Can we learn to wander well? /// FOLLOW x UP with Michele Cushatt

Episode 003: What if formation is not about outcomes?In this episode of the FOLLOW x UP podcast, Steve Carter and Eric Parks are joined by Michele Cushatt, author, teacher, and seminary student, for a conversation about formation, suffering, truth, and the long journey of becoming more like Jesus.Together, Steve, Eric, and Michele explore the tension between growth and mystery, the inspired and acquired parts of formation, and why following Jesus cannot be reduced to outcomes or spiritual efficiency. They talk about suffering, lament, wilderness seasons, and how God often forms us in the places we would rather avoid.The conversation also wrestles with cultural expectations around success, productivity, and certainty. Instead of possessing truth as something to control, Michele invites listeners to pursue truth as a way of knowing Jesus more deeply and allowing his truth to shape us from the inside out.This episode is a reminder that formation is not quick, linear, or outcome-driven. It is a long, slow way of life rooted in knowing Jesus, staying present to tension, and allowing God to form us through solitude, community, suffering, Scripture, and honest conversation.In this episode Steve, Eric, and Michele discuss: Michele’s journey into seminary and local ministry  The inexhaustibility of God’s word  Why tension and mystery are part of spiritual maturity  The inspired and acquired parts of formation  Lament, suffering, and learning to stay present  Wilderness seasons as places of preparation  The difference between possessing truth and pursuing truth  Why formation is not about outcomes, but about a person  Solitude, community, and long-term rootedness  Resisting cultural definitions of success  Becoming more like Jesus over the long haulMeet your hosts, Eric Parks and Steve CarterEric ParksEric is an Executive Pastor at Plum Creek Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, who cares deeply about helping people rehearse the way of Jesus in everyday life—and holds firm as a Denver Broncos fan, no matter how often Steve brings up the Bears.Steve CarterSteve is the Lead Pastor at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois, offering a thoughtful and honest voice to the deeper work of formation and calling—and remains a devoted Chicago Bears fan, even with Eric representing Broncos country.Explore all of FollowWe’re all following something—habits, expectations, ambition—but Jesus offers a different way. A way marked by love, presence, trust, and a life that actually leads somewhere good. Not perfectly, but increasingly, we begin to shape our lives around his.We believe that if Jesus is right—about God, about life, about the soul—then is only makes sense to rearrange your life around what he says is true.Follow isn’t a program to complete or a path to master, but a way of life centered on Jesus. A way of living that takes shape over time through a steady rearrangement of our lives—our priorities, our rhythms, and the things we trust most.LinksFollow: https://www.followtheway.church/Plum...