In this week’s episode of Thrive Through the Fire, I open up about what it really means when we say “the church is a hospital, not a façade.” For so long, I thought church was a place where everyone had it together, the smiling faces, the perfect families, the calm marriages. I’d sit in my seat and feel like the only one falling apart. But once I started building real relationships, joining life groups, and listening to people’s stories, I realized that so many were walking through their own battles. The difference wasn’t that their lives were easier , it was that Jesus was their healer.

I talk about what I’ve learned as both a nurse and a believer, that church, like a hospital, is meant to be a place where the hurting can come for treatment. Mark 2:17 reminds us that Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy, and that we’re all in recovery from the brokenness of this world.

I also share a bit of what life looks like for me now, three years after chemo. From PTSD to constant screenings to kids struggling with anxiety and autoimmune disease, we’re still walking through hard things in our home. But it’s only through Jesus that I don’t look like what I’ve been through, and that same grace holds every person sitting beside me on Sunday morning.

We’ll also talk about the story of the Prodigal Son and how it reminds us that it’s never too late to come home. You are never too far gone for God to reach you, and church is exactly where you go when you’re broken, not when you’ve fixed yourself.

If you’ve been hesitant to walk back into church or feel like you don’t belong, this episode is for you. Church isn’t for perfect people. It’s for the ones who know they can’t do life without Jesus.

Key Scriptures:

Mark 2:17

2 Corinthians 4:8–9

Luke 15:20

Psalm 34:18