Cleave: The Podcast

Episode 61. The Emperor’s New Clothes: When a Family Is More Committed to the Image Than the Truth

What happens when a family becomes more committed to protecting its image than confronting the truth? The Emperor’s New Clothes was written nearly 200 years ago, but it

Episode 60. Father’s Day Hurts: Grief, Father Wounds, and the Legacy of Good Men

Father’s Day can bring up a lot more than celebration. For some, it brings gratitude. For others, it brings grief, longing, anger, regret, or the ache of a relationship

Episode 59. Q&A Part 2 | Reconciliation Without Accountability?

Description Can reconciliation happen if someone refuses to acknowledge what they did? In Part 2 of this Q&A conversation, we talk about what reconnecting should look l

Episode 58. Q&A Part 1 | Honoring Parents Without Enabling Dysfunction

Description What does it really mean to honor your parents as an adult — especially when the relationship has become painful, controlling, or unhealthy? In Part 1 of th

Episode 57. We Don’t Talk About Bruno: Encanto, Family Trauma & The Scapegoat Story

Was Encanto really about magic… or was it about family trauma? In this episode of Leave Then Cleave, Jon and Ashley unpack Disney’s Encanto through the lens of family sy

Episode 56. Love Is Not Compliance: The First Truth of Christlike Boundaries

For many Christians, the hardest part of setting a boundary is not the boundary itself. It is the guilt. The fear that saying no means you are selfish. The fear that ne

55. How to Recognize the Fruits of True Repentance

How can you tell if someone has truly repented? In this episode of Leave Then Cleave, Jon and Ashley talk about one of the most confusing dynamics in faith-based familie

54. When They Won’t Change | Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Christlike Boundaries

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Rachel Wood on boundaries. In Part 1, we talked about why boundaries are not unchristlike, how people-pleasing can become a form

53. Boundaries Are Not Unchristlike | Why Love Requires Truth, Agency, and Self-Respect

One of our most-listened-to conversations is back. This episode originally aired a couple of years ago, when our podcast had a different name and a much smaller audience

52. Boundaries Didn’t Ruin Our Life. They Gave It Back.

If you are afraid that setting boundaries, going no contact, or disappointing your family will ruin your life, this episode is for you. Most conversations about boundari

51: When Faith Gets Weaponized | Peacemaking, Boundaries, and Spiritual Control

What do you do when a sermon, a Bible verse, a conference talk, or a spiritual principle gets used against you? In this episode, we talk about a painful dynamic many peo

50: Q & A Part 2 | How to Stop Letting Family Live Rent Free in Your Mind | Discussing Marriage, Siblings, and No Contact

What do you do when your spouse has not fully left and cleaved? Why do siblings experience the same family so differently? And how do you stop letting unhealthy family dy

49. Q&A Part 1 | When Boundaries Feel Like Family Drama | Covering Guilt, Change, and Helping Kids Grieve

How do you know if you are setting a healthy boundary… or just creating more family drama? In Part 1 of this Q&A episode, Jon and Ashley respond to some of the most comm

48. Holy Saturday: What God Is Doing in the Silence

Holy Saturday is the day in between. Friday’s pain has already happened. Sunday’s redemption is coming. But today… it can still feel quiet. In this Holy Week episode

47. Love Stayed | Good Friday, Suffering, Grief & the Hope of Christ

Good Friday brings us to one of the most sacred and sobering moments in all of scripture: the cross. This is the day when betrayal, grief, abandonment, and suffering se

46. Jesus Did Not Bypass Agony | Holy Thursday, Gethsemane & Faith in Suffering

Holy Thursday brings us to one of the most sacred and deeply human moments in all of scripture: The Garden of Gethsemane. This is the night Jesus is not before the crow

45. Jesus Was Not Betrayed by Strangers | Holy Wednesday, Family Betrayal & Christian Healing

Holy Wednesday confronts us with one of the most painful truths in all of scripture: Jesus was not betrayed by strangers. He was betrayed by someone inside the circle.

44. Holy Tuesday: Not Everyone Who Sounds Spiritual Is Safe | By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

Holy Tuesday gives us one of the most sobering lessons of Holy Week: not everyone who sounds spiritual is safe. Jesus was not hardest on weakness. He was hardest on wh

43. Holy Monday | Jesus Was Gentle With the Broken—But Not With What Exploited the Sacred

On Holy Monday, Jesus does something many Christians do not know what to do with: He cleanses the temple. He overturns tables. He drives things out. He disrupts what ev

42. Palm Sunday, People-Pleasing, and the Cost of Following Jesus

On Palm Sunday, the crowds welcomed Jesus with praise, palm branches, and celebration. But beneath that moment was a painful tension: many people were not surrendering to