating his own shame. I just wonder if you can relate to his way of coping…I sure can. And it will lead us to a reinstatement of sorts that helps us to see that what we do doesn't disqualify us from what Christ has already made possible.

"The past is frozen and no longer flows, and the present is all lit up with eternal rays." C S Lewis   After preparing to speak at a high school retreat, I decided that the content was too good to not share in this space as well. Today we're talking about not only the miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead, but the wonder of Jesus presence in the middle of Mary and Martha's pain.   Our idea...

"The presence of pain, doesn't mean the absence of God" ---unknown   I decided before we move into February with rapid speed, it may do us well to slow down long enough to take inventory of what the last month has been like. I think when we do this, it makes space for us to proceed with a better sense of what we might need. So, in today's episode I share a bit of what January looked like for me, i...

God is not a concept or an emotion, and he's certainly not a doctrine in a statement of faith or a chapter in a theology book; he is a person, who's burning desire is to know and be known by you. And like in any intimate relationship, there is a kind of knowledge that goes beyond words——a kind you can get only by direct   persont-to-person experience. John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way   We're al...

The Word of God is powerful against our internal traffic. …It replaces the internal chatter of life—-the criticism, the comparisons, and the shoulds—-with the truth of what God sees and thinks and feels. And that's a beautiful sound.   Sara Hagerty, Unseen: The gift of being hidden in a world that loves to be noticed   Welcome to the first episode of 2024! Ever feel like your prayer life could use...

The farther I run away from the place where God dwells, the less I'm able to hear the voice that calls me the beloved. And the less I hear that voice, the more entangled I become in the manipulations and power games of the world.     Henri Noun   In this episode I'll share a few of the questions that I'm pondering as I look back at 2023 with an honest perspective and look forward to 2024 with hope...