Long term illness has more than one victim. Naturally, the priority of energy and time must be the person who is ill. But what about the rest of the family, especially the spouse who walks beside the sick loved one? In this podcast, Jan Dravecky speaks candidly to Sharon Betters about how her husband Dave’s loss of his arm to cancer plunged her into a deep depression. Dave was a pitcher for the Giants when he received the diagnosis of cancer. Their journey captured the attention of the world when against all odds, Dave came back to the pitcher’s mound, and then gasped in horror when his arm snapped while pitching. The cancer had returned. Living with cancer is painful, but even more painful on a world stage. Jan’s body, heart and soul finally cried, “Enough” and Jan found herself on a long, hard journey to find her way out of deep depression. Jan and Dave share their journey through books, speaking and an outreach to hurting people called Endurance. Learn more about their ministry at Endurance.org.

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Sherry and Mike Kendrick heard the word “terminal” when Mike was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Mike prayed he would live long enough to walk his daughter down the aisle. God granted him that desire and five years later, after his daughter’s wedding, Mike stepped from earth into heaven.In this poignant conversation with Sharon Betters, a little over a year after the death of her beloved pastor husband, Sherry shares how Mike helped prepare her to be intentional in life after his absence. Sherry took practical steps to allow her room to lean into the pain but also to open her heart and hands to the treasures God gives through others. Her story will not only encourage widows but anyone who struggles with this foreign land of grief.

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Whether you are in a waiting room right now because of cancer, stroke, traumatic injury, a child struggling to hold on to life, a health crisis of any kind, you know the emotions of waiting – fear of the unknown, sadness over knowing life will never be the same, anger – you name it. Yet in the midst of it all, Elizabeth reminds us of of the certain hope and peace of the gospel.Waiting. We don’t like it. We wouldn’t choose it. Yet in the middle of that waiting room, there is hope in Jesus. This conversation between Sharon Betters, Melissa Weisenfels and Elizabeth Turnage will help turn your heart toward Him if you are in that waiting room or equip you to offer help and hope to a waiting friend.

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Sharon Betters interviews GRAMMY winner Laura Story who shares details of how her life took an unexpected turn when her husband, Martin, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The fairytale life she had dreamed of was no longer possible, yet Laura found a "better broken' with Jesus. Laura's story will remind listeners while your situation might never change or get better, with Jesus YOU can.

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“Edith, we urge you to learn Braille, train with a white cane, and learn to cook blindfolded...” These warnings from Doctors and a Rehab team along with major eye surgery and regular vision-loss monitoring by top specialists at Johns Hopkins University Hospital struck fear in Edith Yoder’s heart.. As a single Christian woman living alone in the mountains of Western Maryland she had already dealt with total vision loss in one eye. Now, the gravity of the possibility of total blindness was yet another blow as Edith felt even her “new normal” begin to crumble. In recent years her dream job as a CNA had already come to a screeching halt and it was obvious that not only physically but also spiritually, the decisions she would make in the following weeks would be crucial in this fight to retain her physical sight and her spiritual vision. In Christ, Edith has found purpose for her pain, strength sufficient for the struggles, and blessings beyond measure as she shares her message of hope to “Walk by faith, not by sight”!

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Twenty-nine year old Erin Kauffman was enjoying the fruit of years of education and working. She loved her newly purchased home and bought a new car that she could load up with equipment when traveling to school sponsored music events. Erin filled her time with work, music, friends and ministry. Then the unthinkable happened. A driver fell asleep at the wheel and at sixty miles per hour slammed head first into Erin’s car. In this moving conversation with Sharon Betters, Erin describes the devastation of realizing the bottom half of her body was crushed, the long rehab, and how this accident changed the direction of her life. Though Erin continues to struggle with long term pain and acknowledges that her medical care is like a part time job, she offers hope to anyone in similar circumstances. Erin’s story also will inspire listeners to trust that when everything feels impossible, that’s when we can see the Lord’s grace and strength in ways we never imagined possible.

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“I end every day feeling defeated because I lost my temper with my kids, vowing tomorrow will be better, but it usually isn’t.”“I don’t want my kids to be “less than” their friends. I also want them to stand out as college applicants. But I don’t think I can keep up with this schedule of activities. They are ages 5 & 9.”“Whenever my child fails at something, I’m the one who feels guilty and judged.”“When is it my turn? I look forward to an hour of quiet time after the kids are in bed and no matter how hard I try, something robs me of my time”Christina Fox addresses these parenting concerns and much more in this conversation with Sharon Betters and Melissa Weisenfels. How can good parenting motives turn into idols? What should we do when we discover that our motives for doing good things for our kids just might be wrong? Christina is the author of Idols of a Mother’s Heart and numerous other books and articles. Connect with Christina at christinafox.com

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Rachel’s Craddock’s mother died after a long battle with breast cancer. Rachel was fourteen years old. Sharon Betters and Melissa Weisenfels ask Rachel some hard questions not just about her mother’s death but also her own decision to have a double radical mastectomy after she learned she had a high chance of getting the same kind of cancer as her mother. Rachel holds nothing back as she talks about how unraveling deep issues in her heart, though painful at the time, ended up as good. Rachel is the author of Slowly Unraveled, Changed from the Inside Out, and in this conversation she explains how the Gospel not only unraveled her grief but slowly unraveled communication and conflict in her marriage, her view of parenting and much more.

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Cori Salchert, fosters and adopts “hospice babies” whose own families find it too hard to cope with their child’s terminal diagnosis.She is the mother of over fifteen children, some of whom died in her care. Cori traveled a very painful pathway before she arrived at her calling to caring for and loving terminally ill children so that they will not die alone. Cori shares her journey into this calling in her book, I Will Love You Forever, A True Story about Finding Life, Hope & Healing While Caring for Hospice Babies. She calls her home a “house of hope” where she and her family dedicate their lives to providing dying children with loving hospice care until the end of their lives. In this moving conversation, Cori shares with Sharon Betters how God used her years of undiagnosed pain and illness to help equip her to recognize the value of every human being, no matter how “unproductive” others might view them. Her first hospice baby was Emmalynn, a baby born missing part of her brain. Instead of dying in a hospital, during her last days of life, Emmalyn was surrounded and snuggled by people who loved her. Cori says, “Emmalyn didn’t suffer, she wasn’t in pain, and most certainly wasn’t alone…What a gift it is to be a part of these babies’ lives, to cherish and love them even though they aren’t able to give anything back.No matter your season of life or daily responsibilities, Cori’s story will inspire and encourage you to recognize you, too, have the privilege of offering help and hope through your everyday life.

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The fear of miscarriage is one of the biggest fears of a pregnant woman. Jessalyn Hutto, author of Inheritance of Tears, When Death Enters the Womb knows not only this fear but the reality of miscarriage and the accompanying grief. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Jessalyn brings hope to women who grieve the loss of their children through miscarriage. She offers a priceless gift to those women coming behind her who have experienced such deep loss. Jessalyn reminds listeners that Jesus cares very deeply about every child who is lost to miscarriage and He cares very deeply about every mother who is deprived of that life.

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