Quiet on Purpose

Episode 114 - What our Longings Tell Us

I'm always challenged by the words of verse 2, “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord…” The question that arises for me is, “Can I honestly say that my soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord?” Have you ever stopped to evaluate your longings? When we have a longing, doesn’t it indicate that something is missing from our lives? Sometimes our longings indicate a desire to escape our current circumstances. In this episode, we'll explore what our longings might be trying to tell us, and we'll take some time to consider our response. Listen in! Read it here [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2084%3A1-2&version=NIV] Questions for this episode: Does this resonate with my soul today? Do I find myself trying to fill my cravings with temporary things that never completely satisfy? Am I able to see that what my soul really wants is to encounter the living God? Is there something He is inviting me to do, or to set aside doing, so that I can enter into our relationship more intentionally? https://www.ivpress.com/sacred-rhythms-hardcover?srsltid=AfmBOoo5olfHFkzTpxOp3-s4IJiFW4GLbD2OtGdxH44KlCuLkPmB2eQY was one of the first I read on this topic! The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook [https://www.ivpress.com/spiritual-disciplines-handbook?srsltid=AfmBOoq_XYslZe9xl4dMvG8t8rGNGFukvYsF0JL3VcadC9Y1nU52gD_h]by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun is a really great resource on many different disciplines and the desire behind each The Lectio 365 App [https://lectio365.com/the-app/] is a great daily resource for slowing down to encounter scripture prayerfully! Podcast music is written and recorded by Caleb Lieurance

Episode 113 - Watch!

Welcome to a new season of Quiet on Purpose, friends - I can't believe we are beginning our 6th year together! What a delight for me. As 2025 was winding down and I began to anticipate the start of a new year, I began, as has become my practice, paying attention to what God seems to be up to in this season of my life, and where I felt His Spirit at work in my heart, especially seeking a “word of the year” to guide my spiritual focus for 2026. The word I settled on for this year is “Watch!” (Yes, with an exclamation point!) Even before the new year began, I could see how He was inviting me to focus on this word, this practice really, and the hope that is connected to it! I’m excited to “Watch!” and see what God does in this year, and you're invited to join me! You can read Micah 7.7 here [ https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah%207%3A7&version=NIV] Questions from today's episode: Where am I longing for God to work in my own life or the lives of my loved ones today? Do I sense an invitation from him to watch in hope as I pour out my heart to him, knowing that he hears me and he is already at work? Am I ready to open my hands and release outcomes and timing to the One True God, whose timing is never wrong?  https://open.spotify.com/track/5wcGpjPXAwU0bXUP2dnVyT?si=fee08d9b3d674266

Episode 112 - Word Made Flesh

Have you ever had the experience of getting together with a dear friend or family member after a long period of absence and wanted to just soak up every moment with them, savoring their presence with you? Have you ever realized, after perhaps hours of sitting and visiting with them, that you’ve lost all track of time because you have been so completely “with” them? The first chapter of the Gospel of John begins with beautifully poetic imagery which helps us to understand Jesus as Creator, eternal Son of God, Life and Light, and, in this verse, Emmanuel, God with us! Dive in to this special Christmas episode as we pause to consider the miracle of God with us! Read [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201%3A14&version=NIV] John 1:14 Questions from today's episode:  What does “God with us” mean to you today? How do you need to experience his “with-ness” in your life right now? Have you ever stopped to marvel at the fact that the Creator of the universe stepped into humanity and became one of us in order to help us know Him, to see God’s love for us, and to enact the most amazing redemption plan? Take some time now to linger in awe and wonder at God’s great love for us! A great listen:

Episode 111 - Ignite Hope

This episode is being released the day before the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Today's scripture highlights the practice of thanking God for what He has done, and it makes an interesting connection between gratitude and hope. Listen in! Read Psalm 52:9 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2052%3A9&version=NIV] Questions from today's episode: What am I grateful for today? What do I have to be grateful for every day? As I take time to be grateful for these things, do I perceive even a tiny spark of hope igniting within me? Am I willing to commit to a spiritual practice of beginning each day with gratitude for a period of  time, being watchful for how it impacts my life in big and small ways? https://open.spotify.com/track/1kHGN0Sa3wcKDlP6M9nKjR?si=fa9ef89ece43419e https://open.spotify.com/track/1kHGN0Sa3wcKDlP6M9nKjR?si=9000608382a54376

Episode 110 - Fearfully and Wonderfully

Complaining about our bodies or our personalities is a "Great-American-Pastime" it would seem. But the scriptures confront that habit in Psalm 139, when the psalmist declares that he is "fearfully and wonderfully made". In today's episode we'll linger in the imagery of being "knit together" in our mother's wombs. Listen in! Read Psalm 139:13-14 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20139%3A13-14&version=NIV] Questions from today's episode: Linger in the beauty that God knit each one of us together in our mother’s womb and is intimately acquainted with everything about us. He declares that you are fearfully and wonderfully made! As you meditate on this truth, is your loving Creator inviting you to surrender your complaint about any part of you, either a physical trait or a personality trait, and instead to praise and thank Him for making you exactly as you are? Would you invite Him to show you how He might use that trait as a blessing to others? Podcast music written and recorded by Caleb Lieurance