In this interview, Jan Dravecky speaks candidly to Sharon Betters about how her husband Dave’s loss of his arm to cancer plunged her into a deep depression. Dave was a pitcher for the Giants when he received the diagnosis of cancer. Living with cancer is painful, but even more painful on a world stage. Jan’s body, heart, and soul finally cried, “Enough” and Jan found herself on a long, hard journey to find her way out of deep depression.
Read MoreJulie 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.
Read MoreMany people have experienced betrayal, someone violating your trust perhaps by lying, cheating, some kind of abuse, putting their own interests ahead of yours when they promised otherwise. Betrayal affects every part of our hearts, often in ways we don’t understand at first. Some hurts we carry with us to the day we die, they are so deep and seem impossible to resolve. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Wendy Alsup shares the impact of betrayal from her own life, not only through an unwanted divorce but also in her church life. But Wendy doesn’t leave us in the mud of betrayal. Instead, she speaks frankly about the power of forgiveness.
Read MoreRelationships can be so hard and sometimes painful. Are they worth it? What are some of the pitfalls? How can our expectations of others sabotage relationships? When someone we care about disappoints us, and they will, what questions should we be willing to ask ourselves to determine how to proceed?
Read More“I forgive you.” Simple words, and liberating ones – but hard, too. You may think the betrayal you have experienced is in the realm of the unforgivable. Wendy Alsup understands. She experienced severe church conflict while serving in the women’s ministry at Mars Hill Church, followed by an unwanted divorce. The losses of betrayal eventually forced her to move from her home in Seattle, leaving behind deep friendships and everything familiar to her two sons. Her understanding of forgiveness did not come easily for read more…
Read MoreA child suffers multiple forms of abuse from her father from the time of being a little girl to a young woman. Is there any hope for not just surviving but thriving? Jennifer Greenberg proclaims there is. Jennifer knows the isolation and grief of abuse at the hands of her church-going father. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Jenn doesn’t flinch in talking through how she wanted to kill herself when she was 15 because her father’s abuse read more…
Read MoreIn this conversation and in their book, Making Room for Her, Barbara and Stacy Reaoch jump headfirst into a topic sure to generate much discussion and maybe even confrontation: Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships. Mother-in-law jokes are easy to find and most expect read more…
Read MoreIs singleness a gift or a curse? If you’re single because you never married, divorced or widowed - are you just in a waiting room, marking time until you meet the right person, or is singleness a place filled with opportunities you would not have if married? Is it wrong to pray for a spouse? How do you respond when well-meaning friends say hurtful things like, “I don’t understand why some guy hasn’t snatched
Read MoreStudies show that the loss of a spouse, whether through divorce or death is one of the most devastating losses a human can experience. Our podcast guest, Deb McQuilkin, knows the unspeakable grief of loss of a husband through an unwanted divorce and the sorrow of losing a beloved husband through death. Perhaps
Read MoreStephanie Broersma lived a charmed life until the day she discovered a deleted online conversation between her husband and another woman. When confronted, he confessed to a ten-year addiction to pornography and multiple affairs. In this conversation with Sharon Betters Stephanie shares the story of moving through anger, betrayal, fear, and finally redemption. Her remarkable story brings hope to one
Read MoreIn this candid and fun interview, Jani Ortlund and Sharon Betters talk about what it’s like to be married to their pastor. Jani and Sharon have been married to their pastors for over fifty years – that’s 100 years of experience between them! Using Jani’s book, Help! I’m Married to My Pastor as a springboard, they cover such topics as how to help pastor husbands deal with depression, create a home where the “PKs” feel safe and unaffected by congregational expectations, cultivate romance in their marriages, deal with gossip and prioritizing personal intimacy with Jesus.
Read More1 in 8 couples have trouble getting pregnant. That's about 6.7 million people each year who have trouble conceiving. - 10—15% of women who know they are pregnant will experience a miscarriage. Some studies say it’s higher. - About 1 pregnancy in 100 at 20 weeks of pregnancy and later is affected by stillbirth, and each year about 24,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.1 - This doesn’t take into account the number of babies diagnosed in the womb with a terminal condition – meaning if they survive their birth, they will not live very long. Kathe Wunnenberg knows the sorrow of such losses. In this transparent conversation with Sharon Betters Kathe shares her own journey of grieving infertility, miscarriages and the loss of her
Read MoreThis conversation is for pastors and ministry wives and those who love them. While there are occupational hazards in all lines of work, ministry families experience conflicts that sometimes not only result in broken relationships but the loss of their beloved church family. In most jobs, wives are not expected to be unpaid laborers, stand by their husband’s side every Sunday, remembering every name and something about the families, teach a class, play the piano, or host multiple gatherings for every age. What she considers deep friendships root and grow. Her children see the church as their second home. Imagine the trauma when conflict reveals that many view her only as a commodity, useful as long as her husband
Read MoreThis conversation is for pastors and ministry wives and those who love them. While there are occupational hazards in all lines of work, ministry families experience conflicts that sometimes not only result in broken relationships but the loss of their beloved church family. In most jobs, wives are not expected to be unpaid laborers, stand by their husband’s side every Sunday, remembering every name and something about
Read MoreBryan and his wife say the diagnosis of severe autism for their son Matthew confronted them with the reality that the future they had planned would never come. In this conversation, Bryan touches on how he and his wife went into survival mode, how he initially thought they could “fix” his son, the spiritual struggles they experienced, and the impact their son Matthew had on their other children and their marriage.
Read MoreIn this conversation Sue Tell shares about her reaction to her husband Bill’s severe burnout and depression. After over forty years of serving in ministry, Bill suddenly slid into a dark pit of depression. He was incapable of “pulling himself up by his own bootstraps”. Sue describes how their lives dramatically changed and their struggles brought new depth to their marriage.
Read MoreMelanoma, the word strikes fear into the hearer, especially when it is a diagnosis for a loved one. Al Groves and his wife, Libbie, heard these words and knew life would never be the same. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Libbie shares the journey that her family experienced in the year after her husband Al’s diagnosis of terminal cancer. She offers her family’s story as a means of coming alongside of others who are struggling with cancer, God and grief.
Read MoreCorie Weathers shares her own marriage struggles as a the wife of a military chaplain in this conversation. She describes intimate, sacred moments where her understanding of how she realized that when she said goodbye to her husband when he was deployed to Afghanistan, she was actually saying goodbye to life as she knew it. Corie doesn’t leave listeners without hope or a path forward.
Read More“I sat by myself on my living room couch. Alone. Scared. I tried to piece together what 13 years of sexual addiction had just torn apart. My life was unraveling and I couldn’t harness my out of control behaviors. I remember thinking I might be better off dead than alive,” said Johnathan Daugherty. Listen as Jonathan describes that downward spiral and what turned his heart toward healing and a redeemed marriage.
Read MoreEdie’s father died when she was four years old so when her mother brought a new man into her home, she welcomed him as her father. When she was nine years old, this man began regularly raping her in her home. By the time she was twelve, he was taking her to hotel rooms where he trafficked her to men and women for the purpose of sex until she was seventeen. How does a child recover from such
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