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Drop that whisk (how to let go of control this Thanksgiving)

Go drop your whisk on the kitchen floor. Go ahead; I’ll wait. How did that feel? Scary? Risky? Weirdly liberating? There are a billion things we try to control over the holidays, including other people’s emotions. The thing is, I don’t have to make others have good feelings. I just act like I do. Letting go feels scary, maybe risky, but also weirdly liberating.Thanksgiving is very close, and I am super tempted to try and create a PERFECT holiday experience for everyone. If I do it right, maybe this time everyone will be happy the whole time?

Liv Booth

November 4, 2025

Prayer isn't for God. It's for you!

I’ll admit it. I feel guilty about my prayer life. I think “When was the last time I really prayed? I mean, really took time and intentionally spent it with God?” Surely if I just had a more intentional spiritual routine, I'd feel better about my relationship with God. Right!? And I’m a spiritual director, for crying out loud. I teach this stuff! I should know better. I should do better! Maybe you feel the same "I-should-pray-more" weight? Maybe you share the nagging belief that your happiness depends on your performance for God?

Brandon Booth

October 28, 2025

A Booth in a Coffee Shop

I shake my head at myself: good heavens, why am I so afraid of their opinion? Why does it feel like my validity rests on my perception of these lovely people’s perception of my perception of someone’s perception … arghh!!I just need to be anchored! I just need to know that I’m ok before I put myself out there. And then I notice the empty seat across the table, in my safe booth. I take a deep breath, and I invite Jesus to sit with me before I venture out. What would he be doing right now, as I spiral into a puddle of self-doubt?

Liv Booth

October 21, 2025

The Wrong Courtroom: Letting Jesus Determine My Identity.

We’ve been exploring the pain of broken relationships here and on our podcast for the past few weeks. When someone I love won’t talk to me, or a friend avoids me, it hurts. Especially when they won’t tell me why!I’m usually a bit obsessive about it. What are they thinking about me? I feel like I’m a defendant in a courtroom. I run scenarios in my head, rehearsing exactly what I’ll say if I can get them to listen. Sometimes I can’t sleep, lying awake guessing at their accusations, planning my counter arguments, rehearsing my story, marshaling my evidence.

Brandon Booth

October 14, 2025

My heart as a meatlocker (and how to thaw it)

I’ve been frozen out. Have you? Loved ones have gone silent, been distant, as if the relationship we had suddenly froze in its tracks. I reach out for connection and I get Arctic stillness. But not peace.I’ve also frozen people out. From inside, I give my excuses that “they’re not interested in reconciliation” or “they don’t even notice I’m ghosting them.” I’ve even gone along with the latest trends that jump immediately to cutting ties with painful connections. I get some quiet. But not peace.

Liv Booth

October 7, 2025

Me & My Shame Gremlin

For as long as I can remember, shame has practically been my middle name since the day I was born. Shame is a creature, a little green gremlin and companion upon my shoulder, ever taunting and teasing me. He constantly tells me that I need to hide or even erase parts of myself that, he says, aren’t acceptable. But the older I get, the more I realize that maybe, the things that this green gremlin jeers about are the very things that God wants to use. That maybe, just maybe, I can be who I am, as I am, for God to use.

Karley Mae Wang

September 30, 2025

Did I Just Give God Permission?

I shook my head, blew out my breath and prayed, “Ok, Lord. Your turn.” And I immediately laughed out loud. Your turn!?It’s like I had said, “Just this once, Lord, could you hold the reins? I know it’s my job to make the world go round, but I’d really appreciate an hour off from running the universe.”

Liv Booth

September 23, 2025

What on earth is God doing!?

In light of recent events, you are not alone if you feel unsettled and afraid. Things are crazy out there! What on earth is God doing? I mean like literally, what are you doing God, on the earth? ‘Cause from where I’m sitting it looks like you aren’t doing anything.

Brandon Booth

September 18, 2025

Is “Up And to The Right” Wrong?! (Success at God’s Pace!)

I am a victim of our self-obsessed “insta-culture.” I’m desperate to see the immediate fruit of my labor. I want success — whether in my career or spiritual life — and I want it, now! But the Holy Spirit offers me a different path. A path of rest and enjoyment with him!

Katie Borden

September 9, 2025

I'm forcing those thoughts to pay rent!

Cringe moments from long ago hit me out of nowhere, and I turn into a puddle of shame, panic, even anger. Some things were my fault. Some were just embarrassing. But all of them are tenants living in my brain rent-free. I cannot evict them. So I’ve decided to force them to pay!

Liv Booth

September 2, 2025

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