How do leaders remain faithful, fruitful, and grounded over the long haul?

In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Alan Fadling sits down with Eric Geiger, Senior Pastor of Mariners Church and author of The Rooted Leader, to explore what it means to cultivate deep roots as a leader.

Drawing from the life of Nehemiah, Eric shares why leadership failures rarely happen overnight, what causes leaders to drift from their deepest convictions, and how healthy rhythms help leaders remain steady through seasons of pressure, challenge, and change.

Together, Alan and Eric discuss the hidden work of leadership, the importance of tending our inner lives, and why lasting fruitfulness grows from roots that are nourished over time.

Whether you lead a church, nonprofit, business, team, or family, this conversation offers wisdom for anyone seeking to lead from a place of depth rather than hurry, pressure, or performance.

In this episode:

• Why leaders “topple”
• What Nehemiah teaches about leadership
• The connection between roots and fruit
• Seven rhythms that sustain leaders
• How to strengthen your leadership from the inside out

Resources:

• The Rooted Leader by Eric Geiger

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. 

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In this episode, Gem welcomes Susan Carson for a rich conversation at the intersection of contemplative spirituality, trauma healing, neuroscience, and the Christian mystical tradition.

Drawing from the wisdom of Julian of Norwich and insights from interpersonal neurobiology, Susan explores how healing often happens not through striving, fixing, or formulas, but through safe connection, compassionate presence, and co-suffering love.

Together they discuss what trauma really is, why the past can continue to shape our present experience, and how healing invites us back toward our true selves. Susan also explains concepts like co-regulation, the nervous system's need for safety, and why being deeply seen and lovingly witnessed can be profoundly restorative.

Along the way, they explore contemplative practices of beholding, the self-emptying love of Christ, and what it means to create "noise-free, shame-free, formula-free" spaces where healing can flourish.

If you've ever felt exhausted by quick fixes, discouraged by spiritual formulas, or longed for a deeper experience of God's presence in your healing journey, this conversation offers a hopeful and grace-filled vision of wholeness.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What trauma is and how it shapes our experience of life
• Why safety is essential for healing and transformation
• The role of co-regulation in emotional and spiritual health
• What Julian of Norwich teaches us about God's presence
• Why beholding is central to contemplative healing
• How neuroscience and spiritual formation complement one another
• What it means to create noise-free, shame-free, formula-free space for others

Guest: Susan Carson is the Founder and Executive Director of Roots & Branches, spiritual director, speaker, and author of A Kenotic Way of Contemplative Healing.

Resources Mentioned:

• A Kenotic Way of Contemplative Healing by Susan Carson
• Julian of Norwich
• Stephen Porges
• Bonnie Badenoch

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Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website and her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What if your morning didn’t begin with hurry, but with holy attention?

In this Unhurried Living favorite, Alan Fadling shares how he begins his day with God through simple, grounded rhythms that open space for presence, listening, and grace.

What began years ago as a “quiet time” has matured into something more relational—a daily meeting with the living God. In this episode, Alan walks through his morning flow, including silence, Scripture, singing the psalms, prayer for others, and reading spiritual classics like The Philokalia.

These practices are not about performance or pressure. They are invitations—ways of remembering God, receiving his love, and entering the day rooted in peace rather than driven by urgency.

Resources mentioned:

• The New Coverdale Psalter(Anglican House Publishers)
• YouTube video aboutThe New Coverdale Psalter
• An Unhurried Life
• An Unhurried Leader
• Hold That Thought

Whether you are building a new rhythm or rediscovering an old one, this episode offers a gentle vision for beginning your day with God as a friend.

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. 

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Gem reflects on the powerful story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 and what it reveals about trust, surrender, and spiritual growth.

What happens when the thing you long for most feels at risk? How do you trust God when disappointment threatens your peace? Through Scripture and a deeply personal story of infertility and waiting, Gem explores how faith matures when we release our deepest desires into God’s care.

If you are navigating unanswered prayer, wrestling with surrender, or seeking a deeper trust in God, this episode will meet you there.

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Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website and her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What if the Holy Spirit is not distant or confusing—but closer than you think?

In this replay episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Alan Fadling sits down with pastor and author Tyler Staton to explore what it means to grow in discernment and recognize God’s voice through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Drawing from Tyler’s book The Familiar Stranger, this conversation invites us beyond ideas about God into a lived, relational experience with him.

Many leaders sense a gap between what Scripture describes about the Spirit’s power and what they experience in daily life. Together, Alan and Tyler gently explore how that gap can begin to close—not through striving, but through growing familiarity with God’s voice, learning to discern what is truly from him, and opening ourselves to a more vibrant, Spirit-led life.

Whether you feel curious, uncertain, or quietly hungry for more, this conversation offers a hopeful path forward.

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. 

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What does it really mean to become the best version of yourself in God?

In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Gem Fadling sits down with therapist and bestselling author Dr. Alison Cook to talk about Christian boundaries, finding your voice, healing trauma, and facing emotional pain with faith.

Dr. Alison shares a deeply personal story that shaped her book The Best of You, and we explore why so many Christian women struggle to recognize their needs, speak up in relationships, and set healthy boundaries without guilt. We also look at how Jesus modeled a strong sense of self, and why facing your pain is essential to spiritual growth and emotional healing.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• Is it selfish to focus on my needs?
• How do I set boundaries as a Christian?
• Why is it so hard to use my voice?
• How do I heal from past wounds with God?

This conversation will encourage you to rest deeper, live fuller, and lead better.

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Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website and her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

It’s one thing to understand the kind of leadership that helps people flourish. It’s another thing to sustain it—especially over time.

In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Alan Fadling continues his reflections on Wendell Berry’s wisdom, turning from the life we cultivate in leadership to the life we must become to sustain it.

Drawing from Berry’s insights on character, familiarity, and discipline, Alan explores the deeper work of leadership formation—the kind of inner life that holds steady under pressure and grows through experience.

You’ll discover:

• Why good intentions and knowledge are not enough for lasting leadership
• How character is formed through everyday choices and responses
• What your reactions reveal about your inner life
• How reflection helps you grow in wisdom over time

This episode is for pastors, team leaders, and anyone who wants to become the kind of leader who can stay with the work long enough to see it bear fruit.

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. 

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What does it mean to enter the final third of life with intention?

In this reflective episode, Gem shares about a personal season of reset as she approaches sixty. Through the lens of Christian spiritual formation, she explores four guiding words for her next decade: freedom, meaningful work, rest, and fruitfulness.

Together we consider how to navigate midlife transitions, how to embrace aging with hope rather than fear, and how to cooperate with the inward renewal described in 2 Corinthians 4. This episode offers practical action steps for those seeking spiritual growth, clarity, and a more unhurried life in their next season.

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Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website and her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What do we do when God no longer feels as close as He used to feel?

Many sincere believers experience seasons when prayer feels empty, Scripture feels quiet, and God seems strangely absent. For leaders especially, those seasons can feel confusing, discouraging, and even shameful.

In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Alan Fadling sits down with theologian and spiritual formation professor Kyle Strobel to discuss the new book When God Seems Distant, coauthored with John Coe.

Together, they explore:

• Why spiritual dryness is a normal part of mature faith
• The danger of equating spiritual feelings with God’s presence
• How suffering and helplessness can become places of formation
• The subtle ways we avoid God—even through our spirituality
• Why love, rather than striving, is what truly transforms us

This conversation offers a compassionate and deeply hopeful vision for anyone walking through uncertainty, weariness, disappointment, or spiritual distance.

Whether you are a pastor, leader, spiritual director, or simply someone longing to remain near to God in difficult seasons, this episode offers wisdom and encouragement for the journey.

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. 

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What do you do when your faith feels dry and your prayers feel empty?

In this episode, Gem Fadling sits down with author and Anglican priest Tish Harrison Warren to explore the reality of spiritual dryness, burnout, and what the Christian tradition calls “aridity.” Drawing from her book, What Grows in Weary Lands, Tish offers a deeply grounded vision of faith that endures, even in seasons of doubt, fatigue, and emotional exhaustion.

Together, they reflect on ancient Christian practices, the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers, and how modern experiences of burnout and languishing intersect with the deeper spiritual journey.

If you’ve ever wondered where God is in your weariness, or how to keep going when your inner life feels thin, this conversation offers a steady, hopeful way forward.

Topics include:

• Spiritual dryness and why it happens
• Christian practices for burnout and fatigue
• How to pray when prayer feels empty
• Faith in seasons of doubt and distance from God
• Ancient wisdom for modern exhaustion

This episode is for anyone longing to stay rooted in God, even when life feels overwhelming.

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Connect with Gem on Instagram and learn more on the Unhurried Living website and her new book, Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Much of what we long to see in leadership—trust, depth, resilience, and lasting fruit—simply does not grow well in a hurry.

In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Alan Fadling reflects on insights from Wendell Berry to explore a different way of leading. Instead of pushing for results, what if leadership is more like tending a garden? What if the work is less about driving outcomes and more about cultivating the kind of life where good things can grow?

Drawing from Berry’s reflections on the slow work of restoring fertility, Alan invites leaders to consider the deeper kind of growth that happens over time—often unseen, but essential for lasting impact.

You’ll discover:

• Why meaningful growth in leadership cannot be rushed
• What it looks like to cultivate a life-giving environment
• Three simple practices that help leaders foster lasting fruit
• How tending your inner life shapes everything you lead

This episode is for pastors, team leaders, and anyone who wants to lead in a way that helps people truly flourish.

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn or learn more about Unhurried Living programs on their website. 

Learn about PACE: Certificate in Leadership and Soul Care

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.