Today we are joined by Will Halsey! Will is a licensed mental health therapist and is passionate about helping men discover and live into a reimagined, redemptive masculinity. Will shares about his own path of embracing his masculinity, including the unknown aspects, and he offers insights from his practice as a therapist working with men. We talk about rites of passage, cultural narratives, male emotions, anxiety in intimacy, and the epidemic of male depression. Will talks about what becoming a father to a baby boy has meant to him, and he leaves us with a reading list (see below). The Will to Change (Hooks) - https://amzn.to/3rgGPDv Men and The Water of Life (Meade) - https://amzn.to/384x3wU I Don’t Want to Talk About It (Real) - https://amzn.to/3bdbrQT Please rate and review, and follow us on Instagram (@growing.pains.pod)! We look forward to hearing from you this season!

DISCLAIMER: We are not financial advisors, and our insights should not be considered professional financial advice. Seek advice from your financial advisor or professional.  We are joined today by the proud holder of an official Boater Safety Card, Burton Miller. Burt is a licensed social worker, non-profit worker, livejournaler from 2004 - 2011, and recently, a homeowner! Burton shares with us about his journey into homeownership, starting with his a lot of personal growth in therapy, and down a long road of discipline and sacrifice to build equity and financial security. We discuss resilience, several key steps for millennials to take if they want to own a home someday, and five-second funerals. Find Burton on Instagram (@burtola). Please rate and review, and follow us on Instagram (@growing.pains.pod)! We look forward to hearing from you this season!

TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT In this episode, Anne and Muoki talk about Ravi Zacharias’s sexually exploitative and violent behavior, and how we should be processing this news. We talk about systemic vs. moral failures, and how they need to be approached differently. We also discuss the importance in centering the victims instead of the perpetrators in these discussions, and why questions of individual formation are secondary to questions about the theology and practices that shape communities.

Recorded Feb 12, 2021. Muoki is joined by his wife Gennie, Laurine Voltaire, and Denicia Ratley. Muoki brings relationship questions from Reddit, and Laurine gives some solid advice about maintaining standards through singleness, Gennie reminds us to take things slow, and Denicia shares about the struggle and gift of not fitting the “traditional woman” mold. Muoki talks about a scarcity mentality in dating and viewing singleness as a punishment, and Laurine talks about her experience mentoring women into embracing their singleness and experience wholeness and healing as single people. Gennie and Denicia discuss the importance of intimate, same-gender friendships.

This week we had the immense privilege of talking with Meg Baatz! We talk about intentional community and relationships - conflict, intimacy, communication, expectations, disappointment, and relational imagination. Meg shares her journey of living in an intentional community, and how this experience has influenced and changed her. Meg is a ministry educator at a nonprofit she is currently in the middle of co-founding (more info coming soon!). This ministry will exist to empower Christ-followers in their local diverse faith communities in the realm of faith, sexuality, and gender. Meg is passionate about empowering people to image Christ by pursuing embodied local community, and lives in Denver, CO, with her spiritual family. Learn more about Meg at megbaatz.com, or connect with her on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram (@meg_baatz). Please rate and review, and follow us on Instagram (@growing.pains.pod)! We look forward to hearing from you this season!