In today’s episode, we consider how looking heavenward can breathe new life into the present. This consideration is not a practice of escapism, but an opportunity to take a step back to see the larger story of humanity, where we’ve been and where we’re headed. Thankfully, today’s guest is a gracious and thoughtful guide. Amy Baik Lee is the author of This Homeward Ache: How Our Yearning for the Life to Come Spurs on Our Life today, a literary member of the Anselm Society Arts Guild, and a contributing writer at Cultivating Magazine and the Rabbit Room. In our time together, Amy unpacks what she calls our homeward ache, those moments of beauty or peace that cause us to long for a world we haven’t yet experienced. In Amy’s view, these moments are piercing hints of heaven that reveal “the great promise of a coming restoration.” Amy helps us understand why this homeward ache matters, how it has altered every area of her life, and how it helps her live more fully in the present. As Amy explains it, Beauty is breaking into this world and someday (to paraphrase J.R.R. Tolkien) everything sad will come untrue; here and now we are invited to be a part of that work of restoration.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Felicia Wu Song is a cultural sociologist, speaker, and author who studies how social media and digital devices alter the family, community, and organizational life. Felicia has studied History, Communication Studies and Sociology at Yale, Northwestern, and University of Virginia and her expertise has been sought by organizations such as BioLogos, The Vatican, Notre Dame University, and Fuller Theological Seminary.In my conversation with Felicia, we discuss her latest book, Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence and Place in the Digital Age. Felicia helps us better understand how social media is shaping our relationships, our understanding of beauty, and how we engage beauty. She also unpacks how we can engage digital technologies in ways that don’t feel all-consuming, as well as how we can help safeguard the kids in our lives from the negative impacts of social media. The truth is the technologies we engage are shaping us. Felicia helps us see how we can use our agency to mindfully participate in our soul’s formation amidst this current reality.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Kimberly Wilkerson believes in the power of language; how it impacts us and those around us. Kimberly is a speech language pathologist, as well as the founder of Token Clothing Co. At Token Clothing Co., Kimberly has fused her passion for language with her interest in fashion, to give women an experience that helps them overcome limiting beliefs and negative self-talk. In our time together, Kimberly and I discuss the impact of our self-talk on our brains and bodies. Kimberly also shares about her process of discernment in starting Token Clothing Co., as well as what she learned about beauty when participating in the Miss America program years ago. As we move toward redefining beauty in our lives, it’s especially important to notice what messages we are believing about beauty and about our worth. My hope is that this conversation may not only help us become more aware of our self-talk, but also encourage us to speak words of truth and life over ourselves and others.Free I AM printables page here:https://www.tokenclothingco.com/pages/iamBuy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

With the start of the new year, we find ourselves in a season inundated with diet and fitness-related ads. We are being saturated with and sold the message that now is the time to change, reshape, or perfect our bodies or food intake. My hope is that today’s guest will help us all detox from the current flurry of diet culture messaging and be reminded of the goodness of food and of our bodies. Lisa Diers is a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified yoga teacher who specializes in supporting eating disorder and body image recovery. Lisa has a combined over 20 years of experience in nutrition and yoga services and previously served as the National Nutrition and Yoga Director for a large national eating disorder treatment program. In our time together, Lisa and I discuss the prevalence of disordered eating, as well as what a balanced relationship with food actually looks like. Lisa also explains how nutrition and yoga can be instrumental and complementary in reconnecting with our bodies, why “carbs” and sugar aren’t the fear foods diet culture makes them out to be, and offers guidance for those struggling with body image this time of year. My conversation with Lisa was like a breath of fresh air; I hope it is for you as well.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

In 2007, Kristi McLelland went to Israel and realized that God is better than she ever knew. After studying in Egypt and Israel in 2007, Kristi’s life took a turn, and she began leading biblical studies trips to Israel in 2008. Kristi is an author, professor at Williamson College, and a biblical culturalist who teaches the Bible in its historical, cultural context. Kristi’s most recent book is entitled, Rediscovering Israel: A Fresh Look at God’s Story in its Historical and Cultural Contexts. Kristi’s study trips to Israel, Italy, Turkey, and Greece, as well as her in-person and online resources position Westerners to discover the Bible within the Middle Eastern context in which it was written.In my time with Kristi, we talk about what she experienced in Israel that helped her encounter the goodness of God in a new way. Kristi also talks about her reflections on the current situation in Israel, the relevance of the Bible in our lives today, why she believes the Bible is the greatest story there is, and how God is a God who sees his children and acts on their behalf. In this season when we reflect on the birth of Jesus, my hope is that this conversation may help us all enter more deeply into the reality of God’s nearness to humanity, and to each one of us.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Registered dietitian and author, Dana Sturtevant, believes that society has ruptured our relationship with food, movement, and our bodies. Food has become something to restrict and our bodies a project to tweak and “perfect.” But Dana believes it doesn’t have to be this way. She has spent more than 15 years helping people let go of chronic patterns of dieting and disordered eating and move ​​into a more authentic, sustainable way to occupy and nurture their bodies. Dana Sturtevant is the co-author of Reclaiming Body Trust: A Path to Healing and Liberation and the co-founder of the Center for Body Trust. In our time together, Dana discusses the origins of the Center for Body Trust, how diet culture so often gets in the way of trusting our bodies, how “health” has become an aesthetic, and how to engage joyful movement versus toxic fitness culture. Dana’s insights are fresh and freeing. My hope is that this conversation may help lead us into more connected and nurturing relationships with our own bodies.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

All too often these days, bread gets a bad rap. In many ways, diet culture has taught us to fear “carbs” in all forms. Today’s guest, however, helps us see bread in a new way. She not only invites us to see bread as a gift, but as a sacred reminder of God’s presence and provision. Kendall Vanderslice is a professionally trained baker, speaker, and author, including her most recent title, By Bread Alone: A Baker’s Reflections on Hunger, Longing, and the Goodness of God. Kendall is the founder of the Edible Theology Project, an educational media project connecting the Communion table to the kitchen table. She holds a master’s degree in Gastronomy (Food Studies) from Boston University and a Master’s of Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School. Both personally and professionally, Kendall explores how God meets us in preparing food and sharing food with others. In today’s episode, Kendall shares how she has come to love bread, how being a baker has shaped her faith, how what we do with our bodies shapes us spiritually, and how she has come to see food as a gift, after experiencing a disordered relationship with food. Kendall’s insights are fresh and important. May this episode open our eyes to the gift of food, the gift of our bodies, and how God is forming us and teaching us through all of it.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Deb Benfield has helped hundreds of women heal their relationship with food, eating, and their bodies in her 35-year career as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. In her own aging journey, she became frustrated by how difficult it was to find well-researched advice on aging with vitality that was not related to managing weight or youthful appearance. In her group and one-on-one coaching, Deb works with middle-aged women and beyond to help them feel vital and free of culture’s stifling diet and movement rules.In my time with Deb, she names and disproves unhelpful myths about the aging process, discusses the prevalence of disordered eating in middle-aged women and beyond, the energy that is available to us if we aren’t trying to white knuckle our bodies, and why elderhood is the time to emerge as our truest self. Deb Benfield’s work, perspectives, and approach regarding aging are important and powerful. My hope is that this conversation might help you shed unhelpful societal beliefs about aging, so you might walk into the aging journey with more freedom, confidence, and vitality.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Several months ago, The Atlantic reported that forty million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years, representing the largest concentrated change in church attendance in American history. In today’s episode, I talk with pastor’s kid turned pastor, Natalie Runion, about the trend of diminishing church attendance. Natalie Runion is the author of Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away, worship leader, and the former Pastor of Women and Creative Pastor of Family Ministry at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. Natalie has also established the Raised to Stay community “for anyone weary of God’s people but longing to keep their faith in God.” In my time with Natalie, we talk about how her experience in the church has led to her current work and ministry, the beauty that is possible in the church, as well as the lies about beauty she’s seen at work in women’s ministry. Perhaps most importantly, Natalie reminds us that despite the brokenness we sometimes encounter in the church, God’s steadfast beauty remains.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.

Donetta Floyd’s compassion and perspectives are so refreshing. When it comes to societal messages around food and our bodies, we can often be left with the feeling that we aren’t doing it right. In today’s episode, registered dietitian Donetta Floyd helps dispel unhelpful ideas and misconceptions regarding our relationship with food, our bodies, as well as Type 2 Diabetes. Donetta is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who works with clients to help them find freedom in their relationship with food, using a Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, and non-diet approach. In our time together, we talk about how Donetta became passionate about working from a non-diet approach, markers of disordered eating, and misconceptions about “health” having a certain look. Donetta’s thoughtful approach to holistic wellbeing is inspiring. My hope is that you leave this conversation feeling more peace in your relationship with food and your body.Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.