Welcome to Closer, the podcast! I am your host, Molly Ovenden. I’m the author of the book, Closer: Spiritual Reflections for Writers & Thinkers and its Companion Journal.  While the book began as a series of journal entries I shared with ladies in my small group during a turning point time in my life, it morphed into a book when my friends told me my thoughts were encouraging and that they belong in a book! Once I released Closer: Spiritual Reflections for Writers & Thinkers on the 30th June 2022, I had a lot of feedback about how beneficial the writing prompts and questions for reflection were. That led to the creation of Closer: Companion Journal for Writers & Thinkers which takes the concepts of the book and provides a method of prompts for digging deeper, or simply spurring you on in your creative writing habit–no matter the genre. I proudly released this companion journal in Autumn 2022. As time went on I heard from readers like you who were curious to grow in the benefits of the journaling practice. That’s when I developed my “Get Closer to God with Journaling” workshop.  So much from conversations with readers and teaching the workshop, led to the creation of what you’re listening to right now. I wrote Closer as a way to have a coffee chat with you the reader and me the author and to process some of the everyday mundane in which God might be speaking to us. Closer, the podcast is an extension of that conversation with friends and also offers creative coaching top tips for journaling as a spiritual practice to help you draw nearer to God in writerly exploration.  And I wanted to honor the process of the book’s development and acknowledge its longevity, so the podcast released on the 30 June 2023 in celebration of its first book birthday! I hope you enjoy listening to Closer, the podcast either on your own or in conjunction with reading the book with a small group of friends. Each episode, releasing weekly on Fridays, features either a conversation with a friend about one of the reflections and how they relate to it in their own lives or a practical writing and journaling tip for you to try out. I pray that these conversations and reflections would resonate deeply in your heart and build you up. I pray that you would courageously begin to journal and peacefully begin to reflect as a spiritual practice. And ultimately, I pray that through this process you’d heal, you’d know how loved you are, and that you’d draw closer to God. You are not alone.I’m Molly Ovenden–I’m so glad your here. Grab your book, a journal, and a cup of your favorite drink…I look forward to our coffee chats together. Welcome to Closer, the podcast! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/molly-ovenden6/message