For the Christian who's tired, truthful, and trying

Hi, I’m Johanna Walsh—wife, mom, teacher, writer, and self-proclaimed “matte” Christian.For years, I quietly believed I was the only one failing at faith.Then one morning, I woke up with a prompting:“Speak.”Called Anyway is my response.

About the podcast

I knew nothing about podcasting. So I learned just enough to make the thing anyway.Called Anyway is a literary Christian memoir about the quiet ways God continues to call ordinary people who feel anything but equipped.Through honest storytelling, humor, personal failures, and unexpected grace, each episode explores what it looks like to follow Jesus in real life.Every conversation begins with a single verse that is lived in, wrestled with, and woven through everyday life until its meaning slowly reveals itself.Best served with a cup of coffee in car lines, waiting rooms, late-night rocking chairs, or on slow walks when you need words that tell the truth, gently.

This is not a podcast about getting faith right.It is a podcast about continuing to say yes anyway.

Episode 01:
Bad at Christianity

This episode explores spiritual inconsistency, the lies we believe about ourselves, and the gap between the Christian we think we should be and the person we actually are. What happens when God meets us there anyway?

Episode 02:
The Leftovers

This episode explores spiritual leftovers: the stale, distracted, worn-out pieces of ourselves we bring to God at the end of the day. Does Jesus still want what remains when everything else has already taken its share? Does he care?

Episode 03:
My One Friend

This episode explores friendship, vulnerability, and the ordinary relationships God uses to draw people toward Himself. What happens when honesty replaces self-protection—and when God answers through everyday friendship?

Episode 04:
Pop-Off Queen

This episode explores family patterns, anger, identity, and the difficult work of deciding what gets passed on—and what stops with us. What happens when the traits we’ve always laughed about become the traits we recognize in ourselves?

Episode 05:
Love Letters

This episode explores heartbreak, first love, spiritual longing, shame, and the quiet ways God remains present through every season of life. When the writing stops but the conversation continues, can intimacy with God survive time and distance?

Episode 06:
Curse Breaker

This episode explores caregiving, inherited family patterns, therapy, shame, grace, and the slow work of learning a different way. Are cycles truly passed down or simply repeated? What becomes possible when truth finally has a voice?

Listen Now

All Season One Episodes Available Now!

New episodes unfold slowly, like chapters in a book.

Let’s Chat

Whether you're carrying a caregiving question, motherhood story, or a chapter of family history you're still learning to name—you're welcome here.