The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

How can spiritual practices help us in the valley of our heartache and suffering? Why is prayer so pivotal in our pain? For years, pastor of Bridgetown Church and author Tyler Staton taught others how to slow down and engage in the spiritual practices that can help people connect to God and hear His voice more clearly. He had no idea how much the very lessons he shared would be so important in his...

How do we help our kids navigate the most difficult parts of life? What role does connection play in making sure that we are who our kids come to when they are facing hard things? Amy Betters-Midtvedt knows how hard it can be to help kids through the tough stuff. As a parent of five and an educator, Amy has worked with kids and adolescents for over twenty-five years and has seen the pain, the stru...

How do we bring forth a heart of redemption in the broken systems of this world? What is our responsibility as believers when it comes to healing the racial divide and systemic injustices? Latasha Morrison is passionate about helping Christians be at the forefront of racial healing. As an author, speaker, and founder of Be the Bridge, an equipping organization that helps individuals and groups in...

How do we hear God's voice in a world full of noise? What impact do our screens have on our mental health? Carlos Whittaker has made a career out of connecting with people through a device. An author, podcaster, and a leader of a social media community known as the Instafamilia, Carlos has used the power of connection for doing incredible things. And yet, he found himself in a place where the cons...

Why is it important to look back as we look forward? How can we reflect on the past while looking ahead towards hope? In this special episode, Davey talks with members of the Nothing is Wasted team about the incredible things that happened at the ministry in 2024 and the exciting things that are ahead in 2025. Hear all about how a coach can help you move forward after grief or trauma, why communit...

How can hospitality and kindness be a conduit for life-transforming change? What can happen when we open our hearts and homes to those in need of hope? Craig Cooper was a church planting pastor when his path crossed with a struggling Nashville musician named Walker Hayes. Walker was a self-proclaimed atheist and an alcoholic who lost a record deal and was struggling to make ends meet. Craig and hi...

How do you find purpose when your life as you knew it is permanently changed? How can you learn to surrender the plans and path you once saw for yourself? For Natalie Buchoz, Director of Media for world renowned author and psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen, she could have never imagined the new path her life would follow after a skiing accident left her with a permanent spinal cord injury as a teenager...

How do we return to a childlike faith, full of possibility and awe, after experiencing hurt? How can we lift other's eyes to the beauty that exists even when life is hard and painful sometimes? Bob Goff is known for his big, bright, joyful personality. A self-described dreamer and author, coach, and speaker, Bob has encouraged countless people to embody a faith that shows up and loves others well....

How does hope begin to form in the face of our greatest pain? Why do some people seem to rise out of the rubble of suffering with a new sense of eternal expectation while others seem forever stuck in their heartbreak? Dr. Curt Thompson is a Psychiatrist who has studied and seen the the impact of interpersonal neurobiology and how hope is formed. He knows that healing from the greatest traumas and...

How can you heal from what you can't erase? What do you do to transform your mental, emotional, and spiritual health from the inside out? For author, speaker and coach Christopher Cook, losing his mom to a long battle with cancer and his own difficult Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis taught him the power of decision in pain. While he couldn't change the outcomes, learning to make the changes in his pe...

WARNING: This episode contains conversations about suicide and may not be suitable for all listeners/viewers. What do you do when your worst nightmare comes true after a painful battle with a loved one's mental illness? How do you hold the tension between hope and the mysteries of God in your life after loss? For author, speaker, advocate and pastor's wife Kay Warren, learning to hold onto hope af...

How do we step into conversations with one another that may feel difficult or uncomfortable around the topic of race? What does it look like to love well our black neighbors? Author, journalist, and artist Chanté Griffin wanted to help those who were not black know how to better step into the space of healing the divide caused by racism and racial pain. She understood that this conversation requir...

What does it look like to answer God's call in our life? How do we step into our calling when there is suffering that we never expected? For author, ministry leader, wife, and mom of 15, Katie Majors Davis, she could have never imagined all the ways in which God would call her into the unexpected places that He has over her life. As a young woman, Katie answered the calling of her life and became...

What do you do when the people of God fail and you find yourself questioning God because of it? How do you deconstruct your misunderstandings about God, His people and life without deconstructing your faith altogether? For author, Bible teacher, and medical doctor Lina AbuJamra healing from the hurt she experienced from her church led her on an unexpected journey in her faith. What started as a de...

What is the connection to our brain's health and our mental health? How can taking care of our brains help us heal from grief, trauma, depression or anxiety? Dr. Daniel Amen is a world renowned psychiatrist who began to notice early in his practice that there was a disconnect in psychiatry and the lack of study being done on the brain. It was through years of scanning brains through a technology c...

How do we experience true rest in a culture that demands striving and encourages fatigue? What does it even look like to live from a place of rest instead of burnout and exhaustion like most people around us do? For author, pastor, speaker, and mom of four, Jess Connolly, these were the questions she had to wrestle with in the face of all the demands coming at her from her various roles. When life...

How can you find hope when life shatters before your eyes? How can you continue to believe in the goodness of God after tragedy? For young mom Kellie Bullard, she couldn't imagine how quickly life could change. In an ordinary night, her life was turned completely upside down when her husband, Alex, died in a car accident less than a mile from their home. What was once a picture perfect life was ri...

What does the gospel have for us in our suffering? How do we apply theological truths in our pain? Author and Bible teacher Paul David Tripp had a deep understanding of theology, especially when it came to pain and suffering. It wasn't until he walked through a season of physical suffering and chronic fatigue that those understandings he had in his mind became embedded into his heart. Through the...

How do we lean into the tensions of life--the now and not yet? What does it look like to press into the different seasons as they come instead of constantly wanting something different? Author and artist Ruth Chou Simons knows what it is like to live in the hidden places as a mom to six boys. For years, her life centered around changing diapers, preparing meals and bandaging scraped knees. But it...

How do you step into what God is calling you towards when others seem to discourage you? What does it look like to use your gifts for the kingdom in the face of challenges? For author and Bible Teacher Kat Armstrong, it was her study of scripture that led her to rethink her own beliefs on her role in the kingdom as a woman. Having experienced pushback from others who seemed to not value her voice...

How do we hold onto faith in a world full of so much suffering and sorrow? Where do we find hope in the mystery of all the pain? For Recording Artist and Author Ellie Holcomb working out her faith through song has always been the way God has invited her into the hope that exists in suffering. After walking through several years of losses and devastating heartache in the lives of those she loved, E...

Warning: This episode discusses loss by suicide and may not be suitable for all listeners. What do we do when it comes to understanding God's role in the events of our lives? How do we interpret the pain we endure, the evil that exists in the world and God's sovereignty in it all? For author and professor of Old Testament Ingrid Faro, it was her own personal experience of pain and evil that led he...

What does redemption look like in our stories of pain and suffering? How do we step into the story of someone we love and hold space for them? For Nothing is Wasted co-founder, Kristi Blackburn, learning to be a place of refuge and healing for her husband, Davey, and son, Weston, years after they lost their first wife and mom, Amanda, has been no simple task. In the messiness of grief, blending fa...

How can music help us heal? What role does worship play in our most difficult seasons? Songwriter, worship leader and singer Mack Brock has written countless songs that have helped people connect with God. But there is one song that became a rally cry for Davey Blackburn after losing his wife, Amanda and their unborn child in a home invasion. It was the song Nothing is Wasted by Elevation Worship....

How do we begin to lead our generation through pain? What do we do with the tension of our heartache and the hope we have in Jesus? For author and pastor Levi Lusko, learning to grieve the loss of his daughter Lenya while leading others through their own pain has been a beautiful dance of both sorrow and hope. After losing Lenya from an asthma attack, Levi began to write down everything God was te...