What does emotional healing look like after decades of feeling unseen in a marriage?

 In this powerful conversation, author Julie Cunningham shares the deeply personal journey behind her book The Orphaned Wife — a story of emotional abandonment, hidden wounds, spiritual awakening, and the long road toward real restoration.

Julie opens up about:

• Growing up adopted and navigating childhood wounds
• Emotional abandonment inside a “good” Christian marriage
• The moment she realized healing wouldn’t save her marriage
• The process of rebuilding her identity in Christ
• Why the church often misses signs of silent suffering
• How her three-book series helps others walking through the same pain
• The difference between surviving… and becoming whole

Whether you’ve experienced emotional abandonment, spiritual discouragement, or simply want to understand how healing really works, this conversation will meet you where you are — and offer hope.

📚 Julie Cunningham’s Books

• The Orphaned Wife
• Ashes on the Altar
• The Kaleidoscope of Butterflies
• Mama Was A Hippie: A Journey to Find True North

The Orphaned Wife Series – Amazon Links

The Orphaned Wife: The story of how one woman survived emotional abandonment in a Christian marriage, and her healing journey toward emotional wholeness (Pub: 2020)

Kindle Edition Link: https://amzn.to/49y0Puv

Paperback Edition Link: https://amzn.to/48d1nnh

 Study Guide for The Orphaned Wife

Kindle Edition Link: https://amzn.to/3XKJDdS

Paperback Edition Link: https://amzn.to/4poG4G2

 Journal for The Orphaned Wife

Paperback Edition Link: https://amzn.to/43KvEsd

Ashes on the Altar: Insights From a Journey Through the Wilderness (Pub: 2022)

Kindle Edition Link: https://amzn.to/3XbiAIE

Paperback Edition Link: https://amzn.to/4oNJm5U

 Study Guide for Ashes on the Altar

Kindle Edition Link: https://amzn.to/48b56kW

Paperback Edition Link: https://amzn.to/486aJRC

 A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies: Women Walking in Glory (Pub. 2023)

Kindle Edition Link: https://amzn.to/4o6Oy3x

Paperback Edition Link: https://amzn.to/4ptrGfZ

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This is our first 7 Minute Quest podcast. The word "quest" stirs thoughts about a search for truth or understanding or an adventure. A quest is the kind of story that’s filled with heroes and trusted guides, failures and victories. You may be thinking that seven minutes isn't enough time to flesh out an idea, but sometimes brevity is best.

This Week's Question:
Is coming to faith, becoming a believer in God through Jesus Christ, best defined as a moment in time or more accurately part of a larger process?

When Jesus talks with Nicodemus about being “born again”,  having “eternal life” and “that the world might be saved through Him”, what does He mean? Is salvation intended to be a one-time acknowledgement of Christ that covers our sin for all time, assuring us of eternal life, or is there also a broader process that the Lord intends for each of us as a life-long focus?

This Week's Foundational Scripture:
John 3:1-3, 14-17 (ESV)

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

( Later in the conversation Jesus tells him:)

14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

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Have you ever been at a point in your life where you had prayed to God for something important to take place, something to be revealed to you, something that was time-sensitive?

I remember a time when I was in college and like many 20-year-olds I’d hit a wall in my faith and in my understanding of God and how He works. Then an older Christian brother recommended that I take some time to visit the Psalms and suggested a few that he believed would be helpful. He shared with me a powerful image of how I was to drink it in as I read, like using a long straw, and allow the verses to wash over my frustrations and concerns and connect me with the heart of God and His ways.

What happened next would impact the rest of my life.

Foundational Scripture:
Psalm 27:14 (ESV)
Of David.

Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Community Worship, YouTube Link:
Jordan Sandquist - "Waiting for the Lord" (A Ted Sandquist Song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDFVv9uUa2Y

He is my light, yes the Lord my salvation 
With Him as my stronghold whom shall I fear 
When evil assails me when I am surrounded 
I will find my life in the Lord 

There is one thing I will ask of Him and I will seek it forever
Lord my one desire is to dwell within Your household and ever 
To behold the beauty of God and to dwell as a son in His courts 

Teach me of Your ways, o Lord, and lead me in the path of Your kingdom 
Hear me when I cry aloud and answer for You word is my freedom 
I believe I shall see the goodness of God in the land of the living 

Waiting for the Lord I will be strong and let my heart take courage
I will wait, yay wait for the Lord, I will wait for the Lord

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“Who am I?” Now THAT’S the question of the hour, isn’t it? Personality tests like Myers Briggs, Enneagram, DISC, StrengthsFinder, High5, and Hogan are common across corporations and churches alike. 

Is is all just about "me"?

This episode explores who Jesus says he is and how that will lead us to His Father.

Foundational Scripture:
Luke 9:18-20 (ESV)

18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him.  And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Community Worship, YouTube Link:
Jordan Sandquist - "He is the One" (A Ted Sandquist Song)
https://youtu.be/z0LEC-PeWbY
 
He is the visible image of the invisible God 
Firstborn of all of creation, He is the Living Word 
He who was in the beginning, who was with God and is God 
He is the Son, He is the One

He is the One by whom all things were created 
He is the One for whom everything was made 
He is the One through whom all things hold together 
He is before all things, He is the One

He is the visible image of the invisible God 
Firstborn of all of creation, He is the Living Word 
He who was in the beginning, who was with God and is God 
He is the Son, He is the One

He is the Son who descended and ascended 
He is the Son who was born of the virgin Mary 
He is the Son whom the Father has exalted 
He is above all things, He is the One 

He is the visible image of the invisible God 
Firstborn of all of creation, He is the Living Word 
He who was in the beginning, who was with God and is God 
He is the Son, He is the One

He is the One who is Alpha and Omega 
He is the One who is who was and who will be 
He is the One who is beginning and the end 
He is beyond all things, He is the One

He is the visible image of the invisible God 
Firstborn of all of creation, He is the Living Word 
He who was in the beginning, who was with God and is God 
He is the Son, He is the One

(Yes) He is the Son, He is the One

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On two separate occasions Margaret turned down offers for her 30-acre farm because of the still small voice of God prompting her “don’t sell”. A smaller place with less stress and responsibilities for a then 56-year-old woman with crippling arthritis looked pretty good, don’t you think? The second buyer was willing to pay twice what the first buyer offered a year earlier. Might this have been the Lord’s provision for two widows?

Foundational Scripture:
Romans 8:28
(New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Community Worship, YouTube Link:
Jordan Sandquist - "Dayspring" (A Ted Sandquist Song)
https://youtu.be/91qQdLJmk4Q

And it’s a new day every hour when the Dayspring comes 
And He renews life in His power for He is the Son

When the day dawns from on high
He shines a light in the dark doorway 
Making clear the shadow of the lie
To guide our feet in the good Lord’s way

Rejoice Rejoice (x2)

And it’s a new day every hour when the Dayspring comes 
And He renews life in His power for He is the Son

From the spring of eternal life 
Flows a river into dry land
Come drink and be baptized 
Your salvation is close at hand 

Rejoice Rejoice (x2)

And it’s a new day every hour when the Dayspring comes 
And He renews life in His power for He is the Son

When I see the face of Jesus
I know that He not only can
But He wants to save and heal us
And with His Spirit fill the heart of man

Rejoice Rejoice (x4)

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In a world filled with so many ways to communicate and connect, why are so many people suffering from extreme loneliness and isolation?

Our Foundational Scriptures:

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".  (John 14:6)

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:10-11)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.  (John 1:17,18)

 Our Core Values:

Be grateful, own your mess.

 
Our Vision:

- Profound Simplicity

- Confident Humility

- Passionate Discipleship

Extended Reading:

John 14:6-18 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)

Jesus said to him (Philip), “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you".

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Welcome to Church of POD, where we have honest, grace-centered conversations helping ordinary Christians move from performance to a secure identity in an extraordinary God.

When I was young, I wanted nothing more than to please God. Trouble was, I was always unsure if my efforts were enough. We were taught, sometimes without words, that our part of being a Christian meant trying harder. Serving more. Doubting less.

And so, we performed. For God. For the church. For ourselves. Problem is, you can’t earn what you’ve already been given.

I'm Steve. And I spent more years than I care to admit working hard to please a God who had already accepted me. Completely. But what I've come to understand, after years of striving, after some honest therapy, and after training my ears and my heart to hear His voice, is that God never required me to be “perfect.”

He was waiting for me to stop apologizing for how He made me.

The Church of POD community is for the believer in Christ who wants to escape from the vicious cycle of performance.

Most of us have faith that God loves us. Far fewer of us live like we're certain of it.

I hope you'll join me, as we seek God, not perfection. Together.

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