The Spacious Place, with Kari Levang

If you feel like you’re not valuable

Let me tell you there’s more….from Lauren Daigle’s song “Valuable”

There are so many new people engaging with the Spacious Place, so today I decided to do a little introduction to who I am and how this podcast came to be. I’m sharing some bits of my own story and how God and others moved me to a new space--- and how I couldn’t keep it to myself! Even if you’re not new to this space, I think you might find some nuggets today that could enlighten your journey.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Are birthdays fun for you or do they have an element of hard to them? This episode is two days after my 54th birthday, so I thought it might be fun to share some of the things I’ve learned, what I’m still learning this year, and how it feels in the middle of all of that!

Come along with me as I share what this year has held for me.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” -Viktor E. Frankl

Do you ever talk to fill in quiet spaces? Or know someone who does that? Me too!
Today we’re talking about someone in the Bible (spoiler alert...it was Peter:)--- who often did the same thing. We’ll look at a story in Mark where this very thing happened and then I’ll share some of the things that felt helpful to me as I sat in it and leaned in closer. 

Join me as we dig a little deeper to see what we might uncover!

“You can withstand life’s rhythms of waves as long as you have your own interior sacred rhythms with God who rocks you safe. “

Often when we think about creating habits, it’s at the beginning of the year or a marker birthday, not in May.  But in light of the habits that we already have in place, it can be helpful to determine whether they are working or if there are other ways we can use our time and energy in a more effective way. So, today’s episode is not about ‘being better’, it’s more about creating spaces for us to flourish with ourselves, others and God. 

Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen. Brene Brown

In this episode, I gathered with a group of women that chose to link arms and entrust one another with our vulnerable places in regards to the creative adventures we were all beginning during our middle age season. Here we are 4 years later, and not only do we still love one another, but our relationship has deepened tremendously by this one choice to choose vulnerability with one another, in the places that felt so sacred and scary. 

We’re sharing today how our time together has not only enhanced our creative endeavor, but helped us to become better sisters to one another!

God speaks to Adam and halts him in his flight. Come out of your hiding place…our of your self torment….confess who you are, do not lose yourself in religious despair, be yourself, Adam. Where are you?     —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In this episode I’m sharing about something my friend in Sierra Leone Africa shared with me about living courageously. I’ll tell you her story and then unpack with you what I believe we can take from her encounter from all the way around the globe! 

We’ll also go back to the Garden of Eden and remember God’s question to Adam and Eve when they were hiding…. and you may even find, there’s more to the story than you’ve formerly considered.

 “Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise——a time to pray wrapped in a ribbon of patience——because, is the Lord ever late?”  Ann Voskamp

Do you ever feel like the weather outside lines up with the condition of your heart? I sure do. Today I’m talking about how an early morning peek out the window opened my heart and mind in such a way for God to speak to my soul. His invitation to join Him, to bring all of me, still catches me off-guard. I’m sitting in a pool of gratitude today and wanted to share it with you!

1 Thessalonians  5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

“The greater the obstacle, the greater the opportunity for healing.”   —-Laurine

My friend Laurine has been on the Spacious Place podcast a couple of times before and I just love chatting with her because it is honest. She is one of the most tenacious pursuers of Jesus— and mind, body and soul integration I know! She is fierce about investing in relationship with others, with a desire to entrust herself more, even when it feels scary or uncomfortable.

We have had lots of practice in our friendship, learning how to make room for grace with one another as we grow more and more into the image of Jesus. 

Come along for our chat together!

Charles Swindoll…Intimacy with The Almighty

I’m finally learning that His Sovereign plan is the best plan. That whatever I entrust to Him, He can take care of better than I. That nothing under His control  can ever be out of control. That everything I need, He knows about in every detail. That he is able to supply, to guide, to start, to stop, to sustain, to change and correct in His time for His purposes. When I keep my hands out of things, His will is accomplished, His Name is exalted, and His glory is magnified.

In this episode I’ll share some very personal struggles I’m in the middle of that I think some of you may be able to relate to. Maybe not the exact circumstances, but probably somewhat the same ideas. And we’ll talk about the differences around giving something up and giving it over.

We’ll talk about how when we'll drag our weary lives to the throne of grace, God will increase our power and ability to navigate all the disappointing places, even if they still feel terrible----giving us the strength to not only hang on, as we ride the wave of disappointment, but also the strength to hand it over to the only One who can do anything about it.

I think... if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.    Leo Tolstoy

In this episode we’re gonna talk about the language of love and why it matters. I’ll share some ways Mike and I have missed the mark and how we’re still learning and growing one day at a time.

I’ll also give you a tip that someone gave me years ago that I believe has been super instrumental in the flourishing of our marriage.

Maturity requires the integration, not amputation of what we have received thru our conception and birth, our infancy and schooling.

Today’s episode is just days away from my 6 year anniversary of Freedom from captivity. I’m sharing what it’s looked like for me, what freedom is and what it isn’t, and hopefully I’ll leave you with hope as you navigate your own journey with Jesus and others. 

Life is messy and God is patient. Can I get an amen?!!!

God’s fundamental interest in us is relationship…That’s the good news. God says, “I love you and let’s get that settled.”

But then God says, “Now I’m going to mess with you because there are things you need to get straightened out.”’

Oh boy are there ever! Have mercy!            —-William Pannell

Join me today as I talk about the messy business of navigating our emotions, when we try to do it alone and the road out of the dark as we move towards connection with others and with Jesus. I’ll share my own messy and vulnerable bits and I’m hoping there may be some of you who can relate.

Taking note of the good, the true, the just, the miracles hidden at every turn, is like a deliberate act of defiance against the darkness.  

—From, Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

In this episode we’re talking about what intentional connection might look like this year. I’m sharing a few of the practical shifts I plan to enter into, as I  intentionally pursue connection with God, connection with His beautiful creation and connection with those most important to me. Join me today and see if there’s anything that resonates with you at the beginning of this new year.

The true doctrine of omnipresence is, that God reappears with all his parts in every moss and cobweb.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Christmas is the celebration of our God that is with us, Emmanuel. But what if I told you he’s not just with you in the good, but also in the hard...the frustrating...the discouraging and fearful places.  In today’s episode I’ll share some of the things that are happening in my life that are hard and why knowing Emmanuel matters!

Happy Christmas season!

In today’s episode we are going to talk traditions. I’m gonna share some of the things that were important in our family as we were raising our kids, as well as how that has changed and morphed over the years. I’ll also share some of the lessons God has taught me along the way as my kids have moved from full time, living in our home, to having families of their own.  There are a couple that are absolute game changers that you're not gonna want to miss! 

Always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

He leads me, “God isn’t behind me yelling, “Go!” He is ahead of me bidding “Come!”

He leads us. He tells us what we need to know when we need to know it.

Safe in the Shepherds Arms by Max Lucado

HAPPY ALMOST THANKSGIVING!!!

I don’t know about you, but life can be pretty challenging at times—-even in the circumstances that you least expect it to be.  In this episode, I’m getting real honest about some of the hard parts of my season and then I’ll share which name of God has been most meaningful for me. I’ll also talk about larvae, so there’s that:) 

Phillip Yancey, “Grace, like water, flows to the lowest places.”

(Taken from my friend Jeff Peabody’s book “Perfectly Suited”)

Unless we know and understand and begin to put into practice who God says He is and who He says we are, we will languish. The flourishing life we’ve been promised is rooted in relationship with the One who doesn’t change. 

Today marks the beginning of our conversation in the spacious place around the messy middle—-the place between our knowing and living it out in our one ordinary life. 

Come join me as we keep practicing believing!

The presence of fear does not mean you have no faith. Fear visits everyone. But make your fear a visitor and not a resident. Max Lucado

We all find ourselves afraid at times, right? The problem isn’t that we experience fear, it’s more about what we do when it comes. The story I’m talking through today shows us what Jehoshaphat did when he experienced fear and gives us some insight on how to navigate our own circumstances by admitting our powerlessness and entrusting ourselves to His care. Come with me today as we take a look at this story and see what God has for us.

Also, Happy birthday to my Paige!!!

“Hard doesn’t mean bad, it simply means, not easy.”

Kari Levang

Are you in a transition of sorts? Maybe a new job, a new babe, a move, or something else?  Join me today as I share about my 3 1/2 month break from podcasting, while I navigated some big transitions.  I’m sharing a little bit about what the break was like for me (spoiler alert: hard and good:)—-as well as giving a little peek into where we’re headed as a Spacious Place community. Come with me  as I talk about how curiosity helped so incredibly much as I navigated this season of transition, and how I continue to choose it as this season continues.

“When we show up differently at home, it changes how we show up outside of there” Rebekah Lyons

This week on the Spacious Place I’m sharing what the last 6 months of 22 have shown me as well as where He is leading me for the next couple of months. I’m super stoked for Mike and I to begin the next leg of our adventure together and can’t wait to let you in on what’s next for us, and for the Spacious Place!