Sara and I have arrived in Seattle for a brief stop, then we’re on to Portland for the weekend. After that, we’ll be taking a pretty direct route through California to our home. It is time to return and see what Father has for us there.
The conversations I have with people on the road are rarely recorded, but our time with UChurch in Calgary on September 21, 2025, was. So, if you want to listen, here are the links, and how they described the sessions on their website:
We were so glad to welcome Wayne Jacobsen to UChurch. In this first part of his time with us, Wayne talks with Brant Reding about what it means to live loved by God instead of striving to earn His approval. He shares from his own life about betrayal, illness, and seasons of uncertainty, showing how God’s love brings trust and freedom even when circumstances are painful.
The conversation also touches on:
- How God gently unravels illusions and old religious habits.
- Why authentic community grows out of love rather than programs.
- Honest questions from the UChurch family about family conflict, friendships, work life, and being real with neighbors.
This episode invites us to rethink faith as a daily trust in God’s love, not a performance. >>>>>Listen Here
In Part 2, Wayne is joined by his wife, Sara, to share their deeply personal journey of walking through trauma, separation, and healing. Together they tell the story of how Sara’s hidden childhood trauma surfaced decades into their marriage, leading to a season of distance, grief, and struggle. What could have ended their story became the place where they discovered what Wayne calls “the deepest love in the darkest place.”
They talk about:
- How trauma shaped Sarah’s life and the long road of healing they’ve been walking together.
- Why God doesn’t stand at a distance but meets us in the middle of our darkest places.
- The role of safe community, patience, and tenderness when walking with someone through pain.
- How God’s love reshapes even the most broken parts of our lives.
This conversation is raw and courageous, offering hope that no darkness is beyond God’s reach. >>>>>Listen Here
As much as we have enjoyed the incredible beauty of nature on this trip, we’ve also enjoyed how God is taking shape in so many of his children. We’ve been with a lot of people who have lived in the darkness of legalism, trying to make sense of how their hard work was not meeting their desire to know Jesus. I cannot believe how widely they have opened their hearts to us. What we share has to be light-years from what they have known, and yet they have listened and processed their journey in light of the love that legalism only gave lip service to.
I asked a couple after one session how they think through what they’ve heard. Does it resonate with them, or is it so foreign they are tempted to discard it?
The husband responded, “No, it resonates. When I hear you talk about relaxing into God’s love, I know that somewhere deep inside, I already knew that. I didn’t realize it until you put it in words. That allowed me to recognize what I already knew.”
I love it when people say stuff like that. It confirms to me what a work of the Spirit his truth is. It doesn’t hit us out of the blue, but comes as a recognition of what he has already been seeding deep inside our hearts. I am so honored to have such conversations with people like I’ve met on this trip, and watch the eyes of their hearts pop open as his truth rises in their hearts.
