The GoodHard Story Podcast

How could it be true that God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly? I spent years trying to make God’s ways align with my definition of goodness, but nothing ever seemed to click. Finally, I realized I actually needed to redefine what goodness meant to me. It was not an easy process, let me tell you, but it has formed me for the better. My friend Lysa has been on the same journey...

I don’t re-listen to my own podcast episodes often, but I’ll be replaying this one many times over. My guest Dr. Dan Allender is a trauma therapist. And if you just assumed this episode has nothing for you, consider Dr. Allender’s words: “All life east of Eden is a form of trauma.” Whew.  So, yeah, you need to hear this. Dr. Allender’s work has been a gamechanger in my life and I insist that you h...

It’s 2025, friends. Who do you hope to become in the year ahead? You and I are probably not going to become people of resilience, compassion, and courage by accident. Our circumstances, beliefs, relationships, and decisions are shaping our souls—in both good and hard ways—every minute of the day. I want to understand exactly how it’s happening. And what I can do to create the identity I want. Toda...

"Hope is not a fixed point I will reach. Hope is the living force that propels me through the ongoing cycle of hurting and healing." In these sacred weeks surrounding Christmas, I want to acknowledge that the holiday season isn’t such a bright time for all of us. These final days of the year can be a painful reminder of what we once had. What is no longer. What will never be. Each week in the mont...

"Hope is an escape hatch from the what-if loop because it gives you and me permission to live the lives we have. It narrows our vision to work with what’s in front of us. Hope puts to rest all the lives we could have lived and gently reminds us, “This is the one you’ve got. Don’t waste it.” In these sacred weeks leading up to Christmas, I want to acknowledge that the holiday season isn’t such a br...

"Some of the best fruit in my life will be incubatedin dark, cold seasons of suffering." In these sacred weeks leading up to Christmas, I want to acknowledge that the holiday season isn’t such a bright time for all of us. These final days of the year can be a painful reminder of what we once had. What is no longer. What will never be. Each week in the month of December, I'll be sharing a short ref...

"Suffering confronts me with the question, What is it i want from God? Do i want the gifts, or do I want the Giver Himself?" In these sacred weeks leading up to Christmas, I want to acknowledge that the holiday season isn’t such a bright time for all of us. These final days of the year can be a painful reminder of what we once had. What is no longer. What will never be. Each week in the month of D...

I became disabled in an instant, but my husband Jay did not become a caregiver in that same instant. No one, like, gave him a pamphlet or anything! He had to learn by trial and error, and the stakes were high. Many of you, dear friends, are in a marriage with a caregiver or care-receiver and you’re navigating what it looks like to uphold a version of your vows you didn’t see coming. I am the first...

If there is such a thing as icons of caregiving, Joni Eareckson Tada and her husband Ken are those icons. After a diving accident at 17, Joni became a quadriplegic. Ken and Joni met and joined lives years later. As Ken put it, he “married into disability.”  These two saints have cared for one another faithfully for over 40 years, but it’s not always perfect. Joni and Ken were generous to share abo...

Matt and Ginny Mooney gave round-the-clock care to their first son, a baby boy who lived for just 99 days. All parents are caregivers, of course, but the Mooneys became caregivers in ways they never could have imagined. Now, 18 years later, the Mooneys have opted into a lifetime of complex caregiving as they raise an adopted daughter living with autism and cerebral palsy. I am fascinated and chall...

Can I have 27 minutes of your day? That’s all I need to convince you of something you’ve probably never allowed yourself to believe: you are worthy of care. I’m highly qualified—and highly persuasive—in making this pitch to you because, after becoming significantly disabled as a 26-year old, I can truly say that I am at peace with my place as a care-receiver. All thanks to 5 mindset shifts. (And a...

You asked, we answered. And you know we never shy away from the messy, complex, and possibly even invasive questions because we want to be your living survival guides through it all. Bring it on, people! This week’s episode of The GoodHard Story Podcast is a special “ask us anything” sesh with me and Jay all about how we’re navigating suffering alongside our nearest and dearest—kids, families of o...

Grief, then gratitude. The longer I live and the more pain I encounter, I’m further convinced that this is the healthy cycle of suffering: grief then gratitude. Mourn the life you thought you’d have, then give thanks for the one right in front of you. Because if we’re honest, most of us have some deep-down assumptions about what our lives should look like. For me, that assumption didn’t include a...

My son was just six-months and five days old when I nearly died. Virtually 100% of my parenting career has been informed by the deepest kind of pain. I often find myself wondering, if I could, would I give my sons a different story? One that didn’t include my stroke and all the suffering it caused? I didn’t have much help wrestling with that question as a new (and newly disabled) mom. So I want to...

If you’re like me, you often hear from people reflecting back on how they made it through a hard time. We need those stories, and I value them deeply. But I really, really want to hear from the people who are in the thick of their pain, without a neat resolution or final closure in sight. My dear friends Brent and Ashley were kind enough to share their experience of present-tense pain, specificall...

I’ve been healed in so many ways by learning to tell my story. But there’s some work that needs to happen before we can tell our stories. That work starts with our emotions. The stories of your life and mine are hidden beneath our emotions. When we understand the emotions, we understand the story. And, as I said, understanding our own stories is totally crucial to healing and wholeness. (Why do yo...

God is giving you and me permission to feel our feelings. But are we giving permission to ourselves? I’m on a quest to engage my emotions with health and wholeheartedness, and Jennie Allen joined me on a leg of the journey. Jennie is a friend of mine who happens to have written the book on understanding and expressing our feelings as God intended us to. My conversation with Jennie is as heartfelt...

“I’m a Christian because of the shortest verse in the Bible: Jesus wept.” Something I didn’t wake up to until after my stroke is the fact that joy and sadness can co-exist. In fact, they can do it pretty beautifully if we allow them to. My friend Scott knows how to be sad. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but hear me out. I think learning to fully engage our sorrow is one of the health...

Did you know that scholars have identified 39 distinct emotions that Jesus felt recorded in the Bible? Is anyone else as encouraged by this as I am?! Our emotions can be a pathway to wholeness and healing if we know what to do with them.  This is just one of MANY gems of wisdom waiting for you on The GoodHard Story Podcast. While guest Debra Fileta is not *technically* my therapist, this episode w...

“Our theories about God and the way he works get confronted with the reality of our lives.” This is the most refreshing conversation I’ve had in a long time, friends, because I got to talk about some kind of taboo topics without an ounce of the baggage. Joining me this week is Andy Squyres, a brilliantly one-of-a-kind songwriter who never, ever shies away from graciously grappling with the tough s...

Before the GoodHard Story Podcast takes a short summer break, Katherine is recapping her favorite moments from Season 3. She’s distilling over 30 hours of conversations and reflections into a potent 20-minute dose of hope! What you’ll take away from this conversation… Start a community from scratch Reframing our emotions as a strength instead of a weakness Becoming better—instead of bitter—because...

Have you ever spent a thousand hours studying something? Other than the back of your own eyelids, that is. Today, Katherine is joined by her friend Dr. Joel Muddamalle , who recently spent one thousand hours studying everything the Bible has to say about humility. He’s sharing everything he learned with us! What he has to say might surprise you, and it’s certain to convict you. If you sense you mi...

Katherine spent her first Mother’s Day unconscious in an intensive care unit, a fact that has brought a flavor of bittersweetness to every Mother’s Day since. Today she’s reflecting on the experiences of parenthood that were eventually restored to her, as well as the ones she will simply never get back.  If your life is feeling more like a famine than a feast and you’re hungry to hear from someone...

In this episode of the GoodHard Story Podcast, Katherine discovers a kindred spirit in Kay Warren, who founded the beloved Saddleback Church with her husband Rick. Kay and Rick have endured the earth-shattering loss of one of their sons, who died by suicide in 2013. Both Katherine and Kay were in tears by the end of the conversation, which spans from the complexities of mental illness to the life-...

As Katherine observes the sixteenth anniversary of her stroke this week, she’s reflecting on one of the most transformative treasures she’s discovered in the darkness of her pain: If the worst day of Jesus’ life was eventually called good, then maybe one day my worst day could be called good too. But this is no ordinary podcast episode! We are so excited to be sharing a clip straight from the Trea...