Faith & Feelings

• Allowing Jesus to Grow Within Your Soul with Bette Dickinson

  Preparation for the Christmas season can often feel busy and frantic, but it doesn't have to be this way. What if we stopped and listened to the movement and unfolding of God's plan around us? Next week on the podcast, we'll begin through one of favorite advent devotionals Making Room in Advent by Bette Dickinson. Today, I wanted to give us the chance to get to know her a little bit before we begin. Bette brings such wisdom and depth into this conversation. I want to invite you to take your time listening and really pondering what she offers us today. Bette helps us reimagine Advent not as another thing to rush through, but as an invitation to pause and make room for God’s movement in and around us. She reminds us that God often speaks in the most unlikely spaces... in Scripture and in our own lives. I hope you'll listen in. Use the MRA25 to receive 25% off the devotional on Bette's website. Thought-provoking quotes: “Allowing yourself to slow down may be the greatest gift you give yourself — and the world — in this season.” - Bette Dickinson “What would it look like to allow Jesus to grow within your soul this season — with all the aches and vulnerability that come with new birth? Even your longings and your losses are not lost on God. They can become the very place of encounter.” - Bette Dickinson “There’s a reason Paul says he is ‘in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in us.’ The journey of being transformed — of letting God grow something new within us — is vulnerable. It requires surrender. It often feels like limitation. But that is the invitation of Advent. Whether we’re carrying longing, disappointment, joy, or exhaustion, God wants to form something in us. Christ can be born in us in ways we don’t expect.” - Bette Dickinson Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__ Key words: Advent devotional, Advent season, incarnation, spiritual formation, creativity, embodied faith, art, contemplative practices, breath prayers vulnerability, longing, Advent practices, slowing down, Bette Dickinson, waiting, hope, wonder

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• How Am I Really Entering This Holiday Season?

  With exactly 45 days left of 2025, I thought it would be good — and honestly, necessary — to pause and get curious about our inner life as we approach the end of the year. How are we doing…really? And how are we ending this year? In this episode, I guide us through some gentle reflection and invite us to slow down long enough to notice what’s true inside: where we are, what we’re carrying, and how our soul is meeting this moment. I hope you’ll listen in. Thought-provoking quotes: "The reality of your inner life doesn’t arrive as a flashing headline, a clickbait link, or a push notification. It doesn’t announce itself with urgency. It rarely interrupts you.” - Taylor Joy Murray “The life that wants to be lived in us exists, but it’s subtle. It’s quiet. It whispers more than it shouts. And unless we intentionally turn our ear toward it, it’s incredibly easy to miss the low tones of desire, gifting, calling, and connection that are already moving within us.” - Taylor Joy Murray “This is what happens when God chooses to dwell with us. He unfolds in us, and we unfold in him. Advent is a gestation process. It is a season of allowing Christ to be formed in us as we also are formed in him.” - Bette Dickinson Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__ Key words: Advent season, spiritual formation, listening, creativity, emotions, vulnerability, curiosity, presence, year-end reflection, process, courage, self-awareness, emotional health, personal growth, waiting, hope

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• Series 10 Trailer | Making Room in Advent

  As we enter the Advent season, I’ve been longing for a way to slow down. To step away from the rush of December and make a little more room for stillness and wonder. And I thought… maybe you’ve been craving that, too. So this December, we’ll be walking through one of my all-time favorite Advent books: Making Room in Advent by Bette Dickinson. If you’ve never read it, this book beautifully weaves together Scripture, art, and reflection in a way that helps you connect not just with the story of Jesus’ coming, but with your own story, too. Through the Advent season, we’ll journey together through the devotional, week by week, creating space to pause, to breathe, and to open our hearts to the ways God is already at work—even in the waiting. Check out Bette Dickinson's devotional Making Room in Advent Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__ Key words: Advent season, devotional, Bette Dickinson, spiritual formation, creativity, emotions, vulnerability, curiosity, presence, reflection, process, courage, self-awareness, emotional health, personal growth, art, waiting, hope

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• What Writing Has Taught Me About Healing

  In this special three-year anniversary episode, I take time to reflect on the journey, the stories, and the conversations that shaped my book Stop Saying I’m Fine: Finding Stillness When Anxiety Screams — which released three years ago this week. From the moment I knew I was going to write the book, to the vulnerable process of putting words to my story, to the unexpected ripple effects that followed, I share what I’ve learned along the way and what has surprised me most. You’ll also hear some of my favorite messages from readers whose words have deeply moved me. This episode is an invitation to pause, to look back with gratitude, and to look forward with hope and anticipation. Thought-provoking quotes: "Writing can be a profound practice of spiritual formation." - Stephanie Duncan Smith "I think that the fullness of a book’s potential emerges from a kind of spiritual communion between the soul of a writer and the Spirit of God, which extends to a similar kind of communion between the writer and reader." - Taylor Joy Murray "As I chose to stay awake—to God and to my own soul—as I wrote, I was also stretching the creative muscles that were forming me into more of the person I wanted to be. Writing often uses the same muscles as healing: inviting us to become the kind of person who pushes back against resistance and shows up to tell the whole truth." - Taylor Joy Murray Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__ Key words: writing, healing, spiritual formation, creativity, mental health, anxiety, emotions, vulnerability, storytelling, creativity, curiosity, presence, reflection, process, courage, self-awareness, Stop Saying I’m Fine, emotional health, personal growth

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• Experiencing Jesus in Guided Prayer | Psalm 23

  A few months ago, I released a podcast episode where I invited listeners into a time of guided prayer called imaginative prayer—a practice that helps us encounter God in a more personal, embodied way. Since then, I’ve heard from so many listeners asking for more episodes like that one. So today, I wanted to offer another time of guided prayer. This form of contemplative prayer dates back the early church mothers and fathers. When we engage in this kind of prayer, we use our imaginations to place ourselves within a scene from Scripture. I hope you'll join me as we walk onto the scene of Psalm 23 and ask the Spirit to speak to us through this story. Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email Watch this episode on YouTube Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine Connect with me on my website Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__ Key words: imaginative prayer, contemplative prayer, guided prayer, Scripture meditation, mindfulness, prayer practice, spiritual formation, self-compassion, curiosity, emotional regulation, faith and mental health, soul care practices, Christian spirituality, emotions

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