Welcome back to our show! We are so excited to be back after taking a summer break! We have some amazing stories to share with all of you.

Our first show this season is very special. Amy Davis, a longtime friend of both of us, joins us on our show today. Her story is full of both heartbreak and patient love; it is so inspiring and full of twists and turns. Amy's story sometimes seems like a novel.

Amy grew up in OKC with her mom and step-dad. She was told many things about her birth father which led her to believe she would never get to know him. That all changed one day when he reached out to her while she was an adult. He explained the situation in a whole new light. Their story of reconnection and reconciliation is so beautiful, and could only be explained because of a Heavenly Father who has always been looking out for her and writing her story. You will love the grace and love that comes through in this powerful conversation!

#afrayedknotpodcast

#reconciliation

#friends

#family

#nevergiveuphope

#Psalm46:10BestillandknowthatIamGod

Adopting a child from another country is a daunting journey in itself; add to that the child has significant special needs, and he is from a war-torn country. Anita Wyatt and her husband did just that. Already parents to five biological children of their own, they realized they were being called by God to bring home a little boy from Ukraine.

Anita and her husband, Wayne, have been married for almost 25 years and have 6 kids between the ages of 13 and 22. In July of 2012, they went to Ukraine to adopt their child who was there. The story of how they heard about him, the timing involved, and the signs along the way are amazing!

You will also get to hear about how they got into contact with Xander's (Sasha's) birthmother and what a blessing and extraordinary experience that turned out to be for all of them. Anita tells us that they have learned to find joy in serving someone else, to find humor in unexpected places, and to trust God in each next step of obedience.

#afrayedknotpodcast

#Ukraine

#adoption

#prayformaksim

#A Story Unfinished: 99 Days with Eliot, by Matt Mooney

Kelly King has spent her life working in ministry. We have both benefited from her ministry and have been on the front row to experience her leadership! Growing up at Council Road Baptist Church in Oklahoma City with her as a youth leader was awesome.

Kelly now lives in the Nashville area with her husband, Vic. They have been married for 35 years and have two grown kids. She works for Lifeway Ministries, training women in leadership and ministry, and working with the ministry magazines along with having her own podcast, The Marked Podcast.

We talk today about going through the Refiner's fire. To be like Christ, we, too, will have to walk through some suffering. Kelly experienced this when her husband had some debilitating eye struggles and had to have surgeries. It threw him into clinical depression so strong she was not sure at times if their marriage would survive it. Depression is hard and awful for the person in it, but also for those around them. She shares honestly and openly about the realness of all of it, and she invites us to hear her heart in the matter. Kelly inspires us to say a simple and powerful yes to the Lord.

Ephesians 6

Psalm 42:1

Jesus and Gender, by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schmacher

Worthy, by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schmacher

Jesus through the Eyes of Women, by Rebecca McLaughlin

Devoted Bible Study

The Marked Podcast

#afrayedknotpodcast

#lifeway

#depression

#thesimpleyes

Tracie Webster has two amazing kids. One of those is her daughter, Ciara, who shared her story with us on Episode #110 of A Frayed Knot. You can hear her story there. Her younger child, her son Tanner, we will talk about today.

Tracie shares with us that Tanner was born with Transposition of the Great Arteries, VSD, ASD, and Pulmonary Stenosis; he basically had four major heart defects which were unknown until he was born. He had to have a series of surgeries, the first being when he was about 6 months old, which lasted 14 hours! Add to that, she and her husband, Darby, had just moved out of state and had 5-year-old Ciara at the time, too!

Tracie shares today that she feels she is the narrator of the story God wrote for their family. This has been a lot for them, and especially forTanner, to carry through their lives, but they've done it with such grace and faith. It is inspiring! Tracie tells us that God's plan always prevails, and He is always with us...even on a cold floor of a hospital bathroom.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Psalm 139

#afrayedknotpodcast

#congenitalheartdisease

#airembolism

#timestop

Vanessa Kehl tells us a very brave story about a difficult time in her youth that affected her for a very long time. Vanessa has been married to her husband, Andy, for 39 years. They have a daughter, Rachel. She is an accountant for a wheelchair company.

At 17 years of age, Vanessa found out she was pregnant. Her circumstances caused her a great deal of fear, and she secretly chose toend that pregnancy. This decision would haunt her for the next 20 years.

After high school, she joined a community theatre group that was performing "Godspell." Because of the story of that musical and the other Christians in the company, she came to know the real Jesus! This was life changing!

She met her husband soon after that and they spent many years serving together in the Baptist Children's Home. Vanessa has experienced the freedom of God's forgiveness and she has learned how to finally forgive herself and find peace and redemption in Christ. She has also volunteered at the Hope Pregnancy Center and helped others going through circumstances similar to her own teenage experiences.

Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee

1 John 1:9

2 Corinthians 7:10

thinkimpregnant.org-Hope Pregnancy Center

Find a Pregnancy Center in your Area | Care Net Pregnancy Centers

#afrayedknotpodcast

#hopepregnancy

#abortion

#forgiveness

#secrets

Y'all, I don't even know where to begin on the notes for this episode! So much good information; you will want to take notes! We both took about 4-5 pages of notes in this fascinating conversation.

Dr. Barbara Sorrels is a childhood trauma expert that we both heard in our teaching seminars; we were so excited that she agreed to chat with us on the podcast. She grew up in Washington, D.C. and began working in hospitals with children who had experienced trauma, and she knew this would be her mission. Dr. Sorrels writes books and trains others about how to recognize and deal with children who have experienced woundings that affected them deeply.

Dr. Sorrels is a wife, mom, and grandmother. Her husband had a terrible accident while on a short-term mission trip to Africa that left him paralyzed. This happened while they were dating, and she has spent her life loving and caring for him. Her own experiences have shaped her faith and commitment to Christ and given her a deeper understanding of those she works with.

She tells us the difference between trauma and severe stress, how to help regulate babies who have experienced trauma, and strategies for working with others. We also talk about ACES, what this tool is, what it means if you have an ACE Score, and how to have protective factors. Dr. Sorrels told us that Jesus is the #1 protective factor available to us. We learned that people with strong faith come back with hope, and having a sense of purpose helps us get through.

Recommended Resources:

Reaching and Teaching Children Exposed to Trauma, by Dr. Sorrels

Ready or Not, Here Comes School, by Dr. Sorrels

What Happened to You?, by Dr. Bruce Perry

connectedkids.org

Nurturing the Heart of a Child podcast

#afrayedknotpodcast

#aces

#childhoodtrauma

#doover

If you've been to Church on the Move, you've probably seen Priscilla Shields. She has been on staff there since 2006 in a variety of roles! She's been on the ministry side of it since 2019.

Priscilla has been married to her husband, Mike, for 25 years and has two children, Brooklyn and Brayden. She is Korean/Italian and grew up with a single mother. Her father left when she was very young, and this became the beginning of trauma that would not come to a head until the age of 41, when she experienced some covered feelings of anger and pain. She says, "The hardness of the soil began to break up," and she final met "the real Jesus".

Priscilla teaches us that we need to decide if we really trust that God is good. When we are exhausted and burned out, even from doing good things, it can suppress the gifts we've been given. We become enslaved to the pressures of the ordinary. Are you experiencing burnout, or maybe pain and anger about your situation? Either way, this is one you will not want to miss!

Recommended Resources:

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Isaiah 2:8

#afrayedknotpodcast

#gifts

#striving

#burnout

To know Shay Gibbons is to love Shay Gibbons. Shay is a 21-year-old, spunky, talented girl with a beautiful voice and a heart for worship! Her story is woven with showings of God's presence, even in the midst of trauma.

Shay was born to parents who were both addicted to meth. She lived in Arizona with her dad for most of her childhood, until her grandparents intervened and brought her to Oklahoma. They saw the at-risk situation in which she was living, and they pulled her out of it, providing stability and a godly home for her.

Shay talks with us about having an addictive personality; she became addicted to pornography in middle school, and to alcohol and marijuana in high school. She was looking for love and purpose in all the wrong things...until she met Jesus.

You will love her passion for the Lord, and how He is using her in interesting and great ways!

Recommended Resources:

2 Corinthians 5:17

Goodness of God, by Bethel

Always Good, by Bethel

Forever Yahweh, by Elevation

So We May, band

Audacity

The Gathering

Books:

Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot, by Mo Isom

If You Only Knew, by Jamie Ivey

Gloria and Wayne Yeckley are about the most precious couple you could imagine! They have been married for 58 years and have a lot of wisdom to share. Their faithfulness to God and to each other is inspiring.

Wayne and Gloria experienced a year of turmoil when a numerous amount of tragedies struck them all within three months' time. It was a season of great sadness and stress, but they trusted their Heavenly Father to sustain them, and He did!

They tell us that when you don't have Jesus, you won't have peace; also, they encourage us to never fear the next season. They are a great example of experiencing seasons and handling the things that life has thrown their way. From fostering children to dealing with illnesses, they continue to hang onto Jesus.

Leviticus 25, The Year of Jubilee

Isaiah 40:31

Jeremiah 29:11

Ephesians 5:26

#afrayedknotpodcast

#livinginseasons

#yearofjubilee

#trustHislove

#marriage

Happy Valentine's Day week! We are so thankful for all of you and for your listening to our show! On today’s episode, we are talking to Paul and Margaret Purifoy! Paul and Margaret are the parents of our very own Robin Wall. They have been married for almost 52 years, so we thought they would be good to talk to about making a marriage work.

Paul and Margaret had a “frayed knot” when they were faced with the difficult decision of a next step for Margaret’s mother, after she was widowed with Alzheimer's disease. They decided to take her in, and take care of her themselves; this was actually Paul’s idea!

This is the most precious couple and they share so much wisdom with us from their journey of a long and happy life together. Through the ups and downs of life they have managed to stay close to the Lord and close to each other. You will love listening to them and get so much out of it. Listen in.

Recommended Resources:

The 36 Hour Day, by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins

Matthew 11:28

#afrayedknotpodcast

#dementia

#marriedlife