Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an author, activist, farmer, scholar, speaker, wisdom keeper, and a Cherokee descendant recognized by the Keetoowah Band. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox University/Portland Seminary and his expertise has been sought in national venues such as Time Magazine, Christianity Today, and The Huffington Post.

Edith Woodley is a mentor/speaker on issues concerning Indigenous Spirituality and Creation. She is an Eastern Shoshone tribal member and enjoys carrying on the tradition in her family of Native American beadwork with her jewelry. Together, Randy and Edith are co-creators and co-sustainers of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds, where they invite people to a deeper spirituality and new relationship with creation while modeling regenerative Earth-tending practices and Earth justice.

Victoria Myers is a non-diet registered dietitian and owner of the virtual private practice and online education center, Nourishing Minds Nutrition. Victoria and her staff specialize in empowering women to ditch diets, regulate hormones, heal digestion and learn to practice wellness without obsession. She is also the host of the popular intuitive eating and wellness podcast, the Nourishing Women Podcast. Her mission is to help women let go of the unhealthy obsession with eating healthy, make peace with their body and live their lives to the fullest.

In our time together, Victoria helps us understand what orthorexia is, or the unhealthy obsession with being healthy. She also unpacks the concept of fatphobia, why it matters, and how diet culture has skewed our relationship with food and our bodies.

Dr. Carol Peters-Tanksley is a licensed OB-Gyn physician and Reproductive Endocrinologist, an ordained Doctor of Ministry, an author, speaker, and personal coach. She desires to come alongside others in finding healing and transformation so they can live more fully.

In our time together, Dr. Carol talks about the common struggles around beauty and body image she encountered as an OB-Gyn and tells the story behind why she chose to pursue ministry, in addition to being a physician. Dr. Carol also deeply encouraged me by talking about finding purpose in midlife and beyond and reminded me, and us, that “God will not stop until everything is made right.”

Stephanie Spencer is an enneagram coach and co-leader of the non-profit, 40 Orchards. 40 Orchards creates safe spaces for people to learn about and wrestle through biblical texts using the ancient Jewish concept of Midrash. Stephanie facilitates Scripture Circles in the Minneapolis area and, remotely, around the world.

In our time together, she explains how reading the Bible in a new way “opened up the world” to her, how we have been made to delight in the world around us, and highlights the common thread of feeling like we don’t measure up when it comes to beauty standards and so often in the life of faith as well. She also reminds us that God is intimately involved in each of our stories and that He sees us as beautiful, good, and rejoices over us, even now.

Katy Rose is committed to creating “art to reflect the beauty of light illuminating the darkness.” Trained in psychology and art, Katie desires to bring depth and meaning to each of her paintings. She is also a contributing author for the “Love God Greatly Bible” published by Thomas Nelson in 2020 and has illustrated and written upcoming projects in children’s literature.

Katie lives in Texas with her husband and four children. She and her husband have made it their mission to serve foster children and under-served populations around the globe. Her fine art business was originally launched for that purpose and continues to exist with that guiding principle.

This episode is all about beauty ideals, our relationship with our bodies and food, and social media. I can’t think of better conversation partners for this one than Lisa DeKam and Jacquie Danz, the founders of the Axia Project. Lisa is a physical therapist who works in the field of eating disorders and Jacquie is the mom of two teenage girls who is committed to changing the narrative that a females’ appearance is the most important thing about her. Together, Lisa and Jacquie are committed to teaching women that life is more than your appearance and help women build skills to actively live their God-given worth.

Haejin Shim Fujimura is a seasoned lawyer and the founder and managing partner of Shim & Associates. Haejin is also the CEO and co-founder of Embers International, an organization committed to protecting, restoring, and empowering victims of injustice with the goal of ending intergenerational exploitation and preventing human trafficking. Haejin is married to renowned contemporary artist, Makoto Fujimura, with whom she leads the “Beauty + Justice” movement. One initiative within that movement is Kintsugi Academy, of which Haejin is the President.

Philip Yancey has explored the most basic questions and deepest mysteries of the Christian faith. He currently has more than 15 million books in print, published in over 50 languages worldwide, and his books have garnered 13 Gold Medallion Awards from Christian publishers and booksellers.

In my time with Philip, we talk about his new book, Where the Light Fell, and why he believes it is the one book he was put on earth to write. We also talk about how his life story has shaped his writing, how beauty transformed his faith and relationship with God, and how his experiences around the world have shaped his views on beauty.

When it comes to the tension between beauty and brokenness, what better person to talk to than someone who sits at the precipice of life and death, crisis, and suffering every day? Author, hospital chaplain, and former atheist, J.S. Park is an honest voice, speaking candidly about his own struggles with depression and his journey from atheism to faith. He is a suicide survivor, Korean American, and loves Jesus. J.S. also recently released his book, The Voices We Carry: Finding Your One True Voice in a World of Clamor and Noise.

On his 7th birthday, Taylor’s parents bought him a magic kit and he fell in love with the art of illusion. He wanted to be a magician. Now, more than 3,000 shows later, Taylor has become known for his signature style of Magic Storytelling. He is a bestselling author, a highly sought-after keynote presenter, and his Comedy Magic Special '“Chasing Wonder” is streaming now on Apple and Amazon Prime. Taylor also regularly performs at various Bob Goff events throughout the U.S.

Sandra McCracken is a singer-songwriter and hymn writer from Nashville, Tennessee who has produced 14 solo albums over two decades. Sandra’s music has also been featured in TV, including ‘Ten Thousand Angels’ on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Sandra is also a published author, contributing a regular column in Christianity Today and recently released her first book "Send Out Your Light" in September 2021.

Megan Hadley is a registered dietitian nutritionist who helps clients find freedom in eating and acceptance of their bodies. In our time together, Megan and I talk about how she sees diet culture being a barrier to living fully and freely, how diet culture is like the air we breathe, the beauty of body diversity, and in what ways the church has adopted diet culture.

Author and speaker, Bonnie Gray, loves inspiring women to experience deeper intimacy with God, specifically addressing topics of soul care, stress recovery, and emotional healing through storytelling, visual arts, nature, prayer, and meditation. She has written three books, including her most recent title, Sweet Like Jasmine. In this week’s episode, Bonnie shares about her struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, what drew her to God as a child, how she’s found soul care to be essential in her own journey, and how she’s been able to keep her heart open to God amidst all the trials she’s undergone.

Dr. MaryKate Morse is the executive dean of the Portland Seminary and lead mentor for the Leadership and Spiritual Formation Doctor of Ministry track. In our time together, MaryKate talks about her experience as a spiritual director, the process of spiritual formation, why she believes more people are being called to the ministry of spiritual direction these days, and how beauty literally saved her life when she was sixteen.

What began with a desire, prayer, and friendship, has now turned into Journey Homes, an organization that provides safe and sober living for men, women, and families. Perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of the community at Journey Homes is that it provides a true home for those living there, a place where they are known, loved, and supported.

Scott Erickson, also known as Scott the Painter, is an artist, author, and performance speaker, whose work has been featured in outlets such as CNN and National Geographic. Scott’s work gives fresh language and visuals to the spiritual journey and reminds us that the story of God is not just a story that happened thousands of years ago, but it is also a story that’s happening right now, in your life and mine.

Maggie Meyers is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and a Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy. Maggie has worked with clients with various diagnoses; however, much of her work has been in the field of eating disorders. For years, she worked in various levels of care and in leadership roles at a nationally renowned eating disorder clinic. More recently, she has decided to fully commit her time at a private practice in the Twin Cities area, called Wholehearted Healing.

So often, it can be easy to equate life circumstances with the goodness of God. And to wonder how do we connect with and trust God amid life’s trials and brokenness? Pastor Mitchel Lee recently released a book, entitled Even If, that addresses this exactly. The message has been stirring in his heart for nineteen years. In his book and in our time together, Pastor Lee helps us learn to be more resilient in the face of suffering and how to live with a daring commitment to engage deeply with God in a broken world.

Jason Gray is a gifted singer/songwriter who has scored two Top Ten Christian chart hits, is a two-time ASCAP Performance Award winner, and has landed on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart with his album A Way to See in the Dark. In our time together we talk about the mission behind his music, the ways he’s learned to reframe anxiety and anger, how we can all become conduits for something greater than ourselves when we engage our creativity, the incredible power of words, and how life’s disorder and adversity actually have the power to transform us.

Gabi Kahn is a non-diet dietitian and the owner of Methodd Nutrition. Gabi’s mission is to protect the next generation from diet culture. More specifically, Gabi seeks to help moms find peace in their relationship with food and learn to love their bodies, so they can protect their young daughters from a lifetime of harmful dieting.