What happens when the God you want to know more deeply begins asking more of you? In this episode of The Concrete Growth Project, Shaneah sits down with longtime journalist and Closer Collective founder Megan Rowls for a candid conversation about spiritual growth while it is still happening. Megan grew up surrounded by faith, prayer, and family members who planted spiritual seeds in her life. But as her career in journalism grew, she found herself increasingly driven professionally while her pursuit of God moved further into the background. Then difficult experiences, mental-health challenges, therapy, prayer, and a growing curiosity about God began drawing her back. What followed was something Megan describes almost as a progression: learning, correction, obedience—and then being shown more. As Shaneah shares a word that has been on her heart—acceleration—the conversation turns toward what happens when faith stops being something we simply identify with and begins affecting how we actually live. Megan opens up about: • Growing up around faith but eventually needing a relationship with God for herself • The negative words and experiences that contributed to a difficult season in her life • How working with a Christian counselor helped reignite her curiosity about God • Why reading Scripture began changing how she saw herself and the world around her • The difficulty of consistency when the excitement of spiritual growth meets everyday life • The friendships, time, and personal desires she has had to reconsider along the way • Why prayer has become one of the strongest anchors in her life • How her background in journalism and her love of words became connected to her calling • The surprising origin of the name Closer Collective • Why Megan believes closeness to God should be a lifestyle • How a gathering of women, Bible study, storytelling, and prayer ultimately developed into the Closer Collective magazine and community • What she would tell someone who wants to begin getting closer to God today This is not a conversation about having faith perfectly figured out. It is a conversation about what happens when we become willing to keep learning, changing, surrendering—and growing. ABOUT MEGAN ROWLS Megan Rowls is a journalist and the founder of Closer Collective, a faith-centered community created to help women deepen their relationship with God through Scripture, prayer, testimony, practical growth, and community. Learn more about Closer Collective and read the magazine at: theclosercollective.org ABOUT THE CONCRETE GROWTH PROJECT The Concrete Growth Project explores what it means to grow through the places that should have stopped us—through candid conversations about resilience, faith, identity, purpose, transformation, and the experiences that shape who we become. If this conversation encouraged you, share it with someone who may need it and follow The Concrete Growth Project for future episodes.
