About Confronting Normal.

This episode, with the always inspiring Danielle Strickland — author, speaker and founder of many advocating initiatives that mobilize people towards transformational living — takes today’s conversation into an exploration of external and internal advocacy. Danielle challenges each of us to ask: what keeps you up at night? Because advocacy starts there.

So often we are given the advice, "Have faith like a child." But as Sarah Bessey (mother of four) points out, children have a lot of questions. In today's day, with so many people struggling to make peace with their evolving faith, Sarah Bessey — author and speaker — reminds us there IS room for questions, for curiosity and for evolving faith.

Today’s episode explores the different signs of depression, the many faces of mental unwellness and how empathy speaks, “I’m with you.” It leaves the listener re-thinking how a simple concept such as, “meet people where they are,” can be the perfect way to bridge the gap of communication and connection when it comes to the topic of mental health.

Today’s episode is a conversation with Jerrad Lopes: author, pastor, podcaster and founder of the Dad Tired community — a non-profit ministry focused on equipping men to lead their family well. As we dive into fatherhood, manhood, motherhood, marriage and more, Jerrad helps us understand how the man-up mentality isn’t working, what it is men do with their emotions, what the greatest fear is for a large percentage of husbands and how women can come alongside them in safety and support.

Activism is so often about picking your side and hammering your stake in the ground; I’m right, you’re wrong, and let me tell you all the reasons why. But in this episode we confront activism through a grace-laced conversation with Allison Centofante, Director of Strategic Communications for Live Action.

Social media is here to stay. But the real key to confronting social media is in how we engage with it, consume it and to what degree we allow its influence over the way we think, live and believe that will make all the difference.

With questions, thoughts and stories about the messy sides of community, this episode discusses what it means to embrace our differences, model the spirit of community to our kids, and how to deal with the pain and heartache that community can so often be.

Community is a complicated topic. It’s a conversation laced with many layers, a wide variety of interpretations and definitions, and typically, it comes accompanied with a ton of painful baggage and unmet expectations. This episode shares openly and honestly about the struggle and beauty that is community.

The “thick” of life is simply a disguised stage that offers amazing opportunities to model steadfastness, commitment, discipline and dedication. It’s the stage where you discover what true purpose means and looks like. And it’s the stage where you really discover what you’re made of and what matters most to you.

Failure is not the enemy, the fear of failure is ... the refusal to lean into it is ... and the failure to learn from it is. In this life you will fail. And it’s okay. Despite the lies that our culture perpetuates, we all fail. And it is indeed okay.