Hear Where You Belong

Dea Irby, THE Belonging Strategist
  • 5.0 (13)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Embark on an inspirational journey with guests from diverse backgrounds, sharing stories of triumph, resilience, and faith, reiterating the common human longing for belonging. From dreamers to doers, believers to seekers, uncover the extraordinary in ordinary moments and the purpose within every life. Open your heart, mind, and ears to resonate with stories reminding you of your significance, belonging, and purpose. Welcome home to 'Hear Where You Belong'.

  1. Aug 11

    "If You Have a Pulse, God Has a Purpose — Finding Your Gold Thread" | Ep. 105 with Jason Ward

    What if every seemingly random moment of your life — the teacher who handed you a piece of paper, the girl you met in an ice cream shop, the photography class you never meant to teach — was never random at all? That is what Jason Ward discovered standing on a mountaintop in Oklahoma, coffee in hand, asking God: how did I get here? And God answered. In Episode 105 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, host Dea Irby sits down with Jason Ward — creative director, photographer, entrepreneur, author, and founder of Storm the Beach Advertising. An Appalachian boy from Paintsville, Kentucky, and the first man in his family in more than a century not to become a coal miner, Jason spent more than twenty years chasing success in advertising, education, and business — only to discover that where he truly belonged was where God had been leading him from the very beginning. In this episode, Jason shares the piece of paper his seventh grade science teacher handed him that set his entire career in motion. The NASA letter that arrived on his birthday and launched his art career. The grad school door God tried to close politely — and Jason put his boot through anyway. The girl in a Fort Worth ice cream shop who brought him back to God. The photography class he was handed on a Friday afternoon that started on Monday whether he was ready or not. And the mountaintop moment where God showed him — in a single compressed vision — how every single thread of his life had been woven together with precision. He also introduces the concept that has been reshaping the way he helps people: the gold thread. The unique story God has been weaving through your life all along. And the black threads — the adversary's attempts to choke it out. His free 12-question AI quiz at jasondward.com will help you find yours. His favorite quote from a recent sermon stopped him cold: If you have a pulse, God has a purpose. And his parting word — the truth God dropped on him in the editing stage of his own book — is the one every creative, entrepreneur, and dream-chaser needs to hear: Your true calling will never be self-serving. This episode is for everyone who has been pulling a plow when God built them to run. 💛 📚 Find Find Your Gold Thread on Amazon and Audible🌐 Take the free gold thread quiz at jasondward.com #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #FindYourGoldThread, #IfYouHaveAPulseGodHasAPurpose, #JasonWard, #StormTheBeachAdvertising, #GoldThread, #BlackThreads, #RacehorseNotAPlow, #TrueCallingNeverSelfServing, #AppalachianBoy, #NASALetter, #CreativeEntrepreneur, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #FaithAndPurpose, #GodWovenPlan, #FindYourCalling, #BelongingMatters, #YouWereBuiltToRun

    "If You Have a Pulse, God Has a Purpose — Finding Your Gold Thread" | Ep. 105 with Jason Ward

  2. Aug 4

    They Walked 2,770 Miles Across America — and Were Never the Same Again | Ep. 104 with Rick & Jane McKinney

    What happens when God tells you to put the sole of your foot down from one end of America to the other — and you say yes? Rick and Jane McKinney found out. 2,770 miles. Twenty miles a day. Six days a week. Six months. From Santa Monica Pier to the steps of the Supreme Court. And the biggest transformation? Not in the thousands of people they met along the way. In them. In Episode 104 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, host Dea Irby sits down with Rick and Jane — church planters, world travelers, authors, and lifelong misfits who have spent their entire lives taking the road less traveled and watching God show up every single time. In this episode they share the prayer that changed the way they see every human being they meet. The woman named Evelyn who pulled over on a scorching Oklahoma day and became a lifelong friend. The tattooed motorcycle accident victim named Joe — and the woman who climbed into a ditch in her Sunday dress to pray with him. The neighborhood everyone warned them to avoid — where they received the warmest reception of the entire journey. And the baptism on Rick's last Sunday that was eighteen years in the making. Their book And So We Walked tells hundreds of stories from across America — and their ministry Road Less Traveled has been living out Robert Frost's famous words ever since. Rick's favorite quote says it all: I took the road less traveled by, and it has made all the difference. Jane's is Romans 8:28 — the verse she trusts no matter where God leads them next. And their parting word is the most tested advice they have ever given: You can't go wrong saying yes to God. 💛 📖 Find And So We Walked at rickandjanemckinney.com #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #RickAndJaneMcKinney, #AndSoWeWalked, #WalkingAcrossAmerica, #TheRoadLessTraveled, #IslandOfMisfitToys, #MisfitsForGod, #JustSayYes, #Romans828, #BeingJesusToSomeone, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #FaithAndAdventure, #YouCantGoWrongSayingYesToGod, #BelongingMatters, #JoeInTheDitch, #MinistryCouples, #GodUsesMisfits, #EveryPlaceTheSoleOfYourFoot

    They Walked 2,770 Miles Across America — and Were Never the Same Again | Ep. 104 with Rick & Jane McKinney

  3. Jul 28

    One Moment at 13 Changed Everything She Believed About Herself — Until Jesus Said Otherwise

    "This episode includes a brief mention of sexual assault. Pat shares her story with grace and hope — no graphic details." What happens when a traumatic experience at 13 years old quietly rewrites everything you believe about yourself — and sends you searching for belonging in every wrong place for the next 17 years? That is Pat Domangue's story. And what God did with it is extraordinary. In Episode 103 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, host Dea Irby sits down with Pat Domangue — women's ministry leader, Bible teacher, founder of On Fire Ministries, author of four Bible studies, and host of the H.E.R. Podcast. For more than 24 years, Pat has dedicated her life to helping women move beyond simply reading God's Word and truly experiencing the life-changing transformation that comes through a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. But that passion was born from her own story. Pat opens up about the sexual assault at age 13 that shattered her identity — making her feel like a bad person, unworthy of acceptance, unworthy of love. She shares how she spent years searching for belonging in all the wrong places, how God got a hold of her at 30 years old, and how He did it not through counseling or rehab — but through His Word. Just her and Him. From the inside out. She talks about the year she had no friends — because the old ones would have pulled her back — and the three-day fast she did not even know how to do, praying for one thing: Lord, give us friends. And how God used a chemical spill on a dark Louisiana road at midnight to answer that prayer in the most spectabulous way imaginable. She also shares the moment her 10-year-old daughter sat on the front row listening to Pat share her testimony — and what she said on the ride home that Pat calls her greatest accomplishment. And the night God called her into ministry — writing in the margin of her Bible: Pat Domangue will never teach. God's response? Oh, that's exactly where we're going. Her favorite quote comes from A.W. Tozer — and it will make you stop and ask yourself a very honest question: The first thing you think about when you think of God is the most important thing about you. And her parting word — straight from Ephesians 1 — is a declaration of belonging that will anchor you. He chose us. He adopted us. He made us accepted in the Beloved. 💛 🌐 Find Pat and her free 21-Day Spiritual Detox at onfire-ministries.org #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #PatDomangue, #OnFireMinistries, #AcceptedInTheBeloved, #IdentityInChrist, #HERPodcast, #MyMakerAndMe, #BibleStudyForWomen, #SayingYesToJesus, #TransformationThroughHisWord, #BelongingIsGift, #Ephesians1, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #WomensMinistry, #GodChangesEverything, #AWTozer, #TrueIdentity, #ChemicalSpillMiracle

    One Moment at 13 Changed Everything She Believed About Herself — Until Jesus Said Otherwise

  4. Jul 21

    He Spent Years Dreaming of Belonging to the Writing World — Then He Wrote His Way In

    What do you do when you have been a lifelong lover of books, a dreamer of worlds, and a quiet carrier of stories — but you are convinced you do not belong among the authors whose work fills your shelves? If you are T.A. Thompson, you stop waiting. You sit down at your keyboard. And you write your way in. In Episode 102 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, host Dea Irby sits down with T.A. Thompson — novelist, storyteller, avid reader, and insurance professional by day, world-builder by night. T.A. is the author of The Mark, an adult dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic world where a geneticist's dark experiment caused everyone on earth to die around age 22. The oldest person in the world is Alexandra — a 25-year-old lone wolf who does not belong anywhere, and whose journey toward community, accountability, and belonging is the heart of the whole story. T.A. opens up about what it felt like to write in isolation for years — just himself and his keyboard, occasionally dragging his daughter in to be his sounding board every fifteen minutes after emailing her a new chapter. 😄 He talks about the terrifying process of beta reading — soul-crushing feedback and all — and how it made the book better. He shares the moment he finally overcame his fear and hit publish on Amazon, and why that step felt like putting his baby out into the world for strangers to judge. He also gets honest about anxiety, the struggle to connect in networking rooms, and what it actually felt like to finally have conversations with other authors and realize: I belong here too. His favorite quote comes from his own book — spotted by his editor and now the line that stops everyone cold: We own our messes and our mistakes. It's how we earn the right to own our victories. And his parting word is one that hits differently when you have just spent time in a world where nobody lives past 25: Cherish every moment. Cherish the people you have. Because it doesn't last forever. This episode is for every dreamer who has a story inside them and has not yet found the courage to put it on the page. 💛 📚 Find The Mark by T.A. Thompson on Amazon now 📖 Arcing and Liber Animarum also available #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #TAThompson, #TheMarkNovel, #AdultDystopian, #SelfPublishedAuthor, #WriteYourWayIn, #WeOwnOurMesses, #BelongingThroughStorytelling, #CherrishEveryMoment, #AuthorCommunity, #KDPAmazon, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #ImaginationOpensDooors, #DystopianFiction, #BelongingMatters, #FirstTimeAuthor, #StorytellerPodcast, #OwnYourVictories

    He Spent Years Dreaming of Belonging to the Writing World — Then He Wrote His Way In

  5. Jul 14

    Her Late Grandmother Showed Up in a Dream at 2 AM and Said: Write Our Story

    What would you do if your late grandmother showed up in a dream at 2 AM — not fuzzy, not vague, but fully present, her voice, her face — and looked you in the eye and said: write our story? Brigid Kennedy got up, made a pot of coffee, and started writing. In Episode 101 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, host Dea Irby sits down with Brigid Kennedy — author, speaker, and violin teacher — whose journey into writing began with a calling she never expected and felt completely unqualified to answer. What started as one woman's decision to honor her family's history became Lost: The Lost City of Incan Gold — a sweeping historical fantasy series inspired by her real-life ancestors. Her great-grandfather was an Irish treasure hunter who married a woman in Peru in 1910 before disappearing into the Amazon. He never came back. And for generations, the wound of that unanswered question fractured everything. Until Brigid wrote the ending her family never got. In this episode, Brigid opens up about watching her family's history slip through the fingers of every generation — the unlabeled photographs, the half-remembered stories, the aunts and uncles who almost had the right name but couldn't quite remember. She shares what happened when she hit the same wall her family always hit — the moment her great-grandfather vanished — and how her grandmother kept pushing her through it. She talks about becoming the first Kennedy to return to Ireland since her great-grandfather left, standing on the cobblestones he ran on as a boy and feeling the full weight of it. She reveals the treasure her family actually found — now sitting in the Museum of Gold in Lima, Peru. And she shares why a New York Times bestseller told her: you didn't write fantasy. You wrote a reclamation. She also talks about the violin discipline that carried her through six to eight hours of daily writing, the editor disaster that made her book stronger, and the YouTube series where she reads every chapter herself — complete with the real family photographs. Her favorite quote, written right on the cover of her book, is the one that will stop you in your tracks: The fates do not punish. They prepare. This episode is for everyone who has a calling they have been ignoring. For every woman who feels guilty taking time for herself. And for anyone who has ever felt lost — without history, without roots, without the ending the story deserved. It's not about finding the time. It's about recognizing what matters enough to make the time. 💛 📚 Find Lost: The Lost City of Incan Gold and all of Brigid's content at BrigidKennedyBooks on all platforms 🎬 Watch An Author's Dream on her YouTube channel #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #BrigidKennedy, #LostCityOfIncanGold, #TheFatesDoNotPunish, #FamilyReclamation, #AncestralHealing, #HistoricalFantasy, #WriteOurStory, #AnAuthorsDream, #IrishPeruvianHeritage, #GrandmothersDream, #TreasureHunterBlood, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #BelongingThroughRoots, #FamilyLegacy, #AnswerTheCalling, #MakeTheTime, #YouAreNotLost

    Her Late Grandmother Showed Up in a Dream at 2 AM and Said: Write Our Story

  6. Jul 7

    "She Sold Everything, Packed 4 Kids on a Bus, and Found Out Who She Really Was

    What if the life you were trying so hard to fit into was never actually yours to begin with? That is the question Jessica DeYoung had to answer when she and her family sold everything, packed four kids and a dog onto a 40-foot motorcoach they call Abbey the Adventure Bus, and hit the road full-time across America. Four and a half years. 42 states. Thousands of miles. And one woman finally figuring out who she actually is — without the tight pants, the lipstick collection, and the convenience friends. In Episode 100 — yes, ONE HUNDRED! — of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, host Dea Irby sits down with Jessica DeYoung, author, speaker, founder of the Made Whole Movement, and host of the Perspectives into Practice Podcast. Jessica is passionate about helping women move beyond performance, people-pleasing, and hiding parts of their story so they can embrace the freedom, wholeness, and purpose God has for them. And in this conversation, she does exactly that — with refreshing honesty, contagious joy, and more than a few laugh-out-loud moments. In this episode, Jessica opens up about spending years trying to be everything everyone else needed her to be — dressing the part, talking the part, performing the part — only to discover that the circle closed right up the moment she was no longer convenient. She talks about what God stripped away when she got on the road, and what He replaced it with. She shares the story of Bubble Man on the beach — a retired man who blows bubbles and shares Jesus, and who changed the way Jessica sees what belonging can look like. She gets into the Backroads Bar — her speakeasy-style hobby bar that somehow became one of the most powerful belonging communities she has ever created. And she unpacks the quote she lives by, straight from her own Holy Spirit downloads: God rarely asks us to have it all figured out. He's usually just asking us to take the next faithful step. This is Episode 100. And it is everything that number deserves — honest, joyful, faith-filled, and full of the reminder that you do not have to earn love. You are already fully known. You are already fully loved. Just say yes. 💛 Find Jessica at the Made Whole Movement and Adventures on Purpose 🎙️ Listen to the Perspectives into Practice Podcast wherever you get your podcasts #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #Episode100, #JessicaDeYoung, #MadeWholeMovement, #AdventuresOnPurpose, #AbbeTheAdventureBus, #FullTimeTravel, #JustSayYes, #TakeTheNextFaithfulStep, #BelongingStartsWithGod, #FullyKnownFullyLoved, #StopStriving, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #WomensMinistry, #PerspectivesIntoPractice, #NomadFamily, #BelongingMatters, #Milestone100

    "She Sold Everything, Packed 4 Kids on a Bus, and Found Out Who She Really Was

  7. Jun 30

    There Is Nothing That Can Happen to You That God Won't Make Something Beautiful Out Of

    What if the hardest year of your life — the one with the suicidal child, the estranged daughter, the house fire, and the ministry you had to give away — was actually the year God gave you the desire of your heart? That is exactly what Tony Stoltzfus discovered. And in Episode 99 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, he shares it all with a depth and honesty that will stay with you long after the episode ends. Tony is a bestselling author of 21 books, speaker, coach, and one of the founding voices in the Christian coaching movement. Over 25 years, he has coached hundreds of leaders, trained thousands of coaches, and spent his life building communities where people experience authentic relationships, personal growth, and lasting transformation. His books include the bestselling Coaching Questions, the imaginative Heaven: Experience the Extraordinary, and How to Read the Bible Like a Human Being — a fascinating guide to bringing Scripture alive through visual imagination. In this episode, Tony opens up about growing up as the nerdy new kid who read a book a day in class with no friends — and how that loneliness drove him straight into the arms of God. He talks about the church community that blew apart and took 270 of his closest friends with it — and the moment God told him something that changed his entire approach to belonging forever: there is more glory in trusting me when you know it's not going to work than when you think it will. He shares the worship band retreat story that turned zero commitment into total devotion. The Questions for Jesus prayer method that took his answered prayer from near zero to transformational. The fire that was only the fourth most stressful thing that happened that year. And the walk in Maui where God told him to retire — and what He said when Tony asked what that meant. His favorite quote is going to make every pastor and ministry leader laugh — and then think very hard. Ministry would be great if it wasn't for the people. And his parting word — the Fellowship of Sufferings — is one of the most profound things said on this podcast yet. There is nothing that can happen to you that God won't make something beautiful out of. 💛 📚 Find all 21 of Tony's books on Amazon 🌐 Find Tony's ministry at leadershipmetaformation.com #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #TonyStoltzfus, #NothingGodCantRedeem, #FellowshipOfSufferings, #QuestionsForJesus, #CoachingQuestions, #HowToReadTheBible, #HeavenExperience, #LeadershipMetaformation, #ChristianCoaching, #TransformationThroughSuffering, #BelongingInJesus, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #TrustTheProcess, #GodMakesSomethingBeautiful, #AuthenticCommunity, #VulnerabilityIsStrength, #21Books

    There Is Nothing That Can Happen to You That God Won't Make Something Beautiful Out Of

  8. Jun 23

    There's a Difference Between Being Included and Actually Belonging

    You can sit in a room full of people and still feel completely alone. Being included is not the same as belonging — and Dr. Stuart Jones has spent his whole life learning that difference from a brother the world often overlooked. In Episode 98 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, host Dea Irby sits down with Dr. Stuart Jones — author, speaker, ordained minister, former university vice president, and passionate advocate for disability, dignity, and human worth. His award-winning memoir, For the Love of Stephen: The Story of a Boy Who Was Never Broken, tells the true story of his brother Stephen, who was born with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 1954 — a time when children like him were routinely institutionalized, hidden away, and excluded from every aspect of community life. Stuart's parents — just 18 years old when Stephen was born — looked their family doctor in the eye and said no. No institution. No hiding. This is our son. He belongs. And he did. He joined Boy Scouts, 4H, the bowling league, the church volleyball team. He worked as a hospital janitor for 33 years. He rode his bike to work every single day. He knew no strangers — because in Stephen's world, every human being God created was someone worth knowing. 300 people showed up to his funeral just days before Christmas. In this episode, Stuart opens up about what Stephen taught him about seeing people fully — and why Temple Grandin, who wrote the foreword, calls his book essential reading for every parent of a special needs child. He shares the tricycle moment that changed his parents forever. The heartbreaking irony of how Stephen died. And the question he asked a lecture hall full of future special education teachers that stopped them cold: your students will be included. But how will you make them belong? His favorite quote — from Maya Angelou — is the one that ties it all together: People will forget what you say. People will forget what you do. But people will never forget how you made them feel. This episode will make you look differently at every person you pass today. 💛 📖 For the Love of Stephen is available on Amazon now🌐 Find Stuart at stuartdjones.com #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #ForTheLoveOfStephen, #DrStuartJones, #DifferentNotLess, #DisabilityInclusion, #GodDontMakeNoJunk, #TruelyHuman, #BelongingNotJustInclusion, #TempleGrandin, #MayaAngelou, #NeverForgetHowYouMadeThemFeel, #DisabilityAwareness, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #InclusionMatters, #SeeThemFully, #Psalm13914, #BelovedAndBroken, #YouAreNotOverlooked

    There's a Difference Between Being Included and Actually Belonging
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About

Embark on an inspirational journey with guests from diverse backgrounds, sharing stories of triumph, resilience, and faith, reiterating the common human longing for belonging. From dreamers to doers, believers to seekers, uncover the extraordinary in ordinary moments and the purpose within every life. Open your heart, mind, and ears to resonate with stories reminding you of your significance, belonging, and purpose. Welcome home to 'Hear Where You Belong'.

Information

  • Creator
    Dea Irby, THE Belonging Strategist
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    107
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dea Irby, THE Belonging Strategist
  • Show Website
    Hear Where You Belong