Dwell Differently

What is God's purpose for us in our pain and suffering? How do we walk through our trials in faithful prayer and even joy? In this episode, Kristen Wetherell answers these questions with vulnerable honesty. Kristen is a pastor's wife, busy mom of three, author, speaker, and she also suffers from chronic pain.  In our conversation today, she helps us see how knowing God in his Word is abs...

Our verse this month is Romans 12:12: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." How in the world do we live like this? How do we have joy in our unrealized hopes? How do we patiently endure hardship? How do we faithfully pray in all of it? On today's episode, Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz wrestle through how they try (and often fail) to live like this, pointi...

Have you ever wanted to pray but couldn't find the words? In today's episode, Natalie talks with Andrew Peterson and Doug McKelvey about prayer—how we find time to pray in the midst of our lives, how we find words to pray when words are elusive, and how God wants to meet us in all of our emotions and situations with himself.  This month’s memory verse: "Be joyful in hope, patient in...

Are you good at waiting? Do you want to be? Our verse this month is all about waiting well. In it, we're encouraged to be joyful and patient and faithful in the unrealized and even difficult parts of our lives. But how do we do that? Tune in as Natalie Abbott walks us through the book of Romans, looking at the themes we see in Romans 12:12, and pointing us to the God in whom we can have confi...

Join Vera and Natalie, sisters and Dwell Differently co-founders, as they look back at 2023 and take a sneak peak into some exciting updates for Dwell Differently in 2024. They talk about which verses impacted them the most, their favorite podcast guests of the year, and what they're looking forward to in the new year! This month’s memory verse: "But when the kindness and love of God our...

Tara-Leigh Cobble is convinced that everything we long for in life is found in knowing God and reading his Word—but she didn't always feel that way. In today's episode, she shares with Natalie Abbot her own story of how God moved her from a place of not wanting to read the Bible to actually loving it. She talks about being surprised and encouraged by some totally weird parts of the Bible...

Do you feel like you have to get everything right all of the time? On today's episode, Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz talk about the freedom Jesus offers us when we trust in his perfection instead of relying on our own performance. Vera shares honestly about her regular struggle of trying to prove her worth and how verses like Titus 3:4–5a help her refocus on the truth of Christ throughout h...

Randall Goodgame of Slugs and Bugs joins Natalie Abbott to talk about how memorizing Scripture has impacted his life. They dig into how he found freedom in pointing his kids to Jesus as a dad, the mercy and kindness of God in Titus 3:4–5a, and the ministry the Lord has given him to help families have fun and learn Scripture together! This month’s memory verse: "But when the kindness and love...

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the Christmas things, this episode is for YOU today! Listen in as Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, walks us through the context of this month’s memory verses, highlighting 3 things from the book of Titus: who we were , who we are , and being who we are. Jesus came—and he came for us . This is the kindness and love of God our Savior. This is &q...

Tune into this raw conversation between Jarred Lopes of Dad Tired and Matt Schmitz (husband of Dwell Differently co-founder Vera Schmitz) as they offer real encouragement and hope for dads who want to find their identity in Jesus, be spiritual leaders in their homes, and walk in the freedom of the gospel. And for any men who long to live like this, but don’t (and for the women who love them), don’...

Vera Schmitz brings us a heart check-up today: If we truly take inventory, are we just wanting the blessings of God, or are we wanting God himself? Tune in to hear a powerful quote from John Piper, the story of Vera’s battle with anxiety and what she learned in that season, and some helpful questions to evaluate what your heart is truly treasuring today. This month’s memory verse: "For where...

Do you find yourself more afraid of losing earthly treasure than your spiritual health? Ouch. If we’re honest, we all find ourselves there sometimes, and today Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz want to help us reorient our hearts toward our greatest treasure: Jesus Christ. Tune in to hear them talk about the story behind this month’s verse design, an antidote to worry, and an encouragement to ask Go...

What comes to mind when you think of “treasure”? More importantly, what does Jesus say about it? Join Jerrad Lopes, founder of Dad Tired, and Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently as they dig into our memory verse for the month: Matthew 6:21. They take a look at the context of our verse, dig into what the Bible has to say about treasure and blessing, and share honestly about ways they ar...

“Is your heart wrapped up in something right now that it cannot lose? Something that's lasting, something that's dependable, something that won't break it. Is your heart confident, rested, and secure? Is your heart set on the incorruptible, unfading, forever treasures of heaven? Or, is your heart filled with something that it dreads losing?” — Natalie Abbott Join Natalie Abbott, co-...

You won’t want to miss today’s episode with Sadie Robertson Huff and Christian Huff! Together with Natalie Abbott, they talk about why God is worth basing our whole life on, the overarching storyline of the Bible and how we see God’s faithfulness on display in it, how Sadie and Christian have seen God’s faithfulness in their own lives, and a word of hope to anyone listening who is struggling today...

What motivates our faithfulness? What can we learn about being faithful to God from the lives of other Christians? And what do we do when we realize that we've failed? Join Natalie Abbott and Vera Schmitz, sister and co-founders of Dwell Differently, as they talk about these questions and more! Want to learn more about the discussion questions they talk through today? Check out the Dwell Diff...

How do we know who “this God” from Psalm 48:14 really is? And how can we be sure that he will be our God for ever and ever? Join Natalie Abbott and Elizabeth Woodson as they zoom out to help us see the big picture of what Scripture says about the faithfulness of God. They dig into why God's faithfulness is a theme in our verse, why it’s such good news that God is faithful (even when we are fa...

Have you ever wondered how modern believers should view the Old Testament and its promises? What can we learn from Israel’s talk about the City of God? Join Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, as she walks us through the context of Psalm 48, zooms out to look at God’s presence with his people from Genesis through Revelation, and helps reflect on the good news that this God—the God who...

Join Vera Schmitz, co-founder of Dwell Differently, as she reflects on what she’s been learning this month from Luke 6:27. She shares 3 takeaways from her own life about loving her enemy, and reminds us that because Jesus loved us when we were his enemies, we can also love our enemies. This month’s memory verse: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you....

Vera is BACK and she has an exciting update to share! Today Natalie and Vera are talking all about our verse this month and how this hard call to love our enemies is really just loving the way Jesus loves. They talk about what to do if you can’t easily think of an “enemy,” how Jesus has been turning enemies into friends since he called his first disciples, and how when we remember that we were onc...

We are so glad to have Madison Perekotiy on the podcast today to talk about what it means to love our enemies with the love of Christ. Madison and her Ukrainian-born husband Yuriy have been full-time missionaries since 2018, first in Ukraine and now in Romania. In this episode, she and Natalie talk about what it’s like to have enemies in an ongoing war, how the character of God helps us to make se...

Is loving our enemies really a non-negotiable for Christians? If we're being honest, our verse this month is a hard one to live out. What is Jesus calling us to believe that we aren’t believing? Why is it a non-negotiable to love our enemies? And how can we live that way? Join Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, as she walks us through the context of this passage, looking at the...

We are so excited to share this special bonus episode with you today! Have you ever thought that creativity was limited to scrapbooking, or that you just aren't a "creative person"? Ashlee Gadd, author of Create Anyway, is joining Natalie Abbott to talk about why being created in the image of God informs how we should view creativity, why creativity doesn't need to be a selfish...

Does it ever feel impossible to clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility, and patience? On today’s episode, Dwell team member Lindsay Tully is sharing a story about how God has used this month’s verse in her family’s life. Tune in to hear where to start when we realize we’re failing, a creative way to remember this month’s verse, and an encouragement to remember you’re not a...

Where is your gaze today? If you’re anything like us, you might be finding your gaze is far too often on yourself first instead of on Jesus. Listen in as Natalie Abbott, co-founder of Dwell Differently, and Lindsay Tully, Dwell Differently editor and writer, look to God’s Word to offer hope when we’re struggling to put on the new “clothes” this verse calls us to wear. They take a look at how Jesus...