Grace Moments

In many situations, we feel out of control. There's a lot that happens that's just out of our hands and sometimes, that can blind us to the things we actually DO have control over. In this episode, you'll learn the power of responsive choice - that there are a lot of things that you can decide the outcome and whether or not in ends in wholeness and healing. This will be an extremely liberating con...

Perhaps you're struggling to interact with emotionally volatile people at your workplace, your church, in your family, or with a friend and you keep finding yourself getting pulled into their strong emotions and reacting with some of your own. How can someone keep their cool when others are losing theirs (and maybe even blaming YOU for it)? How can you avoid turning into them when the natural resp...

Sometimes it's easy to think of God as being at the beginning of your journey or waiting for you at the end, but many of us miss Him in the middle. We get into the valley moments, the in-between seasons where the race gets tough, and lose sight of the simple fact that He is running alongside us and will be with us all the way. There are moments when we could use a reminder that God hasn't gone any...

Any causal observer of modern society will notice that the ability to dialogue well is becoming almost extinct. Most people don't know how to have a conversation - let alone a difficult one - without it escalating into something hurtful. Knowing how to talk through something, especially when it's a sensitive or difficult subject, is key to healthy relationships and success as well as keeping your...

"I am a perfectionist!" We've all heard someone say it, or we've said it ourselves. And it today's world, where high performance is praised and even required, it can be easy to slip into unhealthy patterns of thought and behavior surrounding excellence. Perfectionism can ruin relationships, health, faith, and pretty much your whole life if not addressed. Today's episode will look at why perfection...

In a short-order, fast-pace world where everyone expects everything instantly, grief puts our endurance to the test and makes a myth of such expectations. When loss hits, there is nothing you can do to pretend it doesn't exist or to expect you'll just "get over it" in a minimal period of time. Grief forces us to rethink our perspective of time and adjust our expectations accordingly. We will not p...

A lot of people sadly feel that they are, in some way, a mistake. Maybe in their race, their gender, their story, or because they really blew it, they feel as though their identity is wrapped up in the mistakes they've made, what their background is, or what's happened to them. Today, this episode aims to point out why none of us are a mistake but instead are dearly loved and wanted and to help us...

Many of us think of faith as trust and belief in God. But what if faith actually had two aspects to that? What if God's ability and then God's willingness were separate conversations? Perhaps some of our doubts stem from the fact that we're stuck on why God wasn't willing to do something we know He's capable of! This episode will unpack the two sides of faith and why they matter, hopefully giving...

When people think of steps to healing, most will easily come up with things like counseling or therapy sessions, rehab, dietary changes, etc. But there are often many other seemingly less obvious but equally important steps toward wellness and transformation that deserve to be looked at as well. This episode takes you through some of those in hopes of expanding your awareness of and commitment to...

In this day and age when so much drives us to look toward and plan for the future... when the faith community is constantly telling us to fix our eyes on eternity... we can sometimes miss the things God is trying to show us in our present. We can be blind to the ways in which so much of what we think we have to wait and hold out for are already being answered in our here and now. We can have rest...

We're about to turn the page on another year and with that come new opportunities, challenges, goals, and hopes for what might lie ahead in 2025. While none of us knows for certain what is in store, it's always good to identify our dreams, desires, and objectives for the New Year as well as ask ourselves how badly we really want to chase the changes or aspirations we say we want. Today's episode w...

The Christmas seasons is upon us with all of its merriment and activity. Yet I wonder how many of us are actually pausing to think about the shocking wonder of the fact that the King of the Universe humbled Himself and came to this fallen world on a rescue mission unlike any other. Are we awed by this reality? Or have we lost sight of the astonishing "Reason for the season"? This week's episode ca...

Like nature, life is a cycle of seasons. Sometimes we are in the expectation of Spring's possibility while at others, we are in the throes of Winter's darkness and chill. Learning how to transition through and embrace each season is key to our being able to grow and get out of each one what God is intending to show us. This episode shows you the hidden beauty of each season of life and how you be...

As aspect of the mental health conversation that is often overlooked is: leadership. We focus so much on the individual and their emotional needs that we fail to take a look at what messages or treatment is coming from the top-down in their workplace, home life, team or church environment, or any situation that involves higher levels of authority. Leaders play a big role in creating a healthy or u...

It's the week of Thanksgiving Day, and we're taking some time in this episode to unpack the significance of gratitude and why it matters to our physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. We'll also discuss it's intricate connection to joy. You won't want to miss this! Visit and subscribe to my blog at: www.graceopens.blogspot.com Twitter: @opentograce2015 Instagram: @opentogracealaska Parl...

There are many ways in which we wonder if we're doing enough. Often driven by comparison struggles or cultural pressures and expectations, we can find ourselves moving beyond just the question of, "Is it enough?" to "Am I enough?" This episode helps to redefine work and value and is especially targeted at parental figures and those wrestling with trying to find meaning in their work. You will appr...

Do you ever find yourself questioning if God is real or if He's active in the world today? Do you struggle when your desire for a miracle goes unnoticed and it seems like God isn't answering your prayers? Do you feel the pain of watching others get the miracle they prayed for while you're still waiting for your own? This episode dives into the supernatural...it's impact on our lives as well as it'...

We have a complicated relationship with tears. Tears are our most common way of expressing human emotion, yet many of us are unsure of how to explain or embrace these intense feelings when they come. Today's episode uncovers the varied kinds of tears and their important place in the human experience as well as God's relationship to tears and why they matter. You'll also learn how to identify what...

One of the often overlooked aspects of mental health is the tax of walking through an extended health crisis. Whether you are the one caring for someone, experiencing the health issues yourself, or just trying to be a supportive friend from the outside, having realistic expectations of how to cope with and survive a serious health journey is absolutely necessary to making it through to the other s...

There are moments in our lives when even the most devout of us feel tempted and tried in ways we just can't seem to shake. We realize we are being spiritually attacked, and this can be very unsettling. We need a battle plan for when such seasons of testing come about, and that's exactly what today's episode aims to do - give you a strategy for when you're under spiritual attack so you can survive...

Many of us are feeling the impact of the divisive and tense world we are currently living in - conflicts abound in many shapes and forms, and it's becoming harder to find peace and maintain it in our personal and communal lives. So how do we find lasting peace? This episode will show you the path to "peace that passes all understanding." Check out my weekly blog: www.graceopens.blogspot.com and al...

All of us go through difficult times when we wrestle with doubts about God's love or feel absent from His presence or care. But do we often feel comfortable voicing these feelings out loud to God or trusted others? In this episode, we'll discuss the powerful role of lament in our prayer life and perspective, utilizing Lamentations 3 as our blueprint. We'll learn how to structure a lame...

A lot of us are carrying around burdens of shame that we were never meant to carry, leading to feelings of guilt, depression, anxiety, and over-responsibilty. Whether we placed this on ourselves or others put it on us, now is the time to step into a life of greater freedom and peace of mind. Today's episode unpacks the impact of shame on our lives and how to properly deal with it so that we ca...

Almost all people would agree that friends are important. Yet recent statistics are showing that maybe we're not as good at making and maintaining friendships as we think. Across the world, and especially in Western society, people are becoming lonelier than ever before. Today's episode aims to help you understand God's design for friendship and give you practical advice on how to find...

As concerning world events or even personal problems and stressors invade our peaceful lives with unwanted access, cynicism, pessimism, and hopelessness can become an unhealthy pattern for us. Using Psalm 46 as a guide, and the background story from which it originated, today's episode explores the necessity of hope and warns against giving negative beliefs too much power in our lives. Check o...