When it comes to addressing trauma in our stories, it can seem as though cultural expectations and the messages received as young boys can keep men from engaging in their pain and ultimately, experiencing true healing. How can men better address their stories of hurt and heartache in a way that helps them to move forward with both strength and tenderness?

Counselor and author Chris Bruno began to see a pattern emerge in his own story and in the countless others of those he counseled. Men who didn't receive a clear path in terms of their journey from boyhood to manhood and who didn't address their wounds, often struggled with maladaptive behavior patterns that hurt themselves and others. When there wasn't intentional attunement to their stories of pain, their lives and the ones around them were deeply impacted. It was through this realization that Chris based the work in his practice and his books in order to help men find a way through the terrain of their own hearts and lives into the healing and redemption that God intended. His latest book, Sage: A Man's Guide into his Second Passage, helps men navigate midlife and beyond.

In this deep conversation, Davey sits down with Chris to talk about how there is always a story behind our behaviors, the impact of how boys are raised in their emotional health as men, and the stages of every man's journey.

This episode is a reminder that God longs to enter into the painful parts of our story and help us find a way to turn that pain into tender strength for those around us.

Parenting is complicated whichever way you come into it. When grief and trauma are part of the equation, it can add even more layers to navigate. How do you sit in the messiness of adoption and fostering while learning to see the joys and the wins in the midst of it?

For Jillana Goble, it has been through the challenges of parenting via birth, foster care, and adoption that she has learned to welcome the invitations the Lord offers in the tensions of it all. As she said yes to the difficulties and joys, she has seen her own understanding of God and family widen in an unimaginable way. She has learned that parenting of any kind does not come with a road map or a formula with a promise, but rather it is the small, daily obediences to say yes to loving our children well in all circumstances. It is there that we begin to see God show up in places that were once thought to be irrevocably broken.

In this conversation, Davey sits down with Jillana to discuss the often complicated nature of adoption and fostering that we don't always see as well as how understanding how integrated we are-mind, body and soul-can help us love kids who have gone through unfathomable loss and trauma and how in it all, Jesus shows up in the mess.

Whether you have adopted or fostered or know someone who has, this episode will help you see that God invites us to know Him more through the imperfect and often difficult stories we all walk through.

Perhaps one of the greatest questions that comes after trauma or tragedy is how do we help our kids navigate pain? What do we as parents need to look for after loss or in the everyday struggles that kids are facing? When do we need to bring in an expert to help and what can we do in the in between?

David Thomas knows all too well the questions that emerge when families encounter crisis and the everyday difficulties plaguing our children. As a licensed counselor at Daystar Counseling in Nashville, TN, he has met with hundreds of kids and has walked with them through all sorts of challenges from trauma, grief and loss to anxiety and depression. What he has noticed in his clinical experience is that above all else, kids need parents willing to do the same emotional work of healing that they are wanting for their children. When we as parents start to look at our own stories, we can better help our children through theirs.

In this practical and timely conversation, Davey sits down with David to discuss why we need to do our own work as parents, the importance of following our child's lead after pain, understanding behavior as communication as well as how to help kids navigate anxiety and technology.

If you are struggling to know what to do with the pain or challenges your child is experiencing, this episode is full of helpful wisdom to help you parent well in the midst of it.

So often, we tend to think very little about our story and how our past impacts our present. But, what if the key to healing the wounds we are experiencing now is inextricably tied to engaging our whole story including our past?

For professional counselor and podcaster Adam Young, it was when he began to engage his story, the wounds of his past and his family of origin, that he started to see the ways in which God wanted to meet him in his pain. This idea of not just dealing with the symptoms of past wounds, but looking at the arc of our lives became the most important tool Adam had in his private practice with others who were wanting to heal from the past. It also connected perfectly with what we know to be true about the human brain and how it makes sense of the things that have happened to us.

In this deeply profound conversation, Davey and Adam talk about why it is so important to engage our stories, the difference between trauma and adversity, how to handle people who have wounded us, and how this work can lead to healing and health in our relationships, including our closest ones like in our marriage.

If you've ever wondered how to connect the dots between your earliest memories and what you are experiencing now, this episode is full of insightful wisdom on how to step into your story with compassion and curiosity.

How can we begin to process our stories after a life-altering loss? Where can hope be found in the midst of insufferable pain? How do we connect the dots and find God's hand in our lives when suffering overshadows?

For Joan Kelley, those were difficult questions to answer after losing her teenage son, Will, to cancer. Yet, she found healing through looking at her life and the ways God has shown up, even in her worst pain. By going back in her own story, she has since been able to help walk alongside others in theirs by offering a listening ear or spiritual direction. And she has used what pain has taught her to bring hope and healing to those she encounters. While Joan knows she doesn't have all the answers, her journey has brought incredible lessons of faith, endurance, and how God can be trusted even in our darkest seasons.

In this episode, Davey sits down to talk with Joan about how everyone can use their unique wirings to bring hope to the hurting, why we have to make the time for our grief, and how processing your own story is pivotal in whatever healing path you are on.

Whatever the loss, Joan's story reminds us that we can all get to the place in our grief where we can still dare to hope.