Why I Started The Threshold

 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

— Isaiah 43:18-19

 

Hey, I’m Glad You’re Here 💝

If you stumbled onto this space today, chances are you’re standing in a middle place.

Maybe life feels brilliantly messy right now. Maybe your faith feels alive, raw, and a little bruised all at the same time. Or maybe, just maybe, you are so deeply tired of pretending you have it all together when your internal dashboard is flashing warning lights.

If that’s you, take a deep breath and kick your shoes off. You’re in the right place.

Welcome to The Threshold. Where we meet God in the mess, and walk toward the promise.

Why I Started This

I started this space because I got profoundly tired of the gap.

You know the gap I’m talking about—the yawning chasm between Sunday morning church vibes and Monday morning reality. The distance between what we say from the pulpit and what we are actually white-knuckling our way through at home. The awkward silence between "just pray about it" and experiencing a full-blown panic attack at 2:00 AM.

I’m over the silence around the very things that shape us:joy, peace, contentment, grief, anxiety, financial stress, doubt, burnout, and stubborn, lingering hope.

And I need to drop the mask and be entirely honest with you from jump street: I am not standing safely on the other side of this. I’m right here on the threshold with you - blissfully living in the in between as most of us are.

For years, I’ve walked through heavy, sacred seasons of grief and holy lament. I even wrote a book about it! But typing "The End" on a manuscript didn't magically wipe away the mess of life. Instead, it taught me a liberating, soul-anchoring truth: God is not waiting for us to clean up our act. He meets us right in the middle of our questions.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

— Psalm 34:18

That is the kind of God we talk about around here. He’s near. He’s terrifyingly present. And He isn’t scared of your mess.

What Is A Threshold, Anyway?

In physical architecture, a threshold is the strip of wood or stone lying at the bottom of a doorway—the exact boundary line you step across to move from the outside world into a home, or from one room into another. It is neither fully outside nor fully inside; it is the space in between.

In a deeper, emotional, and spiritual sense, a threshold is any place of transition, waiting, or becoming. It’s that uncomfortable, charged space where you have left behind what was familiar, but you haven’t yet arrived at what’s next. It’s the tension between the question and the answer, the prayer and the breakthrough, the breaking and the healing.

• To Escape the "Sunday Mask": Too often, church culture and modern spaces trick us into thinking we can only show up when we've got it all together. The Threshold is called that because we refuse to wait until we've crossed the finish line to be honest. We meet right at the doorway—masks down, unfiltered, and real.

• Because God Meets Us in the Middle: Scripture is full of moments where God meets people right at the threshold—in the wilderness, in the waiting, and in the doorway of a brand-new, terrifying season. He doesn't wait for us to clean up our act or figure out our panic attacks before He shows up. He knocks on the door of the mess.

• To Honor the Journey: Healing isn't a single event; it's a process of walking through doors. By naming the space The Threshold, we are claiming it as a sanctuary. It’s a place where grief, mental health, doubt, faith, and joy all sit at the exact same table.

You aren't stuck; you're standing right on the threshold of a new thing. And this podcast is the place where we cross it together.

• Zephaniah 1:9 talks about those who “leap over the threshold”—stepping across lines of security into the unknown.
  
  
• Psalm 84:10 famously declares: “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Just standing at the threshold of His presence changes everything.
  
  
• But my absolute favorite is Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
  
  

Jesus isn't waiting in the pristine, polished living room of your life. He is standing right at the door, knocking on the mess, ready to pull up a chair and hang out in the in-between.

What We’re Getting Into Here

The Threshold is a high-intensity, zero-pretense mix of blog posts and podcast episodes where we tell the absolute truth. We are diving headfirst into:

1. Mental Health & The Soul: Tearing down the stigma around anxiety, depression, and burnout, and pairing practical tools with God’s peace (Philippians 4:6-7).
   
   
2. Money, Poverty & Provision: Real talk about broke seasons, blessed seasons, financial survival, and learning what contentment actually means when the budget is tight (Matthew 6:33).
   
   
3. Grief, Loss & Hope: Learning how to lament well, hold space for sorrow, and keep breathing when healing looks completely different than what we prayed for (John 11:35).
   
   
4. Faith & Real Life: How faith actually survives the corporate 9-to-5, relationship drama, leadership exhaustion, and trying to love humans when humans are hard to love (Galatians 6:2).
   
   

This isn't a museum of perfect answers. It's an interactive lab for Scripture, raw stories, and soul-care.

What’s Coming in Season 1: "Walking Through"

For the next 20 weeks, we are strapping in and walking through the wilderness together.

We’ll tackle why prayer sometimes feels like talking to a brick wall (Psalm 13:1). We’ll confront burnout, financial stress, and the deep aches of grief. And every few weeks, we’ll drop a "HOLD THE DOOR" episode—quick, punchy conversations with incredible people who have literally held the door open for me when life got dark.

This is for you if you're alive, breathing, and tired of cheap clichés. Whether you love Jesus with your whole heart right now or you're low-key mad, tired, or deeply confused, or you are none of the above—you belong here.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.”

— 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

An Invitation

You don't need a 3-point sermon or a polished testimony to walk through this door. You just need a pulse and a willingness to stand right here on the threshold with me.

• Subscribe to the podcast (links dropping soon!).
  
  
• Sign up for the blog so you never miss a post.
  
  
• Send this to your favorite human who needs a reminder that they aren't alone in the middle.
  
  

Whatever threshold you’re standing at today—holding your breath, bracing for impact, or looking for a spark of light—hear this:

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

— Deuteronomy 31:8

Grab your coffee, tea, or matcha, pull up a chair, and stay awhile.

With love and a whole lot of grace,

Pae 💛

Before You Go...

1. What threshold are you standing at right now?
   
   
2. Where do you need to feel God's fierce nearness today?
   
   

Drop a comment below and let’s talk about it.