Perhaps now more than ever, anxiety is an ever-present force in our day-to-day lives. Whether from some traumatic experience, a physiological condition, or just the weight of the broken world all around us, many of us live anxious lives every day with no end in sight. Josh Weidmann knows this all too well. Josh has faced his own lifelong battle with anxiety, and as a pastor and Biblical counselor, Josh works with people every day who struggle with it. Josh sits down with Davey to share some of what he’s learned about anxiety and how we can overcome it.

Our families are among the greatest gifts we can receive in life, but with that gift comes a risk. When pain strikes among these people who are so close to us, it hits us especially hard. Jessica Ronne knows this all too well. When her second child was born with severe special needs, it seemed like that was more trial than anyone should have to endure. Jessica’s journey, however, was just getting started. Only a few years later, Jessica’s husband lost his battle against a brain tumor, and Jessica found herself as a single mother to three children. Through this unbelievable pain, Jessica found herself closer to God than ever before. Jessica sits down with Davey to share her incredible story of struggle, loss, remarriage, blending families, and more.

When we go through trials in our lives, it can be hard to know what to do next. We want to make it through this dark season, and to make our pain mean something, but we’re not sure how. That’s the heartbeat behind Nothing Is Wasted Ministries, and it’s part of why we created the Pain to Purpose Course. But we’ve found that walking through the course by yourself isn’t always the easiest, or the most helpful. We heal better in community, and this course is no exception. That’s why we’re launching our new Pain to Purpose Certified Guide program, to help match you with someone who knows what you’re going through and can help you through difficult seasons. To celebrate the launch of this new program, Davey and Aubrey are joined by Ken Roberts and several of our Pain to Purpose Certified Guides to talk about what they’ve learned in their own Pain to Purpose journeys and how helpful it can be to have someone walk alongside you in yours.

For a long time, the church has been deprived of half of the voices it could be learning from. While the Bible is full of amazing examples of female leaders, a handful of passages taken out of context have led to women being forced into the sidelines in too many churches. Lisa Bevere is one of the people on the front lines of changing that. Lisa began her career as a speaker and writer in a time when women in church leadership were even less accepted than they are now. Today, not only is Lisa continuing to speak and write, but she’s also made it her mission to mentor younger women in how to live out their own callings. Lisa sits down with Aubrey to talk about some of what she’s learned coming up in ministry and the idea of being a spiritual “godmother” to the next generation of women.

Like many parts of our lives, our beliefs about God are often formed at a young age. When we go through painful experiences before even reaching adulthood, it can shape the way we view God and others in ways we don’t even realize. This was Carissa Gaughan’s story. As a teenager, Carissa was sexually abused by multiple men, and the scars from that trauma caused her to lose trust in God and in other people. Devoid of the faith that characterized her earlier childhood, Carissa found herself continuing to make poor choices again and again, until finally everything changed. To finish our Surviving Abuse Series, Carissa sits down with Davey to share what she’s learned from her story and how she’s working to share that with others to keep them from making the same mistakes she did.

Teresa Glantz first experienced trauma at far too young an age. Born into a dysfunctional family, she spent most of her childhood living under the roof of an abusive father. Growing up fearing for her safety and even her life, Teresa walked through incredible loss and tragedy at a young age. Little did she know that years later, after she thought she had healed from her past trauma, a shocking discovery about her family would send her spiraling all over again. Through it all, Teresa met God in her pain and learned what true healing really looks like. Teresa sits down with Davey to share her story and how she’s helping other people who’ve walked down similar paths to her own.

For those who have experienced any kind of abuse, it can be hard to find a way to move forward in life. There’s this trauma that’s too big to process, and it’s easy to get stuck in it. Georgia Shaffer has dedicated her life to helping people in these exact situations, but the ability to help others didn’t come easy. After walking though a cancer diagnosis with almost no chance to survive and then watching her marriage and career fall apart, Georgia is no stranger to pain herself. But Georgia met God in the midst of her pain, and now she wants to help others do the same. To continue our series on surviving abuse, Georgia sits down with Davey to talk about how the pain she’s gone through has prepared her to help walk others through their own valleys.

Every child deserves to grow up innocent, free of some of the pains and worries of life that we all walk through later in life. But like too many, Becca Stevens was robbed of that chance when she experienced years of sexual abuse at the hands of a spiritual leader as a young child. With this one horrendous act, Becca’s life was forever altered. But where she could have easily grown up bitter towards the church, God, and others, she chose a different path. To kick off our series on surviving abuse, Becca sits down with Davey to share a bit of what she’s learned about forgiveness and moving forward in the face of unimaginable evil, and how she’s dedicated her life to helping other women do the same.

The first few months of 2020 left a mark on all of us that we never could have imagined. Now several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, all of our lives have been impacted in ways that we’ll feel for years to come. But at the beginning of March 2020, Nic and Cassie Brown hadn’t experienced that yet. What they thought was a minor sickness resulted in an extended hospital stay, a close call with death, and a miraculous story that defies explanation. Today, as COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the US and the effects of this disease are at the front of all of our minds, Nic and Cassie’s story is a vital reminder of how God is present even in the midst of this dark season. Nic and Cassie sit down with Davey to share their remarkable story of healing and what they’ve learned about God and the church through it all.

Most of us have dreams for our life. Maybe it’s a great marriage, a successful job, or a happy family. We have some vision in our heads of what’s supposed to happen, and we tell ourselves that God will definitely give us these things. But sometimes he doesn’t. So what then? That’s the question Sheridan Voysey asked over and over. Sheridan and his wife felt like it was time to start having children, but try as they might, they couldn’t make it happen. Years of trying through the best medical science available were met with failure after failure, and the couple was left asking the question, “what now?” Sheridan sits down with Davey to share a bit of what he’s learned about who God is when he doesn’t seem to come through like we expect.

Abortion is not a topic that is often brought up in churches. We might mention it in broad strokes or when talking about politics, but too often pastors and whole churches are afraid to engage in it personally. But whether we face it or not, many women like Serena Dyksen are facing this issue quietly in one way or another. When Serena found herself pregnant as a teenager following a terrible sexual assault, abortion seemed like the only option. Little did she know the amount of repercussions, both psychological and physical, that she would carry with her for the rest of her life. Serena sits down with Davey to share a bit of her story and how she works to prevent others from making the same mistakes she did while also showing the love and grace of Christ to those who have.

If the last several months have taught us anything, it’s that the racial tensions we read about in our history textbooks aren’t limited to the pages of the past. The pain that our black brothers and sisters have felt at the hands of white America hasn’t gone away, and ignoring it isn’t going to make it any better. In the second part of this powerful conversation, Dr. Anita Phillips shares with Davey about how racism has never truly left our culture or our churches, and how the body of Christ can begin the long, hard process of moving towards true unity, justice, and reconciliation.

Dr. Anita Phillips sits at the intersection of several important conversations in our culture today. As a trauma therapist, a black woman, and the wife of a pastor, she is uniquely positioned to speak into the intersection of mental health, race, and faith. Through her own traumatic experiences and through years of helping others, Anita has come to an understanding of the Kingdom of God and how we can relate to it that is vital to us in the season we find ourselves in right now. In this first part of the conversation, Anita shares the story of how she came to have a passion for mental health, some of the racial tensions she found lurking under the surface of the church, and more.

Dawn Barton’s demeanor and her story don’t seem to match at a glimpse. She radiates hope, optimism, and cheerfulness. You’d be forgiven for thinking she’s had an easy life, but that’s far from the truth. Dawn has walked through an amount of darkness that most of us couldn’t imagine. Through trial after trial, she’s learned to choose joy when despair would be a much more natural option. Dawn sits down with Davey to share some of the pain she’s walked through and how she found God in the midst of it all.

Sam Collier couldn’t be blamed for seeing his story as one of abandonment. Born to a 21-year-old single mother, Sam and his twin sister were given up for adoption. His birth parents never reached out, and he spent the entire time he was growing up never meeting either of his birth parents or the three other siblings he didn’t even know he had. But Sam looked past the abandonment to see what God was doing, and the faith to make that decision changed his life and the lives of his family. To close out our adoption series, Sam sits down with Davey to share his own greater story and how he’s made it his life’s mission to help others find theirs.

Sometimes the things God calls us to don’t make a lot of sense. We’re asked to give up our loaves and fishes, to step out of the boat, or to carry a cross, and there’s no telling what the outcome will be. Johanna and Brian CanneLongo had four biological children when they felt God calling them to not only adopt, but to adopt a child with special needs. Little did they know that their “yes” to this one opportunity would start them down a journey that no one would have either expected or asked for. Johanna and Brian sit down with Davey to share the unimaginable tragedy of their story, but also how that pain isn’t their story’s end.

Sara and Sam Ward were only just starting on their journey of adoption when they hit a wall that no one wants to experience. They went to the hospital for what they thought was a minor medical issue and left with a cancer diagnosis. Not only did this upend their entire lives, but they had to watch their dream of adoption seemingly die. Little did they know that this wasn’t the worst trial that they’d face on their journey. Years later, after finally adopting a little boy, the couple found themselves back in the hospital. They received another diagnosis no one wants to hear — their son had a terminal disease. To kick off our adoption series, Sara and Sam sit down with Davey to share their story of triumph, loss, and redemption, and a few things they’ve learned along the way.

American culture often makes the mistake of thinking success lies in what we do. We think a thriving life is one in which we accomplish great things, earn the most money, and climb our way to the top of whatever ladder we think we’re on. Joel Manby learned the hard way that this picture of life isn’t quite accurate. Having been at the top of multiple huge companies, Joel was “doing” everything right. His life was on track according to all the wrong metrics, and when failures came for him, it became clear that his dream life wasn’t all there was. Joel sits down with Davey to share what he’s learned on the other side of professional and personal failures and how it made him realize what really matters.

If we’re honest, the church hasn’t always done a great job of elevating diverse voices. Women, people of color, and other marginalized groups often find themselves on the outskirts of our faith communities, with no one they can learn from who shares their life experiences. This is a problem that Ashlee Eiland knows well. Both as a black woman and as a pastor and author, Ashlee has felt this pain, and she wants to work to help mend it. In a continuation of our ongoing conversations about racial reconciliation, Ashlee sits down with Aubrey to talk about her experiences and the radical kindness that God has called each of us to display in this pivotal moment in history.

For most of us, life-altering tragedies are something we experience in rare instances. For a firefighter in a big city, they’re everyday occurrences. Working as a first responder in the Oakland Fire Department, Jason Sautel saw suffering, tragedy, and death constantly. Jason looked to his job to make something of his life and to redeem his troubled childhood, but without any hope to draw from, he eventually ran dry himself. The misery he saw on a daily basis was too much for Jason, and at his lowest moment, he planned to take his own life. Instead, Jason found Jesus and learned that there was hope even in the worst circumstances. Jason sits down with Davey to share a bit of his story and how he’s made it his mission to help others see God in the midst of their pain.