Narrative Inquiry

About Narrative Inquiry

Exploring the meaning of life's experiences through personal storytelling from a Christ-inspired lens. narrativeinquiry.substack.com (https://narrativeinquiry.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Natasha Brown Watson

Category

religion & spirituality · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Aug 2026

Latest episode

15 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

5 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Sept 2026

   Walking as Witness

   Last weekend, the mission organization that I steward, Kingdom Commission Outreach (or KCO Global) hosted our second prayer walk called Pray & 5K in partnership with Called To The Closet Prayer Ministry. This is a global prayer walk where intercessors from various locations walk at the same time, pray for the nations, while simultaneously financially supporting global missions. The prayer walk on Saturday, September 12 raised support for KCO’s Mission Maternity, an ongoing effort to fund safe labor and delivery for mothers in remote parts of Tanzania. This walk, through our Delaware team, also raised funds for the American Bible Society, which takes affordable Bible translations to unreached people around the world. This edition of Pray & 5K was ministry to our souls. The testimonies of how God’s spirit was with us as He interceded through each of the five prayer walks from the Greater Houston Area, New York, DC, Delaware and Kansas were evidence of God’s presence. I personally needed this walk. I needed its prayers, and I needed our community. I was reminded of Psalm 133 (ESV), “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell [together] in unity!… For there the Lord has commanded the blessing…” A blessing indeed. God proved that He still does mighty things with a few committed to serve Him. Though we did not have hundreds of people walking, the impact was just as great and perhaps greater, when we take into account the power and potency of our prayers. The Lord also expanded our footprint from three cities to five. But more importantly, the prayers were more fervent, intentional, and focused during this, our second Pray & 5K. Our walk in Texas started off with a corporate prayer Zoom meeting with some of the Pray & 5K Leaders in the locations mentioned above. Once we started walking, we began by praising the LORD and sharing testimonies and thankfulness for what He has done. We heard of how God has preserved and kept a vibrant 98-year-old grandmother. How he healed a mother of cancer and is restoring her tastebuds, He healed the knees of one of our walkers and provided her with strength to climb multiple flights of stairs multiple times of day. There were more testimonies, and as we shared them, I could feel the Lord smiling on us and my heart certainly became glad! The weather was beautiful in each of the five locations, and a few of our walking teams encountered people along our paths and were able to minister to them through prayer and kindness. During mile two of our walk in Texas, after we finished praying for the church and the lost (during mile one); and as we were praying for families, a walker in the park where we were passed us. Then she stopped; she turned around and said, “As I was walking past you, I felt the power… Look.” And she showed us the hair raised on her forearm. We asked if she’d like prayer, and after she agreed, we proceeded to pray with her. She was from Venezuela. What a blessing it was to pray with her considering all the things happening in her home country. We quickly locked hands and my friend Michelle began to pray as the rest of us prayed quietly in our heavenly language. Her joy and thankfulness ministered to my soul. The Lord is so kind to allow us to connect with his beautiful daughter, and it was indeed an answered prayer that our intercessors requested from the Lord just two nights prior. We continued to walk and pray. We interceded for so many issues — the government, the war, the sick, the elderly, foster and adoptive families, A.I. regulation, children in schools, new believers, protection of our borders, and each participant of Pray & 5K. By the time we finished, everyone was filled with joy. I’m writing this at 10:57 p.m. on the night of Pray & 5K, and I still cannot stop thanking the Lord. After the walk, I was blessed to receive the videos and pictures from the other locations. To hear snippets of the prayers that went forth and to visually see some of our intercessors sharing the love of Christ with people they encountered along their walks was so beautiful. Pray & 5K is a sign, proof, and testimony both to our own hearts and those we encountered, that God is with us, for us, and He can still be found in the simple acts of obedience and service, like a simple prayer walk on a Saturday morning. We’re already planning for the next Pray & 5K during the Spring of 2027, pre-registrations are open, and I look forward to what God will do! Check it out here, (https://www.kcoglobal.org/events/pray5k)and become a part of a movement for the glory of God! Thank you for reading/listening. Please consider subscribing to a monthly/yearly plan. Narrative Inquiry subscriptions are tax-deductible and support the important work of Kingdom Commission Outreach (https://www.kcoglobal.org/), a non-profit missions organization with a vision to bring healing and hope to the nations by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, providing pathways to freedom, and eradicating oppression through economic empowerment, health services, and education access. God bless you. Get full access to Narrative Inquiry at narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe (https://narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   27 Aug 2026

   God Desires to Resculpt Us

   When the word “resculpting” came into my spirit, I decided to Google it, because things aren’t always as clear cut as we think. I learned that resculpting could refer to a non-invasive body (contouring) treatment that eliminates stubborn fat and builds muscle. This is the re-sculpting of our bodies, cosmetically. Oddly enough, this is a vivid illustration of what I believe God is doing in me, spiritually, and what I sense He desires to do for many others. He wants to resculpt our minds, bodies (temples), and souls in a non-invasive way. At some point recently, I realized that I have been at my current level for long enough. It started with the urge to declutter and remove things from previous seasons. Shedding myself from items that no longer serve my present or future was liberating. I reclaimed my walk-in closet and rearranged this space into a sanctuary where I can meet with the Lord. At the same time, I was becoming so frustrated as I examined myself. Physically, my health and nutrition have been at these levels long enough. I had become slack in my diet and comfortable in my work-out regimen that I was no longer growing. Mentally, I’ve been pondering over certain things long enough. Spiritual attacks from past seasons were attempting to claim territory in my mind and affecting my self-talk, and I knew it was time for a serious mental transformation (see Rom. 12:1-2). Business-wise, I’ve been working through the same issues in my company for long enough, without significant movement. Even spiritually, I’ve stayed here … at this level of pursuit, study, prayer, and anointing for LONG ENOUGH. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve been actively pursuing change and improvements in these areas, but the changes were not happening quick enough for me. There was something that I was not doing. There was something missing and I needed to figure out what it was. The frustration that came upon me is an understatement for what I was feeling, but this holy annoyance led me to make some radical changes. I needed to go harder, but I also needed my Helper, Holy Spirit. God met me at my “yes.” Not long after I made the decision to change, the Holy Spirit whispered the word “resculpting” into my spirit. The Cambridge Dictionary defines “resculpt” as “to form something into a new shape.” I suddenly pictured the version of me that will arise out of this season of resculpting, and that version has motivated me to no end to remain diligent and disciplined. I know I’m not the only one God is resculpting right now, so here is some hard talk — considerations I needed to confront in order to hyper focus on achieving my post-resculpting goals. Here it goes. * If you feel like there is more for you, there is. * If you have fallen into a comfortable place in any part of your life, and the awe and wonder have left, this is your indication that change and challenge are needed. It’s time to come up higher, gain a new perspective, change something up, and shake yourself out of the routine. * If you’ve been frustrated to a point where you believe something needs to change, and you want something to change, it may be the Lord inviting you to surrender so that He can form you into a new shape. Remember, if we want change bad enough, we will do what it takes to get it. The resculpting may produce physical changes in our bodies or environments, but what God really wants to do is purify and recalibrate our hearts, adjust and rewire our brains, shift our perspective on some things and exchange our thoughts for His. He desires to resculpt us so that our entire being can perfectly align with who He has destined us to be. Thank you for reading/listening. Please consider subscribing to a monthly/yearly plan at narrativeinquiry.substack.com. Narrative Inquiry subscriptions are tax-deductible and support the important work of Kingdom Commission Outreach (https://www.kcoglobal.org/), a non-profit missions organization with a vision to bring healing and hope to the nations by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, providing pathways to freedom, and eradicating oppression through economic empowerment, health services, and education access. God bless you. Get full access to Narrative Inquiry at narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe (https://narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   17 Aug 2026

   Timing is Everything when Managing Conflict in Marriage

   I’m composing this essay via a voice note on a Thursday morning as I prepare for work and my hour-long commute. Just a few moments ago, I was putting on my makeup and doing all the things to get ready for work, including looking for something to wear. Narrative Inquiry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. I go into our laundry room, and I see all these clothes on the wash machine. They’ve been washed and dried, and now they’re ready to be folded. And on top of this pile of clothing, I spot a brand new dress that I purchased last weekend. This is a dress that I wore for one of my birthday celebrations, and as I was taking the dress off the other day, I said to my husband, “Babe, please do not dry this dress.” The dress was a simple, cotton, Old Navy garment — nothing too fancy, but I liked it. My husband proudly proclaimed, “I don’t dry dresses.” I just gave him this little look, and I said, “Okay, thanks.” So, you can imagine the annoyance I felt when I spotted this dress, freshly washed and dried today. Letting out a big sigh, I grabbed the dress, proceed to leave the laundry room, walk down the hall, through the media room, and stood in front of a full-length mirror, eyes rolling and temperament fuming. As I hold up the dress to my chess and look at it all wrinkled in the mirror, I can tell, it shrunk. At this moment, every part of me wanted to take a picture of the dress, text this picture to my husband with the words, “Hey Babe, so you don’t dry dresses?” That’s what I really wanted to do. It was on my heart of hearts to interrupt his day at 10 a.m., but I realized something at that moment. It would have been the most inopportune time possible to send him this petty text message. The night before, he had stayed up really late preparing a training that he had to present to new members of his team. It was only his second day working with a new group of educators, and he was focused on establishing a healthy foundation and team dynamics. First-year-married me would have sent that text and convinced myself that he needed to know what he did at that moment! But five-year-eight-month married me had learned a lesson about marriage. It requires managing conflict well. A healthy marriage requires navigating timing to a tee. Discussing our disappointments and disagreements with our spouses is important, but when they are non-urgent or not important for the moment, these minor issues should be brought up at the appropriate time. These are times of low-stress, when both people are relaxed, when guards are down, and there is little room for collateral damage and a domino effect that could impact other people (who have nothing to do with the issue) in the moment. Wives, you know, we can really throw our husbands off with bringing up the right thing at the wrong time? This goes for husbands too. We can mess up our spouses’ entire day by just willy nilly sharing things that can break up their flow, concentration, and productivity during a workday or a time when they must be on point. I was about to pick up my phone and text my husband a petty picture of this dress, when I realized a few things. * I can come off very bossy and demanding. * I can also seem insensitive when stating facts, even when my heart is in the right place. But that’s not who I want to be or what I want my husband to think about me. When my husband is at work, he is super focused and he has to navigate dozens of relationships and behaviors each day. Today, the stakes are extra high. I’m so glad I didn’t send that text. God gave me a better strategy to remind him not to dry my dresses instead. The other dynamic of this whole morning is that today, we had a really great morning. After we prayed separately, he made dinner (ahead of time); I made breakfast. Then we prayed together, and I spoke a blessing over him for his meeting with his new team. I decided not to send a text message. Instead, I laid the dress on the bed and the Holy Spirit gave me a vision of what’s going to happen later on this evening. We’re going to come in the room and get ready for bed. One of us is going to get in the shower first. When we’re getting ready for bed, the dress will be right there. I will casually pick it up, and that will be a time to share with my husband. “Hey, babe, you, you, um, put my dress in the dryer.” I will simply mention it and just kindly and nonchalantly once again ask and suggest, “Do you think you can remember not to put my dresses in the dryer, or should I just wash certain clothes myself?” You see, some behaviors are habits, and sometimes we need to realize that and make the adjustment instead of expecting the other person to do so. My husband washes the clothes almost every day because it’s a pet peeve of his to see clothes piled up. He washes at night, and he’s often super sleepy. And so he’s not even thinking about what he is putting in the the dryer. He is not inspecting every garment because he just is not that detail-oriented even with his own clothes. He puts his work clothes and things he really cares about in the cleaners, and he probably wishes that I’d do the same thing. All that being said, Holy Spirit helped me to basically choose a better time to bring this to his attention, and it’s not right now, during the workday. During our first year of marriage, I constantly had to say what was on my mind. You know, I felt like it was so important for me to say it in that moment. It was so important for me to show my husband what I really needed and wanted. I was selfish in many ways, but now that I’m more mature in my marriage, I just realize that keeping the peace and also building my spouse up instead of tearing him down with pettiness is so much more important than being right or expressing what I want. As I’m thinking about timing and our relationship, it’s making me realize that, in communication period, timing is everything. And even in relationships, you know, when we want to do something, anything, it’s all about the timing. We can share the right word in the wrong time and it will not be received or have the right affect. So this is not just a lesson in marriage, it’s really a lesson in effective communication, respect, and relationship building. If you’re married or in a relationship, I pray that this has been a blessing to you. I pray that, you will also think about the timing of what you speak. I know I will. So, what happened with he and I and the conversation about drying my dress? After my husband came home from work, and we had an awesome evening catching up on the day, we were finally ready for bed. He was in the shower and I picked up the dress and showed him. “Hey babe,” I said. “You remember this dress that you said you wouldn’t put in the dryer?” I smiled, and he smiled… It hit him. He said, “Awww babe, my bad!” It was so light-hearted and so effective. I also decided to put the clothes I care about in a hamper that my husband is not aware of and wash them myself. I’m grateful for the wisdom and growth God has given us in our marriage. PS - I’m sharing this with my husband’s blessing. :-) Thank you for reading/listening. Please consider subscribing to a monthly/yearly plan. Narrative Inquiry subscriptions are tax-deductible and support the important work of KCOglobal.org (https://kcoglobal.org/), a non-profit missions organization with a vision to bring healing and hope to the nations by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, providing pathways to freedom, and eradicating oppression through economic empowerment, health services, and education access. God bless you. Narrative Inquiry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Narrative Inquiry at narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe (https://narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

4. 

   14 Aug 2026

   The Jail Story: What Happened Next

   In my last post, I shared the beginning of my “Jail Story,” along with a teaching on Matthew 28:18-20 (https://narrativeinquiry.substack.com/p/what-did-jesus-really-tell-his-followers?r=5sdsm9), (The Great Commission). To quickly recap the beginning of the jail story, the weekend before I was set to leave for seminary in 2016, I found myself in jail due to an unpaid traffic ticket and a missed court date. Me and bunch of women were in one holding cell awaiting our time before the court, when a young woman entered who could not stop sobbing uncontrollably. No one wanted to talk with her. Her cries were debilitating, and they seemed to have us all frozen, unsure of what to say or do. However, it wasn’t long before I heard the Holy Spirit telling me to start a conversation with this woman. Reluctantly, after building up the courage, (through silent prayer), I obeyed. “Why are you crying?” I said in so many words. “What are you here for?” She looked up at me with huge eyes filled with tears and said something that I did not expect. “They said I killed my babies.” More words came out of her mouth, but for a moment, I was in a state of shock. Her children, they may have been twins (if memory serves me correctly), had been found dead in her home, and the police arrested this young mother. I did not understand the details of what she was saying. It honestly didn’t make much sense, which caused her to sound guilty to me. In my mind, I was asking God, Now what? What do you want me to say to her now? I was a bit frustrated, as my discernment was kicking in. (I know that as a Christian, I should probably have been less judgmental and more open to ministering to her, however I had a lot of growing to do) and honestly, I thought she was a child killer and that she was making up a lie about what had happened to gain sympathy or maybe even to convince herself of a different reality. The more I listened to her though, I became more unsure of what to say next. Then, God spoke to my spirit, “Ask her if she knows me.” After snapping out of my thoughts, I restarted the conversation. “I don’t know what is going to happen to you, and I don’t know what happened with your children, but God does. Do you know Jesus?” She said no. So I began to tell her who He is, “He’s the Son of God, and God Himself who walked this Earth, died for your sins on the cross to save you from death, which is the consequence of sin.” I told her, “Jesus wants a relationship with you.” I explained parts of my story and how He had saved me, and that, “He loves you so much, and He wants to save you from hell, and help you through what you are about to experience. You just need to confess your sins, and ask Him to forgive you. Accept Him in your heart and confess that you believe He died for you.” I honestly believe God just filled my mouth with the right words for the moment as soon as I decided to obey Him. I continued, “No matter what has happened or what you may have done, Jesus loves you, and He wants you to receive Him today. He wants to walk through this with you.” She nodded at me, and in her eyes I saw that she had received the hope of the gospel. Right there, in that jail cell, she received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Her situation didn’t change, but her status did, from death to life. She would still have to face the consequences of her actions, but there was now no condemnation for Her because she was in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). When it was time for us both to go before the commissioner, I told her to remember that, “God is with you, no matter what you would face in the days ahead. I am not sure what happened to this young lady, but soon after this encounter with her, I was released. Released almost immediately, as if God’s mission for that moment was complete. As I was leaving, I knew that God had put me in jail on assignment. (Or, He just allowed me to be there after my own actions led me on this path.) This was a vivid illustration of both God’s saving and enabling grace at work. Saving grace works in the lives of unbelievers, drawing them to Christ, as it did for this young mother. His enabling grace helps us believers do what God has called us to do, as it did for me. In the video linked below, I share how The Great Commission requires us to cross cultural, linguistic, economic, and geographic boundaries. Sometimes, it requires us to enter an underworld, of sorts, that we may gain territory for Christ so that He can snatch souls from the grips of the enemy. In Christ, we have what no other religious belief system can claim, a risen Savior. He is the only One who completed the mission of becoming the perfect, unblemished Lamb, to be sacrificed for every. single. sin of His followers. Every sin and sinner are forgiven once they come under the blood of Jesus Christ. That night, in addition to rescuing this young woman who so desperately needed Him, God reminded me that He does in fact cover every sin when confessed and brought before Him through Christ, our Great Mediator. God dealt with my self-righteousness and demonstrated that The Gospel is for everyone who believes in Him. May we “go” into all the world, unashamed of the gospel, which has the power to save souls. Thank you for reading/listening. Narrative Inquiry paid subscriptions support the important work of KCOglobal.org (https://kcoglobal.org), a non-profit missions organization with a vision to bring healing and hope to the nations by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, providing pathways to freedom, and eradicating oppression through economic empowerment, health services, and education access. God bless you. Watch the video on "Unpacking The Great Commission." https://youtu.be/C_vmzsd0a7I?si=wGwhRuvQVVHVnfot (https://youtu.be/C_vmzsd0a7I?si=wGwhRuvQVVHVnfot) Get full access to Narrative Inquiry at narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe (https://narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

5. 

   14 Aug 2026

   What did Jesus really tell His followers to do?

   The weekend before I was set to leave for seminary in 2016, I received a piece of mail that made me aware of a bench warrant for my arrest. A traffic violation plus a missed court date left me in a state of unbelief and near panic on that summer afternoon. If memory serves me correctly, I believe it was a Friday, but many of the details have escaped me in the past decade. I knew I needed to take care of this issue, because I was planning to move to another state to pursue my M.Div. degree at the top of the next week. I went down to the courthouse and told them that I wanted to pay my ticket and any subsequent fines, however, I learned that it would not be that easy. I learned I would have to spend time in jail, which was connected to the courthouse, until a court commissioner could see me next morning. After I was processed (finger printed and all the things), I was escorted to a large cell with several women. I learned that most of the women were there for prostitution, missed court dates, or drug charges. There was somewhat of a light spirit in this space, and most of the women conversed and swapped stories, nonchalantly as if they knew all would be well. I sat, on the cold bench (in between brief conversations) mentally chastising myself knowing that I had really messed up this time. The irony of my life, I thought. After a couple of hours, a young lady came in, and as soon as she entered, the vibe changed. She would not stop sobbing. Her wails were loud and agonizing, and her tears flowed endlessly. Everyone looked around to see what the other would do; we were all quiet, but no one wanted to talk with her. However, I heard the Holy Spirit clearly telling me to start a conversation with this young woman. This story gets interesting at this point, and I will come back to this in my next post. For now, I want to assure you that a “yes” to God will lead you into some tricky and uncomfortable situations, as it did with me on this particular night. I did not understand how I had failed to pay my traffic ticket, missed a court date, and ended up in jail before a major shift in my life, but I soon realized, God had allowed it all and had in fact sent me so that I could be on mission for Him. Narrative Inquiry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be called. What it means to “go” into all the world, or to be “sent” by the Holy Spirit, and why is “The Great Commission” so great. In this new series, I’m going to begin to unpack what I’ve discovered. What is the Great Commission? What did Jesus actually command His followers to do? There are several scriptures that outline The Great Commission, and over the past year, I’ve been taking a fresh look at this powerful instruction Jesus gave to His church.The primary and first New Testament passage that introduces us to The Great Commission is Matthew 28:18–20. Jesus gives His Church a clear assignment: go, make disciples, baptize, teach, and call people to obedience. The Great Commission is about much more than simply converting people to Christianity. This is a lifelong journey, applicable to all people, everywhere, and it is a commission for every follower of Christ. This is why it’s so great. I recorded a teaching on Matthew 28:18–20 which examines the meaning of the Great Commission through the original Greek language and the broader biblical context. This video is the first in a series where I’ll be breaking down this commission by reviewing a different passage in each video that gives us more revelation about what Christ has commanded us to do. In this first video, we cover the following parts of The Great Commission: • “All authority has been given to Me” • “Go” • “Make disciples” • “All nations” • “Baptizing them” • “Teaching them” • “Obey everything I have commanded you” • “I am with you always” The Great Commission isn't simply an invitation to attend church or an instruction to preach a sermon. It is a call to participate in the mission of Christ.Believers are called to go into the world under the authority of Jesus, make disciples among all peoples, teach them (and each other, might I add) the ways of Christ, and help one another live as obedient followers of Him. What’s so powerful about this all is that we don't go in our own strength or authority, nor do we go alone. Christ has authority, and Christ is with us.This is Part 1 of a series exploring the full commission Christ has given to His Church. Check out the video and share it with others. Please forgive some of the tech issues with this upload. If this teaching helps you understand the Great Commission more clearly, share this post and subscribe so you can follow the rest of this series. God bless. Thanks for reading Narrative Inquiry ! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Narrative Inquiry at narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe (https://narrativeinquiry.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact Narrative Inquiry

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.