Ripple-Effect Faith with Twyla Franz

Self-pity is not neutral. All the while we maintain composure and let self-pity subside at its own pace, it's wreaking havoc on our mental health. It's time to go on the offensive and reclaim the ground self-pity has stolen.   Links mentioned: Get a FREE, 5-Day Email Course: Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days. Read the written version of this episode  HERE . Recite Scripture v...

Where do you feel the pressure to be on par with someone else? To prove yourself worthy? To pretend your way into confidence?   Links mentioned: Get a  FREE, 5-Day Email Course: Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days. Read the written version of this episode HERE . Find two summer's worth of Enneagram blog series  HERE .

I've got a thing with control. I like to paint it as a virtue because self-control sounds less harsh. Like less of a problem. But it actually isn't.  Your need to feel in control might come out in different ways than mine. Perhaps you vocalize more than internalize. Perhaps you extend your controlling efforts externally rather than internally. But it's the same thieving trio–fear, pride, and shame...

Can we go there–to the root of our unruly inner dialogues–so we can find peace and strength and mental relief? That's my invitation to you today.  Our inner thoughts have had too much say for too long. They keep us in the shadows, thinking small. They sabotage our friendships and our focus. Cloud out the voice of God so we think we're on our own. Where do we start? Here, with five easy-to-implemen...

Maybe there's a similarly pesky voice of perfectionism following you around inside your head, telling you that you should be able to get incrementally better. Every. Single. Day. It's relentless. You're worn out from all your undue try-hard.  But also, maybe you carry a bit of shame around with your perfectionism.  You're told you worry too much. Focus on the wrong things. Care too much about your...

Self-doubt surfaces quickly when it's thinly veiled behind borrowed confidence and temperamental self-esteem. Maybe this is your story. To others, you appear secure, but you feel deeply insufficient inside. You can take the lead, finish the work, maintain a high standard of excellence, and pass as having it together. But you can't outrun the voice that whispers,  If only they knew how little you k...

To you, Googling "how to be a better person." You, longing to be the sort of neighbor who effortlessly welcomes others into your home, leans into conversations with sincerity and delight, and spills over with hopefulness. You, with your burgeoning summer calendar and dwindling blank space. You, feeling squeezed between ideals and actual life. You don't need an out-of-reach plan, additional demands...

I sign up on a whim. One half-marathon for Saturday, through hilly horse country. My calves are still tight from three runs the same morning, because my impetuous mind decided to run to the start line of a community 5k, which also meant I had to get home on foot after the race. Honestly, my only hope of non-stop running for the half is contingent on keeping a slow, steady pace. And resting.  Funny...

Sometimes you are doing too much, and you know it from the tumble of thoughts burying the task that truly needs your attention. You find yourself making slow progress in several areas simultaneously. At every spin, you find more before you that could be straightened, sorted, or scheduled. Oh friend, I get it. I admit I mostly (okay, only ) wipe out the interior of my fridge when I should be packin...

Sometimes I can get stuck in my routine. I start my morning the same way every day I can. I fall into a rhythm with school and gymnastics and church. I even put plates a certain way in the dishwasher–every time. In the midst of the repetition, faith can begin to feel a bit monotonous. Perhaps you've experienced this. You might feel like you're on autopilot, mudding through the motions, willing you...

It feels like summer, and I sit on the step with Seph Schlueter singing through my portable speaker. Funny how you can play worship songs on repeat, but they move you forward, rather than in circles. Yes, you are essentially listening on loop, but the lyrics unravel your reservations and amplify your expectancy with every replay.   Links mentioned: Songs I Play on Repeat playlist. FREE, 5-Day Emai...

Perhaps it's grief, your physical health, or some other life disruption that makes the ground gallop beneath you. And it's all you can do right now to keep putting one foot forward at a time. Here are three truths that will steady you when life feels unstable.   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Read the written version of this epis...

"Did you see what I wrote on the mirror?" He's giddy insistent. First, he points to words I don't even see in the disappearing, post-shower stream.  God is good. God is great. Bless his 9-year-old heart, reminding me that even when we can't see how, God's steadiness writes a never-ending story.   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Re...

It sounded like a prank call, but I promise we were serious. Seriously set on seeing the sunrise in a city where we'd spend spring break. This was before the days of smartphones to check the weather app. So we did what made most sense to our college student brains—call local numbers in the phone book to ask when the sun rises. I think of it now as radiant pink entrances us en route to school. Thes...

Lately, it seems we're walking the thin line between breaking and believing. Lighting candles because we need a flicker of hope. Lengthening hugs because we all need the warmth of presence. How do we make Easter meaningful in the middle of spring break–and all sorts of honest aches?   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Read the writt...

You were made to delight the very heart of Christ. Your words are meant to move the heart of God.  Your devotion undoes Him. Your worship declares Him worthy. Your one surrendered life, aligned with His, honors Him.   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Read the written version of this episode  HERE .

Amen isn't an ending, but an acknowledgement that God can be counted on. It's agreement with what already beats in the heart of our Lord. It's coming alongside God's already, willingly-spoken "yes."   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Email Course:  Turn Your Loneliness into Ripple-Effect Faith in 5 Days Read the written version of this episode  HERE .

Down in the unseen recesses of our mind, we worry  we aren't seen. That our superhero power is being invisible, although no one asked if that's what we wanted.  We walk around lonely, longing for the assurance that we matter, trying to reconcile the breach between life right now and as it will be, when everything finally makes sense.  We get partial perspective this side of heaven. "Only part of t...

Sometimes all the things in your head get really loud. You're anxious over everything imagined and irrational. Your self-set expectations make you feel small, and in the tangle of untruths toying with your mind, you've got to remind yourself that hearing God's voice isn't for the ultra-spiritual alone. It's for the worn-out worriers, the willful wanderers, the wisdom-deficient, and the opportunity...

This is for you, feeling alone even when you're surrounded by other people. This is for the introvert keen on deep friendships but second-guessing her own merit. This is for those new to town, missing home, starting over. This is for the long-time homeowner who knows fewer than five neighbors by name. This is for lonely Christians longing for something to shift.   Links mentioned: FREE, 5-Day Emai...

I wonder where you're feeling most overwhelmed. What's beneath your tension headache and audible exhales? What stiffens your shoulders and triggers an insatiable, internal stopwatch? "Don't forget to enjoy this season," my literary agent says, and it startles me. Because I'm so busy sorting out the next two years I forget that the season I'm in should feel slow. There should be room to breathe. To...

I lived on Nicollet Ave. in a city that's been ablaze with rage, but I was too tiny to know anything but the security of arms cradling me. Minneapolis, MN was simply home. My birthplace. My nativity. This morning a candle wafts rich vanilla into my chilly basement and my Bible is open to the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah's intensity seems fitting for the fractures dividing our country.  "There is no...

I'm typically the one playing it safe. I minimize risk through research and reluctance. Control what I can and avoid the rest. Perhaps it won't surprise you that this is the first time in four days I've left my neighborhood. But the interstate is stunning.  I'm heading into the sun, which accentuates the ice. I would have missed this ethereal wonderland if I didn't brave the roads—just like I can...

To springboard off Christine Hoover's "back-door friend," I've turned items from around my house into archetypes to help us better understand friendship. Which one best describes the type of friend you are?   Links mentioned: Messy Beautiful Friendships by Christine Hoover. Sometimes we keep our friendship shallow– by accident.  Discover if you are making any of these ten common mistakes by grabbi...

Maybe January feels like a hinge month. Like what happens the rest of the year rests on what you do with this one month. You feel all kinds of pressure to pick the right New Year's resolutions, the perfect word of the year, the habits that will stack up to lifestyle change. You write and rewrite your measurable goals, your keep and let-go list, your personal mission statement.  Perhaps you're fed...