Does the busyness of your life make it hard to actually slow down and connect with Jesus? Do your priorities feel jumbled? Does your spiritual life feel more like a checklist than a relationship? Friend, this series is for you.

We're kicking off a brand new six-week summer series called Spiritual Rhythms, and I am so excited about this one — especially because I get to do it with my dear friend Rev. Rachel, who brings so much wisdom, church history, and joy into every conversation.

Here's the core idea we're going to come back to every single week: right pace creates right perspective. The pace of your life is not just a productivity issue — it's a spiritual one. When we're running too fast, we lose perspective. And without perspective, we lose peace. And without peace? We lose access to the very life Jesus came to give us.

We start today by going all the way back to the fourth century — to the Desert Fathers and Mothers, who looked around at a culture using the language of Christianity for political power and said, this is not what we see in the life of Jesus. And so they built something completely counter-cultural: lives deliberately shaped around the values, practices, and rhythms of Jesus himself. Sound familiar? Because honestly, the questions they were asking then are the same ones we need to be asking now.

We also sit with two of the most inviting passages in all of Scripture. Jesus in Matthew 11, saying "Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me... learn the unforced rhythms of grace." And Jesus in John 15 — "I am the vine, you are the branches... separated from me, you can't produce a thing." These aren't just encouragements. They're an invitation to an entirely different way of living.

And we close with one of the most beautiful sentences ever written — St. Augustine's prayer: "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You." Some of the old school stuff really is just the best.

Check out my free download to walk through these practices together:
https://nicoleunice.kit.com/spiritualpractices

Reflection Questions:

1. Take a minute to think about the pace of your own life. What do you notice?
2. What does the way you spend your time say about what you care about most?
3. Is there any aspect of your life that feels overwhelming right now?
4. How would you describe your life with God right now?
5. If you could change something about your schedule, what would it be?

This is part of our Summer Rythmns series which originally aired in 2023

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If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.

Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.

Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.

I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years:

• 2 Corinthians 4:1 — "Since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart." Everything we do is through His mercy, not our striving.
• 2 Corinthians 4:7–9 — "We have this treasure in jars of clay." Life is hard — not might be hard. But hard-pressed is not crushed. Perplexed is not despairing.
• Isaiah 40:28–29 — "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Your only qualification for this promise is that you need it.
• 1 Peter 5:6–7 — "Cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you." All of it. No anxiety too small, too irrational, or too shameful to hand over.
• Galatians 6:9 — "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." God sees every seed you're planting in this season. None of it is wasted.

This summer, we'll be replaying some favorite episodes while I try to practice what I'm preaching and be present for this last summer with my youngest at home. I'll miss you, but I trust God's Word is living and active, which means an episode from three years ago can still fall fresh on your heart today.

Want More?

• 📖 Scriptures to write out this week: 2 Corinthians 4:1; 4:7–9; Isaiah 40:28–29; 1 Peter 5:6–7; Galatians 6:9; Psalm 119:11
• Practice mentioned: Handwriting scripture on Post-it notes or index cards on a ring — place them somewhere you'll see them every day
• Book mentioned: Not What I Signed Up For by Nicole Unice — for unresolved, unexpected, or weary seasons. Available wherever books are sold
• Sign up for Nicole's monthly newsletter at NicoleUnice.com — the best way to stay connected over the summer and let Nicole know what you'd love to study next
• While Nicole is on summer break, catch up on favorite past episodes right here on the podcast feed.
• Stay connected and access resources at NicoleUnice.com/realtalk

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

Have you ever been so disappointed — for so long — that you just stopped hoping anything good could happen next? That's exactly where these women are as they make their way to the tomb in the early morning hours of Mark chapter 16. They aren't coming with expectation. They're coming with burial spices. They have planned for a burial.

And what they find instead is so shocking, so completely outside of anything they were prepared for, that they flee trembling and bewildered — which is, honestly, one of the most human responses in all of Scripture.

We're in the final eight verses of Mark today, and I want us to really slow down here, because there is so much tucked into this ending. First — did you notice that the angel specifically calls out Peter by name? Go tell the disciples, including Peter. Remember where we last left Peter — weeping bitterly after his complete and utter failure. And yet the angel makes sure he's included by name. Because that was not the end of Peter's story. And it is never the end of ours either.

We also talk about the way Mark ends — abruptly, with the women frightened and silent — and what that might mean for us. Whether the manuscript was lost or Mark intended this cliffhanger, I think there's something really beautiful about being left in the tension. Because that's where most of us actually live, isn't it? In the unresolved. In the not-yet-fully-clear. And what the resurrection says into that tension is: hope can begin before you have full clarity.

Here's what we know is true from this passage and from the whole arc of the Gospel: death is defeated. Creation is being renewed. God brings life out of dead places — in history, and in your story too. The same God who said to Abraham is anything impossible for God? is the same God who rolled away that stone. Which means there is no relationship, no season, no place in your soul that is too far gone for Him.

So as we close out the entire Gospel of Mark together, I want to leave you with this: is there a place in your life where disappointment has made hope feel foolish? Could you just tell God about that today — and then claim hope again anyway?

What Does It Mean for Me? Questions to Consider:

1. Is there a place in your life where disappointment has made hope difficult?
2. Can you stay open to hope even when life is unresolved?
3. What would change if I believed even more today that the resurrection was true?
4. How would I live my life if I knew that nothing is impossible for God?

Want More?

• Read along: Mark 16:1–8
• Old Testament connection: Isaiah 43:19 — "See, I am doing a new thing"
• Psalm 30:5 — "Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning"
• Not What I Signed Up For For unresolved seasons and places in your story where you're still waiting for God to show up. Includes a free video Bible study series. Available wherever books are sold or at NicoleUnice.com
• 📧 Stay connected and access resources at NicoleUnice.com/realtalk

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