Teresa, Michael, and Katherine open with blessings. Michael and Teresa had to tell his parents they’re giving up guardianship of their daughter, and both his mom and his dad, who is in the hospital, met the news with support. Katherine shares that she and the former friend she mentioned in an earlier episode have repaired their relationship and have gone almost a year without a fight. The song sample is “Splintered Eyes,” Katherine’s song about living with DID.

On the band side, the socials are growing and clips are uploaded to YouTube, with descriptions coming next. The hosts explain what Patreon members get: the rest of each song’s lyrics, background from each host, and writer and producer credits. They also share the goal of moving from demos to real recordings. Studio time and musicians cost $250 a month, which works out to 25 supporters at $5 a month. Michael and Colin are recording more modules for the Kadosh Media DIY podcasting course. Teresa’s water workshop is almost ready to hand off, and Discover Your Voice is headed to more book platforms next. Teresa and Michael have a new doctor, and Katherine explains why she poured out all her soda.

The rest of the episode is Teresa’s map, a companion to Katherine’s from last episode. It separates the layers people blur together when they call her childlike:

• blindness, and help that arrives as hands instead of a question
• adult autism and masking
• younger parts
• stacked days
• defensiveness
• the conflict cycle between Teresa and Katherine

Along the way, Teresa tells the stories of a stranger grabbing her cane and a viral video of a police officer leading her across a street. Katherine explains gaslighting and why she needs co-regulation. Michael asks why Katherine won’t use marijuana, and she gives her faith-based answer. Two of Teresa’s songs bring the conversation home: “Empathy” and “Heart’s Cry,” an apology. The episode closes with the meaning behind the thread colors on the cover art.

• Patreon (full lyrics and background for “Splintered Eyes,” “Empathy,” and “Heart’s Cry”): https://www.patreon.com/cw/raggedthread
• Ragged Thread Music: full episodes on Rumble, clips on YouTube [add links]
• Twitter/X: [add whose profile and the link]
• Email: raggedthreadmusic@gmail.com
• Kadosh Media (DIY podcasting course): https://kadoshmedia.com/
• Discover Your Voice: 31 Days to Faith-Based Podcasting by Teresa Blaes [add link]
• Celebrate Recovery: https://celebraterecovery.com/
• Podcast Movement: https://podcastmovement.com/
• Gaslight (1944 film), the source of the term “gaslighting”
• Previous episodes: Katherine’s map (Episode 8) and the episode about Teresa and Michael’s daughter [add links]

Teresa, Michael, and Katherine open by naming the spiritual attack they’ve felt since launching the show. Then they share updates. The Ragged Thread Music socials are filling out, with Instagram coming next. The revamped Patreon now has song descriptions and lyrics. The podcast is listed in about 10 directories, full episodes are headed to Rumble with clips on YouTube, and a website is planned. On the business side, Teresa is rebuilding the water filtration workshop and finishing a short story about a blind football player. Michael has a mega recording session planned for the Kadosh Media DIY podcasting course and is considering print-on-demand, which could mean a band t-shirt.

The rest of the episode is about the word “childlike.” Katherine reads a map she built with Grok to separate the layers people blur together when they call her childish or say she seems “about 14”:

• her autism as an adult
• younger parts in her dissociative system
• a silly, hyper discharge under heavy stress
• grief over a childhood she never got, which shows up as wonder and childlike faith

Three songs illustrate the layers: “Free,” “Isolation,” and Teresa’s “Heart of a Child.” Teresa and Michael respond, and Katherine walks through the attachment styles. The episode closes on labels versus identity in Christ. Next week, Teresa maps her own layers.

Teresa, Michael, and Katherine open with a sample of "Sharpened," a song Teresa wrote for the second album about what iron sharpening iron looks like in practice. After quick updates on the band's socials, new songs in progress (including Michael's "You're Never Alone"), Katherine's branding shift, and the first three recorded modules of the Kadosh Media DIY podcasting course, the episode turns personal. They share progress on paying down debt, health changes, their long relationship with caffeine, and Katherine's hard-won lessons on autistic burnout and capacity.

Then Teresa and Michael tell the story of their special needs daughter and the news that the guardian ad litem does not believe they would make good guardians, a blow that reopened years of fighting to remain her parents as blind parents. That same week, a broken budget agreement led to a fight in which hurtful things were said, including a threat of divorce. The three talk through contempt, integrity, and living "beneath the gray," then apologize to and forgive one another on air. The episode closes with a sample of "Beneath the Gray."

Teresa Blaes, Michael Blaes, and Katherine Sesow come off a week that hit from every direction, so Katherine sets a theme for the episode: tie as much as possible back to AI. Band updates open with two contenders for the band's theme song, "Another Knot" and "Strings" (the likely first single from the upcoming album Protected), and Patreon members get to vote. They announce the new YouTube channel. Teresa relaunches her water filtration ad with rewritten copy and moves the workshop date, and her devotional Discover Your Voice: 31 Days to Faith-Based Podcasting is heading to more platforms through IngramSpark. Michael updates Kadosh Media and the DIY podcasting workshop. On the personal side, Michael and Teresa face a financial setback that could cut much of their income, Katherine describes a rough trip to a Rosh Hashanah service in the Phoenix area (food poisoning and an unsettling encounter in a public restroom) and the new boundaries for her break, and there's good news about a long-awaited life insurance approval.

The AI conversation gets honest about how each of them uses it. Teresa uses it for marketing, her resume, and a novella about a blind football player. Michael uses it for business and to make Katherine's long Grok conversations readable with Claude. Katherine uses it as a verbal-processing sounding board alongside therapy, never as a replacement for therapy or for emotional support. They talk through where they draw lines: no self-driving cars, no letting AI interpret Scripture, no relationships with a machine, and keeping kids off it. Then a passing comment in one of Katherine's conversations becomes a Holy Spirit moment she calls "the braid." A true three-strand cord (Father, Son, Spirit) is set against a counterfeit one: shame, a false savior that preaches isolation and concealment, and feel-good Christianity. That leads into accountability, the refining fire, a viral Steven Furtick clip, and a prayer. They close with gratitude from Michael's step study, the Arizona move, an encouragement for skeptics to keep asking questions, Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ, and a call for 25 Patreon supporters to fund a year of studio time.

Teresa Blaes, Michael Blaes, and Katherine Sesow open with a laugh about AI "hallucinations" in their music, playing the gibberish intro the AI tacked onto Teresa's song "No White Flags," plus a clip of "The System," the first song Katherine ever produced. From there they get honest about a hard week as a band. A disagreement over the podcast cover turned into a five-hour conflict, and they unpack why: different working styles, spontaneous changes, and what autistic overwhelm and "open loops" feel like from the inside. They also cover band updates, including new worship songs Teresa has been writing, Katherine's upcoming two-week writing break, the Behind the Threads Patreon, and the challenge of getting live drums right for "Room at the Throne."

The second half goes deeper. Inspired by the movie The Forge, the three talk about discipleship, the lack of real depth in church community, and how churches can include people who can't drive. They share updates on health, Teresa's recovery from surgery, trauma and dissociation work, and the move to Arizona, then reflect on two sermons about confronting sin and accountability, using King David and Job as examples. The episode closes with a clear, simple invitation to know Jesus personally.

In this episode, Teresa, Michael, and Katherine catch up on band, business, and family updates woven together as "threads" in their lives.

Band: They're nearly finished regenerating 50-60 older songs and share a preview of a new track, "My Tank Is Full," inspired by Teresa feeling overwhelmed at a crowded gathering. They also discuss "God's Plan," a love song Teresa rewrote from Michael's original poem "Till Death Do Us Part," both destined for their Patreon.

Business: Teresa is launching a water quality workshop (Eventbrite, October 5th), balancing an ambitious project list against limited budget and staff. Michael discusses Kadosh Media, his podcast production company (kadoshmedia.com), including recovering from a server hack and building a new DIY podcasting course with his nephew Colin. They also mention their other shows: Blaes and Gotch (an NFL podcast), The Equipped Podcast (co-hosted with Valerie Rocha), The Teresa Blaes Show, and The Unresolved Life Podcast.

Family and health: The group opens up candidly about cash flow struggles, food addiction, physical health issues (diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, an upcoming decision about a hysterectomy), and recovering from a bladder surgery.

Autism and burnout: Katherine and Teresa, both autistic, give a detailed, personal explanation of autistic burnout, sensory overwhelm, masking, and co-regulation, using a recent Celebrate Recovery event as a real-world example.

Mental health and relationships: The conversation turns to living with dissociative identity systems (OSDD), how their "parts" interact, conflict patterns between Teresa and Katherine, and how they're working toward healthier regulation and communication, including taking a planned two-week break from close contact.

Spiritual growth: All three share progress and setbacks in devotionals, church attendance, and Celebrate Recovery step study, along with reflections on grace, conviction, and accountability.

Closing: The episode wraps with a discussion of aligning family values, an ongoing potential move to Arizona, and a reflection on discerning God's timing through "fruit" in one's life and relationships.

Resources Metioned

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/raggedthread

Email: raggedthreadmusic@gmail.com

Teresa's water workshop: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1998933881048?aff=oddtdtcreator

Protected: https://protectedbook.com/

Kadosh Media: https://kadoshmedia.com/

Unresolved Life: http://unresolved.life/

Equipped: https://theequippedpodcast.com/

Blaes and Gottsch: https://blaesandgottsch.com/

The Teresa Blaes Show: https://teresablaes.com/

Celebrate Recovery: https://celebraterecovery.com/

The episode opens with a preview of an early demo, "This Is Why We Pray," written by Michael, along with some playful back and forth about slang and generational differences. Michael is then interviewed. He talks about his belief that many Christians settle for a surface level relationship with God instead of pursuing real depth and intimacy. He shares his childhood: a father often away with the military, a mother who struggled with bipolar disorder and presented very differently at church than at home, and his years in Royal Rangers, a Christian scouting program, where he found a stable role model. He tells the story of the accident that led to his blindness and the day he accepted Christ shortly afterward. He opens up about his ongoing struggles with anger, people pleasing, codependency, and conflict avoidance, along with how Celebrate Recovery has helped him work through those patterns. The conversation shifts into the dynamics between all three hosts, including honest disagreements about marketing methods, business decisions, and differing communication styles. Katherine and Michael talk through some tension around persuasive marketing tactics and what it means to build a business on biblical principles rather than just what is proven to work. The episode closes with each host naming their musical influences, including Casting Crowns, Skillet, Project 86, NF, and Carrie Underwood.

Email: raggedthreadmusic@gmail.com

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/raggedthread

Celebrate Recovery: https://celebraterecovery.com/

Kadosh: https://kadoshmedia.com/

The episode opens with a band update. Teresa and Katherine share a couple of demo tracks, including a lighthearted spoof song about fighting with AI music tools and a more serious track about hidden pain, to give listeners a sense of the range they're working with. Patreon has officially been approved and is live. Teresa is then interviewed. She starts by pushing back on the idea that college is necessary for success, drawing on her own experience and the influence of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. She talks about who she is outside of being an entrepreneur, then moves into her personal history: coming to faith as a teenager after years of anger toward God, surviving over 200 eye surgeries, and losing her sight. She shares the story of her infant sister Mandy's murder and how that trauma shaped her for years afterward. She describes her own dissociative identity disorder diagnosis, how she began working with a mentor named Sonda to address it, and the differences between her healing process and Katherine's. She talks candidly about a period of gaming addiction that became a form of escape and control, and how God met her in the middle of that struggle. The episode also addresses the complicated history of how Teresa and Katherine's friendship began, the ethical concerns around a coaching relationship turning into a personal one, and the abusive patterns that developed as a result. Both women take ownership of their part in that history and describe the work they're doing to repair the relationship.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/raggedthread

Email: raggedthreadmusic@gmail.com

Protected: https://protectedbook.com/

Unresolved Life: http://unresolved.life/

BNG: https://blaesandgottsch.com/

Equipped: https://theequippedpodcast.com/

The Teresa Blaes Show: https://teresablaes.com/

Celebrate Recovery: https://celebraterecovery.com/

Be Loved and Be Love: https://youtube.com/@orionkelly?si=kd8UYltCO6lh2HfZ

Rich Dad Poor Dad: https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Anniversary-Middle/dp/B07QPQ8WBL

Sonda Allison: https://myrtleministries.com/