On this episode of Debbie Has a Story for That, what starts as a well-intentioned church cleanup day quickly spirals into one of the worst (and most hilarious) decisions of my teenage life.

Picture this: an old church basement, a group of unsupervised youth group kids, and… spray paint. What could possibly go wrong?

Somewhere between a misshapen “world” that looked more like a jellybean, a sudden burst of very confident creative ideas, and a fully committed plan involving “tracks to Jesus” (yes… it gets worse), things took a turn. A very dizzy, giggly, uh-oh something’s not right here turn.

And then came the moment that changed everything…
The Styrofoam cups.

Let’s just say—when your drink containers start dissolving before your eyes, it’s probably time to reevaluate your life choices.

What followed was a full-blown realization, a wave of panic, and a church that smelled like spray paint for years afterward. Literal years.

This is the story of how we accidentally got high in a church basement… while trying to do something nice.

Spoiler alert: We did not, in fact, bless that room.

Some childhood memories fade. Others permanently embed themselves under kitchen appliances.

In this episode of Debbie Has a Story for That, Debbie tells the story of a legendary sleepover at her best friend Kelly’s house, complete with forbidden late-night snacks, a shared pink petticoat, questionable decision-making at 2 a.m., and one very mischievous dad who believed every moment in life was an opportunity for a perfectly timed prank.

What started as an innocent mission to sneak a bag of Skittles quickly turned into sheer panic when a police scanner alarm suddenly exploded in the middle of the night, convincing three ten-year-old girls that a break-in was happening. Screaming ensued. Skittles flew. Trust was shattered. And a lifelong memory was born.

Years later, when Kelly’s family finally moved out of that house, they discovered evidence of that night still hiding in every nook and cranny.

This episode is about childhood friendship, growing up in houses full of personality, and the unforgettable adults who turned ordinary nights into stories you laugh about for the rest of your life.

🎧 Expect nostalgia, chaos, and the night it quite literally rained Skittles.

While on vacation in Florida, Debbie witnesses a tragic accident that changes the tone of an otherwise ordinary moment. Days later, back home in Kansas City, a Facebook post about that experience leads to an unexpected message from a stranger who was there too.

What begins as a conversation between two people processing shared trauma turns into something far stranger—and far more intense—when a casual phone call takes a terrifying turn involving a pickle, a sudden silence, and five hours of genuine panic.

This episode isn’t about true crime or shock value. It’s about the strange ways people connect, the responsibility we sometimes feel for total strangers, and how even the most unsettling moments can end in laughter, relief, and an unlikely friendship.

Because sometimes, life hands you a story you couldn’t make up if you tried—and yes, Debbie has a story for that.

 This episode starts with a well-intentioned Father’s Day gift and quickly turns into a lesson in why I’m terrible at buying presents for my husband. Between an accidentally revealed surprise, a rejected robot lawn mower, and some perfectly timed karma, I realized that the bar for “perfect gift” may have been set decades ago—back when a surprise trip to Chicago actually worked. 

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 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.