The Best Kept Secret With Liv Dooley Liv Dooley

A Conversation on Suffering and Contentment with Kristen LaValley

THE STRUGGLE WITH CONTENTMENT AND SORROWI do know that this month can introduce a variety of emotions and lots of different women, especially as we prepare for Mother's Day. And for years, it was pretty hard to start the month for me because although I wanted to be a mama, I didn't have the opportunity. It always felt a little difficult to send out those Mother's Day text messages to various friends because although I was happy for them, I still felt some sadness.
Now that I've gone through pregnancy and labor and I've familiarized myself with lots of different research about many different struggles that women experience, as well as experiencing some of those struggles myself or with friends, I am also holding those who are feeling the loss of their children in my heart, as well. 
So today, as we prepare to begin this conversation, we'll pray for those who hope to experience contentment again despite their pain.
MEET KRISTEN LAVALLEYKristen LaValley is a gifted writer whose words provide a refreshing perspective on faith and spirituality. Her writing resonates with those who carry tensions in their faith, offering insights that intersect doubt and belief, hope and suffering, beauty and heartache, complexity and simplicity. With a deep love for the Christian faith and a willingness to explore its complexities, Kristen's writing offers nuanced conversations that challenge readers to think deeply and wrestle with important questions.
Kristen lives in Massachusetts with her husband Zach and their five children - Jonah, Emery, Anna, Chloe, and Lydia.
RESOURCESEven If He Doesn't
SELAH ON THE YOUVERSION BIBLE APPWant to subscribe to Selah on YouVersion? Join the 7 Day devotional here.
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A conversation about spiritual disciplines (like scripture reading, gratitude, and prayer) that strengthen our contentment with Shante Grossett O'Neal

THE BENEFITS OF THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINESY'alllll, the spiritual disciplines have supported my relationship with Christ in the best ways, and I am grateful for them. They consistently remind us that us our God is a relational God, that He has placed us in relationship with others for our good, and that His Holy Spirit will always lead us into all truth and righteousness.
We may not learn them in a formal setting, and we may not always share them on social media, but those spiritual disciplines have the power to remind us we are always growing in the Lord when we let Him lead us there. 
MEET SHANTE GROSSETT O'NEALShanté Grossett O’Neal is the founder of Daily She Pursues. She is passionate about teaching women how to pursue the heart of God by studying his word, spending time in prayer, and committing to a daily walk with the Lord. She is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies at Liberty University and some of her favorite things include tea, journaling, art museums, essential oils, and thrift shopping.
RESOURCESThe Twelve-Week Jesus Bible Study
My Conversation with Shante on the Imprecatory Psalms

SELAH ON THE YOUVERSION BIBLE APPWant to subscribe to Selah on YouVersion? Join the 7 Day devotional here.
Purchase your copy of Selah: A Study of 1 and 2 Samuel

A conversation about the culture and the pursuit of contentment with Becky Beresford

THE PURSUIT OF CONTENTMENTWelcome back to our miniseries on contentment. When I first found out I was expecting a little one, I had so many emotions they surprised me. I had planned to feel nothing but pure joy and ecstacy. However, I also felt some grief about the things I knew I would have to walk away from for a season. Now, don't get me wrong.
I was overjoyed. Still, I recognized that every time I engaged with cultural values and got sucked into a vortex on social media, I started feeling as if I was falling behind.
That couldn't be further from the truth, but if it is, who cares? We have to think critically about the messages we're accepting and adopting from the culture so that we can ensure they don't impede our ability to enjoy contentment.
MEET BECKY BERESFORDBecky Beresford lives in North Carolina and is happily outnumbered by her husband and three wonderful boys. She is an author, speaker, and coach with a Master's Certificate in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship from Moody Theological Seminary. Becky loves encouraging God’s Daughters to embrace Christ-centered empowerment through the truth found in the gospel. She is the host of the inspiring Brave Women Series, where different women share about their journeys toward courage with Jesus. Becky’s first book with Moody Publishers, She Believed HE Could, So She Did, releases in March. Connect with Becky at BeckyBeresford.com where you can sign up to become a part of her Empowered Email Tribe. Or follow her on Instagram.
RESOURCESShe Believed He Could, So She Did

SELAH ON THE YOUVERSION BIBLE APPWant to subscribe to Selah on YouVersion? Join the 7 Day devotional here.
Purchase your copy of Selah: A Study of 1 and 2 Samuel
Access the Full Show Notes Here

A conversation about burnout, resentment, and wholeness with Lisa V. Fields, founder of the Jude 3 Project.

THE PURSUIT OF CONTENTMENTWelcome to our miniseries on contentment. Over the next five months, we are going to explore what it means to pursue contentment. We'll talk about how it changes the way we live, love, and lead, and I hope you're here for it.
Now, before we get started, let's talk about what contentment is not. Contentment is not an excuse for passivity, disobedience, or complacency. It is a fine balance between faith and gratitude. 
Contentment is not the end of the road, a final destination we somehow get to, but a component that makes the journey easier and more fulfilling. It is the beautiful absence of strife, pride, and competition.
Contentment recognizes capacity and it yields to calling in whatever form it may come.
MEET LISA V. FIELDSLisa Fields, one of the world’s most sought-after Christian apologists, combines her passion for biblical literacy with her heart for sharing God’s love with all she meets.
Since starting the Jude 3 Project, Fields has received several honors, most notably, Christianity Today’s recognition of her work as an apologist in the African American community.
Lisa is taking us behind the scenes to talk about how the pursuit of contentment showed up in one of the hardest periods of her life. I could not be more grateful for how she has invited us behind the scenes.
DOCUMENTARIESWatch Unspoken
Watch Faith and Freedom
SELAH ON THE YOUVERSION BIBLE APPWant to subscribe to Selah on YouVersion? Join the 7 Day devotional here.

Access the Full Show Notes Here

Can you believe we are at episode 100?! When I first launched The Best Kept Secret, I couldn't see past episode 3, but our God is so kind.
Thank you for joining me here week after week. In honor of our 100th episode, I'd like you to grab your Bible and listen in as we wrap up this series on worship with a message I shared at Avenue Church this past September.
If you have your copy of Selah: A Study of 1 and 2 Samuel, you can turn to Session 6 as we prepare to talk about the final session, titled Worship Invites Us to Rejoice.
AVENUE CHURCH
Want to get connected to a healthy church in Las Vegas? Check out Avenue Church, led by Pastors Jeremy and Lindsey Bosma. I can't recommend it enough.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Want to find out what was going on in King David's life when he wrote the psalms He's known for? Grab your download here. 

A conversation about pain, disappointment, and friendship with God with Faith Eury Cho
WORSHIPING IN THE WILDERNESSIt wasn't until late in 2022 that one little story in David's narrative stuck out to me. I was going through my own wilderness season, and had been for about a year and a half when I read it.
When King David was returning to the wilderness in 2 Samuel 15 on his way into exile from his son Absalom who had taken over his kingdom, he paused.
He paused to let everyone who was traveling with him (over 600 men and their families to pass by him), while Abiathar the priest made sacrifices. Wow.
Y’all. This is powerful. It shows us that we can keep worshiping, even when we are on the way into a wilderness season, and all of our options feel heavy and impossible to navigate.
I don’t know whether you are coming out of a wilderness season, feeling like you’re on the way into the wilderness or somewhere in between, but the one thing we learn from David is that the wilderness does not dictate our ability to worship the Lord in everything.
This week, we continue to reflect on some of the themes in Session Five of Selah: Worship Invites Resilience in the Wilderness.
TODAY WE'RE REFLECTING ON JAMES 1:5-6 ESV:If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
A WOMAN YOU SHOULD KNOWToday, Ty and I get ready to close out this season by featuring one woman who has impacted both of us. Today, I have the great joy to introduce you to Tona Haywood, a marketing consultant and boutique h. Get connected to her because she is definitely a woman you should know.
MEET FAITH EURY CHOFaith is the CEO and founder of The Honor Summit, a nonprofit organization that equips and activates Asian American women for the mission of God. Alongside her husband, Pastor David Cho, she is also the co-founder and co-pastor of  Mosaic Covenant Church in NJ.
Faith is a coach and collaborator for Propel Ecclesia, for which she has also been a contributing writer. She is also the author of Experiencing Friendship with God: How the Wilderness Draws Us to His Presence.
Faith has spoken on mission fields, churches, conferences, and stages such as Thinq Media and Exponential. She regularly appears on TBN’s Better Together. In addition, she has been a guest on The 700 Club and LIFE Today TV. In January 2023, she was mentioned in Outreach Magazine as one of, “20 Rising Leaders.”
Her most precious role, however, is being a mom to her 4 children— Moriah, Elias, River and Adalynn.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCESWant to find out what was going on in King David's life when he wrote the psalms He's known for? Grab your download here.