Create Your Now Podcast

There is something about the turn of a season that invites us to look at our lives with fresh eyes. The leaves begin to shift, the air cools just enough to remind us that change is not only natural; it’s necessary. And if we are honest with ourselves, sometimes the most important thing that needs […]

Every parent knows that moment when the house is loud, the demands are relentless, someone is crying, and you’re not entirely sure it isn’t you. Parenting was never meant to be quiet or perfectly composed, but somewhere between the sippy cups and the slammed doors, you can find your calm in the chaos of parenting. […]

There is something about this time of year that stirs up a sense of possibility. The air shifts, routines reset, and whether you have children heading back to school or not, fall carries with it a quiet invitation to begin again. But you cannot step into something new if your arms are full of everything […]

Have you ever paused in front of a mirror and thought, almost? Almost healed. Almost confident. Almost the woman you know you’re meant to be — but not quite there yet. That pause, that space between where you were and where you’re going, can feel like the loneliest place in the world. But what if […]

There is something inside of you that the world needs. Not the version of you that has been shaped and polished by degrees, training programs, and years of professional experience — though those things matter. But it runs deeper. Before you ever sat in a classroom or clocked into your first job, God planted something […]

You cross the finish line. You hit the milestone. You reach that thing you’ve been praying over, grinding toward, and believing God for — and you exhale. And that’s a wrap. Or is it? When you accomplish a goal or finally touch a long-held dream, do you stop? Do you sit down, dust off your […]

There are seasons in life when the darkness feels closer than it should. When the weight of what you’re walking through presses in from every side and you start to wonder if the light you once felt so sure of is still there. Maybe it’s grief. Maybe it’s uncertainty. Maybe it’s a weariness that has […]

You married your best friend. You chose each other. And somewhere along the way, the life you’re building together started pulling you apart — not because the love faded, but because everything else got louder. You’re not fighting. You’re not even frustrated with each other most days. You’re just missing each other; sitting in the […]

It’s not that unheard of to want to explain everything to your children. We carry decades of life behind us, and we think if we can just say the right thing at the right time, we can spare them the pain. But no matter their age or stage of life, what they need is your […]

There are moments in life when everything feels like it’s pressing in — the deadlines, the demands, the weight of expectations, and the relentless pace that never seems to slow down. And right in the middle of all of it, you realize something: the heat is on. Not just the kind that comes from outside […]

People will tell you about the blooming, the breakthrough, and the moment they finally stepped into the calling God placed on their life, where everything clicks because He has been planning it all along. But nobody really talks about the soil no one talks about — the stuff underneath the surface that made the bloom possible […]

Have you ever watched a tennis match and noticed the winner isn’t always the one hitting the hardest? Sometimes it’s the one who knows when to slow down, when to push forward, and when to reset between points. With the US Open in full swing right now, there’s no better time to be reminded that […]

There’s something beautifully ironic about Labor Day. It’s the one day of the year when we’re told to stop laboring — to set down the to-do list, fire up the grill, and just breathe. But as the burgers sizzle and the kids splash in the last pool days of summer, a quiet question has a […]

There is a rhythm to our days that we rarely stop long enough to notice. We wake, we push, we strive, and we do it all over again. We wrap ourselves around careers, achievements, milestones, and ambitions so tightly that we forget whose we are and who we belong to. But what if this weekend, […]

There is a quiet kind of tired that has nothing to do with sleep. It’s the exhaustion that settles into your bones when you’ve poured out every ounce of who you are for the people you love and you look around and wonder, “Who’s pouring into me?” If you’ve ever felt that heaviness, if you’ve […]

Have you ever laid awake at night replaying a moment from your day — a sharp word, a missed cue, a decision you second-guessed the moment it left your mouth? If that knot in your stomach feels all too familiar, then you need to know that those nerves mean you care. And caring is not […]

Have you ever felt like life just keeps piling on? One thing after another, weight upon weight, until you’re not sure how much more you can carry. Maybe it’s a season at work that won’t let up, a relationship that drains more than it gives, or a quiet accumulation of worries that nobody else can […]

Nobody photographs the underground. We frame the flowers. We celebrate the blossoms. We hold our phones up to the blooming tree and post it for the world to see. But the roots? The tangled, soil-dark, unglamorous system beneath it all? No one even thinks to look down. And yet when the wind comes, when the […]

There comes a moment when you realize you’ve been holding your breath — not literally, maybe, but somewhere deep inside, you’ve been clenching. Holding it all together so tightly that you forgot what it felt like to simply exhale. If that’s where you are today, I want you to hear two words that might change […]

Have you ever found yourself standing in a season where everything feels paused, and no matter how hard you try to push forward, the next step just isn’t clear? If you’ve been asking yourself, “Does the wait feel long and hard?” —  you are not alone. We are all waiting for something. Whether it’s direction […]

Let’s be real for a second. When was the last time you prayed and it wasn’t because something was falling apart? Most of us have that 911 prayer life down to an art. The doctor calls with unexpected results — we pray. The marriage hits a rough patch — we pray. A child makes a […]

Have you ever had one of those days where you’ve given everything you have — to your job, to the kids, to the house, to the never-ending list — and by the time you finally sit down next to your spouse, you’ve got nothing left? Maybe not even words. Just a sigh and a sinking […]

We tell our kids something all the time without realizing it. We say, “You’ll get there— one day,” painting the picture of a summit: gleaming, golden, way up high, as if that’s the only place where victory lives. But what if we’ve been pointing our children in the wrong direction? What if the moment we’ve […]

You’ve probably heard someone say it before — maybe a parent, maybe a mentor, maybe someone who just knew they were right and wanted you to remember it later. Mark my words. It’s a phrase loaded with conviction, a verbal stake in the ground. But here’s what I want you to sit with today: what […]

Here you are, standing on ground you didn’t choose, in a season you didn’t plan, holding a life that looks nothing like the one you sketched out in your heart. And if we’re going to talk about loving the reflection that stares back at you, then we have to start right here. Not with who […]

Nobody wakes up in the morning hoping someone will hold their feet to the fire. We don’t naturally gravitate toward the hard conversations, the honest mirrors, or the questions that make us squirm a little. And yet, if you and I are serious about becoming who God created us to be, then it’s time to […]

There’s something about this time of year that makes your soul sit up a little straighter. Maybe it’s the smell of new school supplies or the way the morning air starts to shift just enough to remind you that change is coming. Whether you’ve got kids heading back to the classroom or not, this season […]

We all have moments when life stops asking politely and starts demanding. The diagnosis you did not see coming. The relationship that shifted overnight. The door that closed when you were sure — absolutely sure — it was the one God had opened. And in those moments, something inside you tightens. You grip harder. You […]

We are wired to want to be right. It’s part of being human — this deep pull toward controlling our circumstances, defending our perspective, and standing firm on the hill we’ve chosen. And in most areas of life, that drive can serve us well. But marriage isn’t like most areas of life. Marriage is two […]

There’s a shift that happens every year around this time. You can feel it coming. The backpacks come out. The schedules start stacking. The buses start appearing in droves. And before you know it, the days that once stretched long and slow are suddenly chopped into thirty-minute increments between drop-offs and deadlines. If you’re a […]

It can be one of the hardest things we ever do — keeping our hands unclenched when everything in us wants a tighter grip. Staying open when life has taught us that open means vulnerable, and vulnerable means hurt. But here’s what I’ve learned, and what I’m reminded of in every new season: the moment […]

When was the last time you looked at yourself, really looked and didn’t flinch? It’s not the quick glance in the rearview mirror to check your lipstick or the passing reflection in a storefront window where you tug at your shirt and keep walking. It’s the kind of looking that requires stillness. The kind of […]

Life has a way of catching you off guard. One minute you’re standing tall, feeling like you’ve finally got your footing — and the next, something comes along and sweeps your feet right out from under you. Maybe it’s a phone call you weren’t expecting. A door that closed when you were sure it was […]

You already have what you need, right now to create your now. There is no reason to wait for tomorrow, nor when the circumstances shift, or when that one thing finally falls into place. And yet, there’s this pull that creeps in and whispers, but what about that thing you can’t fix or control? There you […]

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” ~  Philippians 4:12 Contentment didn’t land in Paul’s lap like some spiritual […]

When was the last time you actually celebrated your spouse? Not on their birthday or your anniversary. Not some calendar-mandated holiday where Hallmark reminds you it’s time to show up. This is a random, ordinary, nothing-special kind of day, when you look at the person doing life beside you and say, “I see you. And […]

There is something about the start of a new school year that carries both excitement and weight. The backpacks are packed, the outfits are picked out, and the alarm is set for a time no one in the house has seen in weeks. But before the bus pulls up, before the shoes are tied and […]

I know you’re tired. I know that thing you’ve been carrying — that weight you keep picking up every single morning, even though nobody would blame you for setting it down — I know it’s heavy. And I know you’ve told yourself more than once that you’re not sure you have another round in you. […]

There’s a moment — and if you’re honest, you know exactly the one I’m talking about — where you catch your reflection and the first thing that crosses your mind isn’t kind. It’s not always about what you look like physically, although sometimes it is. More often, it’s deeper than that. It’s the look in your […]

Why is it that we can pour ourselves into everyone else’s schedule, everyone else’s crisis, everyone else’s to-do list, but when it comes to our own day, we just… wing it? We wake up, already behind before our feet hit the floor, and we spend the next twelve or sixteen hours reacting. Putting out fires. […]

Have you ever made a decision, felt good about it for a moment, and then spent the next three days replaying it in your mind like a movie you can’t turn off? You made the call. You weighed your options. You moved. And then — almost out of nowhere — the doubt crept in. Did I […]

When you feel like all you’re doing is running away from or toward all the things, it’s hard to find joy and peace in life. You can get down and out about your circumstances, and all hope feels lost. But as Paul says in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all […]

There’s a moment in every marriage where you have to make a choice. You can stand there replaying every missed pass — every time your spouse came up short, every promise that got fumbled, every “we’ll get to it” that never got to anything. Or you can do what the good ones do when the […]

Parenting is a never-ending, rhythmic song that plays over and over again. Some of the melodies are soothing to the heart — a sleepy child curled into your shoulder, a shared laugh over something silly at the dinner table, a “thank you, Mom” that comes out of nowhere and undoes you a little. But many […]

There is a particular kind of tired that comes from walking in circles. You look up and realize you have passed this same tree, this same doubt, this same conversation with yourself, more times than you can count. You are moving; your legs ache to prove it, but the scenery refuses to change. And somewhere […]

Life doesn’t always unfold the way we planned. One day the road looks clear, and the next, it curves somewhere we never saw coming. Unexpected turns can leave us feeling disappointed, confused, or uncertain about what is happening in our world and what God is doing in the middle of it. But here is what remains […]

There is a particular kind of tired that has nothing to do with sleep. It’s the tired that comes from carrying a dream for longer than you expected to carry it, from praying the same prayer for the hundredth time, from showing up to the same unfinished work day after day and wondering if today […]

A journey lasts a lifetime. It requires a chosen mindset, intentional thoughts, and actions that put an exclamation point to movement. Not a comma. Not a question mark. An exclamation point—a declaration that you meant to keep going. As you travel the various paths set before you, let this settle into your spirit: you didn’t come […]

There’s a moment right before your feet hit the floor. The alarm has gone off, the day is waiting, and for just a second you get to choose what you reach for first. Most of us reach for the phone. We reach for the to-do list already running in our heads. We reach for yesterday’s […]

Marriage was designed for intimacy. God built it that way on purpose — physical closeness is part of the gift. So why in the world would I tell you to keep your clothes on? Because there’s a kind of intimacy that has to come first. And if you don’t have it, the physical stuff becomes a […]