The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

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.

 

Website: www.kristenlavalley.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/kristen.lavalley/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kristenlavalleywrites
Book: Even if He Doesn’t: What We Believe About God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense https://a.co/d/hUm6TV5

Do you need a reminder in your pain that God isn't done with your story? Sign up for our free, 7 day devotional delivered straight to your inbox: www.nothingiswasted.com/7-day-devo

Life is difficult and pain is real. Join Davey as he helps you move through your pain and on to a life of purpose and meaning in a LIVE Zoom call. www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere

Want to see healing and life transformation after the pain you've encountered? Check out the Pain to Purpose course and start the path towards healing today: www.course.nothingiswasted.com

Episode 315 - Finding Purpose through Vulnerability with Raleigh Sadler

How can the most difficult moments of our lives point us to our purpose? Where can we find God's will for our lives in the sufferings that we have faced?

Raleigh Sadler, author and founder of the anti-trafficking organization, Let My People Go, experienced a shift in his life's trajectory after the tragic loss of his best friend to cancer. From that painful moment, God seemed to align a path that he had never considered by helping the most vulnerable and yet his first task was leaning into his own vulnerability in the aftermath of his pain. Since then, Raleigh has led many churches in the fight against the injustice of human trafficking and has seen his own purpose emerge in the process.

In this conversation, Eric and Raleigh discuss how our vulnerability often unlocks our life's purpose, how the gospel applies to the most forgotten of people, and the way in which suffering forges deeper meaning in our lives than we could have ever imagined for ourselves.

If your pain has left you wondering if God could use you, this episode will show you that every moment of suffering is illuminating a path forward in helping others heal if you allow vulnerability to lead the way.

 

Website: www.lmpg.org
www.mercycast.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/raleighsadler
www.instagram.com/mercycastpod
Book: Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking https://a.co/d/1GWq1dO

We know every pain is unique. That's why we created Curated Pathways to give you everything we have that applies to your specific pain point. www.nothingiswasted.com/pathways

Have a friend who is walking through something difficult? Invite them to our next 5 Steps to Taking Back Your Story zoom call with Davey Blackburn. Send them this link to sign up: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere

Want to start your Pain to Purpose journey? Learn more: www.course.nothingiswasted.com

Episode 314 - Grace and Suffering with Philip Yancey

What does grace have to do with our suffering? How do we experience the fullness of who God is when life is full of pain?

Author and journalist Philip Yancey has long sought out to understood the role grace plays in life and in our hurt. Having walked through a difficult childhood and untangling his understanding of God from church legalism steeped in racism and sin, Philip has offered what he has learned along the way to his readers through his many books, including his latest, Where the Light Fell: A Memoir. Philip is no stranger to the hard questions that can plague a lifelong pursuit of Jesus and his words have been a guide for so many in their own journeys.

In this conversation, Davey and Philip talk about the importance of grace and how it is tested, how those who are most desperate for Jesus find Him, and why pain redeemed can do more than pain removed.

If you've ever struggled to reconcile the God you know through misguided teachings from others with the true nature of God, this episode will help you find your way to the offer of grace that Jesus extends.

 

Website: https://philipyancey.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/philipyanceyofficial
Book: Where the Light Fell: A Memoir https://a.co/d/effHxpk

Want to find out how you too can remove the debris of crisis in your life and move forward with a renewed sense of victory and purpose? Learn more about the Pain to Purpose course at: www.course.nothingiswasted.com

Life is difficult and pain is real. Join Davey as he helps you move through your pain and on to a life of purpose and meaning in a LIVE Zoom call. www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere

It's so hard to watch someone who is hurting after a recent loss or trauma has changed everything for them. The When Everything Changes: Navigating the Early Days of Loss, Trauma, and Tragedy mini-course will help those you love walk through the early days of grief and suffering and find hope on the other side: www.nothingiswasted.com/everythingchanges

 

Episode 313 - Holding Onto Faith in Our Doubts with Laura Wifler

How do we navigate those questions we have in the middle of our struggles? How can we hold onto our faith when doubt seems to want to unravel what we know to be true?

For author and podcaster Laura Wifler, walking through a season of doubt in the middle of life's challenges wasn't something she anticipated. As someone who spent much of her time encouraging other women on her well-known podcast and through her book by the same name, Risen Motherhood, to cling to Jesus in their lives, she never imagined to find herself wrestling with uncertainty in her own faith. And yet through that season and through parenting a child with special needs, Laura found God reveal Himself to her more and more. Learning to cling to her faith when it felt impossible was a lesson that continues to carry her through the lingering questions and challenges she is experiencing. She also found that her vulnerability in sharing where she was in her journey with Jesus gave others permission to do the same.

In this episode, Eric talks with Laura about what the gospel offers in parenting a child with special needs, how to find hope in our pain, and what it looks like to cling to faith in our doubts.

If you or someone you know have found themselves in a season where there seems to be more questions than answers, this conversation is an invitation to ask God what is on your mind and know that there is no question or struggle with doubt that can keep you from His love.

 

Website: www.laurawifler.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/laurawifler
Book: Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person
https://a.co/d/aM0aUrn

To the Cross I Cling: A Mother’s Journey Through a Child’s Disability Diagnosis
https://laurawifler.com/tothecross

Are you ready to take a step towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and learn 5 Steps to Taking Back your Story. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere

Do you need resources to help guide you in your specific pain point? Our Curated Pathways are designed to give you everything we offer in one place when it comes to your unique journey: www.nothingiswasted.com/pathways

Has a recent loss, trauma or tragedy upended your world? Let us guide you through those early days: nothingiswasted.com/everythingchanges

Episode 312 - In His Hands with Jessika Sanders

What do we do when we find ourselves in the middle of a medical crisis with our kids? How do we learn to trust God with our most precious gifts, our children?

For author Jessika Sanders, learning to surrender and trust the Lord was a journey after she found herself in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). It was through that experience that she began to not only pray for her own child, but the countless others that she met while attending to her son's medical condition. As she saw the need for support and care for those in the NICU and PICU, she felt led to begin a ministry for parents who find themselves in the stress and uncertainty of a medical crisis. Her ministry, Praying Through, offers practical support and encouragement for families journeying through the NICU, PICU, and child loss. Her upcoming book co-authored with Eric Schumacher, In His Hands: Prayers for your Child or Baby in a Medical Crisis, helps parents with specific prayers to pray when the words may be hard to find.

In this conversation with Eric, Jessika shares how God often will prepare us in advance for the valleys we will walk through, the importance of surrendering to the Lord in a crisis, and ways that anyone can help a family facing a difficult medical journey.

If you or someone you know is a parent in the midst of a life altering medical diagnosis of their child, this episode will be a balm of hope in helping you remember that when everything feels completely out of your control, the Lord is inviting you to just be still and trust Him in the unknown.

 

Website: www.jessikasanderswriter.com
www.prayingthroughministries.org
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessikasanderswriter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JessikaSandersWriter/
Book: In His Hands: Prayers for your Child or Baby in a Medical Crisis https://a.co/d/fbqoKXi

Do you need a reminder in your pain that God isn't done with your story? Sign up for our free, 7 day devotional delivered straight to your inbox: www.nothingiswasted.com/7-day-devo

Do you have a child in your life dealing with some big feelings? Aubrey Sampson's new book, Big Feelings Days, can help kids and their adults process the pain of life. Get it now wherever books are sold: www.aubreysampson.com/big-feelings-days/

Want to start your Pain to Purpose journey? Learn more: www.course.nothingiswasted.com

Episode 311 - Incurable Faith with Andrea Herzer

What do we do when there is no cure for our pain? How do we live with joy and thanksgiving when our physical reality is a chronic condition?

For author Andrea Herzer, learning to find joy in her chronic pain and incurable diagnoses was a feat. While her mind longed to be grateful, her physical condition made it seem impossible. And yet through her journey with chronic pain, cancer, and an accident, she was able to see God's kindness to her in the middle of her literal aches. Learning to rely on others and keeping her faith when God doesn't heal has been a struggle and yet through it, she has experienced more and more of the Lord's goodness in her life. It was through her own story that she was able to take the lessons God was teaching her and write Incurable Faith: 120 Devotions of Lasting Hope for Lingering Health Issues.

In this conversation with Eric, Andrea shares how to hold on to your faith when God doesn't answer your prayers in the way you wish He would, where Jesus can be found in our physical pain, and why we can't expect medical professionals to be our saviors.

If you're experiencing any form of suffering that is chronic in nature, this episode will remind you that God gives us unimaginable strength in our greatest weaknesses.

 

Website: www.andreaherzer.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/incurablefaith
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/lifeforillness
Book: Incurable Faith: 120 Devotions of Lasting Hope for Lingering Health Issues
https://a.co/d/gKUQ5uq

Are you ready to take a step towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and learn 5 Steps to Taking Back your Story. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere

Need some hope right now in your valley? Or have a friend who could use some encouragement through suffering? The Pain to Purpose 42-Day Devotional is the perfect companion in your pain. Get your copy and gift one to a friend who needs it: www.nothingiswasted.com/store/pain-to-purpose-devotional

Are you looking to move from your pain into newfound purpose? Learn more about the Pain to Purpose course and start your healing journey today: www.course.nothingiswasted.com

Episode 310 - The Marriage Gift with Aaron and Jennifer Smith

How do we move through our deepest hurts in marriage? What do we do when the marriage we envisioned is not the one we are living in?

For authors and podcast hosts Aaron and Jennifer Smith, the difficulty they endured in the early days in their marriage made them wonder if they would even make it as a couple. Troubles with physical intimacy and disappointment threatened to undo their union. It took them learning to be vulnerable and transparent within safe Biblical community for God to start to heal the places of brokenness in their marriage. And it was through learning how to be honest with others that God began to reveal an opportunity for them to serve others in their marriages by sharing about their own. Through the Marriage After God podcast and their many books on marriage, including their latest, The Marriage Gift: A Daily Devotional Journey to Inspire, Encourage, and Transform Us and Our Prayer Life, the Smiths have been able to help others find healing in their relationships and to turn to God every step of the way.

In this insightful conversation with Davey, Aaron and Jennifer share how the struggles in their marriage taught them the power of prayer, how community can be an agent of healing in our relationships, and the way God can use our own vulnerability to welcome others to share their pain.

If you're in a season of difficulty in your marriage or know someone who is, this episode will encourage you to keep praying, even when you feel like giving up.

 

Website: https://www.marriageaftergod.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/marriageaftergod/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marriagesaftergod
Book: The Marriage Gift: A Daily Devotional Journey to Inspire, Encourage, and Transform Us and Our Prayer Life https://a.co/d/dtqYVUn

Want to access all that Nothing is Wasted has to offer to help you in your healing journey? Join Community Plus and get resources like our masterclasses, Curated Pathways, and more for just $20/month. www.nothingiswasted.com/communityplus

We know every pain is unique. That's why we created Curated Pathways to give you everything we have that applies to your specific pain point. www.nothingiswasted.com/pathways

Do you need a reminder in your pain that God isn't done with your story? Sign up for our free, 7 day devotional delivered straight to your inbox: www.nothingiswasted.com/7-day-devo

Episode 309 - Experiencing God's Strength in Your Weakness with Emily Jensen

How do we begin to experience the strength of God in the middle of our weaknesses? How can we allow the Creator of all to enter into our greatest place of need?

For author and podcaster Emily Jensen, walking through her son's medical challenges revealed weaknesses in her spirit that were unlike any she had faced before. The missed milestones, the extensive plans for intervention, and her own grief in the midst of it all revealed to her a need for God's strength where she felt the weakest. It was learning to navigate the waters of parenting a child with special needs that led her to a greater reliance on the Heavenly Father's power in her life. Through co-hosting the Risen Motherhood podcast and her recent book, He is Strong: Devotions for When You Feel Weak, Emily explores what it looks like to truly lean into the supernatural strength we all need when it comes to all the ways we experience brokenness this side of heaven.

In this honest conversation, Eric sits down with Emily to talk about the different kinds of weaknesses we can face, the challenges of parenting a child with special needs and how the gospel applies to all of our weaknesses.

If you've ever found yourself at the end of your own strength, this episode will serve as an encouragement that it is in that place that God's power is most magnified in your life.

 

Website: https://emilyajensen.com
https://www.risenmotherhood.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyajensen/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyAJens
Book: He is Strong: Devotions for When You Feel Weak https://a.co/d/gkOMney

Has a recent loss, trauma or tragedy upended your world? Let us guide you through those early days: https://www.nothingiswasted.com/everythingchanges

Do you need resources to help guide you in your specific pain point? Our Curated Pathways are designed to give you everything we offer in one place when it comes to your unique journey: https://www.nothingiswasted.com/pathways

Life is difficult and pain is real. Join Davey as he helps you move through your pain and on to a life of purpose and meaning in a LIVE Zoom call. https://www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere

Episode 308 - Made for People: Why We Drift into Loneliness and How to Fight for a Life of Friendship with Justin Whitmel Earley

How do we live in the most connected generation and yet feel so alone? What do we do when we find ourselves struggling with loneliness?

Author and lawyer Justin Whitmel Earley argues that loneliness isn't the way God intended for us to live because we were made for deep and intentional friendships. It was his own journey through a season of depression and anxiety led him to discover the power of spiritual disciplines including the practice of embodied community. In his latest book, Made for People: Why We Drift into Loneliness and How to Fight for a Life of Friendship, Justin looks at how we as a culture have gotten to this epidemic of loneliness and how we can find our way back to what God has for us when it comes to friendship.

In this episode, Davey talks with Justin on how spiritual disciplines can help us in our suffering, the ways in which our daily decisions are forming us and how to combat loneliness with true, Christ-centered connection.

If you are struggling with feeling alone even though your life is full of interactions each and every day, this conversation will help you recognize how to take the first steps towards the life-giving friendships God has for you.

 

Website: https://www.justinwhitmelearley.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinwhitmelearley/
Book: The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose in an Age of Distraction
https://a.co/d/jc0XVmY
Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms
https://a.co/d/gNVJHGk
Made for People: Why We Drift into Loneliness and How to Fight for a Life of Friendship
https://a.co/d/akLPtMI

Life is difficult and pain is real. Join Davey as he helps you move through your pain and on to a life of purpose and meaning in a LIVE Zoom call. www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere

Want to see healing and life transformation after the pain you've encountered? Check out the Pain to Purpose course and start the path towards healing today: www.course.nothingiswasted.com

Pastors, looking for a way to establish a path towards healing and redemption within your church? Join Davey Blackburn for a live call on how Nothing is Wasted can help: www.nothingiswasted.com/pastors

Episode 307 - How Suffering Shapes Our Hearts with Andrew Peterson

How does suffering shape our hearts? How do we tell the story of our pain in a way that both heals our own ache and helps others in theirs?

Author and recording artist Andrew Peterson is a storyteller. His beloved Wingfeather Saga Series tells an epic fantasy-adventure tale about three children caught in a great mystery. Exploring themes of courage, sacrifice, and redemption, Peterson masterfully captures the attention of audiences young and old alike. His understanding in the power of story came from his own love of story and through navigating his own valleys as he walked through a deep season of depression and seeing God's story reveled more clearly to Him throughout his life. As an artist, Peterson has deeply connected to audiences through his honesty in his music and writings.

In this conversation, Davey and Andrew talk about his personal journey through depression, the connection between writing and processing our lives, how we can hold both joy and sorrow in tandem, and what needs to happen before we start sharing our stories with others.

If you are wondering how to tell the story God is writing through your life, this episode will show you how to take the first steps in sharing the remarkable ways God is shaping you through both the ups and downs of your experience and will remind you of who the ultimate hero is in the story.

 

Website: www.andrew-peterson.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/andrewpetersonmusic/
www.instagram.com/wingfeathersaga
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WingfeatherSaga/
www.facebook.com/andrewpetersonmusic/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/andrewpeterson
Book: A Ranger's Guide to Glipwood Forest
https://a.co/d/4WiQ2SY
The God of the Garden: Thoughts on Creation, Culture, and the Kingdom
https://a.co/d/0SpDxfC
Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making.
https://a.co/d/2QUjOlA

Are you a pastor or church leader who wants to see redemptive healing take place in your church? Find out more about how you can bring Pain to Purpose to your church: www.nothingiswasted.com/churches

Do you need a reminder in your pain that God isn't done with your story? Sign up for our free, 7 day devotional delivered straight to your inbox: www.nothingiswasted.com/7-day-devo

Have a friend who is walking through something difficult? Invite them to our next 5 Steps to Taking Back Your Story zoom call with Davey Blackburn. Send them this link to sign up: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere