Halfway to Sunday

In Episode 117 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill continues her conversation with Val Kleppen about wilderness seasons (Part 2); those stretches where you can’t see what God is doing and you’re desperate for clarity. Val offers a perspective-shifting challenge: why do we assume we need answers before we obey? She shares how a faithful life creates ripples that can impact generations, even if we never see...

In Episode 116 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Val Kleppen (host of The Motherhood Experience Podcast ) for an honest conversation about the wilderness seasons when prayers feel unanswered, direction feels unclear, and you’re trying to stay faithful anyway. Val shares from real life: grief, deep wrestling, and the exhaustion that comes from trying to control outcomes when everything fee...

In Episode 115 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Christian artist Carly Ann Taylor to hear the story behind her faith, her calling, and her song “Why Should I Worry.” Carly shares about growing up in a deeply unstable environment of abuse, addiction, and foster care to then reaching a breaking point where she contemplated ending her life. She describes hearing a simple phrase “Something g...

In Episode 114 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Jessica DeYoung (founder of the Made Whole Movement and host of Perspectives into Practice ) to talk about obedience when you don’t have the full picture. Jessica shares a simple but challenging truth: obedience comes before clarity. God often gives the next step, not the whole map. Together they unpack how to discern God’s voice in real li...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 113 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Jennifer Bosma, host of the Front Parking Spot podcast, to talk about living out faith at home and moving from religion and “should dos” into a real relationship with Jesus. Jennifer shares practical ways to slow down and make space for God even in busy seasons (even if it’s only two minutes), and why praying Scripture...

In Episode 112 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Anita Keagy (founder of Joy Shop Ministries) for a deeply hope-filled conversation about shame, fear, and God’s redemption. Anita shares how an unplanned pregnancy brought fear and embarrassment and how her faith, her parents’ grace, and God’s love helped her choose life rather than be driven by fear. She reflects on what it means to cry ou...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 111 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with Heather Day (Barnabas Foundation; author of Money and Spirit) for a conversation about authentic faith, trust, and obedience, especially in the everyday places we often try to control. Heather shares what it looks like to surrender your finances to God through the work of the Holy Spirit (not a “health and wealth” messa...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 110 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Kyleigh Rose to talk about real joy, the kind of joy that doesn’t pretend everything is fine, but chooses hope in the middle of what’s hard. Kyleigh shares honestly about seasons of shame and guilt, trying to “do enough” to make the weight of all of it go away, and how God met her through grace, surrender, and communit...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 109 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with writer and podcast host Wanda Thibodeaux for a refreshingly honest conversation about joy, especially when trauma and grief are part of your story. Wanda shares how joy doesn’t require denying pain, and why unresolved grief often keeps us anchored in the past. Together they talk about practical ways to “train your brai...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 108 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with author and longtime Guideposts editor Rick Hamlin to talk about following Jesus in a divided, discouraging world without losing compassion. Rick shares the heart behind his devotional Everlasting Jesus: 40 Days of Timeless Wisdom for Modern Living and offers practical rhythms for modern life: making “alone time,” starti...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 107 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with pastor and author Robert Bass to talk about living with purpose without losing intimacy with God. Robert shares how easy it is to become busy, overwhelmed, and focused on our own agenda, doing “good things,” yet not experiencing the fruit, joy, and peace we’re longing for. They explore the idea behind Robert’s book Hidd...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 106 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with Rev. Cheryl Kincaid for a trauma-aware conversation about forgiveness, healing, and boundaries. Cheryl addresses one of the hardest questions Christians face: how do you forgive without excusing what happened? She explains the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, and why reconciliation requires repentance...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 105 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with Teresa Blaes (podcast host, ministry leader, and founder of Kosh Media Productions) for a raw conversation about faith after trauma. Teresa shares her story of growing up in a broken home, facing severe medical challenges, and experiencing devastating loss that left her deeply angry at God. She describes how encounters...

✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 104 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with Dr. Angela Deulen to explore the connection between faith, stress, and the nervous system. If you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or “noisy on the inside,” Angela explains why spiritual habits can feel difficult when your nervous system is dysregulated and how calming your body can help you reconnect with God. She shares a p...

You can now watch FULL episodes on YouTube!  ✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE In Episode 103 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Dr. Oluwole Babatunde, psychiatrist, faith leader, and author of Adapt and Advance: A Faith-Based Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Trials into Triumphs. Oluwole shares his story of growing up in Nigeria, losing both parents at a young age, and experiencing seasons so dark they...

In Episode 102 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with Aneta Kuzma, author of Lanterns of Light, to talk about trusting God through fear, uncertainty, and big life transitions. Aneta shares how leaving the “false sense of security” of corporate life to step into entrepreneurship became a defining moment, when her faith became greater than her fear. She opens up about the practices that helped h...

In Episode 101 of Halfway to Sunday , Jill sits down with author Kristen LaValley to talk about church hurt, spiritual perfectionism, and what it looks like to rebuild faith when it’s been tangled up with trauma. Kristen shares about her book Growing Up Saved and the “I am bad” mindset so many Christians carry, believing they must perform and become “better” to be loved by God. Together they explo...

If you’re overwhelmed and running on empty, this episode is for you. In our 100th episode, Jill and Cassian Bellino share biblical boundaries and practical ways to create margin so you can protect your peace and keep saying yes to God without burning out.  ➡️ Watch next: Halfway to Sunday (Full Episodes) 🎧Listen on Apple Spotify 🙏 Join the community + bonus content (Patreon) 💌 Questions/Guest R...

In Episode 99 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with Chaz Becker, founder of Storied, to explore why many believers know God loves them but still struggle to feel it. They talk about the gap between head knowledge and heart knowledge, and how spiritual formation can engage the emotional “right brain,” not just information and theology. Chaz shares how attachment patterns and nervous system resp...

In Episode 98 of Halfway to Sunday, Jill sits down with Kathleen Johnson, author and founder of Scripture Girl, to talk about breaking free from fear and learning to live from God-reliance instead of self-reliance. Kathleen shares how painful seasons pushed her into deeper Scripture memory, meditation, and intimacy with God and how moving truth from “head knowledge” to something that actually tran...

Bible teacher and prison-ministry leader James Early joins Jill to unpack a shame-free path back to Jesus. James shares how the cross and resurrection secure real freedom, why your identity as God’s child matters more than your worst mistakes, and how total surrender becomes a daily mindset. He tells a powerful prison-ministry story of a woman who finally got to ask hard questions and how she foun...

In this episode Jill welcomes two friends and scholars who unite theology and psychology to help us actually love our neighbors. From Seattle Pacific University to a new season at Baylor, Katherine and Brittany unpack how situational obstacles (hurry, overload), emotions (avoidance, fear), and cognition (scarcity, labels) quietly distract us from empathy. Brittany and Katie offer shame-free, pract...

Deacon and mental-health counselor Constance Hastings joins Jill to talk candidly about doubt, grief, and learning to trust Jesus when life is not neat. Constance shares why she wrote The Trouble with Jesus: Considerations Before You Walk Away, naming tensions like Jesus choosing “losers,” elevating women, talking often about money, and refusing to be our instant “divine fixer.” Together they expl...

Author–artist Sharon Collins shares how God led her from a Santa Fe spark to art classes, a website, and published devotional books, each painting paired with Scripture. Along the way she learned that the Christian life isn’t radical independence but living in-dependence on Jesus, cultivating silence, and letting Him author the ideas. Sharon unpacks practical rhythms: pool-side quiet with God, tex...

Learning to Let God Love Me (Jill’s Story) In this Christmas-Eve special, Jill shares a vulnerable chapter: a teenage pregnancy, losing her faith community, and decades of running from a God she assumed could never love her. Through her daughters’ invitation, and a deep dive into Mary’s story, Jill began to see the first Christmas differently…and to see her own story through Jesus’ love. She reali...