With You in the Weeds: Where Faith Meets Mental Health

Panic attacks can feel terrifying—sudden, overwhelming, and completely out of your control. If you’ve ever had one, you know how quickly your body can convince you that something is deeply wrong, even when you can’t explain why. If you haven’t experienced one yourself, chances are someone you love has. In this practical start to our new series, How to Handle Life, Austin delves into panic attacks:...

Deep down, we all cling to control—often the final, most insidious addiction. In this wrap-up episode of our Dealing With Your Addictions series, John Tinnin, MDiv, MFT interviews therapist and recovering alcoholic Sharon Hersh, LPC about her decades-long battle with alcohol, her journey into counseling, and the painful parallels she’s walked with her adult children. Sharon names the shame, secrec...

Happy New Year! This episode with guest Jules Lundberg, PLPC was our most downloaded episode of 2025, so we don't want you to miss this incredible story of how God's power can enable you to rewrite the script of your life. Have you ever experienced a “complete and total loss” only to have it be flipped into a “complete and total life transformation”?  In this powerful episode of our “Surviving and...

What is Christmas really about? Is Jesus like the “elf on a shelf” toy that we play with once a year? Or is he like Santa, punishing those who are naughty and rewarding those who are nice? It’s easy to get caught up in cultural traditions and forget that the true meaning of Christmas is that God became flesh to dwell among us. Jesus entered into a world of darkness and declared: “I am the light of...

Is God still with you when the pain doesn’t go away? This episode dives deep into the invisible torment that chronic pain brings. Dr. David Hockman (a former surgeon who now lives with chronic pain himself) and Pastor Shay Roush unpack what chronic pain actually is, why it’s far more than “just physical,” and how it rewires your brain, drains your energy, strains relationships, and can shake your...

What if the things you normalize, celebrate, or even depend on can quietly take over your life just as powerfully as any substance? In this thought-provoking episode of our ongoing series, Dealing with Your Addictions, John and Shay tackle the topic of behaviors like gambling, shopping, and workaholism and how they can evolve into powerful addictions that mirror the neurological patterns of substa...

If your cravings aren’t satisfied by food, then your struggle might not be about eating at all. But it can be difficult to figure out what’s behind your longings. In this episode of our ongoing series, Dealing with Your Addictions, we tackle a topic that you may struggle with quietly: your complicated relationship with food. Lynn Roush, LPC sits down with counselor Kelsey Crandall, PLPC from The C...

Does your phone put you to bed at night and wake you up in the morning? How often do you actually touch and hold your phone each day? Could you be addicted? Your phone isn’t just a tool anymore—it’s a slot machine in your pocket, custom-built to hijack your brain’s reward system. And for the first generation of true digital natives (today’s teens and twenty-somethings), the consequences are hittin...

What do you do when the person you love most is trapped in addiction—and you realize you’re powerless to change them?  This conversation is going to share the raw truth about addiction and codependency that many Christians are not able to say out loud. The crazy-cycle is real in a home or a marriage where there is addiction. And learning to love someone who is addicted will take grace and wisdom t...

You’ve identified the problem, but what do you do now?  How can you break free from the grasp of pornography? In this insightful episode, John and Austin start with what NOT to do. You’ll hear about the things that seem helpful, but ultimately won’t produce lasting change. Then you’ll come to understand 4 Core Beliefs that may be keeping you stuck, and 5 Habits you can practice to begin and contin...

Unfortunately it is all too common for those who struggle with pornography to have some sort of sexual abuse in their past. But why? Does the abuse cause the addiction, or is there simply a correlation? The jury is still out on this question.  Although everyone’s story is different, pastor and counselor Austin Conner, MDiv, PLPC helps connect the dots on why and how those with sexual abuse in thei...

This is a battle that the enemy of your soul loves to keep in the dark. But we’d like to bring it out into the light—and provide hope for anyone who is caught in the trap of porn addiction. In this episode of our ongoing series, Dealing with Your Addictions, John and Austin unpack the reasons why so many people get hooked—and how understanding the roots of it can be the first step toward freedom....

Are you ready to get “in the weeds” about weed? In today’s society, marijuana use is legalized and normalized, so is there any reason not to use it? In this episode of our ongoing series, Dealing with Your Addictions, Austin, John, and Shay sit down for a straightforward conversation about the effects of marijuana and how Christians can make wise decisions in a culture where marijuana use is incre...

What if the unspoken rules of your childhood are still shaping your adult life? In this episode of With You in the Weeds, hosts Lynn and Shay Roush share a deeply personal conversation in their Dealing With Your Addictions series. Shay opens up about his upbringing in an alcoholic family, revealing how it impacted his trust, emotions, and relationships.  Here are the sobering statistics: 1 in 6 U....

Is alcohol hindering your relationship with God or loved ones?  As part of our Managing Your Addictions series, John Tinnin and Shay Roush welcome Aric Bremer, mid-Missouri radio personality and co-host of the podcast Blended, Blessed and Always a Mess. Aric’s path to sobriety emerged while coping with grief and loneliness, and was shaped by a desire for deeper and healthier relationships with his...

Has anyone ever asked you about your drinking? Have you ever tried to cut back on alcohol?  Drinking is a culturally accepted way to relax, unwind, celebrate or manage stress. And no one intentionally decides to have a drinking problem. It’s usually a slow drift—one drink here, a few more there—and before you know it, alcohol might be playing a bigger role in your life than you intended. But how c...

Have you ever tried to stop a destructive habit, only to find yourself even more tightly bound than before? In this perceptive episode of our ongoing series, Dealing with Your Addictions, Austin sits down with David Koch, a licensed professional counselor, certified sex therapist, and director of program operations at Crossroads Counseling Centers in St. Louis, Missouri. David teaches on addiction...

Why does addiction feel like an unstoppable river, sweeping you or someone you love further downstream? As part of our “Dealing With Your Addictions” series, hosts Austin Conner and John Tinnin explore the streams that fuel addiction by combining their years of ministry and counseling experience to help you navigate the invisible forces at work in your life.  They identify 5 streams that contribut...

Why do you keep chasing the very thing that chains you down? The dopamine rush from drinking, shopping, binge eating or mindless scrolling is fleeting and leaves you feeling emptier than before. But, you feel helpless to make a different choice. The title of this episode captures the heart of the human dilemma for every person - not just someone caught in the throes of addiction. We all have an id...

Do you ever feel like you want to escape from reality? Do you find yourself repeating habits that cause more problems than they solve? We think that addiction is a universal struggle that is also a surprising gift that can lead you closer to God. We are kicking off a new series called "Dealing with Your Addictions" because we want to empower you to face yourself honestly by helping you understand...

Do you believe God loves you but struggle to feel it? Or do you wrestle with the need to control everything while believing God is in charge? If you’re stuck in the gap between what you believe and what you experience, this episode is for you! We are excited to share this interview because we know it will speak to the common dynamics that show up in our relationships and spiritual journey. Host Au...

When Dan Hanneken started reading a bible in a prison cell, he had no idea how God’s grace could offer a second chance for anyone willing to change. This is the final episode in our “Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself” series, and we end with the incredible story of how Dan Hanneken found God in an unlikely place. Host Shay Roush interviews Dan as he shares how his own journey, marked by addiction,...

At Coyote Hill, every child’s life is a worthy investment. Host John Tinnin sits down with special guest Kari Hopkins, Chief Operating Officer of Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries in Columbia, Missouri, to discuss what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself” through the ministry of fostering. Kari shares how Coyote Hill, a faith-based ministry, restores childhoods for kids in foster care by...

Can one day change your city for the better?  Listen in as host Shay Roush sits down with Shelly Mayer, Care Ministry Director at The Crossing, to explain how one annual event called For Columbia unites 55 churches and over 2,100 volunteers to serve the people of Columbia, Missouri, in a single day. This initiative includes diverse projects from landscaping for elderly homeowners and painting in r...

Are you ready to confront a harsh reality? The state of Missouri is ranked #4 in the number of people being sex trafficked daily in our nation. In this gripping interview, host Austin Conner talks with Julie Meranda and Lauren Gray from Magnolia Ministry, as they walk alongside sex trafficking survivors toward healing and freedom.  Julie and Lauren share the heart-breaking stories of how sex traff...