Sabbath Cafe Podcast: Recent Episodes
Michele Chung
We all love to enjoy life, but what if our pursuit of fun and enjoyment actually had the opposite effect?! Check out my latest podcast episode.TranscriptWelcome to the Sabbath Cafe Podcast. This is episode 129 Understanding Addiction: Thoughts on the book Dopamine Nation. Please be aware that this episode will include topics on addiction and compulsive behavior.
Hi everyone! This is Michele. Thank you for joining me on the Sabbath Café Podcast. This week I want to talk about this book that I read that has had a profound influence on me. The book is called The Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke. Dr. Lembke is actually a psychiatrist at Stanford University.
I first picked up this book just at a bookstore. And I was really curious about it because I know that it was a book dealing with addiction. I’ve known people, whether it’s family or friends, who deal with nicotine addiction. They are chain smokers. And I know people that are recovery alcoholics. And so when I picked up this book, when I saw the title about “Dopamine Nation”, it just really hit me.
If you don’t know what dopamine is… dopamine is the pleasure hormone. And so what it is is that when we get that fix… whether it’s just binge watching your favorite show, and you just click on that next episode, we get a pleasure. We get a sense of high from it. And that high, biochemically, is a result of a shot of this dopamine hormone that’s released into your brain to give you that sense. And also, the subtitle of the book is called “finding balance in the age of indulgence.” Now who would not want to find balance?
And so the first thing I did was I went and listened to a two hour podcast by Dr. Anna Lembke. Just because that was the fastest thing. Actually, she has done many podcasts on Youtube. So I’m going to put the name of the book, Dr. Lembke’s name, and one or two Youtube videos that I really liked in the show notes and the transcripts. Please go to www.sabbathcafeblog.com. And this episode is episode 129. So go to the website and look up the show notes. I really highly recommend anyone who’s interested in this area, this topic, to just spend some time to listen to the podcast.
And so the amazing thing is after I listened to the podcast, I was just so encouraged that I actually finished reading. And the book was even better. Because in the book, she actually includes a lot of the patient cases. Like I mentioned before, she is a practicing psychiatrist. Her official title is that she is the medical director of Stanford Addiction Medicine. Wow.
And she’s not just one of those people that has a lot of theories when she writes the book. In the book, you can read many of her patient’s case stories. And Dr. Anna shares these stories to show us the steps on how to break the cycles of addiction and start new habits for recovery. And that just really gave me hope.
In my experience being in the Christian community, I think addiction is one of those areas that really honestly people don’t like to talk about. Because there is a stigma of shame. Everyone who I know that wrestles with that almost always feels like they’re suffering because… or that they’re stuck in it because they don’t have enough self-discipline…or if they just tried hard enough… or have accountability that this will go away, that this will be fixed. And that’s a very simplistic way of looking at it. And I think what I’ve come to learn is that addiction is a very complex issue. And even though choice and discipline do play part of the recovery, but there are so much more elements involved with that.
And one key thing that I learned from this book is to understand how our brains are wired to handle pleasure and pain. Because one of the main motivations for people that wrestle with addiction and compulsive behavior is that most of the time, we’re trying to run away from pain by pursuing pleasurable experiences. There’s a sense of escape. But what I’ve learned from this book is that this idea of chasing after pleasure to avoid pain is actually counterproductive. The result is that we will end up experiencing more pain and less pleasure. And why is that? It’s because our brain is actually wired to have pain – or to experience pain and pleasure in a balanced way. So Dr. Anna was illustrating it. It’s like having a teeter-totter in our brain. So with pain on one side, and pleasure on the other side. And our brains are wired that when one side have more experience… So let’s say that you have more pleasurable, more fun, more satisfying experiences, the brain would actually secrete chemicals to push down on the pain side, and lessen the experience of the pleasure. So the brain is actually fighting against our trend.
And this is totally counter-intuitive because I think for all my life, I’ve always been trying to avoid painful experiences. I deal with them. I process through them because that seems to be what God always recommends for me: don’t brush these experiences… don’t brush these feelings under the carpet. But face it, process through it, and then you will be free from it. You will be healed from it. That is the right process that God seem to always be teaching me.
After I read Dr. Anna’s book, I feel like wow, I now understand why God seems to be recommending that. And what I learned from the book, and Dr. Anna includes a lot of… goes into these into a lot more detail. And I don’t want to try and teach that here because I’m still processing through it myself. But one thing I have learned is that when I face difficult things in life, to not try and run away… and try to go to my coping mechanism. But to actually deal with the challenges and negativities, and to learn to process through them.
And I just want to thank Dr. Anna for writing this book, and just for her work in helping so many of her patients to come to recovery. And I just want to encourage anyone out there listening that if you also feel like you’re stuck in a compulsive behavior, if you’re stuck in some kind of addiction, and I don’t care how long it has been. If it’s been decades.. If you just want to change, but you don’t know how, and you feel like you’ve given up. Just go and get this book right away. Again, her name is Dr. Anna Lembke, and the book is called Dopamine Nation. It’s a wonderful place to get started to have some understanding and to take the first step towards having more information to understand why we do the things we do. And to understand how our brain is made and created to function so that we are working with our bodies and not against it.
And that if anything you get out of this [podcast] today, I just want to say that there is hope for anyone stuck in addiction. And Dr. Anna also shared a lot of examples on patients that have success with prescription medication to deal with chemical dependency. So there are a lot, a lot of paths out there to recovery. And I just want you to know you are not alone. There is hope for anyone dealing with addiction. So if you get a chance, search for her name on Youtube, check out her book. Just do the next thing. Take the next step to your recovery. You can be free. You can be free from addiction.
So that’s what I wanted to share with everyone this week. I’ve just been so excited about this book. Thank you for listening to Sabbath Café Podcast. This is episode 129. If you like more information on this episode or on the transcript, please visit www.sabbathcafeblog.com. And we will see you next time. Have a blessed week.
We are making some changes behind the scenes here at the Sabbath Cafe Podcast. Please subscribe to the Sabbath Cafe Podcast from iTunes or Spotify, and you won’t miss a single episode. Or you can always find us sabbathcafeblog.com for our entire archive.
TranscriptHi everyone!
This is Michele. We have an important update for you. We are making some changes behind the scenes at Sabbath Café Podcast. If you’re listening to us from iTunes or Spotify or if you’re on our mailing list, the change should be really smooth for you. You will continue to get all of the updates.
But, if you’re listening to us through another platform, please consider subscribing through iTunes or Spotify, so you won’t miss a single episode. And you can always find us at sabbathcafeblog.com.
We’re slowly migrating everything over, so please bear with us during the transition. There will be a new episode dropping in a few weeks. And you should be seeing that episode automatically through iTunes and Spotify.
Thank you so much for listening. You have been a great encouragement to me, and I’m excited about this move. We’ll see you soon, and have a wonderful week!
I always ask God for a gift during this season. This year, why don’t you ask Him for a gift too? He just might surprise you.
TranscriptWould you like a free gift?! I love a freebie! Especially during Christmas season. I’m learning to be generous this year. At first, I felt like Golem from LOTR… holding my gold [ring] very tightly. But I’m getting better at sharing now. Whenever I give, it opens my heart in a way I didn’t expect. Giving is interesting… the more you give, the easier it becomes, and giving has truly brought joy to my heart.
Ah, but that’s not the key thing…Looking back, partly of why I was learning to be generous is because God has a generous heart and also loves to give. And as I learned to give, I began to understand more about God’s heart as a Giver.
There’s something about giving that brings joy to my heart. It’s not really about the size of the gift or how expensive these gifts are. I find more satisfaction in giving someone the right gift at the right time. Often, I’d pick up something at the store – because it was on sale – just to give it to someone who needed it later that week! It’s as if God prepared a gift for them at just the right time. As these “coincidence” happens more often, I began to see how God is so good at gift-giving! He is like the best Santa!
As I reflect on my journey with God this year, I am so grateful for what God has given our family. But even more so, I’m amazed at how God has just been generous with everyone around me! He’s been generous with my neighbors, friends I met online, and even at my favorite boba shop. I’ve just seen God’s heart to want to bless people in so many ways.
God truly has a generous heart. He has always been so confident and encouraging whenever I ask or pray. It didn’t matter how big the problems were or how little faith I had, He was always kind and ready to show me a path forward.
In this special season, if you feel burdened about anything in your life, why not talk to God about it? If anyone you know is sick, ask God to heal them. If you have a financial need, go ahead and ask God to pay that bill. If you need a job, tell Him about that too.
This year has taught me how generous and creative God can be. So don’t be afraid to pray or ask God about what you want. I used to wonder why we have to “ask” God or pray about things. Doesn’t He know our needs already? And if He knows about it, and hasn’t done anything, why would it matter if I prayed about it?
Then God kind of showed me that there are a few things missing in my logic. The first thing was that God actually takes our words very seriously. He respects our decisions and boundaries. And when we pray, we’re actually inviting God to come into our situations.
Also, God is very relational, and He loves to partner with us even when He can do everything Himself. So the praying process is like our dialog with God. We share our concerns with Him, and He can show us what He sees, and more importantly, how He plans to answer our prayers.
Often, God wants to take me on a journey when I pray. I’ve brought many problems to God this year, and I’ve been amazed every time at how He resolved things. So this Christmas season, why not ask God for a gift? No matter what you wish for, I know He can and will do something awesome for you.
And that’s it for this episode. I want to wish you a very merry Christmas and a very happy holiday! Thank you so much for listening to us in 2023, and we will be back in 2024!
For transcripts and more, please visit www.sabbathcafeblog.com
When I was little, I didn’t find the story of the hare and the turtle interesting. The turtle sounded slow and boring to me. Only when I grew up did I realize that little story actually holds the secret of getting breakthroughs.
TranscriptHi Everyone! Thank you for listening to the Sabbath Café Podcast. This is Michele. It’s so good to see you again. Lately I’ve noticed many breakthroughs in the areas I’ve been focusing on. Some I’ve been working on for months, and some I’ve been planning for years. It’s so exciting to see these changes happening, and I’ve been very encouraged. I wanted to come on this space to share some of that encouragement with all of you. And here’s my story
This season, there’s been a lot of changes. We moved into our house 5 years ago. We haven’t been able to really get things set up, and just 2 weeks ago, we finally rearranged and set up our living space. Which is amazing because we had all these ideas and plans through out the years, and just nothing clicked… we didn’t have that synergy moment. Finally… we were able to get this project done over a weekend!
And so it’s just amazing to me. That seem to sum up a lot what I’ve been going through in this season. It’s that there are quite a few things that I’ve been involved in where we’re making slow progress… like snail paced… one step at a time… one step at a time… and just not really seeing much result, And yet suddenly… like in the last month or two…we just saw a lot of things starting to shift… whether it’s with my husband’s work, or with my father’s health.
I think some of you who’s been following the podcast know that I was care-taking for my father for the last couple of months… so a lot of things just feel like that old adage, right? The hare and the turtle. The race between the hare and the turtle – and slow and steady wins the race. And I really felt like it just so exciting to see breakthroughs.
I was actually taking him to his chiropractor today, and I noticed his fingers are moving a little bit more. And it’s amazing because that’s what was affected. I don’t even think my dad saw that, but I saw that. And it so encouraged me that we’re going down the right path. It so encouraged me. And it just made the last 6 months of countless hours of chauffeuring, of driving… just so worth it. It’s interesting because this is the accumulation of all those times, all those little pieces, little steps we took towards that.
And it just reminds me… because the world we live now, we love instant downloads. I used to joke around that we are the “microwave generation.” I like my water heated up in 30 seconds rather than boiling on the stove for minutes, right? We can have things cooked in seconds… we have downloads in seconds, milliseconds. We like to have things instantaneously, but I realize that… if you want change that lasts… if you want significant breakthrough or shifts. Or if you want to learn a craft… most of the time, it takes a long time. It requires a process of small steps to get there. The process takes a while. But if you continue to take small steps, you will get there. You’re just have to keep going… even when you don’t see anything changing. Even when you don’t see any encouragement.
And even with my podcast it’s similar. Many of you just started to tune into me probably in the last 6 months or so… but I’ve been working on this podcast, I was just looking at it, for 3 years. it took me at least 2 years of making episodes until it hit a stride.
Also some of you know that I’m an artist. I found my old sketchbook. And I realized I started a sketch book as just a pure novice – having no skills, no lessons, nothing. My first step, first venture into this creative realm was 10 years ago. 10 years ago. And just looking through my sketch book it really reminded me how far I’ve come.
And so I’m just looking at all of these things today, it took me 10 years… of just this consistent…taking steps toward that one goal. Consistently just taking steps. I think if there’s one expectation I had of myself… it’s to continue to engage.
Begin again.I learned that great phrase – to begin again. That has just helped me tremendously in my journey. To begin again is an idea of where you just pick up where you left off and you just continue forward. You allow yourself that grace to just continue forward. And what I find is that you remember a lot of these past skills. The work you put into it, it has created a certain pattern – an imprint in you, so that when we begin again and move forward, we’re not moving forward from scratch. Most of the time, it’s actually good, because you’re moving forward, you’re remembering those old skills, but there’s something that’s just a little bit different than before, because you’re different now. And that’s how I feel… is that I’m different, after those breaks, and so my creativity projects, my creation, and even my podcasts and things… they’ll take on a different spin. They’ll take on a different light. And then I kind of run with that. Slow and steady. Just keep taking the next step. Begin again and take the next step.
And so it’s been a wonderful breakthrough season for me. And I just want to encourage you if you’re also in that journey where you feel like you keep taking that thousand-step journey, and you don’t know where you’re going, and you’re in the middle? You’re in the “messy middle” as we like to call it. I just want to encourage you that you’re on the right path. You’re on the right track. You may not see anything happening, but remember that inspiration that got you started. And just take the next step. Keep walking through that next door that opens up. .
Breakthrough are breakthroughs because they’re unexpected. They’re the suddenlies. But you won’t see it until the breakthroughs are right in front of you… which is like a split second. But breakthroughs happen because of a consistent journey… because of that slow and steady journey. All we have to do is to re-engage with the process. Re-engage with the process and take that next step. Keep taking that next step. And if you don’t know how, just begin again!
Eventually, you will see that breakthrough around the corner. Even if you feel like it’s the messy middle. I just want to encourage you… whatever journey you are on… If you felt discouraged, it’s okay. Take a break, take care of yourself, and then begin again
This is the season for me to see a lot of different breakthroughs. And I’ve been so encouraged, and I wanted to pass that encouragement to you. Keep going, keep walking. It’s okay if you’re in the messy middle. And slow and steady, you will win that race.
God bless you, thank you for listening to Sabbath Café, and we will see you next time.
I just finished a pretty busy season recently, and took a journaling break. What I discovered was unexpected, but exactly what I needed to finally have closure. Here's my story.
“AI” is the trending topic all around me. From engineers to artists, everyone is amazed at what AIs have been able to accomplish, and wonders if we will truly be replaced by AI. I was curious too, and did some research. Here are some of my thoughts.
Reference Videos* “What are large language models (LLMs) and how do they work?” – Short explanation about “Large Language Models” that ChatGPT is based on. * “How Not To Destroy the World With AI – Professor Stuart Russell” – Update on the current state of AI research.
TranscriptYou’re listening to Sabbath Café Podcast Episode 125 – Demystifying AI.
This is a very complex topic. I’m only touching on the basics here. I’ll include helpful videos links along with the transcript at www.sabbathcafeblog.com. Now on to the podcast.
Hi everyone welcome to the Sabbath cafe podcast. in this episode I’m going to talk about something that is the hottest topic around. We’re going to talk about AI.
Recently a lot of people around me have been all over this topic. The academia and general public love ChatGPT. They’re very impressed by it. Wow. You type in this descriptor of what you’re looking for, and in a second or two, ChatGPT will put together this paper for you. So the academia world have been very impressed and also very alarmed – understandably.
And it’s also a trending topic with the artists and creators. People want to know if AI can really take our place in making “art.” And just how using AI will affect us as content creators in general. Since I have a tech background, and I’m also an artist, I thought I’d share some thoughts on this topic.
So first, let’s take a quick look at what AI really is. AI stands for “artificial intelligence.” I know AI seem very impressive to everyone…. But, “Artificial intelligence” is simply a sophisticated computer program that combines the power of a huge database with statistics and probabilities. So it can come up with the most likely answer or behavior that matches your request. AI doesn’t create out of thin air. It doesn’t “create” the way that we do. Because at it core, AI programs are still just machines that process data – lots of data – and putting them together in a pattern that is most likely to fit your goal.
Now don’t get me wrong, these AI programs are amazingly complex, and what they’re able to do, is really impressive. And that’s why it often gives the people the wrong idea that programs like ChatGPT must be really smart or experienced because a real person would have to be smart and experienced to do the same thing.
But that’s simply not true. ChatGPT is not an expert of Shakespeare literature simply because it can give you a paper in Shakespeare’s style. It simply analyzed Shakespearean text, found common words and patterns, and generated a paper that matched those patterns. Ultimately, it couldn’t understand the love between Romeo and Juliet…it has no idea what love feels like. Similarly, an AI “art” generator may be able to put out an image that looks pretty to some, but AI doesn’t understand what beauty is – until someone defined it in their database. Computers are excellent at finding patterns and copying them… but it doesn’t think, process or feel like a real person.
The artificial intelligence program cannot make anything new. It needs information or data that someone else has already created… so they can analyze it and learn the pattern. So mainly I think of an AI program like a fancy tool. And the “AI art” engines are really image generators. And I feel like they’re kind of an automated Photoshop program… a “smart” Photoshop program.
And the tool to me is simply a tool. The problem comes up when we as people start to depend on the tool to do the work that we are supposed to do.
I recently saw a short video where this little boy – probably in elementary school- went to his room to do math homework. And when his mom went to check in on him, she found out that he was secretly asking Alexa for the answers to his math homework. So he was whispering to Alexa: “what is 54 – 27” (or something like that) and Alexa would whisper back the answer to the math problem. And when I saw it, it just dawned on me… this was the perfect illustration.
I’m sure this little boy was thinking… why does he need to learn math and do these stupid math problems when he can simply Alexa for the answer. I’m sure we all wondered when we were young why we needed to learn math when we have calculators. But what he didn’t realize was that the purpose of his homework was not about getting the right answer. It was to help him understand and learn the basics skills in math and problem solving. Ironically, these simple skills are the basic building blocks to making a complex machine like Alexa.
In a similar way, as we start to engage these AI tools all around us, I feel like we also have to be careful why and how we use them. What are we trying to accomplish? We have to be careful not to sacrifice and give up our own learning and creative process along the way.
Lately I’ve been learning to focus more on my creative process instead of focusing on the end result. And in my studio time, I often start just by playing around and experimenting colors and styles, and mediums. In the process, I’ve learned so much just about technique and styles. And most importantly, this play time has done wonders to stir up creative new ideas. The result of these experiments weren’t always pretty. But I’ve been learning so much just from this organic process.
Learning and creating anything is hard work. And it can be very tempting to use AI as a short cut. But as we move forward, I think we have to be careful to guard our own learning process and not to “contract” that out to a computer program. At the end of the day we have to remember that there’s no substitute for work… there’s no substitute for going through the learning process… in putting paint to paper… or putting words on a page. And no amount of AI can replace the good old creative process.
So I’m curious about some of your experiences with AI… with ChatGPT. With some of these AI art generators. And AI affected you? I love to hear about it.
And that’s it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. You can find resources and transcript for this episode at sabbathcafeblog.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to Sabbath Cafe Podcast on Apple or Spotify. Have a wonderful week, and we’ll see you next time.
Many join the fasting tradition 40 days before Easter to prepare for Easter Sunday. This year, I’m also joining them in fasting… but in a different way. You can find transcript and more at http://www.sabbathcafeblog.com
Hi everyone, happy 2023. I hope everyone is doing well. I can’t believe we’re already almost March. I took a few weeks off and I am working on the next podcast, but I did want to just jump in here and give everyone a quick update because it’s Lent season. And it’s kind of funny because I have not fasted in a very long time and the Lord didn’t put on my heart to fast either. But this year, somehow, he is bringing it back into my attention.
And I guess it started because my YouTube feeds, I started to get these videos about Lent and about fasting. And I thought, and after a few times I got the message. So I started to ask the Lord, okay, is this something that I want to be doing? And how does he want me to do it this year? Because I don’t want to just follow the traditions. I kind of want to see what God has in store for that, how God wants to lead me in that area. And it’s funny because the pastor that I’ve been following, he also had an invitation to do fasting and prayer for the Lent season.
And I was like, oh, okay. So that kind of took me down a different path. So I started to ask the Lord. And so the day after, I was kind of having my tea and suddenly this idea just popped up. And I just felt like the Lord is asking, how about you fast from the thoughts of negativity? And I was like, huh? Now that’s a novel idea.
Actually this year, God has been challenging me to change my mindset, to upgrade my mindset and to learn to shift it from a negative mindset to a more hopeful outlook. And so when he talked about “Oh, why don’t you fast from negative thoughts?” I thought… Perfect. That’s something that is in line with what I’m learning right now, so I just feel like it will work much better. And so I said okay.
And so I think today is probably the third or fourth day that I’m doing this. And let me tell you, it’s a lot harder than fasting from food. And so the fasting that I used to do is fasting from meat. And what’s funny is when you do food fasting or that kind of fasting, you just really think about it pretty much three, four times a day. So every time you eat, you will stop and think, okay, I’m going to fast. So I have to make a decision to let go of meat or what I decide to give up. So that’s like three, four times a day.
And when I started to fast from negative thoughts, oh my goodness, now it went from three times a day of me working through my fast. Now it’s about 30 times, more like 30 times a day of me fasting because I didn’t realize how often negative thoughts come up in my mind. When I was just thinking about it, I thought, okay, so I’ll just be mindful of when I’m worrying about things or when I’m stressed out or when I’m frustrated. So that’s okay. Fine, I’m being mindful of those now. And then one day, I realized I had made a mistake. It was some decisions I made, I was kind of like, ah, dang it, I think God was recommending me to do something different and I probably should have done that. And that just would have made my day so much easier. And I was beating myself up.
And all of a sudden, I just felt the Lord went “ahem,” tapped on my shoulder: “Don’t beat yourself up. That’s negative thoughts.” And I was like, oh, I did not realize… I guess beating yourself up does count as negativity because you’re trying to berate yourself. And I was like, oh, that’s a good point. So I stopped and go, “Thank you, Lord, I give that to You” and move on.
And shortly after that, I was helping my parents take care of some stuff. And all of a sudden, I just started to be worried about their needs and their health. And I just went on this downward spiral. And I didn’t realize how naturally my thoughts just went there. And again, the Holy Spirit went, “Tap, tap. Just so you know, you need to stop that because we are fasting from negativity.”
And so I had not realized how much of my mindset and how much of my thought patterns… I’m so used to giving into these thoughts. And so I guess that’s what God is challenging me… to let go of those things and to, learn to have a new mindset. Because after all, Easter is really symbolic of hope and new beginnings. And so I really feel like maybe that is something that God is wanting to give me too… just this breakthrough in this old way of thinking and this old habits of mine that tend to be gray. And that just is not very helpful. So starting the Lenten season this year, that’s what I’m doing. I’m fasting from negative thoughts. I’m fasting from negativity. And maybe later in the year when I’m all done, I’ll do another follow up and maybe gather my thoughts and share another update on how that went.
So I just wanted to share this with you. And you know, I want to just encourage you, for those of you that also are doing that you feel like you want to do something for the Lenten season. I just want to applaud you and say, hey, encourage you just do what the Lord’s laid on your heart to do. And it may be food, it may be drinks, just whatever He’s put on your heart. It’ll be a great journey for the next 40 or 30 some days for this whole season. If you like, send me a comment to let me know what you may be fasting from during this Lenten season. And so I hope you’re all having a wonderful year.
And I am working on the next podcast. So hopefully I will get that out to you really soon. And have a wonderful week. Thank you so much for listening to Sabbath Cafe podcast. I’m Michele and I’ll see you next time.
But in my heart, I was kind of resisting because I was just kind of looking at my schedule, and I was like, I don’t really think fasting from food will work for us… for me and my family this season. I was like, it’s just a little bit difficult. And I think many of you guys understand what I’m talking about. It’s a bit hard to work into our schedule. And I didn’t get the sense that God was drawing me to that either. And so just as I was thinking about that, my pastor said… “Well, if you don’t feel like fasting from food, how about fasting from something like gossip?”
I’ve been watching lots of 15 second mini videos lately. It’s easy to forget how much time it actually takes to bake a cake or cook a meal. Real life moves at a much slower pace. The road to success often starts with small and ordinary steps and takes much longer than 15 seconds. Welcome … Continue reading Podcast #123 – Small Steps Lead To Big Changes (5:26)
Whether it’s a hotel room or a plane seat, I love getting upgrades. Wouldn’t it be great if life is full of upgrades? Here is my recent “upgrade” story. Ever since the pandemic, I often hear about shortages of many things. I’m glad that I haven’t ran out of toilet paper. I’ve always been able … Continue reading Podcast #122- Turning A Problem Into An Upgrade (5:20)
Life is a great adventure with sunny days and stormy days. How do we connect with God’s Peace and Hope in every situation? That’s my “homework” right now, and here’s what I learned. My husband has been recovering from a medical condition, and the process will take over a year at least. While we’re on … Continue reading Podcast #121- Finding Peace & Hope in the Storm (5:49)
God reminded me lately that I also need to drink in the love of God as I pray for others. And this is the perfect season to take a pause and just remember His deep love for us. Happy Easter! I happened to finish this episode on Easter week. This is the perfect season to … Continue reading Podcast #120- Receiving prayer and love for yourself (4:21)
Newer isn’t always better. Our spiritual history may actually help us get the breakthrough we’re looking for.
In the social media world, we all like to share our best sides. But when God shows up, even mistakes or missed opportunities are turned into blessings. Here’s one of mine. Hi everyone, this is Michele, and welcome to Sabbath Café. Most of the time, we like to share our “success stories”… Like when God … Continue reading Podcast #118 – Just an ordinary day… (4:25)
Hi everyone! Thanks for being patient. Life threw us a curve ball this last 6 months, so I’ve not been able to post here. Thankfully, things are settling down a bit, and I’ll be posting more podcasts and blogs here shortly. Here’s a mini-podcast to share a quick update with everyone.
Here’s the conclusion of Finding Freedom series… As it turned out, I also found a great Friend in the process. Part 1: Ep 114: Finding FreedomPart 2: Ep 115: Freedom to Explore Here’s the podcast transcript: What I learned is that God wants to talk with me. He loves the world, but He wants to connect … Continue reading Podcast #116 Finding Friendship (Finding Freedom part 3) (4:50) (File updated)
In this session, I continue to share on what I love about my personal walk with God – my freedom to explore.
Part 1: Ep 114: Finding Freedom.
Part 3: Ep 116: Finding Friendship.
Podcast transcript:
Welcome to the Sabbath Café Podcast. You’re listening to episode #115. In the last episode, I shared on how I enjoyed having the freedom to just be me in my spiritual journey. In this session, I’ll continue with “Finding the Freedom to Explore.”
And also I was able to explore…. explore the things that I’ve always been curious about… but the people that I was with may or may not be interested in. I actually personally, I really am very curious about prayer. And I write about that, I talk about that here on the blog. But I’m just very curious about human beings having interaction with the divine… with the spiritual. That just always fascinates me. And so I started to explore a lot of things. I started to read books on that.
And I also love… this idea of “sabbath”. And that’s why the blog is named “Sabbath Café.” And this idea of “rest,” and why is that a command for us. What is it all about? I was very curious about that. That’s also… not a very popular topic for most people. So I started to read about it. I explored… I looked up scripture verses on it. I talked to God about it. God would show me different books and resources on it. So I stumbled upon a verse in Hebrews*. It says “make every effort to enter the rest.” I was like… what? “Strive to enter the rest.” It’s kind of like an irony. But yah, that’s exactly what the verse says. He’s not saying “strive to work more,” and we know that because Christianity is not a work-based faith. So what is it? And this is something where scripture tells us to be purposeful and be intentional to enter into that place of rest. And that’s just… wow. You know, for some reason that verse just stayed with me. And because this is a personal walk with God. It’s just between me and God, so I have the freedom to sit on that verse and to meditate on this idea. What does it mean?
Since I get to say what my journey looks like. So I decided I was going to put that verse into practice. And so for a season, I purposely practiced sabbath rest. And not just the actual event like sabbath… this is what you do… this is what you don’t do. It’s not just that. But also, the idea of rest. And I happened to run into … some teaching that focuses on why rest is powerful. And how rest can deepen your intercession and your prayer time. And I was like wow. That’s exactly… that’s my thing! And so that opened up a whole new season for me.
And from that season, I wrote… I had more understanding about pruning, and transitions, and so that was a big turning point in my spiritual life.
And so just kind of looking back in my own walk with God. I was kind of looking back, and I was like wow. Now, I love the freedom I get in my own personal walk. ‘Cause like I don’t really want to share this. I don’t really want to go back to the community based spirituality anymore. Now when I still have connections with friends, I still talk with friends. But that’s more… we come together and we celebrate, and we exchange what we learned about God. But my journey with God is not dependent on people outside of me anymore. So my journey with God, really, I know it’s just about me and Him. And it’s inspiring, and it’s so refreshing… to be able… to have the freedom to journey with God… to be with God… to connect with God however, whenever in whatever ways I want. And it just seems like God is always right there with me. He doesn’t cap you.
In my spiritual life, in my spiritual journey, often, in the groups of people I’m with, I often felt like I’m capped… because they don’t want to go where I’m going. I’m sure you feel that way too because every single one of us, we’re created uniquely. You know, your friends, will guaranteed, not always want to do what you want to do. Or not always want to learn what you want to learn because they’re not you! And you have your timing and they have theirs. So it’s almost guaranteed that there’s a part of you that can only be explored when you have your individual walk with God. When you embrace that solitude with God. Then God can take you places. Then God can go as high and as deep as fast as you want… or as slow as you want… in areas you want to explore.
And that’s the end of part 2. I hope that encouraged you about starting your own adventure with God. We will finish this series in the next podcast. Thanks for listening and have a great week.
*Hebrews 4:11