Weave & Cleave

Hayley Winterberg grew up in a family dynamic that afforded her a 'perfect ACEs score', as she shares tongue-in-cheek. It's this sense of humor that helped Hayley tap into her resilience, and eventually, helped her press into post-traumatic growth. But Hayley also points to protective factors in her childhood, too - a grandfather that took her to church every week, a father that encouraged her to...

Shomari Jackson was raised in East St. Louis, but he spent most of his childhood and teen summers in Arizona visiting his dad. He went to college in Arizona, but as he puts it, "Arizona chewed him up and spit him out." He returned home, experienced some major life events, navigated mental health issues, and finally grappled with the questions that would move him forward: Who was he? What was he ca...

Carol grew up in a home where church and service to others was paramount. This was a wonderful thing as it prompted her to pursue social work, but it also had its detriments - which Carol didn't recognize for many decades. She didn't know she had a savior complex. Or codependency issues. Or a desire to control people and situations. But then a series of heavy circumstances hit Carol and her family...

Ben and Sarah met at as ASU students at a prayer gathering thirty-five years ago. They were just friends at the time, but God had other plans. Through their time together in prayer and faithfulness, God was growing their resilience, their desire to bring people together, and their trust in His timing.  Today, Ben and Sarah are Directors of the Campus Christian Center (C3), next to Arizona State Un...

Mary's life changed in her early teens when her parents divorced. Not only did her family change, she also moved, and went from a private school setting to attending public school. It was a difficult adjustment at the time, but now she sees how the Lord used those experiences to open her eyes and heart to a bigger world than the one she had always known. As Mary grew, so did her global perspective...

Curtis enjoyed a childhood surrounded by family and centered on Christ. It was idyllic...mostly. But Curtis also experienced trauma very young - events he didn't consider a big deal, until decades later, as a biblical counselor, the heaviness of his work finally collided with his own personal heaviness. He was forced to confront his trauma and work toward healing. During his healing journey, Curti...

From a young age, Kelly felt like a defender of the marginalized. Events in childhood and adolescence helped to grow her deep empathy, but she admits a desire to repair the world was growing in her from the moment she was born. After running a mental health program for youth and children in El Salvador for several years, Kelly realized two things: one, she was called to find the light in dark spac...

Ruth's trauma story is not your typical Adverse Childhood Experience, but it changed the trajectory of Ruth's life. It transformed her understanding of grace and forgiveness. It taught her to embrace God's love in all its fullness. It shaped her into the leader she is today. And ultimately, it became her story of healing and recovery. Ruth shares that story vulnerably in this episode. After years...

Jannah Scott grew up in San Fransisco, amidst diverse friends and the unique leadership of her mother. It's no surprise then that Jannah found her place as a leader in government and civil society, both nationally and internationally. Having served as Policy Advisor on Faith and Community Initiatives to former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Jannah was given the opportunity to serve in Presiden...

Growing up with alcoholic parents, Clay knew the shame and pain of neglect and not being heard. But his older sister was there for him, protecting him and nurturing in him a strong resilience that would carry him throughout adulthood. Years later, Clay would find out the many secrets his family kept. At the age of 40, he finally decided it was time to heal his childhood trauma. For decades, Clay w...

Welcome to the first episode of Season 5! Join us as we speak with Keiko Ratcliffe, founder and CEO of Skye's the Limit! Foundation, an orginization that empowers youth and families through creativity and connection. In 2014, Keiko lost her daughter, Skye, to a drug overdose. The devastating loss turned her world upside down, but even then, Keiko knew she would somehow use Skye's story to help oth...

Andy Mainiero's missional experience started with obedience and small beginnings. He started house churches and clubs for youth. These ministries grew, and as they grew, so did Andy's awareness of trauma and its impact. But when Andy and his wife adopted children from the foster care system, he dove into learning all he could about trauma--or more importantly, what it means to be trauma transforme...

Amber knew profound grief from an early age. First, it was her parent's divorce. Then her father went to prison to serve a life sentence. Four months after receiving a cancer diagnosis, her mother died from cancer. All of this happened before Amber graduated from high school.  From an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) perspective, Amber could have sought people, places, or behaviors that compou...

Tammy grew up in a Christian family dedicated to ministry and education, which for their family meant moving. A lot. By the age of 13, Tammy had moved 32 times, an experience that taught her the value of connection and community. Later in adulthood, after a divorce from an abusive marriage, Tammy also learned the value of vulnerability, and it was the power of these three together that ushered her...

From an early age, Rose Ann lived the party life. Decades later, as a wife, mom, and high-level executive, she found Jesus, but she couldn't find a reason to give up alcohol. Most programs required complete abstinence from substance use, but they couldn't explain the neuroscience behind addiction. Shortly after a divorce from a toxic marriage, Rose Ann found a program that psychologically and scie...

Tansy was born in the country of Burma (Myanmar) - a country that has endured the world's longest ongoing civil war. By the time she came to America at the age of 21, she'd witnessed and experienced trauma, violence, and having her world turned upside down in a day. As Tansy grew, her passion for her people, the KaRen ethnic group, also grew. Her passion for Jesus grew, and people invested in her,...

When Kent was three years old, he went into kidney failure. While in the hospital, he watched everyone in the unit die around him. He was the only one who lived. This was Kent's first exposure to trauma, which extended into a childhood marked by racism and abuse from people in his Alaskan village. It would be many years before Kent would find the name for the symptoms he'd experienced most of his...

April Yamasaki is a pastor, author, magazine editor, spiritual formation mentor, and resident author with a liturgical worship community in Abbotsford, British Columbia. April's a busy woman but she's also "grounded in sacred pauses, soul care, and living with faith and hope." April will tell you that decades ago, when she unexpectedly came into pastoral ministry, she thought it'd be a temporary a...

When Stacey Sutherland entered the mission field twenty years ago, she knew she wanted to help people who were experiencing crisis and trauma. But she didn't know how trauma and crisis would affect her marriage, her five children, or herself. She couldn't have foreseen how much of her trauma knowledge (or trauma wisdom) would be shaped by her lived experience, by her endless pursuit to heal her fa...

Jermine Alberty grew up with a unique awareness for people and their suffering. Born from diverse parents, he knew he contained the suffering of African Americans who endured transatlantic slave trade. He contained the suffering of the Cherokee people forced to walk the Trail of Tears. As a pastor, he helped people walk through adversity. As a son and a father, he supported his mother and son as e...

God's call on Connie Czepiel’s life began as a teenager when the Lord began to break her heart for people suffering in other countries. With a passion for the medical field, Connie joined the Air Force, but God (and the military) had other plans. Connie was educated in finance - something she never anticipated. After a divorce, and as a single mother of three, Connie acquired work as a contracted...

For 40 years, Mike Wold enjoyed success as a consultant, leadership coach, financial director, project manager, and adjunct instructor. Then he retired. Mike quickly discovered just how much of his identity was connected to his success. He reoriented his identity around his being,  and before long, God started calling him into a different kind of work - helping veterans heal from their psychologic...

When Julie was in high school, she came home from school to find her mother was gone. That traumatic experience changed her life, and although she didn't know it yet, Jesus was creating divine appointments in which she would begin to know Him, trust Him, and draw closer to Him. Julie's career path helped to grow her faith. She began as an interior designer, and just as she visualized the beauty of...

Cliff Danley, as he puts it, hit rock bottom several times in his adult life. He started using substances young, and for many years, he struggled with a life of substance abuse, broken relationships, homelessness, and time in jail. But during these years, there was hope. Cliff was introduced to Jesus.  Cliff entered Phoenix Rescue Mission's residential program, and after completing the program, he...

Christina Lombaro, holistic nutrition coach for trauma and substance use recovery, knows the journey of whole person recovery - she's lived it for herself. Her experience with substance use and trauma started young and progressed through her teenage years. She faced decades-long battles with insomnia and PTSD, hormone and nervous system dysregulation, and a variety of other somatic symptoms. After...