Episode 14 – Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been

The Stories Behind My Voice and Why I See Parenting the Way I Do

This episode is a little different.

Instead of teaching or offering a framework, I’m inviting you into the story behind the voice you’ve been listening to.

Because what you’re hearing on this podcast isn’t just ideas or strategies. It’s a lens. A way of seeing parenting, formation, and people that has been shaped over time through real experiences, questions, loss, and growth.

And the truth is, if you’re going to trust me to walk with you in your parenting, you deserve to know where that lens comes from.

I’ll be honest, this isn’t the easiest thing for me to do. Talking about myself has never been natural. But I’m learning that this might actually be one of the most important gifts I can offer you. Not a polished version of parenting, but an honest one.

If you’ve noticed some gaps in recent episodes, this will also help you understand why. A lot has shifted in my life since last August. New seasons, new roles, new questions about who I’m becoming and how I want to show up.

Along the way, two words found me. Resilience and reflection. Or maybe even remembering. Looking back in order to move forward.

And what I began to realize is that the work God does in us doesn’t stay contained. It shows up in how we parent, how we listen, how we respond, and how we see our kids.

So today, I want to walk you through some of the stories that have shaped the way I see parenting and spiritual formation.

THE STORIES THAT SHAPED MY VOICE

1. The Rule Follower
At a young age, I built my world around being good. I believed that if I followed the rules closely enough, everything would hold together.

But when that system broke, I was left with a question that has followed me ever since:

If rules don’t create a good life… what does?

2. The Non-Readers
In college, I worked with kids who had already been labeled as behind. Kids who believed they couldn’t learn.

We tried something different. We stopped reinforcing what they lacked and started calling out what we could see growing in them.

And everything changed.

That’s when I realized this wasn’t just about reading.
This was about identity. And who we think we can become.

Who we believe we are shapes who we become.

3. The Hitchhiker
A random decision to pick up a hitchhiker turned into a story I never expected.

What stayed with me wasn’t the risk. It was the realization:

Every person carries a story.
And there is always more happening beneath the surface than we can see.

4. Stepping Into Stories
Years later, I found myself teaching English to South Korean families in a situation I never planned.

Looking back, I can see a pattern:

This is what I do.
I step into stories.

And over and over again, God meets me there and takes it somewhere I never could have planned on my own.

5. A Quiet Tension in Faith
Back in Lincoln, surrounded by deeply committed, faithful women, I noticed something I couldn’t ignore.

There was love for God. Discipline. Consistency.

But when life broke open, many didn’t know how to be honest about what was really happening inside.

It left me asking:

Have we hit a ceiling in how we understand spiritual life?

6. Friends University and an Unexpected Invitation
At a conference, I was introduced to a deeper world of spiritual formation. A way of relating to God that felt both new and strangely familiar.

That’s where I asked God for two things that felt almost impossible.

And for a while, it seemed like the answer was no.

7. Loss, Redemption, and Trust
Years of praying for my dad felt unanswered until the very end of his life.

He said yes to Jesus just before he passed.

And through his death, God opened a door I thought had closed, making a way for me to step into the very calling I had asked for.

That season taught me something I will never forget:

God is always at work, even when we cannot see it.
Sometimes trust is the only thing we have to hold onto.

8. Finding Language for What I Knew All Along
Through my studies in spiritual formation, everything began to come together.

The patterns I had been noticing.
The questions I had been asking.
The tension I had been feeling.

It finally had language.

It had structure.

It had clarity.

And that’s what eventually became Parent Forward.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

I’m not here to give you a formula for parenting.

But I do want to help you see what’s shaping your parenting.

Because underneath behavior, underneath reactions, underneath frustration and growth… there is always something deeper going on.

And when you learn to notice that, everything begins to change.

✨ In This Episode

David Benner’s Book: The Gift of Being Yourself 

The Next Right Thing Podcast by Emily P Freeman – Episode 382: A Reset List for your Soul

LET’S STAY CONNECTED

If something in this episode resonated with you, I would genuinely love to hear that.

You can reach out on Instagram @julieluse or @parentforwardpodcast or connect with me directly. Can always email me julie@parentforward.com 

And if this podcast has been meaningful to you, following and leaving a review helps more than you know.