Shows
Better on the InsideGabrielle Michelle Leonard: Soul Care 101Visit Gabrielle's website: Returning to Joy
Check out Gabrielle's podcast: Returning to Joy
Summary
In this conversation, Jon Pyle and Gabrielle Michelle Leonard discuss the importance of soul care in a fast-paced, digital culture. Gabrielle shares her personal journey of how soul care became integrated into her walk with Jesus. They emphasize the need for a relationship-based approach to discipleship and spiritual practices. They also provide practical steps for engaging in soul care, such as taking a walk in nature, observing and reflecting on the surroundings, and...
2024-09-0651 min
Returning to JoyActive Rest: When Knowing the Truth Isn't EnoughSend us a textWelcome back to the final episode of Returning to Joy Season 4! The past several weeks have been so rich with reflections and new insights around the rest that Jesus offers, and the ways it can both heal us and empower us. In this final episode, we'll consider that simply knowing what Jesus says about rest is often not enough to keep us from being swayed by the demands and pace of the world around us. An active resilience is required, and is the kind of rest that Jesus modeled for us i...
2023-12-0625 minReturning to JoyThe Type of Faith that Rest RequiresSend us a textThanks for listening to the Returning to Joy podcast. This week's episode is an invitation to have faith again, and not just a belief in Jesus but also in his authority and his power. True rest requires a faith like the Centurion in Luke 7. One that chips away at our belief that we must always try harder and do more to accomplish anything, and one that continues to trust that at his very word, it will be done. New episodes on Wednesdays! Bi-weekly!Thanks for subscribing and l...
2023-11-1520 minReturning to JoyPushing Back the Darkness and Letting the Light InSend us a textWelcome to this episode of Returning to Joy. This week is both an encouragement and a challenge to not only let in the light of Jesus in your life but to also bring forth that light to the darkest places. It is not only about the decision to receive the light but also a participation that God invites us into, to bring that light into the darkness of the world around us. You will hear about several impactful moments from Gabrielle's sabbatical, and the truth that the Lord put on her h...
2023-11-0125 minReturning to JoyFinding Light in Disorientation: A Journey through Psalms 13Send us a textDrawing from the work of Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann, Gabrielle discusses the concept of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation as seen in the Psalms and in Jesus's life. These movements symbolize the human experience of comfort, crisis, and resolution. Brueggemann’s perspective emphasizes the realness and authenticity of the Psalms, which capture raw human emotions during moments of disorientation. In this episode, Gabrielle creates a space for listeners to sit with and confront their feelings of disorientation, whether they stem from personal challenges or external sources like news headlines. She then...
2023-10-1816 minReturning to JoyEntering in to Rest: The Active Pursuit and the Rest We Share (Part 2)Send us a textThanks for tuning into this week's podcast! This episode we are continuing in our series, Sabbath Stories: Embracing Rest in a Restless World. Each episode we will unpack the sacred call to rest and renewal, as well as a practical practice to help you integrate rest rhythms into your life. This episode we'll continue to look deeper at the pilgrimage that the Israelites made, and unpack the parts of the journey that reveal something beautiful about our own journey with God. We'll touch on the idea of entering in to rest r...
2023-10-0429 minReturning to JoyRest is Found: Entering in to the Freedom We Find for Ourselves and Others (Part 1)Send us a textWelcome back to Season 4 of the Returning to Joy Podcast! This week we continue in our new series, Sabbath Stories: Embracing Rest in a Restless World. Each episode we will unpack the sacred call to rest and renewal, as well as a practical practice to help you integrate rest rhythms into your life. This episode we'll dive into the kind of rest that we find in Jesus, and the freedom in it that He calls us and those around us to enter into. New episodes on Wednesdays! Bi-weekly!...
2023-09-2047 minReturning to JoyBeyond Burnout: Rediscovering God's Blueprint for Rest and RenewalSend us a textWelcome to Season 4 of the Returning to Joy Podcast! This week we continue with our new series, Sabbath Stories: Embracing Rest in a Restless World. Each episode we will unpack the sacred call to rest and renewal, as well as a practical practice to help you integrate rest rhythms into your life. This episode's key concept: Rest is Resistance. New episodes on Wednesdays! Bi-weekly!Thanks for subscribing and leaving a review! Please feel free to share with your family and friends.Website: https://www.returningtojoy.com...
2023-09-0634 min
Returning to JoyResting in Our Identity as Children of God with Rosalind HerveySend us a textWelcome to Season 4 of the Returning to Joy Podcast! This week we are kicking off a new series, Sabbath Stories: Embracing Rest in a Restless World. Each episode will unpack the sacred call to rest and renewal, as well as a practical practice to help you integrate these rest rhythms into your life. This episode we sit down with Rosalind Hervey - a friend, mentor, and a spiritual mother to many in our community. She will help us unpack what it means to embrace our identity as children of God, and t...
2023-08-2335 min
Returning to JoyReimagining Church - Part 2: A Conversation with Taylor Rogers, Executive Director of Wildfire NetworkSend us a textThank you for tuning in to Part 2 of our conversation with Taylor Rogers, Executive Director of Wildfire Network. Wildfire Network is a community that exists to help the dreams of Jesus come true— in and through His people.In this episode, we'll continue our conversation about reimagining the church as we know it. We'll begin to dive into not only alternative metaphors and ways of understanding the church we are striving to be, but why it's important to have these conversations in order to connect with one another and with Christ. It...
2023-06-0725 min
Returning to JoyReimagining Church - Part 1: A Conversation with Taylor Rogers, Executive Director of Wildfire NetworkSend us a textIn our world today, "church" has become synonymous with a building, an institution, or a religious gathering. However, as we delve into the origins of the word "Ekklesia", that has often been translated to the word "church", we uncover a much more profound and transformative concept. Taylor Rogers is the executive director of Wildfire Network, a community that exists to spark and sustain the calling of God in the lives of believers by providing free services to help the new dreams that JESUS was planting to take flight. In this ep...
2023-05-2435 min
Returning to JoyResting on God’s Firm Foundation in Trials, Transitions, and Transformation with Denise LeonardSend us a textThanks for joining us for this special episode of Returning to Joy. In this episode, we’ll sit down with Gabrielle’s mother, Denise Leonard. In a season that has felt tumultuous and challenging for Gabrielle and her family, Denise has shared a word from the Lord that we want to share with the listeners today. When God is preparing us for a new thing He is bringing into our lives, and when we transition into a new season with the birth of something new in front of us, it often doesn...
2023-05-1024 min
Returning to JoyMeeting People Where They Are - A Conversation with Mashaun Hirschler, Mission Leader of T.H.U.G.G.I.N for ChristSend us a textThanks for tuning into this week’s podcast. In this episode, we’ll hear from Mashaun Hirschler, Mission Leader of T.H.U.G.G.I.N for Christ - a ministry that is aimed at serving those who are stuck on the streets. While mindful of the complicated psychological and sociological factors that contribute to addiction and homelessness, they seek to address the 'whole person' in Jesus’ Name. You will hear some of Mashaun’s story, and his radical transformation because of Jesus. He was called out of the street, and now h...
2023-04-2636 min
Returning to JoyPursuing God's Justice With Compassion and Dependency on Jesus with Guest John Garland (Part 2)Send us a textThis episode is a continued conversation with John Garland, pastor of the San Antonio Mennonite Church and Chaplain of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. As you heard in the previous episode, much of his work and mission is dedicated to displaced and marginalized families in his area. As a result, he often has to confront questions that we would do well to consider for ourselves - questions of justice, division, action - and how can we be sure we’re doing the right thing?Together we’ll wrestle with some of these ques...
2023-04-1234 min
Returning to JoyDecentering Yourself, Compassion Fatigue, & Bearing Witness with Special Guest John Garland (Part 1)Send us a textJohn Garland is the pastor of the San Antonio Mennonite Church and Chaplain of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition. John pastors from the discipline of “no action without prayer, no prayer without action.” His applied theology interprets Christianity as a trauma-transforming faith movement, he reads Scripture as divinely inspired through and for traumatized communities, and he understands hospitality, story, and prayer-centered community as the most powerful tools of healing.In this episode, we’ll hear about why it’s important to consider scripture from a lens other than our own, as well as how w...
2023-03-2942 minReturning to JoyHow We Describe God And Why It MattersSend us a textOften in our culture and especially in the Western church, we tend to describe God in abstract terms and with intangible qualities, and can even find ourselves desiring information about God rather than a testimony about our relationship with Him. But the Lord is real and moving around us in ways we can know with our senses. He is speaking and revealing Himself to you in a unique way, and there are concrete truths about God that you have a personal witness to. So today, ask yourself, who has Go...
2023-03-1517 minReturning to JoyWhen "Focusing on Jesus" Causes Us to Miss Him CompletelySend us a textWelcome to Season 3, friends! Thanks for tuning in. Our gaze should always be toward Jesus, but we must ask ourselves what version of Jesus are we trying to focus on? Are we worshipping the fullness of who He is, or are we trying to push attention towards a comfortable version of Him while ignoring the very brokenness He was sent to restore in the world? This is what we'll be diving into in today's episode.New episodes on Wednesdays! Bi-weekly!Thanks for subscribing and leaving a review! P...
2023-03-0134 minReturning to JoyExceedingly More Than You Can Imagine | God's Not Limited By Your Ability to SeeSend us a textBeloveds, I've got good news! God's power isn't limited by your capability to anticipate or perceive His goodness. When you can't even imagine better, and your eyes can't see God's faithfulness on the horizon. You can rest assured in the truth that He is still able to do exceedingly more. In this episode, let's dive into this truth together. Scriptures Mentioned: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at wo...
2022-06-2231 minReturning to JoyDid God Abandon Us Here? Trusting God beside the Red Sea.Send us a textAre you feeling stuck? Is there a lack of clarity on how to move forward? Does it seem like there are impenetrable barriers between where you are and what God has promised for you? You are not alone! So many people who trust the Lord are uncertain right now. They feel like they are wandering aimlessly with no direction and no leader. Yet, Christ has not abandoned you. In this episode, Gabrielle is preaching on why the moment you're in right now feels so intense and why it feels like you're...
2022-05-2516 minReturning to JoyThe Heart Behind Returning to Joy MinistrySend us a textWe've got a special guest! Executive Director of Wildfire Network, Taylor Rogers, steps behind the mic to interview Gabrielle Leonard, Director of Returning to Joy. In this episode you'll hear her heart and the why behind the ministry of Returning to Joy. Letter from the host:Dear Beloveds, Reflecting on and responding to the faithful and intelligent love of God has been therapeutic to my mind, heart, and body! I vulnerably share because I want you to experience the joy of authentic connection with Je...
2022-05-1124 min
Returning to JoyThe Kind of Vulnerability that Strengthens and Secures YouSend us a textIn this episode Gabrielle has the pleasure of sitting down with Chandler Merritt for a conversation on vulnerability. Chandler is an administrative genius but more importantly she is an incredible human who has uniquely learned the role vulnerability plays in strengthening and securing her. You don't want to miss the visual picture she paints for how the process of being vulnerable fortifies the truth about our past and helps us move forward with new perspective and healing. Letter from the host:Dear Beloveds, Re...
2022-04-0727 minReturning to JoyDwell In The LandSend us a textThe Lord will make room for you. This episode is a overview of Genesis 26. Observing what we notice to be true about God and His children as they respond to His command to dwell in the land. Scripture: Genesis Chapter 26 Letter from the host:Dear Beloveds, Reflecting on and responding to the faithful and intelligent love of God has been therapeutic to my mind, heart, and body! I vulnerably share because I want you to ex...
2022-03-2426 minReturning to JoyFor Those Who Are Grieving: A Guided PrayerSend us a textThis episode is uniquely for those who are grieving. It's for those who know they are carrying pain but don't have the words or the strength to vocalize it yet. It's for those who know their heart is broken and their mind is confused. I get it. I'm there too. So in this episode I'm spending time praying for you...for us. I invite you to just receive. Prayer will then lead into some guided time for you to vocalize what you need to Christ. It's okay if you don't have w...
2022-03-1128 minReturning to JoyHis Story: God's Been Good for A Long TimeSend us a textHe is God of the generations. His goodness goes beyond are daily experiences. His goodness stretches back beyond our timeline. Christ has the authority to say on the cross "It is finished" because of who He's been, who He is, and who He forever will be. When we position ourselves under the truth that God's goodness isn't dependent upon our experiences we can find security and rest for souls. Scriptures: After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar fu...
2022-02-2321 minReturning to JoyYou're Created to Reveal TreasureSend us a textAre you feeling stuck? Paralyzed and weighed down by your dreams and hopes for the future? Maybe you're longing to birth something beautiful, but you're hitting a wall? If so, this episode is for you: The achiever. The one longing to build something significant but feeling shut down in the process. It may surprise you, but you're not creating treasure; however, you are created to reveal treasure. Understanding the difference between those two statements is crucial for freedom in creativity. Give this episode a listen to discover why. In this episode...
2022-02-0821 min
Returning to JoySelah: Learning How to PauseSend us a textScriptures mentioned: Psalms 46: 1 - 7 TPT God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge!You’re a proven help in time of trouble—more than enough and always available whenever I need you.So we will never feareven if every structure of support were to crumble away.We will not fear even when the earthquakes and shakes,moving mountains and casting them into the sea.For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing wavescan...
2021-02-0915 min
Returning to JoyDealing with Anxiety and Panic Attacks in 2020 with Ashley RogersSend us a textAshley Rogers, founder and director of Created Art Ministry, joins Gabrielle Leonard this week to discuss anxiety and her experience with increased panic attacks in 2020. She gives wisdom on how to move past the shame and what it looks like to connect with Jesus amid anxiety practically. The amount of insight provided in this conversation is unreal. You’ll be encouraged!Special Guest: Ashley Rogers https://www.createdministry.com/Scriptures mentioned: Philippines 4:6-7 NKJVBe anxious for nothing, but...
2020-12-0927 min