After a long time off, welcome all the way back to the podcast. I'm glad to be here and I hope you are, too. We'll begin as we often do around here: by looking back, starting back in February when I discerned my word for this year would be HEAL. On this first episode of fall, I'll share the view from here, what healing means for me in this season, and how to know if healing is on the horizon. Listen in.

LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Download grief resources
• Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott
• Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal
• Download The Quiet Collection app
• Order a How to Walk into a Room
• Join The Soul Minimalist Substack

FIND EMILY ELSEWHERE:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
• Download The Quiet Collection app
• Join The Soul Minimalist Substack
• Order a How to Walk into a Room
• Download the free discussion guide for How to Walk into a Room by visiting this page and clicking the button "Discussion Guide"
• Download the transcript

It's the last week of Psalm Summer 2026, and I'll be reading three versions of Psalm 62. When this series is over, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in.

• The Quiet Collection app
• Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal
• Grab a copy of my book How to Walk into a Room
• Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman

It's week five of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading three versions of Psalm 62. When this series is over, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in.

• The Quiet Collection app
• Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal
• Grab a copy of my book How to Walk into a Room
• Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman

It's week four of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading three versions of Psalm 54. When this series is over, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in.

• The Quiet Collection app
• Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal
• Grab a copy of my book How to Walk into a Room
• Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman

It's week three of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading three versions of Psalm 13. When this series is over, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in.

• The Quiet Collection app
• Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal
• Grab a copy of my book How to Walk into a Room
• Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman

It's week two of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading three versions of Psalm 8. When this series is over, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in.

• The Quiet Collection app
• Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal
• Grab a copy of my book How to Walk into a Room
• Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman

It's the first week of Psalm Summer, and I'll be reading three versions of Psalm 3. When this series is over, we'll have all the Psalms for you as a collection in The Quiet Collection app. Listen in.

• The Quiet Collection app
• Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal
• Grab a copy of my book How to Walk into a Room
• Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman

Today I'm joining in conversation with my friend James Bryan Smith to finally share something that's been in the works for over a year now.

Jim is the author of The Good and Beautiful book series. A founding member of Richard J. Foster's spiritual renewal ministry, Renovaré, Smith is an ordained United Methodist Church minister and has served in various capacities in local churches. He earned his MDiv at Yale and his DMin at Fuller and is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, where he also serves as the director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation.

About a year ago he called me up with an idea for a way to serve writers. That's where our conversation today begins.

Even if you aren't a writer, our conversation will, I hope, shed light on how ideas become reality, how sometimes a good idea takes a decade to grow, and the beauty of collaboration, patience, and moving at a human pace. I hope you'll listen in.

LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about the Formation Writers Guild
• The Good and Beautiful Series by James Bryan Smith
• Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation
• Renovaré

FIND EMILY ELSEWHERE:

• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
• Download The Quiet Collection app
• Join The Soul Minimalist Substack
• Order a How to Walk into a Room
• Download the free discussion guide for How to Walk into a Room by visiting this page and clicking the button "Discussion Guide"