Loved Called Gifted

Maria Garvey: Advent Thoughts

Catherine chats with Maria Garvey again, to find they'd both been having similar thoughts regarding Advent. Namely that if you want to see the light that our Christ brings into the darkness, sometimes you have to be willing to see the darkness first. They explore that together in this episode; the ways it works and the ways sometimes it doesn't, and how it all points back to love.
It would be delightful to hear from you, if you have thoughts about this episode. You can follow our Facebook page. Or email Catherine at Lovedcalledgifted@gmail.com   
You can find a transcript of this episode here. 
Information about spiritual direction, coaching and other Loved Called Gifted stuff is available at the website.
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Questions to help you find your calling

This is more of a work-book episode of the podcast rather than a story-time one, as Catherine brings out some of her coaching and spiritual direction skills to share with us as we all learn a few more key questions to help us refine the mission for our own lives -- and some of them may even take you by surprise!Even if you are confident that you are swimming in the right lane of life, if you still put in the effort to do these exercises, I'm sure you will be glad you did. It's a shorter episode, but that means that you still have time to pause the podcast and take some notes -- you won't regret it. And I'm sure Catherine would love you to drop her an email once you have: lovedcalledgifted@gmail.com
You also might like to follow us on Facebook. 
The Loved, Called, Gifted course, designed to help you think about you life calling, which was mentioned in this episode can be found on the website. 
You can find a transcript of this episode here.
Episodes mentioned in this episode, that you might like to return to, are: 
Alanna's Story - Episode 10
Create Bolton  - Episode 34
Missing Women in Church History - getting cross and getting creative with Katie Moritz - Episode 19

Wintering with Charli

Loved Called Gifted now has a Facebook page, which you can find here. 
Catherine's friend Charli joins her today and they talk about Autumns and Winters in both their lives; paring back and releasing obligations in order to re-centre, and the things that then grow in the space created. Catherine also shares her wisdom as they compare stories about navigating school problems with and on behalf of their children who have found it really difficult. And as always, how God's graciousness still shows up.
Transcript
​Key themes: being and doing, neurodiversity, attachment, ADHD, shame, school refusal, deconstruction, spiritual renewal, parenting, church, Christianity, images of God
Would love to hear from you, if you'd like to get in touch. lovedcalledgifted@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page.
Website

Create Bolton

We have a new Facebook page. Just look for Loved Called Gifted.
Today we are joining Catherine in Bolton at Create Bolton, a creative cafe that shows everyone that they have something to offer. The heartbeat and proprietor is Joy Kilpatrick who is the guest this week, talking about the twists and turns in her life path, and the faithfulness of God, that have enabled her to bring together her artistic creativity and her compassion for people into this sanctuary where people can find respite, relief and wholeness, as well as lots of beautiful artwork. Joy  takes so much enjoyment from seeing other people's stories come to blossom and flourish, that hearing her speak about a few of her friends from the cafe, their interactions and the way those journeys have developed is truly a delight to hear; you too will be cheering them on all the way!
Transcript  
It would be great to hear from you. Contact via the Facebook page or email lovedcalledgifted@gmail.com
Loved Called Gifted website

Types of Intelligence

Podcast website
How would you answer the question "Are you intelligent?" In this episode, drawing on the work of educational psychologist Howard Gardner, Catherine talks about why that's not a very useful question. A much better question is 'In what way are you intelligent?' The narrow way in which intelligence is often understood in society and education can leave many people undervaluing the skills that they have. So this episode looks at intelligence more broadly and the different ways in which different people are intelligent. 
Full transcript
Ken Robinson's TED talk

Waterways Chaplains

For the first time Catherine has two guests in this episode, married couple Gill and John. They are both waterways chaplains, driving their boat through Britain's canals and helping the people they meet along the way. We start out meeting them and finding out a bit more about what they do, but the conversation quickly shifts and blossoms into learning more about God's grace, from people who have been walking with him for over 40 years.
Transcript of this episode
Loved Called Gifted website

Hannah Lamberth: Wedding Dress Adventures

Catherine is marrying the podcast editor next week [their transcriptionist wishes them well!]. In this episode Catherine recounts to Hannah Lambert the tale of finding her wedding dress, which then segues beautifully into a conversation about finding God in the details...or not, sometimes. If you like girly wedding talk, you'll enjoy this one, but even if you don't, there's definitely still something for you here.
You can find the transcript here.
The Loved Called Gifted website is here.

She Matters: Tracy Sickel of Imago Dei shares her passion for women in the prison system

96% of the people in prison are men which means that the 4% of women in prison in the UK often find themselves overlooked in a system that was designed for men. Eight years ago, Tracy Sickel, a free church prison chaplain, started Imago Dei  and since then she and her team have been ministering to women in prison, helping them to feel loved and valued, to know their worth, improve their self respect and invest in who they are.
You can find out more about Imago Dei and how to support their work at: https://www.idprisonministry.org.uk
You can find a transcript of this episode here.
If you have thoughts about the podcast, a story to tell or you'd just like to get in touch, it would be great to hear from you. You can email lovedcalledgifted@gmail.com
And you can find the website here.

Maria Garvey: Community, Belonging and Finding Our Home in God

In this last episode before our summer break, Catherine talks with Maria Garvey, who, twenty years ago, founded a L'Arche community in Northern Ireland. She describes her work as being about 'creating communities of belonging for people who find themselves marginalised'. She says 'who I am really is a commitment to everyone knowing that they matter, no matter what.' In this wide ranging conversation, Maria talks about encountering people who experience themselves as marginalised and her understanding of God, of whom she says 'God is a space in which everyone and everything has its place. Everything and everyone belongs.'
Link to transcript
Loved Called Gifted website

Love and the Divine

What does it mean to have a love relationship with the divine? Christianity has at its core the concept that faith is about loving God and being loved by God. But what does that actually look like in practice? In this episode, Catherine shares some thoughts about that. The truth is that it's different for everyone...
Transcript
Website