Silver Lining with Luke & Monica

After a little accidental sabbatical, Luke and Monica are back with life updates, moving news, Maxwell Conference stories, and the usual amount of sarcasm, chaos, and marriage banter. But underneath the laughs is a real conversation about something deeper - if you want an A+ marriage, you cannot keep showing up as a C+ version of yourself. In this episode, they talk through what it means to guard...

New year… mid-January… and we are still building the goal list. In this episode we laugh about past goals (guitar, pull-ups, and “oops we already accomplished that one”) while getting real about why “resolutions” usually crash and burn.  The big takeaway: behaviors and habits beat wishful goal statements every time. We also talk about God’s mercy being new every morning, what to do when you fall o...

In this special Christmas Eve episode , Luke and Monica share the story they’ve been building toward since the beginning of the podcast—the moment that quietly changed everything. What started as a simple Christmas card on Christmas Eve 2023 became the spark for deeper conversation, unexpected connection, and a relationship formed in the middle of grief, faith, and uncertainty. This episode is raw...

In today’s episode, Luke & Monica take listeners into one of the most tender conversations yet — navigating grief, mourning, and the holiday season when life looks nothing like you expected. Thanksgiving week can bring joy, memories, and celebration…  but it can also magnify loss, loneliness, and the reality of a life you didn’t plan for. Both hosts share openly from their own stories: Luke wa...

When you are walking through grief, divorce, or a hard season, people talk.  Some mean well and still hurt you. Others do not mean well at all. Rumors, opinions, and half-truths start flying, and suddenly it’s not just your circumstances that hurt — it’s the words surrounding them.  In this episode of Silver Lining with Luke & Monica , we talk honestly about how to handle hurtful words, gossip...

  When you’re walking through the dark—grief, divorce, loss, or the fog of transition—it’s easy to ask, “What now? Who am I?”   In this episode, Luke and Monica open their journals and hearts to talk about what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God when life doesn’t make sense. They share how worship, serving, and stewarding your inputs and outputs can help you find peace in the middle of pain...

In this episode of The Silver Lining Podcast with Luke and Monica, the conversation gets real about peace, counsel, and confusion — and how to recognize God’s voice when everyone else seems to have an opinion.  Monica opens up about a pivotal season in her life, when dating, divorce recovery, and godly counsel all collided. She shares the peace she felt after ending a relationship that “looked rig...

You can be right where God wants you—living by faith—and still feel deeply uncomfortable… yet completely at peace in His presence. In this episode, Monica reads never-before-shared journal entries (Aug 13, 2023 & Sept 10, 2023) from the week of Alicia’s hospitalization and the weeks that followed. We talk through grief, gratitude, and how God’s peace guarded our hearts even when circumstances...

Summary  Today we talk about the surprising personal benefit of interceding—praying on behalf of others. From Jesus and the Holy Spirit interceding for us to the command for believers to pray “for all men,” we share how God used prayer to carry our family through grief, build compassion, bring peace, and draw our hearts closer to Him. Monica shares how a simple burden to pray became a lifeline, an...

God Always Answers Prayers… Just Not Always the Way We Pray   God always answers prayers—sometimes with yes , sometimes wait , and sometimes no . In this episode, Luke and Monica share their stories of loss, healing, and God’s sovereignty through it all.  Monica opens up about her cancer journey and the peace that carried her day by day. Luke shares about losing his late wife, Alicia, and how God’...

Episode one dives into the famous “Welcome to Holland” illustration (by Emily Perl Kingsley) and why it reframed how we see grief, change, and second chances. We talk about living in the place you didn’t plan—divorce recovery, widowhood, blending a family, parenting on the spectrum—and how God meets us there with tulips, windmills, and grace. You’ll hear our working definition of grief (the gap be...

Welcome to Silver Lining with Luke & Monica ! In our very first recording, we open up about why this podcast exists and what inspired us to start it. It’s not a marriage or parenting podcast—it’s a real-life, faith-filled conversation about finding Jesus in every season. We talk about grief, healing, laughter, and how God has redeemed both of our stories—Luke as a widower and dad of four, and...