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Episode 346- Finding Hope When Life Leaves You Feeling Shattered with Kellie Bullard

How can you find hope when life shatters before your eyes? How can you continue to believe in the goodness of God after tragedy?

For young mom Kellie Bullard, she couldn't imagine how quickly life could change. In an ordinary night, her life was turned completely upside down when her husband, Alex, died in a car accident less than a mile from their home. What was once a picture perfect life was ripped apart as she was left grieving the loss of her husband with a seven week old baby and a 2 year old. But even in the midst of her greatest pain, God showed up in small and tangible ways along her journey towards healing. She wrote about the truth of her grief and what God taught her along the way in her new book, Behind My Smile: Finding Hope When Life Leaves You Feeling Shattered.

In this episode, Davey talks to Kellie about what it looks like to step out in faith when life is uncertain, how we can see God in our story, and the ways in which we can help young kids through their experience of grief and loss.

If you've ever experienced life changing in an instant, this conversation you show you how to see the goodness of God and find hope again amidst the shattered pieces of the life you once knew.

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Episode 341- Demystifying Evil with Ingrid Faro

Warning: This episode discusses loss by suicide and may not be suitable for all listeners.

What do we do when it comes to understanding God's role in the events of our lives? How do we interpret the pain we endure, the evil that exists in the world and God's sovereignty in it all?

For author and professor of Old Testament Ingrid Faro, it was her own personal experience of pain and evil that led her to dig deeply into scripture in order to better understand how God works in the midst of suffering. Having experienced domestic abuse and divorce, a remarriage than ended when her husband died by suicide, and so much more, Ingrid began to ask questions when it came to pain and suffering and evil in our experience as humans. It was through her own story and scholarly study that she wrote Demystifying Evil: A Biblical and Personal Exploration, in which she examines the impact of evil and how to undo its power in our lives.

In this episode, Aubrey and Ingrid talk about how our stories can lead us to our life's work, the power of lament and what to do in the face of evil.

If you've ever struggled to make sense of the things that have been done to you, this conversation is a reminder that God can handle all our anger and questions, doubts and fears, and invites us to be honest with the pain that we are experiencing.

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Episode 340- Nothing is Wasted Book: More to the Story with Kristi Blackburn

What does redemption look like in our stories of pain and suffering? How do we step into the story of someone we love and hold space for them?

For Nothing is Wasted co-founder, Kristi Blackburn, learning to be a place of refuge and healing for her husband, Davey, and son, Weston, years after they lost their first wife and mom, Amanda, has been no simple task. In the messiness of grief, blending families, and navigating the impact of trauma, Kristi has had to step into the call of being a wife and mother without a manual but only the grace of God to guide her. She has had to learn how to do it all from a place of faith and not fear, while also tending to her own story of shame, loss and grief. While it hasn't been easy, she has found that in the midst of it all, God has given her the strength and wisdom she has needed to be a source of healing and help to both Davey and Weston as they continue to put the pieces together of their shattered hearts.

In this heartwarming episode, Davey and Kristi have the opportunity to share candidly about what it has been like to step into each other's pain, the difference between redemption and restoration, and how to parent kids who have faced the unimaginable.

If you've ever struggled to see God's redemption plan play out in your story, this conversation will show you that perhaps it already has and you just haven't recognized it yet.

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Episode 339- Nothing is Wasted Book: More to the Story with Mack Brock

How can music help us heal? What role does worship play in our most difficult seasons?

Songwriter, worship leader and singer Mack Brock has written countless songs that have helped people connect with God. But there is one song that became a rally cry for Davey Blackburn after losing his wife, Amanda and their unborn child in a home invasion. It was the song Nothing is Wasted by Elevation Worship. Mack was one of the songwriters and the singer on the release of that song. Mack could never have known that the words he penned years ago, would become a glimmer of hope to Davey in his darkest moment and a living reminder on which he would later build a ministry.

In this full circle conversation, Davey and Mack talk about the impact of the song Nothing is Wasted had on Davey personally, how God can use worship and music in our healing and why it is so important to take small steps of faith into a bigger, unforeseen purpose.

If you've ever been impacted by a song in your journey towards healing, this episode will teach you that God will use even the music that we hear to speak to us in our pain and remind us that nothing is wasted.

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Episode 338- Nothing is Wasted Book: More to the Story with Levi Lusko

How do we begin to lead our generation through pain? What do we do with the tension of our heartache and the hope we have in Jesus?

For author and pastor Levi Lusko, learning to grieve the loss of his daughter Lenya while leading others through their own pain has been a beautiful dance of both sorrow and hope. After losing Lenya from an asthma attack, Levi began to write down everything God was teaching him in the aftermath. Those lessons would eventually become a part of his best-selling book, Through the Eyes of a Lion: Facing Impossible Pain, Finding Incredible Power. Years later as Davey found himself in the depths of his pain after losing his wife Amanda, it was a text from Levi that would encourage his spirit and help him to find a way through his own grief.

In this encouraging conversation, Davey and Levi talk about how to deal with the feelings of guilt that can sometimes accompany a loss, why building a strong marriage is so important before a major trial, and the ways in which each new grief is unique.

If you've struggled to hold the tension between the hurt you've experienced and the hope you have in Christ, this episode will remind you that even with hope, our hurt will still hurt and God is with us through it all.

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Episode 337- Nothing is Wasted Book: More to the Story with Daniel and Brittany Brooker

How do you learn to feel the pain instead of just filling it? What does surrender look like when we've entered a story that we never imagined for ourselves?

On this first ever live Nothing is Wasted podcast episode from the Nothing is Wasted Book Launch event, Davey and Kristi Blackburn are joined by Daniel and Brittany Brooker to discuss the messy road of healing and redemption. The Brookers know pain--having both lost a spouse at a young age while parenting small children. Their process towards healing and hope and finding one another along the way has been full of incredible joy and difficult heartaches. Finding friendship with the Blackburns, another couple who understands the impact of trauma on a marriage and children and who are also blending together a family, has been a gift in the journey of grief, loss, and redemption.

In this conversation, the Blackburns and the Brookers discuss why we have to feel our pain and not just fill it, the importance of surrender in our deepest valleys, and how God gives us people along the way that can be a part of his healing plan for us.

If you've ever struggled to allow yourself the opportunity to really feel the emotions that come from a loss or your unique path of suffering, this episode will help you to realize that healing cannot happen until you admit there is hurt and allow God to meet you in the messy middle of it.

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Episode 336- Nothing is Wasted Book: More to the Story with Kenneth Wagner

What does true friendship look like in the midst of the darkest moments in our lives? How do we show up for our friends who are hurting after a tragedy?

The Bible says, "A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity." (Proverbs 17:17) It can be hard to find the kind of friend that will stick with you in difficulties, but for Davey, Kenneth Wagner was the epitome of that type of friend. Davey and Kenneth's friendship began in college and grew through each season of life: marriage, starting their families, and pastoring. It also grew through the most devastating time when Davey lost his wife Amanda and their unborn child in a home invasion. Kenneth did what any true friend would do in the unimaginable: he showed up. And he kept showing up in each and every way he could as Davey tried to rebuild his life and find healing after heartache.

In this heartfelt episode, Davey sits down with his best friend, Kenneth, to hear his unique perspective as he watched the tragedy and subsequent redemption unfold in Davey's life. They discuss what it looks like to be a good friend, how powerful the ministry of presence can be, and the importance of seeing God's kindness in our lives.

If you're walking beside a friend who is hurting, this conversation will encourage you to step into the space of their pain where no words are necessary but where all that is needed is your presence that reminds them that they are not alone.

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Episode 335- Nothing is Wasted Book: More to the Story with Dr. John Walker

What happens when we attempt to selectively numb our pain? How does a season in the wilderness of suffering transform us if we allow it?

Dr. John Walker has been a guiding voice and encouragement to countless pastors who find themselves in the throes of trauma, tragedy or burnout. He has offered a safe landing place for those who are tasked with shepherding others through the organization he founded called Blessings Ranch, a counseling and coaching ministry to help leaders live, lead, and finish well. For Davey, Dr. Walker was a vital voice on his healing journey, offering him a lifeline in the traumatic aftermath of losing his wife, Amanda.

In this very meaningful conversation, Davey gets to sit down with the very counselor who helped guide him on a path of healing and transformation after the immense pain and suffering he endured. They talk about the coping mechanisms we often look to after sorrow, why self-care is so important for our emotional and spiritual health, and how transformation happens.

If you've ever found yourself trying to ignore the pain you're feeling, this episode will convince you that going around it isn't an option, but if you choose to go through it, you will not only find healing on the other side but joy and life again as well.

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Episode 334- Nothing is Wasted Book: More to the Story with Dave and Brenda Blackburn

How do you help an adult child who is experiencing an unimaginable loss? What does it look like to parent our kids who are grown and who are walking through difficult seasons?

For Davey's parents, Dave and Brenda Blackburn, navigating how to help Davey walk through his own grief while also taking the time to grieve their own pain of losing their daughter-in-law, Amanda, and unborn grandchild was at times very difficult. Yet through their own hurt and watching Davey walk through his, they learned that many of the same parenting principles they had used throughout Davey's life applied in his season of suffering as well. It was through prayer, giving Davey space when he needed it, being there for him, and loving him through the ups and the down that God showed Dave and Brenda how to be the kind of parents their adult son needed as he walked through a tragedy.

In this episode, Davey sits down with his parents to talk about the difficulty of watching your adult child hurting after loss, how to be there for your kids, and what it looks like to build a foundation of faith in your children before they experience pain and suffering.

If you are a parent walking through a season of heartache of any kind with your adult child, this conversation will give you hard-won wisdom as to how to even begin to love and show up for your children, even when they are grown and living their own lives out of your home.

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Episode 305 - The Continual Journey Towards Healing with Davey Blackburn, Aubrey Sampson and Eric Schumacher

Have you ever wondered if you are still truly healing when the pain feels as fresh as the day you experienced a past loss or grief? How do we know that healing is happening as time moves forward, but our ache remains?

Davey Blackburn, Aubrey Sampson, and Eric Schumacher are not only hosts on the Nothing is Wasted podcast, but all have experienced their own seasons of deep grief, loss, trauma and tragedy. With pastoral wisdom and the heart of fellow sojourners in the valley, this episode is a unique roundtable conversation of what healing truly looks like at different points in our journey. Speaking from raw vulnerability, our Nothing is Wasted hosts share their own personal walk through pain and the often times messy, winding path towards healing.

In this conversation, Davey, Aubrey, and Eric tackle the role time plays in our pain, what to do when it feels as though God is absent in the days after loss, and how the journey towards healing is never a perfectly straight one.

If you are struggling to recognize whether or not healing is happening in your own life, this episode is a gentle comfort in knowing that hurt may remain for your days here on earth, but there is a hope beyond what you can see that will one day undo all the pain you've encountered.

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