Growing up with older brothers meant living in a constant state of low-grade terror. Masks. Fake knives. Bodies in the dark. And because my family made home movies, our house was always stocked with wigs, costumes, and horror-movie-level props. So when I woke up in the middle of the night and found a body in my bed, I did what any well-trained little sister would do. I assumed it was fake.

What I didn’t know was that a snowstorm had rolled in, roads were iced over, and my oldest brother’s girlfriend had been quietly told to sleep in my bed. I have no memory of this. None. So when I reached over and yanked what I thought was a wig… I got a very real scream instead.

In this episode, I tell the story of the night my brothers’ endless pranks finally backfired, why my brain was trained to never believe scary things were real, and how one terrified woman named Gloria accidentally became part of our family legend forever.

Growing up as a pastor’s daughter meant growing up with a spotlight you didn’t ask for and rules nobody ever wrote down. You learn patience, self-control, and how to smile politely while you’re secretly starving and just want to go home and eat.

In this episode, I’m sharing some of the lighter, funnier lessons I learned growing up in church. From waiting endlessly while my dad talked, to the time my brother was nearly left alone in a dark church with what he thought was Medusa, to mastering the art of polite invisibility when social energy ran out.

I talk about learning to apologize to keep the peace, finding humor in the most reverent moments, and why nothing tests self-control quite like Burger King interrupting a prayer. And I reflect on the surprising gift of Sunday mornings — the predictability, the family meals, the friendships, and learning what rest without guilt actually feels like.

Whether you grew up in church, grew up as a pastor’s kid, or just enjoy stories about family, faith, and finding humor in everyday life, this episode is a nostalgic, honest look at a childhood lived partly in public… and the lessons that stuck.

What was supposed to be the biggest birthday party ever turned into a very long night involving gravity, misfortune, and an oral surgeon in pajamas.

In this episode, I tell the story of my 17th birthday party, the untouched plate of food, a badly timed shoulder, and the series of decisions that led me from a park full of music and friends to the ER, an after-hours dental office, and weeks of living on soft food. Along the way, there were pliers, laughing gas, catfish comparisons, missed Thanksgiving, and a newfound respect for a really good dentist.

It’s a story about shock, denial, the people who showed up for me, and how one unexpected moment followed me for years — until it didn’t anymore.

When Debbie was pregnant with her first baby, someone convinced her husband that you could scare a woman into going into labor. Instead of questioning that logic, they decided to try it.

What followed was a terrifying night involving a fake home invasion, a masked man in the backyard, frantic phone calls to her parents, a father racing through the neighborhood to protect his daughter, and a chain of events that could have ended very differently.

This episode is funny in hindsight, but it’s also about fear, bad advice, unintended consequences, and how one truly terrible idea led to a very real medical emergency — and ultimately, the birth of her son. Thankfully, it also ends with forgiveness, family legend status, and one perfectly timed joke that no one in the room will ever forget.

When I was a little girl, I used to sing “specials” at church. You know, stand-on-stage, microphone-too-big, everyone-staring kind of singing. One Sunday, I was singing with a friend when she got the giggles… the contagious kind. And once I started giggling too, there was no stopping it.

The song fell apart. The giggles won.
 And my grandma? She stared straight through my soul.

That one look was enough to end my public singing career before it ever really began.

From that day on, I avoided singing in front of people at all costs… until years later, when my grandma passed away and requested that I sing at her funeral. The very thing I’d been afraid of for decades became something I couldn’t say no to.

This episode is funny, awkward, a little traumatic, and strangely full circle. It’s about church giggles, lifelong embarrassment, complicated love, and what happens when fear and family collide in the most unexpected way.

Because sometimes the thing that scares you the most… comes back around one last time.

In this episode, Debbie tells the story of the night she learned that tornado warnings are sacred… and that her mom should never have been allowed to prank a child with access to a VHS tape and a Freddy Krueger poster. What started as a normal night turned into full-blown childhood terror, and eventually, a family legend.

If you grew up in the 80s or 90s and your parents treated fear like character-building, this one’s for you.

Debbie shares the unbelievable story of her wedding night in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Between a broken toe, a heart-shaped bathtub that betrayed her, and an unexpected bat making a guest appearance, romance quickly gave way to chaos.

This episode is about marriage, survival, and realizing that sometimes the best love stories start with absolute disaster.

In the very first episode of Debbie Has a Story for That, Debbie shares the true story of attending VidCon, confidently walking into the wrong room, and finding herself in a situation she absolutely did not expect. What followed involved public embarrassment, a moment that felt oddly spiritual, and an outcome she never could have predicted.

This episode sets the tone for the podcast: real-life moments, zero filter, and the kind of stories that only make sense once you’ve lived them.