Hole in My Heart Podcast

Episode 193: Who Wants to Hear Our Stories? with Laurie, Matt, and Steve

We do! Who is Steve? Who is Laurie? Who is Matt? 
Today, we are going to get to know the people behind the microphones. 
Steve shares his story of depression, feeling inauthentic, and finding hope in Jesus in the midst of addiction. Matt offers his journey of depression and subsequent porn addiction in marriage. Laurie shares how she learned to trust Matt again after his deception and addiction, as well as shares her own story of wrestling with attractions to the same sex throughout her entire life.
As always, the team shows the gritty reality and beautiful glory of following Jesus in real life.
**Content/Trigger Warning:  Laurie shares a brief and not graphic reference to her sexual molestation when she was 11.
//Question of the Week:
How would you finish the following… “Nothing gets geriatric [insert your generation] going like… [insert something your generation loves like Coldplay, Polly Pockets, hair bands, or something else that your generation loves!]”
//Highlights:
“God did answer the prayer, but … I was like, ‘It needs to look like this. It needs to happen like this… where I don’t get in trouble. Where I don’t get exposed--and I can maintain my image.’” —Steve O’Dell
“Because of what we have been going through with Laurie’s health stuff, I am completely powerless. That is is hard for me. I want to escape… [but] God is helping me not to disconnect. “ —Matt Krieg
“Steve, I so relate (and to Matt, you too!) to that double life. We so want our churches to be these authentic places, but we are not great at knowing how to work with mess.”—Laurie Krieg
//Do the Next Thing:
Watch a video version of the episode here
For all of the podcast episodes, visit www.Lauriekrieg.com/podcast
We reference the Broken/Beloved Pastors series, and you can find the first episode in that series here

Episode 192: Why ”Hole in My Heart”? with Laurie, Matt & Steve

You guysssss!!!!!
After over a year off of the air, the Hole in My Heart Podcast is back!!!
We are back and we got a shiny new studio and some awesome new friends who are producing this thing.
Through a new partnership with West Michigan’s 91.3 WCSG, the Hole in My Heart Podcast has the opportunity to reach more people with the truth that the gospel is good news for *everyone* every day. (!!)
Today, Laurie, Matt, and Steve get behind the microphones (and cameras!) to re-acclimate long time listeners and welcome new ones.
We do this by:
Playing Two Truths and a Lie with each other (Can you guess the right answer?)
Talk about how the gospel has *still* been good news for us in the last year 
Offer how the podcast began, how we connected to WCSG, and why we named it “Hole in My Heart” anyway…?
Engage a conversation about sin, neediness, and why we run to things we don’t truly want or need
Share what we are looking forward to in the new season of HIMH!! (Eek!)
//Highlights:
“Whether or not I get healed (I don’t know), I do know eternal [victory] is guaranteed.” —Laurie Krieg
“Often times, we can look at our needs and think they are character flaws or deficiencies when in actuality they are created order.”—Matt Krieg
“I am excited about integrating. I think God has been working on me a lot on integrating—on becoming a real, whole person.”—Steve O’Dell
//Do the Next Thing:
Watch the episode here
We mention: Episode 24: Is There Hope for Us?
We mention The Marriage Series
Want to connect? Email us at podcast@lauriekrieg.com or find a community with other listeners on the HIMH Facebook group here

Episode 191: What Comes Next? with Matt, Laurie, and Steve

Well, dear family, we have an announcement.
What is it? First, let's hang out for a while, and talk about...
How did that "word for the year" go for you?
In light of that reality, how has the gospel been uniquely good news for you this year?
What is coming next for the podcast and our ministry in 2022?
We'd love for you to sit at the podcast table one more time with us. :)
 
//Highlights:
"If you are listening and you feel this frenetic burden to go and save the world, Jesus already did that. Abide in Him, walk in Him, and He will show you how to have your doing come from your being." -Laurie Krieg
“[Let’s] not just be like, ‘Well, that’s just Christianity, isn’t it? It’s suffering.’ …No, that’s not why Jesus came, so that we have to suffer and hate everything. There’s this good desire in us for this shalom and this peace. And if you want that, that’s a good desire.” -Laurie Krieg
//Do the Next Thing:
Want to send a note about how this podcast has affected you? Rate and review it, or email us at podcast@lauriekrieg.com.
We also mention these episodes—check ‘em out!
Practically Living Life in the Presence of God with Ken Boa here
How to Not Give Up with Christine Caine here
The First Episode of Season 5 here
Join our Facebook group here!
If you need a fresh look at Scripture, the CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast! Learn more here

Episode 190: First Steps After Discovering They Cheated with Johnny & Amanda McKenna

The ugly truth has just come out:
One spouse has just confessed to unfaithfulness and the other is reeling in shock.
Where do we go from here?
Is there hope for a marriage in crisis?
Does Jesus have something to say to this place?
We are thrilled to bring back our friends Johnny and Amanda McKenna, who have been in this place and walked through—with Jesus’ help—to the other side.
Give it a listen?
// Highlights:
“Pray the prayer that was prayed over me, which is a super scary prayer to pray…but that prayer of ‘Whatever needs to come into the light, come into the light.’ Days before my confession, I was told that that prayer was being prayed over me.” --Johnny McKenna
“I ... have to trust that God’s gonna be there … when everything does come out and the pieces are ready to be put back together and God can begin His restoration work.” --Johnny McKenna
// Do the Next Thing:
Missed our first conversation with Johnny and Amanda? Check it out here!
Looking for community with other podcast listeners? Join our Facebook group!
If you need a new look at Scripture, the CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast! Learn more about our new favorite Bible at csbible.com.
We would love it if you would rate the podcast for us, on any of your favorite listening platforms!

Episode 189: The Church Wasn’t Always So Bad at the LGBTQ Conversation with Greg Johnson

Did you know that CS Lewis’ lifelong best friend was gay?
Did you know that Francis Schaeffer was against orientation-change pursuit for gay people?
Did you know that Billy Graham was a compassionate defender of gay people who fell into sexual sin?
Did you know that John Stott encouraged the church to “repent of the crippling ‘homophobia’… which has coloured the attitudes toward homosexual people of too many of us, and call our fellow Christians to similar repentance”?
You guys…the church wasn’t always so terrible at the LGBTQ conversation, praise God.
Pastor and author Greg Johnson helped us understand this truth as he unpacked the church’s history, but he also shined light on some of the more dark shadows of our past and current state as he shared his own journey as a celibate pastor who experiences attractions to the same sex.
This is not an episode to miss…
// Highlight:
“[John] Stott said, ‘If the Church can’t be family for gay people, if they can’t be known and loved and understood within the Church, then the Church needs to quit calling itself the family of God.’” -Greg Johnson
// Do the Next Thing:
Want to hear more from Greg? Go get his book!
You can also check him out on Christianity Today!
Looking for community with other podcast listeners? Join our Facebook group!
If you need a new look at Scripture, the CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast! Learn more about our new favorite Bible at csbible.com.
 

Episode 188: How to Discover Your Identity with Bonnie Gray

In a world of pain, identity can be hard to find.
With a diagnosis of PTSD, it can be even harder.
How do we navigate knowing who we are—and equally important, who God is, in a world that assaults us with lies day in and day out?
How do we do that with trauma?
With cheerfulness and grace, Bonnie Gray tells her story and helps to answer these questions.
Listen with us?
// Highlights:
“If you go through trauma and you don’t have Jesus, you’re gonna have to be a better version than what you were before…. But if we have Jesus, we say, ‘You know what, I can’t do it. And the beauty is that I don’t have to do it all. Life can be beautiful, even if it’s not perfect.’” -Bonnie Gray
// Do the next thing:
Want more of Bonnie? Check out her website!
We love her book! Go grab it here!
Enjoyed listening today? You can find Bonnie’s podcast here.
Looking for community with other podcast listeners? Join our Facebook group!
If you need a new look at Scripture, the CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast! Learn more about our new favorite Bible at csbible.com.
 

Episode 187: How to be Emotionally Healthy with Pete Scazzero

Emotional health is something that can feel elusive and impossible.
But is it?
And even if "attaining" total emotional health on this side of eternity is unlikely, what steps can we take to at least walk toward it? And why do we need to?
With the wisdom and tenderness of a kind father figure, pastor and author, Pete Scazerro, helps us answer some of our questions about the pursuit of emotional health. Together we explore the above questions as well as:
Why is the usual church-discipling paradigm to live burned out and overextended? 
What if we say "no" to people and they get mad at us. How do we process that?
Are there really two types of people in the world: the helpers and the helped?
We'd love to have you join the conversation.
// Highlight:
“Say the United States is gonna cease to be a world power, and fall, and become this dominated country by another country. We may live through that. I mean, who knows what’s gonna happen? The point is: COVID, all the pressures, are putting pressure on our inner life. But, you see, if you can develop an inner life with God that’s robust, the Roman Empire can fall, but you’re okay. Because your happiness is not dependent on your circumstances.” -Pete Scazerro
// Do the Next Thing:
For resources on building a Rule of Life, click here! 
And here is the logic behind it
Want more of Pete? Check out his website here.
You can also see his books here.
Looking for community with other podcast listeners? Join our Facebook group!
If you need a new look at Scripture, the CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast! Learn more about our new favorite Bible at csbible.com.
Watch this Conversation! 

Episode 186: The Power of (And Cautions For) Engaging Listening Prayer with Michelle Kyle

Sometimes, God wants to use counseling to help us heal.
Sometimes, it’s the Bible.
Sometimes, it’s the powerful word from a dear friend.
Sometimes, it’s prayer.
Sometimes (oftentimes?), it’s all of the above.
When Michelle Kyle and I (Laurie) met together for coaching, she said she felt “stuck.” I didn’t know if I could help her get unstuck, but using a prayer technique I have been engaging for 15 years, I thought I would give it a try. 
What did we do? 
Did she get unstuck?
What was the process, and how can I engage something like that today?
What cautions do Matt and I have when engaging this process?
Join us for this powerful and practical conversation on listening prayer and we will dive into these answers and more.
// Highlights:
“I just remember praying, ‘God, you’re gonna have to do something, because I literally close my eyes and I usually see nothing.’ And so I did….And all of a sudden, I did, it happened, and I could see myself on the edge of the pier.” -Michelle Kyle
“You [Laurie] had asked me, ‘Do you want to invite Jesus into that space?’ And I said, ‘Well, He’s actually already there.’” -Michelle Kyle
// Do the Next Thing:
Want to learn more about listening prayer? Check out Matt’s episode about it here.
We talk about it in this episode, too!
Looking for more resources? We’re big fans of HealingCare.org.
If you need a new look at Scripture, the CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast! Learn more about our new favorite Bible at csbible.com.

Episode 185: Which of the Six Types Are You? with Dan Allender & Cathy Loerzel

This is another episode we would pay you to listen to if we could. 
Do you approach your friendships, your work, or the pain in your life more as the orphan, the stranger, or the widow? 
Don’t know what that means? We didn’t either until we read “Redeeming Heartache” and then talked with the brilliant psychologist, Dr. Dan Allender, and to our new wise friend, author and therapist Cathy Loerzel. Dan and Cathy helped us understand each of these approaches to the world, and invited us to live redeemed as a priest, prophet, or king and queen.  
Together we explore:
What if I don’t think I’ve ever had trauma? Do I still need to do heart work?
Why do I need to look back at my past? My present is hard enough.
Why do I act this way in challenging situations?
Join us?// Highlights:
“To be able to rest and receive delight and have gratitude, you need to be able to be open to what other people can offer you.... So if you’re never in that place of being able to receive that with an open, trusting heart, then you’re always…coiled up and ready for the place that you’re gonna be harmed next. So it keeps you from being able to receive surprise and delight and play because you’re always, always, always looking around the corner.” -Cathy Loerzel
“The reality is we all bear some of the effects of the Fall, and that’s what we’re calling trauma.” -Dan Allender “You can’t heal the present without going back to the past.” --Cathy Loerzel
 
// Do the Next Thing:
Want more of these two? Go read their book, Redeeming Heartache!
Check out the Allender Center, which both Dan and Cathy are a part of founding and leading!
Dan is a veteran on the podcast! Here’s our first episode with him.
Looking for a fresh way to read Scripture? The CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast! Learn more about our new favorite Bible at csbible.com.
Want something deeper than just the podcast? Join our Facebook group and discuss with us!

Episode 184: What God Has to Say about Our Bodies with Sam Allberry

Without unnecessary clutching of our metaphorical pearls, when we look around, it does seem like there is something going on spiritually when it comes to an attack on the human body.
What’s going on?
Pastor and author Sam Allberry, a friend of the show and author of the new book “What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves” helps us answer this question and more. Together, we explore: 
Why is our body an integral part of our true selves?
How can we walk with our friends who experience gender dysphoria?
Why does it seem like so many people are giving up right now when it comes to making potentially harmful choices with their bodies? 
How can we address gender without using a list of “This is what it is NOT,” but “This is what it is?”
Why is shame so often related to our bodies?
We’d love to have you sit your embodied self down at the podcast table and join us for this needed conversation.
// Highlights:
“The very yearning itself is a reflection that we’re made in God’s Image…. We sense there should be more than there is, that there should be a sense of wholeness and of satisfaction and completion that seems to elude us…. But the fact that we’re foreign means that our understanding of that is incomplete and our ways forward with that feeling are very twisted and skewed as well.” -Sam Allberry
// Do the Next Thing:
Want more of Sam Allberry? Start here, with his book!
Don’t have time for the whole book? He also has a blog! You can check it out here.
He can also be found as a contributor on the Gospel Coalition! Here’s this article he wrote on the significance of the rainbow (yes, that rainbow) for all of us.
Looking for a fresh way to read Scripture? The CSB translation is a sponsor of the HIMH podcast. Learn more about our new favorite Bible at csbible.com!
Follow Laurie on Instagram for updates!