Confronting Normal With Renae Kulhawe And Cindy Keating

Today’s episode is about all kinds of bad words our society likes for us to keep on the DL—words like limitations, weaknesses, submission, boundaries and self-awareness. These words ain’t pretty … they ain’t sexy … and they sure ain’t great conversation starters. But they are important words. They are words we shouldn’t be afraid to embrace nor speak about. And these are the words Cindy & Renae spend an entire episode confronting. The post Confronting Ourselves, The Importance of Self-Awareness appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Sometimes in life we veer off course without notice. But we must remember that it is never too late to recalibrate our lives to match our desired direction. Each new day, New Year, and new decade is a gift, as well as an opportunity to reset, re-shift and re-think exactly where we're headed and why. The post Confronting Intentionality, Recalibrate appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Today’s episode is a gentle reminder to remember that not everyone around you is experiencing the Christmas season the same way you are. Be kind. Be compassionate. Be gracious. Create space whenever and wherever space might be needed, because you just never know how meaningful and needed your small act of kindness may be. It’s through and with this awareness that our greatest Christmas opportunities present themselves — that WE can become the spirit of Christmas by offering hope, peace, love, joy and light to an otherwise worrisome, fearful and grieving season. The post Confronting Christmas, Be Kind. Be Compassionate. Be Gracious. appeared first on Confronting Normal.

In classic Confronting Normal style, there is little in the way of answers with this episode. But there is a distinct takeaway around the idea that the way of Jesus is indeed a lot more than a set of beliefs, and that as much as ever before we need to think critically and not just consume all that comes at us. Today we sit down with long-time friends of the podcast, Matt Rigby and Alex Marriott, to discuss, well, everything. To note: this episode covers a lot of ground, from Kayne West, Bono, Billy Graham and Relevant Magazine, to Rob Bell, Mars Hill, and seemingly everything else in between—ha! You really don’t want to miss this gem of an episode.  The post Confronting Culture, What Did You Just Say? appeared first on Confronting Normal.

In this episode Cindy and Renae have a candid conversation about their upbringing in church, their shifting beliefs, and how living out intentional faith requires some serious reprogramming to see: people are not projects, relationships are not agendas, loving others cannot be motivated by fear, and trust can not be about control. The post Confronting Faith, People NOT Projects appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Today’s episode is a conversation about what it means to think critically about how we’re going to engage life's tensions and how we’re going to participate in being the light amidst the dark. Perhaps instead of sanitizing what's uncomfortable to deal with, what we need to do instead, is have grace and space to walk through what’s hard, messy and ugly. The post Confronting Life, Do We Sanitize The Dark Side A Little Too Much? appeared first on Confronting Normal.

As Christians, traditionally there are two options when approaching the 31st, you can either head to church or turn off your lights. But what if there was another way? What if we viewed Halloween, instead, as an opportunity to turn on our lights, open our doors (and hearts) and meaningfully connect with our neighbours?    The post Confronting Culture, Then There’s Halloween appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Today’s church/faith/Christian structure takes the shape of—and places high importance on—the Sunday morning gathering. We all know it and we all get it. But in today’s episode and conversation, Cindy and Renae ask some honest questions about why the Christian faith has to come packaged as one standard structure? What if there are so many more ways to experience and enjoy God than simply sitting in a pew? The post Confronting Church, The Sunday Morning Gathering appeared first on Confronting Normal.

In today’s episode, Cindy and Renae discuss their summers, the journeys they’ve been on and the lessons they’ve learned that have brought surprising new insights about God, themselves and their lives. The post Confronting Life – Understanding The Season You’re In appeared first on Confronting Normal.

It may not be comfortable to do so, but by examining your life, you empower your faith to grow and reveal itself in unexpected ways. And you might just fantastically discover the thing that’s been bothering you all this time is actually something so much more. Today’s episode is a simple conversation about the possibilities that just might be on the other side of self-examination. The post Confronting Life, Examining Our Lives appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Religious vulnerability is a very real thing. The cost of being honest about your questions and doubts is high, but the cost of suppressing them is likely even higher. If we can't find a safe place within church to be honest with our doubts and to wrestle with them then where do we go? If we could find more safe places to talk about these things and to be honest about these things perhaps we would see fewer people leaving church. The post Confronting Church – Religious Vulnerability appeared first on Confronting Normal.

The need for security runs deep in our culture. It’s a natural human response to be on a quest for answers in order to find a sure sense of certainty for today’s chaotic times. But today’s episode challenges each of us to lean into areas of not knowing, to confront the systems that hold us back, and to redefine what wealth should really mean. Because experiencing the deepest of deep is healthy. The post Confronting Life — To Be Comfortable With Not Knowing appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Practices such as mindfulness, stillness, silence and meditation are great forms of discipline for today’s hyper-connected culture. They are certainly trendy topics and much-needed habits for this fast-paced generation we find ourselves living in. And these healthy practices are wonderful at teaching us to sit, reflect and slow down our pace of life. But it’s also important to consider what our stillness is founded on. What are we being mindful about? Who are we being silent for? What is feeding our souls? And what do we consider to be the center of our lives in which all the other practices... The post Confronting Faith — What’s Your Life Rooted In? appeared first on Confronting Normal.

The drive in our culture to live our best lives and be all we can be is one of our greatest temptations and biggest distractions. It stirs up constant pressure within us, and a perpetual rat race of busyness around us. In reality, we’re just being distracted from what is most meaningful and what actually matters. But what if, rather than being caught up with all we could do and should do, what if we chose instead, to really engage with a practice of stillness and recognize that we can’t change everything going on on the outside, but we do... The post Confronting Busyness — Learning To Be Still appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Are we surrounding ourselves with enough variety in our lives? Are we present or distracted when living out the in-between moments? Are we known as encouraging and empowering people by those that encounter us throughout the day-to-day? These may not be questions we think about often, if ever, but they are important questions to reflect on none-the-less if we desire to live lives of intentionality and self-awareness. Today’s episode is a varied conversation focusing on some key topics lacking in our culture today: the missing beauty and importance of inter-generational mentoring … the limited diversification of our relationships … and... The post Confronting Culture — Asking Questions & Paying Attention appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Once upon a time there were two girls, Renae and Cindy, who went radio silent for two months – this is their story!! Only joking a little bit here. In this episode we take a deep dive into where we have been, why it has been so long since you have heard from us, and what’s next. Oh, and we also get incredibly open and honest about who we are, how we are wired, and how one of us (cough, cough – Renae) does not enjoy facing her own limitations. “Exhaustion is not a badge of honour.” It really isn’t.... The post Confronting Life – Holding Things Loosely appeared first on Confronting Normal.

To be busy, it seems, is often equated to our success, value and worth. But is living busy really what it means to live a purposeful and meaningful life? Today's episode unpacks the concept of "busy as a badge of honor," and it challenges each of us to consider the answers to these questions: Is this the life I want to live? Is this the life I was designed to live? The post Confronting Life – So You’re Busy, How’s That Working For You? (#040) appeared first on Confronting Normal.

In a culture that pressures us to “do all, be all and look good doing it,” the weight of “more” is always looming; feelings of drowning are raw and real. But what if, rather than adding more stuff to our already maxed out lives, we took the time to consider what we could shed, instead? Today’s episode is a conversation about the concept of an “elimination diet.” By intentionally thinking about every area of our lives, and by giving critical thought to the things that are “necessity” and those that are mere “nicety,” we begin to see what is helping... The post Confronting Life – Drowning Doesn’t Have To Be Normal (#039) appeared first on Confronting Normal.

We all think our view of the world is the right view, but what if we learned to see the world through nine different types of lenses? How might it shape our views? This is exactly what makes The Enneagram the popular typology tool that it is today. Today’s episode is a conversation with Your Enneagram Coach, Beth McCord, about what it could look like for us to meet in the middle and honour one another in order to see our relationships flourish. The post Beth McCord — Confronting Self-Awareness, Different Views Of The World (#038) appeared first on Confronting Normal.

Movement, change and transformation are rarely overnight events. Rather, they are so often slow progressions that unfold. But as J.R.R. Tolkien so wisely puts it, little but little, one travels far. The post One Year! – Confronting Transformation (#037) appeared first on Confronting Normal.