You Were Made for This
You were made for fulfilling relationships. Listen each week to stories of people finding hope and encouragement in their relationships so that you can too. Host and award-winning author John Certalic, together with his guests, share principles of life-giving relationships.
John’s relationship story starts with his birth to a single mother and placement in foster care for the first 16 months of his life. From this comes four different careers, 53 years of marriage to the same wife, and much he has learned about relationships. John draws from all this, along with inspiring stories from his guests, to share how you can find more fulfillment in the relationships you were made for.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 16 minutes
- Episodes
- 225
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
026: When You Don't Know What to Do
When relationships problems stare us in the face, we sometimes freeze, retreat, and do nothing. Today’s episode suggests another approach for when we just don’t know what to do.
The four years I spen…
025: The Toughest Job in America
No matter how difficult our job, there are ways to view our work and daily responsibilities that can bring out the best in us, and draw us closer to God. Listen in to learn how to be encouraged when …
024: Learning From Our Listeners
There’s a richness to learning together in community. Today’s episode is listeners sharing what they’ve learned so far in this podcast, which will hopefully encourage and stimulate your thinking abou…
023: Reminding Each Other of Our Own Stories
“The most powerful words in the English language are ‘tell me a story,’” says Pat Conroy. Today’s episode contains two relationship stories that illustrate the power of doing something small that ach…
022: Pay it Forward with Our Stories
Relationships are often built upon what we learn from others who share their stories with us. We grow when their story becomes part of our story, so we then have something to pay it forward to others…
021: The Most Important Relationship of All
Relationships are important, but there is one that is more important than all others. What we decide about that relationship will set the trajectory for the rest of our life. Listen in to learn more.…
020: Relating with People Who Talk Too Much
What should our relationship be with people who talk too much or otherwise annoy us? Should we write them off as too self-absorbed and move on? Or is there another way to relate? Today’s episode expl…
019: Encouraged by a Millennial and Her Gen Z Sister
Our relationships are enriched and encouraged when we get to know people outside our own generational and relational box. Today’s show brings encouragement in abundance from a Millennial and her Gene…
018: Two Sisters - Part 2
Today I want to finish the interview we started in last week’s episode 17, ” Two Sisters - Part 1.” If you listened to that show you may recall that I spoke with two sisters in their ’20’s, Hannah an…
017: Two Sisters - Part 1
I recently had breakfast with a pastor friend who retired last year. A very young 70-old guy who is now off doing other meaningful things with his life. Among other things, Mike and I talked about th…
016: Two Ways to Care for a Missionary
Relationships between missionaries and those who send them are designed to be mutually beneficial. Today’s episode describes how to care for that relationship, and what the people back home get in re…
015: When There Are No Words
One relationship situation that can be a challenge for a lot of us is relating to someone grieving the death of a loved one. Before we delve into this issue, I want to share some Listener Responses t…
014: Relationship Skills - Level 4
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 14, Relationship Skills - Level 4. This episode is the last of our series on the 4 levels of relationship skills. But before we dive into this topic, I want to …
013: Relationship Skills - Level 3
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 13, Relationship Skills - Level 3. If you are a first time listener, please know that this podcast is all about relationships and transforming them into the best…
012: Relationship Skills - Level 2
In episode 11 last week I mentioned that the first step in improving our relationship skill is to assess the level we are it in our relational development. Knowing our starting point helps us see wha…
011: Relationship Skills - Level 1
Last week in episode 10, I talked about the two features found in every good relationship, the first being want. The desire to want the relationship to be the best it can be, as evidenced by taking a…
010: Two Features of Every Good Relationship
If you’ve listened to any of our previous episodes you’ll know by now that this podcast is all about relationships. Relationships are what we are all made for. Fulfilling, life-giving relationships. …
009: Shadows Connect Us with Each Other
In last week’s episode 8, I was going to comment at the end about my interview with Charley and Ruth Shirley, but our executive producer, Carol thought that would detract from what they had to say. S…
008: How a Wife and her Daughter Brought Healing
Hello and welcome to all our listeners to episode 8. Today’s show is a day of firsts. It’s the first episode of 2019 - Happy New Year, by the way - and it’s also the first interview we’re doing in th…
007: The Year in Review. The Year Ahead.
Welcome to episode 7, the year in review and the year ahead. I like to think of it as the best of 2018. But since we only started on November 28th, it’s also the ALL of 2018.
By way of a brief review…