Spiritual Health - Navigators Train – Develop

How Spiritual Direction Has Changed Me and My Ministry

Jin Rood April 29, 2025

By Jin Rood, World Missions – As my husband, Mark, and I were completing our final year overseas, discerning where God was leading us next, I felt drawn toward a ministry of care. A mentor suggested I explore spiritual direction, and I was immediately intrigued. This form of caregiving focuses on deepening an individual’s relationship with God. Richard Foster explains, “Spiritual direction involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying.”

Dangit, Jo!

Lyndi Lee Markus April 29, 2025

By Lyndi Lee Markus, TDC –
“Dangit, Jo!” I exclaimed to my spiritual director. Except I did not use the word dangit. I had come to our session discouraged to the point of tears, stuck in anxious thinking that left me hopeless and powerless. Her question had both lovingly and uncomfortably dislodged me from my rut. How was she so wise?

Safe Spaces of Silence in Spiritual Direction

Luke Kleveland April 29, 2025

By Luke Kleveland, TDC – Before COVID, I would not have imagined doing spiritual direction with anyone. In fact, if you had asked me about this five years ago, I probably would have looked at you in confusion because I didn’t really know what it was, and then with skepticism because I thought it was purely mystical stuff. Little did I know how my journey with Jesus would change my perspective.

Embracing Gray Spaces

Lyndi Lee Markus February 6, 2024

“Did you know you have permission to be wrong?” my friend asked me gently. I was in the middle of a discernment process, and heaven seemed silent while anxiety tightened its viselike grip around my stomach, propelling me into a constant and gut-wrenching cycle of second-guessing. I grew up cultivating

A New Song

Caitlin Borunda April 13, 2023

“How’s your health, Caitlin?” This was a simple question from a caring Navigator staff woman, as we caught up during a wedding weekend in 2009. Suddenly, the room spun and I had trouble breathing. Heart racing, I lay down on her couch and tried to compose myself. What in the

Worry Proven to be Highly Effective

Brad Hillman April 12, 2023

A scientific study has revealed the significant effectiveness of worry and anxiety. It turns out that over 95 percent of the thing we worry about never occur! 🙂 In spite of this “scientific study,” we see Jesus taking a different view. In Matthew 6:25-34, He addresses the fears that often

Giving God Control

Kathy Redmond February 9, 2023

The State of My Soul By Kathy Redmond I attended TDC’s Soul Care for Leaders Workshop day at Glen Eyrie during the 2023 Leader Summit. To my surprise… the prompts nudged me deeply and transformatively. “Write your descriptive words for the state of a healthy soul and unhealthy soul.” Perfect.

The Embodied Experiment

Lyndi Lee Markus April 20, 2022

Want to see how your physical posture affects your spiritual experience? Try this contemplative exercise to increase awareness of your body in worship. Offer God your observations in prayer, and see what He says. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices as our spiritual

Embodied Spirituality: Giving Up Prayer for Lent

Stacia Littlefield April 2, 2022

Back in college, I often lay awake late into the night, mentally scrolling through my ever-increasing prayer list. Sometimes I would drift into sleep, only to jerk awake at two a.m., horrified to realize I had missed praying for the last few people.

The “Wow” of Spiritual Sexuality

Paula Rinehart April 2, 2022

I never set out to write on sexuality, God knows. But so many women in their twenties wept in my counseling office (and I, with them) about sexual experiences they regretted, I had to pick up a pen. I never expected, though, that study and writing on sexuality would crack