Soul Care Conversations is a space for honest conversations about caring for the soul in the midst of leadership, work, relationships, and everyday life.
Hosted by Mindy Caliguire, each episode invites depth, reflection, and spiritual grounding—offering language, permission, and practices for living and leading from wholeness, especially for those navigating burnout, transition, or discernment.
Let Your Fields Fallow w/ Mary Petersen and Katy Mills | Bonus Episode
Mindy Caliguire hosts a bonus micro podcast with executive ministry leaders Katy Mills (Calvary Church, Fort Lauderdale) and Mary Petersen (Cru chief of staff) to discuss sabbatical as a key rhythm for soul care and leadership longevity.
They describe sabbatical not as crisis intervention but as a proactive “health check” that lets the ground lie fallow, preventing over-extraction and interior depletion.
Katy shares midpoint reflections from her first seven-week sabbatical after 22 years in vocational ministry, focusing on surrender, a breath prayer (“Jesus, take me back”), and restoration.
Mary reflects on a three-month sabbatical that began with a month of deceleration and revealed how productivity patterns can shift to other areas, ultimately realigning her relationship with work toward serving from overflow and holy detachment from results.
They also discuss organizational sabbatical policies, modeling by leaders, and a reentry tip: initially only take what comes to you rather than chasing new initiatives.
00:00 Bonus Podcast Setup
01:27 Meet Katy and Mary
03:55 Why Sabbatical Matters
05:55 Midpoint Sabbatical Lessons
08:47 Mary Sabbatical Surprises
11:11 Healthy Relationship to Work
13:06 Integration Not Extremes
15:07 Good Tired Stewardship
19:15 Making Sabbatical Possible
22:22 Reentry and Closing
27 Aug 2026
Suffering as a Path to Growth w/ Mary Peterson
In this episode of Soul Care Conversations, Mindy Caliguire talks with her Colorado neighbor and friend Mary Peterson, Chief of Staff for Cru Worldwide, about the intersection of soul wellbeing and calling.
Mary shares how she came to faith through a Cru-connected student, her commitment to bringing the gospel to unreached peoples, and 20+ years serving among Middle East and North Africa communities from a base in Europe.
She explains how hardship, trauma, and persecution shaped her focus on crisis management and later a counseling degree and crisis debriefing training for Cru staff.
Mary outlines crisis intervention basics centered on Jesus-like presence, careful listening, resisting spiritual bypassing, and honoring stages such as shock and lament.
They discuss soul care rhythms like quarterly solitude retreats, journaling, silence, spiritual friendships, and discerning limits in global leadership.00:00 Welcome to Soul Care00:49 Meet Mary Peterson02:12 How We Met in Cru03:46 What Cru Does Worldwide06:11 Marys Faith Origin Story08:06 Called to the Unreached10:59 Trauma and Ministry Realities13:51 Great Commission vs Commandment18:05 Crisis Debriefing Tools20:11 Presence Over Fixing24:31 Stages of Grief and Lament27:46 Turning Toward Soul Care28:03 Crisis Leadership Burnout28:59 War Zone Wake Up Call30:20 Sabbatical And Soul Care31:27 Structure And Cohort Support33:20 Quarterly Solitude Retreats36:22 Fruit Of Stepping Away37:40 Modeling Rest In Leadership40:05 Favorite Soul Care Practices42:56 Finiteness And Discernment47:30 What Your Soul Needs49:14 Moving Toward Pain50:34 Closing Thanks And Farewell
13 Aug 2026
The Sabbatical Blueprint: Rebuilding Your Soul's Health From the Ground Up w/ Ryan Mehaffey
Mindy Caliguire welcomes Ryan Mehaffey to discuss soul care at the intersection of leadership and spiritual formation.
Ryan shares his later-in-life conversion to Christianity, shaped by a Jesuit education, a pivotal prayer experience, and a growing desire for a real relationship with Jesus.
He recounts a first season of burnout and “dark night of the soul” while at Red Bull, which led him to leave and eventually found Feast Over Famine to bridge business skill with ministry and impact work.
Ryan explains how spiritual direction differs from counseling and coaching by guiding the heart toward affection for Jesus.
He describes a recent sabbatical prompted by compassion fatigue and nervous-system collapse, including healing prayer timeline work, creating a sacred space at home, adopting Ignatian practices like noticing grace and consolation/desolation, and a family Examen practice he calls “High-Low Buffalo Gruffalo Jesuso,” ending with Isaiah 43 as encouragement.
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:16 Ryan Meets Jesus
04:03 Red Bull Restlessness
07:02 Ignatian Prayer Breakthrough
08:21 Leadership and Soul Care
14:48 Burnout and Dark Night
19:10 Feast Over Famine Vision
21:47 Spiritual Direction Explained
26:59 Formation Versus Sanctification
30:36 Sabbatical and Compassion Fatigue
32:12 Running on Empty
33:22 Adrenaline as Refuge
35:11 Nervous System Crash
36:37 Tools Stop Working
38:43 Choosing Sabbatical
39:56 Preparing to Unplug
41:33 Detox in Open Space
44:36 Sabbatical Is Release
47:44 Healing Timeline Method
49:43 Two Months to Unclog
54:20 Jesus in the Memory
58:31 Creating Sacred Space
01:01:10 Finding Space Anywhere
01:02:45 Grace Not Manufactured
01:04:41 Finding God Daily
01:05:34 Consolation Desolation
01:06:14 Examen As Rhythm
01:08:34 Family High Low
01:09:25 Buffalo Gruffalo Jesuso
01:13:15 Desire And Discernment
01:16:40 Releasing Transition Anxiety
01:19:50 Isaiah 43 Closing Blessing
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Apple Podcasts (US)
4.5 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
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