The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

According to current statistics, we are facing a crisis when it comes to mental health and our kids. With an increase in suicide rates, depression and anxiety, many kids and teens are facing so much more than they can begin to know how to handle. What can we do as adults to be a safe place for a young person? How can we help a child heal from trauma and crisis? Kim Tschirret knew from her own pers...

What happens when you find yourself in the middle of a national tragedy, when your story is part of a collective one on every news outlet in the country? How do you find healing after a trauma played out on a national stage? For Christina Stanton, that was a lifelong question that began on a fateful day in New York City on September 11, 2001. Running for her life after the Twin Towers attack left...

So often when it comes to the topic of singleness, there is this sense that many believe significance comes only when you finally find "the one." But the truth is, leading a life full of purpose doesn't have to wait until there is a significant other. In fact, singleness, no matter how long that season lasts, can be a fulfilling, purposeful time that the Lord uses in your life and in the lives of...

Sometimes life can break your heart after one unexpected tragedy. But, what about when circumstances seems to break your heart all throughout your story? How do you find healing when it seems heartache is woven into the fabric of your life? For Christian recording artist, Blanca, it felt like her whole life was marred by heartbreak. As a child, she was a victim of sexual abuse. As an adult, she lo...

How do you live life with the end in mind, especially when you are told your days are numbered? We all know that Scripture calls us to live life through the lens of heaven, but how do we really do that? For Colleen Chao, finding out she had Stage 4 Cancer forced her to think about living the way God called her to in spite of the fact or perhaps because of the fact, that she is dying. Having expect...

Have you ever felt like you've gotten stuck in the grief? Instead of allowing the pain to bring something new and beautiful forth in your life, do you find yourself struggling to move forward? Any loss can leave us feeling stuck, but for a parent, losing a child can make it feel like there will never be life past the devastation. For September Vaudrey, losing her beautiful, 19 year old daughter in...

What do you do when you feel disconnected from God in the middle of a hard season? How do you learn to trust Him when circumstances make you angry and confused? For Emmanuel and Adrienne Threatt, this was the wrestling they navigated after experiencing multiple miscarriages over a period of time in which other losses seemed to come at them unrelentingly. Trust can come easy when things are going o...

What do you do when life takes a turn you never saw coming? How can you step into a story you didn't plan for yourself? For Kelley Scites, the wrestling with those questions began after an unexpected surgery. What had promised relief from pain and a new lease on life ended with having to be put on full time oxygen. The life she had imagined as an active mom came to a screeching halt as she had to...

It can be so hard to see, let alone accept the hand of God in the middle of our deepest pain. How can you learn to trust God's sovereignty in your darkest moments? For Greg and Cathy Buffkin, that was no small feat. After losing their adult son Ryan to suicide, it was difficult to accept their loss and find the strength to move forward after so much pain. Living every parent's greatest fear, the B...

How do you persevere in the face of unending challenges and difficult circumstances? Where can you find the strength to keep going when life tries to knock you down over and over again? For Dr. Danisha Keating, building resilience seemed impossible after a traumatic childhood filled with abuse and moving in and out of the foster care system. Her journey in life was hard, at one point leading her t...

How do you choose joy when it feels impossible? What can you do when a chronic diagnosis leaves you debilitated? For Lindsey Wheeler, the answer did not come easily. After a Lyme disease diagnosis left her struggling to get out of bed everyday, Lindsey knew she had to make a choice: to see the good in life in spite of her circumstances or to dwell in self-pity. It wasn't easy, but Lindsey chose to...

How do you grieve what never was? What does it look like when your grief is over a dream rather than a reality? For Megan Smalley, learning to navigate the unseen grief and pain of infertility was difficult and at times, lonely. Megan experienced the whole range of emotions that came through her initial diagnosis of infertility to the arduous, sometimes discouraging path through IVF to the wrestli...

How do you find your way back to faith when grief seems to tear it apart? For Pastor John Onwuchekwa, losing his brother Sam sent him down a path that he never expected. Having spent his whole life teaching others about the goodness and power of God, John found himself questioning the very foundational truths he so often preached. Grief made him feel like a liar. But he slowly began to see that it...

What happens when the life you've built turns to dust? For Steph Teague, it began with just a few short sentences: "I don't think I believe in God anymore and I want a divorce". Hearing those words from her high school sweetheart, Chris, was devastating and yet, she slowly began to rebuild her life after such a deep hurt. Chris was on a seemingly separate journey through addiction, doubts, and dec...

What do you do when you realize the things you've been taught don't quite match up with God's Word? How do you navigate when what you believed to be true of the body of Christ doesn't hold up when you need care and protection? For Carlie Cleveland, experiencing an abusive relationship was painful enough yet more hurt was heaped upon her when the response of Christian leaders was shaming and blamin...

What if your worst-case scenario happened? Could you still say that God is good? For military spouse Liset Navas, those questions prompted a searching and wrestling with God long before she lost her husband, US Marine Captain Mo Navas in combat in 2020. Just days before the world shut down from Covid, Liset got the knock at the door that no military wife wants to receive. In her grief, Liset found...

What do you do when loss reveals more questions than answers? How do you navigate the doubts and anger that come when God doesn't answer a prayer or longing? For Abbey Wedgeworth, finding beauty in the valley of miscarriage was no easy feat. It was through her wrestling in her pain, that she began to see the lessons her heart needed to learn, even though her mind knew the truth of God's Word. Whil...

After a near-death experience, how do you return to life? For Micah McElveen, it took almost losing his life to begin to live fully alive. After diving head first into a wave as a teen, Micah found his story taking an unexpected turn due to a near fatal injury. In what can only be explained as a miracle, God gave Micah a second-chance at life and the realization that life was truly a vapor. It was...

"We're letting you go." It's the words no employee wants to hear and yet, job loss is at a staggering high. What do you do when the company you've given your time and talents to tells you they no longer have a place for you? Job loss and unemployment is more than just a financial loss, it can lead to a spectrum of emotional, spiritual and mental pain points as well. Dale Kreienkamp knows all too w...

Have you ever asked yourself how life can be good again after a devastating loss? Have you found yourself having to learn to depend on God in your deepest pain? Author and speaker Lisa Appelo knows all too well what it looks like to search for meaning and joy in life when your world falls apart. In the summer of 2011, she found herself a widow and single mom of seven children after the sudden, tra...

For many Americans, the recent headlines about the war in Ukraine came as a shock, but for the people living in the reality of the conflict, life has felt unstable for quite some time. Ukrainian missionaries Yuriy and Madison Perekotiy know firsthand what it is like to live in a place where wars and rumors of wars exist as part of daily life. But when the most recent invasion happened while they w...

In a world so broken, it is no wonder that division can be seen everywhere, even within the walls of the Church. The past few years especially have shone a light on how pervasive the sin of racism still exists to this day within our communities and within the body of Christ. Through his own personal experiences and his study of God's word, former NFL player turned pastor, Derwin Gray, has a vision...

When it comes to our struggles with our emotions, pain and story, one of the most difficult by-products to navigate is the loneliness that we can experience as a result of our journey. A pervasive sense of being unseen and unknown can lead to a deep feeling of hopelessness. With raw honesty, Dr. Mark Mayfield shares his own personal journey in learning how his unhealed emotions led to a feeling of...

What happens when the excitement of a pregnancy comes to a screeching halt with the words you never expected to hear: Down syndrome? For many parents, it can feel like a life sentence of fear and unknowns. What started out as a grief over the life Misty Snyder was expecting to have with her second-born child, ended up to be one of her greatest gifts. While she wrestled through the anxieties and mo...

How can you experience God's breakthrough when your circumstances seem to go from bad to worse? For Traci McCombs, that journey was a long and difficult one as she endured several miscarriages, a season of infertility and a cancer diagnosis while also facing the challenges of being a military spouse. Just when she thought all hope was lost, God broke through in unexpected ways. In this conversatio...