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Ever feel the ground shift under your feet and wonder how to keep standing? We sit down with author and pastor Courtney Ellis, author of Looking Up: A Birder's Guide to Hope Through Grief, to explore a surprising guide to hope: birds. From mockingbirds that remix the sounds of the neighborhood to sparrows that sing through storms, we unpack how creation itself teaches us to live with uncertainty, grieve honestly, and find rest without checking out of real life.

Courtney shares why not knowing can be merciful, especially when our brains crave a full map we’re not built to carry. We talk about spiritual practices that keep us present—taking the next small step, looking up instead of spiraling, and honoring the quiet work that rarely trends. Sparrows become a lens for ordinary dignity in a world chasing peacock shine and platform pressure. If you’ve ever felt invisible, her reminder that “God sees” lands like water in dry soil.

This is a warm, grounded conversation for anyone navigating grief, change, or the relentless hum of “do more.” If you’re craving presence over performance, mercy over mastery, and a faith sturdy enough for uncertain days, press play. If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe to new episodes, and leave a review to help others find our community.

Visit Courtney's website: Courtney Ellis

Order Courtney's book:

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5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

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What if the simple practice of looking out your window could change the way you carry grief? We sit down with Pastor Courtney Ellis, author of Looking Up: A Birder's Guide to Hope Through Grief," to explore how everyday birdwatching becomes a practice of attention that steadies the soul, awakens faith, and gently leads us toward hope. From the first "spark bird" that turns curiosity into a habit, to the quiet patience of waiting for wings to appear, we trace a path that’s grounded, embodied, and surprisingly accessible—even for restless minds.

Courtney opens up about losing her grandfather and how choosing to be a granddaughter before a professional reshaped her approach to mourning. Together, we name the cultural gap around grief and offer kinder rituals for moving through loss without rushing past it. Along the way, birds become teachers: vultures as tender witnesses and “priests of the wild,” goldfinches as bright messengers in hard seasons, and even city pigeons as underrated icons of resilience and beauty. Poetry from Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver weaves through the conversation, adding language that can hold both sorrow and joy.

If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who needs gentle hope, and leave a review to help others find the show. Tell us: what’s your spark bird?

Visit Courtney's website: Courtney Ellis

Order Courtney's book: Looking Up!

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

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A quiet lie can steer a whole life. We sat down with Pastor Gary Thomas, author of Living the Life You Were Reborn to Live: Dismantling 12 Lies That Rob Your Intimacy with God, to name the deceptions that slip into our thinking, even inside church walls, and to rebuild a vision of intimacy with God that can weather real storms. From the first moments, we trace how distraction has become the pattern of our age and why a renewed mind is the only way back to delight, trust, and fruitful obedience.

Gary takes us behind his new book and the intentional choice of the word “dismantling”—a call to active agency in pulling down structures that block spiritual growth. We explore how small, untested myths shape daily choices, then map that insight onto spiritual half-truths that leave us frustrated with God. The conversation turns tender and bold when we address “family first.” Jesus warned that allegiance to him can divide households; anchoring identity in the Father’s love frees us from chasing validation in our children’s responses and equips us to love without bargaining. That shift releases unnecessary shame and restores the courage to hold truth with humility.

We also dive into control and the lost art of spiritual adventure. When we surrender outcomes and stay alert to the Spirit’s movement, God often uses surprising agents to answer our prayers. Finally, we reframe peace. It isn’t situational—stacked on health, money, and harmony—but relational, grounded in the presence of Christ who holds us when the house shakes. If fear imagines futures without God, peace remembers who is with us right now.

If this conversation helped you see your life and faith with fresh eyes, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

Follow Gary Thomas on Instagram: Gary Thomas Books

Visit Gary's Website: Gary Thomas

Get the shownotes: SHOWNOTES

Listen to E.70, "Unlearning with Meditative Exercise, 'The Waiting Room.'"

Listen to E.146, "Reimagining Your Love Life," with Gary Thomas

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Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

Stephanie Watson, author and founder of "The Table," shares from her new book, Ruth's Need for a Redeemer: A Bible Study on Loss, Loyalty, and Unexpected Love.

We linger on Ruth’s crossroads moment: return to what’s familiar, or risk the unknown with God. It’s the same decision we all might face when our Moab feels safe, but our Bethlehem is calling.

In Part 2, we pick up our conversation with Stephanie Watson, author of Ruth's Need for a Redeemer, to explore Ruth’s bold decision to cling to Ruth—not to her own comfort, and to cling to God’s promises lived through Naomi’s life. The scene is raw: Naomi urges a return, grief narrowing her vision; Orpah turns back. Ruth stays, and that single act reframes what healthy attachment looks like in a world that often confuses strength with self-sufficiency.

Press play for a fresh, grounded take on choice, grief, community, and redemption. If this resonates, share it with a friend, start a table, and leave a rating and review to help others find the show. What are you clinging to today?

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

Stephanie Watson, author and founder of "The Table," shares from her new book, Ruth's Need for a Redeemer: A Bible Study on Loss, Loyalty, and Unexpected Love.

We linger on Ruth’s crossroads moment: return to what’s familiar, or risk the unknown with God. It’s the same decision we all might face when our Moab feels safe, but our Bethlehem is calling.

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

New year, new courage. We’re stepping across the threshold with two clarifying questions—what is mine to hold and what is mine to let go—and using them to untangle people-pleasing, set clearer boundaries, and build a steadier inner life. A surprising health scare pressed pause and brought sharp focus to the survival patterns that once kept me safe, especially fawning: the reflex to merge, appease, and smooth over to protect connection.

I share how I discovered fawning, what it looks like in everyday moments at work, home, and church, and why it’s not manipulation but a nervous system strategy. We unpack detachment as compassionate clarity, not distance, and explore how small practices—breath, body awareness, short honest statements—help us move from automatic yes to thoughtful choice. You’ll hear how trauma and memory shape quick reactions in the amygdala, and how unfawning invites a slow rewiring toward psychological flexibility, agency, and peace.

Listen to E67, Autonomy

Listen to E149, Reimagining Our Personal Sense of Agency

Read more from Dr. Ingrid Clayton: Fawning

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Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

Standing at the threshold of a new year, we ask a hard, freeing question: what is mine to hold, and what is mine to let go? We look back on a year of conversations that shaped our hearts, then lean into a fresh practice of healthy detachment that protects, rather than weakens, secure attachment. With Karen Casey’s Let Go Now as a guide, we explore how choosing to act instead of react creates the quiet where love grows—and how stepping away from chaos can be the most compassionate move in the room.

If you’re ready to unhook from other people’s storms, honor your limits, and carry a softer, truer strength into 2026, this conversation is your companion. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find their way to peace.

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Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon

Send us a text

A Christmas Eve Meditation for You, Mom

The day is loud, the list is long, and yet a quiet song can steady the heart. We pause for a short Christmas Eve heartlift, reading Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55, The Voice translation) and letting its courage seep into the places where we feel stretched thin. This isn’t soft-focus sentiment. Mary’s prayer names a great reversal: the proud scattered, the lowly lifted, the hungry filled. That vision speaks to the kitchen, the table, and the tangled emotions of hosting and holding a family together.

We share the context behind the Magnificat using The Voice translation, then read it slowly so each line can land. Along the way, we draw out why these ancient words are so modern: God’s attention rests on the overlooked, dignity comes to those who serve in silence, and mercy doesn’t expire with the season. If you’ve ever felt like your holiday labor is invisible, this reflection says what the gospel says—God notices you. The blessing is not reserved for stained glass; it meets you in flour-dusted hands and late-night wrapping sessions.

You’ll also hear a simple practice: craft your own Magnificat for the day. Start with gratitude, name a place where you long for God’s reversal, and end with trust that mercy endures from generation to generation. Use it as a breath prayer between tasks or as a centering line before guests arrive. By the end, expect to feel seen, steadied, and ready to step back into the celebration with a fuller heart.

If this Christmas heartlift encourages you, share it with a friend who needs calm today, subscribe for future reflections, and leave a quick review so more weary hearts can find their way here. Merry Christmas, Heartlifter.

Support the show

Begin Your Heartlifter's Journey:

1. Support the show: Your Donation Matters
2. Leave a review and rate the podcast: WRITE A REVIEW
3. Make a tax-deductible donation through Heartlift International
4. Visit and subscribe to Heartlift Central on Substack. This is our new online meeting place for Heartlifters worldwide.
5. Download the 2025 Advent Guide: The Great Glimmer Hunt
6. Meet me on Instagram: @janellrardon