The Brave Collective Podcast

This is the final "regular" episode of the brave collective podcast...we will still record, but it will be a GET TO, not a HAVE TO. We love y'all big!

It's May here...and we're all meeting ourselves coming and going. We sat down to chat for a bit and ended up talking about everything from Emily Freeman's Next Right Thing to anniversaries to expectations.

season 2 - episode 28: the abyss

You’ve been warned: our sound geek thought that most of the episode was actually outtakes, and we had to break it to him that we did, in fact, talk about nothing and everything for 30 minutes. There’s some good stuff mixed in, though—Merritt talked about procrastination, Tara gave us a sneak peek at a new way she’s doing pie, and Kristi shared about her Boy’s successful? trip to Sam’s. Merritt shares a great nugget of wisdom as she prepares to pray us out at the end, so make sure you listen!

We recorded Episode 26 right after Episode 25, and the conversation continues with Tara talking about what God seems to be working on in their lives right now. They're in a season of listening and waiting for God to give them direction. Merritt brings up the concept of gaps in our gospel, and that's something that has stuck with the 3 of us since we recorded this episode.

We sat down to finish our discussion about loving God and loving others, and we ended up talking through the hard things happening in our homes. So there was a lot of editing involved in this one, to protect the innocent (and the guilty). We'd love to hear what your takeaway is from this one...we loved this moment with Tara's oldest son, who's learning how the Holy Spirit works in him (and in all of us, right?).

We're back! After a month-long spring break, we sat down to catch up and continue our talk about life at the intersection of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. As is usually the case when it's been a while since we've visited, we ended up talking about some...unusual music choices...and all kinds of things before we get to the heart of the matter. Kristi reveals something interesting about her playlist. Merritt recounts her experience at the Holocaust Museum (worth tuning in for!). And we wrap up with Tara's invitation for you to join us at Royers Pie Haven tonight (3/29/19!) for the Gathering--tickets are still available!

Episode 23 is short but deep. From Tim Keller to the Truman Show, we talk a lot about seeing and being seen (in the God way, not the worldly way).

Merritt introduced us to the idea of living life at the intersection of the great commission and the greatest commandment, and the implications of this are pretty staggering. What if we truly lived like that? What if we loved like that? This one left us with *lots* to think about.

We started recording episode 20 and ended up in episode 21. The girls talk about having people in your life who will call you on your mess...and about how important relationship is in that equation. Be watching our social media this week for a poll--we have an important question for y'all!

We're not sure how we got on the topic of weddings...but man, have things changed since we got married! There's a lot of pressure on y'all in the age of Pinterest and social media and alllllllllllllll the comparison...suddenly, everything is a thing. And everything has expectations. Friends, can we just encourage you to do what's right for you, no matter what the thing is?

Episodes are like our children--they're all our favorites, in their own way. This one is special to the three of us because it's the first time Merritt joined us from her new office in Washington, D.C.--technology, y'all!--and it was a really helpful discussion as the three of us wrestled with the idea of when you feel stuck but really, you're just ... still.

Welcome to another session of group therapy, y'all. Today Kristi and Tara are on the couch, and Merritt is the one with the legal pad and the pen. We hope you'll take a minute and tell us about YOUR word/intention for 2019--see our #30daysofintention posts for details!

Happy new year, friends! We kick off the second half of season 2 by sitting down together and getting all caught up. And, we start to talk about our intentions for 2019 and somehow...well, you just have to listen. We also considered calling this one: the one with all the squirrels or Merritt v. the van or the one where Tara couldn't write fast enough or the one where Kristi says "panties" wayyyyyyy too much. Yeah...it's that kind of episode. You won't be surprised to hear that we had to continue this conversation in episode 18!

In the final episode of 2018, the brave collective girls ponder all things Christmas...including all of the ways we distract ourselves from what matters most.