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Episode 326 - Leading Through Pain with Toni Collier

What do we do when we are a leader and our life as we know it unravels? How do we continue to lead in the depths of our pain?

For ministry leader, author, speaker and podcaster Toni Collier, she thought she was finally living her redemption story in her second marriage, only to watch her relationship crumble very quickly when she learned of continued betrayal within it. Immediately after getting some of the most devastating news of her life, she saw God's kindness in that she was just doors down from some of her best friends. It was this group of women, some of the members of her confessional community and the constant reminders of God's with-ness, what she calls "God Winks," that sustained her through a very public divorce and all that followed. As she walked through the heartache of losing the marriage that she thought was an answer to her past pain, she learned how to lead in the midst of her greatest hurts. By sharing vulnerably her story and what she was dealing with in real time, she offered others the freedom to speak out and share their own suffering. She continues to offer women the opportunity to find healing through her ministry, Broken Crayons Still Color, and her podcast, Still Coloring.

In this honest and raw conversation with Davey, Toni shares what it looks like to lead through our pain, why we need to pay attention to God's goodness in our hurt, and how a confessional community can help us heal.

If you're a leader walking through the unexpected and wondering how you can keep going in the middle of it, this episode will serve as a reminder that even in our brokenness, God can use our lives to color a beautiful picture of His grace and redemption in life for others.

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Episode 323 - Becoming an Overcomer with Matt Chandler

How do we live in hope in light of our suffering? How can live as people who aren't overcome by our pain, but who are overcomers in our pain?

For pastor and author, Matt Chandler, his own journey in learning what it means to allow pain to push us towards hope began after a cancer diagnosis in 2009. Through his cancer journey and the surgeries and treatment that followed, he found himself growing in understanding as a pastor in leading others through their own suffering. In his most recent book, The Overcomers: God's Vision for You to Thrive in an Age of Anxiety and Outrage, Matt explores how the book of Revelation shows believers that they were made for this time and are called to be overcomers in whatever challenges they face.

In this episode, Davey and Matt talk about how we can be encouraged by those who have gone before us in obedience in challenges and difficulties, why our theology on suffering matters so much, and the importance of looking to the cross in light of our pain.

If you've ever struggled with feeling like a victim to the circumstances of your life, this conversation will inspire you to become an overcomer in an age of anxiety and outrage.

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Episode 321 - Joyce Dalrymple

How can you believe that God's good work will be done in a story that begins with so much loss and tragedy? Where can you find miracles in pain and life's difficulties?

For author, Bible teacher, and ministry leader Joyce Dalrymple, opening her eyes to the way the Lord was moving in her own life and through her daughter's adoption required intentional attention. By starting to notice the way God was bringing redemption into their stories, she began to experience a deeper understanding of how God is always at work. Seeing her daughter practice empathy birthed out of her pain was a reminder that even our greatest wounds can become a well of goodness if we allow the transformation to come from the power of the Holy Spirit's work within us.

In this insightful conversation, Aubrey sits down with Joyce to discuss how adoption involves so much loss and grief, the importance of learning to rest in your belovedness as a parent, and how to practically help foster and adoptive families. In addition, they touch on how to navigate church hurt with a wider perspective that can help you see the good in what the global church is doing and how that can keep you connected to a community of faith.

If you or someone you know is an adoptive or foster family or if you've ever struggled to see the good in your pain, this episode will encourage you that miracles are always beyond the surface of our hurt if we can learn to see them.

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Episode 319 - Don't Give Up Just Yet with Nick Connolly

How often have you found yourself ready to give up? What do we do when it feels too hard to keep going?

Pastor and author Nick Connolly knows what it is like to be ready to quit. As a pastor, he has faced challenges that have made him second guess his calling. Even in the midst of writing and launching his book, Don't Give Up Just Yet: Choosing Persistence in a World of Overwhelming Resistance, he found himself experiencing panic attacks and unrelenting anxiety for the first time in his life. It was through his own personal struggles that he began to consider the importance of persistence when faced with resistance to what God has asked of us.

In this conversation, Davey and Nick talk about what it looks like to not give up, the way spiritual attacks can impact us, and how to be authentic with all while choosing wisely with whom we are most vulnerable.

If you've ever been ready to throw in the towel on the path God has put you on, this episode will help you find the strength to keep going in the face of whatever challenges may come your way.

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Episode 317 - When Your Way Isn't Working with Kyle Idleman

How do you know when your way isn't working? What are the signs that tell you that perhaps you aren't abiding in God and instead relying on your own efforts to get through life?

For pastor and author Kyle Idleman, it took a friend suggesting he see an executive coach before he realized that the indicator light of his life was on and that he needed to make some adjustments. There were so many signs that were suggesting that he was trying to force his way in life and leadership instead of living out of a deep abidance in Christ. It was through his own personal struggle that he wrote, When Your Way Isn’t Working: Finding Purpose and Contentment through Deep Connection with Jesus. In it, he helps others recognize when their way isn't working and how remaining connected to Jesus is the key to a fruitful life.

In this insightful conversation, Davey talks with Kyle about how to follow Jesus' example in beginning our days, what some of the indicators may be that our way isn't working, and how to course correct before reaching a breaking point.

If you find yourself trying to force your way through life and feel anxious, exhausted and disconnected, this episode will help you reconnect with Jesus so that you can live from a place of abiding instead of striving.

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Episode 316 - Even If He Doesn't with Kristen LaValley

What do we do with the hard questions that arise from the pain we are feeling? How do we acknowledge our fears and our doubts while holding onto our faith?

For author Kristen LaValley, the process of moving from a formulaic faith that believed God wouldn't allow pain if she did all the right things into a genuine, messy belief and understanding of God came through several seasons of suffering. From losing her and her husband's ministry position and faith community to witnessing a murder, the loss of a baby and a very traumatic birth experience with her twins, Kristen had to untangle her belief in a God that neatly healed and fixed every pain into the true nature of who God was and how so often it is His presence that He offers us in our heartbreaks. Now, Kristen and her husband help others walking through questions in their faith and spiritual wounds by giving them the same space to ask and process that they received from others in their journey.

In this insightful conversation, Davey talks with Kristen about how what we believe about God shapes how we experience suffering, the way in which suffering shapes who we believe God to be and why wrestling is so important in moving from a transactional relationship with the Lord into a true and authentic one.

If you've ever struggled with questions about God's goodness in the seasons of your difficulties, this episode will help normalize the grappling and undoing we all have to do about our beliefs about God in order to learn who He truly is.

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Episode 301 - Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America with Dr. Russell Moore

What do we do when the things we are seeing in church or with Christian leaders is leading to disillusionment? How do we deal with the disappointment in the ways Christians behave in the public square, online and in the pews?

Author and Editor in Chief Dr. Russell Moore has experienced the pain of denominational turmoil and sharp political disagreements that have led to hurtful slander and unkind discourse. He has found himself at the center of conflicts that he never intended to be a part of. It was through his own personal experiences and the experiences of others that he began to consider the ways in which the American Church was drifting from the heart and purposes of Jesus. In his book, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America, Moore explores how the American Church has lost its way and offers an invitation to repentance as a new start forward.

In this conversation, Dr. Moore sits down with guest co-host, Eric Schumacher and discusses how to navigate the current cultural unrest as believers, what to do with our disillusionment in the Church, and how to help our friends who are struggling to trust in God based on the behaviors of those claiming to follow Him.

If you've struggled with the headlines of fallen leaders and the vitriol of those proclaiming Christ in the midst of current affairs and have been left feeling like the American Church doesn't align with the way of Christ, this episode will give you hope that nothing we are experiencing in this generation is a surprise to Jesus and He is not done yet with His bride.

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Episode 300 - God Never Gives Up On You with Max Lucado

What if the perpetrator of your pain isn't something on the outside, but your own sinful choices that have led to your suffering? How do we navigate the self-inflicted hurt caused by our own destructive decisions?

Author and Pastor Max Lucado knows the feelings that can come from sinful decisions. In his own life as a young man, he began to see the dangerous trajectory of his choices if he didn't surrender to God's leading. Later as a well-known pastor and author, he would experience a similar reckoning when the weight of leadership became overwhelming and he turned to alcohol to ease the pain. It was through those experiences that Max's heart grew for those who have felt like Jacob in the Bible, wrestling with God and wondering if God had given up on them. In his latest book, God Never Gives Up on You: What Jacob's Story Teaches Us About Grace, Mercy, and God's Relentless Love, Max explores Jacob's story and how it relates to each of ours.

In this honest conversation, Davey talks with Max about how we can truly believe that God doesn't give up on us, how to approach our self-induced pain, and the importance of authenticity in leadership.

If you've ever wondered if God has given up on you after the mess you've made in your life, this episode will serve to remind you that no matter how far you've gone or how long you've wrestled, God's grace, mercy, and love never runs out.

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Episode 286 - How to Break Cycles, Heal From Trauma, and Restore Your Faith with Kobe Campbell

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

Have you ever wondered why you are the way you are? Have you ever taken the time to deep dive into the stories and scripts that keep you moving in the same cycles you wish you could break free from?

Author and therapist Kobe Campbell began her journey towards understanding how trauma was impacting her and how God wanted to invite her into healing after she attempted suicide in college. God revealed Himself in a very direct way in the midst of her attempt through a friend and since that moment, she has been on a journey towards her own continued healing and in turn, helping others heal. As a therapist, Kobe has seen the power in getting curious in a person's story and learning to pay attention to our pain and how it affects our current behaviors. In her new book, Why Am I Like This?: How to Break Cycles, Heal From Trauma, and Restore Your Faith, Kobe helps readers see how our past shapes our present and how to get at the roots of dysfunctional patterns.

In this profound conversation, Davey sits down with Kobe as she shares her insight and wisdom on the importance of leading with curiosity when it comes to our stories, what to do when triggers happen, and the ways in which trauma can skew our perspectives and identity.

This episode is for anyone who has ever wanted to break free from cycles of unhealthy behavior or to better understand why they do what they do and who desire to experience the depths of healing that God wants to offer us in our pain.

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Episode 282 - Getting Unstuck and Moving Forward with Passion and Purpose with Christine Caine

How often have you found yourself stuck in the past? How is looking back keeping you from moving forward?

Best-selling author, speaker, and founder of A21, a worldwide anti-trafficking organization, Christine Caine knows how pain, trauma, and tragedy can keep a person stuck. Having experienced abandonment, being adopted, abuse and trauma as a child, Christine is well acquainted with the schemes of the enemy to hold her back from the purposes of God. In her latest book, Don't Look Back: Getting Unstuck and Moving Forward with Passion and Purpose, Christine explores Jesus' words in Luke 17:32, "remember Lot's wife," and how looking back kept her and how it keeps us from experiencing the fullness of God's promises, especially in our most painful moments. When our eyes get stuck on our circumstances, past or present, we can miss the invitation from Christ to look forward to a future full of hope.

In this episode, Aubrey has the privilege to sit with Christine to talk about what can get us stuck in the first place, what can happen when we constantly look backwards, and why it is so important to know the promises of God so that we can begin to move forward in faith.

Whatever is keeping you stuck, don't miss the opportunity Jesus is inviting you into as you trust Him when everything around you changes. Let this conversation be a guide for you as you turn towards Him and His promises.

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Episode 281 - Better Than Okay after Your Marriage Ends with Brandi Wilson

How do you begin to pick up the pieces when your life shatters in an instant? What do you do when your ministry and your family seem to crumble in a moment? How do you move forward after signing divorce papers?

For former pastor's wife and author, Brandi Wilson, she could not have imagined the way her story would go. She had helped to build an incredibly successful church with her then-husband and had served faithfully alongside him as the congregation grew and thrived. Then, she found her whole world come crashing down when her husband decided to leave the church and their marriage. Not only did Brandi have to navigate the personal pain, but there was also the very public attention on her greatest sorrow. It was through her journey towards healing that Brandi learned how to endure the darkest seasons of life and find hope on the other side. She would go on to share her personal story of pain and healing in her new book, Better Than Okay: Finding Hope and Healing After Your Marriage Ends.

In this vulnerable episode, Davey sits down with Brandi to talk about what to do when you see signs of unhealthy patterns in your marriage, how to shepherd your kids through the pain of divorce and the best ways we can show up for those who have endured the loss of a marriage in church and in life.

You don't have to have experienced the loss of a marriage to be encouraged by this conversation on finding hope, healing and restoration after our most terrible days.

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Episode 267 - Finding the Hope of the Gospel in Miscarriage with Eric Schumacher

How does the hope of the gospel apply in the midst of a miscarriage or season of infertility? Where can we find comfort when our desire for a child isn't being fulfilled?

So often this conversation is focused on the experience women have but silently suffering are the men who too face the grief and pain after pregnancy loss or infertility. Eric Schumacher, pastor and author, walked through several pregnancy losses with his wife and found himself wrestling with shame and sadness. It was his own feelings of sorrow and thinking that he didn't deserve the space to grieve that God used in his writing: Ours: Biblical Comfort for Men Grieving Miscarriage. Suffering can feel like punishment and it was in his own wrestling that Eric began to see how the gospel can meet us so deeply in our pain.

In this conversation, Davey and Eric discuss how gospel hope applies in every pain we endure, what scripture offers us in suffering, and why honesty is so important when we are hurting.

If you've ever wondered how the gospel can meet you in what you're facing, this episode is a reminder that the hope of Christ is available for us all in every circumstance and every type of loss.

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Episode 265-Engaging in Emotional Health in Our Home with Dr. Josh and Christi Straub

How do we create safe environments for our children when it comes to emotions? How do we allow those within our home to feel like they can share their feelings and find healing when there is disconnection?

Dr. Josh and Christi Straub have been on a mission to teach families what emotional health looks like and how to prioritize it in the home. Having worked with many ministry and business leaders who have experienced moral failures, they have seen first hand how emotional unhealth can destroy a family. It is why they started Famous At Home, to provide resources and coaching to families struggling with how to deal with emotions. Their work has led them to help families through books, their podcast and coaching not only name what they are feeling, but know how to navigate the uncomfortable emotions. It was also through their own personal story that they learned what can truly help in the emotional chaos of life. When Christi found herself on what she describes as "the bottom rung of life" after difficult pregnancies and exhaustion from parenthood, Josh and Christi leaned into the pain and found a way through. It wasn't just one thing, but a plethora of practices, communication and support that led them through that season.

In this conversation, Davey, Josh and Christi talk about why we need to be known in order to be emotionally healthy, what are kids need most (and it's not perfection!), and how to get curious about our emotional responses in order to gain insight into what is truly happening within us.

Families need to know how to talk about and handle the different emotions that come on ordinary days and in the days when facing a trauma or crisis. This episode will give you the tools to start the conversations that will lead to greater freedom and healing in your home.

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Episode 264-The Cost of Control in Ministry, Leadership and Marriage with Ike and Sharon Hodde Miller

How do you lead when your own story is full of pain? What is the cost of control when it comes to ministry, leadership and marriage?

For Ike and Sharon Hodde Miller, learning to navigate the difficulties in ministry these past few years since church planting and a pandemic has led to some insight into their own hearts. As an adult child of an alcoholic, Ike began to see the way his past was impacting his leadership. Sharon started to notice how her desire for control came at a cost to her soul and her relationships. Together, they have done the important work of healing their own wounds and stories while recognizing what they needed to let go of in order to be healthy leaders of Bright City Church in Durham, NC.

In this honest conversation, Ike and Sharon talk with Aubrey about how to lead in a divisive climate, what happens when we reach for control as leaders, and the importance of boundaries in marriage when we lead together.

Whether you're a leader in ministry, business or your home, this episode will encourage you to do the vital inner work to bring healing to your interior world so that you can lead out of health and wholeness.

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Episode 261-Good Boundaries and Goodbyes with Lysa TerKeurst

Boundaries can feel impossible sometimes, especially if you have lived your life without them. How do you begin to draw the line when it comes to what you are willing to accept in a relationship? How do you know when it is beyond the point of healing and time to let go of a toxic relationship?

Author, speaker and Bible teacher Lysa TerKeurst never dreamed that her life would look the way it does now. After finding out about her husband's infidelity, Lysa was committed to healing and restoration of her marriage. But as time went by, Lysa endured the most difficult season of her life and had to face the most difficult decision. Ultimately, her marriage ended and she was left to pick up the pieces. As she has walked the journey of healing, she has begun to see how her own inability to set boundaries contributed to the chaos in her relationship.

In this episode, Lysa talks to Aubrey about how boundaries are not just a good thing but also a God thing, how to determine the amount of access someone should have in our lives and why boundaries can keep the best of who we are front and center.

If you find yourself putting clear boundaries up, especially in relationships that need them most, this conversation will give you the courage to live in a way that will help you and those you love flourish.

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Episode 260-Discovering God's Faithfulness in our Knotted-Up Lives with Beth Moore

How can we look at our lives and see God's faithfulness throughout the knots of disappointment, betrayal, criticism or abuse? How can we trust the goodness of God when so much has gone wrong in our lives?

For Bible teacher and author Beth Moore, her life has been a series of knots. From being sexually abused as a child to extreme criticism from those who proclaim Christ, Beth's life has been full of pain to untangle. But with every difficulty, every pain, Beth has seen her desperate need for Jesus even more. It has been through the twists and turns of life that she has come to realize that no person and no set of circumstances can satisfy like the love of Jesus. Openly and honestly, Beth has journeyed this path with the Lord for a lifetime to find that He is worth every step of it.

In this profound conversation, Beth talks with Davey and Aubrey about how the crucible of life can bring about a fountain of deep passion for the Lord, the only way to endure criticism as a leader, and how our crushing can lead to more of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

If you need encouragement from a seasoned believer to finish your race well in the midst of all that you are facing, this episode will give you the strength to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

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Episode 225 - Wrestling with God in Grief with John Onwuchekwa

How do you find your way back to faith when grief seems to tear it apart? For Pastor John Onwuchekwa, losing his brother Sam sent him down a path that he never expected.

Having spent his whole life teaching others about the goodness and power of God, John found himself questioning the very foundational truths he so often preached.

Grief made him feel like a liar. But he slowly began to see that it was in the wrestling that these truths and others he hadn't learned, could be found.

Through community, honesty with God and persistence, John traveled the road back from what seemed like a lost belief into a deeper faith than he ever could have imagined.

In this episode, join Davey as he and John talk about the importance of others walking with us in grief, the wrestlings that can come out of loss and why hindsight is better than insight.

If you are finding yourself drifting off the path of faith in your pain, this conversation will encourage you to find your way back.

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Episode 38 - Lysa Terkeurst

It might be hard to find a Christian woman in America whose life hasn’t been changed by Lysa TerKeurst. Her organization, Proverbs 31 Ministries, is one of the largest Christian women’s ministries, and thousands upon thousands have been helped by her best-selling books and prolific speaking. But if you think this success translates to an easy life, you’d be wrong. She’s walked through health scares, a cancer diagnosis, her husband’s affair, and so much more. Lysa sits down with Davey to talk about walking with faith through unimaginable hardship.

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Episode 31 - Clayton & Sharie King

If you asked any couple in ministry what they wanted their lives to look like, their description would probably sound a lot like Clayton and Sharie King. They have two kids, their own hugely successful ministries, and they spend a lot of their time traveling and speaking together.

Clayton and Sharie are no strangers to pain, however. Sharie’s story especially is one of God’s rescue from one of the darkest places you can imagine. Clayton and Sharie sit down with Davey to talk about her story, doing ministry together, and more.

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Episode 29 - Ken Roberts

For decades, Ken Roberts lived the dream of every pastor. He'd been a part of multiple thriving ministries, and he had a great family. That changed when his wife of 25 years died in a car accident. Now, several years later, Ken joins Davey to talk about his road to healing, remarriage, staying spiritually healthy, and more.

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