Faith & Feelings

I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately. Not the surface-level kind, but the kind that actually sees you. The kind that knows the messy, unedited parts of your life…and stays.

In my own life and in my work with clients, I keep noticing the same patterns: we hold back, self-edit, and worry we’re “too much.” Beneath those fears, though, is a quiet longing: to be known, understood, and truly seen.

In this new series, we’ll explore that longing and the courageous work it takes to step into deeper friendship. Through conversations with guests and reflections from my own work as a therapist, we’ll talk about vulnerability, emotional safety, and the skills that help deepen relationships.

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Key words:

friendship, authentic relationships, emotional safety, vulnerability, loneliness, connection, intimacy, curiosity, authenticity, personal growth, spiritual formation, courage, compassion, self-awareness,

Most of us learn early in life who we need to be in order to survive. We adopt roles and masks that help us belong and stay safe. But often, somewhere along the way, the soul initiates a crisis. The strategies that once worked begin to feel constricting, and we’re invited to look beneath the roles we’ve been playing.

In this final episode of our Why Does My Healing Matter? series, I explore how healing expands our awareness, creating space between reaction and response. Because healing isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about gaining the freedom to choose connection, presence, and curiosity in the moments that once pulled us back into survival.

Thought-provoking quotes:

“Healing doesn’t happen by avoiding the things that activate us. It happens through them. The charge around the pain lessens when something different happens in the very moments that once triggered us.” - Taylor Joy Murray

“Every time someone is glad to be with you in a moment that once triggered shame or defensiveness, your nervous system learns something new: connection is safe here.” - Taylor Joy Murray

“Maybe healing is simply choosing, in small moments, to stay. To stay present in your body, to stay curious instead of certain, and to stay connected instead of cutting off.” - Taylor Joy Murray

“Most of life isn’t lived in dramatic breakthroughs. It’s lived in ordinary moments of tension: misunderstandings, disappointments, and hard conversations. And underneath those moments is a quiet question: will I move toward survival, or toward connection?” - Taylor Joy Murray

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Watch this episode on YouTube

Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine

Connect with me on my website

Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__

Key words:

healing, trauma, personal growth, mental health, nervous system regulation, self awareness, emotional health, spiritual formation, spirituality, identity, attachment, relationships, nervous system, emotional resilience, curiosity, crisis

Many of us go through life unaware of how our histories influence the way we relate: to God, to ourselves, and to the people closest to us. Old patterns and unresolved pain often surface in subtle ways, shaping our reactions and the ways we show up in relationships.

In this conversation, I’m joined by Pete Sharp, a family friend and missionary with over 20 years of experience in cross-cultural work and leadership. Pete shares openly about recognizing old self-strategies, stepping into real-time awareness, and letting the truth of the gospel meet the deepest parts of his story. We talk about how healing isn’t just personal. it affects marriages, friendships, and the way we engage with the world. I hope you'll listen in.

Thought-provoking quotes:

"I just kept thinking, I need to try harder. I just need to stop doing that thing. It made me realize it’s a lie to think I’m just stuck in this way of behaving and that I can’t get out of it. There might actually be a different strategy than just trying harder to be different.” - Pete Sharp

“Healing, for me, is bringing the truth of the gospel to bear on our stories and on our past experiences.” - Pete Sharp

"We all have a false gospel that we believe — a way of surviving that we learned in childhood. It’s usually something like, ‘I’m okay so long as…’ and then you fill in the blank.” - Pete Sharp

"When we engage in healing, it frees us up to have a broad range of responses. I feel now less stuck. It just feels like there are more options in the toolbox. I don’t feel quite so trapped in always responding the same way." - Pete Sharp

Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email

Watch this episode on YouTube

Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine

Connect with me on my website

Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__

Key words:

spirituality, personal growth, healing, self-protection, gospel, faith, formation, identity, attachment, shame, insecurity, marriage, leadership, community, vulnerability, triggers, patterns, growth, freedom, discipleship, self-awareness, relationships

Sometimes the places in our hearts that feel most tender are also the places we avoid looking. Rejection can leave quiet echoes, forming the way we see ourselves, the lens through which we trust others, and the story we tell about our worth. These old wounds don’t always announce themselves, but they shape how we show up in relationships and in life.

In this conversation with trauma therapist Tabitha Panariso, we explore what it looks like to heal from the wounds of rejection and begin to embody the gospel’s invitations towards belonging and belovedness. Tabitha shares how healing isn’t just about moving on, but about resuscitating the heart and learning to receive God’s compassion for ourselves. I hope you'll listen in.

Check out Tabitha's book Loyal in His Love here.

Thought-provoking quotes:

“We are not a problems to be fixed. We are people to be loved." - Tabitha Panariso

"What we often call ‘moving on’ is really just self-protection.” - Tabitha Panariso

"To be willing to say something hurts means we’re more inclined to receive healing. If we can’t acknowledge the pain, we’ll never look for wholeness.” - Tabitha Panariso

"Learning to receive compassion is one of the hardest parts of embodying the gospel.” - Tabitha Panariso

Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email

Watch this episode on YouTube

Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine

Connect with me on my website

Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__

Key words:

Rejection, trauma, spiritual formation, self-compassion, abandonment wounds, relationship patterns, self-protection, belonging, identity, grief, lament, relational healing, emotional awareness, personal growth, curiosity, Tabitha Panariso

We speak of spiritual transformation as if it should be obvious: visible, measurable, steady. Yet many of us quietly wonder what participation in God’s work of transformation actually looks like. Beneath our theology often exists a deeper question: How do I actually step into the transformation Christ has already secured?

In this episode, we explore what it means to let the finished work of Jesus move from doctrine into lived experience. If the cross is still active, still transformative, then healing is not something we manufacture. It’s something we learn to participate in. And that participation begins with awareness and presence: noticing what is happening inside us and inviting God to meet us there.

Thought-provoking quotes:

“The cross is where transformation arises. It’s the moment in time that transcends time. It moves us from death to life, from bondage to freedom, from brokenness to wholeness, from being lost to being welcomed into God’s embrace over and over again.” - Taylor Joy Murray

“Healing begins not in striving, but in noticing what is real and welcoming God into it.” - Taylor Joy Murray

Get Faith & Feeling's weekly resource email

Watch this episode on YouTube

Grab a copy of my book Stop Saying I'm Fine

Connect with me on my website

Find me on Instagram @__taylorjoy__

Key words:

healing journey, presence, self compassion, curiosity, self awareness, emotional wounds, emotional regulation, spiritual formation, wisdom, spiritual integration, spiritual maturity, emotional health, personal growth