Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

This episode unpacks the concept of “attunement” from relationship researcher John Gottman, a practice of noticing, honoring, and responding to a loved one’s emotions. I tell the story of Leo and Melinda as a kitchen-table moment goes wrong, then gets replayed and done right.

You’ll find the four building blocks of attunement that build love: awareness, non-judgmental listening, curiosity, and compassion. We can connect the ideas to Jesus’s encounter with the woman at the Samaritan well as a reflection of how God is attuned to us.

Think of one person in your life who needs to feel tuned in to today — and try the four steps in your next conversation with them. Then share this episode with someone who could use the reminder.

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Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

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Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

What if the bestselling self-help advice of the year is only telling you two-thirds of the story? This episode expands Mel Robbins's viral Let Them Theory. Alongside "Let Them" and "Let Me," you’ll learn a third, essential move: Let Us.

Using real examples from healthcare, education, and immigration policy in Texas, it presents what it looks like to widen our emotional health beyond the personal and into the communal.

You can come away with a fuller framework for emotional well-being — one that doesn't stop at personal boundaries but extends into neighborly action.

Take a few minutes to discover what "Let Us" could look like in your own neighborhood this week.

Support the show

Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

Enjoy the Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@tracksforthejourney77

Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

What if the most important relationship on your spiritual journey isn't with a book, a doctrine, or even a church? It could be one wise person willing to walk beside you.

In a culture of DIY religion, I offer reasons why spiritual mentorship is vital, based on my 50 years of ordained ministry. I share some of my journey and examples from history to help you find the mentor you need.

I talk honestly about ordination in today’s faith traditions, marked by uneven standards across denominations, and the ongoing exclusion of women and LGBTQIA+ people from ministry.

I think you’ll come away with a clearer sense of what to look for in a spiritual guide and the encouragement to go find one, whatever your tradition or season of life.

Support the show

Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

Enjoy the Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@tracksforthejourney77

Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Every parent wants to do a great job. Dr. Chris Hanson offers practical guidance on how this is done in this episode with the vital skill of Nurturant Parenting.

Chris is a pediatrician and theologian who is showing parents how to balance authority and engagement. That is the essence of being a Nurturant Parent who offers wise direction and loving connection. The idea is founded on evidence-based psychology and love-centered theology.

In the session Chris also shares his spiritual journey which led him to embrace a love-centered perspective on God, the ultimate nurturant parent for us all. His vision of parenting is based in the truth of God as loving, responsive, and co-creative.

Chris gives clear guidance on applying these ideas for parenting preschoolers, teens, and young adults. He has special insight into the challenge of parenting the Pandemic Generation whom he feels are still recovering from that traumatic interruption to normal life.

These ideas will help any parent see the importance of balancing warm, supportive engagement with wise direction. Listeners will also be encouraged to ask serious questions about faith and church life to promote maximum spiritual development.

Read for more information

Open and Relational Parenting: Loving Parents Reflecting a Loving God. SacraSage Press, 2025

https://openrelationalparenting.substack.com/

Support the show

Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

Enjoy the Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@tracksforthejourney77

Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Each faith journey is unique, a work of God and the individual. In this episode Beau Stringer, Associate Pastor at Resurrection Church Downtown in Kansas City, shares his movement from evangelical, to pastor, to seeker, and to a deeper faith reconstruction. His journey casts light on the movement of many sincere seekers today to build something transcendent and meaningful in this challenging world.

Support the show

Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

Enjoy the Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@tracksforthejourney77

Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

We all know what it feels like to leave behind what's familiar — a home, a role, a comfort zone — and step into something unknown. This episode of Tracks for the Journey, draws on the words of Jesus on the night before the cross — "Come now, let us leave" — to explore why change is so hard, and why it might be exactly what we need. From biblical figures like Abraham, Ruth, and Mary Magdalene, to a personal story of leaving pastoral ministry for hospital chaplaincy, LP unpacks the grief and gift that comes with every departure. And yes — Tim Walz even makes an appearance as a modern-day example of someone who left his comfort zone and changed history.

Listening to this episode will help you:

• Understand why change feels like loss — and find peace with that
• Recognize the invitation hidden inside life's dislocations and transitions
• Find spiritual grounding when you're being asked to leave behind a place, a past, or a fear
• See your own journey reflected in the stories of Scripture and everyday people

Support the show

Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

Enjoy the Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@tracksforthejourney77

Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Enjoy this warm, imaginative episode of Tracks for the Journey in which I sit in my spring prayer garden and talk with Red — my billion-year-old granite stone. Through this playful yet profound dialogue, I probe Red's geological journey (meteor strikes, ice ages, and all) to offer a surprisingly simple antidote to modern anxiety: stop trying to figure everything out, plant yourself on solid ground, and live fully in the present day.

Support the show

Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

Enjoy the Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@tracksforthejourney77

Post your thoughts here. If you want a reply email me at connectTFJ@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Religious liberty — one of America's most foundational values — is under serious threat, and Texas is where the battle is playing out most visibly. Fueled by the ideology of Christian Nationalism, politicians and public figures have targeted the state's 500,000-plus Muslim residents through discriminatory policies, inflammatory rhetoric, and outright denial of civil rights.

I argue attacks on the freedoms of any faith community is an attack on the freedoms of all — Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and beyond. This episode explains what religious liberty really means, who is threatening it and why, and how ordinary citizens can push back.

Support the show

Subscribe to this podcast for only $8 per month to get a monthly bonus episode, access to exclusive subscriber-only episodes, and the POSTINGS weekly newsletter on Substack with more resources for well-being!

Subscribe at https://tracksforthejourney.buzzsprout.com

Enjoy the Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@tracksforthejourney77