***Content Warning: This episode mentions eating disorders.***

Most of us can recall times in our lives where we've felt lost, confused, or unsure of how to move forward. It can be easy to shy away from these moments—to hide them and put on a smile to pretend as if our road has always been an easy one. But what if instead of striving for perfection around every corner, we stop and lean into these uncomfortable moments? What would happen if we looked at our moments of feeling lost and vulnerable as opportunities to become closer to God? To strengthen our faith and use these stories as testimony? Our guests this week explore these questions as they share their stories of faith and healing.

Carlos and Alexa PenaVega share the honest and vulnerable moments that strengthened their relationship with God and taught them the lessons that would inform the rest of their lives. Michael Phillips grew up in Baltimore and was told from an early age that he would not become the lawyer he dreamed to be. As administrators, teachers, and principals told him he would inevitably end up incarcerated, Michael fought a deficit narrative that hung over him for much of his young life.

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Jesus Always

Jesus Listens

Past interview: Kristin Smedley

Upcoming interview: Amy Kenny

Carlos and Alexa PenaVega

Big Time Rush

What If Love Is the Point?: Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World

Michael Phillips

T.D. Jakes Foundation

Thurgood Marshall

Perry Mason

racketeering conspiracy

Oral Roberts University

Maya Angelou

Wrong Lanes Have Right Turns

Interview Quotes:

“I was really pursuing that deeper relationship with God. I grew up semi-Christian, but the craving that there was something deeper was there. And I just knew that I wanted to see God or experience God on that next level. I didn't want to have this surface level relationship with Him anymore.” - Alexa PenaVega

“Whenever something's going on, we pray about it.” - Alexa PenaVega

“It was just so cool to see God use our testimony on that level to really impact the world.” - Carlos PenaVega

“When you jump into being somebody of faith or when you jump into Christianity, I feel like a lot of times it's painted as like your life is going to be so perfect after you become a Christian. And what actually happened for us was like life actually got way harder when we became Christians, but everything was more peaceful and everything made more sense to us, like, we actually felt more complete.” - Alexa PenaVega

“From first grade on, that deficit narrative about what I could and could not do continued to be spoken over my life by certain adults, teachers, administrators in my school.” - Michael Phillips

“When trauma goes unacknowledged, tragedy often goes uninterrupted.” - Michael Phillips

“It took some time to become untethered from the things that I did as part of my identity. I was very loyal to my mistakes, and it took some time for me to realize those are just some things I did. That's not who I was, and I finally came to a place where I was tired enough of wrestling with all of that pain.” - Michael Phillips

“I think with a deep focus on some of those things for children in our communities would completely change the game for our young people. And so instead of a culture that says, ‘What's wrong with you?’ It will become a culture of ‘What happened to you?’ Or, ‘How are you doing?’” - Michael Phillips

“To say that children are at risk seems as if their expectation of who they can become or what they can accomplish will be nothing more than a failure. Right? And so to reverse that stigma, that label placed upon them, we need to say that they are at promise.” - Michael Phillips