Unhurried Living

Today I’m talking with my sweetheart and husband of 37 years, Alan Fadling, and we’ll be discussing unhurried spiritual leadership. This is Alan’s expertise and I want you to learn from the best.Alan’s message has been forming over decades. And I’m sure you’ll hear echoes of things I’ve shared with you before. That’s because we’ve taken this journey together, and I count this as a great grace. Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website and the Replenish Community.Learn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In today’s and next Monday’s episode, I’ll be sharing more about my latest book with InterVarsity Press, A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living.  A Year of Slowing Down is designed to help you take the formational journey my first two books, An Unhurried Life and An Unhurried Leader, describe. These devotionals had their beginnings in my personal journal. I’ve been practicing the discipline of spiritual journaling regularly since my twenties. Since then, I’ve journaled about 11,500 pages and 7.6 million words over thirty-some years. At its simplest, my journal is a place where I pray. I wrestle with unhelpful thoughts. I meditate on scripture or spiritual readings. I reflect on my experiences. I capture creative ideas and work with them. I do all of this with a sense of God-with-me. It’s my hope that the Spirit who has been with me as I’ve written in my journal will be with readers as they journey through the book. I envision these daily readings as five-minute daily retreats. I don’t se

I’ve enjoyed the treat of having many mentor-like people in my life who were ahead of me on the journey. They knew more than me and readily shared their knowledge and wisdom. They believed in me and my potential, and were willing to help draw me into the next season.  Maya Angelou once said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It is certainly true that my mentors taught and trained me, but just as Ms. Angelou stated, what I remember the most is how they made me feel. Although there have been many who poured into me throughout my life, today I'm sharing with you three important people who touched and changed my life:Perla WarrenHal ClarkEllyn Cowie Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at

I’m sharing a recent conversation with Lore Ferguson Wilbert about her book A Curious Faith. In it, she talks about questions God asks us, questions we ask God, and question we wish others would ask us. We are sometimes uncomfortable with questions unless we quickly figure out an answer to them. But growing deeper in trusting God often involves “living the questions” rather than merely answering them. I believe in the formative power of good questions. Our own book, What Does Your Soul Love?, is based on eight questions that reveal the frontiers of where God is at his transforming work in our lives. Lore Ferguson Wilbert is the founder of Sayable.net and the author of Handle with Care, winner of a 2021Christianity Today Book Award. She has written for Christianity Today, Fathom magazine, and She Reads Truth, and served as general editor of B&H's “Read and Reflect with the Classics.” Wilbert reaches an audience of more than 40,000 through email and social media. She is currently pursuing an MA in Christian

Here in the states, it’s Thanksgiving week. And it’s easy to become stressed or overwhelmed during the holidays. Every year we tell ourselves that we won’t get caught up in the scurry of the season, but difficult relationships and over-extended schedules press in. Then we find ourselves enduring the season rather than enjoying it.Wrapped up inside all this is another lovely dynamic: decision fatigue.  Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today, I’m happy to introduce my latest book A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living, and it releases in two weeks on December 6. This book captures a lot of what we’ve been talking about here at Unhurried Living. It is the third book in the unhurried trilogy, following An Unhurried Life and An Unhurried Leader.With the overwhelming pace of life, many of us struggle to stop long enough to be present. Our long to-do lists and full calendars leave little breathing room to hear from God. We know we need to slow down but we don't even know how to begin.I’ve spent decades coaching leaders and communities on how to live an unhurried life, teaching that productivity and success are not our first pursuit, but the fruit of living at the pace that our true self longs to live. Designed to help you center your day around God's loving presence, A Year of Slowing Down offers six devotionals for each week of the year. Each day begins with a Scripture passage followed by a short reading and a reflection

Today, I’m sharing a recent conversation with Tom Nelson about his book The Flourishing Pastor. Many of you who listen regularly to this podcast are serving in church leadership. Many of you aren’t. This isn’t an episode only for pastors. We’re talking about how we can flourish in our roles and relationships of influence. In fact, flourishing is one of the ways we best serve others. We have an abundance from which we can joyfully share with others. These have been challenging years to be a pastor. If you are a pastor, I hope this episode will be of special encouragement to you. If you aren’t a pastor, there is a good chance you have a pastor. Would you listen not only for insights that help you, but also with an ear for how you might be a friend to you pastor? Tom is founder and president of Made to Flourish, an organization that empowers pastors and their churches to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom for the flourishing of their communities. Connect with Alan to let him know what you think of this e

Today I’m talking with Dr. Alison Cook and we’ll be discussing how to discover the BEST OF YOU (also the title of her latest book).Dr. Alison delivers life-changing strategies for helping women develop their voices, forge healthy relationships, and embrace the holy, sacred work of becoming their true selves in God. I’m sharing with you a portion of the conversation I had with Alison for our Replenish Community. She shares about the difference between selfishness and selfhood, which leads into a conversation about following the example of Jesus in the area of boundaries. Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today, I’m sharing a recent conversation with James K. A. Smith about his latest book, How to Inhabit Time. The moment I saw this title, I knew there would be some wonderful intersections with our core idea here of learning to live and lead in the unhurried way of Jesus. I wasn’t wrong about that. There is a depth of thinking and a beauty of language in this book. It really was a pleasure to read. There is an invitation to live well in the present moment. The language of “inhabiting” takes me to the invitation of Jesus to “abide in him” like a branch remains connected to a vine to be lush and fruitful. Each “now” is the place where we can do that. But we are so often rushing past the present moment (or trying to) and missing the grace that is available to us right here. I know you’re going to enjoy our conversation about these things today.Connect with Alan to let him know what you think of this episode and your take on "time". You can also learn more about Alan, his book and Unhurried Living on the Unhurried

Have you ever experienced a moment when scripture came to life? More than just words on a page or a passage that you memorized, I’m talking about a time when reality-wisdom bowled you over. Well, today I’m sharing a time when scripture leapt off the page and overwhelmed me with the felt reality of its truth.⁠⁠This week on I Can Do That! Podcast, I share how a reading in church changed how I view and receive scripture.⁠Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today, I’m sharing a recent conversation with Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke about their book Having the Mind of Christ. In it, they talk about what they call eight axioms for cultivating a robust faith. In a day when so many are disappointed with the faith they were given by the church of their early formation, we need a more vital vision of the life to which Jesus is actually inviting us. Too often, our assumptions, our expectations, even our values are shaped more by popular cultural voices than they are by the beautiful ways of God’s kingdom. This is a big part of the reason that Unhurried Living exists. We really believe the pace of the kingdom of Jesus is very different than the cultural one that surrounds us. Our guests, Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke, are the cofounders of Gravity Leadership, an organization focused on transformational leadership and discipleship. They provide coaching, consulting, and workshops for pastors and ministry leaders. They are also copastors of a church in Indianapolis called The T

A few years ago I was reading a book by Mary Pipher, entitled, Women Rowing North. In it, a notable epiphany is had by a woman named Sylvia, whose life took some unexpected turns. Pipher writes, “Sylvia in Austin has learned that she is in control not of life, but of the story about her life.“ The same time I was reading this book, I ran into some very unexpected and unwelcome travel issues. And I had to chance to try on this new insight. I have my own story to tell today, one about crafting renewed narratives. Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today, rather than sharing an author interview or a leadership conversation, I’m going to share a daily practice that has been an important element of my unhurried life and work rhythms for a while now. It’s rooted in some of the insights I wrote about in the last chapter of An Unhurried Leader, which is titled “Working with God.” By the way, episode 205 of this podcast, “Working for God or Working with God,” based on that chapter, is one of our top five most downloaded episodes. If you haven’t already listened to that one, I encourage you to go back to it. This has been a big idea that’s been transforming how I think about and engage my work. The daily practice I’m going to share with you in this episode is one I’ve come to call, “Praying my Work.” Perhaps like you, I keep track of my work in terms of projects and tasks that I’m engaging in a personal task manager that syncs between my computer and my smartphone. There are plenty of tools like this, and you probably use a tool like this to manage your own wo

The voice of the inner critic is another voice from my new book Hold That Thought. The inner critic has an opinion about everything and she will be sure to tell you. The inner chatter produced by this voice leads to thoughts that can feel judgmental and can even lead to resentment. Here are a few of her choice thoughts: Why can’t you get this right? Couldn’t you have done better than that? Why do you always keep me waiting? Things could be so much better than this. You don’t look-sound-smell right. Fix it! Do better. Be more. And it had better be perfect! Today, I’m talking with my friend, Marla Christian. She has a long history with the voice of the inner critic and I’m so glad she’s here to share with us today. We can glean a lot from her story. Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at

Today, I’m sharing a recent conversation with Andrew Arndt about his book Streams in the Wasteland. In it, he shares the ancient wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers who journeyed to the wilderness to seek a closer journey with Christ. Andrew shares some of the parallels between their experience with Rome then and our experience today. I was first introduced to the desert fathers and mothers in the late 1980s when I read Henri Nouwen’s The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary. It was his sharing of the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers, especially about solitude, silence, and prayer, that launched me on a very different spiritual trajectory than the frantically busy one I’d been on up until then. Andrew Arndt is the lead pastor of New Life East, one of seven congregations of New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Prior to joining New Life's team, he served as the lead pastor of Bloom Church, a network of house churches in Denver. He is the host of the Essential Church podcast, a wee

This week Alan interviews friend and fellow author, Steve Macchia, about his latest book The Discerning Life. When we use the language of “discerning” in popular culture, we often mean something like having good taste—like knowing good wine from average. As a spiritual capacity, it’s much more than that as you’ll see.   In more particularly Christian contexts, we may use the language of discernment as it relates to decision-making. We come to a fork in the road and we feel the need for wisdom to take the best path. But discernment is bigger than this as well. As you listen to my conversation with Steve, you’re going to appreciate the depth and breadth of just what a discerning life can be for us.  Steve Macchia is founder and president of Leadership Transformations, Inc., a ministry which focuses on the spiritual formation needs of leaders and the spiritual discernment processes of leadership teams in local church and parachurch ministry settings nationwide. He is also the director of the Pierce Center for Di

The voice of the stressed achiever has much to do. She likes to focus on accomplishments and she cares about the opinions of others. Never allowing a break, the stressed achiever keeps you driving forward. She’ll have nothing to do with laziness. But what hums underneath is a fear that she doesn’t exist apart from her accomplishments. These are her mantras: Staying busy proves my worth. The more I produce, the more I am. Someone must push this thing up the hill. Let’s get going! Today, I’m talking with Morgan Northway. She has a before and after story of dealing with her inner stressed achiever and it is truly inspiring. Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Most of the women I connect with have an interesting connection with their bodies. And that’s putting it mildly. It seems we either love her, hate her or ignore her. (Notice I didn’t call my body an it, but rather her). I know I’m playing around with semantics, but personalizing my body helps me not keep her at arms distance…like an object. Our bodies are God-created and given. Many of us have suffered various forms of trauma over the course of our lives. And our bodies store the memory of these traumas inside. This is why we don’t want to ignore her messages. Today I’m talking with Sarah Jackson and we’ll be discussing the idea of attuning to our bodies with awareness, understanding and care. The connection between our minds and our bodies is undeniable. And even though the scientific world confirms this, practically speaking, we don’t always know how to make the most of this God-designed connection. Sarah is quite skilled at helping us make that connection.  Connect with Sarah on Instagram. Connect with Gem

Today on Unhurried Living Podcast, Trevor Hudson shares wisdom he gained in a long mentoring friendship with Dallas Willard, and long practice in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. He talks about the reality of how the life of the kingdom of God is a different sort of life. It’s a life that meets us even in our places of hardship, weariness, and pain. I think you’re going to find a lot of grace in Trevor’s insights.   All of this as we find life in seeking God. Connect with Alan at UnhurriedLiving.com Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today I’m sharing with you a very special story. It’s actually an excerpt from my new book, Hold That Thought. It’s my description of a pivotal scene from the movie Wonder Woman. I know…what can you learn from a superhero movie, right? Well, it turns out you can learn a lot. When you are open, aware and willing, there is no telling from where your next life lesson might emerge. Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living websiteLearn about and pre-order her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.