Booth Of Love: Mission Trips & Bee Stings

What do booth seating preferences reveal about a marriage? More than you might think.In this episode of Hey, Are You Still There?, Mike and Beth explore a surprisingly heated relationship debate: should couples sit across from each other or on the same side of the booth? What begins as a funny conversation about marriage quickly becomes a deeper discussion about communication, connection, and what it means to truly be present with the people you love in the middle of busy careers, family life, ministry, and endless distractions.Mike also takes listeners behind the scenes of Round 3 of the Ultimate Comic Challenge, sharing lessons learned from the world of stand-up comedy, performing for unfamiliar audiences, handling expectations, and figuring out whether a set really worked when the laughs don’t land where you expected. Along the way, we talk about podcast growth, building a loyal audience, whether podcasters should delete their early episodes, and the controversial practice of paying to be a guest on someone else’s show.In the second half of the episode, we reflect on our week at Love Out Loud Student Camp in Winston-Salem. After leading mission trips and student ministry experiences for decades, we decided to try a local missions model focused on serving our own community. The results challenged, encouraged, and humbled us. We unpack the week’s themes of housing, education, food security, healthcare, mental health, and economic mobility while sharing stories of students discovering that ministry and service opportunities often exist right in their own backyard.We also discuss what made this smaller camp experience so impactful, the powerful history of Winston-Salem’s Happy Hills neighborhood, and the joy of watching students grow in compassion, leadership, and faith.Plus: a wasp sting that derailed a video meeting, the unique misery of attending an upcoming outdoor North Carolina wedding in July, and a few other stories that prove life rarely goes according to plan.If you enjoy podcasts about marriage, family, faith, parenting, church leadership, Christian living, ministry, missions, community engagement, personal growth, careers, and relationships, you’ll feel right at home here.Subscribe to Hey, Are You Still There? wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a review, and share this episode with a friend. Your support helps us continue having honest conversations at the intersection of marriage, family, careers, and ministry.Send us Fan MailSupport the show