Anxiety, Fear, and Emotions

This Help & Hope conversation is part of our mini-series, Go Ask Your Mother. In this series, we are asking the kinds of questions many younger women wish they could ask a mother, an older woman, or a trusted friend who has walked a little farther down the road.

Today we will talk with Lauri Hogle about chronic illness, motherhood, marriage, work, identity, worship, and the hard grace of learning to receive help. We will also talk about how Lauri is now walking with her married daughters as they grieve the loss of children through miscarriage and stillbirth and experience their own chronic illnesses.

Lauri is an author, musician, wife, mother, and grandmother whose life has been marked by both deep suffering and steady faith. Years ago, as a young mother of three little girls, Lauri began experiencing frightening and mysterious symptoms. Pain, weakness, headaches, vision loss, numbness, and exhaustion changed almost every part of her daily life. There were days when she could not hold her children, play the piano, cook meals, or do the ordinary tasks most mothers simply push through.

Lauri’s story is not a simple story of sickness followed by an easy answer. Though God did provide important medical help, her journey with chronic illness has continued through many years and many crises. Yet through it all, the Lord has strengthened her faith, deepened her worship, and taught her what it means to belong to Christ when life is fragile and the body is weak.

For every young woman who is trying to care for children while her own body is failing, for every wife or mother who wonders if she is still useful when she cannot do what she once did, and for every woman who needs to know that Jesus sees her in the hidden places of suffering, Lauri’s story will offer help and hope.

“Who am I? What is my purpose? I thought I could have it all and I do. But I am restless, I feel like I’m missing something.” Statistics show many American women are weary, struggle with depression, and self-medicate with alcohol, flattery, and more. Suicide rates for women are on the rise. What’s happening? More

In this episode of the Go Ask Your Mother mini-series on the Help & Hope Podcast, Sharon Betters talks with author, speaker, and counselor Christina Fox about one of the tender and often surprising transitions of motherhood: learning to let go as our children become adults.

Drawing from Christina’s recent Daily Treasure devotions, this conversation explores the fears, grief, identity shifts, and spiritual stretching that come when a mother’s role begins to change. Christina shares honestly from her own experience as a mother of adult sons, including the lessons God is teaching her about releasing control, listening more, praying faithfully, and trusting the Lord with the lives of her children.

Together, Sharon and Christina consider how God’s unchanging character anchors mothers in changing seasons, how prayer remains a powerful expression of love, and how the gospel gives grace to moms who look back with regret or feel unsure as they navigate this new stage. This conversation offers biblical encouragement for every mother learning to entrust her adult children to the God who loves them even more than she does.

The third leading cause of death in 15 to 24 year olds is suicide and depression. This interview is an honest conversation with two professionals who have helped teens and families through these struggles. Parents and teens alike will benefit from strategies to help teens find hope in the darkness of depression. 

In this interview, Danielle demonstrates that depression in young adults is often rooted in childhood. It’s easy to hide depression and to slowly withdraw rather than fight the dark feelings of sadness, loneliness, and worthlessness. Danielle offers help and hope as she describes the steps she took to find her way back to a life of purpose.

If you’re a parent, it’s likely you have had more than one sleepless night reviewing the mistakes and perceived failures of that day. We resign ourselves to carry the emotions of fear, guilt, shame, and regret for the rest of our lives. But do we have to just let these emotions… read more

In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Simonetta Carr shares the story of her beloved son, Jonathan, and her experience of caring for him as he struggled with schizophrenia. Simonetta doesn’t sugarcoat the enormous challenges and emotions that were non-stop. She talks about how she fervently prayed for Jonathan, the fears she had to confront, and how the church came alongside Jonathan and her in this battle. You may not have a loved one with schizophrenia but Simonetta and Jonathan’s story will give you insight into the enormous battle facing families with such a diagnosis.

Help! I’ve Been Diagnosed with a Mental Illness! The words, “You have a mental illness” bring fear, uncertainty, sometimes shame, loneliness, and even hopelessness. Christine Chappell heard those words as a young woman. They helped her understand many of her struggles with depression and self-harming behavior but also took her into a foreign land where she had no road map. Christine talks to Sharon Betters about how her journey began as a young adult until she knew if she didn’t get help, she might take her own life. While her diagnosis helped make sense of her disturbing emotions, it also confronted her with

There is so much we do not know about mental illness, including deep depression that results in the inability to even get out of bed, let alone function in daily life. Many more people than we realize struggle every day to do the next thing with their will because of sadness, a lack of joy, and purpose reigning in their hearts. They have tried everything to get better but nothing helps. Add to this equation the spouse who read more…

Julie Sanford is a Recovery Mentor for wives of alcoholics. She is a wife and mom of three who found herself in a situation she never wanted to be in as the wife of an alcoholic. After several years of living in chaos, feeling alone, and unseen, she is now using her journey to help other wives of alcoholics navigate their husband’s addiction. She came to realize that it was not only her husband that needed recovery, but she also needed support. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Julie shares not only her story but hope and encouragement for those in a similar, broken place. Julie offers programs and coaching that equip women with the tools and strength needed to navigate their husband’s addiction without losing themselves in the process.

In this interview with Dr. Rosaria Butterfield, Chuck and Sharon Betters ask these and many more questions about a topic that has numerous families struggling to understand. Dr. Butterfield is uniquely qualified to provide guidance and wisdom to those who are desperate for help and hope as they are challenged by life choices that are foreign and even scary. Listeners will be encouraged and better equipped to walk this pathway as well as come alongside of others who are struggling with same sex attraction.

Fawn Volkert's journey from sexual abuse as an infant to trying anything and everything to survive to a place of joyful thriving will stay with you for a long time. Just when you think her story could not get any worse or even more compelling, Fawn takes us deeper into her journey to a place of healing and strength. In this conversation with Chuck L. Betters, Fawn shares how her story of trauma has formed her into the person read more…