Soul Talks With Bill & Kristi Gaultiere

Often we try to fix our feelings with good advice or cheery reassurance. (This is the same thing we do to other people.) It’s one of the “Biblical Blunders That Bruise and Confuse.” Real life is a lot more messy than the old dictum to get on the “Fact-Faith-Feeling Train.” The truth and grace of the Bible brings comfort and help to troubled emotions.

When we look to the spiritual presence of Christ welcoming us into his Father’s world we find reason for joy — even in emotional distress and intrusive frustrations. Bill and Kristi share how “The Apprentice Prayer” helps them and they discuss the Scriptures it’s based on.

At the opening of this podcast you can join in with Bill as he offers his daily prayer to apprentice himself to Jesus in the Kingdom of God. Then he and Kristi unpack the prayer's insights, peace and power in a soul talk. This two-minute prayer has propelled spiritual renewal for many servants of the Lord. You’ll be inspired to pray it over and over and watch what God will do in your life and ministry!

Here’s a simple and powerful way to pray a Scripture phrase, using your breathing to engage your mind and heart with God’s loving presence. Bill and Kristi share specific Breath Prayers From the Bible and guide you in how to use them to refresh and renew in God’s Word and to intercede for other people.

“A great light dawns for those in the darkness,” Isaiah says in the Bible. In the darkness of winter (including Seasonal Affective Disorder) and in holiday stress our body and soul long for the light and warmth of Christ. He comes to us!

Like Jesus’ mother Mary you need to know that the Lord is pleased with you — that he delights in you! So do the people you care for. Bill and Kristi talk about what it’s like to receive and trust God’s loving affirmation and to fight off Satan’s accusations.

The great hope of our lives is meeting Jesus face to face in heaven. The Bible teaches that we’re sowing our bodily lives like seeds that will blossom as resurrection bodies in heaven. This hope can sustains us through discouragement, stress, and grief. It’s our source of faith, love, joy and peace.

Celebrating the birth of Christ brings us great joy! But only if we can cultivate a fresh appreciation for the Lord. This is true even in the midst of holiday stress, disappointment, loneliness, and family conflict. Bill and Kristi share an advent devotional practice that facilitates heart-warming spiritual conversation with friends and family (even school-aged children).

Children need care to learn to bond in relationship and to develop boundaries. Parents need to have limits with their children for their own relationship with God. This looks different for infants, pre-schoolers, school-aged, and young adults. Bill and Kristi share some practical strategies.

A married couple asks us, “How do you care for your marriage when you have young children? The responsibilities of parenting are so demanding!” Bill and Kristi talk about effective parenting and putting priority on your marriage as a way to love your children drawing from Psalm 127 which calls us to be a family that rests in the Lord.

Bill has an emotional day and for someone who has historically been a strong thinker and an active do-er this is news! Kristi talks with him about when he used to repress his emotions versus feeling and expressing them now. The benefits are greater friendship and peace. Also they talk about a very emotional baseball game that night when Bill’s beloved “Cubbies” won the World Series!

C.S. Lewis said, “We’re busy because we’re lazy!” How could it be lazy to be busy with our work, ministry, and family?! Because when we do too much or go too fast we’re relying on ourselves rather than God with us. If you struggle with busyness you’re not alone! Let’s talk about how to prioritize the life of our soul in Christ.

"Many a spiritual cook scarcely licks their fingers, yet prepares for others the most costly dishes." These are words of the great puritan Richard Baxter in the 17th Century. If we don't care for our own souls under God as pastors, people-helpers and Christian workers we will get depleted. Bill and Kristi share about some practical ways to enjoy eating the food that we cook for others.

Caring for others spiritually is so compelling that it can swallow up your marriage. Other jobs can also take over your life. You may find that you and your spouse are always doing church stuff, solving problems, helping people, or talking about those things! It’s great to partner with our spouse in God’s work but not at the expense of intimacy and fun in our marriage.

We don’t really know our true selves until we look in Jesus’ eyes of love. This is Bill listening to Kristi’s grief when she loses her cat Charlie. This is the Good Shepherd finding the lost sheep in Luke 15 and Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. This is a grace-based relationship in which we’re empathized with, known, forgiven and eternally loved! You long for this with God and safe people. The people around you need this from you.

When recovering from a major surgery a pastor realizes that he’s been using pain pills to cope with emotional distress. This is one of many unhealthy ways to “calm down” negative emotions. But denying feelings separates us from experiencing the love of God and of friends. In Psalm 55 David uses many feeling words in his prayer and experiences the true comfort that strengthens us to offer care to others.

Kristi and Bill talk about what it was like earlier in their marriage when he wasn’t aware of his emotions. Kristi felt disconnected from him and he felt pressured by her. They share how they grew in emotional differentiation, self-awareness, and true intimacy with one another and God.

A man said he overcame his porn addiction by fishing! How could that be? Bill and Kristi talk about the X-rated advice this man received from a secular therapist, and what really helped him, like his 12 Step recovery group. Pornography and other compulsive behaviors deaden the soul and hurt loved ones. Real life, love, joy and peace come through intimate relationships with God and people.

Bill and Kristi introduce the new Soul Shepherding website which invites people into a closer walk with Jesus. They share with others from their own inward journey with the Lord, a kind of online library that Jesus provides out of an overflow of intimacy with Him.

Praying a psalm or verse of Scripture helps us to embrace Christ. Using Psalm 131 helps us release ambitions and worries while finding delight and peace in drawing close to Jesus and his Father. Kristi ministers to you the “Jesus is Enough For Me” prayer that Bill wrote from Psalm 131. She also shares how God used this to comfort an anxious woman seeking her help.