SHAREapy. The Podcast

One Person at a Time I make content for one person at a time. I have always written my pieces for one person at a time. I’ve always cared for the one person who “needed to hear that” when I communicate. Some might say that I’m not thinking big enough, or that what I do isn’t scalable enough to be 10x’d or mass-produced. But to me, as one individual person, what does it matter if the message is 10x...

I can distinctly remember walking into my grandfather’s house as a kid and smelling his Italian gravy, as he would call it. That smell wafting through the house as we walked in the front door, through the front room, and into his kitchen off to the left. It was easy to track down the source of the smell... spaghetti sauce that had been going since 5 a.m. We would get there at two, after church. We...

The Spiritual Difference Between Peace and Pettiness If you’ve been around here for awhile, you know that I see God in the IMPOSSIBLE. I’m a huge nerd and numbers guy so if I pick up on something that is a mathematically impossibly good thing, I try to give the credit STRAIGHT to God. But something happened yesterday that was interesting. I built up the courage and battled a bit of angst to text s...

I just want to share something that I thought was the result of years now of contemplating and thinking through, and wondering, like, God, what do we do with this? And it has to do with the fact that we get so much information at such a rapid pace. There’s so much content. There’s a need for a creator, a content creator, to create content in order to capitalize on clicks and views and the whole ni...

Substack—what’s up, guys? Seems like maybe a long time since I’ve done something specifically for Substack, but the reality is God has had me creating in so many ways lately. He’s had me contemplating, writing shorts, recording short videos, and telling a lot of the story of my past season—some of the stuff that you guys know already—and sort of recapping that, capturing some of that, capturing so...

I believe the evil one himself has draped a veil of confusion and deceit over the eyes of every American. Maybe you feel it too. Because somewhere along the way, we stopped assuming we were hearing the truth. From the press room to the pulpit. From headlines to hashtags. From platforms to podiums. We have learned to sift through noise instead of trust what we see and hear. And now we are left with...

One Year Ago I gave Up Isolation For Lent One year ago today, I gave up isolation for Lent. I’m going to tell you about how that changed my life. In order to make sense of the concept of “giving up isolation”, I need to give you a quick summary of my previous season and to understand my previous season, you have to understand a bit about me. For the majority of my life, I thought I was an extrover...

I wanna tell you guys a story today. The story of the love of my life. To accurately tell the story, I have to give you a bit of a recap as to how we got here in the first place. On June 11, 2007, Hannah Marie Barnes was born. Her mother and I had a 2 1/2 year relationship but had decided to coparent this new life. I had no idea how difficult yet exactly right, that decision was going to be. I nev...

On November 26th, 2025, At 3:15am I thought I started having a heart attack. I was completely knocked out asleep and I felt something happen in my chest that I can only compare to the feeling of a butterfly the size of a frisbee fully contracting its wings once violently and then maintaining an unbelievable pace from that moment forward. I was dazed and confused and terrified. Hannah’s here. Don’t...

In this SHAREapy reflection, Joel shares an unscripted moment inspired by a late-night conversation about listening—both to people and to God. He explores what it really means to hear from the Holy Spirit , explaining how God’s voice always aligns with Scripture and bears the fruit of love, peace, and self-control. Through practical examples, like catching negative self-talk and shifting thought p...

(You can watch this message on Youtube HERE )We believe that if you teach people to share their blessings and their bruises, to connect with love and empathy, we can eradicate isolation in the world. We believe this not because we just woke up and thought of a good mission statement. I’ve been praying over this ministry since before it had anything. Before we had a logo. The only thing that God ha...

The Pressure to Report (You can watch this video on our YouTube page HERE ) I feel like I’m supposed to come on here and talk to you all about the pressure that we’re feeling in the world to report everything. I feel like this has been coming up a lot in my personal life. And while I may not feel the same pressure to report my feelings and all the things that are going on in the world, I know that...

In this episode of the SHAREapy Pod, the SHARErs discuss their three-month journey of intentional connection and personal growth. Ayo, a software engineer and combat sports enthusiast, shares his motivation for meeting every other week, emphasizing the importance of deep, spiritual conversations. The Joel and Ayo reflect on the benefits of vulnerability and mutual support, highlighting a recent in...

Below is the written transcript of a message I did for the “Be Still” Gathering, in Chicago, September 2025. If you want to watch the full video, click here , or your can listen here in the Substack browser, or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts (search “SHAREapy. The Podcast). It was an honor to be invited write a message for this gathering and we are excited to continue to support Monica in her women’...

I really didn’t wanna share this. Just being honest. But I felt convicted in a few ways yesterday that, in my recent excitement in all that God is doing, I have begun to inadvertently edit out my bruises and my pain. It’s probably not inadvertent, at all. Who wants to share the hard parts? Who wants to really “boast of our weakness” like Paul did? Who wants to lay down their pride so that people t...

He is so much better to me than my thoughts… I’m starting this piece with tears hanging on the shelf of my lower eye lashes… After confessing some very difficult thoughts about my last few weeks of life, I then began to shame myself for the fact that I thought that way in the first place. As I said out loud, “I know better and He is so much better to me than my thoughts.” The level of unblemished...

Listen, I felt like I should sit down and record the impossibility of this day and the last few days… and this fell out. I am starting a more formal format for podcasting and SHAREing and even though it’ll probably, technically, get better than this… I genuinely pray that every time I open my mouth, I get to honor God’s calling like this … You are not alone… and we’re gonna prove it. 💘 This is a...

That was the question of the day today from my physical therapist, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Of course I have to set the story up a bit better than that, but I promise, I’ll answer it, too. Rough starts to my day are kinda normal, at this point. I was dealing with the usual pain stuff but there was an extra layer of dread in the mix today, as I walked over to PT. I’m scared th...

It’s time for an update! I’ve been wanting to do this and dreading doing this (at the same time) for a long time. I have so many prayer warriors. 😭 🙏🏽 So many. And I am so so thankful. So many people from my mom’s Facebook page that have steadily held me and my family up in prayer … so many people that are following along as I have updated and prayed… so many people who I’ve never even met in p...

For this weeks deeper dive into a scripture, I wanted to look at a concept in the Bible that I believe is one of the most powerful. As you guys know… I’m big on this concept of SHAREing. My mission is to teach people to share their blessings and their bruises to connect with love and empathy. That’s my LIFE mission statement currently. There’s so much power in connecting with each other and growin...

For my whole life, this scripture, in particular, has been very very difficult to navigate. It has felt like an impossible task, at times. It has felt like something I would never be able to truly accomplish… if I’m being honest. As I have done work in and through therapy, the goal line of “honoring my father” has felt closer, at times, and much further at others. If I’m being really, truly honest...

Psalm 73 1 Psalm 73 A psalm of Asaph. 1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. [ 1 ] 5 They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills....

“God we got 9 minutes… let’s get into it 💪🏽😤💪🏽 ” So I’m sitting here on the corner of the streets that intersect at my kids school. To be exact, I’m laying on a bench. Hannah had a game tonight. I wasn’t feeling good at all, today.  Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually… none of it. Having one of those “any time now, God” kinda days. One of those days that makes non-believers look at...

BobTom I haven’t really had the strength to write this yet. But I just got a gust of “write it now” wind… so I’m stopping a text conversation mid-sentence to rush over here and write this piece about my friend, who I miss, and his dear wife, that I have come to love, as much as I love him. Here’s the story about how I met my friend, and Diana. Pre-Covid. I hadn’t gotten hurt yet, so I was 6’5” 275...

Day 4 It’s actually day 4 this time. I didn’t write it record this one a day in advance. I kept lookin around yesterday like … “nothin? Nothin you want me to get fired up about today, God?” Damnit.  Lol It’s fun being fired up. Passionate. Fired up. Motivated. Encouraged. MotivatING!! EncoragING!! But not in the last 24 hours for me. Pain has been crazy. It’s not Emergency Room crazy but it’s “can...