It is possible to take back your life…

Episode 12, Laura Padgett

Alcoholism and abuse.  And then there was love and life transformation…

Laura Padgett grew to adulthood without any idea of what love is. She didn’t know you could have relationships that didn’t involve screaming and hitting. As a child she woke up every morning wondering what would happen that day. Before day’s end, would there be police at the door?

Alcoholism and domestic violence informed her childhood, loss of her father to a brain tumor and then abandonment by her mother defined her late teens. She learned to take care of herself and her younger sister by becoming tough. Laura says she developed a blackbelt tongue.

In her mid-twenties, everything began to change for Laura…

Episode 11, Sarah De Orlando

“I needed to stop running away from God and allow Him to run to me. I finally realized it wasn’t about my worthiness – God wanted to lift me up.”

Sarah was running from shame and guilt and the belief she was unworthy, even though she had invited the Lord into her life. As she shares her story, you will discover:

• How Sarah became able to receive unconditional love
• What happened that released her from shame and guilt
• How God slowly, tenderly, relieved her depression and feelings of hopelessness
• What Sarah learned that helped her to stop rehearsing toxic thoughts

How forgiveness played a dual role in Sarah’s journey to freedom

Episode 10, Karen DeArmond Gardner

Healing from an abusive relationship takes focus, courage, and commitment.

Healing, and the releasing of trauma, doesn’t ‘just happen’. Listen as Karen DeArmond Gardner shares wisdom about what it takes not only to survive, but to heal. If we leave an abuser but don’t make the commitment to understand what happened and why, we leave ourselves vulnerable to yet another abusive relationship.

• What does it mean to truly heal?

• Learn to recognize God’s relentless pursuit of your heart.

• Find out how to gain courage to release the trauma of your past.

• Regain life, hope, and wholeness in Jesus’s healing love.  

Episode 9, Karen DeArmond Gardner

“God loves you more than he hates divorce.”

Karen is a survivor of a decades-long abusive marriage. What she eventually discovered is that God loves her more than he hates divorce. There is biblical evidence all throughout scripture that God does not condone abuse.

“Leaving an abuser is the beginning,” says Karen.   

 Healing from abuse is what must come next. It isn’t an overnight experience, but a journey, the beginning of finding the freedom God intends for each of His daughters. Karen De Armond Gardner sheds light for us, ‘full disclosure’, on the process of healing from long-term abuse.

It was a long road for Karen, abuse wasn’t a topic of discussion in our culture at the time and she didn’t have the resources that are becoming available today.

Episode 8, Lisa Lewis

“We are transformed when we are willing to partner with God in the work of completing who we are.”  Lisa Lewis

In this episode you will meet Lisa Lewis, Certified Christian Life Coach, Transformational Leadership Coach for Women, and survivor of multiple types of abuse.

I talk with Lisa about how to think rightly.

• What does that mean for abuse survivors?
• How is it possible?
• What is the truth about who I am?

We discuss the importance of learning to discern truth from the lies we believe and tell ourselves, and the necessity to overcome self-limiting beliefs.

Nothing in your experience disqualifies you from pursuing your dreams and fulfilling your divine purpose. ~ Jilliann Woods

“All things are possible for one who believes.”  Jesus, Mark 9:23

Episode 7, Charlene Quint, Part 3

Recovering from the Abuser is addressed in this episode as Charlene shares how we can gain a new perspective and how to overcome the effects of trauma. Listen in to hear about:

• The renewing of your mind
• Trauma bonds and how to break them
• How to break free from fear, doubt, and anxiety
• Practical steps: prayer, Bible reading and journaling
• Building community and establishing healthy boundaries

Receive encouragement from Charlene at the end of today’s episode.

Episode 6, Charlene Quint, Part 2

Removing the Abuser from our lives can be a tremendous challenge complicated by confusion, guilt, fear, shame, lack of knowledge, and lack of confidence. In today’s episode we discuss:

• Why women stay
• You can’t change him (statistics show abusers almost never change)
• Why Christian women can be especially vulnerable to abuse
• The spiritual battle is not what you think
• The armor of God

Each of these topics is covered in depth in the second section of Charlene’s book, which you’ll find on the espisode page.

Episode 5, Charlene Quint, Part 1

Recognizing the Abuser is the topic in this first of three episodes with Charlene Quint where she provides valuable insight and information about how to identify abusers and the underlying personality disorders that drive them. You will hear:

• Why many churches and pastors are not effectively recognizing and dealing with the issue of abuse, allowing victims to remain vulnerable
• The definition of the acronym SNAP which stands for Sociopath/Narcissist/Abuser/Psychopath, in reference to a person with one or more of these personality disorders
• A description of the three phases of A Romantic Abusive Relationship

Each of these topics and more are covered in depth in the first section of Charlene’s book, which you’ll find on the episode page.

Episode 4, Jill Baughan

“It’s possible to find joy, even in tough times. We just have to be intentional about drawing from the joy that walks alongside the sorrow and disappointment in our lives.”  Jill Baughan

In this episode with podcaster Jill Baughan, we discuss what she is uniquely gifted to help us do: to find and savor joy in the hard places. It may sound like something impossible to you right now but listen in as Jill shares concrete steps to take along with stories that prove you too can do this with success. She even explains how to capture special moments to enjoy them over, and over again.

Plus, Jill demonstrates how to redeem an opportunity and retrieve a joy moment you missed in the past. It will look different for each of us, but if we are seeking joy, God may just provide an occasion to re-capture it.

Even if you are in a difficult place today, well, especially if you are, join us for inspiration, encouragement, and a dose of joy to lift your spirit. Along with me, you may even laugh out loud a time or two. Did I mention the chicken suit or the chimp?

“And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10b

Episode 3, Lori Young

“I’m willing to bet you could list for days your fatal flaws and weaknesses. But what if they were actually your greatest strengths and superpowers?”  Lori Young

How would you complete this statement? “If you really knew me…” Today we hear from Lori on the topic of how you see yourself, the importance of authenticity, and why it’s important to discern what is true about you and what it means to enter the ‘no judgment zone.’

Lori also shares her Three T’s of Authenticity. Three foundations upon which to build your personal truth and live as the woman God created you to be. What is your truth? Do you trust God and the authority He has given you? How is your territory defined?

Lori has a unique perspective with universal application. Please join us for this valuable conversation.

Episode 2, Anna LeBaron

We pick up our discussion with how Christian women often feel an extra layer of guilt and shame when thinking about leaving a marriage to an abusive person. Listen as Anna breaks this down based on biblical principles.

Anna shares that when there is abuse in a marriage it is absolutely not what God wants. Though many of us stay out of a sense of guilt that we haven’t prayed enough or tried hard enough and because we feel it would be shameful, as a Christian wife, to leave.

Find out how Anna compares her journey to that of the growth of an apple seed so that now her life is producing fruit. Because God lifted her out of abusive situations repeatedly to not only heal her, but to equip her to help others.

Episode 1, Anna LeBaron

“You can be in an abusive situation without knowing that what you are experiencing is abuse.” Anna LeBaron.

Born into a more dramatically abusive environment than most of us will ever be exposed to, yet what Anna experienced is common to many abuse victims. The effects of growing up in her family of origin left her traumatized due to the multiple forms of abuse and the severe neglect she experienced. 

Anna discusses having no voice and no choice about what she was ordered to do, which is common for women caught up in a manipulative and controlling relationship with an abuser.  

Later in her life, Anna explains the grit and determination it took to leave a marriage that was abusive. As a woman in her mid-forties, she still did not realize that what she was experiencing was abuse. Listen as Anna shares the story of how God opened her eyes, and what happened next…