Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 244- When Everything Changes with Kelli Campbell-Goodnow

There are moments in life where in an instant, everything changes. How do you choose joy when your whole life is blindsided by pain? How do you find hope when you don't even know what the next hour may bring?

For Kelli Campbell-Goodnow, she never imagined the turn her life would take one night in January 2016. As she went to sleep, her life was good with her loving husband, United States Marine CH-53 pilot Major Shawn Campbell and her four children that she homeschooled at their dream duty station in Hawaii. But when she awoke, she got the call that every military wife fears, there had been an accident. For five days, rescue workers searched for the wreckage of a two helicopter collision off the coast. Soon thereafter, the search ended and Shawn was among the twelve Marine lives lost.

Kelli would have to immediately step into a completely unknown life. She would pack up her home and move across the country to be with family. She would decide to put her kids in school instead of homeschooling. And she would remind herself that while everything around her was changing, God did not.

Davey and Kelli discuss why it is important to pay attention to the small details of our stories as they unfold, the daily act of surrender that grief requires of us, and the ways we can trust God even when our lives change completely.

Kelli's story will help you face whatever circumstances you are in with a determined perspective to see God in the midst of it.

Read More
Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 243- Making Your History Your Ally Instead of Your Enemy with Blake Williams

Losing a spouse is devastating. Losing a spouse to suicide is full of layers of pain and questions. How do you even begin to wrap your mind around such a traumatic event and how do you walk your children through their pain? What do you do when a new tragedy stirs up your past wounds and hurts from your childhood?

Blake Williams has spent the last year navigating those questions and so many more after losing his wife, Hope, to suicide. Having wrestled with mental health issues and chronic pain, Hope took her life in the couple's home and Blake found himself in the middle of a story he had never imagined for himself or his five children. As he has started to heal and move forward, the pain was a reminder of some of the past lies that haunted him his whole life after being abandoned and rejected by his parents. Blake could have easily allowed the old scripts he so often felt in his life to become his reality, but instead, he decided to shift his perspective from that of a victim into a victor.

In this transparent conversation, Davey and Blake talk about the importance of not allowing our past to dictate our future, the paradigm shift that is necessary to keep us from going under from our hurt, and the value in learning to speak truth to the lies we are believing.

You'll be encouraged to look through a different lens when it comes to your history, no matter what you have experienced.

Read More
Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 242- Growing Our Soul Through Loss with Jerry Sittser

There are some stories with such unfathomable pain that it can seem impossible to ever see a glimpse of redemption throughout them. When the depth of heartbreak is so great, how can you ever see the light of goodness again?

Jerry Sittser has walked a road of catastrophic loss that most of us cannot even imagine. In 1991, Jerry and his wife and children were hit head on by a drunk driver. In an instant, life as Jerry knew it was completely over as the wreck claimed the life of his wife, his young daughter, his mother and the wife and unborn child of the other driver. There in the complete wreckage of his life, Jerry slowly began to learn how the must excruciating of suffering can grow the soul in unimaginable ways. The lessons Jerry learned through his own grief have served as a healing balm to many through his groundbreaking book, A Grace Disguised. Recently revised for a 25th Anniversary edition, Jerry vulnerably shared how grief has not only changed him, but grown him in ways that only suffering can. Through his story, he recognizes how all griefs, whether comparable or not to his own, invite us to step in to a grace that transforms us.

In this episode, Davey talks with Jerry about how experience can and ultimately has to be, the catalyst for our growth, the tensions that exist in pain and suffering, and how to step into the questions that inevitably come from our greatest pain.

With a hard won wisdom, a theological richness, and a profound outlook, Jerry's insight will help you process any grief you've experienced through a completely new lens. This conversation is one you'll want to listen to more than once as you glean from the deep well of Jerry's experience and wisdom.

Read More
Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 236 - Seeing Your Significance in Singleness with Mandy Hale

So often when it comes to the topic of singleness, there is this sense that many believe significance comes only when you finally find "the one." But the truth is, leading a life full of purpose doesn't have to wait until there is a significant other. In fact, singleness, no matter how long that season lasts, can be a fulfilling, purposeful time that the Lord uses in your life and in the lives of those around you.

For Mandy Hale, it was coming to this realization that provided her the freedom to find joy in fulfilling her life's purpose as a single woman. Rather than focusing on the one kind of love she didn't have, she learned to see the love all around her through friendship, community, and family. She was able to connect with others through her writing and not get in stuck in waiting for a future with her present right in front of her.

In this episode, Davey talks with Mandy about finding purpose right where you are, the impact the pandemic and other difficult life events can have on a single person, and paying attention to the love you already have in your life.

Whether you are single or just waiting for something in your life, this conversation will remind you to choose to live fully in whatever circumstances you find yourself in.

Read More
Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 235 - The Heartbreak and the Healing with Blanca

Sometimes life can break your heart after one unexpected tragedy. But, what about when circumstances seems to break your heart all throughout your story? How do you find healing when it seems heartache is woven into the fabric of your life?

For Christian recording artist Blanca, it felt like her whole life was marred by heartbreak. As a child, she was a victim of sexual abuse. As an adult, she lost both her parents and went through a devastating divorce. Finding healing in life when it seemed like the pieces were shattered has been difficult, but through her journey with the Lord, through her music and with the help of a counselor, Blanca has begun to experience healing from her wounds.

In this episode, Davey sits down with Blanca to talk about facing the pain in order to heal, the value in sharing your healing process with others, and how creativity can be a tool God uses to mend a broken heart.

Healing is never an easy endeavor, but Blanca's story is proof that God is in the business of binding up the wounds of the brokenhearted.

Read More