Rachel, founder of the Brave Mamas online community, validates bereaved parents in their pain, encourages them as they adjust to their new normal, and provides advice for sharing your loss with family, caring for your spouse, and recovering a postpartum body. She is a mother who lost 5 children, yet filled with hope 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…

Pornography – do you know someone who is struggling with this particular sin? Unfortunately, it’s likely that you do, but you may not know how to help. In these two conversations host Dr. Chuck Betters, along with Rebekah Hannah (Director of Anchored Hope.co, an online biblical counseling service), talk with counselors Deepak Reju and Jonathan Holmes who provide biblical strategies for guiding a fellow believer toward recovery. This worldwide pornography crisis is destroying families, marriages and individuals read more…

Be sure to listen to both, Part 1 & Part 2.

Are you tired of all the parenting books full of strategic checklists, how-to advice and quick tips? While some of the books are actually really helpful, Christina Fox, Sharon Betters and young mom Melissa Weisenfels talk through what it means to parent through the grid of how our heavenly father parents us, His children. They touch on questions like: How can a better understanding of God’s character, i.e. His consistency, discipline, read more…

A 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…

What do you do when you are suddenly navigating a life you didn’t sign up for? Lisa Appelo understands deeply. She’s experienced the raw emotions and uncertainty that come when everything falls apart. Lisa went to bed married and woke up a widow and single mom to seven children. She wrestled 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…

In 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…

Is 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

About one million babies world-wide die each year within 24 hours of birth. What if you knew from the time you were about five months pregnant that your baby would be one of those children? In this conversation, Sharon Betters talks to Diane Bansbach about what it was like for her to learn her much wanted baby girl, Amy, might not survive birth, let alone live outside her mother’s womb. Diane and Sharon share a few tears as Diane steps back into that season of loss and grief and tells Amy’s story in a way that offers hope and counsel to those facing a similar tragedy.

Studies 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

Stephanie 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

In 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.

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

“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 Part 2 of this Help & Hope podcast Nick Thompson, co-author with Joel R. Beeke of Pastors and Their Critics continues his conversation with Chuck Betters about the difference between betrayal and criticism and how to handle criticism from church members. Part 2 focuses on how to create a church climate where it is safe to share concerns with your pastor and elders along with the reality that sometimes no amount of reconciliation efforts will reap sweet fruit.

In Part 1 of this conversation Nick Thompson, co-author with Joel R. Beeke of Pastors and Their Critics talks with Chuck Betters about the difference between betrayal and criticism and how to handle criticism from church members. Pastors quickly learn that criticism comes with the territory of shepherding. This conversation took place in the middle of the 2020 pandemic and pastors are weary from the constant criticism they are getting in response to their handling of the pandemic. Rather than resolve their differences, critics choose to leave without any attempt to preserve the relationship. Most pastors give their lives to their congregation but over time

For too long women, rather than feel safe, women often feel shame in their local churches, so much so that they will not ask the leadership for help. The idea of speaking about her personal needs and hurts to any man, let alone being in a room alone with a group of men fills her with fear. This conversation with Ann Maree Goudzwaard, Sharon Betters and Jane Anne Wilson fills us with great hope as we learn about a Shepherdess ministry designed to not only create a safe place for women in crisis but also act as a

Chuck and Bernie discuss how many churches are ill-prepared to come alongside of women in crisis but how the scriptures outline the way to meet these needs. Bernie speaks from the experience of helping oversee such a ministry in his local church. He shares how the leadership recognized the need to make the church a safe place for women and then enlisted women to help develop a strategy for meeting this dire