Perspectives Into Practice: How to Walk with God in Real Life: Faith in Practice & Spiritual Growth

There's a difference between knowing about God and actually learning to walk with Him. You can know the language of faith. You can go to church, listen to sermons, believe in Jesus, and know what you're supposed to do, while still feeling like you're trying to perform Christianity correctly. My new friend Amanda describes herself as a “baby Christian,” even though Jesus has been part of her story for most of her life. At 51, something shifted.Amanda describes it as moving from being a believer to becoming a disciple. In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, Amanda and I talk about what changed when she stopped trying to come to Jesus the way she thought she was supposed to and started learning how to build an honest, personal relationship with Him. For years, Amanda relied heavily on other people to help her understand Scripture and tell her what it meant for her life. But as she began learning how to read and study the Bible for herself, pray differently, pause, listen, and seek God's direction, her relationship with Him began to change. She started realizing that she could bring her questions directly to God.She could search Scripture.She could pray for clarity.She could wait when an answer didn't come immediately.And she could make decisions with greater confidence because she was learning to recognize God's voice and bring everything back to His Word. We also talk about Amanda discovering later in life that she is neurodivergent and how understanding the way her brain works helped her stop trying to experience faith exactly like everyone else.Her relationship with Jesus didn't need to look exactly like someone else's.Neither does yours.Amanda uses a picture I love: let God drive the boat. That sounds great when the water is calm. It's a little harder when God changes direction, life doesn't look the way we expected, or we're making a decision and can't see where He's taking us. But Amanda is learning that she doesn't have to grab the wheel every time the direction changes.She can trust the One driving. In this episode, we discuss: The difference between knowing about God and walking with Him Moving from simply believing to actively following Jesus Building a personal relationship with Jesus Learning to read and understand Scripture for yourself Taking questions back to God's Word Praying, pausing, and listening for God's direction Waiting when God doesn't immediately give you an answer Using outside resources without replacing Scripture Recognizing God's voice in everyday life Making decisions with biblical confidence Learning how God created you instead of trying to copy someone else's faith Amanda's experience discovering neurodivergence later in life Finding Christian community that supports how you're wired Becoming a doer of the Word instead of only hearing it Trusting God when He changes the direction of your life Seeing fruit begin to grow from a deeper relationship with Jesus Finding God in ordinary moments Continuing to seek Jesus even when it takes longer than you expected One thing Amanda says at the end of our conversation really sums this up: Don't give up. If you've spent years believing in God but still feel like you're searching for the kind of relationship with Jesus other people talk about, keep seeking Him.You don't have to perform your way into a relationship with Jesus.Open His Word. Talk to Him. Ask questions. Pause. Listen. Find other believers who can walk alongs...

What do you do when you know God is leading you, but you still have no idea what comes next? That messy middle can be hard. You know He's working. You know He's faithful. But you still want the timeline, the details, and maybe even the whole picture before you're willing to relax. In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my new friend Dara to talk about what it looks like to trust God while the story is still unfolding.Dara is walking through a season where some of the things she's prayed about are beginning to take shape, especially in the areas of career and business, but she still doesn't know exactly how everything is going to come together. And if you're anything like us, that can be uncomfortable. We talk about impatience, wanting God to move faster, and learning to stop forcing clarity He hasn't given yet. Dara shares how God has been teaching her to fully rest in His Word, not just glance at it and move on, but truly rest in who He is and remember that He handled the last season, He can handle this one too. That kind of rest changes something.It takes away some of the pressure to make everything happen right now. We also talk about comparison and how easy it is to look at someone else's life and think they are further ahead, more successful, or somehow getting answers faster than we are. Dara shares how God has been reminding her that we are not meant to live in a hierarchy of comparison. We are connected to one another, but we are each walking the path God has given us. And sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is pause.Pause long enough to hear Him.Pause long enough to evaluate what we're carrying.Pause long enough to ask whether we're moving with God or just moving because we're afraid to stop. In this episode, we discuss: Trusting God when you don't know what comes next Living faithfully in the messy middle Resting in God's Word instead of forcing clarity Trusting God's timing in career and business decisions Letting go of impatience and anxiety Remembering God's faithfulness from previous seasons Building rhythms of prayer and Scripture into everyday life Learning to recognize God's guidance one step at a time Trusting God as a good Father Comparing ourselves to others and staying in our own lane Why community matters when we're trying to discern what God is doing Taking a pause before life forces us to stop Using self-assessment to realign with God's will Letting God lead an unfinished story Friend, maybe you're in the middle of your own unfinished story right now. You don't have all the answers.You don't know how it's going to work out.And maybe God isn't asking you to figure out the entire plan.Maybe He's simply asking you to pause, notice where He is, trust who He is, and take the next step He puts in front of you. Take a moment and ask yourself where you're rushing, where you're comparing, where you're exhausted, and where God may be asking you to slow down and come back into alignment with Him. You can learn more about Dara and connect with her at 12CupsofGrace.com. And if you're looking for a place to share what God is doing while you're still living the story, come join us inside The Story Haven. It's a free community where we share the real, right-now stories of what God is doing, encourage one another, and build genuine relationships as we walk it out together. Join us at TheStoryHaven.net or search The Story Haven in the App Store or Google Play. If God is doing something in y...

What happens when you're tired of persevering? Not when you've stopped believing in God. Not when you've decided to walk away. But when you've prayed, trusted, kept going, and finally find yourself saying, “Lord, I know You're with me, but I'm weary.” My new friend Lara knows that kind of weariness deeply.She has spent the last eight years living with a rare neurological illness that has left her mostly bedridden. During that time, she has experienced the loss of her health and career, and then the devastating loss of her husband after only a year of marriage. And this isn't a conversation from the other side of a perfectly wrapped-up testimony.Lara is still living it. In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, Lara and I talk honestly about what it looks like to continue trusting God when the suffering hasn't ended, the healing hasn't come, and you're simply tired of persevering.Lara shares about a morning when she finally told God, “I am so weary. I cannot do this anymore.” Later that same day, she opened her devotional and found Galatians 6:9: “Let us not grow weary...” It was one of many moments when God met her personally in the middle of her suffering and reminded her that He heard her. But Lara is also honest about the times when an answer didn't come. We talk about wrestling with God, asking why, grieving what has been lost, and learning that being weary doesn't mean you've failed at faith. Sometimes perseverance doesn't look like charging forward.Sometimes it looks like staying close to Jesus when you don't understand what He's doing. Lara shares how God has been teaching her to surrender the life she expected, release things that had become too important to her identity, receive His strength when she has none of her own, and trust that suffering is not wasted in His hands. We also talk about something that can feel almost impossible when you're hurting: joy and grief existing at the same time.Biblical joy doesn't require us to pretend something isn't painful. We can grieve deeply and still ask the Holy Spirit to give us a joy that doesn't depend on our circumstances. In this episode, we discuss: What to do when you're tired of persevering Bringing your weariness honestly before God Trusting God when chronic illness doesn't go away Wrestling with God when healing hasn't come Persevering through prolonged suffering Depending on God's strength instead of our own What 2 Corinthians 12:9 taught Lara about weakness and God's strength Surrendering the life you thought you would have Finding identity beyond productivity, achievement, career, and relationships Allowing God to refine us through difficult seasons Trusting that God can use suffering even when we cannot understand why Developing an eternal perspective in the middle of present suffering Making room for both grief and joy The difference between rejoicing in difficult circumstances and being thankful that suffering happened Asking the Holy Spirit for joy when you cannot create it yourself Trusting God when you're still in the middle of the story Remembering that weariness is not the same thing as failing at faith Friend, maybe you're tired too. Maybe you've been asking God the same question for years. Maybe you've watched someone else receive the answer you've desperately wanted. Maybe you're grieving a life you thought would look completely different. You don't have to hide that from Him.You can tell God you're tired.You can grieve.You can...

Have you ever looked at your circumstances and thought, “I should not have this much peace right now”? Life can be genuinely hard. We can walk through wilderness seasons where circumstances haven't changed, answers haven't come, and we don't necessarily feel joyful. But joy doesn't have to depend on life going well. In this episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I sit down with my friend Trisha to talk about what God has been teaching her about finding joy and peace in Him while walking through a difficult season. Trisha shares how God has reminded her through Deuteronomy 2 that He knows when we're walking through the wilderness. He hasn't forgotten us there. Looking back at her own season, she can see that even when life was incredibly difficult, God was with her, carrying her and providing what she needed. One Scripture became especially important to her: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” That joy didn't mean everything suddenly became easy. It wasn't pretending she wasn't hurting or forcing herself to be happy. It meant learning to draw her strength from God when she didn't have enough of her own. We talk about the difference between happiness and the kind of joy that comes from God, and some of the simple practices that have helped Trisha keep returning to Him. Sometimes it's noticing the rain she prayed for. Sometimes it's sitting still long enough to feel the wind or hear the birds. Sometimes it's writing down three things she's grateful for, laughing when life has become too serious, or staying in God's Word longer instead of giving up because she didn't immediately hear from Him. There is so much beauty around us that we can miss when we're moving too quickly. And sometimes finding God in a wilderness season begins by slowing down enough to notice that He has been there all along. In this episode, we discuss: Finding joy when your circumstances haven't changed The difference between happiness and joy in God Trusting God through a wilderness season What Deuteronomy 2 teaches us about God's presence in the wilderness Finding strength in the joy of the Lord Recognizing God's provision when life is difficult Slowing down enough to notice what God is doing Finding God in simple, ordinary moments Sitting with God instead of rushing through time with Him Persevering in Scripture when you don't immediately hear from God Choosing gratitude in difficult seasons Using laughter and gratitude to shift your perspective Being honest with God when you don't feel joyful Seeking God instead of trying to create joy in your own strength Friend, if you're walking through a wilderness season right now, you don't have to pretend that it isn't hard. You don't have to manufacture joy or make yourself feel something you don't. Go to God honestly. Tell Him where you are. Sit with Him. Stay awhile. Look around. Look back. Pay attention to the small ways He's caring for you that may be easy to miss when you're focused on everything that hasn't changed yet. Your circumstances don't have to be perfect for you to experience the goodness of God. And if you've been craving a place to walk through seasons like this with other Christian women who are learning to notice God, share what He's doing, and practice their faith in real life, I'd love to invite you into The Story Haven. It's a free community built around honest stories, real faith, and genuine connection. Come find your people at TheStoryHaven.net. And if God is doing something in your life right now that you feel called to share, I'd love to hear yo...

Have you ever felt God asking you to do something when you had absolutely no idea how it was going to work? That was Wholeness in the Wilderness for me. Nine months before seven women gathered together on the Southern Oregon Coast, God gave me the name for this retreat while I was walking through the redwoods and coming out of my own wilderness season. I was excited. I was ready. And then God asked me to wait. Months later, when He finally said go, I quickly realized how many pieces I couldn't see. I had no budget. No house. No registrations. I didn't know where the provision would come from or exactly who God was bringing. But I knew He had asked me to do it. In this solo episode of Perspectives Into Practice, I'm finally taking you behind the scenes of the nine months leading up to our first Wholeness in the Wilderness retreat and sharing the trail of God's fingerprints I can see now that I'm on the other side of it. And friend, there were fingerprints everywhere. God provided through people, businesses, flowers, coffee, gift bags, pizza, unexpected conversations, financial gifts, registrations, referrals, and connections I never could have orchestrated myself. He even provided the house less than a week before the retreat. One of the biggest things God taught me through all of this was that I had been praying for provision while already deciding what His provision was supposed to look like. I thought provision meant money. God showed me it could look like so much more. There were moments when I worried. I questioned. I cried. There were moments when I wondered if I had heard Him correctly and whether this thing I had said yes to was actually going to happen. But one step at a time, God kept asking me for another yes. And He kept providing the next piece. In this episode, I share: How Wholeness in the Wilderness began during my own wilderness season What Scripture taught me about God's purpose in the wilderness Why God asked me to wait months before beginning the retreat What obedience looked like when I couldn't see the whole plan How I moved forward with zero budget and zero registrations What God taught me when the provision I prayed for looked completely different than I expected The unexpected people and businesses God used to provide How a simple Facebook post about flowers led to women, relationships, and beautiful retreat experiences The story of finding the retreat house less than a week before everyone arrived The little dollar bill God winks that kept reminding me He would provide Why spiritual preparation mattered just as much as preparing the physical retreat What I can see about God's faithfulness now that I couldn't see while I was living it Why you don't need God's whole plan to give Him your next yes Here's what I want you to practice after listening. Before you spend all your energy trying to figure out what's next, look back. Who has God brought into your life? What seemingly random conversations have happened? What doors closed? Which unexpected ones opened? Where has provision already come from? What Scriptures keep coming back to you? Is it possible you've been waiting for God to answer a prayer one way while He's already answering it differently? Write those things down and ask Him: God, is there a thread I've been too close to see? Because sometimes when we're living in the middle of the story, all we see are a bunch of unrelated moments.Then we look back and realize there was a trail.God was moving the whole time. I can look back at...