Halfway There Eric Nevins

Ever wished you had a mentor to guide you through life and faith? Feeling isolated and trying to figure everything out on your own is not what Jesus intended for His church.
Our guest today reveals how mentorship can transform lives, including your own.
Nancy Lindgren is the Founder and CEO of MORE Mentoring, and author of Mentoring Made Real: The Power of Authentic Connection. In this episode, Nancy shares her journey from a young woman with a calling to the leader of a mentoring ministry. She opens up about learning to listen to the Lord in prayer and the pivotal moment that turned mentoring into her mission.
Listen as Nancy shares the trials and triumphs of waiting on God’s timing, and how her story exemplifies the need for intentional relationships in the Church. These connections, spanning different ages and experiences, help us grow in our faith in profound ways.
Download now to hear Nancy’s inspiring story on your favorite podcast platform!
 
Stories Nancy shared:
Growing up in Nebraska
Hearing Christian teaching and music as a child
Giving her life to Christ as a young girl
The car accident that gave her a sense of calling at 15
Starting a family immediately after college
The season when she learned to wait on God
Waiting for direction on where to go for two years
Learning to listen to the Lord in prayer
Learning to wait and be patient
The moment when the Lord gave her a mission in 2014
Overcoming challenges in mentoring
Writing a mentoring guide in 2016
Making disciples now around the world
How to go about engaging the process of mentorship in either direction
Great quotes from Nancy:

Be a mentor for a season and friends for life.
I knew he was a God who speaks.
You're absolutely qualified because Jesus qualifies you.

Resources we mentioned:
Nancy’s website 
Mentoring Made Real: The Power of Authentic Connection by Nancy Lindgren
Related episodes:
Laura Flanders and The Mentored Life
Harriett Miller and A Fierce Faith
Peter Englert and Digital Discipleship and Mentoring

Paul Ybarra’s story is one of redemption and empowerment. Growing up in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Paul later turned to a life of drug dealing before a pivotal encounter led him to Christ.

Christina Dent of End It For Good paints a vision of creating a health-centric approach to helping people overcome addiction. Hers is a movement rooted in the way Jesus sees them not behavior modification that we can all learn from.

Whether you are feeling bright and alive in Christ or need a fresh wind of faith, Scott Brown’s story will remind you that the Lord does amazing things if we’re open to them.

Caris Snider is a speaker, author, coach, and podcaster. Her latest book is There’s an Elephant on My Chest, a picture book for children she wrote to help kids understand what anxiety feels like. Today, Caris shares her story of growing up in a Christian home in the Bible belt feeling like she had to be perfect. Trying to live up to her beliefs led to anxiety and depression until she was willing to accept help. Caris shares with us how she found hope over anxiety and the Lord’s closeness during the process. Caris’ story reminds us that we need community and don’t have to be perfect to be loved.
Listen to Caris’ story in your favorite podcast player today!
Children's Picture Book- There's an Elephant on My Chest
Stories Caris shared:
Overcoming anxiety and helping others
Growing up in Alabama in a Christian family as a twin
Her mom’s example as a prayer warrior
Having to overcome cerebral palsy on the left side of her body
Trying out for cheerleader and not making it
Studying early childhood development
Meeting her husband who was in a Christian boy band
Buying her own childcare center and realizing that it wasn’t for her
The season of uncertainty after giving up the childcare center
Trying to pull herself up by her bootstraps and finding it impossible
Having anxiety attacks with increasing frequency
Trying to numb her pain by not eating
Having a miscarriage and how that affected her
Realizing she had to accept help to get out of her depression
Giving up the idea of perfection for herself
Learning the identities that the Lord has for her
Writing books about anxiety and helping others
Great quotes from Caris:

When I looked up the things I was believing were proven to be lies.
I had to recognize that help was not bad.
I had to stop believing that I had to be perfect to be loved by Him.
Those struggles are real but there is real hope.

Resources we mentioned:
Caris’ website
There’s An Elephant On My Chest by Caris Snider
Car Line Mom Devotional: 100 Days of Encouragement for the Mama Who Gets Everybody Everywhere by Caris Snider
Related episodes:
Edith Leland and Intimate Friendship with God
Jon Fugler and Ditching Performance Christianity
Christy Boulware and Love That Casts Out Fear

The post Caris Snider and Hope Over Anxiety appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Jacci Turner is an author, spiritual director, trainer of spiritual directors, and a retried trauma therapist. Today, Jacci shares her story of discovering the Lord at camp, serving as a trainer for campus ministers for decades, and how her growing understanding of God’s love changed everything. She lost her position and became an outcast from a community she loved. Jacci shares how she got through that difficult season and how spiritual direction helped her see the way through the spiritual desert. Jacci’s story reminds us that we all get a little tumbled by life but that the Lord makes something beautiful out of us all in the end.
Listen to Jacci’s story in your favorite podcast player now!
Stories Jacci shared:
Growing up as a daughter of a produce
Finding Jesus “for the first time” as a child
Praying for Jesus to take away her nightmares
Forgetting her relationship with God as a teenager
Giving her life to Christ as a teenager at camp
Going to college and learning Scripture
Growing in love for the LGBTQ+ community
Leaving her organization by invitation
The pain of becoming an outcast because of her position
The dreams she had during this painful season
Starting a group called Shalom for church wholeness
Experiencing Jesus even through the difficult times
The identities she had to let go in order to get through the spiritual desert
How a spiritual director helped her through her issues with the church
What spiritual direction is and why it is valuable at every stage of the journey
Spiritual cairns in the desert
Great quotes from Jacci:
If I never get to Hollywood, I still want to follow you.
As we got to know them, they didn’t become our gay friends. They became just our friends.
Look to hope. Find hope in people, in God, in the books, in Scripture, in the forest, wherever you can find it.
Resources we mentioned (affiliate links):
Jacci’s website
Tumbled People: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Your Faith by Jacci Turner
The Gravity Center
The Divine Hours (Volume Two): Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime: A Manual for Prayer by Phyllis Tickle
Yes And…Daily Meditations by Richard Rohr
Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World by John Philip Newell
Related episodes:
Cliff Haddox and The Story that Grows With You
Phileena Heuertz and Christian Contemplation
Suzanne Stabile and How Enneagram Heals Relationships
The post Jacci Turner and Tumbled People appeared first on Eric Nevins.