Embodied Holiness

Send us Fan Mail Alex and Susan talk with pastors David Sellers and Cliff Burris about the truth of our belovedness, how we can move into a life of recovery through a relationship with Christ and his church, and how the church can become a safe and brave space for those in recovery.  (Part 1 of 2)  For more content on the practical steps you can take to begin recovery, be sure to also listen to Ep...

Send us Fan Mail Is it possible to live a life of true joy even in the midst of our deepest pain and sorrow? Because of Christ, it is. In this episode, Susan and Alex talk with their good friend, Nicolet Bell, about how followers of Jesus can access the deep joy of the Lord even when their circumstances tell them otherwise. This is one episode you'll want to listen to again and again.  NICOLE...

Send us Fan Mail When our co-host, Lindsey Lewis, received the call that her younger brother, Cody Miller, had been involved in a traumatic car accident, she had no idea how close Cody had come to losing his life or how Cody's life would be permanently altered as a result. In today's episode, Cody shares about the day his life changed, the miraculous ways he experienced the hand of God,...

Send us Fan Mail Susan and Alex discuss three ancient spiritual practices that invite us to gain a new glimpse into who God is and how to follow him so we can be stirred up toward love and good deeds.  From the book, Advent by Tish Harrison Warren:  "For the early church these three spiritual disciplines -- prayer, fasting, and giving-- were held together. All three of them were robustly phys...

Send us Fan Mail "If we are healthy, financially secure, and privileged, we can seek to meticulously rid our lives of waiting. We dwell in an impatient culture. We collectively avoid the hard lessons found in waiting."  ~Tish Harrison Warren Join Susan and Alex as they discuss how the season of Advent invites us to cultivate the habit of patience and trust the slow work of God.  Thanks f...

Send us Fan Mail Listen in as Susan and Alex discuss the paradoxical nature of Advent and how letting go of expectations can help us fully embrace this season of the Christian year. Listen to the O Antiphons at this link. The O Antiphons: "O Wisdom!" "O Adonai!" "O Root!" "O Key!" "O Light!" "O King of the Nations!" "O Emmanuel!&quot...

Send us Fan Mail Feeling overwhelmed? In this episode you'll learn about spiritual and physical practices that bring rest, peace, and restoration to you body, mind, and spirit. For even more on this topic, you can listen to Susan's conversation with Tammy and Whitney from 2020 at this link. WHITNEY R. SIMPSON holds a certification in Spiritual Formation from Garrett-Evangelical Theologic...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Susan is joined by her husband, Stewart Eaton, her brother-in-law, Fletcher Eaton, and sister-in-law, Susan Eaton. Together, they discuss why belonging and connection are so important and how we can go about repairing ruptures that occur in our relationships. Using John Ortberg's book I'd Like You More if You Were More Like Me as a guide, they also bring...

Send us Fan Mail Is it crazy to say we had fun talking about mourning and loss? Maybe, but it's true. In this episode, Susan, Lindsey, and Alex sit down with author Jasmine Cochran to talk about her latest book, Keep Waking Up in the Mourning , a collection of father-daughter experiences that will move and entertain you while highlighting the stresses of a loved one’s final moments and the tr...

Send us Fan Mail ​Kym Garraway-Braley is an artist with a zest for life that is vividly portrayed in her paintings, which feature vibrant colors along with everything she loves from God's creation. Her favorite subjects include florals, fruits, botanicals, wildlife, and children's themes, which she beautifully illustrates so that they seem to leap out at you. This creative artist is neve...

Send us Fan Mail Whether it's over the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, a friendship, or from going through the inevitable transitions of life, grieving is a reality we all face. In this episode, Susan and Lyerly talk with Rev. Dr. Vicki Johnson about the importance of tending to our grief and how hope helps us move forward through the pain of loss. Whether you're in a current sea...

Send us Fan Mail "We are shaped every day, whether we know it or not, by practices — rituals and liturgies — that make us who we are. We receive these practices  — which are often rote —not only from the church or the Scriptures but from the culture, from the 'air around us' ... The church is to be a radically alternative people, marked by the love of the triune God in each area of...

Send us Fan Mail Are you ready to break the cycle of unhealthy patterns and make wellness a priority? If so, this episode is just what you need. Today, we speak with author, wellness blogger, and nurse practitioner, Gena Anderson, about how we can obtain spiritual, mental, and physical wellness.  Our conversation is based on Gena's book The Well Woman - A Journey to Wellness Through Loving Je...

Send us Fan Mail If you've been a parent for any length of time, you've probably experienced parent guilt at some point along your parenting journey. In this episode, we talk with our friend, Jennifer Sheridan, from Restoration House Counseling in Hattiesburg, MS about what to do with parent guilt, and how we can navigate all the emotions and pressures of parenting in a healthy way. Than...

Send us Fan Mail When Sarah Williams experienced an unplanned pregnancy at the age of nineteen, there were no congratulations or happy tears. Instead, she was told that her life was over — that she had made the biggest mistake ever. But neither God nor Sarah bought that narrative. Instead, after completing her bachelor's and master's degrees, Sarah answered God’s call to be an encourager...

Send us Fan Mail When does a gym become more than a gym? When it becomes a place of true community. Today, we talk with Steve McAlister, founder and owner of Versus Strength and Conditioning in Hattiesburg, MS, about the principles he founded his business on and how his efforts in building a healthy, supportive community have come back to bless him and his family during his wife's cancer diag...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine you're twenty-something years old. You're touring the world with your friends in your extremely popular pop/rock band, King Konga. You have a hit song that reaches #81 on the AC Hot 100 Pop Charts, and you've captured the eyes of many major record labels. You have the opportunity to take a big step toward fame, and you say... no. That's precisely what T...

Send us Fan Mail SCOTT ERICKSON has had long midnight conversations with the Voice of Giving Up, and knows how depression can make the Voice especially loud. In this episode we talk with Scott about how he's moved beyond the Voice of Giving Up into a life of saying yes, the difference between a desire and a dream, and how the spiritual practice of taking away helps us grow closer to God. Scot...

Send us Fan Mail In this last installment of our Embodied Advent series, we look at Mary, who so willingly received her Christ, becoming a tabernacle for the divine, a dwelling place, a shelter for the embryonic God to grow. She received the calling to carry, birth, and raise a child — to love and pour herself out for him — and then she released him and her heart to the will of the Father.  As we...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever wondered why — in a season when we’re supposed to be focused on the humility of Christ’s entrance into the world — we seem to be more chaotic and stressed than ever, you’re not alone. Listen in as our friend Alex Doleac shares his thoughts about how we can step away from the chaos of the season in order to become unadorned and embrace the simplicity and humility of...

Send us Fan Mail Even though the season of Advent is marked by longing and waiting for deliverance, it's not a season without hope. Our Savior has come and will come again to make all things new. In this second week of Advent, we explore the purpose darkness can serve in our lives. If you're going through a difficult time, we pray that this message will remind you that you are never alon...

Send us Fan Mail For the Christian, the season of Advent marks the beginning of a new year. We begin this new year by waiting with anticipation for the coming of our Savior. Of course, we're on the other side of Christ's first coming, and so while we celebrate and remember with joy how God took on flesh and dwelt among us, we also hold on to the hope that Christ will return -- His second...

Send us Fan Mail "Maybe you feel shipwrecked or stuck at a dead end. Maybe you feel foolish for even daring to dream at all. When our dreams die, our vision of who we hoped to become often dies too. That's when the Voice of Giving Up appears." That's an excerpt from the back cover of Scott Erickson's book Say Yes - Discover the Surprising Life Beyond the Death of a Dream....

Send us Fan Mail Calling all parents! Listen in as we talk with Jennifer Sheridan, owner and lead therapist at Restoration House Counseling in Hattiesburg, MS, about effective and ineffective styles of parenting and what it looks like to keep the love of Christ at the center of our parent/child relationships. Parenting styles discussed in the episode (taken from John Gottman's Book Raising  a...

Send us Fan Mail A native of South Mississippi, Abbye West Pates is a singer-songwriter who has called Memphis, Tennessee her home for over a decade. She loves people and songs so it only makes sense that she'd feel most at home at a house concert or dark listening room somewhere, close enough for a conversation with the listeners. She's a little folk, a little country, and loves a good...