Welcome to the episode of Out of the Ordinary that you-our listeners!-made with us. You all asked the best questions and offered the perfect conversation starters (and finishers!) ...

We have arrived at the end of Out of the Ordinary, but every ending is a new beginning. This week, with your help, we share what our ordinary lives are like today, how and why we began this podcast, and the words and images we are using to describe this current season of completion and change.

• We consider the present and how this episode is like a graduation
• We look to the future and how this podcast has been like a bridge
• We give the full story and the honest truth about our friendship, our differences, and why this podcast is coming to an end
• We answer YOUR questions, including whether we might write a book together!
• We look to YOUR future and offer tips for finding new podcasts

Thank you, dear listeners. Thank you, Emily Graffius. Thank you, to our husbands Pete and Jon. And thank you to the best podcast coach and producer EVER Jodey Smith! If you've ever thought about starting your own podcast, you'll want Jodey on your side.

Podcast links:

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Get your print copy here to keep reading Lisa-Jo's new book.

Get your audio book copy here to hear the languages and accents in Lisa-Jo's own voice.

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy !

Sign up for Christie's forthcoming Substack newsletter here and be the first to hear all the upcoming Black Barn news.

We felt a pang as we hit record today. This is the second to final episode of 6 years of our conversations. But because conversation with a friend always does good work–we love the place where we landed. We pretty much landed this episode in heaven, didn’t we?

In our second-last episode we reminisce about our six-year journey, the impact these conversations have had on us and our embrace of ordinary life. 

• YOUR participation in the finale is requested. Click here to join the last conversation!
• We look to the future and what's next for each of us. 
• We reflect on the bittersweet nature of endings, and the hope of an eternal narrative.
• We look to YOUR future and what's next for each of our listeners.

Thank you for the amazing feedback to our episode of Lisa-Jo reading from her new book. And we loved meeting so many of you at the Nooks Book Reading event. Thank you for coming out! You all are our favorites! You can see a little recap of the evening here. 

Thank you for reading with us. 

Get your print copy here to keep reading Lisa-Jo's new book.

Get your audio book copy here to hear the languages and accents in Lisa-Jo's own voice.

Podcast links:

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here. Thank you.

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

How's that for a title? But, friends, it's absolutely true. No spoilers here, but please don't miss the last ten minutes of this episode.

Today we're also delighted to bring you along on a face-to-face, Lisa-Jo and Christie, book celebration day. 

• a day of freedom (instead of fear) is possible because God heals the past
• how to ask friends for the support and encouragement we need
• the power of a praying friend
• our podcast has felt like a wonderful dinner party among friends, but even great dinner parties can't last forever
• every end is a new beginning
• we look forward together to the never-ending heavenly feast

We want YOUR questions/comments -- join the conversation here! 

Get your print copy here to keep reading Lisa-Jo's new book.

Get your audio book copy here to hear the languages and accents in Lisa-Jo's own voice.

Podcast links:

You're invited! Lisa-Jo will be reading from her brand-new book at the best new bookstore in Lancaster, PA. Join Christie to cheer her on!

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here. Thank you.

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

Today we're delighted to bring you a special audio excerpt from Lisa-Jo's new book, It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping that went on sale this week. Step into the South African outback via a storm that started brewing in Maryland.

From Lisa-Jo: I grew up in a family obsessed with stories. My mom used to take me out of school to see “important movies.” Her bookshelves overflowed. And my brothers grew up to make movies for a living.

All that to say, friend, I hope you binge this book.

I hope it reads like a movie. This story that stretches from South African’s outback to Washington, D.C. and traces the overlapping terrible, hopeful histories of my father and me. 

I hope you can’t put it down. And then I hope you can’t help but tell other people about it.

I’d be so grateful if you did.

Get your print copy here to keep reading.

Get your audio book copy here to keep listening.

Excerpted with permission of Penguin Random House Audio from It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping: Interpreting the Language of Our Fathers Without Repeating Their Stories by Lisa-Jo Baker; Read by Lisa-Jo Baker © 2024, Lisa-Jo Baker, ℗ Penguin Random House, LLC.

Podcast links:

You're invited! Lisa-Jo will be reading from her brand-new book at the best new bookstore in Lancaster, PA. Join Christie to cheer her on!

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

This was a breakthrough kind of episode. A little bit like 6 years of therapy condensed into half an hour. We hope it offers you as much of an "Aha" moment as it did for us!

In this week's conversation:

• What if your past isn't your past?
• What if you could go back to the worst bits in your story and re-write them?
• What if your pain isn't fossilized? 
• What if your present can set you free from your past?
• Click here for BOGO Offer of Lisa-Jo's new book that expires May 2 at midnight EST.

Podcast links:

You're invited! Lisa-Jo will be reading from her brand-new book at the best new bookstore in Lancaster, PA. Join Christie to cheer her on!

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

START listening to the audio book or reading the ebook for It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping here

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

We're not sure why it took us so long to figure this out (and understand how much it matters!), but of course this podcast is like a weekly memoir of ordinary life. Here's what that means for you ...

In this week's conversation:

• Christie and Lisa-Jo explore an epiphany: they've been recording a podcast memoir all these years!
• Memoir-writing nudges us to reflect on the distant past
• podcasting nudges Lisa-Jo and Christie to reflect on the recent past
• Lisa-Jo explains the practice she is now using to reflect on the day just past
• What happens when we pause to notice and reflect? The answer is so good, Christie wonders if it's really too good to be true
• Lisa-Jo shares a special invitation for local listeners

Podcast links:

You're invited! Lisa-Jo will be reading from her brand-new book at the best new bookstore in Lancaster, PA. Join Christie to cheer her on!

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

START listening to the audio book or reading the ebook for It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping here

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

Only a longtime friend can get away with asking some of the questions Christie asked Lisa-Jo today. We hope they are a balm to your own scarred places. 

In this week's conversation:

• A kind of live therapy takes place between Lisa-Jo and Christie
• Failure turns out to be a powerful catalyst for new things
• Growth looks unlike what we expect else maybe we'd never even try
• If you've ever felt like life is one wave after another and you can't catch your breath, welcome. 

Podcast links:

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

START listening to the audio book or reading the ebook for It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping here

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

Today's episode began with big smiles, journeyed through tears, and ended with laughter.

In this week's conversation:

• Lisa-Jo explains why her new book is an Ebenezer stone
• Christie and Lisa-Jo realize each witnessed God making things new this week
• personal stories of church hurt and church healing
• what it looks like when God makes the sad things of life un-true 

Podcast links:

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

START reading the first free chapters of It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping here

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

In today's episode Lisa-Jo shares the story of how God brings each of us to a feasting table, set with a chair all ready and prepared. And what happens if you're willing to sit down. 

In today's conversation:

• Lisa-Jo finds herself unexpectedly back in a courtroom setting 
• When your hometown is no longer your hometown.
• The difference between an invitation from God vs a pushy God
• How the Kingdom of God moves at the speed of relationships. 

Podcast links:

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

START reading the first free chapters of It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping here

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold)

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

Click here to join the conversations we have with listeners every week around the podcast.

In today's episode we unpack:

• The surprising work Christie has been doing
• How good it is to feel seen and to have our unique gifts acknowledged
• If God is a creator, shouldn't we embrace the creators in our communities?
• How to start this conversation where you are 

Podcast links:

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

START reading the first free chapters of It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping here

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold). Your ratings and reviews (leave one here) are so appreciated!

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!

Life is full of surprises, and often, it's in the most unexpected moments that we find profound meaning and guidance. In today's conversation Christie and Lisa-Jo discuss one specific instance that arrived much later in Christie's life than might be typical and how these instances are opportunities to stay receptive and attentive to God at work in the mundane and challenging.

In today's episode we unpack:

• The significance of turning 50 and being a beginner again 
• Receiving strength from the Holy Spirit, whether we feel strong or not 
• The shift from relying on feelings to being receptive to God's invitations
• A unique church experience for Christie and how it met her in a weary season 
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Podcast links:

We are now ad-free! You can help support our show with a one-time donation here or a recurring gift right here. Thank you. We are excited about becoming fully listener supported.

START reading the first free chapters of It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping here

Get Christie's new book here (or wherever books are sold). Your ratings and reviews (leave one here) are so appreciated!

Follow Lisa-Jo on Instagram @lisajobaker and Christie at @christiepurifoy and please leave a review about what you think about today's podcast!