Nancy Goudie

Many Christians struggle with opening up about what’s really going on in their lives. Church culture can sometimes dictate how we relate to one another. Many times people hide their true feelings to avoid being seen as having lack of faith. However, we hope that’s all about to change with Let’s Get Real, the exclusive new series on GOD TV that airs on Mondays at 9.30 pm.

You can watch the first episode above, hosted by Sue Eldridge of Presence Ministries International, who opens up this new and exciting talk show with the question “What does getting real mean?” The panel joining Sue to discuss this issue are Alison Wilson; Chris Larkin; and Marj Rossol. Also, special guest, Nancy Goudie joins the panel to share her testimony of overcoming grief and talk about her Spiritual Health Weekends.

Keeping it real is an issue many of us grapple with, Sue shares her struggle with not being able to relate to the impossibly beautiful images of slim women in ministry. But the reality is many women suffer from weight issues, learning to accept you’re loved by God, whatever shape you’re in is liberating, as many on the panel have discovered.

Chris Larkin says it’s important to be yourself and not be intimidated. Marj Rossol shares how when she was younger she tried to be who she thought people wanted her to be. “It’s been a journey for me finding out who God says I am, I’m a work in progress and learning to accept you’re loved unconditionally is liberating.”

The women grapple with what it means to be real, given that within church there are unspoken rules about appearance and demeanor. Sue felt out of place, not wired like church expectations and ‘standing out like a sore thumb’ in her short skirt and black eyeliner! But she soon realized she didn’t fit into the world either, with her love of God.

Alison candidly shares about how her traumatic childhood meant being real in church was difficult especially after someone prayed for her with the unspoken expectation that everything would be better. “The next time they asked me, I felt obliged to say, ‘yeah, yeah I’m feeling loads better’.. when in fact I wasn’t. It only reinforced my sense of disassociation with my real self.”

Where do we get our sense of reality?

The ladies talk about where we get our sense of reality. For some, it’s from films, TV, books, or the people they’re surrounded by. Nowadays it’s also social media, the impossibly beautiful images posted by EVERYONE. So ‘Let’s Get Real’ dives in, taking off the masks and grappling with what it means to be authentic. This is a place where anything and everything can be talked about as we discover what it means to be true to oneself, in the hopes it will set others free.

Special guest Nancy Goudie shares her heart-wrenching journey of losing her husband and having to reconcile the loss with what she was believing for? “God, where are You in all this?” This was a question that ultimately led her to surrender and say “God, I’m gonna trust You through this”. Have you suffered an unexpected loss? Check out Nancy’s book ‘Our Greatest Adventure’. Nancy also organizes ‘Spiritual Health Weekends‘ in the UK, where you can go and get a spiritual as well as physical pampering session.

As an honest ‘real’ kinda gal I find this series a refreshing look at what it means to be real. It takes on the airbrushed perfect images we so often see in the media, or the platitudes spoken in church settings. This has sometimes caused me grief because my honesty went against the unspoken rule of “keep it to yourself’, don’t show them how you really feel, they can’t handle it.”  This series promises to allow those of us with less than perfect bodies and lives a freedom we haven’t experienced before, so let’s get real, ladies!

Read more about Let’s Get Real including details of other episodes.

This article was written by UK author and speaker, Deborah Armin who is a graduate of the London School of Theology. Her book On My Way Home: One Woman’s Journey in Search of the Unknown God, is published by Authentic Media. Deborah is also a staff writer for GODTV.com.