The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

We are so honored to be releasing the 200th episode of the Nothing Is Wasted Podcast! We love hearing how much God is doing in our listeners’ lives as they hear the incredible stories and unbelievable wisdom that our guests have to share. But sometimes, when we focus on everyone else, it’s easy to forget that God is writing a powerful story in our own lives. To celebrate 200 episodes of this podca...

If you’re following what’s happening at Nothing Is Wasted Ministries, you probably know that last week was a significant week for us. Last Monday, the trial was set to begin for the man accused of murdering Amanda Blackburn, Davey’s late wife. More than six years later, this chapter of the story was finally ready to come to an end. However, mere minutes before the trial was set to start, a careles...

As a prolific pastor, speaker, and author, Scott Sauls has helped countless people in their own journeys in life. His wisdom didn’t come easy, though. Having walked through childhood trauma, anxiety, depression, and so much more, Scott is well acquainted with pain and suffering. But in the middle of these trials, Scott has found a deeper, richer knowledge of God, and a calling to share that knowle...

As kids, many of us tend to idolize our parents. And while we all eventually come to see them as imperfect humans like ourselves, for some that revelation is truer than others. Taylor Carlier thought she had a great family and a close, healthy relationship with her parents, until one shocking realization about her father set that relationship on a course that would change it forever. As Taylor end...

Claire Culwell’s story in one that has to be heard to be believed. As the adopted daughter of two loving parents, Claire eventually found herself wanting to meet her birth mother. When she was finally able to, she could never have foreseen how that first conversation would go. What Claire’s birth mother revealed to her on that day would shock Claire to her very core, and her life would never be th...

What do we do when life doesn’t go the way we think it should? What do these seasons mean for our faith? When Mitchel Lee was stepping into professional ministry, he thought he had a clear path ahead in life. After all, he was serving God full time. Certainly everything would go right, wouldn’t it? But Mitchel soon learned, as so many of us do, that life rarely goes the way we plan. When disappoin...

For too many of the brave men and women who serve in our armed forces, death isn’t an abstract concept. It’s something they face every day. But that doesn’t make it any easier to face when the person you love most in this world dies. That was what happened to both Jim and Ginger Ravella. They both lost their spouses at an early age, and it sent them reeling. Their story is one of incredible pain a...

Suicide is an epidemic that is claiming an unimaginable amount of lives in our country and around the world today. And while the church should be a bastion of hope that people can cling to in those dark moments when they contemplate taking their own lives, that isn’t always the case. Far too many Christians are content to stay quiet on this issue, to turn a blind eye and hope the problem just goes...

At a young age, Naomi Widmer experienced sexual and spiritual abuse that would haunt her for years to come. Naomi would go on to carry the pain of these early events for decades, unable to find true healing anywhere she looked. That is, until she met Teresa Glantz. Teresa’s story is not too dissimilar from Naomi’s. She’s gone through similar pain and trauma, and has walked a long, hard healing jou...

We often say that pain is the common denominator of life. But while that is true, there is another common denominator: laughter. Even in the middle of the darkest seasons, we all find ourselves laughing at times. It’s a part of the human experience, just like pain. Michael Jr. knows this firsthand. As a comedian, his job is to make people laugh. But Michael’s comedy is far from an escape that trie...

Many of us would love nothing more than to forget the worst things that have happened to us. We want to keep them secret, to pretend that if we don’t talk or even think about them then maybe they didn’t ever really happen. We try to replace redemption with forgetfulness, and end up carrying pain that goes unhealed for far too long as a result. This was Kelly Olson’s story when she experienced a se...

Crystal Paine is known to many as “The Money Saving Mom.” With a new book out on parenting, she has a reputation as a person with a lot of wisdom to share on parenting, finances, and more. But Crystal’s wisdom didn’t come easy. When she went through a rough season with one of her children, Crystal learned all over again what it truly means to be a parent, and at the same time how deeply we are eac...

Ryan Atkins started college like many others, full of plans, ambitions, and hopes for what he thought a successful life would look like. But all of that changed in an instant when an accident left Ryan paralyzed from the neck down. Finding himself thrust into what seemed like a hopeful situation, Ryan learned what faith truly means and found a deeper hope beyond this life. Ryan joins Davey to shar...

We often expect pastors to have it all put together, to be the one’s who’s lives are so in order that they can help others with their own. Just a few years ago, Ken Baugh was just one such pastor. But when a season of burnout found Ken without a job and questioning his ministry, it was only then that he found his true purpose in understanding God’s work in our minds on a whole new level. Ken sits...

As someone with a very large, very prominent ministry, Angie Smith is the kind of person you would expect to “have it all together.” Through speaking, books, Bible studies, and more, Angie has helped thousands of people in their walks with Christ. But her platform didn’t come easy. Angie walked through some incredible seasons of pain, including the loss fo a newborn child, that redefined her relat...

In 2015, the small rural town of Austin, Indiana became the epicenter of the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak in US history. As the only doctor in Austin, Dr. William Cooke saw firsthand the extreme poverty and toxic conditions that exist in small pockets of America, out of sight and out of mind for the more fortunate. But in the middle of these horrific conditions, William was able to become the ha...

When Amy Ford found herself pregnant outside of marriage at only 19 years old, she did what far too many women do — she went to have an abortion. But fortunately for Amy, God intervened in her story. A panic attack at the abortion clinic saved her unborn son and kept her from making a terrible mistake. Now, Amy has made it her mission to help women who are considering abortion and those who have a...

SINGLENESS SERIES PART FOUR   Michelle Donnelly found herself in an impossible situation. Married to her high school sweetheart with three young children, Michelle was stuck in a highly toxic relationship and didn’t see where else to go. When the marriage finally ended, Michelle was left in a new uncomfortable season: being a Christian single mom. The church often doesn’t know how to handle single...

SINGLENESS SERIES PART THREE   Kait Warman is one of the preeminent voices on Christian dating, but that role hasn’t come easy. Kait’s wisdom on the topic is borne out of a long story of abuse, unhealthy relationships, and identity crises. Kait spent years seeking validation from men in all the wrong ways, but she never could quite find what she was looking for. That is, until she leaned into God...

SINGLENESS SERIES PART TWO   Brooke Talley would never have imagined being in a “singleness series” of a podcast. After all, she’d married her college sweetheart and started a family — the picture-perfect modern love story. What did singleness have to do with her? But all that changed in a moment, when Brooke lost her husband to suicide. Now in addition to unimaginable grief, Brooke was faced with...

SINGLENESS SERIES PART ONE   If you had told the Christopher Yuan of years ago what his life would look like today, he probably wouldn’t believe you. As a promiscuous gay man who made his living selling drugs, Christopher’s life didn’t look anything like it does now. But an arrest, a prison sentence, and an HIV diagnosis turned out to be the things that would change Christophers life forever. Now,...

When we experience something traumatic, it affects far more than we often realize. We often carry our worst moments with us in both our minds and our bodies. Take Michelle Moore for example. Michelle spent much of her life carrying the trauma of watching her mother die at a young age. Entering motherhood herself caused Michelle to experience the trauma at a whole new level, but it seemed like Mich...

Where is God in our worst moments? For those of us who have experienced some event that caused immense pain, it can be nearly impossible to see how God was present in that moment. After all, if he was there, wouldn’t he have saved us? Kurt Willems wrestled with this question as he spent his life struggling to heal from abuse he experienced as a child. Now, Kurt spends his life teaching others the...

When we're going through a painful season, one thing that can help immensely is spending a little time every day with God's word and with the wisdom of someone who's been there before. That's why we created the Pain to Purpose 42-Day Devotional. Davey has written the daily devotional entries that he wished he had when he faced the tragic loss of his wife Amanda. We hope that this can be a resource...

Our faith in God can be tested beyond our wildest dreams in a moment. We can think our faith is strong one minute, and the next minute a single event, something as small as a conversation or a phone call, can shatter our delusions and bring us face to face with reality. Kristy Furlow experienced this when doctors told her that her husband had a rare, terminal form of cancer. With only a few months...