Ladies in PJ's: Recent Episodes
Holly Gorbeck and Tre Murrell
Lighthearted, open discussions with Tre and Holly about life and experiences and how these might affect their relationship with God or the universe or what God means to them. Guests are invited to share their stories relating to spiritual journeys and how through mishaps - and sometimes mayhem - their spiritual relationships are stretched, lost or defined. This podcast is thought provoking and heart warming. The perfect way to spend a relaxing 30 mins (or an hour if we just can't stop chatting).
We rejoin Andy to talk about the radically inclusive, generous nature of Jesus and how this guides and impacts his work and family life. Where fighting for the badge of true Christianity can lead to moving further away from the real essence of being a Christian... cue his close scrape with an aggressive truck driver.
Why cultivating a community of trust makes all the difference in all of our lives. You can't build resilience on your own.
To record this episode the Ladies in Pyjamas actually donned their PJ’s (after all it was the evening), and recorded a chat with the fabulous Andy Malcolm - Lisa’s other half (her episodes were some of the first we recorded). It never ceases to amaze us how different everyone’s stories are. Andy’s is one of authentic and generous community. By day he is a career youth worker (his words, and yes, it is a real thing!), When he’s not working he describes himself as a SEN parent, father to his brilliant boys and husband to the lovely Lisa. We found his journey riveting and are pleased to get to share it with you too.
In this third episode with Kim, we learn more about how and why she started writing poetry. This might be very encouraging to anyone who thinks writing is beyond them! The ladies in pyjamas have the pleasure of hearing about Kim's writing process, this, of course, has a spiritual slant, it might just whet your appetite to try it for yourself! Poetry therapy with a divine twist.We also get to hear one of Kim's poems - what a complete treat!
Kim continues to share about her spiritual journey. After coming to the end of herself and, on a few profound occasions, experiencing a divine presence at work in her life - she decides to takes the plunge to follow a path of belief. Kim has a deep interest in how others interact with God and longs for this to be demystified. She discusses how Immanuel Prayer has been a useful practice in her own life and how she has developed an intimacy with God through writing poetry. What if God is the ultimate therapist?
Joining The Ladies in Pyjama's this week is Tre's wonderful friend Kim Hooper. Kim begins by telling the story of how she became aware of her own spiritual journey. From a handful of profound spiritual encounters as she grew up (which she couldn't explain away), she then went off to university to train in physiotherapy. Kim went from skepticism to learning what it is to trust, and let God encounter her through her writing and poetry.
We continue discussing some fascinating topics including Sandy’s relationships with church ‘religion’ and god. She explains how breath and non linear movement can help heal and connect you with yourself and God.
Join the Ladies in Pyjamas as we continue our conversation with the amazing Lee Giles. This conversation takes many interesting twists and turns - discussing sociology (listen in as Holly and Lee geek out), politics and why Lee currently enjoys climbing hills.
Is God middle class? Does God indeed enjoy a sweet potato... or would God rather pop down the local chippy? Will Lee make it to No 10? These questions and others may, or may not be answered, during the next 45 minutes. You will be surely left with a whole load of new questions forming in your mind. Enjoy. We did ;-)
The Ladies in Pyjamas's welcome their first male guest on the show! You're going to love meeting the totally amazing (yet very ordinary) Lee Giles. He even came keen to chat about his spiritual journey with his dressing gown and slippers at the ready - good man!
Lee's a great storyteller with a wonderful story to tell. He talks with a kind frankness about his life - as he describes his journey from agnosticism to encountering the supernatural. We delved into discussions about authenticity, religious culture, class and politics as well as what spirituality is coming to mean to him.
(The explicit rating is due to one swear word that I couldn't bring myself to edit out!)
Sue continues the telling of her spiritual journey as it becomes not simply hers, but her husbands too. Sue’s candour and openness in talking of the struggles and the joys of following where God’s path led, is a story of trust, risk and vulnerability. This is an absorbing retelling of events in Sue and Andy’s life, with a miraculous intervention woven in. We hope that you enjoy this final instalment of this captivating story.
Sue continues the telling of her story, as she becomes free from the dark fear that had followed her through her childhood and begins living in the beautiful expanse that God has brought her into. She shares a reading, words of an ancient song, that God used to flow into her not simply changing the world around her, but also the world inside her. Despite this amazingness of this life changing experience, her life is about to get more complicated because of it. Part 3 to follow!
Holly and Tre welcome Sue Dakin to chat about her spiritual journey of darkness to light. We discover how Tre and Sue first met, and how they bonded in the most unconventional of circumstances. Plus, how a close family members spiritual transformation helped set the scene for a epic spiritual-battle-experience to unfold in Sue's life. It's a rather gripping drama. Don't listen late at night!
We delve into some interesting topics sex, friendships, and relationships. Val tells us how her children developed their own connections with God and how god has walked alongside her own relationships.
Holly & Tre share some brilliant conversations with Val. Exploring her childhood and how she found God. Her self-confessed ‘away with the fairies’ nature protected her from some of the traumas of her earlier years but also her connection with god in her perseverance in finding out if god really was there to support her or a figment of her imagination. The guitar becomes an integral part of her journey.
We discuss books that have made helped us grow spiritually and Lisa shares a particular favourite 'The Celtic Wheel of the year; Celtic and Christian seasonal prayers by Tess Ward'. Lisa shares her love of nature and that connecting is something she like to do in the greatout doors with family and friends.
Part 1 - Tre & Holly welcome Lisa Malcolm a fascinating discussion with Lisa about her faith and spiritual journey. Lisa is all about building diverse communities and supporting those who might sometimes feel excluded from the Christian faith. Her compassion and determination to include everyone and share her faith in God whether in a church setting or simply indulging in nature.
Elizabeth tells Holly & Tre about how she now has a great balance of party, fun in harmony with her spirituality. She tells us about finding joy in all areas of her life – not having to sacrifice one for the other, but to live with God, life and fun all in one. Elizabeth loves to connect with God through music and she has shared with us her uplifting playlist. See link on our Instagram page - search ‘Ladies in Pyjamas.
Holly & Tre have fascinating discussions with Elizabeth about spiritual connection. Elizabeth talks about how she developed a deep connection with God and how is has shaped and grown her as a person. Self-confessed ‘party girl’ led competing lives and made an extraordinary connection with Jesus. She tells us of raw ups and downs and life changing moments and identity journey.
Sandy chats with Tre & Holly sharing some deep discussion about her extraordinary spiritual journey. Sandy has been many versions of herself and there isn’t much she hasn’t experienced! Her frank and open discussions are enlightening and heartfelt. Turns out God can be found anywhere even in the loo!
Welcome to Season 3 of Ladies in Pyjamas! Over the next while the ladies in Pj's will be sharing conversations they have had with some wonderfully amazing, yet ordinary friends, who have been on fascinating spiritual journeys.
Hence the naming of this season - Spiritual Journeys of Ordinary People.
We hope you enjoy listening to these conversations as much as we enjoyed having them!
In light of the recent passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the ladies in Pyjamas's reflect on a life marked by servanthood. The Queen had a deep faith and knew the guiding hand of a higher power than herself. Join us as we pay tribute and reflect on a life well-lived.
Holly has kindly offered to give Tre a reflexology session. Tre loves her feet being played with so it's an all round winner. Where does our conversation go? Holly's research dreams, the joys and pain of feedback, the joys and pain of dyslexia. Whilst Tre is having her feet treated, we remembered that Jesus had his own experience his feet being cared for. The story of dusty feet, expensive perfume, tears, hair and societal disapproval... a God who is love.
We didn't quite 'nail' the audio in this episode - using one mic during a reflexology session wasn't the best plan. Hindsight is great. We hope this doesn't hinder your listening experience too much.
In the first of their 2022 episodes Holly and Tre have been inspired to muse about joy. What is the nature of Joy? Where do we find it in our lives? Where does gratitude feature in all this?
The Ladies in PJ's chat about a documentary called 'Mission Joy', featuring the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama and how it opened up their hearts to explore more of this wonderful theme.
Joy? Sometimes it can seem so elusive.. wouldn't we all like to live in the wonders of its ongoing flow?
The Ladies in Pyjamas revisit the birth place of these indulgent conversations - Holly's lounge. Basically, it's December and the summerhouse is really cold. Tre is recovering from having a tussle with Covid as is relieved to not have to brave the arctic conditions of her garden... Holly is wondering about what we do when our connection to God seems distant? Join us as we muse on this question, share our experiences and delve into our honest stories.
Holly and Tre discuss bedtime beauty regimes or Tre's lack of one (shock horror!). Which leads us quite neatly onto what is the 'Day of the Dead'?Along with what have we experienced around Halloween. There is light at the end of the tunnel though as we talk about how we can connect to God and what that can mean for us. Join us down the rabbit hole...
We reconvene in Tre's summerhouse to spontaneously muse on some defining spiritual experiences from both the light and dark sides of the spectrum. Nothing like diving in deep! Holly rescues Tre from a big spider and the ladies in Pj's eat posh chocolates whilst Holly shares her recent experience whilst observing a rollicking roller disco. We also discover the story behind Lucy's the cat's ears.
Why are two ladies sitting in a summerhouse wearing pyjamas? How can an unexpected trampolining session affect the launch of episode one? Why does Lucy the cat have no ears?
How generous conversations around spirituality have shaped our friendship. An introduction to two friends who like to dive into the depths over a cup of posh herbal tea.