Today kicks off the second season of The Turquoise Table, where we’ll be asking all our guests and you to answer this question:
What does community mean to you?
In today’s episode, host Kristin Schell interviews Emily P. Freeman, a writing mentor, teacher and friend.
Spoiler alert: Emily was at guest at the party Kristin bought the original picnic table for – before it became The Turquoise Table.
Through her books and podcast, Emily helps ease the minds of weary decision makers and gives measured direction on taking next steps. Emily advocates for pondering holy longings and the power of silence, even when you feel called to live in community.
Show Notes
Today kicks off the second season of The Turquoise Table, where we’ll be asking all our guests and you to answer: what does community mean to you? In today’s episode, host Kristin Schell interviews Emily P. Freeman, a writing mentor, teacher and friend, who was at the very party that Kristin ordered the infamous turquoise table for. Through her books and podcast, Emily helps ease the minds of weary decision makers and gives measured direction on taking next steps. Emily advocates for pondering holy longings and the power of silence, even when you feel called to live in community. For Emily, community means that people are in her corner.
Emily explains her creative process and how her podcast The Next Right Thing morphed into her next book. As Emily started to look into programs and the possibility of going back to school, she realized how all encompassing the decision was for her. At first, the decision appeared to distract her from all other areas of her life, but then Emily saw the opportunity to tune into what God was leading her into. In relation to community and relationships, Emily explains how our ministry can be coming alongside someone and naming what is, which is different than controlling, fixing, or trying to figure out someone.
There are moments in our day that we can choose to turn to stillness rather than filling it with noise, and these are opportunities to let what’s happening inside rise to the surface and be released in the presence of God. Emily shares how she’s great when she’s by herself in a room, but when she’s with other people, her daily calm downs, or spiritual practices, come in handy. Emily’s daily calm downs are both her with Jesus and her with other people. Specifically, her daily practices include journaling, reading scripture, baptism, service, and allowing herself to be served. Anything can be a spiritual discipline, if we bring the presence of God with us into it. Yet, if something is pushing us further from God, it’s probably not a practice we should be engaging in, and that can be seasonal.
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Emily Freeman’s books:
- Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast Moving World
- A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Air You Were Made to Live
- The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions
Emily’s Podcast: The Next Right Thing
Connect with Emily on Instagram: @emilypfreeman
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