Healed. Whole. Called.

Some transformations don’t happen all at once — they unfold through layers of surrender, courage, and conscious choice.

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy welcomes Denise Michelle, an award-winning life coach, hypnotherapist, and trainer with Tony Robbins, whose life reflects the power of deep inner work paired with vision-driven action. Denise begins by sharing the unlikely foundation of her calling: growing up in a chaotic, emotionally unsafe household shaped by generational trauma and borderline personality disorder.

From an early age, Denise was searching for love — first externally, through relationships, validation, and addiction-based coping patterns, and eventually inward, through radical self-examination and healing. Promiscuity, love addiction, depression, anxiety, and the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse all became part of her story — not as defining labels, but as invitations to look deeper.

Her turning point came in her mid-twenties when she realized her behaviors were harming someone she loved. That awareness opened the door to therapy, diagnosis, and a painful but necessary collapse of identity. Denise shares honestly how learning she had borderline personality disorder felt like both devastation and clarity — the ground giving way beneath her feet while simultaneously revealing the mountain she was meant to climb.

Years of intensive therapy followed. Then, in 2008, standing at the edge of ending her life, Denise chose instead to surrender control and enter an outpatient treatment program. What followed was not just recovery, but reconstruction — of identity, purpose, and direction. As healing progressed, Denise recognized something profound: her pain was not just for her. She was being prepared to serve.

Through yoga teaching, meditation, coaching, and later advanced leadership training, Denise stepped into life as an instrument for healing — allowing transformation to flow through her rather than striving to control outcomes. Wendy and Denise explore the distinction between ego-self and higher-self, and how true self-love is not self-focus, but alignment with who God created us to be.

The conversation deepens as Denise shares a second major turning point during the COVID years, when she lost five family members in just twelve months — including her mother, her compass. In the midst of overwhelming grief, Denise entered another dark night of the soul that led her into intensive leadership work and ultimately to a radical life shift.

That shift took her from California to Bali — seemingly overnight.

Guided step by step, Denise describes how obedience, trust, and conscious vision-setting led her to leave behind 24 years of life, sell nearly everything she owned, and move across the world with only three bags. In a moment both symbolic and unforgettable, she shares how rescuing a drowning chicken on a dark beach became the confirmation she was meant to stay — a reminder that calling often arrives in unexpected forms.

Now living minimally and intentionally, Denise speaks about designing life through aligned action rather than fear-based reaction. She explains that fear is not a stop sign, but a qualifier — inviting us either to retreat into old patterns or rise into new identity. True change, she reminds listeners, doesn’t happen after circumstances shift — it happens when we do.

This episode is an invitation for anyone standing at the edge of change, wondering if they’re brave enough to step forward.

Because healing is not about becoming someone new.
It’s about remembering who you were created to be.

Listeners who want to explore Denise’s work further can connect with her here:

Website: https://bridgethelove.com

Instagram: @DeniseMichelleXOXO

Book: Embrace Your Worth: The Ultimate Guide to Self-Love Mastery

Denise offers coaching, courses, retreats, and tools designed to help people heal deeply and live intentionally.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

Why is it that we can feel deeply called to do something — write the book, heal our body, build the business, obey God’s prompting — and still feel stuck?

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy welcomes Kam Knight, a coach and author who has spent more than two decades studying the inner mechanics of human behavior, performance, and follow-through. Kam begins by sharing his own journey as a driven, achievement-oriented person who still found success far more stressful and difficult than it needed to be. Despite motivation, knowledge, and desire, he kept running into the same invisible wall — one that effort alone could not overcome.

That wall, Kam explains, is internal resistance.

Through years of research, coaching, and lived experience, Kam discovered that the part of the brain that creates desire operates separately from the part that allows action. In other words, your mind can want something deeply while simultaneously blocking you from pursuing it. This isn’t laziness, lack of faith, or failure — it’s a built-in protective mechanism that evaluates whether an action aligns with identity, beliefs, habits, comfort zones, past wounds, authority issues, fear of criticism, or even shame.

Wendy and Kam unpack how resistance often disguises itself as fear, procrastination, perfectionism, or overwhelm — especially when finishing a task would require visibility, vulnerability, or exposure. This is why so many people start but never finish, finish but never publish, or publish but never promote. The resistance isn’t about the task itself; it’s about what comes next.

The conversation becomes especially powerful as Wendy connects Kam’s framework to the writing journey, calling, and obedience to God. Resistance, they note, often intensifies when someone is stepping into purpose. Spiritual opposition, emotional triggers, negative feedback, and internalized words from the past can all amplify resistance — but none of them are the final authority.

One of the most practical breakthroughs in this episode comes through Kam’s teaching on self-talk. He explains how repeated verbal declarations — not just written affirmations — can rewire identity and dismantle resistance at the unconscious level. Kam shares two core self-talk statements that have helped thousands of people finally move forward, including language around permission, worthiness, and follow-through.

Forgiveness also emerges as a critical piece of the resistance equation. Kam explains how unprocessed shame, harsh criticism, or unresolved resentment — toward others or ourselves — can quietly reinforce the belief that things must be harder than they are meant to be. Wendy adds a powerful spiritual lens, reminding listeners that unforgiveness blocks flow, peace, and obedience, while forgiveness releases momentum.

This episode is a gift to anyone who has ever wondered:
“Why do I want this so badly… and still feel stuck?”

Because the truth is, resistance doesn’t mean you’re broken.
It means there’s something to release — and once it’s released, green lights begin to appear.

To learn more about Kam’s work, courses, and coaching, visit:
https://kamknight.com

Course mentioned: Conquer Internal Resistance

Email for one-on-one work: k[email protected]

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

Some stories don’t just inspire — they rescue.

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy welcomes Elizabeth Verver, a wife, mother of four, and women’s leader whose testimony radiates the power of God to bring light into the darkest places. Elizabeth begins by taking listeners back to childhood, where a painful divorce at just nine years old quietly reshaped how she saw herself, her worth, and the world around her.

Without words, without explanation, her father was gone — and in that absence, a belief took root: I am not worth staying for. That lie followed Elizabeth into adolescence, where unanswered questions, loneliness, and emotional pain slowly opened the door to drugs, numbing behaviors, and despair. By the age of fifteen, she attempted to take her own life — not because she wanted to die, but because she didn’t want to feel the pain anymore.

When she woke up the next morning, something shifted.

Elizabeth shares how surviving that moment ignited a deeper question inside her: Why am I still here? That question sent her searching — through music, relationships, and eventually deeper addiction — all while slipping through the cracks of a single mother doing her best to survive and raise six children on her own.

As addiction tightened its grip, Elizabeth eventually left home, only to encounter further trauma, including sexual assault while trying to better her life through college. The weight of betrayal, pain, and unprocessed trauma drove her deeper into addiction — until God intervened through an unexpected vessel.

A woman Elizabeth lovingly refers to as “Mama K” opened her home, her table, and her heart — offering safety without pressure, love without conditions, and truth without force. Though Elizabeth didn’t believe in God at the time, something about that steady presence began to dismantle the walls she had built.

The turning point came quietly.

One evening, Elizabeth noticed a Bible placed on a desk. Curious and skeptical, she opened it to Deuteronomy 28 — reading about blessings, obedience, and consequences. In that moment, clarity came. She saw her life not through shame, but through truth — and realized God was real, present, and pursuing her.

Kneeling in surrender, Elizabeth prayed a simple prayer: If You’re real, I give You my life.

God answered.

What followed was transformation — not instant perfection, but real freedom. Elizabeth shares how she and her husband, both coming out of brokenness, committed early on to walk with God, stick through the mess, and build a different future together. Married at 21, they learned firsthand that healing is a process — but one sustained by grace, obedience, and community.

Today, Elizabeth’s story continues to ripple outward.

Through years of women’s Bible study, online teaching, and now her YouTube channel, Elizabeth is answering God’s call to awaken weary, hurting women to their true identity in Christ. She speaks directly to fear, addiction, shame, and the quiet belief that it’s “too late” — reminding listeners that God redeems timelines, restores purpose, and wastes nothing.

This episode is for anyone who feels trapped in addiction, buried under shame, or unsure if God is even real.

Because the truth is this:
You don’t have to change yourself to come to God.
You come to God — and He does the changing.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

Sometimes God allows discomfort not to punish us — but to redirect us.

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy welcomes Katy Miller, a certified health coach and movement specialist whose story will resonate with anyone who has slowly slipped into a sedentary life without realizing the cost. Katy shares how years of desk work, long hours, and constant pushing gradually led to chronic back pain, fatigue, weight gain, and the loss of activities she once loved.

What began as occasional discomfort eventually became pain that limited her movement and confidence. Katy describes how exercise started to feel discouraging, motivation faded, and everyday life became smaller. Like many people, she didn’t notice the shift until her body began speaking louder than her schedule.

Rather than searching for a quick fix, Katy began listening.

Through experimentation and patience, she discovered that healing required meeting her body where it was — not forcing it to perform. Supported movement, particularly Reformer Pilates and intentional strength-building, allowed her to rebuild stability and trust in her body. As movement became accessible again, hope followed.

But healing didn’t stop with exercise.

Katy shares how God led her to understand nourishment as stewardship, not restriction. By learning how inflammation, hormones, and daily habits impact the body, she experienced renewed energy, clarity, and consistency. What changed wasn’t just her back — it was her relationship with her body.

As healing unfolded, calling emerged.

Katy eventually pursued formal training in health coaching, realizing her story wasn’t meant to stay personal. Today, she supports women — especially those navigating life transitions, hormonal shifts, and chronic pain — helping them reconnect with their bodies in a way that is sustainable, compassionate, and life-giving.

This episode is a reminder that pain is not always a setback. Sometimes it is an invitation — to slow down, listen, and align more closely with how God designed the body to function.

If you’ve been ignoring the signals your body has been sending, this conversation offers hope:
Healing doesn’t start with intensity.
It starts with attention.

Listeners who resonated with Katy’s story and want to learn more about her work can connect with her directly:

Instagram: @painfreeeffect

Email: [email protected]

Through her coaching, Katy helps women move out of pain, rebuild strength, and steward their bodies with wisdom and grace.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

Some separations come with explanations.
Others come with silence.

In this powerful episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Ann Utterback — author, certified Kingdom Life Coach, and mom of two — who knows firsthand the unique pain of marital separation without closure.

After 22 years of marriage, Ann came home one afternoon to find her husband’s belongings gone. No warning. No conversation. Just a typed list of “talking points” and a season of unanswered questions.

But this story is not about why her husband left.
It’s about how God showed up.

Over the course of three years of separation, Ann wrestled with shame, uncertainty, faith, identity, and the pressure many women feel — especially those connected to church leadership — to stay silent and hold it together. Instead, God gently invited her into a deeper work: becoming the healthiest, clearest version of herself.

In this episode, Ann shares:

• what it feels like to live in relational limbo
• how God met her in prayer, fasting, and silence
• the moment He told her, “You are dearly loved. Stop hiding.”
• navigating separation without bitterness or chaos
• setting boundaries rooted in faith, not fear
• discerning when striving becomes self-abandonment
• learning that clarity sometimes comes after letting go

This conversation offers wisdom and hope for women walking through separation, ambiguity, or relational loss — and for anyone learning how to trust God when the outcome is still unknown.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

Some healing happens in a moment.
Other healing unfolds across years, seasons, and surrender.

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy welcomes Simone Cato for an honest conversation about what it means to follow God beyond initial healing and into deeper restoration. Simone shares her childhood testimony of encountering God at a young age after experiencing sexual abuse — a moment of real, supernatural healing that silenced tormenting dreams and anchored her faith early in life.

But as Simone vulnerably explains, early healing does not always mean the work is finished.

As life unfolded — including moving from Jamaica to the United States, navigating cultural transition, marriage, and ministry — hidden layers of trauma began to surface in unexpected ways. Simone opens up about how unresolved wounds impacted her marriage, including a season where fear and trauma created barriers to intimacy, despite her deep love for God and her husband.

This episode gently dismantles the myth that strong faith equals instant, permanent healing.

Through prayer, Spirit-led counseling, and a willingness to surrender control, Simone experienced deeper freedom — including a powerful dream God used to reveal lingering bondage and release her into a new level of wholeness. She shares how obedience, worship, and community became critical tools in the healing process, especially during seasons when performance and “having it all together” felt easier than honesty.

The conversation takes an even more sobering turn when Simone recounts the day her husband was shot — a moment that tested everything she believed about trust, faith, and surrender. Wendy and Simone reflect on how God met them in the hospital room through prayer, peace, and presence, reminding listeners that miracles don’t always look the way we expect — but God is faithful in every outcome.

From this journey, God birthed the “Mask Off” mandate in Simone’s life — a calling to create spaces where people no longer feel pressured to perform, pretend, or hide their pain. Through Rescued by Love Ministries, Simone now helps others encounter God in a way that heals identity, restores relationships, and invites authentic transformation.

This episode is for anyone who thought they were healed — but sensed there might be more.
For anyone navigating faith, trauma, marriage, or calling while learning that God’s grace meets us layer by layer.

Because healing isn’t about perfection.
It’s about presence.
And God is faithful to finish what He begins.

You can learn more about Rescued by Love here:  https://www.rescuedblm.com/

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

So many mothers are exhausted — not because they’re failing, but because they’re carrying wounds that were never meant to be parented through.

In this deeply grounding episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose welcomes Aaliyah Burgess-Richburg, youth development strategist, educator, and founder of The Very Intentional Mama. Together, they unpack what it really means to raise emotionally healthy children without losing yourself in the process.

Aaliyah shares how God redirected her calling from the classroom to the home — revealing that before children can thrive emotionally, their mothers must feel safe, supported, and healed. This conversation explores gentle parenting through a biblical lens, emotional regulation, homeschooling pressure, public school discernment, and the hidden burnout so many moms carry in silence.

Wendy and Aaliyah also address identity beyond motherhood — why being a mom is a calling, not a definition — and how surrendering control allows God to lead both parent and child with grace.

This episode is for the mother who feels overwhelmed, unsure, or quietly asking, “Am I doing this right?”

It’s not about perfection.

It’s about healing, obedience, and trusting God in the season you’re in.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

What if spiritual authority doesn’t come from striving — but from yielding?

In this powerful and theologically rich episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Tom Snow — a Jewish Christian, engineer, inventor, and author who has spent more than 50 years walking with God through persecution, healing, wilderness seasons, and deep spiritual warfare.

Tom shares his extraordinary journey — from hidden Jewish lineage during World War II, to miraculous healing from terminal cancer, to a 40-year wilderness season that humbled and refined him for the work he is doing today.

This conversation challenges modern Christian assumptions about authority, deliverance, and anointing. Tom unpacks why quoting Scripture alone isn’t enough, why “religious formulas” fail, and why yielding to the Holy Spirit is the only place true authority flows from.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• Why spiritual warfare sometimes backfires
• Why “doing the right things” doesn’t always bring breakthrough
• How to discern God’s voice in a loud world
• What it actually means to walk in Christ — not just talk about it
• This episode will stretch you, ground you, and invite you into deeper intimacy with God.
• Because the narrow road may be costly — but it is always worth it.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

If you’ve ever wondered “Why do I keep choosing the same kind of relationship?” — this episode will feel like oxygen.

Today’s guest, Terraine LeBeau, is a relationship mentor and coach who specializes in helping women heal emotional patterns, rebuild their self-worth, and finally choose relationships aligned with who they truly are — not who their trauma taught them to be.

Growing up without his parents and being raised by the grandmother who first showed him unconditional love, Terraine learned early what it means to feel both abandoned and deeply seen. That journey shaped the work he now does with women around the world — helping them understand their triggers, feel their emotions rather than suppress them, forgive themselves for what they tolerated, and break the cycles they never meant to repeat.

In this conversation, Wendy and Terraine dive into:

• why so many women over 40 feel unworthy of love
• how childhood wounds shape adult relationships
• why we choose partners who mirror our unhealed parts
• how to recognize emotional patterns in the body (chest tightness, warmth, anxiety, avoidance)
• the three-step awareness practice: Name It. Feel It. Learn From It.
• forgiveness of self as the first step to all relational healing
• why “survival mode” works…until it doesn’t
• how God whispers, nudges, and eventually SHOUTS when it’s time to change direction
• why accountability is the turning point to growth
• what happens when we make space (physically and emotionally) for real love

This episode is equal parts laughter, story, truth, and holy conviction.
It will meet you where you are — and lovingly challenge you to grow beyond it.

Website: https://www.behindtheshades.ca/
Email: [email protected]

He also offers a free session for anyone who references this episode.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

Some stories remind you how close heaven truly is — and how present God is in every detail.

In this deeply moving episode, Wendy sits down with Cathy Garrett, a Christian wife, mom of two, and host of the Birth Trauma Stories podcast, whose 2019 delivery turned into a life-altering medical emergency. Cathy suffered a rare amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) — a catastrophic complication that causes sudden cardiovascular collapse, a stroke, and often death. She was given a 1% chance of survival.

But God was already ahead of her.

From the hospital she “just happened” to choose (the only adult ECMO provider in the city), to the doula who stayed by her side, to the husband who brought their baby home before she woke from a coma — every detail of Cathy’s story bears the fingerprints of a God who saw, protected, and sustained her.

This episode blends miracle, motherhood, medical crisis, trauma recovery, and birth advocacy, offering wisdom for women who want to prepare for birth without fear. Cathy shares openly about:

• navigating VBAC decisions
• misdiagnoses that God still used for her good
• surviving the impossible
• the lifelong impact of disability
• the grief of lost moments she’ll never get back
• redeeming moments God gave her in unexpected ways
• the power of informed choices, support teams, and conversations before labor
• her ongoing ministry through Trauma Tribe, a free monthly support group

This is a sacred, honest, faith-anchored conversation for every mother, every birth worker, every trauma survivor, and every woman who has ever asked, “Where was God when everything went wrong?”

He was there.
He is still there.
And He is not finished with your story either.

Website: BirthTraumaStories.com
Email: [email protected]

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.