Cynthia Tobias has been on my bucket list since before I started this podcast because of the work she's done teaching about the strong-willed child. Her book, You Can't Make Me: But I Can Be Persuaded, was a key influence in helping me raise my strong-willed daughter, Elise. Before I knew how to handle her stubborn temperament, I would frequently end up frustrated and in a puddle of tears. But once I learned some of the tools and tips Cynthia shares, it became easier for me to understand how to get Elise to cooperate more (hint: it doesn't involve getting angry or raising your voice).

In this episode Cynthia shares, Three Quick Ways to Recognize and deal with Your Strong-Willed Child, Teen or Adult, as well as the magic word you can use that almost always works to get a strong-willed person to cooperate and where you can find immediate free resources like The Strong-Willed Child Emergency Kit. I know you'll be so encouraged with Cynthia's solid advice on helping guide your strong-willed child. As she states in this episode," It's a compliment that God gave us to have a strong-willed child... When they're born, they don't have any idea how to use it. It's up to us to help guide it, shape it, and form it and let God use it." You're going to want to thank Cynthia after hearing this episode.

Heather Millsaps and Leslie Hawkins are two of the co-founders of New Day Recovery in Fountain Inn, S.C. Both ladies and their husbands have incredible testimonies of how God delivered their husbands from drug and alcohol addiction and saved their marriages. Leslie's husband, Stephen, has epilepsy and suffered a seizure that resulted in him having brain surgery that exacerbated his existing drug and alcohol addiction. Heather's husband, Glenn, had a shoulder injury that resulted in him becoming dependent on painkillers. Both of these families walked a difficult road to recovery and, after the healing came, Leslie had a recurring dream about helping people recover from addiction. After having the dream several times, she finally shared it with her husband, who shared it with one of their church pastors, who in turn encouraged them to start a ministry. Heather, who wasn't aware of Leslie's dreams, responded in an act of obedience from a Sunday morning message saying she felt she needed to help people seeking recovery. Once these ladies and their husbands, along with two other couples, Nick and Wimberly Cox and John and Megan Phillips, got together they created New Day Recovery with the help of Capstone Church. Megan, by the way, was on episode #73 and Laura Barrineau, who is also mentioned in this episode, was my guest in episode #72. I hope you'll listen to their stories as well.

You're going to love Leslie and Heather and their hearts for helping individuals and families in their recovery journey. When you're going through something hard, it's such a comfort to have someone come alongside you and say, "I understand, I've been there too. I can help." That's what this group is doing. If you or someone you love struggles with addiction, I pray this episode will give you practical ways to find hope and healing.

Today on the podcast I'm thrilled to introduce you to writer/director David Helling. David wrote and directed the recently released to theaters movie His Only Son. We had a great conversation about his journey into film making and I asked why he wanted to share this story of when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, David said when he lived in San Fransisco while attending film school that time and time again this story would be a point of contention. Not only did he see non-believers have an issue with this passage, but he also saw believers not knowing how to answer it. The movie beautifully shares Abraham and Sara's struggle through the years of longing for a son as Abraham and Isaac make the three-day journey to Mount Moriah. His only Son received a 72% rating from the Angel Guild-- the group of over 64,000 Angel Studio crowd funders who review and greenlight creator projects. This is one of the highest scores ever given.

David is a U.S. Marine corp. veteran whose time in the deserts of Iraq was the impetus for the film. He shares in this interview how he'd have to spend nights in the desert near where the biblical story of Daniel took place and the effect that had on him and his relationship with God and His word. I found David to be a genuine person who loves the Lord and wants to lead others to read and study the scriptures for themselves, so they'll grow in their relationship with Christ too. I know you're going to enjoy getting to know the man behind the movie.

I'm so excited to introduce you to this week's guest, Ruth McWhite. You'll just love Ruth, as do many people in our community. She was recently honored by the South Carolina Baptist Convention last month during Women's History Month, as a woman who is making a difference, and I couldn't agree more. She has blessed so many in her life through her teaching, speaking and mentoring to women. She recently retired from North Greenville University as the Director of Womens Ministry and now serves as a Biblical counselor at Rocky Creek Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C. 

I asked Ruth to come on the podcast to share about her passion, mentoring younger women, and to share about those who mentored her and made a real difference in her life. She also tells how you can make a difference in the lives of others, too. It's not hard, and it shouldn't be scary, and Ruth shares practical ways we can pour into the lives of others. Once you hear our conversation, you'll feel like Ruth is your best friend. And if you don't already know her, you'll want to. Enjoy our conversation!

Jennifer Dukes Lee has been on my bucket list to interview since I started the podcast. I've followed her blog for years and have always been drawn to her authenticity and vulnerability and her writing has ministered to me, especially in my season of parenting. On this episode Jennifer and I discuss a little about her book, Growing Slow: Lessons on Unhurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl, and the section she most wanted to delete from it titled Winter. But y'all! It was the best part of all! She also talks about her new book, Stuff I'd Only Tell God: A Guided Journal of Courageous Honesty, Obsessive Truth-Telling and Beautifully Ruthless Self-Discovery. 

When I saw that Jennifer's latest book was a journal, I wasn't sure what to expect, but she's convinced me this is something we all need. She shares the benefits of journaling and how the practice can help us heal and give us confidence to face our future. She asks questions in this book that truly help us find the answers to why we struggle with certain things, kind of like a counseling session, and helps us find hope to overcome our strongholds. Jennnifer shares one of her favorite questions in the journal (I loved this one!) as well as one of the hardest questions for her to address. This episode will enlighten you in so many ways and I know you'll love Jennifer and want to get this journal for yourself!

When Megan Phillips was 35 years old, she found out that her father was not her biological dad. This news left her reeling, thinking that her whole life had been a lie. But after the initial shock, she decided she wanted to find her biological father and set about looking for him with only two pieces of information: a fake name and a fake home state (neither of which she knew was fake). But God intervened and she miraculously found her biological dad and was amazed by the wonderful grace of God in her life. Megan's mom told her about her real father in a fit of anger before going to get help for her alcohol abuse. But Megan shares that "in the process of Mom breaking, she shattered me. But I don't know that I'd have it any other way." As I listened to Megan's story the verse from Genesis 50:20 kept coming to mind. What the enemy meant for evil God used for good. 

Listen how Megan not only found her biological father, but also two half-brothers and her dad's wife. Megan says that "my life would not be the same today if my (adoptive) dad had not stepped in and raised me as his own." Isn't that the story of the gospel? I know you'll enjoy hearing Megan's story of healing and hope.

As Laura Barrineau tells it, she hasn't suffered a lot of terrible things in her life and for years she felt like her testimony wasn't good enough. Many times, when we grow up in a good Christian home, accept Christ as a child and live mostly for Jesus, we don't think our stories are good enough to share. But Laura eventually realized that even though she didn't have a miraculous testimony, that didn't mean God didn't want her to share her story. Instead of feeling guilty, she began to express gratitude to God for the good things He's allowed her to experience and that's caused her to grow even closer to Him.

Laura and her husband, Chris, have stepped out in faith and God has given them amazing testimonies about how they planted a church, adopted a sweet down-syndrome baby, Caleb, from China, and are now opening their hearts and homes to foster kids who need their love and encouragement. She and Chris understand that everybody's story is different, but God wants to use everybody's story for His glory. My conversation with Laura will bless your socks off!

After the death of her brother and son in the same month, Amy Debrucque understandably struggled privately with severe anxiety. It would take a cancer diagnosis 14 years later for her to finally lean into her faith and surrender the burden of fear. She learned that although fear is normal, courage gets the final say. Amy had to walk through her own journey of letting go of anxiety and fear before she could teach women like her how to stop being afraid and start living on purpose and has spent the last five years coaching and leading others to freedom. 

One thing Amy shares in this interview that I believe many of us can relate to is, "At night was my kryptonite. I could be great all day and then the silence at night was deafening to me... That's when my anxiety would really ramp up. It was in the evening when all of those negative thoughts and all those fears would pour in. It was debilitating." But now she has learned the secret to overcoming anxiety and fear: surrendering to God every day. I know my conversation with Amy will be an encouragement to you if you're facing fear, anxiety, perfectionism or having the confidence to step into the purpose God has for your life.

For years Jenn Mair struggled with body image issues. She believed the lies that had been spoken to her by others and our culture, "you are too much" or "you are not enough." This kicked in an eating disorder and addiction to working out. For years, she felt like she could never measure up to what the world defined as beautiful.

One day, while running on a treadmill, she felt hopeless and thought, "there has to be more to life than this." She knew she wasn't alone because others around her either felt hopeless or wanted control of their health and wellness. Shortly after this moment, God led her to become a certified group fitness instructor but use it as a tool for the Gospel. Her passion is to let others know they have been set free from the lies and bondage of our fitness culture. In 2016, Jenn founded Whole Fitness, a program dedicated to building a healthy and whole community: mind, body, and soul.

Julie Bagwell began her own health journey when she realized she had been living her life in overdrive to care for her family and others, without spending much time taking care of herself. Learning the value of rest, tending to her soul and changing her mindset that working out is a form of worship, helped her heal and become stronger in mind, body and soul! She became certified to lead faith-based fitness classes where she met Jenn Mair. Julie will soon be launching a Whole Fitness branch in the Fountain Inn area where she hopes to encourage others with this new mindset.

CarolRoper.org/podcast

Singleness can be a long a lonely journey, leaving you wondering if God really does see you in your struggle. Today I have three very special guests, my daughter, Elise Roper Younts, along with her husband, Wes, and his mom, Frieda (who's also one of my best friends!). Elise and Wes walked their own lonely journeys through singleness before finally finding each other and marrying last March. Even though for most of their lives they lived exactly 7.3 miles apart, and Wes's mom and I have been best friends for 28 years, they'd never met except in their preschool Sunday School class. You may remember Elise's story from episode 19 about how her fiancé broke off their engagement and left her heartbroken. Wes has his own testimony of 10 years of singleness and not dating after he realized he had allowed dating to become an idol for him. I introduced Frieda to you, along with Julie, in episode one. Frieda and I walked with our children through their lonely seasons of singleness and prayed for them through the difficult times. We had no way of knowing at the time, but God was working behind the scenes to draw Elise and Wes closer to Him so that He could bring them together in marriage. In this episode Frieda and I discuss the struggles of parenting single adult children and I share the prayer I wrote asking God to bring Elise a husband. Elise and Wes share their wedding vows that they wrote to one another.

If you're a single adult, or the parent of a single adult, and have grown discouraged in your loneliness and feeling left out, I pray this episode will encourage you and bring hope to your journey.