Ain’t That Good Podcast

09/07/2026

Welcome back to The Power of Permission.

Today, we’re talking about permission to dream.

A dream is a mental picture of a future possibility. It’s high on inspiration, but often low on structure. It’s a deep desire for how we hope the future could look.

But dreaming takes courage.

Because to dream, we have to be willing to imagine something that does not yet exist. We have to risk disappointment. We have to live with uncertainty. We have to believe that the future could look different than the present.

And maybe that’s why all the permissions we’ve talked about throughout this series matter so much.

We need permission to belong so we don’t have to prove our worth through the dream.

Permission to be human so we can have limits, setbacks, emotions, and needs along the way.

Permission over perfection so we can begin before we have everything figured out.

Permission to rest so we don’t burn out before the dream has time to grow.

Permission to play so we don’t lose our joy and creativity.

Permission to tell the truth, set boundaries, forgive, break old agreements, and rewrite the stories that have kept us stuck.

And finally, permission to begin—to take that first faithful step.

All of those permissions create the freedom we need not only to dream the dream, but to become the person capable of carrying it.

Joseph gives us a powerful picture of this. He received a dream when he was young, but the fulfillment came years later—and not through the route he would have expected or preferred. The dream was real, but the process shaped him. God used the waiting, the disappointment, the leadership, the loss, and even the detours to prepare Joseph for what the dream would eventually require of him.

So today, we’re not just asking, “What do I want my future to look like?”

We’re asking:

What has God placed in my heart?

What have I stopped dreaming about because I was afraid to hope again?

Who do I need to become to faithfully carry what I’m asking God for?

And am I willing to trust God if the fulfillment looks different than the picture I originally imagined?

Because faith gives us permission to dream big—but surrender keeps our hands open.

You have permission to imagine what could be.

You have permission to hope again.

You have permission to dream.

08/31/2026

Welcome back to The Power of Permission.

Today we’re talking about one of the hardest permissions to live out: permission to forgive.

Forgiveness can feel complicated because sometimes the hurt was real, the apology never came, the relationship was never repaired, and the person who wounded us may never fully understand what they caused.

So we hold on.

We replay the conversation. We revisit the offense. We keep score. And sometimes, without realizing it, we allow the wound to become part of our identity.

But forgiveness is not saying, “It didn’t matter.”

It is saying, “It mattered deeply, but I will not let it have the final word.”

Biblical forgiveness does not excuse sin, remove consequences, erase boundaries, or automatically restore trust. It is the decision to release the debt into God’s hands and refuse to let bitterness continue shaping our hearts.

Jesus tells Peter not to forgive just seven times, but seventy-seven times—not because pain is insignificant, but because mercy is meant to become a way of life.

Today we’ll talk about what forgiveness is, what it isn’t, how unforgiveness can quietly shape our identity, and what it looks like to trust God with justice while choosing freedom for ourselves.

Because sometimes forgiveness is less about setting the other person free and more about refusing to remain imprisoned by what they did.

You can remember the story without continuing to carry the weight of it.

You have permission to forgive.

08/24/2026

Welcome back to The Power of Permission.

Today, we’re talking about the freedom to rewrite the story.

Every one of us lives from a story. Some parts were shaped by what happened to us. Others were formed by what people said about us, what we learned to believe, or the labels we carried for years.

Maybe your story sounds like:

“I’m not enough.”

“People always leave.”

“I have to earn love.”

“I’ll never change.”

“This is just who I am.”

The problem is not that painful chapters exist. The problem is when we allow one chapter to become the title of the whole book.

But what if the story you have been living from is not the story God is telling?

Throughout Scripture, God meets people in broken places and gives them a new future. Abram becomes Abraham. Jacob becomes Israel. Peter’s failure becomes restoration. Paul’s past becomes a testimony.

God does not deny what happened. He redeems it.

Rewriting the story does not mean pretending the pain was not real, minimizing the past, or erasing consequences. It means refusing to let your wounds, failures, or family patterns have the final word.

Today, we’ll explore the stories we inherited, the lies we accepted, and the truth God speaks over our identity. We’ll talk about how healing can interrupt generational patterns and how grace allows us to carry the past differently.

Your history may explain parts of you, but it does not have the authority to define you.

Your worst chapter is not your whole story.

The Author is still writing.

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08/23/2026

08/22/2026

Sometimes permission to begin something new doesn’t mean starting a new hobby, chasing a new dream, or completely changing your life.

Sometimes it simply means trying a NEW approach to an OLD problem.

This is Tonya’s daughter, Lydia.

After sitting in a parking garage for over 2½ hours waiting for help that was supposed to arrive in 30 minutes—and then discovering the number we had called was a scam—she finally decided:

I’m going to figure this out.

So she did something she had never done before.

She began the process of changing a flat tire. (shout out to Cale Edmonds who later came to help finish the process.)

Was she an expert? No.

Had she done it before? No.

Did she have every step perfectly figured out before she started? Also no.

But she started.

And sometimes that’s what beginning looks like.

It’s deciding that the way you’ve always handled something doesn’t have to be the way you handle it next time.

It’s being willing to learn.

To try.

To look a little unsure.

To get your hands dirty.

To say, “I’ve never done this before, but I can learn.”

We often think we need confidence before we begin, but so often confidence is built because we began.

Maybe the new thing in front of you isn’t a brand-new opportunity.

Maybe it’s simply a new response to an old frustration.

A new boundary.

A new conversation.

A new way of thinking.

A new willingness to try.

You don’t have to know how to do the whole thing before you begin. Sometimes you just have to be willing to pick up the first tool.

Permission granted. ❤️

08/21/2026

Mahjong was not on my bingo card for this year. 😆

This week’s episode of Ain’t That Good was all about giving yourself Permission to Begin—and apparently that includes learning mah-jongg

Here’s what I’m learning: not everything has to be productive, profitable, or lead to mastery. Sometimes it’s enough to be new. To laugh at yourself. To ask questions. To be a beginner.

Turns out, beginnings can be a lot more fun when you stop trying to be good at everything.

What’s something you’ve tried for the first time recently?

08/19/2026

Not everything has to become something.

Sometimes you don’t need a five-year plan.
You don’t need to monetize it.
You don’t need to master it.

Sometimes it’s enough to simply try something new because it’s fun.

Play for play’s sake.
Learn for learning’s sake.
Laugh at the bad swings.
Enjoy being a beginner.

What if the goal wasn’t excellence?
What if the goal was simply experiencing something you’ve never done before?

Turns out, that’s a pretty good place to begin.


Chelsey Warmack Smith

08/18/2026

Many of you regularly like, comment on, and share our content—and we are so grateful. ❤️

But here’s something that surprised us:

43% of the people who engage with our content don’t actually follow our pages or subscribe to the podcast.

If Ain’t That Good has encouraged you, challenged you, strengthened your faith, or reminded you that you’re not alone, would you take a moment to:

✨ Follow our social media pages
🎙️ Subscribe to the podcast
📲 Share it with a friend

Following and subscribing helps ensure you never miss a new episode when our podcast seasons are live, and it helps more people discover conversations that point them toward hope, healing, and purpose.

Remember: God is the reframer of our lives, making all things new because we ain’t that good.

Tag a friend who should join the conversation. 💜

08/18/2026

If you haven’t listened to the podcast that dropped today stop everything and do it now!
Here’s one way I determined to be a beginner. The guitar didn’t work out because of my small hands so I improvised and got a ukulele. Enjoy 🤣