Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Next Right Thing
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
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| 379: Participate in Hope | 28 Oct 2025 | 00:10:53 | |
What does it look like for us to participate in hope? Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 378: A Rebellion of Care with David Gate | 21 Oct 2025 | 00:31:19 | |
Today I'm glad to welcome poet, writer and visual artist David Gate. His work centers around care for the individual and the nurture of community including culture, the earth and the environment, the dignity of others, and spiritual communities. He says the most important thing for us is to care for the world, ourselves, and each other and all of his work points in that direction. In his debut collection of poems and essays, A Rebellion of Care, he inspires us to rally for what makes life worth living. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE: FIND EMILY ELSEWHERE:
The transcript for this episode is available on Apple Podcasts. | |||
| 369: Make Like Taylor Swift and Opt Out | 27 Aug 2025 | 00:13:50 | |
The things we read, watch, listen to and generally consume will almost always contribute in some way to a conversation we're already having in our heads. It may not be obvious at first, it may take some time to connect the dots. But eventually, the work and words and lives of others – if we're paying attention – will have some kind of impact. If we're lucky, they will help us to articulate something we've worked to do on our own for quite some time. If we're smart, we'll keep a record of it. That's what I'm attempting to do today here, sharing the words from three different women and how those words are combining in my mind to bring some clarity to something I've thought a lot about. I'll bring you in on it now as a witness to my wonderings. Listen in.
LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
FIND EMILY ELSEWHERE:
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| 293: Making Decisions When Feelings Are Big | 19 Sep 2023 | 00:18:29 | |
Our emotions and feelings can take up a lot of space at the table. There may have been times we've gotten in trouble for them, either because we've shared too much and regretted it later, or we've been scolded or blamed for being too sensitive or too much or too something. That's when we've tended to label our feelings as not okay. But this is not the only story there is. How do our feelings impact our ability to make wise decisions and what good role can they play? Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 292: What Every Decisive Person Knows | 12 Sep 2023 | 00:20:03 | |
Today's questions, what do decisive people know that indecisive people don't know? Is there a common skill or mindset present in people who consider themselves to be decisive that those of us who are more indecisive might lack? Can we learn it? Can we cultivate it? We'll talk about it. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 291: The Next Right Thing for Perfectionists | 05 Sep 2023 | 00:16:56 | |
Today's question: when is good enough great? We'll talk about when perfectionism keeps us stuck. I hope you'll listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 290: The Next Right Thing in the Kitchen with Bri McKoy | 29 Aug 2023 | 00:37:38 | |
The kitchen is the room of our house where we make many of our daily decisions which means it also has the potential to be the root cause of a lot of decision fatigue. Today I'm glad to welcome one of my in-real-life friends, Bri McKoy. Bri is an accidental home cook, a lover of gathering people around her everyday table, and the author of two books: the first is Come and Eat and the second is her brand new release: The Cook's Book, the only cookbook I've ever read cover to cover. I'm thrilled to have her join us today to talk about our next right thing in the kitchen. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 289: How to Find Relief From Information Overload | 22 Aug 2023 | 00:23:13 | |
If we're going to be on the internet, because we are, how can we stay sane and remain soul minimalists in the midst of the constant stream of information? That's today's question. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 288: This Could Be Why You Feel Exhausted | 15 Aug 2023 | 00:16:47 | |
Today's questions: why do I feel so exhausted? How can I remain a soul minimalist while having a maxed-out schedule? Does our soul have rules? And if so, what the heck are they, and how can knowing them help us in our next right thing? This isn't a conversation about pitting your schedule against your soul, but it is to elevate our awareness that trying to tackle soul things with a scheduler's mindset will almost always lead to frustration, disappointment, and exhaustion. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 287: State of the Podcast 2023 | 08 Aug 2023 | 00:17:13 | |
This week I'm thrilled to celebrate another milestone: six years of The Next Right Thing podcast. Can we even believe it? Reflection is a key part of my own rhythm of life, so when I approach anniversaries of any kind, but maybe particularly annual ones, I like to pause and look back before moving ahead. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 286: Psalm 63 | 01 Aug 2023 | 00:05:20 | |
It's the last week of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading Psalm 63 from the New Revised Standard Version, then from the Contemporary English version, then from the Message. At the end of this series, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in.
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| 285: Psalm 40 | 25 Jul 2023 | 00:10:17 | |
It's week three of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading Psalm 40 from the New Revised Standard Version, then from the Contemporary English version, then from the Message. At the end of this series, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 284: Psalm 1 | 18 Jul 2023 | 00:03:40 | |
It's week two of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading Psalm 1 from the New Revised Standard Version, then from the Contemporary English version, then from Psalms for Praying by Nan C. Merrill. At the end of this series, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 369: Make Like Taylor Swift and Opt Out | 26 Aug 2025 | 00:13:50 | |
The things we read, watch, listen to and generally consume will almost always contribute in some way to a conversation we're already having in our heads. It may not be obvious at first, it may take some time to connect the dots. But eventually, the work and words and lives of others - if we're paying attention - will have some kind of impact. If we're lucky, they will help us to articulate something we've worked to do on our own for quite some time. If we're smart, we'll keep a record of it. That's what I'm attempting to do today here, sharing the words from three different women and how those words are combining in my mind to bring some clarity to something I've thought a lot about. I'll bring you in on it now as a witness to my wonderings. Listen in.
LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
FIND EMILY ELSEWHERE:
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| 283: Psalm 16 | 11 Jul 2023 | 00:04:54 | |
It's the first week of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading three versions of your most requested chapter, Psalm 16. When this series is over, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 282: Psalm Summer: An Introduction | 04 Jul 2023 | 00:14:41 | |
It's time for Psalm Summer and today I'll share a few words about why I hold a tension with the Psalms. I'm hearing it among my friends, at retreats I've led, from graduate students I teach, and in the spiritual direction chair -- we have a complicated relationship with God, with the Bible, with people who make up the church. Complicated doesn't have to mean bad and it doesn't have to be negative. It just means there are a lot of layers and we've lived a lot of life together. We have love stories to tell, heartbreaks to grieve, faithfulness to celebrate. The Psalms don't tell us how to live, they reveal the many ways we might respond to life. They are songs and poems written by those who are angry, heartbroken, bereft, and elated. The words in the Psalms are not a rule book but a refuge, a record, a reality of human life in all its complexity. Today I'll share a few words about why I'm glad to bring Psalm Summer back. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
"For the simplicity on this side of complexity, I wouldn't give you a fig. But for the simplicity on the other side of complexity, for that I would give you anything I have." ― Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. | |||
| 281: What's Saving My Summer Life | 27 Jun 2023 | 00:17:05 | |
Today's question is a fun one. What's saving your life right now, specifically when it comes to summer? It could be anything from a favorite product to a spiritual practice, a fun new show, or a meaningful relationship. When it comes to naming what we love this summer, everything counts. And when it comes to decision making, it's fun to name these things. It's great to know what helps me come alive, what makes me smile, what's something I'm loving right now. All of these questions, though they may feel small, inform our next right thing more often than we might realize. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 280: Family Life and Spiritual Direction with John Freeman | 20 Jun 2023 | 00:30:32 | |
For the third year in a row, I'm hosting a conversation with John, who I have shared life with in marriage for 22 years. We have two college-age kiddos who have just finished their freshman year and one rising high school junior. Professionally, John runs a local community funded nonprofit called Grace Discipleship, where he serves as a spiritual director providing soul care and discipleship for the next generation. John has been a steady listening presence for several decades here in our hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina, and he regularly meets with teenagers, college students, couples and ministry workers to hold prayerful space for them to discern what God might be up to in and around them. Today I'm glad to sit down with John again to answer some of the questions you tossed our way about the first years of marriage, the role spiritual direction plays in our life and work, and how we're faring as nearly-there empty-nesters. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 279: Our Favorite Summertime Decisions | 13 Jun 2023 | 00:18:30 | |
In today's episode, I'll be sharing some of my favorite summer-time decisions and then we get to hear from YOU! If you're already feeling in a summer rut, I hope these ideas will help if you find you need a little extra inspiration heading into summertime. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE: | |||
| 278: What now? For When You Don't Know What's Next | 06 Jun 2023 | 00:11:05 | |
If you find yourself at a crossroads in your life and you're asking the super common and also slightly terrifying question, "What now?", listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 277: One Question to Ask Yourself Every Quarter | 30 May 2023 | 00:13:03 | |
This episode is called One Question to Ask Yourself Every Quarter, but of course you can ask it more often than that. It's a question I always have in mind, and it's become such a part of my rhythm of life that I don't really even think that much about it in one particular time. I just think about it as I go along my way and record my answers as they come. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 276: Why Self-Care Isn't Selfish with Taylor Elyse Morrison | 23 May 2023 | 00:29:14 | |
I'm glad to welcome author Taylor Elyse Morrison, who's turned being bad at self-care into a career. She's the founder of the media company Inner Workout and the author of a book by the same name. She's a founder, facilitator, coach, and serial entrepreneur making wellbeing and personal development more accessible. She's all about supporting people's journey to know, care for, and become their full selves. I hope you'll listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 275: 3 Questions and 3 Books | 16 May 2023 | 00:14:21 | |
Today I'm thinking in threes: three categories of reading, three books I recommend and three questions to help you reflect on the last several months before heading in to the new season that's upon us. Listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 274: On Making Decisions Alone: A Conversation With A Widow | 09 May 2023 | 00:26:20 | |
I'm glad to welcome one of my dear, in-real-life, local friends to the show, Anna Kimbrough. Anna and her husband, Tripp, met when they were both students at Chapel Hill and were married for 23 years until the spring of 2020, when Tripp died after complications with a biopsy. Now it's three years later, and I'm sitting down with Anna to talk about the difficulty and heartbreak of making decisions alone after losing your person as well as some of the hope she's received along the way. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 368: A New Season with John P. Freeman | 19 Aug 2025 | 00:33:05 | |
It's our first episode back after our summer hiatus and I'm so glad to welcome my friend, partner, and husband, John P. Freeman. (Yes, his middle initial really is P!) Aside from being my biggest cheerleader, John is also a pastor who served for 12 years in two different churches as a youth pastor until 12 years ago when he walked out of the room of official church ministry and walked into the room of our actual home where he worked for several years as a stay-at-home dad. For the last decade, he's been running his own nonprofit called Grace Discipleship, where he offers soul care and spiritual direction for couples, pastors, and Gen Z high school and college students. On this first episode of this next season of the podcast, we'll cover some questions you submitted about spiritual direction, family life, and life with God. Plus John will share which episodes of this podcast are his personal favorite. Listen in.
LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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This episode is transcribed on YouTube and Apple Podcasts. | |||
| 273: A Spiritual Practice For The Hesitant | 02 May 2023 | 00:11:46 | |
If you're someone who maybe grew up going to church or used to have a steady spiritual practice, but you've either grown tired, weary, bored, or skeptical, I get it, and you're not alone. Maybe lately you've been curious about God again, wondering if there's anything for you in the world of faith. Maybe you're tiptoeing back looking for something familiar, but then when you find it, you feel a bit cautious or hesitant. Maybe you have the desire to engage a spiritual practice, but you're not sure how to do that as yourself in this new space. If that's you, then this episode is for you. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 272: A Soul Minimalist's Guide to Your Birthday | 25 Apr 2023 | 00:14:46 | |
Birthdays can be fun and lovely, but also sometimes a source of our own chronic hesitation or decision fatigue. And this can add stress because we want to celebrate it, but we also may wonder how we can do that well as grownups. How can we approach our birthday like a soul minimalist, and why would we want to? Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 271: A Blessing For Friendship | 18 Apr 2023 | 00:05:16 | |
A short blessing for all kinds of friendship and all kinds of friends. Here's to you, a friend to someone, and here's to your someone who is a friend to you. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 270: How to Listen When A Friend Asks For Advice | 11 Apr 2023 | 00:19:42 | |
What role do friendships play in our decision-making lives? How can we be friends people trust to come to when they have a decision to make? Are there any tips or tricks on how not to be an annoying friend when someone comes to us for advice? Well, there are, my friend. I hope you'll listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 269: Friendship Breakups with Laura Tremaine | 04 Apr 2023 | 00:47:14 | |
As we continue this short series on friendship, I'm glad to welcome one of my IRL friends, the author of one of my top 10 favorite books of 2020, Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First and host of the 10 Things to Tell You podcast, Laura Tremaine. Laura has written a book all about friendship for grownups and it's already helped me make some really important mindset shifts in my own relationships. It's called The Life Council: 10 Friends Every Woman Needs and it releases on April 4. I'm thrilled to have her on this episode to talk about friendships, specifically what we get wrong culturally, what it means to believe the best, and what to do when a friendship ends. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 268: What's Saving My Life: Friendship Edition | 28 Mar 2023 | 00:20:06 | |
What's saving your life right now, specifically when it comes to friendship? It's the first in a several-week series on friendship inspired by my friend and fellow author, Laura Tremaine's new book, The Life Council, all about 10 friends every woman needs. We'll have Laura on as a guest next week, but this week we'll kick off the series by dedicating this quarter's "What's Saving My Life" to friendship. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
I'm Emily and I'm glad you're here! If you're struggling to discern your next right thing, grab this free guide to help you make any decision today. | |||
| 267: How To Handle Interruption | 21 Mar 2023 | 00:15:37 | |
Can we escape interruptions? You know the answer is we never will, but we can make partial, imperfect, or even settled peace with them. In this episode, I'll offer some encouragement for when your life feels like one big interruption. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 266: On Being A Well by Macrina Wiederkehr | 14 Mar 2023 | 00:04:55 | |
Today I'll share words from someone else for all of us to listen to and carry with us and reflect on together. I've chosen a poem by Macrina Wiederkehr, a writer who has been a companion for me for many years now (though she never knew it.) She was a master of everyday spirituality and had a lovely way of seeing and speaking of God in the midst of ordinary things of life. Macrina wrote a reflection on Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well, as recorded in John chapter 4. So here is "On Being A Well" by Macrina Wiederkehr from her book, Seasons of Your Heart. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 265: How to Know What You Want | 07 Mar 2023 | 00:16:29 | |
You have a decision to make or a move to discern. You ask a friend to listen and help you figure out your next right thing. And then they ask the question that is as dreaded as it is simple: "Well, what do you want?" If your response to that maddening question is no answer, no direction, no clue, then this episode is for you. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 264: Let's Talk About Fear | 28 Feb 2023 | 00:11:54 | |
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about fear, how and when it shows up, ways it lies and tells the truth, and what it means for us as we do the hard and holy work of making life decisions. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| A Conversation with Suzanne Stabile (Best of) | 05 Aug 2025 | 01:10:56 | |
This summer, I'm re-airing some of my favorite decision making episodes. This one originally aired on November 15, 2022. Today I'm glad to welcome our favorite Enneagram teacher, author Suzanne Stabile, to talk about the three centers of intelligence and how our stances inform our decisions. Suzanne is a highly sought-after speaker and teacher, known for her personal vulnerability and creative approach to Enneagram instruction. After 25 years of studying the enneagram, learning from people's stories, cultivating relationships, and learning under Father Richard Rohr, she has become a bestselling author and world-class teacher of the enneagram. Her most recent enneagram book is called The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance and Transformation and if you ask me, it's her best one yet. Listen in.LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 263: How to Human with Carlos Whittaker | 21 Feb 2023 | 00:36:50 | |
Today I'm glad to welcome our favorite hope dealer and host of the podcast Human Hope, it's Carlos Whittaker. His brand new book How to Human, just released last month. In it he shares candidly from his own life about how he's wrestling through some of the biggest cultural issues of our current time and simple ways he's learning to refuse to let our disagreements define us. In his honest, relatable, Carlos way, we're invited on a path of radical love—one that requires us to become builders rather than demolitionists. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 262: For Who You Might Become | 14 Feb 2023 | 00:09:15 | |
The decisions we make are evidence of the person who we are becoming. In the middle of our right-now, messy, beautiful, boring, terrifying wonderful lives, it's good to reflect on who we've been, who we are, and who we might become. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 261: Where Trouble Melts Like Lemon Drops: A Story | 07 Feb 2023 | 00:15:21 | |
Doing the next right thing is just that -- it's the next right thing for now, not forever. It's the next right thing as far as we understand what is good and right and next. Today I'll share my own story of continuing to discover what it means to do the next right thing in love. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 260: Your Next Right Thing Starter Pack | 31 Jan 2023 | 00:18:27 | |
After a short break, we're back with a starter pack of episodes to turn to for particular situations, especially for you who might be new here or are looking for helpful, actionable decision-making content. Today I'll share specific episodes for when you feel stuck, for making decisions with other people, and resources for your next right thing. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| We want to hear from you! | 03 Jan 2023 | 00:02:19 | |
We're on a break! But not the Ross and Rachel kind, this one's only temporary. We're working to create content that meets you right where you are and we'll be back in a couple of weeks. But first, we have an announcement, a request, and a blessing, so listen in! Links + Resources From This Episode: | |||
| 259: What Worked in 2022 | 27 Dec 2022 | 00:23:06 | |
On this final episode of the year, I'll share my list of what worked in 2022 as well as a few tips and resources for you if you want to make your own list. Listen in! Want help looking back before moving forward? Download these 10 Questions for Reflection and Discernment. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 258: A Blessing for Christmas Week | 20 Dec 2022 | 00:04:40 | |
A blessing for you and yours on this week before Christmas. You may recognize these words from Day 10 of last year's version of The Quiet Collection for Christmas (2021). I hope they extend a welcome to you on this Christmas, when we mark the day God moved in and everything changed. Amen. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 257: A Soul Minimalist's Guide for the End of the Year | 13 Dec 2022 | 00:11:24 | |
We have a little over two weeks until the end of the year with a lot of potential activity between now and then. Here's the soul talk we all need for the finish line. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| BONUS: The Quiet Collection 2022! | 07 Dec 2022 | 00:12:15 | |
Surprise! We have a bonus episode to share with you that The Quiet Collection for Christmas is ready and waiting for you -- and we've made it better than ever. Listen in to learn about the changes we've made this year and how you can get Day One of this 10-day audio devotional collection for Christmas today. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 256: A Reading from John 1 | 06 Dec 2022 | 00:04:02 | |
At the beginning of the Advent season, it's good to remember the Light. Here's a reflective reading from John 1:1-18, read from The Message version, a translation by Eugene Peterson. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| Why Your Pro/Con List Isn't Working (Best of) | 29 Jul 2025 | 00:17:05 | |
This summer, I'm re-airing some of my favorite decision making episodes. This one originally aired on October 12, 2021. It's the list we all know to make when we're stuck in the decision-making process. There are helpful things about the pro/con list but we all know they don't work all by themselves. This type of list could be a good starting point, but what do you do next? I dedicated The Next Right Thing to anyone who's ever made a pro/con list in the middle of the night. If that's you, listen in. LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
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| 255: Ask Emily Anything! Celebrating 20 Million | 29 Nov 2022 | 00:39:13 | |
What a gift it is to be a small part of your Tuesdays over the last five years! As we celebrate 20 million downloads, we're dedicating today's episode to answering your questions. I'll say some words about why I don't give parenting advice, one of my favorite decisions of the last year, how I decided to became a spiritual director, and what is my next right thing. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 254: Honest Advent with Scott Erickson | 22 Nov 2022 | 00:34:22 | |
Today I'm glad to welcome back to the show author, artist, and spiritual director, Scott Erickson. We'll talk about one of my favorite Advent resources, his beautiful book Honest Advent. I read it last year and of course didn't finish it in time for Christmas, but I just kept right on reading through the new year, finishing it up in the middle of January and I wasn't a bit mad about it. We'll talk about vulnerability, his own Advent inspiration, and the fascination we both share this time of year. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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| 253: The Enneagram and Decision-Making with Suzanne Stabile | 15 Nov 2022 | 01:10:56 | |
Today I'm glad to welcome our favorite Enneagram teacher, author Suzanne Stabile, to talk about the three centers of intelligence and how our stances inform our decisions. Suzanne is a highly sought-after speaker and teacher, known for her personal vulnerability and creative approach to Enneagram instruction. After 25 years of studying the enneagram, learning from people's stories, cultivating relationships, and learning under Father Richard Rohr, she has become a bestselling author and world-class teacher of the enneagram. Her most recent enneagram book is called The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance and Transformation and if you ask me, it's her best one yet. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode:
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