We often think of our perfect life as being very peaceful. We want everything to be neat and tidy, and any chaos or messes are obstacles to be eliminated. But when an encounter with a homeless man changed her life forever, Ginger Spouse began to wonder if the best that God has for us isn’t a perfectly clean life, but one where we embrace the messiness that He brings us. Ginger sits down with Davey to share what God did through her willingness to invite chaos into her life, and what that means for each of us.

Misty Phillip’s story is not an easy one. Through loss, rape, abortion, suicidal thoughts, stillbirth, and more, she’s walked through darker valleys than most could imagine. With everything she’s gone through, it would be hard to blame her for turning her back on God. After all, who could believe in a good God in the face of so much hurt? Instead, she’s learned to walk closer with God through every painful step of her journey. Misty sits down with Davey to share some of her story and what she’s learned through unfathomable hardship.

Born into a life defined by poverty and crime, LaMorris Crawford had a pretty tough childhood. The orphaned son of a teenage mother, LaMorris looked for anything he could find to numb his pain. Sports, popularity, drugs — all the coping mechanisms available to a poor young kid were not enough. All of that changed when LaMorris had a radical encounter with Jesus. Once a poor kid with little hope for a future, he now works as a traveling evangelist and the chaplain for the Cincinnati Bengals. LaMorris joins Davey to talk about his story of transformation, how he’s finding redemption in the worst aspects of his own history, and some of the chances he’s had to share the hope he’s found with others.

The picture of life that existed in a young Justine Froelker’s mind was beautiful. She was a girl with a passion for dance, and she planned to make that dream her reality. But those dreams were shattered when mysterious pains landed her in the hospital, and she spent her high school years in and out of hospitals, surgeries, and body casts. Years later, Justine felt the ripple effect of these trials and another dream she had died when she found herself unable to have children. Now, as an author, speaker, and counselor, Justine spends her life taking the lessons she’s learned in her valleys and helping others walk through theirs. She sits down with Davey to share how she’s rewriting her painful story and teaching others to do the same.

No parent should ever have to bury their child. The amount of pain that comes with that experience is unfathomable, a grief so strong it defies words. Tammie Brenton knows this all too well. When her daughter Madi found herself in the hospital after the birth of her second child, everything changed for Tammie and her family. Through misdiagnoses and failed treatments, transplants and seeming recoveries, they walked through the ups and downs of a years-long battle with this disease. Tammie sits down with Davey to share her fresh story of grief and how she found God’s presence every step of the way.

“Cancer.” It’s the word none of us wants to hear on the other end of a phone call or a conversation. It’s the ultimate boogeyman of all disease, containing a thousand worst-case scenarios and unimaginable trials in just one word. When Joanna Dennstaedt was diagnosed with skin cancer, it sent her into an incredibly low place. But in the midst of her valley, Joanna found purpose in her pain. The valley that Joanna found herself in is all too common, and God was going to use her to minister to the people that she found herself walking alongside in this difficult season.

The enneagram is one of the most popular tools for understanding personality. It’s become a frequent topic of conversation, the subject of endless memes, jokes, and lighthearted discussion. But while these things are fun, they barely begin to scratch the surface of what the enneagram has to offer. The depth of this powerful tool reflects the nuance and complications of what it means to be human. Chris Heuertz, author of The Sacred Enneagram, returns to the podcast to dive into the deeper side of the enneagram, how it reflects more variety than just the nine types suggest, and what this means for us when we walk through painful seasons.

Justin and Trisha Davis were a great ministry team. The two moved to Indianapolis to plant a church, and that church was growing and thriving. It seemed like a tremendous success, but problems under the surface would soon emerge. The couple had put their ministry before their marriage. Soon, their success had outpaced Justin’s character, and he found himself in an affair with Trisha’s best friend. Trisha was devastated, and Justin was ready to leave both his marriage and his ministry behind. Instead, the couple walked the long, hard road of forgiveness and reconciliation. Justin and Trisha share with Davey about how they found healing and were restored to do ministry from a better place in this installment of our Sexual Betrayal Series.

When Sarah Rumel moved in with her pastor’s family, it seemed like a ray of hope. In taking her in they took out of a home where drugs were a way of life, and tried to set her on a road to recovery. But instead of recovery, it led to ruin when Sarah found herself in a affair with her pastor. The next six years of Sarah’s life were a web of manipulation and control, of relapses and attempts at recovery. To continue our Sexual Betrayal Series, Sarah joins Davey to talk about how she broke out of this toxic relationship, found healing and redemption, and stepped into ministry.

Cameron and Karissa’s lives were changed in an instant, but that night was really only the tipping point in a long journey. Issues left unresolved for years had grown to their climax when Cameron confessed his affair to Karissa. But that night was also only the tip of the iceberg in their healing. The confession was a first step, but there was an unimaginable load of hard work between the two of them and the healing that they hoped for. In the second part of their conversation, Cameron and Karissa share some of the long road they walked to find healing and restoration on the other side of brokenness.

It’s easy to put people in ministry on a pedestal, to expect that they have their lives together. No one expects the people they see on stage on a Sunday to fall from grace. But a strong exterior life can sometimes only mask deeper problems, as Karissa Sprinkle found out when her husband Cameron walked into their home one night and made a confession that would change both of their lives forever. Cameron and Karissa’s journey hasn’t been easy, but it’s an incredible story of pain and healing, hopelessness and hope, failure and redemption. In the first part of their interview, Cameron and Karissa kick off our series on sexual betrayal by sharing some of the most painful parts of their story and how God was with them even then.

For a lot of people, mental health just isn’t something you talk about. Unfortunately, that goes double for the church. So when Natalie Franks went through a mental health crisis in college, it seemed like she had no one to share it with. She finally opened up to her friend and roommate, Casey Pruet, but the weight of another person’s health is too much carry alone. Soon both Casey and Natalie were in a bad place. Casey and Natalie sit down with Davey to share how they found help, got healthy, and went on to help others do the same in the conclusion of our mental health series.

Kayla Stoecklein’s husband Andrew was a great man of God. As a pastor of a thriving church, he stood on stage and delivered hope to thousands. But under the surface, he faced a terrible battle. After a years-long battle with depression, Andrew died by suicide in August of 2018. Despite unimaginable pain, Kayla has made it her mission to keep as many people as possible from experiencing what she’s walked through. In the second part of our mental health series, Kayla joins Davey to share what she’s learned about grief, mental health, and more.

On the surface, Sarah Pisney looked like she had a fantastic life. She was fulfilling her calling as a missionary overseas, and she would have told anyone that she was doing great. But under the surface, things weren’t so great. Undiagnosed and untreated symptoms of depression and anxiety began to take a toll on Sarah, and she found herself if a place she never would have imagined. In this first part of our series on mental health, Sarah talks with Davey about living out her calling, finding herself in a mental health crisis in a foreign country, and how her faith and her community have factored into her healing journey.

When trials hit our lives, it can be hard to even believe that God is for us. How can we reconcile a good God with a life that seems bad? But even if we can believe, then what? How do we relate to a good God in the middle of painful circumstances? Aubrey Sampson found herself asking that when she found herself suffering from an autoimmune disorder, watching her young son undergo surgery and a difficult recovery, and grieving the sudden loss of a close family member. In the second part of our mini-series on lament, Aubrey shares with Davey some of the things that she writes about in her new book The Louder Song about what lament means and how it is vital to our lives today.

It’s hard enough when one challenge hits your life, but what if it’s not just one? Sometimes trials don’t come alone, and we can find ourselves walking through one difficult season after another. Every new circumstance brings new levels of pain and grief, and it can be hard to draw near to God when everything seems to be going wrong. This is exactly what Molly Huffman faced. After her mother’s death, a miscarriage, the loss of her newborn son, and a divorce, it seemed like the whole world was against her.

Mere Knox is a picture of what it looks like to live a life devoted to changing the world for God. She serves as a preacher, worship leader, and much more for NewSpring Church’s Fuse student ministry, and she’s had the opportunity to impact countless lives for the gospel. Mere sits down with Davey to share some of her story and the things she’s learned about ministry, community, singleness, gender roles, and much more.

Rachel and Simon Henry’s lives were changed in an instant, but their story goes far beyond that one night. In this second part of the interview, Rachel and Simon continue to share with Davey about getting closure, finding healing, and how God has redeemed their story and turned it into an opportunity for them to help others as well.