The Next Right Thing

Five years ago this week, the first episode of The Next Right Thing released. In this five year state of the podcast episode, I'm glad to look back at our beginnings and share the importance of marking milestones. I'll ask (and answer) five questions to ask yourself when you have a milestone moment to mark. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Enter today's giveaway! The Jesus Way by Eu...

Today I'm eager to sit with John Freeman, my husband and partner for the last 21 years. We talk about some times of discernment and decision-making in our own marriage, how serving on staff at a church for over a decade prepared him for his work as a spiritual director and what's on our minds as we prepare to send our twins off to college. If you find yourself standing on a threshold of change, li...

What if there is no rush to figure out what we think and believe about everything? What if there's room for our growth and learning to take the time it takes? If you're feeling overwhelmed with the pressure to figure things out, listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Use code TISH22 for 30% off Liturgy of the Ordinary at ivpress.com Psalm Readings on Spotify Get my weekly emails A Grief O...

Doing the next right thing is perhaps most necessary when we find ourselves in the midst of grief and loss. Today I'm glad to talk with  author, speaker, and songwriter Amanda Held Opelt. She believes in the power of community, ritual, shared worship, and storytelling to heal even our deepest wounds. Amanda is well acquainted with grief after experiencing several years of profound loss, including...

A reading of Psalm 23 from the following versions: New Revised Standard Version (Updated Edition), New International Version, and The Amplified Bible. This episode is part of the Psalm Summer series. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Psalm 23 (New Revised Standard Version) Psalm 23 (New International Version) Psalm 23 (The Amplified Bible) Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Gr...

A reading of Psalm 121 from the following versions: New Living Translation, New American Standard Bible, and The Voice. This episode is part of the Psalm Summer series. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Psalm 121 (New Living Translation) Psalm 121 (New American Standard Bible) Psalm 121 (The Voice) Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book  The  Next Right Thin...

A reading of Psalm 103, first from the New American Standard Bible, and then from the Common English Bible. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Psalm 103 (New American Standard Bible) Psalm 103 (Common English Bible) Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book  The  Next Right Thing   Find me on  Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this, and every, ep...

A reading of Psalm 91, first from the New International Version and then from The Message. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Psalm 91 (NIV) Psalm 91 (The Message) Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book  The  Next Right Thing   Find me on  Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this, and every, episode at emilypfreeman.com .

We're looking for God in the cracks of our lives, in the wide open spaces of our joys and the painful fissures of our brokenness. For the next several weeks I want to create some space for the Psalms to put some things to words that we might be too exhausted to articulate. Today I'll explain how it will work. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 214: Psalm 22 Episode 221: Psalm...

For the most recent high school and college graduates, here's a short blessing for you as you do your next right thing in love. Listen in.   Links + Resources From This Episode: Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book  The  Next Right Thing   Find me on  Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this, and every, episode at emilypfreeman.com .

What is the soul and what is the impact of fame and success on it? Also, how can we cultivate a good and beautiful life with spiritual practices without sinking into judgment or legalism?   Today I'm thrilled to talk to my friend, Dr. James Bryan Smith, who  has been a theology professor at Friends University for several decades and was recently named the inaugural Dallas Willard Chair in Christia...

How can you move forward when you feel stuck, overwhelmed, out of control, or like you're doing it all wrong? My guest today brings simple advice with a nuanced angle inviting us all to trust the process.   Stephanie Duncan Smith is a senior editor at Baker Books, where she coaches and champions authors to bring the best out of their message. She's worked in book and digital media publishing for o...

Maybe you're not the one who is chronically hesitant but someone you love seems to always struggle with making decisions. What's the best way to help the indecisive along? How can you help them move forward in the midst of their hesitation?  Great question. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 94: Ask the Second Question Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of m...

Today's episode is especially for high school students and those who love and advise them. As my twins prepare to graduate from high school, I've been thinking a lot about our past year and how we've helped them make decisions about their next right thing. This is the episode I wish I'd had a year ago and I hope it's helpful for you. Listen in.   Links + Resources From This Episode: A Million Litt...

Today's guest is all about helping us to be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't.  New York Times  bestselling author, Kendra Adachi ,  shares her five-step framework for transforming every part of our kitchen based on her brand new book The Lazy Genius Kitchen.  But since she is also my dearest friend, we'll talk a little about what matters in the kitchen and...

Whether you're making plans to travel, to be with friends or family, or to host people at your house in your very own neighborhood, chances are you have some expectations for how things will go. So what do you do when the day comes, the trip is lovely, the food is great and the company kind, but you get stuck in a disappointment that you can't seem to shake? Sometimes our next right thing turns ou...

It's the question Barbara Brown Taylor asks and answers in her memoir,  Leaving Church,  and one many of us have carried forward to ask and answer as well. The best questions are shareable and re-answerable and today I'll share my list of what's saving my life. Because when you are in a season of discernment and decision-making (which is almost always), it's helpful to name and celebrate where the...

May this simple reading of Psalm 46 be a reflection you can return to as you discern your next right thing in love. This Psalm is a reading from the New International Version. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book  The  Next Right Thing   Find me on  Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this, and every, episode...

When was a time you said yes and were so glad you did? I asked you that question last week and this week we'll share your answers. We're celebrating your favorite yeses and a few of mine too. Listen in.   We're also celebrating a huge milestone: We've sold 100,000 copies  The Next Right Thing!  I'm so glad I said yes to writing that book and I'm equally glad you said yes to reading it. Links + Res...

How can we discern our next right thing when presented with a great opportunity? Is there a framework to follow when discerning when to say yes or when to say no? Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 19: Choose Your Absence That Sounds Fun Ep. 375 with Kristin Chenoweth Miss Me with That by Rachel Lindsay Record your favorite "yes!" and share it with me here Order The Next Right...

What do you do when you work hard on something for years of your life, you believe you're being faithful to your next right thing, and then you release your prayed for work into the world only to later learn new information that forces you to question what you worked so hard to offer? Author, pastor, and spiritual director, Jamin Goggin, had to  wrestle with that very question and is here to tell...

Two days a year, the earth from pole to pole receives an equal distribution of light and dark, day and night. The equinox is always around this time of year — spring for those above the equator, autumn for those below. How can we be balanced on the inside even when we're in full shadow or full light? How can we bring peace to the world even in the midst of chaos? What does equanimity mean for me t...

We underline a quote because it mirrors, questions, or inspires something in us. But it does no good for us if we don't have a way of recording and organizing it for later use and reflection. Today I'll share my four bucket system for capturing and organizing my favorite quotes so that they might make a difference in my everyday life. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Say Yes by Scot...

As we begin the slow transition from one season to the next, let's revisit a familiar framework in another Soul Minimalist's Guide, this one specifically for spring. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 1: Become a Soul Minimalist Episode 34: Pick What You Like 10 Questions for Reflection & Discernment Order  The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book  The  Next...

Sometimes you need someone to read to you words spoken by a sufferer in the midst of struggle, words without a filter or a reframe. Here is a simple reading of Psalm 22, a Psalm of individual lament that may perhaps be a strange kind of comfort for you if you're in the midst of your own struggle. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Psalm 22 , read from the Common English Bible Other ep...