Season 5 Episode 33 – Who is in Control Here? – In this weeks Share Show, Donna & Kevann discuss those things in our lives that are beyond our control. It’s natural to be uncomfortable in these situations, but through personal stories and the wisdom of others we evaluate the possibility that God really is in control, and that he can be trusted with everything that touches our lives. It’s our choice whether we lean in and trust him, or fight against him.
Season 5 Episode 32 – Enemies of the Heart – There are plenty of things we learn from our parents, but monitoring what’s going on in our hearts isn’t usually one of those lessons. Instead, we are taught to control our words and our actions. Today on Grow on the Go, Donna is joined by her husband Randy to discuss the powerful emotions we all deal with, and how the Bible instructs us to handle each one.
Season 5 Episode 31 – Do Christian’s Need to Go to Church? This week, Donna & Kevann talk about the spiritual practices that are in our power, so that one day we can do things beyond our current ability. Attending church includes many of these practices, but they aren’t the only ones. God uses things like inconvenience to make us into the best person we can be right now!
Season 5 Episode 30 – A Mother’s Legacy – This week, Donna and Kevann talk about motherhood, and the inevitability of leaving a legacy — whether you intend to, or not! Donna opens up about her guilt surrounding certain mistakes she made as a parent, and they explore how to leave a faithful legacy through Playing home movies, Praying expectantly, and Paying attention.
Season 5 Episode 29 – Seen, Known, Loved. In today’s Share Show, Donna uses the biblical story of Hagar to explain how no one is a minor character to God. Every single person is seen by God, known better than we even know ourselves, and fills an important role in the history of the world. In times when we feel invisible, anonymous and powerless, it is important to remember the truth that God knows us, and loves us more than we can possibly imagine.
Season 5 Episode 28 – Wear a Mask, Not a Cape. It’s difficult to respond appropriately when approached by a panhandler. Especially as a Christian — ignoring someone living such a difficult life feels wrong. Yet some Christian organizations warn against giving money to them. This week, Donna welcomes Andrew Gusztak of The Mustard Seed Ministry in Calgary to explain his analogy of wearing a mask, not a cape, to help the homeless.
Season 5 Episode 27 – Five Friends Everyone Needs– Whether we are introverted or extroverted, man or woman, we all need people in our lives to be all that we can be. This week on Grow on the Go, Donna & Kevann open up about the friends they’ve had who met those needs, and how such relationships can help us grow.
Season 5 Episode 26 – Women Rising Up – This week, Donna invites her good friend Michelle Free Woeckener about the experiences that have propelled her to host the Rise Up Summit for women. They discuss the things they’ve lost this year, and what God has offered to them in it’s place. God’s invitation is to rise up in joy and friendship!
Season 5 Episode 25 – Why Does Easter Matter? This week on Grow on the Go, Donna & Kevann discuss why the resurrection matters so much to Christians. Did Jesus actually die? Was he ever seen “alive” after he died? We look at how a story that seems fantastical is actually supported by historical record, logic and eyewitness testimony!
Season 5 Episode 24 – How to Be a Hope Hero – It’s an inevitable reality that people who love will also grieve. We owe it to ourselves to prepare for times of grief in our own lives and the lives of people we care about. This week, Donna is joined by her good friend Shirley Thiessen to discuss the practical and meaningful things our “hope heroes” did for us when we were lost in grief. Out of Shirley’s painful learning came a great tool, The Hope Heroes Course, to help us learn their superpowers.
Season 5 Episode 23 – Igniting Your Spiritual Passion – Just as we each have a physiological heartbeat; God has given us each a spiritual heartbeat that can guide us when we learn to follow it. When we figure out what our “Big Yes” is, that helps us determine what all the smaller “yesses” should be along the way. Our passion to make a difference is something we share with Jesus!
Season 5 Episode 22 – God in Your 9 to 5. – This week on Grow on the Go, Donna & Kevann discuss the stereo-types we may have about missionaries. They then trace the roots of these ideas to the origin, and explain how they don’t represent the Jesus movement at all– Jesus intended for all of us to be on mission, every day.
Season 5 Episode 21 -The Secret Sauce of Pandemic Survival. The way we perceive challenges in our lives says a lot about us. In these strange days, it’s very easy to complain about the restrictions surrounding us and the losses we’ve sustained. It’s fine to grieve those losses, but what we do next can change how we cope. This week on Grow on the Go, Donna & Kevann talk about the antidote– the secret sauce; the Bible.
Season 5 Episode 20 – What’s the Point of Prayer? Early on in the pandemic, one of the most searched words in online search engines was “prayer.” Which raises an important point: there are a lot of people out there that don’t know how to pray! On this episode of Grow on the Go, Donna and Kevann discuss prayer with a how-to approach that simplifies the process for new believers, while still answering those tricky questions that we all struggle with.
Season 5 Episode 19 – A Pandemic of Hope – We’ve all experienced loss in some form or another due to the pandemic. In this episode, Donna & Kevann discuss the human tendency of shrinking the purposes of God, to solving the problems that cause us pain in the moment. What would it mean to zoom out, change perspective, and see the purposes God has in the middle of this “mess”?
Season 5 Episode 18 – When Church Hurts – If you’re a part of a church for long enough, you’ll probably get hurt. Why is that? What makes churches so vulnerable to conflict? Today’s show examines the reasons for such conflict, as Donna and Kevann share their own pain and explain how to set healing in motion when we’ve been disappointed.
Season 5 Episode 17 – Believing Because of Reasons– Most Chinese Christians are willing to risk anything to own a Bible while virtually every North American church has a closet full of lost and unclaimed Bibles. This podcast reminds us why the Bible is so important and why we can be confident in believing and reverencing it.
Season 5 Episode 16 – Strategies to Outsmart Your Anxiety – In the midst of the Pandemic, most of us are having more anxiety than usual. In this Share Show, Kevann and I discuss our own experiences with anxiety, both the mental illness diagnosis and situational anxiety. We talk about the difference between trait anxiety and state anxiety and discuss coping strategies we’ve learned from new finds in psychology and ancient wisdom in the Bible.
Season 5 Episode 15 – My Friends Don’t Want to Hear About Jesus, Do They? Donna and Kevann reintroduce a podcast I recorded last year with my hubby Randy Carter. We discuss a lie we tend to believe, that people aren’t interested in learning about Jesus. We talk about the legitimate reasons people become disenfranchised by the church, but does that mean they aren’t attracted to Jesus? Our fear of not having all the answers often prevents us from doing the most powerful thing we can do, and that’s to share parts of our story as it comes out naturally in authentic friendship.
Season 5 Episode 14 – Loving Your Neighbour in a Pandemic – Guest Licia Corbella recently had a column published in the Calgary Herald that really made me think. In this podcast, we try to insert some biblical perspective into the facemask discussion. As a thoughtful Christian and an accomplished journalist, Licia brings some original thoughts to the controversy. We discuss the balance between rights and responsibility and what it looks like to love our neighbour in the midst of a pandemic in very practical ways.
Season 5 Episode 13 – Introducing The Share Show – Want to know how to have a spiritual conversation with someone? Donna and Kevann want to help! On this podcast, you’ll hear about a new idea rolling out later this month called the “Share Show” where they will discussing an interesting topic designed for you to share with your friends who don’t yet know God. Listen with a questions in mind: who do I know who doesn’t have a relationship with God? Who would benefit from hearing this? Sharing the show will create an opportunity for you to have a spiritual conversation with that friend by introducing them to faith in a positive, non-threatening way. We can’t wait to hear about those conversations!
Season 5 Episode 12 – Walking the Good Road. With Christmas coming, let’s find a fresh way to look at the Christmas story! This episode of the podcast explores the First Nations Version of the Gospels, called Walking the Good Road. There is such a beauty in the Native cadence, which flows in their oral tradition of storytelling, and idiom that is particularly relevant to Indigenous culture. Learn what the First Nations Culture has in common with the culture of the Jewish people in the Bible.
Season 5 Episode 11 – Between a Rock and a Hard Place – Feeling misunderstood is something all families go through, but the tension it causes is varied. This week, Donna and Kevann talk about those points in their own relationship, discussing openly a stage of life when healthy communication wasn’t happening. They also share the pivot point where they began to repair that disconnect. Of course, the Bible shows us we’re not alone and that Jesus also had these experiences. From the way He handled His hurt, we can learn to deal with ours, especially if the understanding gap has to do with our faith and our calling.
Season 5 Episode – 10 – Meet the Hot and Holy Lady – Ruth Clarence – Known as the “Christian Dr. Ruth,” Ruth Clarence is a counsellor and coach specializing in sexual intimacy. She joins the podcast to talk about what God thinks about a sexual relationship between a husband and wife and why remaining uneducated is not what God wants for us. This is an open and honest conversation with helpful strategies for turning a humdrum sex life into one that is satisfying for both partners.
Season 5 Episode 9 – Why I Believe the Bible – Why do you believe the Bible? It’s a question every Christian should ask and be able to answer. In this podcast, Donna and Kevann share and discuss an old family document that inspired the conversation and why things like archeology, philosophy and even astrophysics strike a chord of relevance to our everyday lives of faith.
Season 5 Episode 8 – Taking the High Road – When it comes to conflict, we can choose to be Avoiders, Attackers, or Peace-makers. In this podcast, Donna shares with Kevann a season of grief in her life when had had to engage in conflict with several important relationships. They discuss the difference between peace-makers and peacekeepers and the difference between overlooking offense and living in denial. Is there a difference between calling someone out and calling them in? Find out on this episode of Grow on the Go.
Season 5 Episode 7 – Disappointment Pivot – Donna and Kevann talk about the buffet of disappointments COVID-19 has brought to people and how we are coping with them. If God is in control, why doesn’t he end this thing? They explore Scripture where Isaiah compared our complaining to God with clay talking back to the sculptor. There we find how God wants us to deal with our disappointments. They also talk about modern and Biblical day role models who show us how to allow God to use our disappointment and frustration to refine our character and help us learn to be compliant clay.
Season 5 Episode 6 – What Not to Wear – Donna and Kevann discuss the inner clothing described by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3. Their conversation takes them down the roads of how we treat people who are different from us, sexuality and forgiveness. Work through how to practically take off our sweaty, dirty inner clothes and what the spiritual equivalent of the little black dress is.