You're the one people call. The steady one. The one everyone else borrows faith from on their worst days. But lately, there's a question you haven't said out loud. Not to your small group, not in worship, maybe not even fully to yourself: is God actually paying attention to any of this? In this episode, we sit with a man who knew that exact tension. John the Baptist was the most certain person in Scripture. He's the one who pointed at Jesus in front of a crowd and called him the Lamb of God. B...
Some of us aren't just tired. Some of us are managing something specific: a name, a season, a version of ourselves we've built a whole avoidance strategy around, just so certain people never connect the dots. This week continues What's Behind Your Smile? with a question one layer deeper than where we started. If "fine" is the general cover story, this episode asks what's underneath the specific one. Melissa sits with the woman at the well in John 4, a woman who'd learned to time her entire day ...
Is anyone actually fine? Or have we all just gotten really good at saying it? Welcome to a brand new series: What's Behind Your Smile? Over the next five episodes, we're taking an honest look at what people are quietly carrying behind the version of themselves the world gets to see. In this opener, Melissa talks about the reflex answer we give without even checking if it's true, why "fine" has become the price of admission into a normal conversation, and what 1 Samuel 16:7 has to say about a G...
Somewhere along the way, you stopped praying for it. Maybe you called it making your peace. Maybe you called it being realistic. Maybe you never called it anything at all — the prayer just slipped off the list, and you never noticed the day it went quiet. And here's the lie most of us believe about coming back: that you have to fix the reason first. That you have to stop being tired, get over the disappointment, lose the fear, or finally feel like you matter — and then you're allowed to pr...
When life falls apart, most people have someone they call. The steady one. The one who prays, who checks in, who always seems to show up. Maybe that person is you. So here's a question worth sitting with: when life falls apart for you — who do you call? And when did you last pray as hard for yourself as you pray for everyone else? This week on My Question for You, we're naming the prayer a lot of faithful people quietly set down somewhere along the way: the one for themselves. My Question for...
There's a name you used to bring to God all the time. And somewhere along the way — without ever really deciding to — you stopped. Maybe it's a child who walked away. A sibling who went quiet. A friend on the same loop you've watched for years. Someone who hurt you. You prayed for them, you really did… until somewhere in there you quietly concluded they were never going to change — and the prayer went quiet right along with that thought. This week, Melissa sits with the prayers we stopped pray...
You ever look at your phone, see who's calling, and just… let it go to voicemail? Not because you don't love them. You do. But you knew the second you saw the name on the screen — if you pick up, they're going to ask you for something. And you don't have it in you to say yes right now. A lot of us have been doing the exact same thing with God. In Episode 3 of The Prayers I Stopped Praying, Melissa asks the question we don't always want to ask out loud: What if you're afraid of what He'll ask?...
You ever apply for a job you really wanted? You spent hours on it. You tailored the resume. You wrote and rewrote the cover letter. You hit submit, and you waited. A day. A week. Two weeks. Nothing. And the worst part wasn't getting a no. Because at least a no is an answer. The worst part was the silence. A lot of us have been praying like that. In Episode 2 of The Prayers I Stopped Praying, Melissa asks: Did you stop praying because He didn't answer? Together, we'll sit with Mary and Marth...
ou didn't decide to stop praying for it. There was no fight with God. No moment where you sat down and said, "I'm done with this one." It just got quieter. And one day you noticed it hadn't been on your lips in a long time. In the premiere of The Prayers I Stopped Praying — a new six-part series — Melissa opens with a question most of us have never said out loud: When did you stop praying for that? Together, we'll sit with Hannah from 1 Samuel 1 — a woman who had every reason to stop praying, a...
I've got the rhythm. Here's the description for the finale — Buzzsprout-optimized, season-finale weight, threading the pull-quote, and seeding Series 2 without selling it. 🎙 S3 E7 — Podcast Description "Is This Ever Going to Change?" (Series Finale) OPTION 1 — RECOMMENDED (warm, season-finale weight) There's a prayer you've been praying for a long time. Maybe it's a healing. A relationship. A door that hasn't opened. A version of your life you've been hoping God would help you step into. And...
You did it again. You meant it this time. You prayed about it. You told yourself things were going to be different. And somewhere along the way, you blinked — and you were right back in the same pattern, having the same conversation in your head you've been having for years. If that's where you are, this episode is for you. In Episode 6 of The Question Behind the Question, we're sitting with one of the most honest questions a believer can ask: Why can't I change? Underneath it, there's a quie...
Some questions don't announce themselves. They show up late at night, when you're scanning your past for the reason something in your present feels stuck. Did I do something wrong? In this episode of My Question for You, Melissa sits with the quieter question underneath that one: Am I being punished by God for who I used to be? Anchored in John 9:1-3 and the story of Paul — first in his past (1 Timothy 1) and then in his present (2 Corinthians 12) — this reflection gently dismantles the hidden e...
You've been showing up. For years. You tithe. You serve. You volunteer. You pray. You choose faithfully, even when it costs you something. And your life still looks... about the same. Maybe even the same as the person next to you who isn't doing any of this. In fact — if you're being honest — his life might actually look a little better. And in a quiet moment you'd never say out loud in church, a question surfaces: What's the point? In this episode, Melissa walks you through two voices in Scr...
We've all whispered it. Sometimes as frustration — why is this happening to me? Sometimes as comparison — why does it seem so easy for everyone else? And sometimes as a quiet ache about who we are — why did God make me like this? In this episode, Melissa walks you to Moses at the burning bush, where the most reluctant leader in Scripture asked God "Why me?" not once, but five times. What unfolds is a deeply personal exploration of the question hiding underneath: Am I trusting God with who I am —...
Why does waiting feel so heavy… especially when you’re praying and nothing seems to move? In this episode, we sit with one of the most honest questions of faith: Why is this taking so long? Through the story of Habakkuk, we uncover what’s really underneath that question—and it might be deeper than you think. This isn’t just about waiting. It’s about trust. If you’ve ever wondered whether God sees you, hears you, or is actually working in the silence… this episode will meet you right there. T...
What if the question you’ve been asking God… isn’t the real question? In this opening episode of Season 3, we take a moment to slow down, look back, and recognize what the last season has been shaping in us—before stepping into what’s next. Because sometimes the most important shift doesn’t happen when we find answers… it happens when we finally understand what we’re really asking. This season begins with a simple invitation: to go deeper. To move beyond surface-level questions and gently ...
Most of us have felt it. Very few of us have said it out loud. "I just don't feel it anymore." Not angry at God. Not walking away. Just... flat. And honestly? That might be the scariest place of all — because we've been taught that faith is supposed to feel like something. In the Season 2 finale of My Question for You, Melissa closes out The Language of Faith series with the phrase she believes is the most vulnerable of all. We're going to Psalm 88 — the only psalm in Scripture that begins...
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” It sounds wise—but what happens when that mindset shapes our faith? This episode explores the quiet shift that happens when belief starts waiting for evidence… and what Scripture reveals about trusting God before we can see the outcome. 📩 Get A Quiet Invitation — weekly encouragement in your inbox: https://preview.mailerlite.io/forms/1717098/165207819752047949/share ✨ Encouragement for your spirit. Wisdom for your walk.
"I'm just being realistic" — it sounds wise, grounded, even mature. But what if it's quietly keeping you from believing what God can actually do? In Part 3 of The Language of Faith series, we look at one of the most socially acceptable ways we talk ourselves out of faith. Through the story of the ten spies in Numbers 13, we explore what it looks like when realism becomes a ceiling — and how Caleb and Joshua modeled a different kind of faith. This week's question: Are You Being Realistic… or Be...
We say it all the time: “I just know it will work out.” But is that faith… or just optimism? In this episode, we explore the difference between trusting favorable circumstances and trusting the character of God. Join me as we continue our series The Language of Faith by exploring a subtle but important distinction many of us overlook: the difference between biblical faith and simple optimism. Optimism believes things will probably work out. Faith trusts that God is faithful — even if they d...
We say the word hope all the time. “I hope things work out.” “I hope this gets better.” “I hope something changes.” But sometimes what we call hope is really something else. A wish. A quiet desire with no real expectation behind it. In this episode, we begin a new series called The Language of Faith by exploring the difference between wishing something might happen and placing your hope in a God who is already at work. Because biblical hope isn’t fragile optimism. It isn’t crossing your...
There comes a moment when encouragement isn’t enough. You’ve prayed. You’ve waited. You’ve asked for clarity. And yet… the decision keeps coming back. In this episode of My Question for You, we move beyond reflection and into something braver: obedience. What if the reason you still feel stuck isn’t because God is silent… but because He’s already spoken? What if hesitation has been wearing the mask of wisdom? What if trust isn’t about having the full picture… but about taking the next ...
You took the leap. You started the thing. You had the conversation. You stepped out of your head and into your life. And now… you’re stuck again. Not because you haven’t moved. But because you’re overthinking what comes next. In this episode of the UNSTUCK series, we talk about what happens after the beginning — when the adrenaline fades and your mind starts negotiating. Why do we stall after we start? Why do we wait for clarity that may only come after obedience? Through stories like Ab...
We celebrate the leap. We admire the courage. We talk about the moment you finally step out in faith. But what about the day after? What happens when the adrenaline fades… when you wake up, make your coffee, and realize everything still looks mostly the same? In this episode, we step into the quiet, often unspoken middle — the space between taking action and seeing results. The place where growth feels slower than you imagined. The place where your mind tries to pull you back into the safet...
