Depth Podcast

Have you ever noticed that your faith grows the most when you are walking through something hard or unexpected? It wouldn’t be what you wished for, but in those circumstances, your faith increases in ways it never has before.

I cannot wait for you to hear from my friend, Sarah Frazer, as she shares her special mom story. She adopted two children from China, and she is going to talk about how the process of adoption increased her faith in ways it never would have before. I cannot wait for you to hear the truth she shares and how God met her in every small detail of the adoption process. You are going to learn so much!

Book Recommendations:

• *Adopted for Life by Russell Moore
• *The True Vine by Andrew Murray
• *Gentle and Lowly by Dane C. Ortlund

Sarah E. Frazer is a writer and Bible study mentor at sarahefrazer.com. Sarah is the wife of Jason and mother of five. She and her family serve as full-time missionaries in Honduras. Her passion is to encourage women to start today with a Bible reading and prayer habit. Sarah is the author of several self-published Bible study resources for women. She shares tools and encouragement for Bible and prayer study at sarahefrazer.com. Follow her on Instagram and download her Psalm 119 reading plan here.

Link to Sarah’s friend’s adoption page: Kaidi's Light- Surviving Adoption 

Link to Sarah’s ministry page: Medical Outreach Page

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Do you need some fresh perspective on the circumstances of your life? Maybe you are walking through a hard season or perhaps you are in the middle of a transition.

I am so excited to introduce you to Jessica Hurlbut, my special mom story this week. She is going to share some incredible insight. Not only has she adopted two children, but she also has two autistic children, and she offers so much wisdom. I took so many notes on fostering to adopt as well as how to come alongside and help someone on this same road. She is going to give us a dose of help, a dose of humor, and a dose of hope. You do not want to miss the truth she shares.

Book Recommendations:

• *The Lucky Few by Heather Avis
• *The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida (Translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell)
• *Anonymous by Alicia Britt Chole

Jessica is a writer, a podcaster, a special needs mom, and pastor. She has been married for 17 years to Greg Hurlbut, who is the lead pastor at New Testament Church in Massena, NY. She is the mother of five children: two adopted, two autistic, and one typical teen boy. In 2014, Jessica and her husband adopted a sibling group and become adoption advocates for the 125,000 children in foster care who are freed to be adopted. Jesus whispered to her heart, “If you take care of my kids, I’ll take care of yours.” In her free time, Jessica loves to run. She completed two marathons, two ultra-marathons, and a National Adoption run where she ran 70 miles for 19 hours straight in a snowstorm. The Hurlbut’s host the Full Spectrum Parent Podcast, the only faith-based Autism parenting podcast in existence. She also blogs weekly at www.jessicahurlbut.com

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Are you living like an orphan or as the daughter of the King? These words are from my podcast episode this week and they really stuck with me. In fact, I was doing my quiet time and I am studying the names of God and one of the lessons was on the story of Moses and the burning bush. In the notes, it said that Moses was asking two questions, “Who Am I?” and “Who Are You?” to God. I think we ask ourselves these same questions and that is what I want you to think about today: Who are you and Who is God, especially in the hard times of life?

I love what Elise Day Parker shares on the podcast this week. She is my special mom story, and I am so excited to have her talk about her two roles: she is a stepmom, but also she has lost two babies in the middle of a pregnancy. In this episode, she has a quote about loss and what she learned about God that is so profound and deep. I cannot wait for you to hear the truth she shares as well as her honesty and vulnerability.

Book Recommendations:

• *The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner
• *What Christians Should Know About the Importance of Forgiveness? By John Arnott
• *Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
• *Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst
• *I Will Start Again Monday by Lysa TerKeurst
• *The Hard Good by Lisa Whittle
• *Try Softer by Aundi Kolber
• *Unshakable Peace in an Unsteady World by Elise Daly Parker, Michelle Wilbert, Jodi Kinasewitz, and Jess Carey

I am so excited to announce that Hope Writers is opening their doors again. If you have a message to share, or a book on your heart, I highly recommend joining the Hope Writers Community. Here are some resources to check out:

Click here to check out 10 questions to ask yourself before you write a book or you can click here to take a quiz to see where you are on the six stage writing path.

Elise Daly Parker is a certified life coach, writer, and speaker. She’s the creator of the MomVision  podcast - helping moms savor not just survive seasons of motherhood with clarity, confidence, and calm. Elise offers coaching through hands-on practices, including powerful tools like Vision Boards. She helps moms know, love, and accept themselves where they are, and empowers them to take small steps that add up to a happier, healthier, more balanced/less stressed life. When Elise got married and had kids, she found it more challenging than she imagined. Now she shares some of her lessons with transparency to give moms help and hope on their motherhood journey. Download Elise’s 5 Scriptures to Help You Savor Not Just Survive Motherhood.

Elise has been married to Chris for 37 years, has four daughters and two sons-in-love, as well as two grandchildren. She lives in New Jersey, where she can see NYC on the horizon. Elise is also the co-author of a new devotional journal, Unshakable Peace in an Unsteady World. Her website is EliseDalyParker.com. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook @elisedalyparker.

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Have you ever looked at your life like a puzzle? As all the pieces are fitting together, does it look like the picture you thought it would be? If you were to look at the box and the picture on the top cover, is it what you expected? Or does it look completely different?

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and for some of us it is a very happy day. But for others, it is a hard day if you struggled with infertility, a miscarriage, a loss of a baby or child, or the loss of your mother. For some of us that is the picture of top of the puzzle that does not look like what we hoped it would. So I want to encourage those women this week.

I am excited to introduce my friend, Kaley Olson. She is going to be sharing her special mom story this week on the podcast. She struggled with infertility for two years and had a miscarriage. I love the encouragement and hope she offers other women as well as the practical ideas she gives us to come alongside and help someone who is hurting this Mother’s Day. Also, this idea about the puzzle came from Kaley’s Proverbs 31 ministries post that she did last month and we are going to dive deeper that. Cannot wait for you to hear the truth Kaley shares.

Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast: Motherhood and Loss are two things that should not go together. Links below to the 3-part series called What Nobody Talks About.

1. Infertility and Feeling Stuck in the Cycle of Waiting
2. What It’s Like to Lose a Baby (Miscarriage and Infant Loss)
3. Postpartum and Loss of Identity in Motherhood

In 2020, Saddleback Church hosted a gathering for grieving women a couple nights before Mother’s Day called the Bella Donne, which means beautiful women in Italian. Click this link to listen. I pray this encourages you especially if your heart is hurting this Mother’s Day.

Other Special Mom Stories that could be helpful:

• Holley Gerth shared her infertility story of 10 years as well as how she met her daughter. To listen her special mom story, click the link to Episode 81.
• Allyn Ann shared her infertility story and her emotional journey to having 2 miraculous IVF babies. To listen to her powerful story, click the link to Episode 31.

Book Recommendations:

• *Armor of God by Priscilla Shirer
• Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament by Lysa TerKeurst and Joel Mudamalle (At the P31 Bookstore)
• *Grieving the Child I Never Knew by Kathe Wunnenberg

Kaley Olson is the Director of Creative Programming at Proverbs 31 Ministries and serves as the producer and co-host of The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast. Her skill set allows her to come alongside other teams to create systems and structure around strategic initiatives, whether it's the launch of a new product or producing an event like the She Speaks Conference. Kaley is a country gal at heart, living in the suburbs of Charlotte, NC, with her husband, Jared, their son and their weenie dog. Connect with Kaley on Instagram at @kaleyolsn. 

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Are you overwhelmed? Is there something going on in your life that just seems too big right now? I can totally relate.

So, I am so excited to introduce you to the devotional: *Trusting God in All the Things: 90 Devotions for Finding Peace In Your Every Day. This is written by both Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk, and I am so excited to talk with Ruth on the podcast this week. We are going to dive deeper into what does it look like to trust God, not only in the good times, but also the storms of life.

We are also going to talk about being overwhelmed. Those questions that I ask you at the beginning are actually the first two questions in the first devotional. So we are going to look at the life of Jesus and what he did when he was overwhelmed in the Garden of Gethsemane as well as David and how he felt alone in one of the Psalms and how we can lose perspective in the middle of trials. There is so much hope and encouragement on this episode today and I cannot wait for you to hear the truths from Ruth.

Also, I am so excited for someone to win a copy of Ruth’s book: *Trusting God in All the Things. All the details of the book giveaway are on my website at jodirosser.com or you can click this direct link: https://kingsumo.com/g/naai8z/trusting-god-in-all-the-things-book-giveaway

Book Recommendations:

• *The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
• *Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson
• *Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett

Click this link to join my Depth Podcast Facebook Community.

Ruth Schwenk is the founder of the popular blog The Better Mom, and along with her pastor/author husband, Patrick, the podcast Rootlike Faith. She is the trusted author of several books, including The Better Mom Devotional and In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake. Ruth is a Michigan football superfan and self-proclaimed foodie. But her greatest joy is her family. She lives with her husband and four children in the beautiful college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at thebettermom.com

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Is there a woman in the Bible you look up to? Maybe her story really resonated with you. Maybe it is not a woman in the Bible, but a woman in your life. Maybe she is a mentor mom or a spiritual mother and she really pours truth into your life.

I cannot wait to talk about lessons from Biblical women today and I am so excited to have Rachael Adams on the podcast. We will be discussing her devotional, Lessons from Biblical Mothers: A Compilation of Wisdom from Women Past to Present. She asked about twenty of us to write about one woman in the Bible and I chose Ruth. Rachael wrote about Bathsheba and all of us picked someone different and she put together this amazing devotional. It is available as a free resource on Rachael’s website, and I highly encourage you to check it out.

It truly is something special and we are going to talk about that today on the podcast. I think it is so special because each of us wrote about something that resonated with us and it just made the Bible Stories come alive. I cannot wait for you to hear the truth in this episode as well as download this incredible free devotional at rachaelkadams.com

Book Recommendations:

• *The Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers
• *Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
• Bible Studies by Beth Moore, Lysa TerKeurst, and Priscilla Shirer

Link to my Love Offering guest post called How Has God Uniquely Shaped You?

Writer and podcaster Rachael Adams hopes to help women realize their God-given purpose and significance. She and her husband, Bryan, run a family business and farm in Kentucky with their two children, Will and Kate, and two doodle dogs. Her work has been featured on Crosswalk, iBelieve, Today Parenting, and YouVersion. Rachael would love to hear how you’ve seen God take your little a long way. Connect with her by visiting rachaelkadams.com, by searching @rachaeladamsauthor on social media, and by tuning in to The Love Offering podcast every Tuesday on your favorite listening platform. Be sure to tune into the A Little Goes A Long Way episodes that correspond with each devotion!

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Have you wondered if life could be good again after walking through grief? After walking through something really hard like a divorce or the loss of a loved one. After infertility or a miscarriage? There are many losses in life and maybe you have asked yourself that question.

I am so excited to have Lisa Appelo back on the podcast. We are talking about her book, *Life Can Be Good Again: Putting Your World Back Together After It All Falls Apart. Lisa is going to vulnerably share with us about the loss of her husband almost ten years ago. And I love that she shares that God took the broken pieces of her life and as she entrusted them to God, He reshaped what was shattered. There is so much hope and encouragement in this episode from Lisa and I cannot wait for you to learn from her.

Also, I am so excited for someone to win a copy of Lisa’s book: *Life Can Be Good Again.

All the details of the book giveaway are on my website at jodirosser.com or you can click this direct link: https://kingsumo.com/g/d0h9we/life-can-be-good-again-book-giveaway

It is fun to have Lisa back on the Podcast! If you missed my first conversation with Lisa about her book, *Countdown to Christmas, please check out Episode 12 on the Depth podcast.  I love what she shares about this advent book as well as what she shares about grief.

Link to Hope in Grief website: a space for those grieving to find Gospel Hope.

Book Recommendations: Missionary Biographies

• *The Autobiography of Hudson Taylor by J. Hudson Taylor
• *Peace Child by Don Richardson
• *Brunchko by Bruce Olsen
• *Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn
• *The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Get the Preorder Bonuses and the first chapter free: Link to Book Page

Lisa Appelo is a speaker, writer, and Bible teacher who inspires women to cultivate faith in life’s storms. She’s a Florida girl born and raised and followed her passion for writing into law, where she worked as a litigator for many years. As her family grew to include seven children, Lisa retired from law to raise and home educate her children.

Ten years ago, Lisa went to bed happily married to her high school sweetheart and woke up a widow and single mom. As she navigated grief and shepherded her children through their own grief, God reshaped all that seemed shattered. Lisa is passionate about rich Bible study and has taught a weekly ladies Bible class at her home church for many years. She launched a local ministry for widows in Jacksonville, Florida and serves the Facebook group Widow Mama Collective. Lisa writes at LisaAppelo.com and manages a team of writers of HopeinGrief.com. She’s been published at Proverbs 31 Ministries, (in)courage, Risen Motherhood, Jennifer Rothschild and has been a contributing writer for iMOM.com, The Life of a Single Mom, and the Inspire Journal.

Her days are filled top to bottom with stewarding her precious children, writing, ministry, speaking and running enough to justify lots of dark chocolate. Connect with Lisa at LisaAppelo.com and on Instagram @lisaappelo.

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Have you ever let fear stop you from moving forward? Maybe it was the fear of failure? Maybe it is the fear of what others will think or say? Maybe it is the fear of if I heard God correctly and I am moving in the right direction?

If this is a struggle for you, then I am so excited to introduce you to Jennifer Hand. Her book, *My Yes Is On The Table: Moving From Fear to Faith is releasing this week. It is packed full of wisdom and honestly, I could have talked with Jenn all day about her book. My favorite quote from her book is “Help Me Move From Fear Stops to Faith Steps.” I promise you do not want to miss the truth she shares in this episode.

Also, I am so excited for someone to win a copy of Jenn’s book: *My Yes Is On The Table.

Also, I am so excited for someone to win a copy of Jenn’s book: *My Yes Is On The Table. All the details of the book giveaway are on my website at jodirosser.com or you can click this direct link: https://kingsumo.com/g/kcy9f0/my-yes-is-on-the-table-book-giveaway

Link to join my Depth Podcast Facebook group

Book Recommendation:

• You Are Made For a God-Sized Dream By Holley Gerth

Jennifer Hand, Executive Director of Coming Alive Ministries, wishes she could sit down and have a strong cup of coffee with each of you and ask you what makes you come alive?

Jenn founded Coming Alive Ministries in 2012 and loves the honor of traveling nationally and internationally, providing the invitation to come alive in Christ through conferences, retreats, written resources and counseling.

Jenn has had the joy of serving in over 30 countries and speaking at around 40 events a year.  With her Master's degree in trauma counseling, God has opened a unique door for Jenn to respond after natural disasters around the world, providing trauma counseling and the hope of Christ on the holy ground of suffering.

Jenn would love to keep up with you in her cozy internet corner of the world at www.comingaliveministries.com or on social media @comingalivejenn or Jenn@comingaliveministries on facebook.

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

If you had to sum up the Easter message in just one sentence, what would it be? Would you talk about the cross and how Jesus died for our sins, or would you talk about the empty tomb on Easter?

I just finished reading Matthew last week and this verse jumped off the page at me. Matthew 28:6 says, “He Is Not Here. He Has Risen.” There it is-- there is the Easter message. Yes, Jesus died on the cross, but he didn’t stay in the tomb. “He Is Not Here. He Has Risen.”

This is such an important message we want to instill in our kids around Easter. So today on this episode, I want to talk about how we can help our kids understand the true meaning of Easter. I am so excited to have my mom back on the podcast as we talk about some Easter Traditions we did growing up.  My mom is super creative, and she came up with these eggs that share the Easter message. She is going to share what item goes in each egg as well as the corresponding Scripture Verse that goes with it. Since Easter will be here before you know it, I wanted to give you plenty of time to gather these supplies and make your own set. Whether your child is a toddler or a teenager, these Easter Message Eggs are a great way to celebrate Holy Week and all God has done for us!

Link to Easter Message Eggs by Pat Brownlee, my mom. It includes the object and the corresponding Scripture verse.

Link to *Resurrection Eggs- these are the ones I bought and used with my kids.

Link to the Journey to Easter Cards on the Proverbs 31 Ministries website.

Check out Episode 60: Family Traditions -- Pat Brownlee where we talk about our Christmas and Holiday Traditions.

Check out Episode 59: Remember Balloons-- Jessie Oliveros where we talk about a great book on memory loss.

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this product that I recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!

Have you ever wondered if God was working in your life? Maybe you are praying for wisdom or clarity, and He just seems silent. And you are wondering, God are you there?

I am excited to have Patti Rokus on the podcast this week. She does rock art, and I was captivated by her Easter book, *He is Risen: Rocks Tell the Story of Easter. It is about a month before Easter, so I was thinking about highlighting a book about Easter and God brought this book to my mind. I bought it a couple years ago and was exciting to share about Easter, but after hearing Patti’s story, I am excited to announce that we go deep on the podcast this week.  

One of the things we talked about is when God seems silent, how do we keep trusting Him that He is working in our lives.  This has a lot to do with how Patti’s rock ministry was birthed, and I just love the depth, honesty, and vulnerability in this episode. This is one of my favorite episodes and I think you are going to learn so much from Patti.

Also, I am so excited for someone to win a copy of Patti’s book, *He is Risen: Rocks Tell the Story of Easter. All the details of the book giveaway are on my website at jodirosser.com or you can click this direct link.

Book Recommendations:

• *The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
• *Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis
• *Narnia Series by C. S. Lewis

You may already know Patti Rokus from her best-selling children’s books on pebble and rock art.  Or perhaps you saw her on the 2021 Primary Friend to Friend broadcast with 600,000 kids watching as she taught rock art. But what you might not know is that Patti is a singer-songwriter with online kids’ nature art lessons during the day and story time and music at night to build self-worth and inner-peace. After an international technology career with Microsoft, Nike and others, Patti finally followed her heart into the woods and came out with a bucket of ordinary rocks that told extraordinary stories. Although she didn’t get to have children of her own, she keeps finding herself creating projects that help kids find their own inner strength and wisdom.  You can connect with Patti on her website: RocksTellStories.com

*Note: If you are interested in purchasing this book or the books recommended, I would love for you to use the Amazon Affiliate link above to help support the podcast. Thank you!