Grace Moments

Everyone gets discouraged sometimes, particularly when it comes to how they think they're doing in their walk of faith. Falls and fails happen to us all the time, and it's easy to think that God's love or acceptance fluctuates with our performance. Believe this long enough, and doubt and hopelessness can start to sink in. Perhaps this is you, and you need some real, down-in-the-bones inspiration t...

Mental health has become an increasingly bigger topic in recent years and well it should! We definitely need more awareness out of there of the emotional struggles people go through and to let them know it's okay to not be okay and to talk about their difficulties. There certainly should be more conversation around finding solutions to these issues, and Christian circles are primed to be on the fr...

In many cases, our perceptions go beyond just shaping our reality to actually BECOMING our reality and sometimes, inhibiting us from the life of bold faith and trust that God wants us to have. We look at situations and come to false conclusions that, in the moment, seem real but ultimately keep us from noticing God's sovereignty, care, and control. Fear is easy, but faith can be hard... because fe...

Have you ever thought about the role quiet (or lack thereof) plays in your mental health? Scientific research shows that even just a few minutes a day of solitude does wonders for helping the human brain process and properly store information, thus greatly affecting your overall wellbeing and the shape of your thoughts and actions. Sadly, our society doesn't encourage quiet, and most of us are at...

What do you do with the perceived (or actual) negatives in your life? Do you detest them? Avoid them? Resist them? Or do you incorporate them as a vital aspect of your personal growth? Challenges and trials of any kind are never fun and often, in the moment, it's hard to see how they can produce any lasting good in our lives. But what if those very things we deem worthy of avoidance at all costs a...

For many people struggling with mental wellness, lack of purpose is a big issue. Perhaps the hurtful actions or words of others or the doubts and fears within prevented them from discovering their purposes or at least caused them to lose sight of it for a time. Learning how to rediscover (or find out for the first time!) what drives you to get up every day, what motivates you to learn, serve, and...

Emotions. Feelings. What complicated things they are! Unpredictable, unruly, challenging. It's hard sometimes to live with and deal with yourself in all the twists and turns that come with being you. It can be frustrating and downright frightening to face the jumble that is your inner life and to give yourself grace and permission to feel and experience things you'd rather run from and avoid. Toda...

Pressure of some sort happens to all of us, and most people would admit that the last couple of years have brought an even greater share of it. And not everyone has responded well. While there are always going to be moments of intensity and testing in life, and we can't often anticipate how or when they'll come, we can always control our reaction to them. Using the example of a pressure cooker, we...

All of us come up against hard transitions in life (either by choice or forced upon us) that challenge our identity and make us grieve a necessary ending. At the same time, such times can cause us to pursue new chapters and develop greater resilience and be open to opportunities we might never have found otherwise. University of Richmond baseball assistant coach Collin Radack knows this progressio...

Back in the day, newspapers used to have an "Opinion" section where personal viewpoints were voiced for the public to read and reflect on. In today's society, we now have the internet for such things. However, the world of social media and instant news have taught us how to readily give our take on something without giving space for other ideas and making room for the unique journeys of other peop...

Life pivots and transitions are never easy, especially when it involves leaving a known place, thing, people, or season for an unknown one. And often, there is a period of figuring out how to find the courage to trust more fully when so many changes are happening. Not only is there the discovery of what comes next but also the way in which the current transition changes you as a person. Confrontin...

Loneliness is a very real problem in today's society. Alarming statistics show that, even in the face of massive internet and social connectedness, people are more distant and alone than perhaps ever before. But the truth is, loneliness has always been present and part of life is learning how to address and handle it when it shows up. Today's episode gives both scientific and spiritual insight int...

Sometimes, life puts us in circumstances where we are faced with impossibilities that only a divine intervention or rescue can reverse. We find ourselves unable to save ourselves and all we can do is cry for help - to look upward and outward for assistance if we stand any chance of survival. Today, you will learn the story of a dog named Marlon and his harrowing rescue and what it teaches us about...

For those who mourn, grief has no timeline. The process of healing from any sort of devastating loss can often take months, sometimes years to work through, and everyone's journey is as unique as they are. However, for each, there comes a time when they must decide if they are going to go on and learn to live and love again or stay trapped in their grief for the rest of their life. This episode wi...

When faced with circumstances that shake you to the core, it can be difficult sometimes to pray... to put into words how you are feeling or what you need, and to connect with God on any sort of spiritual level. In today's episode, we will talk about the importance of prayer, the role it plays in our suffering, and why it's important to surround yourself with people who can believe for you when you...

Often, adversity hits us when we least expect it and, in the case of Phil Holtz, it happened practically at the beginning of life. In today's episode, you'll hear the inspiring story of a young man who was dealt an unfortunate set of circumstances early on but who has managed to overcome them with faith in God, love from family, and a positive outlook that has touched many. He's here to share his...

Shame. Its presence and its name evoke unpleasant memories and hurtful feelings. We remember all the times it was placed upon us or we've put it on ourselves. It can be baggage on our life-journey that we carry with us all our lives and never get rid of. But what if this was our moment to address the un-named in the room - to bring into the open what has bound us and silenced us and claimed us for...

Pain can often block us from being able to get in touch with the simplicity of who we are and inhibit our ability to tap into the natural qualities that make up our human existence. Memory can be altered by adversity in such a way as to cloud the little joys, hopes, and dreams we once started out with when we were young. Part of the healing process can be found in learning how to rediscover our in...

People often think they can't help the way they feel about situations in life but the truth is, you become what you reflect on most. Science backs it up, and so does the Bible. Your thought-life impacts your physical and mental health in more ways than you probably realize and the more you learn how to manage the things you think about, the better your quality of life will be! This episode takes y...

At some point in our lives, all of us experience rejection. Someone lets us know, in no uncertain terms, that we've failed their expectations and aren't enough. That even if we were once included, we aren't now. And we're left to try to sort out why and where to go from here. The feeling of being uninvited is nothing uncommon. But, when it happens, it can mess with our confidence and our overall m...

You've likely had conversations with others who were going through a hard time and felt at a loss for words regarding what to say in response to their suffering. And the easiest answer you've been able to come up with is, "Have you seen a professional?" It's become an easy way for us to pass the buck when it comes to being there for those struggling, assuming the so-called "experts" can do a bette...

When you've been faced with a lot of unexpected adversity or sudden tragedies, it can be easy to start living life as if you're waiting for the next shoe to drop... as if you're constantly worried about what's to come, projecting the past onto the present and future and losing your peace and joy in the moment because you're so wrapped up in an impending sense of what could be ahead. You can begin...

All of us have our share of secret battles we fight. Battles we're afraid to bring to light but ones that affect us on a daily basis more than we perhaps realize. Callan Conkle knows that better than just about anyone. She's dealt with her share of hidden secrets and is here for a candid conversation about eating disorders, perfectionism, and learning to accept and forgive the flaws within yoursel...

Sometimes life has a tendency to descend on us like a snowstorm and suddenly we are faced with a choice of great necessity: stay inside and remain comfortable or get up and get to work and dig yourself out. If we decide to take the former option, we soon realize that waiting around for others to plow us out or things to magically remove themselves isn't realistic - it takes faith and bit of persev...

What constitutes true beauty? Is it found in what we wear? Where we work and what we do? What level of education we achieved? How our life compares to those around us? Is it found in the impressions we create on social media, or how we're viewed by others? Our society certainly thinks so. But what if the thing that makes for true beauty was actually authenticity? What if we have treasure hidden in...