The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

Just about every pastor has preached at least a few sermons on how to go through trials. They can have all the right scriptures, all the best theology, all the best words to encourage and inspire the people they’ve been entrusted with. But what happens when a trial hits the pastor’s life? That’s what Mark Vroegop found himself asking when he and his wife lost their unborn daughter just weeks befor...

It seemed like everything was right in Rebekah Lyons’ world. Her young family had recently moved to New York, and she started to pursue her passions — it seemed like Rebekah was living a great life. But anxiety was lurking just below the surface, waiting to change all that. After her first panic attack left her lying on the floor of an airplane, Rebekah found herself living at the whims of anxiety...

At age nine, John O’Leary’s world was very literally set on fire. Childish curiosity got the best of him, and playing with a gas can left him with burns over his entire body and an incredibly slim chance for survival. But when John came out of the hospital, this literal inferno had stirred up a metaphorical fire inside him. John now makes it his mission to help and inspire others by sharing his st...

Terry Wardle’s upbringing was not an easy one. Growing up impoverished in rural America, young Terry watched his family struggle through an unbelievable amount of disfunction. Crime, violence, and death became staples of his life, and this exposure to things that no young child should see made a lasting impact. Years later, all these hurts bubbled up to the surface. Terry had a successful ministry...

It seemed like an evening like any other for Karen Millsap. She picked up her kids from her husband’s CrossFit gym in the evening and headed home to do some work. But a single phone call was all it would take to shatter the illusion of normalcy forever. Amid the chaos on the other end of the phone, Karen was able to make out just one word. “Shot.” By the time she got there it was too late, and Kar...

Debra Moerke’s story is one that is almost hard to process. It’s a story of immense tragedy and hardship, but also one of incredible grace and forgiveness. Being a foster parent couldn’t have seemed easy, but when Debra agreed to take in a group of siblings from an abusive home, she could never have foreseen the amount of pain that she was about to step into. But out of that pain, God taught Debra...

When Sarah Forgrave was only four years old, her older sister was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The doctors said her chances of survival were slim. This worst case scenario became “normal” for Sarah as she spent some of her most formative years watching her sister’s four-year battle with cancer. Having walked through this trial, Sarah found herself unknowingly prepared for more to come, and as an...

When Kevan Chandler was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease as a small child, it would have seemed that his life would have limits. How could it not be when he would never even take a single step? But Kevan chose not to let his disability define him. With the help of his friends, Kevan has traveled without a wheelchair across Europe and China, written a book called We Carry Kevan, and foun...

We often think of our perfect life as being very peaceful. We want everything to be neat and tidy, and any chaos or messes are obstacles to be eliminated. But when an encounter with a homeless man changed her life forever, Ginger Spouse began to wonder if the best that God has for us isn’t a perfectly clean life, but one where we embrace the messiness that He brings us. Ginger sits down with Davey...

Misty Phillip’s story is not an easy one. Through loss, rape, abortion, suicidal thoughts, stillbirth, and more, she’s walked through darker valleys than most could imagine. With everything she’s gone through, it would be hard to blame her for turning her back on God. After all, who could believe in a good God in the face of so much hurt? Instead, she’s learned to walk closer with God through ever...

Born into a life defined by poverty and crime, LaMorris Crawford had a pretty tough childhood. The orphaned son of a teenage mother, LaMorris looked for anything he could find to numb his pain. Sports, popularity, drugs — all the coping mechanisms available to a poor young kid were not enough. All of that changed when LaMorris had a radical encounter with Jesus. Once a poor kid with little hope fo...

The picture of life that existed in a young Justine Froelker’s mind was beautiful. She was a girl with a passion for dance, and she planned to make that dream her reality. But those dreams were shattered when mysterious pains landed her in the hospital, and she spent her high school years in and out of hospitals, surgeries, and body casts. Years later, Justine felt the ripple effect of these trial...

No parent should ever have to bury their child. The amount of pain that comes with that experience is unfathomable, a grief so strong it defies words. Tammie Brenton knows this all too well. When her daughter Madi found herself in the hospital after the birth of her second child, everything changed for Tammie and her family. Through misdiagnoses and failed treatments, transplants and seeming recov...

Under even the best of circumstances, parenting is a challenge. Very little that’s worth doing is easy, and raising children is no exception. But for Colleen Swindoll-Thompson, that challenge was increased tenfold when her son was born with severe special needs that would leave him dependent on her care for his whole life. But Colleen’s trials didn’t end there. A divorce from an abusive husband, a...

“Cancer.” It’s the word none of us wants to hear on the other end of a phone call or a conversation. It’s the ultimate boogeyman of all disease, containing a thousand worst-case scenarios and unimaginable trials in just one word. When Joanna Dennstaedt was diagnosed with skin cancer, it sent her into an incredibly low place. But in the midst of her valley, Joanna found purpose in her pain. The val...

The enneagram is one of the most popular tools for understanding personality. It’s become a frequent topic of conversation, the subject of endless memes, jokes, and lighthearted discussion. But while these things are fun, they barely begin to scratch the surface of what the enneagram has to offer. The depth of this powerful tool reflects the nuance and complications of what it means to be human. C...

SEXUAL BETRAYAL SERIES PART FIVE Kristin and Michael were both married to different people, but their relationships shared some dark common threads. Michael said “I do” for the first time hoping that marriage would be the answer to his addiction to pornography. Kristin’s fiancé had confessed the same struggles to her before they were married, but she thought they were in the past. But when neither...

SEXUAL BETRAYAL SERIES PART FOUR Justin and Trisha Davis were a great ministry team. The two moved to Indianapolis to plant a church, and that church was growing and thriving. It seemed like a tremendous success, but problems under the surface would soon emerge. The couple had put their ministry before their marriage. Soon, their success had outpaced Justin’s character, and he found himself in an...

SEXUAL BETRAYAL SERIES PART THREE When Sarah Rumel moved in with her pastor’s family, it seemed like a ray of hope. In taking her in they took out of a home where drugs were a way of life, and tried to set her on a road to recovery. But instead of recovery, it led to ruin when Sarah found herself in a affair with her pastor. The next six years of Sarah’s life were a web of manipulation and control...

SEXUAL BETRAYAL SERIES PART TWO Cameron and Karissa’s lives were changed in an instant, but that night was really only the tipping point in a long journey. Issues left unresolved for years had grown to their climax when Cameron confessed his affair to Karissa. But that night was also only the tip of the iceberg in their healing. The confession was a first step, but there was an unimaginable load o...

SEXUAL BETRAYAL SERIES PART ONE It’s easy to put people in ministry on a pedestal, to expect that they have their lives together. No one expects the people they see on stage on a Sunday to fall from grace. But a strong exterior life can sometimes only mask deeper problems, as Karissa Sprinkle found out when her husband Cameron walked into their home one night and made a confession that would chang...

MENTAL HEALTH SERIES PART THREE For a lot of people, mental health just isn’t something you talk about. Unfortunately, that goes double for the church. So when Natalie Franks went through a mental health crisis in college, it seemed like she had no one to share it with. She finally opened up to her friend and roommate, Casey Pruet, but the weight of another person’s health is too much carry alone....

MENTAL HEALTH SERIES PART TWO Kayla Stoecklein’s husband Andrew was a great man of God. As a pastor of a thriving church, he stood on stage and delivered hope to thousands. But under the surface, he faced a terrible battle. After a years-long battle with depression, Andrew died by suicide in August of 2018. Despite unimaginable pain, Kayla has made it her mission to keep as many people as possible...

MENTAL HEALTH SERIES PART ONE On the surface, Sarah Pisney looked like she had a fantastic life. She was fulfilling her calling as a missionary overseas, and she would have told anyone that she was doing great. But under the surface, things weren’t so great. Undiagnosed and untreated symptoms of depression and anxiety began to take a toll on Sarah, and she found herself if a place she never would...

When trials hit our lives, it can be hard to even believe that God is for us. How can we reconcile a good God with a life that seems bad? But even if we can believe, then what? How do we relate to a good God in the middle of painful circumstances? Aubrey Sampson found herself asking that when she found herself suffering from an autoimmune disorder, watching her young son undergo surgery and a diff...