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.