Christianity
**God + Mental Health Podcast**

God + Mental Health Podcast is a show for all things mental health and Christ. We discuss how therapy can aid in helping us healing from our past and how God can assist us in that effort. We will discuss different topics, interviews, and reflection sessions from the host, Roslyn Rene, own therapy sessions.

Latest Episodes:

Living With Bipolar 1 and Faith: Denise Pimentel on Mania, Psychosis, and the Book That Came Out of It Oct 22, 2026

Show notes

Denise Pimentel was diagnosed with bipolar 1 in her late twenties, after an abusive marriage, postpartum, and weaning her son converged into an episode that put her in the hospital. She's been hospitalized four times since, had a life-altering stroke in December 2024, and finished the memoir she started during a manic episode in 2017. In this episode she talks about living with bipolar 1 as a woman of faith, what a manic episode actually looks like from the inside, and what it cost her when people told her she just wasn't praying enough.

Denise is a writer, educator, speaker, advocate, and visual artist, born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and now based in suburban New Jersey. She's the author of Unshaken: A True Story of a Bleeding Mind, a Broken Body, and Buried Grief, the founder of Glorified Writing, and the host of the Unshaken Voices podcast. She holds a BA in elementary education and history and a master's in liberal studies. This is the first podcast she's appeared on as a guest.

HOW IT STARTED

Denise spent most of her working life in education. In December 2024 she had a stroke that took her out of the classroom permanently. Her husband got her to the hospital in time for a TNK shot to clear the clot, and the recovery is what finally gave her the time to finish the book.

The diagnosis came years earlier. She was in her late twenties, married to her first husband, in a difficult and abusive relationship. She describes her pattern at the time as trying to save people. She'd moved him out to New Jersey to get him out of the environment he grew up in, and she was trying to bring him to God while he was an atheist. She goes back to an illustration from her Christian school chapel, the believer standing on a chair trying to pull the nonbeliever up while the nonbeliever pulls the believer down. She wanted to be the exception to that. She wasn't.

She didn't know mental illness could be passed down genetically. Her grandmother, her mother's mom, was permanently hospitalized when her mother was nine, and was given unregulated shock treatment that made her worse. Her mother lost her own mother to the illness at nine years old. Her grandmother's sister also had mental illness. It skipped her mother and came to her. That family history is part of why her mother initially tried to get her through without hospitalization, because she was afraid of what hospitals had done before.

Several things converged at once. The abusive environment. Postpartum after her first son. Isolation, since she wasn't living near her parents and a therapist had told her to stop talking to her family, believing they were the problem. And weaning. She explains what she learned later, that nursing had been protecting her mind, and that stopping is when things started coming apart.

The first hospital didn't take her in. She hadn't slept in about five days and was having delusional thoughts, and they sent her home with a sleeping pill. She explains why that doesn't work, that in a manic episode the mind overrides even the strongest sleep medication.

WHAT BIPOLAR 1 ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE

Roslyn asks Denise to explain bipolar 1 in her own words rather than clinically, and this is one of the most useful stretches of the episode.

Sleep goes first. The hours shrink and shrink until there are none, and she describes lying in bed praying to fall asleep. Because of that, she keeps a strict sleep schedule year round, including summers when her kids are out of school, because staying up later while still waking at the same time has triggered relapse for her.

Then the thinking changes. In her first episode she hallucinated, saw things above her, and heard voices coming through the baby monitor. She called the police in the middle of the night to ask if it was too late to report an abusive incident, something she says she wouldn't have done in her normal frame of mind, though it did start a process of things coming out. She still can't watch scary movies because of what she experienced.

She's also candid about how it presented in her second marriage. She believed the problem had been the relationship, decided she didn't need medication anymore, and stopped taking it without telling her husband. Then came the paranoid thoughts, that he was cheating, that he was hiding money, about a man she describes as having taken care of her from day one. Anxiety climbed. She checked the locks over and over before bed, which traces back to people trying to break into her home growing up in New York.

Her hardest part to convey: when you're in an episode you believe you're right about everything, and you don't listen to the people trying to catch it.

WHAT ACTUALLY HELPS, INCLUDING IN A MARRIAGE

Denise names four things as the core of managing bipolar 1: seeing your therapist, taking your medication, using your community or family, and seeing your psychiatrist.

The practice she recommends most is joint therapy. She sees her therapist individually and also sees the same therapist jointly with her husband every two weeks. Her reasoning is that the therapist hears everything from her alone, advocates for her, helps her work through her thoughts, and over time also knows her husband well. When she's struggling to trust her own feelings, there's a third party who can ask her what she's feeling, ask him what he's feeling, and serve as a voice of reason for both of them. She's clear this isn't a confrontational marriage, it's someone helping keep a good marriage together.

She's honest about how hard the first breakdown was on her husband. He'd never met the version of her that showed up, accusatory and mean and not who she was, and he almost left. Her father came and explained, and her sister-in-law, a nurse, told him it wouldn't be permanent and that she needed help.

They also started doing couples devotionals together after that first breakdown, buying several and working through them, which she says has produced some of their best conversations and put God first in the marriage.

Roslyn names what she's hearing as a wall of protection built out of community, accountability, and support, and points out that isolation is the first thing to go when shame is attached. She also names the piece Denise models well, that trusting your support enough to say "what I'm thinking may not be true" is not evidence something is wrong with you.

FAITH, STIGMA, AND "YOU'RE NOT PRAYING ENOUGH"

When Denise was first diagnosed she couldn't believe it. The public reference point at the time was Britney Spears, and she remembers looking at the paper and asking God how this could be her diagnosis. It didn't turn her away from God, but it was confusing, especially with people in her life telling her she didn't need medication and people in the church telling her that her faith wasn't strong enough and she wasn't praying enough. Her response: she didn't do anything for this to happen, and she had always been a strong believer.

She also describes something she's since read about in other people with faith backgrounds, that when she becomes manic her religiosity heightens. She tells the story from her book of sitting in her living room during her first breakdown with her current husband, looking up at a skylight where the frost looked like an eye, and hearing God say "you're the chosen one." She's careful about this. She knows now that wasn't actually God, and she also believes that moment is when everything changed and she found the calling to write the book.

Her advocacy message now is that your hardest seasons can become the transformative thing that leads to a new purpose. She believes her stroke and her mental illness were what God used to move her life somewhere she could help other people, and that people who think they're nobody have a story that can turn pain into purpose.

The church piece gets addressed directly. Denise was told that if she left her marriage she would be setting her children up for divorce, because her own parents had divorced. She also admits she wasn't bold then, didn't tell the full truth, and didn't want to make anyone look bad, so the church wasn't working with complete information while her ex-husband was minimizing what was happening.

Roslyn pushes back on the cause-and-effect theology underneath the "not enough faith" line, pointing out that belief itself is what ties us to Christ, and that God causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Believers aren't absolved from pain. The question is how God is with us in it.

THE BOOK

Denise started Unshaken in 2017 during a manic episode, writing at night while her husband slept, because in mania the words come faster than the hand can keep up. She set it aside when she went back to teaching and picked it up again after the stroke, when a cognitive therapist asked if she could write and told her writing is healing for stroke recovery. She wrote weekly while her brain healed. It took seven or eight years total.

The book covers her life from childhood in New York through the traumas, the first breakdown, the diagnosis, and the stroke. She's clear that she put the traumas on paper not to complain about them but to show what God did. She also talks about how afraid she was to publish, and how she told her ex-husband ahead of time that she used no names. They're on decent terms now. He's apologized, he's a good father to her son, and she declines to badmouth him.

The stroke chapter centers on the TNK shot. She was told there was a seven percent chance the shot could kill her, and that seven felt like ninety. She describes everything freezing while she had a conversation with God, telling Him that if He wanted her here after the shot she would still be here. She heard Him say take the shot. She took it.

After publishing, with Matthew 16:18 printed on the cover, she got an invitation from the New Jersey Governor's Council to be part of a breaking the stigma event. She was surprised that a government body invited a book with a Bible verse on the front. Her framing of her own message is that she doesn't tell anyone they need to become a Christian. She names what she needed: her faith, her community, her husband, her doctors, and her therapists.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCED

Matthew 16:18, the gates of hell shall not prevail, printed on the cover of Denise's book Unshaken.
Genesis 15:6, referenced by Roslyn as Abraham believing God and it being counted to him as righteousness, used to make the point that belief is what ties us to Christ rather than performance.
Romans 10:9, paraphrased by Roslyn as believing that Jesus died and rose and confessing it with your mouth.
Matthew 5:45, referenced by Roslyn as God causing rain to fall on the just and the unjust, used to say that believers are not exempt from pain.
Also referenced without a citation: "beauty for ashes," used by Roslyn to describe what God has done with Denise's story.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Denise's website: glorifiedwriting.com, where you can find links to the book on every platform
Unshaken: A True Story of a Bleeding Mind, a Broken Body, and Buried Grief, available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kindle
The Unshaken audiobook, available on Audible, which Denise narrated herself after getting scammed by someone she paid to record it
Glorified Writing, the business Denise founded
Unshaken Voices, Denise's podcast
Denise on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. She points people to LinkedIn for the business side.
The New Jersey Governor's Council breaking the stigma event, which invited Denise after the book published
Couples devotionals, which Denise and her husband buy and work through together as a practice started after her first breakdown in this marriage

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What Drives Women to Porn: Crystal Renaud Day on Female Sex Addiction and Recovery Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

Almost half the women in Crystal Renaud Day's 1,300-person survey were exposed to pornography between the ages of 8 and 12, and only 2 percent said they used it because a partner asked them to. In this episode, Crystal and Roslyn talk openly about female sex addiction, why Christian women stay silent about it, and why trying harder and praying harder has never been enough to break the cycle. It's a conversation about what sits underneath the behavior, not just the behavior itself.

Crystal Renaud Day is a pastoral counselor, speaker, and recovery advocate who has spent close to 20 years working with women who struggle with pornography. She's the founder of She Recovery, the author of Dirty Girls Come Clean, and her newest book, What Drives Women to Porn, released last week. Her work started with her own story. She was exposed at 10, in magazines, and stayed deeply addicted through her teens until she was 19 and met a woman who told her own story out loud. That was the first time Crystal had heard a woman talk about pornography as her own experience rather than as a wife dealing with betrayal. It gave her permission to say "me too" and enter real recovery, not just sobriety.

She walks through how She Recovery began. She was on church staff doing graphic design and media in 2006 when it came out that her pastor and mentor had been in a long-term affair. That was the catalyst. There are people in the church struggling sexually that no one would suspect, and nobody was talking about it. She started blogging her own story, got flooded with comments from women who thought they were the only one, and asked her church for a classroom to run a group. Her leadership said yes. None of the women who showed up actually attended that church.

Crystal and Roslyn both name the same pattern in their own histories: exposure around age 10, unsupervised time, and a decade of carrying it alone. Roslyn shares her own experience with early exposure and the shame of sitting in church while struggling with it, which is part of why this conversation exists.

The survey findings

Crystal surveyed over 1,300 women about when and how they were exposed and what keeps them coming back. Forty-six percent were exposed between 8 and 12. Around 87 percent before 18. Only 2 percent named a partner's request as the primary reason, which dismantles the most common assumption people make about women and porn. Roughly 53 percent pointed to emotional release and 46 percent to physical release, which means it functions as both at once and moves back and forth depending on the need. About 47 percent had experienced sexual abuse.

What female sex addiction actually looks like

Crystal describes the presentations, because it rarely looks like the stereotype. Pornography. Masturbation. Excessive fantasy. Erotic novels. Serial dating. Hookup culture. Returning again and again to the same man. She makes the point that the presentations look similar in men, and that "men watch porn" is too narrow a frame for either.

She also explains what early exposure does. It happens before a child has language for her own body, let alone for what sex is or is for, and it shapes her sexual palate and her sexual worldview. Things she never imagined doing become things she inches toward, because porn desensitized her first. Nobody wakes up at 15 planning to become an affair partner. It's what Andy Stanley calls a series of unwise choices, a slow fade.

The addiction cycle

Crystal walks through the full cycle in the episode. It starts with the wounded self, the place where the woundings live. Something triggers it. Then comes preoccupation, where the brain starts circling the thing. Then ritual, which she calls the point of no return, where you're getting on your phone, getting in bed, putting yourself in position. Then acting out. Then despair and shame, which should send a woman toward God but instead drops her back into the wounded self, which starts the whole cycle again.

For Christian women, the shame layer is heavier, because the behavior doesn't match who she wants to be or who she believes she's supposed to be. Crystal names the identity piece plainly: I am dirty, I am unlovable, I am unwanted. And she names where she believes that voice comes from, an enemy who wants women stuck, far from God, and ineffective for the kingdom.

Her new book organizes this around five primary drivers: emotional, relational, identity, trauma, and spiritual. A woman can be carrying one or all five at once.

Why it isn't really about sex

The most useful stretch of the conversation is about the nervous system. The nervous system learns early, it's built to detect threat and protect you, and it goes hyperactive after trauma, including the small-t kind that people dismiss and then feel ashamed for being affected by. Loneliness, stress, tiredness, hunger, boredom, and rejection all register as threat. The nervous system says let's fix it, and it reaches for the thing that worked when you were twelve.

Crystal says the comfort framing misses it. It's about safety. That's why married women still struggle even when sex is available, why the masturbation and the fantasy are harder to give up than the porn itself, and why so much of it runs on muscle memory. It's also why trying harder fails. The groove is already cut. Until the nervous system learns a different path, that's the path it takes. Roslyn ties it to her own morning coffee habit, which she thinks about before she even falls asleep, and to neuroplasticity, the fact that new pathways can be built at any point.

Roslyn also adds the clinical piece about locating emotions in the body rather than staying in your head, and notes that every emotion has a need attached to it.

What actually helps

Community. Crystal is direct that we cannot heal alone or recover alone, and that this is by design, going back to God saying it was not good for the man to be alone. She built She Recovery to be a place where women can belong, confess, be accountable, and take responsibility for their own healing. She doesn't tell anyone to stop praying. She says keep praying and keep letting God into the struggle, but be open to the possibility that He isn't going to remove it the way you assume. In her own story she prayed constantly, led worship, led groups, did all the godly things, and was still struggling until she told her story and got into community. Roslyn adds that her own life is vastly different because she has people who will expose her and who she will expose herself to.

Her closing frame: healing begins with understanding, and there is more to your story than the fact that you watch porn.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCED

Genesis 2:18, referenced as it not being good for man to be alone, and used as the foundation for why recovery requires community rather than isolation.
Galatians 6:2, referenced by Roslyn as bearing one another's burdens.
1 Corinthians 10:13, referenced as God providing the way out from temptation, with Crystal suggesting that the way out may well be the community you need to recover in.
Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the prodigal son, referenced by Roslyn for the detail that the father ran to the son rather than waiting for the son to come the rest of the way.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

She Recovery, the organization Crystal founded to help women struggling with pornography and unwanted sexual behavior
What Drives Women to Porn, Crystal's newest book, released last week, written for women who are struggling and for clinicians, counselors, church leaders, college leaders, and coaches who don't know how to ask the question
Dirty Girls Come Clean, Crystal's earlier book
The five drivers framework from the new book: emotional, relational, identity, trauma, and spiritual
Andy Stanley's phrase "a series of unwise choices," quoted in the episode

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Time Stewardship vs. Time Management: Why Shunta Grant Throws One of Those Terms in the Trash Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

Shunta Grant will tell you straight up that time management is the wrong term, and one of the first things she does with a new client is throw it out. She is a former business litigator turned corporate time management coach and the founder of Best Today, and in this episode she reframes the entire conversation around time stewardship, intentionality over productivity, and why you are both the problem and the solution.

Shunta walks through a career path she calls organic rather than linear. She clerked for a judge for two years, moved to private practice as a business litigator, and started making hair bows for her daughter on the side. Those bows ended up in stores, and in 2015 she left law to run "Because of Zoe" full time. People started asking how she replaced her income, which turned into business coaching, and business coaching turned into something else entirely once she noticed she cared more about people's lives than their revenue. She launched Best Today in March 2020, the same week her daughter came home from school for what everyone thought would be a few days. Home became everything, people needed help with time, and the business grew from there into corporate coaching for law firms, hospitals, and universities, almost entirely by word of mouth.

She also talks about the self-discovery underneath all of that, including the habit she had of opening every introduction with "I used to be a lawyer." She caught herself doing it and asked why she was introducing herself in the present by referencing a past she willingly left. She dropped the phrase and had to confront the belief that you only get one or two gifts, that you are either logical or creative but never both.

The heart of the conversation is the distinction between time management and time stewardship. Shunta's argument is that time management makes time the villain, some wild beast you have to lasso and bring under control. But time does its job every single day. Sixty seconds still make a minute. Making time the problem is a convenient way to avoid ownership, and she would rather you be the problem, because that means you are also the solution. Every morning you wake up with hours you did not purchase, which makes you responsible for what you do with them. She gives the same treatment to the word productivity and swaps it for intentionality, since productivity lets you run yourself ragged and still check the box, while intentionality means doing only what actually matters.

Roslyn and Shunta get into how intention gets lost in the first place. Shunta's answer is that it starts with the loss of self. She teaches what she calls top to bottom planning, where your days are the last thing you plan, not the first. Above your days sit your values and identity, and above your days also sits your season. She names her own three values as freedom, faith, and joy, and says if something costs her any of those, the answer is no. She also names her identity as a disciple first, before wife, mother, Black, or woman. Without that clarity, there is no filter, and you end up chasing whatever the world says is important that week.

The season piece is where a lot of listeners will find themselves. Your season sets your capacity and your boundaries, and Shunta says most people are operating outside theirs because they are watching people who are not in their season and do not share their values. Her diagnostic is simple. If you are constantly comparing, constantly frustrated, or constantly saying you do not have time to do something, you are probably operating outside your season. She works clients through a framework called Name Your Season, built around four questions: what are the responsibilities, what is actually required, what are the opportunities, and what boundaries does this season need.

They also talk about the invisible part of building anything. Shunta points out that the shortest part of an Olympic win is the part you watched, and that David was in the back tending sheep where nobody was looking, which is exactly what prepared him for what everyone eventually saw. Roslyn connects that to praying in the closet and to capacity, that the throne requires a level of groundedness and emotional maturity most people have not built yet.

Then there is the Mary and Martha conversation, which Shunta says she brings up constantly enough that her friends tease her about it. Her read on Luke 10 is that the serving was never the problem, the order was. Mary chose to worship before the work, and the worship informs the work. Shunta applies that directly to how you start your day. If you are anxious, troubled, pointing at what other people should be doing, or in somebody else's business, those are signals that the order is off. Roslyn shares that this happened to her the morning of the recording, when she stopped, pulled out her prayer book, prayed for about forty-five minutes, and executed the rest of the day with noticeably more calm.

On the practical side, Shunta gives her three planning non-negotiables. Preview your week in writing before Sunday ends, including what is most important and when you are going to stop. Plan every day in writing, limited to what is actually necessary. And let everything else live somewhere other than your head or your list, which for her is an "everything spreadsheet." She has no use for to-do lists and compares them to junk drawers, where the important and the unimportant get mixed together until things get lost. She also makes the case for not making real-time decisions, because deciding in the moment all day long can quietly cost you two hours.

The conversation closes on why people resist hearing that they are doing too much. Shunta starts by asking what agreement you came in with, meaning who taught you that being important requires always going, always being on every board. Then she comes at it from self-love, because dragging yourself down to the bone is not actually loving, and she asks the uncomfortable question of whether some of the over-giving is really about being perceived as self-sacrificial. She uses the image of one cup trying to fill seventeen glasses, where seventeen people leave thirsty and you leave empty. Roslyn adds the clinical version from her own practice, where clients with high responsibility do not believe they are doing too much until they realize they give themselves no time at all.

If you have ever been told to just manage your time better and it did not touch the actual problem, this conversation gives you a different starting place.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCED

1 Corinthians 4:2, quoted in the episode as a steward must be found faithful, and used as the foundation for the time stewardship framing.
Luke 10:38-42, the account of Mary and Martha, read in the episode from the New King James Version. Jesus tells Martha she is worried and troubled about many things, that one thing is needed, and that Mary has chosen the good part that will not be taken from her. Shunta uses this as her central illustration of priority and order.
Matthew 6:6, referenced by Roslyn as praying in your closet, with what is done privately being rewarded openly.
Matthew 6:27, referenced by Shunta with the question about worry adding a cubit to your stature.
Matthew 6:34, referenced as tomorrow having its own worries, and tied to Shunta's trademark phrase one today at a time.
Philippians 4:6-7, referenced as being anxious for nothing, making your requests known through prayer and supplication, and receiving peace.
Philippians 4:8, referenced as thinking on what is true, pure, lovely, and of good report, framed in the episode as a choice you make about where your thoughts go.
John 16:33, referenced as the promise that in this world you will have trouble, used to make the point that the goal is not avoiding trouble but becoming more resilient inside it.

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED

Shunta Grant's website: shuntagrant.com
Instagram: @shuntagrant
Best Today, the planning and time management stewardship company Shunta founded, launched March 2020
One Day at a Time for women, including a monthly workshop, a first Thursday of the month focus session, and quarterly planning
Where to Start, Shunta's program and her recommended entry point
Right Now Routine, an online resource Shunta created for building routines
Worth Reading Wednesday, Shunta's weekly email
Name Your Season, her framework for identifying responsibilities, requirements, opportunities, and boundaries in your current season
Values Vault, her tool for getting clear on your values and identity
Corporate and team coaching, available through her website
Shunta has been featured in Forbes and Essence

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What the Bible Says About Trauma and Panic Attacks: A Conversation with Dave Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

Episode Summary

What happens when a theology professor's own panic attacks and trauma make his lifelong understanding of faith fall apart? In this episode of the God and Mental Health Podcast, Roslyn talks with Dave, a professor of New Testament studies and Christian theology, about the anxiety, panic attacks, and trauma that reshaped his faith, and how tracing the Bible's recurring theme of water and chaos gave him language for suffering he didn't have before. Their conversation covers trauma, embodiment, shame, and community, and previews Dave's upcoming book, In the Sea Was No More: Reading the Bible in the Deep.

Scripture Referenced

Psalm 69 — Dave describes opening his Bible to this psalm during a retreat and reading its opening lines, "Save me, O Lord, for the water has come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold." He does not cite a specific verse number, but identifies it as the beginning of Psalm 69.
Genesis 1 — Dave references the creation account, where the Spirit of God hovers over the dark, watery chaos called "the deep" before God brings order and life into being. He references the chapter generally without citing a specific verse.
Revelation — Dave references the vision of a new heaven and a new earth where "the sea was no more," and where death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more because the first things have passed away. He references the book generally without citing a specific chapter or verse.
Roslyn also references the Genesis account of Adam and Eve hiding from God after their sin, including God's question "who told you that you were naked," without citing a specific chapter or verse.

Links & Resources Mentioned

Book: In the Sea Was No More: Reading the Bible in the Deep by Dave — releasing (shipping) September 22nd, described as part memoir and part Bible study
General reference to EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which Dave went through for roughly three years as part of his trauma treatment
General reference to Alcoholics Anonymous, used as an example of a small, honest community where people can be fully known in a way Dave says "big church" often fails to provide

Key Topics & Takeaways

A "high-functioning nervous wreck." Dave describes living with anxiety since childhood while still functioning well in daily life, including through a PhD in theology and a career as a professor. He explains that this changed significantly after the birth of his first child 22 years ago, when his anxiety began to escalate.

When panic attacks began. Dave traces his first major panic attack to December 26, 2004 — Boxing Day — while watching footage of the Indian Ocean tsunami. As his son grew older, approaching the age Dave was during a significant childhood trauma, Dave began experiencing panic attacks, intrusive images, and intrusive thoughts, describing himself as coming close to, but never fully entering, psychosis.

Getting help. Dave's wife, who is also a therapist, connected him with a trauma therapist. Through roughly three years of EMDR therapy, Dave says he came to understand how much unprocessed trauma his body was carrying separately from his conscious mind, and began learning to recognize his triggers.

Faith as a "bag of tricks" that stopped working. Dave explains that his usual coping tools — prayer, Bible reading, and spiritual disciplines — became inaccessible once his anxiety intensified, forcing him to confront how cognitive and disembodied his faith had been up to that point. He describes having to discover what he calls an "embodied Christianity," recognizing that he wasn't just a mind carrying a body around, but that he was a body.

Rediscovering scripture through Psalm 69. While attending a retreat and speaking publicly again after years away, Dave opened his Bible to Psalm 69 and found its opening imagery of drowning in deep water spoke directly to his experience for the first time. This led him to trace water and chaos imagery throughout scripture, from Genesis through Revelation, and became the foundation for his book.

The theme of "the deep." Dave unpacks the biblical concept of "the deep" — the watery chaos present at creation in Genesis, which God doesn't destroy but instead gives structure and purpose within. He connects this to the flood narrative, where the waters of chaos "undo" creation, and explains that throughout scripture, water and waves become a recurring metaphor for catastrophic, uncontrollable overwhelm — illness, sin, invading armies, and grief.

Death as the ultimate uncontrollable force. Dave explains that in scripture, believers are told they can resist Satan but not death, which he calls "the last enemy" — a force with total dominion over creation that only God has power over, paralleling the sea in biblical imagery. He connects this to the closing vision in Revelation, where the sea, along with death, mourning, and pain, is finally removed.

Rethinking suffering and God's sovereignty. Dave shares that his crisis of faith wasn't about doubting God's existence or goodness, but about reconciling belief in God's sovereignty with a world that could "blow up on a heartbeat" without clear reason. He describes coming to see chaos and unpredictability as part of God's good creation rather than evidence of God's absence.

Community over isolation. Dave emphasizes that humans aren't made to face suffering alone, describing how his wife, his therapist, and eventually others he opened up to all played a role in his healing by consistently showing up and saying "I'm with you." He talks about the need to be able to be, in his words, "naked and unashamed" before other people, not just before God.

How this changed his teaching. Dave now speaks openly about his own mental health struggles in every class he teaches, noting that most of his students are navigating similar issues. He also teaches scripture through the lens of what it means to struggle as a human being, and reframes the power described in Paul's writing on the resurrection as something that enables deeper vulnerability and openness rather than an escape from weakness.

A critique of "big church" culture. Dave and Roslyn discuss how mainstream American Christianity often emphasizes victory and control rather than making space for vulnerability and shame, using Alcoholics Anonymous as an example of the kind of small, honest community that church often fails to provide. Roslyn connects this to the biblical account of Adam and Eve hiding and covering themselves after sinning, framing shame as something rooted in disconnection rather than exposure.

About the book. Dave's book, In the Sea Was No More: Reading the Bible in the Deep, ships September 22nd and interweaves his personal story with a chapter-by-chapter walk through scripture's water and chaos imagery. He describes it as "a memoir in scripture," noting that he spent about a year and a half considering publishing it anonymously due to shame before ultimately deciding to publish it under his own name.

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Why Every Addiction Has a "Why": Adrienne Bumpers on Trauma-Informed Recovery Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

Episode Summary

What does faith-based addiction recovery look like when it treats trauma and mental health as seriously as the addiction itself? In this episode of the Guided Mental Health Podcast, Roslyn talks with Adrienne Bumpers, Director of The Potter's House at Atlanta Mission, about the year-long residential program that walks men through recovery from substance abuse and homelessness. They cover why addiction and mental health are inseparable, what actually happens inside the program's first 30 days, and why understanding the "why" behind addiction matters more than treating the symptoms on the surface.

Scripture Referenced

John 10 — Adrienne paraphrases Jesus's words that "the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but I have come so that you can have life and life abundantly," using it to describe the freedom, fullness, and peace the program hopes to offer clients. She references the book and chapter but does not give a specific verse in the episode.
Genesis — Roslyn references the account of Adam and Eve after the Fall, recalling that God asks Adam "who told you that you were naked," and uses it to talk about God wanting people fully known without shame. She references the book but does not give a specific chapter or verse in the episode.

Links & Resources Mentioned

The Potter's House website: www.tphrecovery.org — where listeners can learn more about the program or apply online
Atlanta Mission — the parent organization of The Potter's House, described as the largest homeless service provider in the city of Atlanta, founded in 1938
The Potter's House campus — a 550-acre farm north of Atlanta near Jefferson, Georgia, in operation at that location since 1967
General reference to 12-step recovery communities (NA/AA) and the practice of sponsorship, home groups, and step work, discussed as part of the broader recovery model The Potter's House draws from (no specific organization link given in the episode)

Key Topics & Takeaways

Adrienne's path into this work. Adrienne shares a personal "God encounter" at 16, when a man experiencing homelessness at a gas station asked her to commit to helping five homeless people in her lifetime in exchange for a bracelet. That moment, paired with mission work through her church and later work with a nonprofit while attending seminary, set her on a path toward full-time ministry with people experiencing homelessness and addiction.

Why she chose seminary over an MSW. Adrienne explains that she felt called to seminary rather than a traditional social work master's degree, pursuing a Master of Arts in Social Change Studies. She describes seminary as a place where she broke down and rebuilt her faith, giving her a rooted theological foundation she says she uses every day in her work, even though she ultimately felt called to community ministry rather than a pulpit.

The history of The Potter's House. Atlanta Mission has operated since 1938 and runs three campuses, including two serving women with children and one serving men. The Potter's House, located on a 550-acre farm near Jefferson, Georgia, has served men with substance abuse struggles since 1967, after a family connected to Atlanta Mission's board donated the property, which had previously been used informally as a place where men in their own family worked through addiction.

Why mental health and addiction can't be separated. Adrienne explains that a substance use disorder is itself classified as a mental health diagnosis, and that co-occurring conditions like anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia are common among clients. She stresses that nearly everyone who comes through their doors is dealing with an underlying mental health need, not just a substance problem.

What the first 30 days look like. Clients arrive at The Potter's House through court mandates, probation referrals, or voluntary entry into the year-long program. Rules are strict: no nicotine use, and limited communication with the outside world, including cell phone access, to reduce distractions. Adrienne describes the early transition as emotionally overwhelming — grief, fear, withdrawal symptoms, and adjusting to community life among roughly 125 other men in the program at once.

The interdisciplinary care model. Every client is paired with a counselor (licensed or working toward licensure), a peer in recovery who has walked the same journey, and a social worker focused on reducing barriers. Clients go through psychoeducation, evidence-based curriculum, and 12-step coaching with their peer mentor over the course of the year-long program, with employment introduced in the second half.

Reframing "getting right with God." Adrienne describes pushing back on clients who say they need to "get right with God," reframing the relationship as one of ongoing pursuit rather than a transactional exchange based on behavior. She emphasizes that God is not withholding acceptance based on performance, but consistently drawing people closer, and that shame and guilt after a mistake don't reflect how God actually responds.

Will's story. Adrienne shares the story of a client named Will, who came into the program with an undiagnosed and untreated case of schizophrenia, initially resistant to engaging in services. Through the trust he built with his counselor, he eventually pursued a full diagnosis and medication, finished his GED, stabilized in a job, and continues to manage his mental health independently — a story Adrienne credits to both the counseling relationship and his faith.

Common misconceptions about addiction and homelessness. Adrienne addresses the assumption that addiction and homelessness are simply personal choices, explaining that most clients were introduced to substances at a young age and that addiction physically changes brain chemistry over time. She notes that most clients carry significant childhood trauma, and that understanding a person's story — the "why" behind the addiction — is essential to addressing it rather than just managing symptoms.

Addiction as isolation, recovery as connection. Adrienne describes addiction as fundamentally isolating, and recovery communities as built around forced, intentional connection — sponsors, home groups, regular meetings, and accountability relationships. The Potter's House aims to send clients out with sustained income, housing, and community: a church home, a social group, a sponsor, and ongoing recovery meetings.

Why the "why" matters. In closing, Adrienne explains that treating addiction without understanding its root cause is like using a band-aid on a serious infection — the underlying issue, often rooted in trauma, has to be addressed directly for recovery to hold.

Message for anyone feeling too ashamed to ask for help. Adrienne closes by acknowledging that addiction can be a life-or-death matter, that relapse is a normal part of recovery rather than a failure, and that asking for help takes real courage. She encourages listeners who feel disconnected from faith or ashamed of their struggle that help and hope are available, wherever they live.

How to get help. The Potter's House program is entirely free for men without income, and interested individuals can learn more or apply directly at www.tphrecovery.org. Adrienne notes that people come into the program from all over, not just locally.

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What Is Emotional Endurance? Leslie Bosserman on Building Resilience Through Faith Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

Episode Summary

What does it actually take to build emotional endurance instead of just pushing through stress until you burn out? In this episode of the God and Mental Health Podcast, executive leadership coach, TEDx speaker, and author Leslie Bosserman joins Roslyn to unpack the science and scripture behind her new book, Emotional Endurance: Faith-Fueled Skills for Bouncing Back. They talk through stress thresholds, emotional safety, capacity, and what it looks like to let God into the process of recovering from burnout instead of overworking your way out of it.

Scripture Referenced

2 Corinthians 10:5 — Leslie reads this directly: "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ." She uses this verse to frame the idea of taking unhealthy thoughts captive and inviting God into how we process emotions, not just what we decide to do.
Leslie also references the Apostle Paul's teaching on wanting to do one thing and doing another instead ("that we will to do, that we do not practice") when discussing the gap between our intentions and our stress-driven actions. She does not cite a specific chapter or verse for this in the episode.

Links & Resources Mentioned

Book: Emotional Endurance: Faith-Fueled Skills for Bouncing Back by Leslie M. Bosserman, published by Zondervan
Book website: emotionalendurancebook.com
Audiobook and Kindle versions of the book, both mentioned as available alongside the print edition
The Coaches Training Institute — the in-person coach certification program Leslie flew from Central Illinois to Manhattan to complete in her mid-twenties
The Maker's Place — Sacramento's first coworking space with onsite childcare, co-founded by Leslie and her husband
Yerkes-Dodson stress-performance research — the century-old study Leslie references to explain the relationship between stress and performance (illustrated with a bell-curve graph in her book)
Leslie's Substack, mentioned as one of the places she wrote short-form articles before deciding to write the book
Instagram

Key Topics & Takeaways

What emotional endurance actually is. Leslie describes emotional endurance as a dynamic capacity built over time, combining the science of hope, resilience, and strength psychology with a faith-based understanding that we're designed to be "kingdom builders." She's clear that anyone can build this capacity, whether or not they currently identify as a believer.

From residence halls to writing the book. Leslie traces her path from managing a 900-student UCLA residence hall, to building a coaching program at the University of Illinois, to becoming an early-adopter professional coach in her mid-twenties, to spending roughly a decade developing the framework that eventually became her book. She describes it as "a golden thread" — teaching what people needed, not what she planned to publish.

Curiosity versus judgment. One of the episode's central ideas is that curiosity is the antidote to self-criticism. Leslie explains that asking "what motivates you?" instead of "why did you do that?" opens a person up to understanding themselves rather than shutting down in judgment.

Understanding your stress threshold. Leslie unpacks the Yerkes-Dodson framework: stress improves performance only up to a tipping point, after which performance drops off sharply. She talks about helping clients identify their personal stress capacity and recognize what triggers them before those triggers "hijack" their best work and intentions.

Emotions as messengers, not marching orders. A recurring theme in the conversation: emotions are meant to inform us, not command us. Leslie describes letting an emotion "wash over you like an ocean" rather than dismissing it or letting it dictate behavior. Roslyn connects this to her own experience of hearing that emotions are "information," like a thermometer reading rather than a directive.

The emotion-to-character pipeline. Leslie walks through her coaching process: name the emotion, explore what's underneath it without diagnosing, decide how you want to feel instead, take that reframed thought captive, let it shape consistent action, and let that action shape character over time. She frames character as the lasting, "eternal" outcome of this work.

Rest, Sabbath, and capacity. Leslie shares that without a commanded, intentional Sabbath, she would never stop working. She discusses building sustainable rhythms of rest and renewal before burnout hits, and describes her own "timeout" practices — a glass of water, a walk, even jumping jacks — as ways to get back into her body during moments of overwhelm.

Defining capacity. Using the image of stretching a rubber band between your fingers, Leslie defines capacity as what you're able to handle before you break — and stresses that capacity isn't meant to be built alone. Asking for help, including relying on God, is part of expanding that capacity rather than a failure to have enough of it.

The six principles of the book. Leslie explains that Emotional Endurance is structured around six core principles, each paired with science and scripture and broken into three actionable skills, plus reflection questions and a companion book club guide. The book is designed to be read in any order, with busy parents specifically in mind.

Her own story with faith and timing. Leslie closes part one of the conversation by sharing her personal story of meeting her husband at age eight, staying close friends through their teenage years, and eventually marrying him at 27 — a story she uses to illustrate trusting God's timing over her own plans, and to reinforce the book's broader message about enduring through uncertainty with faith.

A struggle God strengthened her through, rather than removed. In part two, Leslie gets personal about raising her son Luke, who has autism. She describes him as her greatest teacher — present, authentic, and full of joy — and pushes back on the assumption that a special-needs diagnosis is only a hardship. She shares the "God story" underneath it: her husband Joel spent 22 years working in early intervention with children with autism before Luke was born, which Leslie frames as divine equipping rather than coincidence.

Reframing "good hard." Leslie talks about the mindset shift of separating what's hard from what's bad, and using difficult seasons to ask what God is building in her rather than trying to escape the discomfort. She ties this directly back to the idea that God's strength shows up in weak, unresolved moments rather than only after a struggle is removed.

Her personal spiritual and nervous-system practices. Asked what holds her together, Leslie names three core practices for this season of her life: slowing her internal pace through a daily walk (often praying or listening to scripture through the Dwell app, sometimes attending a yoga class instead), immersing her home in worship music, and treating writing itself as a spiritual practice and a way of creating from truth.

"Show up where you are." Leslie's closing piece of advice for anyone feeling burnt out or emotionally exhausted: no guidebook or prerequisite is required to come to God or to community exactly as you are. She encourages naming the hurt out loud, whether to God, a journal, a friend, or a partner, rather than waiting until you feel more put-together.

Book structure and release details. Leslie confirms the book released July 28th and describes its structure in more detail: 18 core skills organized around six foundational principles for developing emotional endurance, designed to be practical and immediately usable rather than purely conceptual.

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How High Performers Can Set Boundaries Without Guilt, with Dr. Jessica Houston Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

Show Notes

Most high performers don't recognize burnout until their body forces them to stop — and for Dr. Jessica Houston, that recognition took years of overextending herself to outrun a childhood shaped by poverty and survival mode. In this episode, Dr. Jessica joins Roslyn to talk about healing from a condemning image of God, learning to trust him instead of perform for him, and building the self-awareness it takes to set real boundaries. If you've ever felt like rest is something you have to earn, this conversation is for you.

Scripture Referenced

2 Corinthians 9 (NLT) — Roslyn references this passage on being a "cheerful giver," noting that giving (or saying yes) reluctantly or out of obligation reflects a heart posture God doesn't want for us. She ties this to the idea that even our yes should come from a cheerful, willing place rather than fear of disappointing others.

Links & Resources Mentioned

Dr. Jessica Houston's website: drjessicahuston.com
Book: Give Your All Without Losing Yourself: The High Performance Guide to Sustainable Success — Dr. Jessica's newly released book, available on Amazon or wherever books are sold. Includes a full chapter titled "Value Your Yes."
Book: Women's Secrets: It's Time to Stop Suffering in Silence — Dr. Jessica's first book, written as part of her own healing process.

Episode Summary

Dr. Jessica Houston is a keynote speaker and self-leadership strategist based in Atlanta. In this conversation, she shares the layered story behind her work: a physically abusive relationship in college, years of infertility met with two unexpected pregnancies (including one after being told she had only a 5% chance of conceiving naturally), and a childhood marked by poverty, homelessness, and domestic conflict that she didn't fully recognize as trauma until she became a school social worker.

Growing up in survival mode. Dr. Jessica didn't realize her family had experienced homelessness until she was an adult working in trauma training — she had assumed "homeless" only meant someone living on the street, not a family staying with relatives after an eviction. She discusses how this conditioning followed her into adulthood: even after achieving financial stability, she found herself anxious over small expenses and unable to expect good things to happen to her, because she'd been conditioned for lack and stress rather than blessing.

A condemning view of God. Dr. Jessica also opens up about growing up in a strict, "condemning" church environment where she believed God was primarily watching for her mistakes — right down to feeling guilty for listening to secular music or saying a curse word. She describes spending roughly a decade rebuilding her relationship with God on her own terms, praying specifically that he would reveal who he actually is to her, rather than relying on what she'd been taught about him. She's candid that in the process of healing from religious condemnation, she noticed herself becoming judgmental of others in the same way — a pattern she had to confront in herself.

Writing as obedience. Her first book, Women's Secrets, began as an act of obedience rather than a business plan — she describes God waking her up at 3 and 4 a.m. prompting her to be honest about her struggles. The book became the foundation for her speaking career and eventually her business, though she's candid that it took years of learning the "CEO side" of things — niching down, building an audience, and understanding that a book alone doesn't build a business.

High performing and burnout. The conversation moves into the heart of Dr. Jessica's newest book: why high performers overextend themselves. She names two core drivers — the desire to win, and the fact that overgiving is socially rewarded while overworking rarely draws criticism. She unpacks the internal dialogue behind it ("If I don't do this, who will? I don't want to let them down") and the early warning signs people miss: chronic exhaustion that isn't fixed by sleep, irritability with loved ones, forgetfulness, restlessness in bed, and working through exhaustion rather than resting.

The spiritual cost of burnout. Dr. Jessica speaks directly to what unmanaged burnout does to a person's relationship with God — he gets pushed to the back burner, only approached when something is needed, rather than being a daily priority. Her personal practice for combating this is giving to herself first, meaning she spends time with God before the rest of the household wakes up, before she's pulled into meeting everyone else's needs.

Understanding capacity. She defines capacity as the amount of pressure or responsibility a person can carry without becoming overwhelmed, stressed, or burned out — and argues most people don't know their own capacity because they're afraid of disappointing others or being seen as selfish.

The three questions before saying yes. From the "Value Your Yes" chapter of her new book, Dr. Jessica shares the three questions she asks herself before agreeing to anything:

Do I actually want to do it?
Do I have time to do it?
Will taking this on push me into overwhelm?

Roslyn connects this practice to the biblical concept of giving cheerfully rather than reluctantly (2 Corinthians 9), noting that the pause between being asked and answering is where the real work — and the real heart-posture check — happens.

Boundaries as self-protection. Dr. Jessica describes using a personal filtering system before taking anything on: Does this align with my values? Does it move me toward what I actually want, or am I just doing it to be liked? She frames boundaries not as guarding herself from other people, but as "guarding me from me" — protecting herself from her own instinct to overgive.

Who the book is for. Dr. Jessica closes by describing Give Your All Without Losing Yourself as a book for the person everyone calls on — the go-to friend, family member, or leader who is quietly running on empty while still showing up for everyone else. Her central message: self-leadership means being honest with yourself about who you are and what you need, rather than waiting for someone else to give you permission to rest.

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Why Do I Keep Hiding This From God? (The Shame No One Talks About) Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

The Shame of Exposure: What Adam, Eve, and Paul Teach Us About Hiding from God

Shame doesn't always look like guilt — sometimes it looks like silence, distraction, or simply not tracking the thing you don't want to see. In this episode, Roslyn unpacks the spiritual roots of shame starting in the Garden of Eden, traces how it quietly shapes our relationships, and gets vulnerable about her own weight loss journey and the moment she realized why she'd stopped tracking her food. Drawing from Genesis 3 and 2 Corinthians 12, this episode reframes exposure — to God, to ourselves, and to others — as the doorway to intimacy, not the danger we've made it out to be.

Timestamps

00:00 — Welcome back + episode intro

01:15 — Why this episode: a listener request for a deep dive on shame

02:10 — Episode roadmap: the Garden, relationships, a personal story, Paul on weakness, and practical tools

02:55 — The thesis: we were never meant to hide from God

04:00 — Reading Genesis 3:7-11 (NLT) — Adam and Eve hide from God

05:30 — God's first question wasn't condemnation, it was "Where are you?"

06:45 — The spiritual architecture of shame: why exposure starts to feel like a threat

08:00 — How shame shows up in relationships: self-protection, deflection, busyness, control

09:30 — Substitutes we reach for instead of being known (food, scrolling, achievement, numbing)

11:00 — Personal story: Roslyn's weight loss journey and why she stopped tracking her food

14:45 — The connection between tracking, budgeting, therapy avoidance, and addiction — why we hide what we don't want to face

17:00 — God never designed us to hide from Him — even Jesus modeled vulnerability in Gethsemane

19:00 — Naming the tension: exposure is uncomfortable and can feel anxiety-provoking

20:15 — Reading 2 Corinthians 12:5-10 (NLT) — Paul's thorn and "my power works best in weakness"

24:00 — Weakness as the entry point to faith, not the opposite of it

26:00 — How Roslyn applies this to her own self-sabotage doing the podcast

28:00 — Three practical tools to begin exposing yourself to God

31:00 — Closing thought: Adam and Eve's blame cycle (a preview of a possible part two)

32:00 — Land the message: exposure isn't danger, concealment is — this is about identity, not performance

33:00 — Outro + how to connect with Roslyn

(Note: timestamps are estimated proportionally from the transcript — adjust once you have final edited runtime.)

Scriptures Referenced

Genesis 3:7-11 (NLT)

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid from the LORD among the trees. Then the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked." "Who told you that you were naked?" the LORD God asked. "Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?"

2 Corinthians 12:5-10 (NLT)

Such a person could boast about that experience, but I don't want to boast about myself, except about my weaknesses... Even if I did boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be telling the truth. But I won't do it, because I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message... So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged God to take it away. Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in your weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Three Practical Tools for Exposure

Name it before God, not around Him — Journal prompt: "God, here's what I've been hiding, even from myself. This is what's actually true."
Identify one substitute you reach for instead of exposure — Journal prompt: "What do I turn to when I don't want to feel exposed? What am I protecting myself from feeling?"
Choose one tangible act of exposure this week — Journal prompt: "What's one uncomfortable, specific thing I can expose this week — to God, to myself, or to someone safe?"

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Stop Being Mean to Yourself: A Faith-Based Framework for Your Mental Health | God & Mental Health Podcast Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

Episode Description:

We're closing out the Kindness of God series, and this one is the most practical episode of the three. In Episode 1 we talked about who God actually is toward us — kind, not shameful. In Episode 2 we looked at how Jesus modeled curiosity in his ministry. Now in Episode 3, Roslyn brings it all home with a practical framework for how you can apply that same kindness and curiosity to your own mental health journey. She introduces the KIND framework — four postures to move into when things feel heavy, stuck, or overwhelming — and closes with practical tips you can start using this week.

What's Covered in This Episode

Why we need a framework in the first place Most of us default to criticism, comparison, and condemnation when we're struggling. Our inner critic is loud — and for many of us, it sounds exactly like what we incorrectly believe God's voice sounds like toward us. The way we talk to ourselves in hard moments is often a mirror of the version of God we've been relating to. Kindness and curiosity aren't just theological concepts — they are practices that have to be learned and repeated. And the brain can actually build new pathways when we practice new patterns consistently.

The KIND Framework

K — Know What You're Actually Feeling Without Judging It The first step is simply naming it — not what you're supposed to feel, but what's actually happening inside you right now. Emotions are not good or bad. As the Holy Spirit once reminded Roslyn on a walk: "Emotions are just information." When you don't name what you feel, it drives you. When you name it, you can begin to work with it.

Scripture: James 1:5 NLT — "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking."

I — Inquire Instead of Indict Once you've named the feeling, the next step is to ask questions rather than make accusations against yourself. Indicting sounds like: "Why am I always like this? What is wrong with me?" Inquiring sounds like: "I wonder what this is connected to. What might God be trying to show me here?" The difference is not just tone — it's direction. Indictment closes things down. Inquiry opens them up. The Holy Spirit is your partner in this — you can ask him directly what something is connected to and trust that he will show you.

Scripture: John 16:13 NLT — "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth."

N — Normalize — You Are Not the Only One and Brokenness Is Part of the Journey Shame thrives in isolation. It tells you that you are uniquely broken and that no one else is struggling the way you are. Normalizing is not excusing — it's acknowledging that this is a human experience and you are not alone in it. Brokenness is not a disqualifier in the kingdom — it is actually the prerequisite. And healing was never designed to happen alone.

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT — "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful." James 5:16 NLT — "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

D — Depend — Your Weakness Is an Invitation for God's Strength Dependency is countercultural. The world tells you to be self-sufficient and figure it out — but carrying what was meant for God to carry is what steals your peace. In the kingdom, dependency is the posture that opens the door for God to move. And God's kindness is what makes dependency feel safe. If you believe he is kind, you can lean on him. If you believe he is disappointed in you, leaning feels like exposure.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT — "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."

Practical Tips to Walk This Out

Daily K check-in — Once a day ask yourself: what am I actually feeling right now? Name it out loud or write it down. Don't evaluate it yet — just name it. This builds emotional awareness over time.
Keep a curiosity journal — When something hard comes up, write three inquiry questions instead of three criticisms. I wonder what this is connected to. I wonder what God wants to show me. I wonder what I actually need right now.
Find your N — your safe person — Identify one person who is safe and seasoned in faith that you can be honest with without performing. Shame loses its power when it's spoken out loud in a safe space.
Practice dependent prayer (the sincerity prayer) — Prayer that starts from honest need rather than polished presentation. Not "Lord I come before you grateful and blessed" when you're exhausted. But "God, I'm running on empty. I need you." That is the prayer dependency makes possible.
Return to KIND when you feel stuck — It is not a one-time exercise. It is a direction to move in. When you notice yourself spiraling, come back to K — name what you're feeling — and start from there.

Scriptures Referenced

James 1:5 NLT — "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking."
John 16:13 NLT — "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth."
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT — "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful."
James 5:16 NLT — "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT — "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."

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Why Jesus Asked So Many Questions (And What It Teaches Us About Curiosity and Mental Health) May 10, 2026

Show notes

Show Notes

Episode Summary

In episode two of the Kindness of God miniseries, we're going deeper — from God's character into the way Jesus actually engaged with people during his ministry. This episode explores curiosity as a spiritual and mental health practice, grounded in how Jesus consistently used questions rather than condemnation to invite people into truth. If you've ever found it easier to criticize yourself than to get genuinely curious about what's going on inside you, this episode is for you.

What We Cover

Why Jesus being a question-asker throughout his ministry was intentional, not accidental — and what that means for how we approach ourselves and God
The principle that when God presents a way to live, he always models it first — from wilderness seasons to temptation to curiosity itself
A breakdown of three Gospel stories and what Jesus' questions were really doing:
James and John (Mark 10:35–38) — childlike boldness, no shame, no performance, and what Jesus' response actually revealed about the cup he was about to drink
The man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5) — "Would you like to get well?" and why Jesus asked a question he already knew the answer to
The woman at the well (John 4) — how Jesus led with questions that allowed her to uncover her own story rather than being exposed by him
Why our default is almost never curiosity — it's criticism, judgment, and fear
Why "don't question God" is not only unhelpful but unbiblical — and what the Psalms, John 15, and Romans say about our access to God as a friend
How shame shuts down curiosity entirely — and what Adam and Eve in the garden show us about what happens when shame takes over
The role of the Holy Spirit as an active, personal teacher — and how to start asking him direct questions (John 16:13, 1 John 2:27)
A personal story about lamenting before God during a hard financial season — and what it looks like to be broken and honest before him
How God's kindness (from episode one) is what makes curiosity feel safe in the first place

Reflection Practice for This Week

Bring a question to the Holy Spirit instead of a statement. Try: "Holy Spirit, what are you trying to show me right now? What do I keep missing? Teach me who you are in this season." Then be still long enough to listen.
When you notice self-criticism creeping in ("What is wrong with me?"), try reframing it: "I wonder what's going on here."
Read John 4 — the full woman at the well story — and pay close attention to how Jesus leads the conversation. Notice what he asks, what he doesn't say, and how she uncovers her own story rather than being exposed.

Scriptures Referenced

Mark 10:35–38
John 4 (Woman at the Well)
John 5 (Man at the Pool of Bethesda)
John 15 (I no longer call you servants, I call you friends)
John 16:13
1 John 2:27
Hebrews (Boldly come before the throne of grace)

Connect with Roslyn

Instagram: @RoslynRene
Listening on Spotify? Drop a comment under the episode — Roslyn reads and responds every week.
Listening on Apple Podcasts? Leave a review — it might even get featured on a future episode!

Missed Episode 1? Go back one episode to hear the foundation: God's character is not shame or disappointment — he is kind, and his kindness is what makes curiosity possible.

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