Arise, My Darling Podcast: Recent Episodes
Lizz and Andrea
Join us as we share our hearts, stories, laughs and journey to become more aware of the ways God is constantly pursuing us!
In this season 12 finale, we wrap up our meditation on Philippians. We reflect on how to identify God's will for our life, how to be content in all circumstances, and the necessity of simplifying our lives in order to find contentment. We hope this time in scripture encourages you to spend time in scripture- for that time is never wasted. We look forward to being with you all again soon and please pray for us as we navigate busy summers with Lizz's pregnancy and Andrea finishing school.
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We loved so many of the verses in Philippians 4 that we broke it up into two parts. In this episode, we discuss the first 9 verses but spend lots of time on verses 6-7:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
We talk about how we can approach Jesus and Mary boldly in our prayer requests because we know their character, how peace does not go hand in hand with understanding, and the importance of thinking about what we are consuming. We hope this episode blesses you during Holy Week!
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Cultivating awareness in our heart is a great practice to hone at any time of the year, but especially in the season of Lent. In this episode, we share the parts of scripture that captured our attention and brought us into prayer. We discuss trying to cultivate an awareness of the distortions we believe about the Lord, how we are modeling the Christian faith to others, and who in our life has their eyes fixed on earthly things? We hope this conversation can be a springboard for you to spend time in scripture, letting the Holy Spirit move your heart.
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As we continue pondering Philippians, the second chapter has us discussing unity, suffering, humility, and recognizing that Jesus journeys alongside us in all of it as our model. This chapter of Philippians holds a very dear place in Andrea's heart and is meeting Lizz where she is at in a season filled with challenges. We hope this discussion will aid in your own time of mediation in scripture especially as we head into the Lenten season.
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When we immerse ourselves in the Word throughout our life, coming back to scripture feels like getting coffee with an old friend (wise words by Andrea). Our lives are often filled with many moving pieces as we navigate through different seasons, but we can always come back to the firm foundation of scripture. This season, we decide to return to scripture and spend time soaking in His presence. We will move through Philippians, spending time paying attention to the ways that God is speaking to us in this season of our lives. In this cold, cozy season, we encourage you to spend some time with your "old friend" and a cup of coffee, if you'd like.
Bible Project Resource: https://bibleproject.com/videos/philippians/
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During this advent season we discuss another great read, Noticing by Kobi Yamada. This story again showcases a friendship between an older woman who is a painter and a young girl. The young girl is impacted by the painters view of the world. The painter encourages the young girl to slow down, to wonder, and notice things-even those we can't see. These practices felt fitting for advent as Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in Advent Calls Us to Silence that this season is about slowing down and taking notice to the ways the Lord is pursuing us. We hope this conversation aids in creating more slowness in your season of life and a deeper desire for growth in the art of noticing.
Advent Call Us to Silence: https://tandirection.com/pursuit-of-perfection/advent-calls-us-to-silence/
Reading of Noticing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwn5g5i9M74
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We thought we would keep the children's books for adults theme going with another amazing read: Trying by Kobi Yamada. This beautifully illustrated book shares the story of an older sculptor encouraging and walking with an aspiring sculptor. The book touches on the importance of mentors in our life and how to be one while also reflecting on the power and importance of failure. We dive into both of these topics and spend time reflecting on the beauty and need of the relationship between the young and the old. We hope these are fun conversations for you and that you are curating a little list of children's book to read.
If you want to listen to the book read outloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy5B3dzJFg8
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We spend time in this episode talking about journeying alongside people in our life through the lense of a children's book titled The Rabbit Listenedby Cori Doerrfeld. The story is about Taylor who built something he was really proud of only for it to be destroyed. Many different characters come along and want to help Taylor process his emotions in the wake of his loss. The character that makes Taylor feel the most safe though is the rabbit who listened. We discuss helpful tips this book gives when accompanying people in our own life, some ways we try to help that aren't always helpful, and why children's books sometimes are the best vehicle to teach us.
Be sure to listen to the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjAWkog9n0
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We are back for our 11th season and filling everyone in on our summer. The summer always seems to be a season where big changes happen in our lives and we love taking time to think about how God is intentionally pursuing and stretching us. God has shown up for us in a move across the country and a new job to more schooling and unlocking new skills. We also talk a little bit about what we hope to dive into this season: stories. Certain stories in different seasons resonate with our hearts and can give us delightful nuggets to chat about with our friends. So we are looking forward to doing just that!
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We see Mary display penetrating intuition as she visits Elizabeth shortly after finding out she is expecting in her old age. Given that Elizabeth's husband had lost his ability to speak, Mary's supportive and encouraging words were probably needed in the hard months of preparing for birth. As women, we have a great gift to offer the world of pouring kind words and blessings over others in our life. We can allow these words of encouragement to be an outpouring of the ways we feel encouraged and pursued by Jesus himself. In this episode, we talk about how as mothers (spiritual and physical) our role is to hold space for other souls to flourish. We have done that for people in our lives and others have done that for us!
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What does it look like to show limitless fidelity and tireless devotion to our work? Mary was a mother of one son who spent her days caring for her family and keeping their home in Nazareth. We can assume her days would have been filled with many ordinary and mundane tasks. In this episode, we reflect on how Mary is the model that the Lord gives us to imitate as a measure of living out authentic femininity. Mary is a "gentle mirror" of femininity that gives us permission to claim the limitless fidelity and tireless devotion it takes to care for our spouses, children, and others as service to God.
Redemptoris Mater
Image of Mary Hanging Laundry
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We continue to reflect on Mary as she "mirrors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable." This episode we unpack "the strength that is capable of bearing the greatest sorrows." During Lent, we are all invited to visit places of suffering in our own hearts and reflect upon them. How do these places make us feel? To what capacity have we invited others into our sorrows? What role do we allow Mary to play in our places of sorrow? Andrea and Lizz were also both drawn to deeper mediation through pieces of artwork and invite you to be aware of what is aiding you in your meditation.
The Return from Calvary by Herbert Gustave Schmalz
Rachel Weeping for Her Children
Redemptoris Mater
*apologies for Lizz's mic quality, it was not working during the recording but the content was so good we just rolled with it
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As we enter the season of Lent, we are given a time to reflect on our spiritual lives and the ways we want to prepare our hearts for the Easter season. What better way to prepare our hearts than with the help of Mary. She plays a maternal role in the "birth and development of divine life in the souls of the redeemed." She is the role model for us always as women in the Church. In this episode, we dive into one aspect of Mary, her self-offering totality of love, which we pull from Redemptoris Mater by St. Pope John Paul II.
In the light of Mary, the Church sees in the face of women the reflection of a beauty which mirrors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable: the self-offering totality of love; the strength that is capable of bearing the greatest sorrows; limitless fidelity and tireless devotion to work; the ability to combine penetrating intuition with words of support and encouragement.
Find the full encyclical here: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031987_redemptoris-mater.html
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We thought we would do a little Advent special because we both missed doing a podcast! During this episode, we reflect on how Christ has prepared our hearts for the celebration of His birth at Christmas. We both realized in typical fashion that the Lord was pursuing us more in Advent than we were pursuing Him. Christ is constantly pursuing our hearts and we hope this serves as a reminder to take a moment to become aware.
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This week we reflect on one of Andrea's favorite psalms- Psalm 1. This psalm is a simple psalm about life with God vs. a life without God. We share our insights from personal mediation while continuing to add to our scripture tool box and discuss how different translations of scripture can help to paint a fuller picture of the richness of God's word.
Translation Resource:
https://www.biblegateway.com/
Oftentimes we can exhaust ourselves trying to figure out what the Lord is trying to tell us in prayer. Spending time in scripture can give space for God to penetrate our hearts and speak to us clearly."The word of God is alive and active" (Hebrew 4:12). When trying to discern the movements of our heart, the psalms are a great place to spend time in scripture because the psalms are songs of the heart. In this episode, Andrea and Lizz take time to pray with Psalm 51 using Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina is a way to pray with scripture that allows us to acknowledge and ponder the ways God is speaking to us through scripture. We hope this becomes a daily practice that you can incorporate into your prayer time!
As we find ourselves entering into a new season, we would like to take a moment and ask, "What has Jesus done in my heart?" Let us never forget that Jesus is constantly pursuing our hearts and meets us where we are at to usher us into new depths of our own heart and deeper relationship with him. Andrea and Lizz kick-off the season talking about what Jesus has done in their hearts over the summer and encourage listeners to take time in prayer to reflect on what Jesus has done for them in this past season.
As we wrap up our fourth season and our study of women in the geneology of Christ, it seems only fitting that we study Mary's life and what she teaches us about being a woman. We often overlook the humanness of Mary. Just think how awesome it was being the mother of God and hugging little Jesus as he was growing up. She shows us how we are called to live out great faith and give our yes continuously in our ordinary lives.
The next woman's story we dive into in the geneology of Christ is Ruth. Ruth is connected to Rahab because she ends up marrying Rahab's son, Boaz. Ruth is a Moabite woman who leaves everything behind to follow her mother-in-law Naomi back to her homeland. In this episode, we ponder Ruth and discover the ways we see ourselves and want to see ourselves in her story. We talk about the beauty of Ruth's faith and how we are moved by her obedience. She is another woman the Lord has given to model our hearts after.
So, which women should we model our lives after? 5 women are named specifically in the genealogy of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah's wife (Bathsheba), and Mary. Each showcase qualities of womanhood that we are called to model our lives after. In this episode, we dive into the story of Rahab (Joshua 2). We talk about what strikes us in her story, how we can see our own stories reflected, and ways we want to model our faith after Rahab.
"It's literally impossible to be a woman." This is how Gloria starts her monologue in the Barbie movie about how difficult it is to be a woman by the culture's standards. We have all been hit with the impossible feat of trying to keep up with the culture's ever-changing standard of women. In this episode, we dive into ways that we have become victim to chasing this impossible standard, things that have helped us on the journey, and also ponder some beautiful truths the Barbie movie displays. We pray this episode gives you hope that you can live in greater freedom in Christ's standard of what it means to be a woman.
We are excited to continue our conversation about womanhood while diving into a specific charism of women: receptivity. Everyone wants to be received by a woman and we also want to be received as women, but we can quickly find ourselves in places where it is hard to receive and be received. In this episode, Andrea and Lizz talk about things that have gotten in the way of their own receptivity, aids to increasing receptivity, and the gift that your receptivity is to the world!
Where are all the places and who are all the people that have taught you about womanhood? Our moms, the culture, social media, and people in our lives tell us things about what it mean to be a woman. We are continuously being exposed to a stream of thoughts that we have to then decipher if their true or not. In this episode, Andrea and Lizz begin the conversation about what has formed their understanding of womanhood and how the definition is ever evolving. This discussion comes with an invitation to take what you believe to be true about womanhood and bring it to Jesus. Let Him be the one to help inform your identity as woman.
Being in seasons of suffering or hardships can really test our faith and makes it easy to forget the truths about who God is and what He wants to do for us. In this episode, Andrea and Lizz walk through hardships they have been experiencing and share some thoughts on how to keep your eyes on Christ. In this Advent season, they hope you will reflect on the places of your heart where you have experienced or are experiencing suffering and let the Lord draw you more intimately to Himself through kindness, continuing to show up, and looking for the ways He is constantly pursuing your heart.
We all have strong memories that are connected to scent and find ourselves drawn to or repelled by certain scents. This idea can serve as a metaphor for us in the spiritual life. 2 Corinthians chapter 2 speaks of us being the "aroma of Christ." In this episode, we talk about what kinds of "aromas" we are attracted to in others and what "aroma" we are giving off. Is our aroma one of life that draws people to imitate the way we are living or are we giving off an aroma of death that repels people from the Christian life?
Andrea and Lizz came into their relationship with Jesus from very different backgrounds and with different sets of preconceived notions. This episode explores the difference between what they thought being in relationship with Jesus was going to entail versus the reality of a life with Christ.
Every Christian from their baptism has been called to be a missionary but it can be easy to convince ourselves to leave the missional work to the "professionals." We hope that this conversation shows the humanity of missional work and that God wants to transform your heart through going on mission to share the gospel. The only qualification that you need to share about Jesus is a love of Jesus.
Preconceived notions feel inevitable when walking into marriage and the role of being a wife. In this episode, we talk about preconceived notions we had and how the reality of being a wife differed from our expectations. Andrea brings 30 plus years of experience while Lizz speaks from a fresh couple months of marriage. We hope this episode will help you to hold your preconceived notions with open hands, ready to receive the reality that God has in store for you.
God shows up in the big and small events of our life. He showed up big for Andrea on the day of her father's funeral and for Lizz on her wedding day. This episode dives into the unexpected abundance of Jesus' love in pivotal days of our life. We hope it will reignite the excitement to look for how the Lord is pursuing you with unexpected abundance in your everyday life. We are so excited to be back on this journey with you!
In this episode, we reflect on the journey of our podcast thinking about where we are and where we have been. We began this journey during COVID and we promised to create a space that encouraged you and made you constantly aware of how God is pursuing your heart. We prayed that, you would be awakened and on the look out for sweet kisses that our Lord gives to you each day. It is our most sincere hope that we have both created a space and encouraged you to enter into the intentional love of God. We don't know where the Lord will take us and who knows, maybe we will be back one day, but for now we will lay our podcast to rest. Thank you for listening and loving us so well!
Season 5 Finale! We could tell stories for days that recount all the ways we have encountered the faithfulness of God. For the sake of the episode, we just pick a few! St. Paul tells us in Corinthians, "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." In this final episode of the season, we talk about how God has been faithful in material and relational ways in our lives. We also tell of the journeys we are on knowing He will continue His good work to completion. We pray this episode leads you to recall the ways that God has been faithful in your life and we encourage you to share these glory stories with others.
Upon reflecting on the state of one's heart in relationship to Jesus, the image of clay continued to be present. Like in Jeremiah 18:1-6, we must go to the Potter's house and allow him to fix any part of us that has been spoiled and remain pliable to his skilled hands. In this episode, we discuss properties of clay we should try to imitate, the necessity of suffering, and the importance of the journey to become the final vessel.
This episode continues to explore the story of the hemorrhaging woman but goes a little further to include the story of Jairus and his little girl being raised from the dead. In order for us to be able to encounter others, we must first allow ourselves to be encountered by God. The key to allowing ourselves be encountered by God is simple: embracing our poverty (need for Jesus) and opening our hearts to a posture of receptivity. We expand on these points as well as some of the obstacles we face in our lives that make it hard to us to be encountered by God.
This week, while Lizz is in Peru on a mission trip, we have the special treat of having Rachael White (Lizz's Mom) join us on the podcast! Together we discuss how Jesus models for us how to encounter others by meandering through the story of the hemorrhaging woman in Mark 5.
The woman comes to Jesus desperate for healing after years of pain and no answers. Not only does Jesus offer her healing, he also restores her soul and dignity with tenderness and kindness. May we offer those around us the same gifts.
This is a wonderful discussion between two mothers whose friendship has been woven together by God. Rachael has been an elementary teacher for 30 years and is the mother of 4 amazing children. She also gives us a great story about how Lizz came into the world!
If our lives are suppose to model the life of Jesus, then why does the god of efficiency get served constantly? Jesus was inefficient in His mission. He lived gently. This involved sacrifice and initiation but His life was rightly ordered. In this episode, we discuss how to embrace gentleness in your life and avoid anxious toil.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest- Matthew 11:28
As we return with Season 5, we kickoff reflecting on the story of Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). We are struck with Peter's passion and his ability do impossible things as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus. In this episode, we reflect on the things that distract us from Jesus, checking in on the disposition of our hearts, and what the "other guys" in the boat might be thinking as this scene pans out.
Often times we run a lot faster than our souls want to run, which causes us to push away our needs and ignore the ache that we feel. Jesus was doing similar things in our hearts so in this episode, we talk about the ache, how to avoid numbing it, and the importance of carving out time for Jesus (especially in the holiday seasons.)
We have been on many adventures this season and we thank you, our darlings, for journeying with us. Until next season!
St. Francis said that it is in giving that we receive. Serving our neighbor is a love for both of us. It allows us to come out of ourselves and see not only the poverty of our brother but our own life as well. In this episode, we talk about material and spiritual poverty, share stories of serving our fellow brothers and sisters, and call our listeners to think about the disposition of your heart while serving.
In the beginning, we were created with one desire which was to serve God with all our heart, mind, and strength, but the fall led to shattered desires and fragmented lives. For us to return to holiness (wholeness) we need to strive to live lives that are integrated. In this episode, we discuss the importance of allowing your faith to spill into all aspects of your life and the freedom that comes from Jesus being your only desire.
"The heart’s thirst and the body’s longing cannot be eliminated; thus, man unknowingly stretches out in search of the Infinite." Pope Benedict
This week Lizz is interviewed on her experience attending a course this summer on theology of the body. She dives into the restoration of eros and unpacks why the deep restless ache within our hearts never goes away. There are also some practical tips on how to start forming your heart and mind to fall more in love with Jesus and see Him as your Lover.
resources:
TOB Institute: https://tobinstitute.org/
Podcast: Ask Christopher West
Book: Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West
https://www.amazon.com/Theology-Body-Beginners-Rediscovering-Meaning/dp/1635820073
"This is the moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities - what we value, what we want, what we seek - and to commit to act in our daily life on what we have dreamed of."
In the midst of going through COVID, God brought the book Let Us Dream by Pope Francis into Andrea's life. The book is broken up into three sections: a time to see, a time to choose and a time to act. This book helped usher in the journey of Andrea discovering the cry of her deep heart. In this episode, Andrea is interviewed about her journey with the book, what she took away, and how our listeners can begin the journey of discovering the cries of their deep heart. Link to purchase book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/let-us-dream-pope-francis/1137580629
An icon is something to be viewed as a window into heaven that leads us to anticipate what is to come while an idol turns us in toward ourselves and consumes our worship. In this episode, we talk about the difference between icons and idols. We then give you a tangible example through a dive into beauty, wonder, and awe.
Link to document mentioned in podcast: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20020824_ratzinger-cl-rimini_en.html
"The light shines in the darkness and the light has not overcome it. " John 1:5
This litany was born out of a need for freedom. It speaks truth over places that we feel too ashamed to bring to the light and gives you the language to not let darkness overcome you. In this episode, we share the litany of healing in sexual addiction, talk about our own experiences with discovering distortions in our perception of our gift of sexuality, and speak into the goodness of our desires for intimacy. Please use this litany to pray through spaces of your own heart and share it with women in your life so they may do the same. We pray that this episode blesses you!
The litany of truth was born out of a low point in Sr. Faustina's prayer life. Jesus said to her "I don't want your 'yes' to go to a bunch of circumstances. I want you to give it to me. I don't want your trust to be in the safe realm of your understanding, but in Me." In this episode, we discuss our journey with the litany of trust, the parts that are piercing our hearts, and how we can use litanies as a tool for transformation. And we just laugh a lot!
Litany of Trust
https://sistersoflife.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mobile-Litany-of-Trust.pdf
Interview with Sr. Faustina
https://eventhesparrow.com/the-incredible-story-behind-the-litany-of-trust/
Our first reaction when reading the litany of humility was one of resistance. There was wrestling that happened in both our hearts. Through praying this litany, God wants to invite us into freedom from desires and fears that are not necessary if you are living in the truth. In this episode, we reflect on the litany of humility. The challenging and freeing parts of the prayer and how it has played a role in our lives.
Link to the litany: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/litany-of-humility-245
Welcome back, our darlings! We can't wait to invite you all into the movements of our hearts and what Jesus has taught us since we last talked.
In this episode, we give all our listeners a few highlights from our summer and share a couple things that we learned. Lizz talks about deeper trust in God's providence, intimacy with Jesus and how marriage is meant to be a window into heaven. Andrea talks about indifference, restoration in her relationship with her Father, and idol of rightness. We hope this podcast will get you thinking and hungry for more as we dive into Season 4.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21
Welcome to our last episode of Season 3! We have been so blessed to be on this journey with you through Romans 12. We end our journey reflecting on finding peace rather than taking revenge. The gift of forgiveness always allows us to sit in places of peace no matter how our circumstances or the people around us respond.
Thanks for another great season!
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” Romans 12:15-16
In this episode we talk about the power of entering into vulnerable, shared spaces with others. We invite you into areas of our lives that are still difficult such as having control and pride. You also learn practical tips for holding space as someone shares experiences in times of mourning and rejoicing. These shared moments create strong bonds and great harmony amidst the body of Christ, so lean into them and do not be afraid.
"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." Romans 12:14
Welcome to the 400 level class on persecution. This verse calls us to something bold. In this episode we discuss the importance of asking Jesus to reveal the ways that we persecute Him on a daily basis, some thoughts on why people persecute others, and how to respond in moments of persecution.
"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. " Romans 12:13
The gift of hospitality is wonderful to receive, requires practice, and can lead to believing in the lie of needing to be perfect. In this episode, we discuss how to respond and anticipate people's needs and our experience with hospitality.
"Never be lacking in zeal but maintain your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope. Patient in affliction. Faithful in prayer." Romans 12:11-12
In this episode, our friend Patty Hanna is back to invite us into her journey as she gets ready to become a full member of the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. She shares her deep zeal for her faith and what has been refreshing to her on her journey. We redefine zeal as a responsiveness to the call of the Lord with St. Joseph as our model and continue to talk about the importance of intimacy with Christ.
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:9-10
We cannot love sincerely without being taught by Love himself, God. This episode we discuss what is sincere love, the importance of being taught how to love sincerely by spending time with Jesus, and honoring our brother and sisters by knowing their inherent dignity as children of God.
What is love? Peter Kreeft
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=9375
"For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully."
Romans 12:4-8
In this episode, we talk about the importance of serving the body of Christ out of our gifts, which builds up the body of Christ and refreshes the soul. We give three pointers of how to determine your gifts and common lies we fall in to regarding our gifts.
" For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." Romans 12:3
This episode invites us all to reject the standard of perfection that is impossible to reach and step into freedom. We can begin to see ourselves with sober judgement through greater humility. Take time to pray through the Litany of Humility and hear relateable struggles in Lizz and Andrea's life regarding humility.
Litany of Humility Link: https://ascensionpress.com/pages/litany-of-humility
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2
Its is easy to fall into the pattern of the world, which is unkind and unpredictable; instead, let us conform our minds to the pattern of God, which is one of consistency and kindness. In this episode, we discuss how to conform our minds to Christ, discover patterns of the world we each have conformed to, and why it is imperative we have renewed minds.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." Romans 12:1
In a culture where our bodies seem to be in a constant state of attack, it becomes difficult to view our bodies as a gift from God and for God. In this episode we discuss how we can offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, the gift that our bodies are, and how we can take care of them.
Last season we discussed all the ways Jesus is the perfect lover! In this season, we will discover how to live out that relationship through a transformed life with Christ by journeying through Romans 12. We must live lives transformed in Christ. We were not meant to live according to a "to do" list but rather to live a life filled with truth, beauty, and goodness.
In this episode, we cast vision for Season 3 and set the foundation of how to live a life transformed in Christ.
To love is to "will the good of another." Love is not void of suffering and can sometimes be given to us in the ways that we don't anticipate. Our perception of what would be loving for God to do is sometimes incorrect because we lack eternal perspective.
In the final episode of the season, we talk about the greatest fruit of the spirit- love! Everything builds up to this story where Jesus shows that He can conquer death. The story plays out in an unexpected way. Jesus delays going to Mary and Martha, He weeps with them, and then uses the death of his friend to display the glory of God. We talk about the areas of our own lives that have not played out how we anticipated but have turned out to be great testimonies to Christ's love.
Thank you for journeying with us through this season of adventures and we look forward to growing with you more next season!
"Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing."- John 15:4
In the midst of chaos sometimes you need to take a pause and reorient yourself toward heaven. This episode was recorded while we were reclaiming our joy by remembering what we love and who we are loved by. A branch detached from the vine will soon die, so we need to stop trying to produce our own fruit and let God do the work.
https://www.arisemydarlingpodcast.com/
“The more our soul is peaceful and tranquil, the more God is reflected in it, the more His image expresses itself in us, the more His grace acts through us.” -Fr. Jacques Philippe
In John 6:15-21, Jesus walks on the water toward the disciples in a storm. The disciples are afraid and at first don't recognize Jesus. Jesus tells the men to not be afraid and as soon as they invited Jesus into the boat, the storm ceased. We must invite Jesus into the areas of our lives that are chaotic and let Him be the bringer of peace. Fight for your peace!
We are delighted to have Lizzy Joslyn on as our guest this episode. Please feel free to follow her on social media @ell_jayyyy and check out her blog: https://thewholetruth.constantcontactsites.com/blog
Jesus is the perfect lover.
In John 5, we are lead through a gospel invitation and asked the ultimate question- Do you wish to be made well? We are invited to ponder that question and determine if we really want to live a life with Christ at the center or just a part. This is the truth:
| We were made for relationship
| That relationship was broken by sin
| Jesus is the answer because He restores the relationship between divinity and humanity
| We are invited to make Jesus the center of our lives
| We then live a life with Christ
So... Do you wish to be made well?
Jesus is Kind. Jesus has Self-Control. Jesus is Patient.
Jesus is Gentle. Jesus is Faithful. Jesus is Good.
Jesus is the perfect lover.
“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. -John 4:50
Jesus heals the official's son with only His words and the Roman soldier believes Him. The Roman soldier has faith in Jesus and Jesus follows through with his promises, showing to the official His faithfulness. In this episode, we dive into the topics of how we see Jesus display his faithfulness in our lives, how we can restore faith and how God's faithfulness call us to action.
Jesus is Kind. Jesus has Self-Control. Jesus is Patient. Jesus is Gentle. Jesus is Faithful.
Jesus is the perfect lover.
"Jesus shakes the Samaritan woman out of her immersion in the corruptible goods of the world, then out of her allegiance to even those noble necessities that are religions, in order to open her mind and heart to the uncontrollable, unlimited mystery that is God." -Bishop Barron
In this episode, we speak into the gentleness of Jesus as He breaks through the walls to get to the woman's heart. There are great parallels between this story and the story of Nicodemus. Even though the woman at the well is a sinner that has been shunned by her own people, her transformed heart moves her to action which captivates the souls of her town and draws them to Christ.
Jesus is Kind. Jesus has Self-Control. Jesus is Patient. Jesus is Gentle.
Jesus is Patient.
In John 3, we see Nicodemus come to Jesus with questions and curiosity. Jesus greets him and patiently begins to not only answer his questions but reveal to him the greater things of God's kingdom.
Often we also need Jesus to patiently walk us through the greater things of God's kingdom. He is always patient with us but we also need to learn to be patient with him and his plan for our lives. We may find that His patient plan is substantially better than our plans for instant gratification.
Jesus is Kind. Jesus has Self-Control. Jesus is Patient.
Jesus is the perfect lover.
When you read this story in John 2:13-25, self-control might not be the first fruit of the spirit that you think of, but as we dive in deeper into the cleansing of the temple we see that Jesus acts out of love with self-control. This week we discuss the difference between reacting and responding, areas of our lives we have had to exercise self-control, and how self-control is ultimately an act of love.
Jesus is kind. Jesus has self-control.
Jesus is the perfect lover.
As we walk through the fruits of the spirit in Galatians, we see how Jesus exemplifies all these fruits through stories in the Gospel of John. We first see Jesus' kindness on full display at the Wedding of Cana. He invites the servants in to the miracle and elevates their humble gift of water to wine, he cares for his family to prolong the celebration, and obeys the wishes of his mother. Mary is an excellent role model for us in this story as she reminds us to expect Jesus to respond with kindness.
Jesus is kind.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly." John 10:10
Jesus promises us an abundant life and yet many of us are not taking Him up on His offer. What would our lives look like if we were living abundantly like Christ wants us to? In this episode, we share our thoughts on the thieves that try to take us away from the Good Shepherd, how we can live in abundance, and why doing less leads to more when it comes to Jesus.
We are sheep that wander around not knowing where to go and our Lord looks at us tenderly and says come follow me, my darling!
We may be little, insignificant servants in the eyes of a world motivated by efficiency, control, and success. But when we realize that God has chosen us from all eternity, sent us into the world as the blessed ones, handed us over to suffering, can’t we then also trust that our little lives will multiply themselves and be able to fulfill the needs of countless people? - Henri NouwenJesus does not just let His apostles sit and listen to him teach and then remain sitting. He invites them to be sent out and share the gospel with everyone. As followers of Christ, we can also believe that the Lord transforms our hearts and then asks us to share Him with others. In this episode, we talk about how we can give of ourselves to others, the importance of our presence over our product, and if death holds sting in our life.
If you want to follow along with the reading outline, please visit: https://www.arisemydarlingpodcast.com/
"The great spiritual call of the Beloved Children of God is to pull their brokenness away from the shadow of the curse and put it under the light of the blessing." Henri Nouwen
Each of us has unique blessedness, chosenness, and brokenness. In this episode, we unpack how our brokenness can be put under a blessing and aids in our ability to serve the people in our life. We both share stories of brokenness in our lives that have been healed and the deep value of inviting others into those broken spaces. We can befriend our brokenness and enter into awaited freedom that comes from healing.
Check out the website for more resources! https://www.arisemydarlingpodcast.com/
"The characteristic of the blessed ones is that, wherever they go, they always speak words of blessing. It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to call forth their beauty and truth, when you yourself are in touch with your own blessedness. The blessed one always blesses"
- Henri Nouwen*This episode we dive into how we bless others and speak into their belovedness! We also reflect on the difference between an encouragement, a compliment, and a blessing. Then some practicals of how we claim our own belovedness, become attentive to the present moment, and dive deeper into what the Lord wants us to take away from the blessings He gives us.
Be sure to use the book study outline on our website for reflection questions and to help you work through the book!* https://www.arisemydarlingpodcast.com/
"We can desire to become the Beloved only when we know that we already are the Beloved. Therefore, the first step in the spiritual life is to acknowledge with our whole being that we already have been taken." Henri NowenIn the first episode of our Life of the Beloved series, we discuss how we get in touch with our chosenness when we are surrounded by rejections, the places that remind us of our deepest identity, and how we celebrate our chosenness.
An outline for the book series is available to walk through this series with others or to reflect on the chapters more individually. Visit our new website to download a copy on our Resources page.
www.arisemydarlingpodcast.com
Welcome back, Darlings to Season 2. As Andrea and I were catching up, we kept exclaiming that God is SOOO GOOOD! Our Lord pursues us even during a pandemic. Both of us had some major shifts in our lives since the last episode and God has showed up in some big ways. In this episode, we share some much needed updates about support raising, life as a missionary, and Andrea becoming Catholic during the pandemic.
We also announced that during episodes 2-5 we will be walking through "Life of the Beloved" by Henri Nouwen in a 4-week book study so feel free to read along or just listen to the conversation! We think both will touch your hearts!
Here is a link to purchase the Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen if you want to read the book and then listen to the discussion. We will also make a book study outline available on our Facebook page if you want to discuss it in your small group.
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Beloved-Spiritual-Living-Secular/dp/0824519868
Why does the idea of spiritual warfare make us uncomfortable? James 4:6-8 tells us "'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." The spiritual battle is real and we need to learn to do battle. In this episode we spend time allowing God to use the prophetic imagination we introduced last week, to walk us through our soul house. This is a precious place in each of us and Patty shares with us her journey of overcoming oppression in her life by allowing Jesus to transform her own soul house.
She also offers us further thoughts and a challenge regarding long standing racial issues in America. Below are a list of resources she recommends.
- A Resource Guide for Anti-Racism - Being an Educated Ally for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC): https://theglitterguide.com/2020/05/30/resource-guide-for-anti-racism-being-an-educated-ally-for-poc/
- Do your own research to learn about and follow BIPOC leaders at all levels and in multiple areas of life. Twitter is very useful for this as it allows you to make lists to categorize people you follow. I created list for BIPOC and follow BIPOC politicians, educators, scholars, theologians, etc.
- Be slow to judge, divide, react, speak, and enter the conversation - especially if you are new to it and/or are just starting this journey. It is a long journey, not a hobby. Jesus tells us to count the cost before we start something. Count the cost before your start this journey. It may cost you more than you are willing to pay. You need to be honest with yourself about that. You will encounter new ideas, new perspectives, and many, MANY things that disrupt your worldview, your identity, and potentially unexamined aspects of your faith. Don't embark on a journey like this alone. Find Christian communities committed to or already on this journey so that you're not processing this in isolation.
This will be our last episode for season 1. We will be taking a break over the summer! Please pray for Lizz as she is currently pursuing full-time support raising with FOCUS ministries. In the fall, she will be serving at Indiana University as a full-time missionary to campus. Here is a link to learn more about her ministry.
https://www.focus.org/missionaries/lizz-white
As a child, our imagination is treasured and encouraged. As we become older, it is often discouraged and left uncultivated. The Lord has given us our imagination as a gift to enter more deeply into prayer with Him. He wants to take us to safe, sweet places in our mind if we allow Him. On this episode, we are joined by our dear friend Dr. Patty Hanna-Woodley who has a deep love for Walter Brueggemann and his concept of the prophetic imagination. Patty utilizes prophetic imagination to dive more deeply into scripture and find Jesus in difficult spaces. She also shares her thoughts on current events happening in our country.
"It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination." ~Walter Brueggemann
Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann: https://www.amazon.com/Prophetic-Imagination-2nd-Walter-Brueggemann/dp/0800632877
"My life goes on in endless song
Above earth´s lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation"- How Can I Keep From Singing
Music has the power to transport us into a thin space closer to heaven. All of creation was created like the intricate lines of a large orchestration. Music has the ability to draw us closer to God and His people. We are excited to have our first guest speaker on who has a deep heart for ministry and music: Francesca LaRosa. Francesca shares the language of her heart to the world through writing and composing her own music with Jesus. Together the three of us discuss our passion for music and how it continues turn our hearts to the Lord.
Check Out Francesca's music on any music platform!!
Link to her website: https://www.francescalarosa.com
Link to her Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4B46dclAwL1xaiDivrDdig?si=QpNyuAeSTvCHgSLTBNamRw
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (Luke 1:46-55). These are the words of Mary’s magnificat. It is the sharing of all the goodness and love that God has poured into our hearts with our brothers and sisters in Christ. In a world that wants to minimize the role of God in our lives, magnificat invites us to magnify Christ. When we invite God into our hearts and give Him our fiat then we cannot help but proclaim His goodness to the world. In this episode, we share the ways we have magnified God in our own lives and the ways the Evil One tries to keep us from sharing Christ with others. Let us have a heart like Mary that invites, responds, and proclaims!
As we continue with Part 2 of our 3 part series, we dive deeper into Mary's yes or in Latin Fiat! Mary's response to the Angel Gabriel is "Behold I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your word." (Luke 1:38). Fiat in Latin translates to "let it be done." Mary offers her yes to the Lord with a limited understanding of all it will cost her and models for us a heart of trust that does not need all the facts before she is willing to trust God. In this episode, we share stories about our deep love for Mary's fiat and ways that we have tried to imitate it in our own lives. By modeling our hearts after Mary, we discover her deep dependence on God, her freedom in saying yes, and her submissive spirit to the will of the Lord. How can we give God our unconditional Fiat, my darlings?
Mary presents us with three invitations to discover her heart. The first one is Ecce, which is Latin for behold. The first words of Mary's response to the Angel Gabriel are "Behold I am the handmaiden of the Lord" (Luke 1:38). With these words she is saying, "Here I am Lord, I make myself available to you." Mary, a young girl, opens her hands to the Lord because she knows that He is a good Father and trusts in His provisions. How often do we relinquish control in our life without knowing all the details? How often are we proud of our independence when God asks us to be dependent on Him? In this episode, we dive into the heart of Mary and the freedom of giving control back to God. By modeling our hearts after Mary, we discover her deep dependence on God and her submissive spirit to the will of the Lord.
"Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32) The disciples on the road to Emmaus had to journey from their head to their heart in order to encounter Christ. We are also asked to make this journey. Someone once said that the longest journey that you will take is the one between your head and your heart. When knowledge becomes experience it allows us to share the way that Christ is working in our own lives each day. In this episode, we discuss how to build the bridge or fun slide :) between the head and the heart, what might get in the way of this, and the importance of sharing this heart knowledge with others. Everyone has something to bring to the table when it comes to sharing Christ with the world.
Now more than ever as Christians we must strive to be a united force and focus on a message of unity in Christ. Acts 2:44 says "The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common" In this episode, we share how our diverse faith backgrounds have blessed each other and we encourage our darling listeners to rally together with other Christians to be of one heart and share the love of Christ with the world.
In Song of Songs 2:10-13, we are invited into the passionate adventure of the resurrection life. "Arise my darling, my beautiful one, and come!" Join Lizz and Andrea as they reflect on the Lent and Easter season and how Jesus has invited them into this grand adventure!
My darlings, welcome to the first episode of our new podcast! We are so glad you are here! Did you know we have a Father in heaven who is passionately pursuing all his children and wants to shower them with an abundance of love? It's true! Join us as we share how God has pursued us and awakened us to the Sweet Kisses of our Lord. They are simply everywhere once we awaken to His love! Oh, and we laugh a lot too!