Episodes

  • Permission to Rest

    Permission to Rest
    Jun 29 2026

    Today we’re talking about something many of us desperately need but often struggle to receive: permission to rest.

    For some of us, rest feels uncomfortable. We can sit down, but our minds keep running. We can take a day off, but guilt follows us. We tell ourselves we’ll rest when the work is finished, the house is clean, the goals are met, or everyone else is taken care of.

    The problem is that for many of us, rest has become something we believe must be earned rather than received.

    But what if rest was never meant to be a reward for productivity?

    What if rest is actually a gift from God—a declaration that your worth is not determined by your performance?

    From the very beginning, God built rhythms of rest into creation. He didn’t create us to live in a constant state of striving, proving, producing, and achieving. He created us with limits, needs, and a deep dependence on Him.

    Today we’ll explore why we resist rest, what Scripture teaches about Sabbath and surrender, and how learning to rest may be one of the most powerful ways we declare our trust in God.

    Because rest isn’t weakness.

    Rest is worship.

    And perhaps the permission you’ve been waiting for is the permission God has already given.

    Here to There: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World https://a.co/d/0aOlRUBh
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    33 mins
  • The Power of Permission

    The Power of Permission
    Jun 22 2026

    Most of us are waiting for permission in ways we don’t even realize. Permission to rest. Permission to say no. Permission to be honest. Permission to belong. Permission to make mistakes. Permission to be human.

    Somewhere along the way, many of us began living from performance instead of freedom, striving instead of grace, perfection instead of authenticity. We learned to measure our worth by what we accomplish, how well we perform, or what others think of us.

    But what if the life God intended for us was never meant to be lived that way?

    In this episode, we’re exploring what permission really is, where it comes from, and how it has the power to change the way we live, lead, love, and relate to God. Because permission isn’t about lowering the standard—it’s about living from the security of knowing who you are and whose you are.

    Here to there: Portable Sauna for Homehttps://a.co/d/066auNZD
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    30 mins
  • Stories that Inspire!

    Stories that Inspire!
    Dec 8 2025

    Join Chelsey, Brandy, Keisha, and Tonya at the table today as we wrap the season with stories that inspire and move us!

    What's for Dinner? https://mixandmatchmama.com/2022/10/pumpkin-sausage-lasagna/

    Here to There: Favorite Things Party

    https://mixandmatchmama.com/2025/12/tips-for-hosting-your-own-recipe-exchange-favorite-things-party-2/
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    28 mins
  • The Story Your Life is Telling

    The Story Your Life is Telling
    Dec 1 2025

    Join us at the table today as we talk Parables.

    By definition, a parable is a short story that illustrates moral or spiritual lessons. They are often used to make complex ideas simple and relatable. Jesus was a fan of the parable! He used all manner of natural means to illuminate supernatural truths. Mustard seeds, vines and branches, yeast, lamps, wages,wine skins, prodigal sons, and fishing nets to name a few. And why? Why would Jesus bother to take time to turn these everyday ordinary stories into teaching moments? Parablesshow that God meets us right where we are and connects with us in our everyday lives to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways. Let that digest for a moment! The Godof all the universe wants you to know Him personally andpersonal relationship can transform how we view ordinary experiences, making them meaningful. You want toknow the craziest part of all? Have you ever considered that your life itself might be the greatest parable God shares with the world? According to 2 Corinthians 5:20, We are Christ’s ambassadors, which means God is making His appeal to others through us.

    This means the story of your life could be the only Bible someone ever reads.What's for Dinner?

    Easy Weeknight Meat Sauce with Gnocchi

    https://mixandmatchmama.com/2025/09/easy-weeknight-meat-sauce-with-gnocchi/

    Here to There

    Sourdough Bread https://alexandracooks.com/2019/04/17/easy-sourdough-sandwich-or-toasting-bread/
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    35 mins
  • Let's Talk About it: Sex, Shame, and the Stories We Carry

    Let's Talk About it: Sex, Shame, and the Stories We Carry
    Nov 24 2025
    Join us at the table today from Courage Conference as we examine story work in sexuality within the scope of marriage. The goal of this breakout session is to speak language around our experience of sex in a healthy and safe space, and to bring integration to the parts of us that have been left fragmented, confused, and even paralyzed by our own personal histories, traumas, and cultural world views. Please, seek the help of a professional therapist for trauma related to sex that is beyond the scope of this podcast. Your voice matters! Discussion Questions: 1. How was the idea and design of sex first introduced to you? What language was used?2. We all recall our first sexual encounter. a. How old were you? b. What was happening? c. How did this make you feel? d. How did this shape your view of sexuality? 3. What language do you currently use around sex? Do your words demonstrate duty, delight, disinterest, or even disgust? 4. Building on question 3, what are barriers in this season of life to sexual intimacy? (Poor self-image, low self-esteem, fatigue, resentment, stress, grief, past trauma, to name a few to get you started) 5. How can you build anticipation to set the stage for intimacy? 6. It’s all about intentionality, especially when you have littles at home. What are ways that you and your spouse can set apart needed time for intimacy? 7. For many women, sex can take lower priority with so many other things screaming for attention. On a scale of 1-10 what is the priority of sex for you? 9. Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. Proverbs 5:15-19. SPICY! Sex is play! Where have patterns of intimacy become routine or mechanical rather than playful and stimulating? What are ways this interaction can change? Prayer: Lord, you are the creator of sex and intimacy. Blessthe sexuality of this marriage and protect us from apathy, disappointment, busyness, disinterest, and unforgiveness that result in the dryness and failure of many marriages. Keep us pure and close the door to anything lustful or illicit that seeks to encroach upon our intimacy and take away anyone who would incite temptation to infidelity. Deliver us from the bondage of past sexual experiences and the effects of past mistakes that hinder a healthy view of sex in the present. Show us how to make sex new, playful, and alive that we would never seek to fulfill our sexual desires elsewhere. Open doors of communication between my spouse and I to express our needs, desires and emotions, prior to sex that we would come to experience wholeness and enjoyment duringsex. And, help us to never use sex as a tool of manipulation, but to understand it as an act of loving surrender - one that reflects the deeper surrender and intimacy that Christ desires with His bride, the church. Amen!Resources: The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality, Sam Joelman https://a.co/d/aj7paOkMaking Sense of Your Story, Adam Young https://a.co/d/1Kua3k4⁠Two Become One, Antonios Kaldas https://a.co/d/4Wo07Ad⁠The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of ChildhoodSexual Abuse, Dan Allendarhttps://a.co/d/e6I9ATz⁠Boys and Sex, Peggy Orenstein https://a.co/d/2dr7xm4⁠Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing, Jay Stringer ⁠https://a.co/d/hbhPnmCHere to There: Wild at Heart, Prayer for SexualHealing Prayer for Sexual Healing | Wild At Heart⁠What’s for Dinner: Keiaha’s homemade pasta noodles. Easy Homemade Pasta - Without a Pasta Machine - Nicky's Kitchen Sanctuary⁠
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    40 mins
  • Inheriting the Story

    Inheriting the Story
    Nov 17 2025
    Join the ATG team at the table today as week reframe legacy from the Biblical idea that your story is for God’s glory. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Eph 2:10 NLTWhat's for Dinner: https://www.food.com/recipe/weight-watchers-taco-soup-213785Here to there: https://tartecosmetics.com/products/maracuja-juicy-plumping-lip-oilResources: The Fix: How the Twelve Steps Offer aSurprising Path of Transformation for the Well-Adjusted, the Down-and-Out, and Everyone In Between, Ian Morgan Cron https://a.co/d/3wzBkSy⁠Making Sense of Your Story, Adam Young https://a.co/d/1Kua3k4⁠⁠Therapy and Theology⁠ Podcast Discussion Questions: 1. Take a look back. Some of your story began before you took your first breath. Share some experiences fromyour family of origin. a. How did your parents meet? b. What is your birth story? c. How did you come to receive your name?d. What was your home like growing up? e. As a child what made you feel safe? And what made you feel scared? 2. Take a look around. Who is the person that greets you in the mirror each day? Let’s ask her some questions to get tothe root of who she is. a. Ian Cron says one of the most informativequestions that we can ask is, what is it like to experience me? Ask this to someone trusted to give an honest answer. b. Name a situation, location, or relationship that leaves you dysregulated and over-stimulated. What is going on in the scene and what is it that creates a spiral of negative emotions and reactions? c. In this season, what is your deepest desire and your deepest disappointment? d. Everything we do illuminates or obscures the character of God. What is your greatest challenge currently? How are you responding to thischallenge? 3. Take a look forward. It’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish. On every page, the Bible proclaims againand again that God wastes NOTHING! a. How do you want to be remembered? The nudge here is to write your eulogy. Or, if that seems too morbid to you, write what you would want those who know you best to say about you behind your back! b. What steps of intentionality can you make to become the you that you desire to be? c. If you could accomplish one meaningful goal for Christ, without the possibility of failure, what would you do? d. So why aren’t you doing it? (see previous question) 4. Let this sink deep for a moment… The God of the Universe knew at this time in history that the world needed a YOU! (insert your name). You have been created for good works planned long ago. There is nothing past or present thatdisqualifies you from that! Prayer:Lord, I am humbled that you saw fit to not only give me life but gave my life a purpose. My small narrative wrapped inyour larger one. A story You wrote long before anyone here on earth caught a glimpse of my existence. Forgive me where I have squandered this story and wasted opportunity to know you and make you known. Forgive me when I havechosen comfort over intentionality. Forgive me when I have gotten sidetracked with things unessential to Your purpose. Thank you for never leaving me even in the darkest of night! You were there, with glimmer of new mercies every morning. Ineed you, Lord, to remind me that You waste nothing, and help me to see that though I don’t understand it, in your hands, it’s worth it! Lord, bring wholeness to this story,generations depend on it! Open the eyes of my heart to know the hope of my calling and help me to see myself as You do… I am chosen! I am redeemed! I am Yours! I am a masterpiece! May my greatest expression of gratitude for thislife be to honor You living it with integrity, intentionality, and wonder! I invite you now to work Your artistic design and use this story for Your glory! Amen! Guide for Further Discussion:
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    32 mins
  • Story Work: Real Time Real Talk

    Story Work: Real Time Real Talk
    Nov 10 2025

    Join The ATG team at the table today as get down to business with story work in real time.

    What's for Dinner:

    Herb Pork Loin https://asimplepantry.com/herbed-mayonnaise-roasted-pork-loin/

    Here to There:

    LMNT Electrolytes https://a.co/d/ah6sEbZ
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    37 mins
  • Roadblocks to Story Work

    Roadblocks to Story Work
    Nov 3 2025

    Welcome to the table with Chelsey, Brandy, Keisha, and Tonya as we reframe roadblocks to story work.

    What's for Dinner:

    Roast Beef Sliders

    https://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/roast-beef-sliders-with-caramelized-onions/a9aa516e-b3b6-4453-8782-f3ff9d415e19

    Here to There:

    Ninja CREAMi https://a.co/d/h6Idz9I
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    35 mins