Not so long ago, postpartum depression was not recognized as a real medical crisis for a mother – rather, she was often told to shake it off, pull it together, with no sympathy – after all, she was a new mother – why wasn’t she happy? Fortunately, today, postpartum depression is recognized as a real illness, a real physical crisis and there is hope. Christine Chappell knows what it is to experience post-partum depression. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, she shares her wildly changing emotions and shock...

In this Help & Hope podcast, Dr. Betters talks with Bill Condon, who knows what it is to not only experience chronic pain with no hope of healing, but also the devastation of the losses that often accompanies chronic pain. Bill explains how depression took him into such a dark place he not longer wanted to live. Yet in the middle of debilitating pain, Bill’s story is one of hope.

Glenna Marshall, author of The Promise is His Presence, Why God is Always Enough, joins Sharon Betters to share her journey that has taken her to some very broken places. But as you will hear, she discovered priceless treasures as she struggled to make sense of it all.

When unexpected moments change life’s trajectory, we’re left with a choice: Do we overcome the unexpected, as the world recommends, or undergo it? In this conversation with Sharon Betters and Chuck L. Betters, Author Jillian Benfield says experiencing an unexpected season begins a transformation that deconstructs read more…

In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Darci, and Mark freely answer questions about their struggle to find a “new normal” when Darci was incapable of caring for their girls or their home. Mark brings the unique perspective of a full-time caregiver and how Mark sometimes struggles with meeting all the needs of their children and his wife. They both share the spiritual challenges of understanding the sovereignty of God over what seem like set backs and unfair loss and how the Lord has met them in their most broken read more…

No matter your season of life, wherever God has placed you is your platform for glorifying Him. But sometimes, it’s really, really hard to see the rutted, muddy pathways of life as an opportunity to reflect Jesus, isn’t it? If you are in such a place, this special edition of the Help & Hope podcast is for you. Over the summer we held Beyond the Book, Ask the Author as a free virtual live event where guests could submit questions read more…

Dr. Mikala Albertson aimed to be exemplary in all she did – marriage, motherhood, her career – but her seemingly picture-perfect life began crumbling when she realized her doctor husband was addicted to drugs and nothing was perfect after all. Listen in as Mikala shares her story of striving and suffering in the hunt for perfection and found that embracing her gritty, messy, complicated, tough ordinary life led her on read more…

Most of us can admit to seasons of struggling with unwanted thoughts, perhaps rooted in fear of the unknown, a broken relationship, a horrible past of abuse. For some people, unwanted thoughts are a nagging discomfort. Others experience them as a brutal and invisible form of torture. Thoughts spiraling out of control can lead to sleepless nights, uncomfortable relationships and wasted read more…

What if your kind, gentle adult son started exhibiting bizarre behavior, so bizarre his wife got a restraining order and he ended up in prison? Our guest in this conversation, Robin, knows this terror as she lost her son little by little to an undiagnosed disease read more…

Sometimes one of the hardest places in suffering is the isolation and loneliness of pain. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Wendy Alsup shares how suffering came in wave after wave, leaving her breathless and lonely. In one particularly dark and painful period after intense surgery for cancer, Wendy discovered she was not truly

This thoughtful conversation between two men who share the grief of losing a child will challenge listeners with their responses to grief and Ellis’ response to the illness and death of his beloved Colleen.

Against the backdrop of the Sonoran Desert, Lynne Hartke asks her own hard questions as cancer arrives like a thief. As Lynne wrestles with a tumble of tangled emotions, a shaken faith, and self-doubt cancer is now not only threatening her own life, but, in a surprising twist, the lives of both her parents as well.

At age 34, Marissa Henley learned she had a rare form of a deadly, aggressive cancer. Her diagnosis sent her on a journey to find the best treatment which meant long separations from her family. Marissa weaves her story in the context of how to walk with a friend through the battle of her life. Marissa equips us to not only know how to respond practically but how to better understand the questions and fears of a cancer fighter.

In this poignant conversation with Sharon Betters, a little over a year after the death of her beloved pastor husband, Sherry shares how Mike helped prepare her to be intentional in life after his absence. Her story will not only encourage widows but anyone who struggles with this foreign land of grief.

Whether you are in a waiting room right now because of cancer, stroke, traumatic injury, a child struggling to hold on to life, a health crisis of any kind, you know the emotions of waiting – fear of the unknown, sadness over knowing life will never be the same, anger – you name it. Yet in the midst of it all, Elizabeth reminds us of the certain hope and peace of the gospel.

Rachel’s Craddock’s mother died after a long battle with breast cancer. Rachel was fourteen years old. In this interview, Rachel answers some hard questions not just about her mother’s death but also her own decision to have a double radical mastectomy after she learned she had a high chance of getting the same kind of cancer as her mother.

Melanoma, 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.

In this interview, one family describes their battle to find stability when their family life revolves around the insecurity of a wife and mother diagnosed with Bipolar illness. The purpose of these resources is to offer help and hope to those who struggle with “secret” pain, those difficult life crises that are hard to understand or discuss, harder still to experience.

A courageous woman shares her lifelong struggle in the grip of the lies of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Though typically thought of as someone who washes their hands repetitively, some people struggling with OCD have other rituals and some merely struggle secretly in their thoughts. OCD is a debilitating disease that affects millions of Americans and it is believed less than 10% seek treatment. Here is a look at the many different faces of OCD and how Gail’s increasing knowledge of the disorder and her faith have helped her begin to heal.

A young woman, beginning to see her career as a recording artist start to take off, hears the diagnosis no young person ever expects: “You have an inoperable brain tumor.” Listen as Caitlin describes her battle to find a cure and then just when life seemed to be turning around, the news that shook her world once