Out of the Ordinary

This is a story about failure. And the shame that comes with it. And what the antidote to that shame is. Honestly, this was a conversation we were deep in before we realized we should be recording. So you're hearing us honestly process how failure has crippled us and the unexpected antidote we stumbled onto in this conversation. I t might be one of the most important conversations we've re...

This is a story about how to listen (instead of  worrying about how life hasn't lived up to the story we write in our heads.) It's the first in our series of Easter Conversations. And yes, we talk about our LEAST FAVORITE Bible Verse. It's for all of us who wonder what it means in the middle of our ordinary, kids-with-stomach-bugs lives to hear the voice of God.  Because, like our kids...

This is a story about the burned down parts of our lives. On Ash Wednesday it feels appropriate.  This is the third in a series of vulnerable stories as we work our way toward Lent.  Part 1:  Your Childhood Home Part 2:  When Your Limits Frustrate You Christie experiences Lent as a time to cultivate emptiness. Lisa-Jo experiences Lent as a time to stop being shamed by our brokenness.  If you'v...

This is a story about a checkerboard floor and running out of mashed potatoes. It's also an honest look at how we make sense of the hard limits we run into in our lives and our homes and what they say about us and about God. This is the second in a series of vulnerable stories as we work our way toward Lent. We invite you to join us as we unpack the frustration of the limits we experience in o...

This is a story about two cows and a little girl who peed in the front yard. This is the beginning of a vulnerable series of stories as we work our way toward Lent. We invite you to join us and remember your own childhood home. We invite you to do the brave work of, "revealing your mind at work. There is no nakedness like that nakedness."  Pat Schneider,  Writing Alone and With Others .  ...

This is a story about a fountain, a house, and a dream. And it comes with an invitation to a virtual black barn.  Because we're opening the doors to   a new community platform - the virtual Black Barn -- a way for every single listener to come and join us in person! Click here now to learn more and join . blackbarncollective.com/paperandstring For one week only: Feb 1-7, 2020 each subscription...

This is a story about brown paper packages tied up with string. We have created a virtual care package for our listeners. This is the behind the scenes story of how and why that happened. Be the first to get Paper & String!  -- a care package curated for our listeners.  Click here now. Or go to: outoftheordinarypodcast.com/ps It will only be available the first week of February.  It's a di...

This is a story about 15 words. And why we love them. If you are an aficionado of the spoken word, you're in for a treat. Here comes a whole lot of ear candy and a new collection of tasty words to enjoy rolling around your conversations this week. Book mentioned in this episode:  The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane Be the first to know: What Paper & String is  -- a care package curated for...

This is the story of what Christie found at the back of a very messy closet. This is a story about the shadow side of every "Yes." In our lives, and in this new year, are we the gardeners sowing seed, or are we the soil in which our Maker plants seed? If we ARE the soil, how do we prepare ourselves to receive and nurture the RIGHT seeds? These are the questions Lisa-Jo and Christie explore...

This is the story of a neglected garden and a disappearing act. This is the first half of a two-part conversation on why we're beginning this new year by saying "No!" loud and clear. Ordinary life is a gift offered to each one of us, but did you know that ordinary life isn't actually inevitable? That ordinary life--with all of its wonder and beauty--is actually soil to be tended? O...

This is the story of 1 hospital conference room and 1,000 lanterns in the sky. Here comes the final installment in our 3 part journey unpacking our hard Christmas stories on the way to this sacred holy and completely unexpected night.  (You can listen to Part 1 and Part 2 in Episodes 55 and 56). Join Christie and Lisa-Jo as they learn that Christmas isn't some delicate ornament easily shattere...

This is the story of a bag of broken Christmas gifts and an ironing board. Here comes the second in our 3 part journey unpacking our hard Christmas stories because we know this time of year isn't just about the shiny and the special.  It's about a God who comes to meet us in the middle of broken gifts and disappointed expectations. Join Christie and Lisa-Jo as they remember Christmases tha...

This is the story of a young woman's first Thanksgiving and a young child's Christmas wish. These are stories about hard holidays, but they are only the first step in a three-part journey Christie and Lisa-Jo take together on the podcast this December. Why revisit the hard? Why return in conversation to those darker holiday moments? Because this year's Christmas, and all our Christmase...

This is the story of a terrible, no-good, but oh-so-hilarious Christmas card photo. These are stories about the things we will NOT be doing this Christmas season. Does the approach of Christmas feel a little less joyful than you wish it would? Are you already tired? Already feeling inadequate to the demands of the season? Then this episode is for you. We can't tell you exactly what you should...

This is the story of having a champion. Especially one who doesn't look, talk, act, or sound like a champion. This is the story of surprise characters who become plot twists in our teenage memories.  This is how people are very often very different than what we expect them to be. And how two unlikely guardian angels imprinted on the teenage stories of Lisa-Jo and Christie in ways that are just...

This is a story about dark wells of deep water and the surprises that can come out of them. This week we talk about how the places of our pain are sometimes the very places where beauty grows in totally unexpected ways. Places that feel too deep to even talk about can be where we find fresh water and new life. We all carry stories in our bones, and your stories, like ours help, "close the woun...

This is a story about being fed. Lisa-Jo and Christie describe the lengths they'll go to fuel themselves for these podcast recording sessions. From Coke Zero to hot, milky tea and homemade soup, they've learned that it isn't only athletes who need to be carefully nourished.  And one of the great pleasures of ordinary life is ordinary, daily food. Of course, feeding ourselves and others...

This is a story about Not Enough. Not having enough. Not being enough. Lisa-Jo and Christie speak honestly about their own personal empty jars (that never do run out of oil). They describe the small plates of loaves and fishes served to them by others (that satisfy like nothing else). Because MIRACLES are one of their favorite ordinary things. That's right, with eyes to see, they are learning...

This is the story about sitting down to do the thing God invited you to do, even though your worst fears are staring straight at you. Why isn't it easier to do what we feel made to do?  Why can it be so hard or so exhausting or so scary? Lisa-Jo and Christie honestly share some of their behind the scenes stories of the fears they battle any time they accept an invitation from the Lord to do so...

This is Season 2 of the Out of the Ordinary podcast, where we believe that the very best stories grow out of the soil of ordinary life.  This is a story about stories. This is a conversation about one of our favorite ordinary things: television! Lisa-Jo and Christie see the world through STORY lenses. Join them as they talk about  how  and  why  they watch tv and film, on their own and with their...

Welcome to Season 2 of our Out of the Ordinary conversations. Where we remind ourselves that the very best stories grow out of the soil of ordinary life. As Christie and Lisa-Jo sit down at Maplehurst again to unpack some of their most ordinary stories together, we hope, as always, that you will find yourselves in them too. This is the story of trying to find out where we are. On a map, in life, a...

Season 2 of the Out of the Ordinary conversations kicks off on October 2! How to win:  In the meantime, if you share about the podcast coming back October 2nd on social media (anyway you like, screenshot, photo, FB update, Instagram pic, story, get as creative as you like!) and tag us @lisajobaker @christiepurifoy and use the hashtag #outoftheordinarypodcast you'll be entered to win an entire...

This is the story of a real life dream come true. When we began this podcast almost one year ago, we never imagined bringing you an episode like this one. But slowly, week by week, as we planted the small seeds of the Out of the Ordinary podcast  a dream began to grow: could we invite a few of our listeners to join us at Maplehurst? Could we record one of our storytelling conversations in the cont...

This is the story about trusting God with our kids I've heard Christie tell this story before. So have you. As part of practicing rest this summer, Christie and Lisa-Jo each chose their favorite episode from the past year to re-share. This is the one Lisa-Jo chose. Because it's the story she thinks about more than any of the others they've shared. This is the story of an afternoon in F...

This is a story about how books are born Christie interviews Lisa-Jo today and takes us all behind the scenes of the writing of Lisa-Jo's new book,  The Middle Matters,  which is on sale everywhere today! How she ended up on her own book cover, what people said when she decided to write about her muffin top, and how she turned a collection of stories about completely ordinary life into somethi...