Faith & Feelings

What I'm Learning About My Limits 27.04.2026 8p

In this episode, I’m sharing something that feels both really right and really hard to say out loud. After years of showing up weekly, I’ve recognized that I don’t have the space I want to give this podcast. Not just time, but energy, creativity, and depth. And I care too much about what we’re cultivating here to keep showing up in a way that feels rushed or stretched thin. So I’m shifting this podcast into seasonal series. This conversation is about learning to let my limits be real. Not something to push past, but something to listen to. I also close with a reflection I wrote called A Liturgy for Limits.  The podcast returns June 15 with a new summer series. Until then, you can connect with me on Instagram. Thank you for being here. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__ 

What Emotional Safety Really Looks Like 20.04.2026 19p

What does emotional safety actually look like in real life?  We use that language all the time — “I don’t feel safe” — but it often holds a wide range of experiences, from true relational harm to simple discomfort or vulnerability. In this episode, we slow that phrase down and explore the difference. Drawing on insights from author and psychiatrist Curt Thompson, we unpack why emotional safety isn’t about always feeling calm or at ease, but about the ability to stay connected, even in moments of tension, uncertainty, or emotional exposure. We also walk through six signs of emotional safety in friendships. If you’ve ever wondered what emotional safety actually looks like in real life, not just in theory, this episode will help you name it, recognize it, and move toward it. I hope you’ll listen in. Thought-provoking quotes:  “We often collapse a whole spectrum of emotional experiences into the word ‘unsafe,’ and when we do that, we lose clarity about what’s actually happening inside us.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Safety is not the absence of activation. It’s the presence of connection inside it: the ability to stay with yourself and with someone else, even when what you’re feeling isn’t calm or easy.” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: emotional safety, relationships, friendship, connection, conflict, vulnerability, attachment, self-awareness, Curt Thompson, confidence, growth, trust, intimacy, emotions, listening, honesty

5 Communication Types That Impact Your Friendships with Jason VanRuler, LPC 13.04.2026 25p

The depth of our relationships is often shaped by the depth of our communication. Not just what we say, but how we say it...and even more than that, why we say it. Communication isn’t just a skill we learn. it’s something that’s been formed in us. Through our stories, our families, our attachment, the environments that shaped us long before we had language for any of it. In today’s conversation, I’m joined by therapist and author Jason VanRuler to explore the different communication patterns we tend to fall into, how those patterns are formed, and what it looks like to grow in self-awareness so that our friendships can actually deepen. We also talk about hard conversations: why they matter, why they’re so difficult, and how learning to step into them can become one of the most meaningful pathways to connection. I hope you'll listen in. Check out Jason's new book Discovering Your Communication Type ⁠here⁠. Thought-provoking quotes: “Our ability to have relationships hangs on our ability to communicate.” - Jason VanRuler “Some of us are starters in relationships, and some of us are sustainers...but lasting relationships require depth. Depth requires self-awareness, and the ability to understand where someone else is coming from.” - Jason VanRuler “A good communicator understands themselves. A great communicator understands other people.” - Jason VanRuler Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words:communication, relationships, friendship, connection, conflict, vulnerability, attachment, self-awareness, communication styles, communication patterns, growth, trust, intimacy, emotions, listening, honesty, Jason VanRuler

Mutual Vulnerability and the Art of Sharing Your Inner World 06.04.2026 18p

Vulnerability is often talked about as openness, but what if it’s actually about capacity? In this episode, we continue our series on friendships by exploring what it really takes to share our inner world with one another in a meaningful way. Drawing from Dr. David Schnarch’s work on the Four Points of Balance, we look at vulnerability not just as something we do, but as something we practice within relationship. From developing a Solid Flexible Self, to cultivating a Quiet Mind & Calm Heart, to practicing Grounded Responding and Meaningful Endurance, this episode unpacks how we stay rooted in ourselves while building deeper, more honest friendships. I invite us to rethink vulnerability, not as raw exposure, but as a lived, relational balance that shapes the way we show up in our friendships. Thought-provoking quotes: “For every one of us, vulnerability has told a story in our lives...not always directly, but through our experiences. Through the moments we’ve shared something real, and how those moments were received.” - Taylor Joy Murray “We all carry an inner world: a rich, complex web of thoughts, feelings, and experiences that shapes who we are. But expressing that inner world, learning how to put it into words and share it with someone else, takes time and practice.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Vulnerability isn’t just about being open. It’s about being present. It’s about staying connected to yourself while also staying connected to someone else.” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: friendship, authentic relationships, emotional safety, community, vulnerability, loneliness, connection, intimacy, curiosity, authenticity, personal growth, spiritual formation, courage, compassion, self-awareness

The Ache for Deeper Friendship 30.03.2026 17p

How do we actually cultivate deeper friendships? The kind where we don’t have to perform, hide, or carry the weight of our lives alone? In this episode, we begin a new series on soul friendships: relationships marked by honesty, presence, and a shared attentiveness to God’s work in our lives. But before we talk about how to build them, we start with something more honest: the tension so many of us feel between our longing to be known and our instinct to hide. We also unpack what soul friendships really are, where the idea comes from, and the key markers that set them apart…from authenticity and openness to a lack of agenda and a shared curiosity about where God is at work. These kinds of friendships don’t just support our lives. They shape them. And they become spaces where we are seen, formed, and invited into deeper connection with both God and others. Thought-provoking quotes: “Love doesn’t actually allow for that kind of hiding. Love invites our whole selves and our whole stories out into the light.” - Taylor Joy Murray “We were made for spaces where the broken and the beautiful parts of our lives can be held together, without fear of being too much or not enough.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Spiritual friendships are not built on performance, but on a kind of self-giving love that has its source in God.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Friendship becomes a kind of relational mirror: a space where we come to know ourselves more truthfully because we are seen, reflected, and responded to by another person.” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: friendship, authentic relationships, emotional safety, community, vulnerability, loneliness, connection, intimacy, curiosity, authenticity, personal growth, spiritual formation, courage, compassion, self-awareness

Experiencing Jesus in Guided Prayer | Luke 5:17-20 & 24-26 23.03.2026 20p

In this episode, I invite us into a guided time of imaginative prayer — a contemplative practice rooted in the early church mothers and fathers that helps us encounter God in a personal, embodied way. Together, we step into a crowded home in Luke 5, where a group of friends carries someone they love to Jesus. As we enter this scene, we slow down, engage our senses, and notice what stirs within us as we witness their persistence, their love, and the vulnerability of being seen and known. I hope you'll join me as we walk onto the scene of Luke 5:17–20, 24–26 and ask the Spirit to speak to us through this story. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: friendship, authentic relationships, emotional safety, imaginative prayer, guided reflection, vulnerability, loneliness, connection, intimacy, curiosity, authenticity, personal growth, spiritual formation, courage, compassion, self-awareness

Series 12 Trailer | The Art of Soul Friendship 16.03.2026 1p

I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately. Not the surface-level kind, but the kind that actually sees you. The kind that knows the messy, unedited parts of your life…and stays. In my own life and in my work with clients, I keep noticing the same patterns: we hold back, self-edit, and worry we’re “too much.” Beneath those fears, though, is a quiet longing: to be known, understood, and truly seen. In this new series, we’ll explore that longing and the courageous work it takes to step into deeper friendship. Through conversations with guests and reflections from my own work as a therapist, we’ll talk about vulnerability, emotional safety, and the skills that help deepen relationships. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: friendship, authentic relationships, emotional safety, vulnerability, loneliness, connection, intimacy, curiosity, authenticity, personal growth, spiritual formation, courage, compassion, self-awareness, 

Moving From Survival to Choice 08.03.2026 16p

Most of us learn early in life who we need to be in order to survive. We adopt roles and masks that help us belong and stay safe. But often, somewhere along the way, the soul initiates a crisis. The strategies that once worked begin to feel constricting, and we’re invited to look beneath the roles we’ve been playing. In this final episode of our Why Does My Healing Matter? series, I explore how healing expands our awareness, creating space between reaction and response. Because healing isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about gaining the freedom to choose connection, presence, and curiosity in the moments that once pulled us back into survival. Thought-provoking quotes:  “Healing doesn’t happen by avoiding the things that activate us. It happens through them. The charge around the pain lessens when something different happens in the very moments that once triggered us.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Every time someone is glad to be with you in a moment that once triggered shame or defensiveness, your nervous system learns something new: connection is safe here.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Maybe healing is simply choosing, in small moments, to stay. To stay present in your body, to stay curious instead of certain, and to stay connected instead of cutting off.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Most of life isn’t lived in dramatic breakthroughs. It’s lived in ordinary moments of tension: misunderstandings, disappointments, and hard conversations. And underneath those moments is a quiet question: will I move toward survival, or toward connection?” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: healing, trauma, personal growth, mental health, nervous system regulation, self awareness, emotional health, spiritual formation, spirituality, identity, attachment, relationships, nervous system, emotional resilience, curiosity, crisis

Bringing the Truth of the Gospel to Bear On Our Stories with Ministry Leader Pete Sharp 02.03.2026 25p

Many of us go through life unaware of how our histories influence the way we relate: to God, to ourselves, and to the people closest to us. Old patterns and unresolved pain often surface in subtle ways, shaping our reactions and the ways we show up in relationships. In this conversation, I’m joined by Pete Sharp, a family friend and missionary with over 20 years of experience in cross-cultural work and leadership. Pete shares openly about recognizing old self-strategies, stepping into real-time awareness, and letting the truth of the gospel meet the deepest parts of his story. We talk about how healing isn’t just personal. it affects marriages, friendships, and the way we engage with the world. I hope you'll listen in. Thought-provoking quotes: "I just kept thinking, I need to try harder. I just need to stop doing that thing. It made me realize it’s a lie to think I’m just stuck in this way of behaving and that I can’t get out of it. There might actually be a different strategy than just trying harder to be different.” - Pete Sharp “Healing, for me, is bringing the truth of the gospel to bear on our stories and on our past experiences.” - Pete Sharp "We all have a false gospel that we believe — a way of surviving that we learned in childhood. It’s usually something like, ‘I’m okay so long as…’ and then you fill in the blank.” - Pete Sharp  "When we engage in healing, it frees us up to have a broad range of responses. I feel now less stuck. It just feels like there are more options in the toolbox. I don’t feel quite so trapped in always responding the same way." - Pete Sharp Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: spirituality, personal growth, healing, self-protection, gospel, faith, formation, identity, attachment, shame, insecurity, marriage, leadership, community, vulnerability, triggers, patterns, growth, freedom, discipleship, self-awareness, relationships

Healing From the Wounds of Rejection with Trauma Therapist Tabitha Panariso 23.02.2026 34p

Sometimes the places in our hearts that feel most tender are also the places we avoid looking. Rejection can leave quiet echoes, forming the way we see ourselves, the lens through which we trust others, and the story we tell about our worth. These old wounds don’t always announce themselves, but they shape how we show up in relationships and in life. In this conversation with trauma therapist Tabitha Panariso, we explore what it looks like to heal from the wounds of rejection and begin to embody the gospel’s invitations towards belonging and belovedness. Tabitha shares how healing isn’t just about moving on, but about resuscitating the heart and learning to receive God’s compassion for ourselves. I hope you'll listen in. Check out Tabitha's book Loyal in His Love here. Thought-provoking quotes: “We are not a problems to be fixed. We are people to be loved." - Tabitha Panariso "What we often call ‘moving on’ is really just self-protection.” - Tabitha Panariso "To be willing to say something hurts means we’re more inclined to receive healing. If we can’t acknowledge the pain, we’ll never look for wholeness.” - Tabitha Panariso "Learning to receive compassion is one of the hardest parts of embodying the gospel.” - Tabitha Panariso Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: Rejection, trauma, spiritual formation, self-compassion, abandonment wounds, relationship patterns, self-protection, belonging, identity, grief, lament, relational healing, emotional awareness, personal growth, curiosity, Tabitha Panariso 

The Sacred Practice of Paying Attention 16.02.2026 16p

We speak of spiritual transformation as if it should be obvious: visible, measurable, steady. Yet many of us quietly wonder what participation in God’s work of transformation actually looks like. Beneath our theology often exists a deeper question: How do I actually step into the transformation Christ has already secured? In this episode, we explore what it means to let the finished work of Jesus move from doctrine into lived experience. If the cross is still active, still transformative, then healing is not something we manufacture. It’s something we learn to participate in. And that participation begins with awareness and presence: noticing what is happening inside us and inviting God to meet us there. Thought-provoking quotes: “The cross is where transformation arises. It’s the moment in time that transcends time. It moves us from death to life, from bondage to freedom, from brokenness to wholeness, from being lost to being welcomed into God’s embrace over and over again.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Healing begins not in striving, but in noticing what is real and welcoming God into it.” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__   Key words:  healing journey, presence, self compassion, curiosity, self awareness, emotional wounds, emotional regulation, spiritual formation, wisdom, spiritual integration, spiritual maturity, emotional health, personal growth

When Effort Isn't Enough Anymore with Pastor Ray Jones 09.02.2026 29p

There are seasons in life when no matter how much we give, how hard we try, it feels like effort isn’t enough. The work we put into our relationships, our faith, our responsibilities meets walls we can’t move, questions we can’t answer, and pain that refuses to be ignored. In these moments, we are often confronted with the reality that pushing harder isn’t always the answer. In this conversation with Pastor Ray Jones, he speaks honestly about the walls he has faced: in life, in ministry, in family. He reflects on seasons of anger, betrayal, and disillusionment, and how God’s invitation to healing often comes through the very places we’d rather avoid. Ray talks about the subtle ways old wounds and unprocessed grief shape our reactions, and what it means to stay present when the path forward isn’t clear, when the work of growth is painful, and when there is no quick resolution. I hope you'll listen in. Thought-provoking quotes: “I’ve come to recognize that God gives good gifts to His children. He’s kind and compassionate. And in His mysteriousness, He allows pain and suffering that actually works for our good. Sitting in the truth that God is a good Father…that’s been really formative for me.” - Pastor Ray Jones “There are certain things that trigger our response. It’s like a reflex. And I’ve had to recognize, ‘This is little Ray, who got bullied as a kid, who’s got his dukes up.’ That’s not how God wants me to keep responding. And it’s very humbling.” - Pastor Ray Jones “To run from hard things is only going to lead to more pain, not just in your life, but in the lives of the people you love. It’s hard, it hurts, it’s uncomfortable…but it’s worth it. Sit in the discomfort. Trust that God is doing a good thing in you.” - Pastor Ray Jones Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__   Key words: spiritual formation, healing journey, hitting the wall, spiritual crisis, faith deconstruction, pastoral burnout, church leadership, anger, suffering, spiritual growth, faith and emotional health, grace, self-compassion, stages of faith, identity, self-awareness, personal growth, Ray Jones

How Healing Changes the Way We Love with Spiritual Director Barb Boatner 02.02.2026 32p

There comes a moment in many of our lives when we begin to notice that the way we love has been shaped by pain we haven’t fully tended to. Old wounds resurface, familiar patterns repeat, and our unhealed places begin to influence how we show up in relationships. In this conversation with spiritual director Barb Boatner, we explore how healing changes the way we love. Barb talks about learning to love from a place of presence rather than self-protection, and how pain doesn’t disappear when it’s avoided, but often leaks out sideways -- impacting those closest to us. She also shares why healing is not peripheral to faith, but central to spiritual formation. Together, we reflect on how healing opens us to deeper connection: with God, with others, and with the people we love. I hope you'll listen in. Learn more about Barb at http://sacred-companion.org/ Thought-provoking quotes: “The way we love is shaped either by our wounds or by our healing.” - Barb Boatner "Curiosity instead of judgment changes everything.” - Barb Boatner “I can’t change what happened to me. But I can change how I relate to it. Healing is learning to stay with myself in kindness." - Barb Boatner Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__   Key words: healing journey, befriending yourself, self compassion, curiosity, self awareness, emotional wounds, emotional regulation, spiritual formation, wisdom, spiritual integration, spiritual maturity, emotional health, personal growth, spiritual director, Barb Boatner

Why Healing Feels So Hard 26.01.2026 17p

We live in a world that rewards speed, productivity, and quick fixes, but healing doesn’t move at that pace. The soul speaks a different language. One that is slower, messier, and far more courageous. In this episode, we explore what it actually means to begin the healing journey — not as a linear path toward improvement, but as a winding, nonlinear process we return to again and again.  Drawing from clinical experience and personal reflection, I explore four common internal responses that often arise when healing begins to stir: “It’s too hard.” “It’s not necessary.” “I don’t know how.” “It’s not possible for me.” Rather than obstacles, these responses are compassionate entry points. Places shaped by survival, pain, and longing. This episode invites a gentler posture toward yourself and toward God: not having to be ready, but simply willing. Thought-provoking questions: “Healing is far messier and far more complicated than we expect. It’s nonlinear. It isn’t a single moment of breakthrough, but a spiraling journey we return to again and again throughout our lives.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Real change only happens when we are willing to go the long way round—a longer, more arduous, more inward, and more prayerful route.” - Sue Monk Kidd “More often than not, I’m learning that God’s presence in healing looks less like a Rescuer and more like a Midwife.” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__   Key words: healing journey, befriending yourself, self compassion, curiosity, self awareness, emotional wounds, emotional regulation, spiritual formation, wisdom, spiritual integration, spiritual maturity, emotional health, personal growth

What if Healing Is Different Than We Imagine It to Be? 19.01.2026 14p

There comes a moment in many of our lives when the idea of “healing” starts to feel confusing — or even exhausting. The word we’ve heard so often begins to lose its meaning. And the hope that we’ll one day arrive at a version of ourselves that no longer hurts starts to feel out of reach. In this episode of our new series, Why Does My Healing Matter?, we explore what healing looks like when it isn’t a destination to achieve, but a relationship to tend. We talk about the difference between fixing what’s broken and befriending the parts of ourselves shaped by pain—and why the healing we avoid is often what shows up most in our relationships. Listen in. Thought-provoking quotes: “Healing is the most selfless thing you can ever do for the people you love.” - Dan Allender “When we don’t tend to our own wounds, we unconsciously ask the people we love to carry the weight of them.” - Taylor Joy Murray “Healing isn’t about arriving at a version of yourself that no longer hurts. It’s about becoming a compassionate witness to the version of you that does.” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__   Key words: healing journey, befriending yourself, self compassion, curiosity, self awareness, emotional wounds, emotional regulation, spiritual formation, wisdom, spiritual integration, spiritual maturity, emotional health, personal growth

Experiencing Jesus in Guided Prayer | Matthew 26:36-42 12.01.2026 16p

In this episode, I invite us into a guided time of imaginative prayer — a contemplative practice rooted in the early church mothers and fathers that helps us encounter God in a personal, embodied way. Together, we step into the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus on the night before His crucifixion. As we enter this scene, we slow down, engage our senses, and notice what stirs within us as we witness Jesus’ honesty, sorrow, and surrender before the Father. I hope you'll join me as we walk onto the scene of Matthew 26:36-42 and ask the Spirit to speak to us through this story. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: healing journey, befriending yourself, self compassion, curiosity, self awareness, emotional wounds, emotional regulation, spiritual formation, wisdom, spiritual integration, spiritual maturity, emotional health, personal growth

Series 11 Trailer | Why Does My Healing Matter? 05.01.2026 3p

There’s a question I hear often — both in the therapy room and in conversations about faith: Why does my healing matter? Why does change feel so hard, and sometimes even unnecessary?  This week on Faith & Feelings, I invite us to explore why healing isn’t separate from spiritual formation, but one of the primary ways God’s transforming work takes shape in us. Together, we’ll reflect on how healing shapes who we’re becoming, expands our capacity for love, and changes how we show up in our relationships. This trailer introduces our next series, “Why Does My Healing Matter?”, and invites us to get curious about our own inner lives — not as a self-improvement project, but as a response to God’s ongoing work within us. Thought-provoking quotes: “We do this work to become fierce, tender lovers of God, others, and ourselves.” - Mary Ellen Owen “When we tend to our own healing, we stop unconsciously asking others to carry the weight of our unresolved pain.” - Taylor Joy Murray "Inner work and healing are not distractions from sanctification. They are the very places where God’s redemptive work becomes concrete, relational, and embodied.” - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: Spiritual formation, healing, vulnerability, listening, creativity, emotions, curiosity, presence, process, courage, self-awareness, emotional health, personal growth, hope, connection, community, relationships

Advent Week 5: Making Room for Worship 29.12.2025 8p

Today, we continue our Advent journey by stepping into Anna’s quiet yet powerful moment of worship in Luke 2:36–38. As a widow shaped by years of loss, prayer, fasting, and devotion, Anna’s eyes had been trained to recognize Jesus when He appeared in the temple. Her story invites us to consider how a life turned toward God forms our ability to truly see Him. Drawing from Bette Dickinson’s devotional Making Room in Advent, this episode explores what it means to make room for worship — to offer our grief, longing, and faithfulness to God. Through Anna’s witness, we’re invited to see how worship clarifies our spiritual vision so that when God shows up in our own stories, we’ll recognize Him — and help others see Him too. I hope you’ll listen in. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: Advent season, spiritual formation, vulnerability, listening, creativity, emotions, curiosity, presence, process, courage, self-awareness, emotional health, personal growth, waiting, hope, connection, worship

Advent Week 4: Making Room for Wonder 22.12.2025 8p

Today, we continue our Advent journey by stepping into the shepherds’ moment of wonder in Luke 2:15–20. As they hurry to Bethlehem and behold the newborn Jesus lying in a manger, we are invited into a deeper way of seeing — one that moves beyond surface-level observation and into holy perception. Drawing from Bette Dickinson’s devotional Making Room in Advent, we explore the difference between simply seeing with our physical eyes and truly perceiving with hearts open to awe. This episode invites us to rediscover a sense of holy astonishment this Christmas. To make room for wonder and to perceive God’s presence with fresh eyes. I hope you’ll listen in. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: Advent season, spiritual formation, vulnerability, listening, creativity, emotions, curiosity, presence, process, courage, self-awareness, emotional health, personal growth, waiting, hope, connection, wonder

Advent Week 3: Making Room for Limits 15.12.2025 8p

Today, we continue our Advent journey by stepping into Mary’s honest moment of questioning in Luke 1:34–38. When she asks, “How will this be?” she names the real limits of her life — and yet it’s within those very limits that God chooses to work. Drawing from Bette Dickinson’s devotional Making Room in Advent, we explore how God chooses not to bypass human limits but to work within them. In the incarnation, God takes on the constraints of our humanity and invites Mary — and us — into partnership not by asking for strength, expertise, or perfection, but by inviting simple availability. I hope you’ll listen in. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website  Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__  Key words: Advent season, spiritual formation, vulnerability, listening, creativity, emotions, curiosity, presence, process, courage, self-awareness, emotional health, personal growth, waiting, hope, connection, limits