What happens to our relationship with God in the midst of suffering? How do we stay connected to Jesus when we are walking through pain?

Author John Eldredge has been guiding people through practices that can help keep us in union with Christ, especially when the pain of life threatens to erode our connection. He has seen the ways in which the enemy will attempt to break our spirit and discourage us and how Christ longs to bring hope and healing to our souls. He has taken these lessons from his own life, throughout his counseling career and ministry, and what he sees now as a spiritual father to many and has written a book called Experience Jesus. Really: Finding Refuge, Strength, and Wonder through Everyday Encounters with God. In it, he shares habits and spiritual practices that will offer readers the refuge of experiencing deep, lasting, real communion with Jesus.

In this insightful episode, Davey and John talk about how we can begin to let go the weight of our cares and entrust them to God, the ways in which our agreements with the lies of the enemy can prolong our suffering, and why we need daily reminders of truth as we heal.

If you struggle to stay connected to Jesus in times of pain and heartache, this conversation will teach you ways that you can reconnect with the one who wants to bring you hope and healing.

How do we make it through the difficult seasons that every marriage encounters? What does contentment look like when our circumstances aren't changing?

For musicians Cubbie Fink and Rebecca St. James, they could not have predicted the many twists and turns life would take on after they said, "I do." Through the personal pain of miscarriage and fertility struggles, the ups and downs of two successful music careers, and the revelation of Cubbie's childhood trauma that needed healing, Cubbie and Rebecca have experienced difficult winter seasons that tested their marriage and their faith. But it was through those seasons that they found an invitation to grow and trust God in their lives together. They wrote about it in their new book, Lasting Ever: Faith, Music, Family and Being Found by True Love, which shares the heartaches and triumphs that shaped their story as a couple.

In this episode, Davey sits down with Cubbie and Rebecca to discuss the different seasons that marriages often encounter, how to hold space for one another in pain, and why contentment is so important in the winters of our lives.

If you're walking through a difficult season in your marriage or in life, this conversation will encourage you that even when it feels dark, God is always there beside you and that every winter season is a reminder that spring is coming.

How do we navigate those long and difficult seasons of waiting? What do we do when we don't know what to do or how to move forward in life?

Author and pastor Mark Vroegop doesn't love waiting. But it has been in those moments when life wasn't going as expected or plans weren't unfolding as he anticipated that he experienced a different kind of connection with God. Learning to wait, he says, is a crucial part of every believer's spiritual journey. As he studied what the Bible has to say about waiting and as he waited for things in his own life, Mark began to see the incredible fruitfulness that those seasons of uncertainty can produce. In his latest book, Waiting Isn’t a Waste: The Surprising Comfort of Trusting God in the Uncertainties of Life, he shows readers how to wait on God and what God can do through those times when life feels unsettled.

In this insightful episode, Davey and Mark discuss what true Biblical waiting looks like, how to reconcile God's goodness in seasons of waiting, and the collective waiting that we often face together with other believers.

If you're in a place where your life feels uncertain, this conversation will help you see that even in these times when it seems like nothing is happening, God is working and your waiting is never a waste.

How do we get out of the negative patterns in our marriage? What impact does learning to regulate our own emotions have on our relationships?

For authors Ron and Nan Deal, it wasn't until they learned to self-regulate their own emotions after the built up pain from their stories and the loss of their child that they began to find healing in the destructive cycles in their marriage. When their relationship had reached a critical point, they found hope and help in the work of Dr. Terry and Sharon Hargrave, whose transformational Restoration Therapy gave Ron and Nan a path forward together in healing. In their new book, The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself, Ron and Nan, along with the Hargraves, share both Biblical principles and neuroscience that will help create a more loving, faithful marriage for readers.

In this honest and raw conversation, Davey sits down with Ron and Nan to talk about the impact family of origin has in our relationships, why emotional regulation is so important, and how learning to renew your mind can help your brain heal from unhealthy patterns of thinking and relating with your spouse.

No matter what state your marriage is in currently, this episode will show you how learning about your own unhelpful ways of coping can bring healing, hope, and flourishing to your most important relationship-your marriage.

How can we deal with our addictions in a way that brings true healing? What does the Twelve Steps Program offer all of us when it comes to getting to the root of what keeps us bound by poor coping strategies?

Ian Morgan Cron is a well-known author and podcastor around the Enneagram, a personality typing system, but his story didn't start there. After a difficult and traumatic childhood, Ian found himself entangled in addiction. It was through the Twelve Steps Program and his own recovery that Ian realized that we all look to things outside of God when it comes to fixing our pain, trauma, and past. But a tool like the Twelve Steps can help lead us back into surrender, forgiveness, and union with God and help us learn to cope with the difficulties and challenges of life.

In his latest book, The Fix: How the Twelve Steps Offer a Surprising Path of Transformation for the Well-Adjusted, the Down and Out, and Everyone in Between!, Ian shares practical ways that the Twelve Steps can help anyone deal with what leads them towards the unhealthy patterns of addiction and coping and into a new perspective of looking at life, relationships, and our experiences.

In this deep conversation, Davey and Ian talk about how the Twelve Steps can be helpful no matter what you're facing, the way in which prayer can get rid of our mental garbage, and why surrender and forgiveness are so pivotal in our healing.

If you have found yourself constantly looking for a "fix" when it comes to your pain, this episode will encourage you that God is inviting you to experience healing and wholeness through Him alone that pain, addiction, and trauma try to keep you from.

How can spiritual practices help us in the valley of our heartache and suffering? Why is prayer so pivotal in our pain?

For years, pastor of Bridgetown Church and author Tyler Staton taught others how to slow down and engage in the spiritual practices that can help people connect to God and hear His voice more clearly. He had no idea how much the very lessons he shared would be so important in his own journey through cancer. Reading Scripture, prayer and conversing with God took on a whole new level of meaning and intimacy as he walked through a difficult diagnosis and an aggressive treatment plan that physically and emotionally depleted him. But through it, he found a deeper connection with the shepherd of his soul.

In this tender conversation, Davey sits with Tyler to discuss why we need to engage in spiritual practices especially in hard times, what the mystery of the spiritual wilderness can reveal, and how God will use the interruptions of our suffering to show us what we cannot see in the ordinary moments of our life.

If you are walking through the wilderness and wondering how to find the direction you need, this episode will help you understand that while spiritual practices may not give us all the answers we long for, they will guide us into a deeper connection with the one who knows them.

How do we help our kids navigate the most difficult parts of life? What role does connection play in making sure that we are who our kids come to when they are facing hard things?

Amy Betters-Midtvedt knows how hard it can be to help kids through the tough stuff. As a parent of five and an educator, Amy has worked with kids and adolescents for over twenty-five years and has seen the pain, the struggles, and the triumphs that kids and teens go through as they grow up. Navigating her own children's difficulties like mental health issues and an eating disorder taught her what kids need most from us as adults: connection and relationship. In her book, You’ll Make It (and they will too): Everything No One Talks About When You’re Parenting Teens, she shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about raising teens, especially with the challenges that can come in the digital age.

In this conversation, Aubrey and Amy talk about how to give teens what they need, the ways we can help kids navigate this digital world, and why it is important to learn the art of letting go.

If you are raising a teenager or love one, this episode will give you permission to take a deep breath and focus on what matters the most when it comes to helping kids grow and flourish.

How do we bring forth a heart of redemption in the broken systems of this world? What is our responsibility as believers when it comes to healing the racial divide and systemic injustices?

Latasha Morrison is passionate about helping Christians be at the forefront of racial healing. As an author, speaker, and founder of Be the Bridge, an equipping organization that helps individuals and groups in taking steps towards racial reconciliation, Lastasha has taught people what it means to confront the ways in which we as a culture and as a people have harmed others because of their race. Her work has brought both awareness and actionable ways for people to reach across racial lines and heal together. Her latest book, Brown Faces, White Spaces: Confronting Systemic Racism to Bring Healing and Restoration, looks at the ways in which our systems hold deeply entrenched beliefs that need to be rooted out so that there can be justice and fairness for all.

In this conversation, Aubrey talks with Latasha about why it is so important to have a heart of reconciliation as believers, the way racism within systems continues to impact people to this day, and how our hope must remain in God and not people.

If you've ever wondered if we can truly experience racial healing and reconciliation, this episode will encourage you that it is possible and that we each have a role and responsibility to step into this conversation with compassion, empathy, and a heart bent towards healing the racial division that exists.

How do we hear God's voice in a world full of noise? What impact do our screens have on our mental health?

Carlos Whittaker has made a career out of connecting with people through a device. An author, podcaster, and a leader of a social media community known as the Instafamilia, Carlos has used the power of connection for doing incredible things. And yet, he found himself in a place where the constant connectivity to his phone left him disconnected to what matters most.

Carlos decided to embark on an incredible journey in which he would go screen free for 7 weeks and spend time with those who lived without the same incessant attachment as those in the modern world. Carlos lived with and learned from Amish Farmers and Monks and began to see the freedom that was on the other side of disconnecting in order to reconnect. He wrote about his journey in his book called Reconnected: How 7 Screen Free Weeks With Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human.

In this episode, Davey and Carlos talk about the impact our screens are having on our mental health, why silence and solitude are so important for our spiritual connection to God, and how to hear God's voice in our pain.

If you've noticed that you are more connected than ever and yet are left feeling completely disconnected from the parts of yourself and your relationships that make you human, this episode will invite you to discover how to stay present and connected to the very moments that make up your life.

Why is it important to look back as we look forward? How can we reflect on the past while looking ahead towards hope?

In this special episode, Davey talks with members of the Nothing is Wasted team about the incredible things that happened at the ministry in 2024 and the exciting things that are ahead in 2025.

Hear all about how a coach can help you move forward after grief or trauma, why community is so important in our healing, ways we can help ministry leaders walk alongside those they serve and all the ways you can partner with us as we help you find a pathway through your pain. Get a sneak peek at what Nothing is Wasted will be offering in 2025 and learn more about the incredible resources we released this past year. You'll also get to hear some of our favorite 2024 podcast episodes and get to know our team a bit better!

Whatever you are facing, taking a moment to reflect will help you as you make a plan to move ahead as you see the ways in which God has shown up on your journey.

How can hospitality and kindness be a conduit for life-transforming change? What can happen when we open our hearts and homes to those in need of hope?

Craig Cooper was a church planting pastor when his path crossed with a struggling Nashville musician named Walker Hayes. Walker was a self-proclaimed atheist and an alcoholic who lost a record deal and was struggling to make ends meet. Craig and his whole family welcomed Walker and his family into their lives. Loving them well, showing up when they needed a friend, and helping them as needs came up in life. It was through their friendship that God began to soften Walker's heart towards the gospel. He would eventually quit drinking and said yes to Jesus, forever changing his life. After his life changed internally, he also experienced an outward shift as he got a record deal and a hit country song called "Fancy Like." Craig and Walker chronicled their unique and pivotal friendship in their book called Glad You're Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking Bread and Fences.

In this episode, Davey and Craig discuss the importance of walking with people through the highs and lows, how Scripture can help us in the valley, and why grace through friendship is so significant in a generation facing an epidemic of loneliness.

If you've ever wondered how you can be a conduit of God's grace to those right next door, this conversation will encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and open your home and heart to those in your life who need it most.

How do you find purpose when your life as you knew it is permanently changed? How can you learn to surrender the plans and path you once saw for yourself?

For Natalie Buchoz, Director of Media for world renowned author and psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen, she could have never imagined the new path her life would follow after a skiing accident left her with a permanent spinal cord injury as a teenager. Once an active, athletic teen, Natalie's new life would be filled with doctors and a wheelchair. Now 15 years later, Natalie can see the ways in which God has used this new life and path to grow her spiritually in her relationship with Him. But it only came when she was willing to open her hands and let go of the life she expected.

In this episode, Aubrey talks with Natalie about how Jesus can show up in our most isolating experiences, the importance of post-traumatic growth, and how to find your true identity and worth after a life-altering change.

If you've ever struggled to let go of the life you thought you should have, this conversation will encourage you that surrender will give you a way forward that is beyond what you could ever imagine and that God is in the business of transformation.

How do we return to a childlike faith, full of possibility and awe, after experiencing hurt? How can we lift other's eyes to the beauty that exists even when life is hard and painful sometimes?

Bob Goff is known for his big, bright, joyful personality. A self-described dreamer and author, coach, and speaker, Bob has encouraged countless people to embody a faith that shows up and loves others well. And while he has used much of his platform and influence to invite people to Catch Whimsy, the title of his latest book, many who know him, know he is also the type of guy to show up in practical and meaningful ways in people's pain and lowest moments. How did he learn to be both an orchestrator of fun and delight while stepping into the depths with those who are hurting?

Davey and Bob sit down to talk about how Bob was instrumental in Davey's healing journey as well as what we can learn from those in pain, how to love people well while steering clear from cynicism, and the incredible power of making ourselves available to others.

If you've ever felt like suffering and joy cannot coexist, this conversation is a reminder that whimsy can lead us back to a childlike faith that can help us endure the most painful seasons of our lives.

How does hope begin to form in the face of our greatest pain? Why do some people seem to rise out of the rubble of suffering with a new sense of eternal expectation while others seem forever stuck in their heartbreak?

Dr. Curt Thompson is a Psychiatrist who has studied and seen the the impact of interpersonal neurobiology and how hope is formed. He knows that healing from the greatest traumas and tragedies is possible, but requires a unique kind of safe community to hear and hold of our stories of hurt and harm in order to heal. In his latest book, The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope, he explores how hope can be born after our pain, especially when we are willing to connect with others and share our journey.

In this episode, Davey and Dr. Thompson talk about how durable hope is essential to our healing, the way neuroplasticity can help us increase hope, and the undeniable power of confessional communities in our healing.

If you've ever wondered how you can muster any semblance of hope after heartache, this conversation will remind you that hope can grow and that no matter what you've walked through, with God and others, you can find the hope your heart is longing for.

How can you heal from what you can't erase? What do you do to transform your mental, emotional, and spiritual health from the inside out?

For author, speaker and coach Christopher Cook, losing his mom to a long battle with cancer and his own difficult Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis taught him the power of decision in pain. While he couldn't change the outcomes, learning to make the changes in his perspective was what propelled him forward as he healed from the grief and disappointment he faced. In his latest book, Healing What You Can't Erase: Transform Your Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Health from the Inside Out, he offers readers a way forward in what feels impossible.

In this episode, Aubrey and Christopher talk about the choice for change in our stories that are unchangeable, why learning to surrender is such an important step, and how to untangle shame in the places where we need the most healing.

If you've ever wondered if healing is possible in the parts of your story that are never going to change, this episode will encourage you that no matter what, God is able to bring transformation in whatever you walk through.

WARNING: This episode contains conversations about suicide and may not be suitable for all listeners/viewers.

What do you do when your worst nightmare comes true after a painful battle with a loved one's mental illness? How do you hold the tension between hope and the mysteries of God in your life after loss?

For author, speaker, advocate and pastor's wife Kay Warren, learning to hold onto hope after losing her son Matthew while accepting the mysteries of all she did not understand was difficult. Kay and her husband, author and Pastor Rick Warren, had walked a long, difficult journey through Matthew's lifelong struggle with mental health and faced every parent's worst fear coming true when their adult son died by suicide. Kay experienced the depths of grief and sorrow as she wrestled with God to make sense of such a tragedy. But her pain has given her the opportunity to become an advocate for mental health in the church and a voice of hope for parents who are facing a similar journey.

In this honest conversation, Davey and Kay talk about how reality, grief, and hope must all co-exist together, why we need both hope and mystery as we look back on our pain, and how to deal with the shame and guilt after losing a loved one to suicide.

If you've found it hard to hold on to hope in the darkness of your suffering, this episode will light a pathway towards it.

How do we step into conversations with one another that may feel difficult or uncomfortable around the topic of race? What does it look like to love well our black neighbors?

Author, journalist, and artist Chante Griffin wanted to help those who were not black know how to better step into the space of healing the divide caused by racism and racial pain. She understood that this conversation requires us all to be humble and take on the perspective of Christ as we move towards one another in love. In her new book, Loving Your Black Neighbor as Yourself: A Guide to Closing the Space Between Us, she gives practical steps and guidance for those who want to be a part of closing the historical divide that has plagued individuals, churches, and our country.

In this insightful conversation, Aubrey sits down with Chante to discuss the tension that can exist between our best intentions and the effect it can have on others, why humility is essential when we work towards healing the racial divide, and why we must begin with love as we have these important conversations.

Whatever your race, this episode will help you examine your heart as you engage in the hard and holy work of bringing unity and healing in your neighborhood, your community, and your church.

What does it look like to answer God's call in our life? How do we step into our calling when there is suffering that we never expected?

For author, ministry leader, wife, and mom of 15, Katie Majors Davis, she could have never imagined all the ways in which God would call her into the unexpected places that He has over her life. As a young woman, Katie answered the calling of her life and became a missionary in Uganda. Through that time, God called her to start a ministry called Amazima and adopt 13 girls from Uganda. While many have marveled at her inspiring story of faithfulness, it was often met with unseen difficulties and trials as she cared for the poor, walked her children through their own stories of trauma and suffering, and faced the unrelenting challenges of life and ministry. Her most recent book, Safe All Along: Trading Our Fears and Anxieties for God's Unshakable Peace, offers readers her own reflections on how to find peace in a world full of fears.

In this deep conversation, Davey and Katie talk about how calling looks much different than we anticipate it to, the ways in which wrestling can lead us to more intimacy with God and why pointing our kids to Jesus in their pain is the most loving thing we can do.

If you've ever found yourself in the midst of suffering after answering what you thought was God's call, this episode will remind you that even in the middle of God's invitation there can be both pain and joy coexisting as you step out in faith.

What do you do when the people of God fail and you find yourself questioning God because of it? How do you deconstruct your misunderstandings about God, His people and life without deconstructing your faith altogether?

For author, Bible teacher, and medical doctor Lina AbuJamra healing from the hurt she experienced from her church led her on an unexpected journey in her faith. What started as a deep disappointment in people led her to feeling let down by God. It took a lot of time and realizations that what she had come to believe about God and how He worked wasn't based on His truth and that perhaps deconstructing the falsehoods and misunderstandings about God, wasn't a bad thing. However, as things were being taken apart in her understanding of who God was, she also needed to reconstruct what was true so that her faith would strengthen rather than fade away. It wasn't a quick process, but a holy one and one that she wrote about in her book, Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction.

In this helpful conversation, Aubrey and Lina talk about why deconstruction is often rooted in our disappointments, ways in which we can heal from Church hurt, and how sometimes our doubts, questions and hurt can lead us into a deeper faith.

If you or someone you know has walked through being hurt by the Church and has found themselves unraveling, this episode will encourage you that perhaps through your hurt, God is wanting to rebuild in you a stronger, more resilient faith and life in Him.

What is the connection to our brain's health and our mental health? How can taking care of our brains help us heal from grief, trauma, depression or anxiety?

Dr. Daniel Amen is a world renowned psychiatrist who began to notice early in his practice that there was a disconnect in psychiatry and the lack of study being done on the brain. It was through years of scanning brains through a technology called SPECT that Dr. Amen began to recognize that what many considered mental health issues were actually brain health issues and that when you started to heal the brain, you could begin to see incredible healing with the myriad of symptoms plaguing his patients. Dr. Amen has spent his lifetime and practice teaching people the importance of brain health through his many books. He recently released Raising Mentally Strong Kids: How to Combine the Power of Neuroscience with Love and Logic to Grow Confident, Kind, Responsible, and Resilient Children and Young Adults to help parents.

In this episode, Kristi and Davey sit down with Dr. Amen to discuss why brain health matters with our mental health, how to heal our brains after trauma, and how brain science can help us in parenting.

If you or someone you love struggles with mental health or if you are trying to raise brain healthy kids, this conversation will teach you how to better care for the part of you that impacts your life the most.