Expanding the Imagination | S2 EP2

In this episode, we tackle the problem of having greater faith in the Devil than in God. This can look like focusing more on what the Devil is doing than on what God is doing or focusing more on your wounds than on God's heart for you. Who has the last word in your story? When you tell your story, is it one of hope or one of hopelessness? If you struggle to see the goodness woven throughout your own story, this episode is for you.  Book recommendations: Big GOD, Little Devil: A Radical Shift in the Approach to Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance by Sean Tobin. Everything Is Grace: The Life and Way of Thérèse of Lisieux by Joseph F. Schmidt Searching For and Maintaining Peace by Fr. Jacques Philippe The Bible by God Shattered Dreams: God's Unexpected Path to Joy by Larry Crabb

In this episode, Nicole & Trinity discuss what it's like to know that your life is a story, one with a beautiful ending that makes sense of and redeems the sufferings that have come before. Knowing that you're in a story can give you a sense of meaning and purpose in the midst of suffering, and not just after it's over. It can encourage and invigorate you. Book recommendations:  The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken        

In this episode, Nicole & Trinity explore how to wrestle with God in the midst of our disappointments and shattered dreams, what it means to actually have a face before God, and what our good God might be up to when we think He's not doing anything. We recommend C.S. Lewis' Til We Have Faces for the trillionth time, and sooner or later we are going to do a series on the book, so now's a good time as ever to start reading! We also recommend Larry Crabb's Shattered Dreams if you're dealing with a loss or disappointment right now or want to grow your trust in God despite manifold suffering in this world.

In this episode, Nicole introduces the nature of shame, mostly pulling from Curt Thompson's The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves. She discusses its relationship to vulnerability, how it will show up and disrupt the process of learning that's required for growing as people and for growing in intimate relationships, and its connection to motivation. This is only the beginning of the exploration of shame that we will undertake on this podcast.  Book recommendation (besides The Soul of Shame): John Eldredge and Brent Curtis' The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God.  

In this episode, we tackle the nature of hope and how to experience it in the midst of unmet needs, desires, and longings. What is hope? What does it mean to have hope in Jesus rather than in circumstances or desired outcomes?  Here's the song that Nicole mentioned: Revival's In the Air by Bethel Music

In this episode, Nicole explores an important antidote to anxiety: expanding our imaginations. She explores how we can understand anxiety as being stuck in a very small world out of which we must break out so we can enter our real, vast and mysterious world. Book recommendations: - You Are the One You've Been Waiting For: Applying Internal Family Systems to Intimate Relationships by Richard Schwartz - Litanies of the Heart: Relieving Post-Traumatic Stress and Calming Anxiety Through Healing Our Parts by Gerry Ken Crete - Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Father's Love by Boniface Hicks and Thomas Acklin     - My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints by Dawn Eden  

After a long and unexpected hiatus, we have returned with season 2!  First, Nicole & Trinity explain why we took such a long break, our new philosophy and approach to the podcast, and then we discuss what God has been teaching us all these months.  We touch on discouragement and motivation, self-compassion, struggling with abandonment wounds, how to approach our wounded parts, and prayer.  Thanks for relishing reality with us!

In this episode, we take on the following questions (while keeping in mind those who struggle with scrupulosity): How are we supposed to attach to God given the existence of Hell? Does the possibility of Hell mean we can't trust God's heart for us? How can we reconcile the need to trust Him with the possibility of eternal damnation?  

We're back after taking a week off for Thanksgiving! Follow us on Instagram @realitypartypodcast for updates and news, like when we're taking a week off. In this episode, we talk about our how we're doing this Advent and what's on our hearts. For the first time, we just let pressed record and had a normal conversation, updating each other in real time. We thought we'd try something new, so let us know if you like this format!  We are praying for you all as you continue on the Advent journey. God bless you.

In this episode, Nicole tackles the role of the imagination in the spiritual life, and how we need healthy imaginations in order to have a proper desire for God and the spiritual life. She also offers a few ideas regarding how to start healing the imagination, especially as someone who has struggled with a wounded imagination herself.