Challenges Won't Stop Me

Are you experiencing "a dark night of the soul" - a season where challenges are overwhelming you and you feel as if God is nowhere to be found?  Author and speaker Maggie Rowe has been there. In today's interview, Maggie shares what the Bible says about God's presence during those difficult seasons and what she learned during her dark nights of the soul. About a year and a half...

Cheryl Bonds joins me today to discuss the mindset of breaking generational curses. If you missed Cheryl’s story interview, episode 147, I strongly urge you to listen to it as it will give you context as to why this mindset was so powerful in her journey. What is a generational curse? According to Christian author and speaker Amanda Pittman, a generational curse is “a spiritual or a behavioral pat...

We don't choose how we were conceived, who our parents are, or where we are born. The miracle of birth can be overshadowed if one or more of these conditions are unfavorable. A baby born to a mother who is in a prison has a 30% chance of following in his or her mother's footsteps.  Today's guest, author and speaker Cheryl Bonds, experienced all three unfavorable conditions when she...

 Linda Goldfarb is back to chat about a mindset that helps her during any challenge that dares to intersect her path. How do you respond to circumstances? Is your response the same regardless if the circumstance brings joy or if it brings struggle? Linda decided long ago that it doesn't matter what comes her way, she trusts God. How Linda starts her day is something you'll want to rememb...

Today's guest, Linda Goldfarb, is both a Bible nerd and a joy-filled story teller. She knows this beautiful combination of interests and abilities is God's doing.  The tough challenges Linda's faced throughout her life were not wasted as God intentionally used them to equip and empower her to write vbooks, to speak messages that encourage believers, to host a podcast that provides t...

My friend, Lindsey Arcaro, who is the worship pastor at my church - The Square - joins me again to discuss how lyrics to a song poured out of her during her deepest grief. Those tear-filled words became the worship song “Worthy of a Hallelujah.” Lindsey shares how walking in alignment with God leads to opportunities for us to experience what we were made for. Memorable quotes:  ·        “I don’t w...

My friend, Lindsey Arcaro, who is the worship pastor at my church - The Square - joins me today to share her story of overcoming a miscarriage and her son's neurological diagnosis.  Lindsey and her husband, Braden, have been married for eleven years and have a daughter and a son.  Lindsey doesn't sugarcoat the pain she went through in either of those challenges. Instead, she is vulnerabl...

What aspects of your faith would you consider to be creative? If you are having a hard time thinking of any, you’re not alone. Almost every five-year-old believes he or she is creative, but very few adults do. God is a creative God. And He made you to be creative! Today’s guest, Pam Farrel, shares how she discovered Bible art and how it has impacted her faith.  Notable quotes: ·         “The purpo...

How have you seen God’s fingerprints during your challenges? It could've been the right person at the right time. Or the cancerous mass no longer showing on the scan. Or your bills being paid by an unknown source.  God IS with us during our challenges. And He still does miracles. Today’s guest, author and speaker Pam Farrel, shares about how challenges with her weight, being diagnosed with di...

Today's episode is a video solo cast. If you're listening on your favorite podcast app, please head over to my YouTube channel @melonybrown. I don't want you to miss any of the visual symbols or God's beautiful creation! God's been teaching me about the importance of good spiritual posture the last few years. I've been sharing what I've learned in these video sol...

Dawn Damon returns to chat about the habitual practice of reading and studying God’s Word. As a Bible nerd myself, I loved hearing why she loves God’s Word so much. Dawn Damon is the author of six books, a speaker, the host of The Bravehearted Woman podcast, and a life coach. She and her husband, Paul, have been married for fifteen years. Their blended family is made up of five adult children, thi...

I heard today’s guest, Dawn Damon, speak at the Advanced writers and Speakers Conference last summer. She asked the audience to consider this question: “Is it possible that you might discover something about yourself or God that you wouldn’t know except for your challenges?” She was speaking my language! YES! I’ve leaned many things about myself and God that I wouldn’t have learned any other way....

Friendship. Such a beautiful gift.  My guest, Kim Todd, shares the strategy of having a kingdom community, a family. These are the people who you laugh with, who fill you with joy, and who you share "you had to be there" moments with during the good times.  While those good times are important, oh, how valuable true friends are during the hard times when they listen as you pour out your...

My guest, Kim Todd, has faced many challenges, but none tougher than watching difficult and painful challenges impact her sons.   Like any parent, she wished she could fix their challenges or soften the pain, but Kim knew God would grow their faith as they learned how to fight to overcome. Their challenges were opportunities for their growth.  But her sons' challenges were also opportunities...

Author and speaker Maureen Miller joins me to share about her mindset of Embracing Being Peculiar. Have you ever had the feeling you weren't like everyone else? Like you aren't "normal" and you don't fit in? "Being normal" is the goal, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Maureen shares, "I longed to be normal. I don't know exactly what I thought normal was, but I...

When I noticed today's guest, Maureen Miller, wearing pearl earrings during her interview, I remembered hearing pearls held meaning for her, so I asked her to tell me about them. Author and speaker Maureen Miller shared that she loves pearls because the adversity - the things we go through, the challenges we face - are similar to the sand that agitates an oyster. A valuable treasure - a pearl...

Today’s episode is a video solocast. Rather than just listening to it, watching it on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@melonybrown is suggested. Throughout 2025, God’s been teaching me about the importance of maintaining a healthy spiritual posture. Episode 117, titled STAND FIRM, I shared about the posture of standing firm. The visual image of a hiking boot reminds us that the Holy...

Today's guest is author, speaker, and podcast host Laine Lawson Craft.  This episode is a little longer because Laine's personal experience as the mother of three - yes three! - prodigal children and the strategies she's learned along the way are just too helpful and powerful to edit down to the length of most of my episodes.  Our children mean so much to us but parenting them isn&a...

In episode 130, Carole Lewis shared how God strengthened her during multiple devastating losses.  I neglected to ask her about Hurricane Ike, so she shares about the loss it caused in this episode, which leads us into discussing the importance of leaving a legacy. Carole shares examples from her life that highlight her intentionality in living a life of joy, which will be part of her legacy. Notab...

Author, speaker, and ministry leader Carole Lewis shares her story of overcoming multiple devastating losses in today's episode. Carole admits she gave her life to Jesus as a child, but she didn't live for Him until her life began falling apart.  Financial loss, her mother's passing, her husband's stage 4 cancer diagnosis and his passing, her daughter being killed by a drunk dr...

Julie Seals is a speaker and a prison minister. Her memoir is titled All My Hope: A Prisoner No More. Julie returns to discuss a strategic mindset that helped her while serving time in federal prison and continues to help her no matter what challenge she faces. Her strategic mindset is based off Matthew 11:12, which reads, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers...

Today’s guest is Julie Seals. She is a speaker and a prison minister. Her memoir, All My Hope: A Prisoner No More, tells of her dysfunctional childhood, her lifelong health challenges, getting hooked on meth as a teen, hanging out with the Mafia, and serving time in prison for carrying meth across the border. God followed her every step of the way, wooing her to choose Him. After she accepted Chri...

Today's episode is a video solocast, so watching it here on YouTube allows you to hear it and see it!  For the last year or so, God has been teaching me about the importance of a believer's posture.  We know good posture is part of good physical health. Good posture is also part of good spiritual health. It looks like standing firm on God's foundation, which I shared about in episod...

My guest, Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Chandler, is a chaplain in the Georgia National Guard. She returns to share her way of life interview, focusing on what God imparted during her husband’s fight with COVID-19 and after he passed away. Having the love of her life pass away from COVID was devastating. God brought Psalm 23 to mind again and again. Apart from grieving her loss, God taught her more ab...

Every person alive in 2020 was impacted by COVID-19 in some form or fashion. My guest, Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Chandler, was no exception. She serves as a chaplain in the Georgia National Guard. Married twenty years and then having to navigate a divorce during a deployment to Afghanistan prior to COVID was a difficult challenge. Leslie found joy again when she reconnected with the love of her li...