Help & Hope

Is it possible to break free from drugs after a lifetime of using? Shelley Tribbitt says yes. After using drugs for over thirty years, Shelley broke free from the drugs, but then had to face the collateral damage she had done to her family and friends. In this poignant interview, Shelley describes the devastation drug use brought on her family, including the loss of custody of her children. Her daughter, Bay, joins the conversation and describes how she reconciled with her mother and why she never gave in to the temptation of drug use, even though they were readily available.Drug use in our culture is an epidemic. It isn’t just teenagers who are falling to this dangerous life choice. Shelley’s story reminds us that drugs know no age limits, We also see that reconciliation with estranged family members is possible, though the pathway to reconciliation will be painful and often long.

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Renee Dixon compares her life as a widow, single mom, and small business owner with mounting bills to climbing a hard, rocky pathway filled with gnarled roots. She describes how she learned to grasp those roots as a means to pull herself along the hard road of life that sometimes felt impossible to travel. Those gnarled roots along the pathway helped shape Renee into a woman whose own determination, endurance and grit encourages the very people she is called to serve. Renee is Executive Director of Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program, located in Port Deposit, Maryland. Freedom Hills offers help and hope to people with disabilities as they find freedom through horseback riding. Riding horses helps them forget their limitations and “feel as though they are flying.”Renee is a Warrior Woman whose story will encourage listeners who walking hard paths to recognize how hard times can prepare you to offer help and hope to others.Learn more about Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program: http://www.freedomhills.org/

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Suicide was on teen Denise Haas’ mind a lot, so much so that she tried several times to take her life. Her parents’ divorce shattered her world and living didn’t seem like a good option. In this compelling conversation, Denise transparently shares her story in an attempt to grab the hands of teens who are struggling with similar darkness and compel them to “just hold on!” This conversation not only offers help to the hurting teen but also gives practical ways to come alongside a teenager who is contemplating suicide.National Suicide Prevention LifelineCall 1-800-273-8255

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Joy was 10 years old when her mother lost her battle with aggressive breast cancer. Her two little sisters looked to her for mothering. She became her father’s confidante as he tried to navigate grief, single parenthood, and looking for a new wife. Joy’s story gives listeners a glimpse into how the loss of a parent can create an ever widening circle of grief that takes years to process. Some grief counselors believe that a child who experiences a sudden loss of a significant loved one before the age of 18, does not process their grief until the average age of 40. Imagine all the decisions and life choices experienced through the grid of buried grief. There are no easy answers to how to help a child navigate such sorrow, but Joy offers help and hope through her story.

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What gets inside the head of a young girl who almost starves herself to death because when she looks into a mirror she sees a fat, ugly, lonely girl? In this special interview, Rose (not her real name) takes us inside the heart of a girl who “cannot remember a time when I wasn’t overweight and looked different from my thin and pretty friends. I could never wear the same style of clothes as them….I couldn’t borrow PJ’s for an impromptu sleepover or a bathing suit for a spontaneous swim. I was hyper-aware of the space I took up in a car, and I was always too heavy for a piggyback ride. The small inconveniences turned into huge insecurities and I became consumed with how my weight made me different.”This story will offer help and hope to those whose battle with food has taken up prime residence in their everyday world. Rose does not sugar coat her battle and admits that even now, she must practice strong disciplines in order to fight old habits.

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A young woman, beginning to see her career as a recording artist start to take off, hears the diagnosis no young person ever expects: “You have an inoperable brain tumor.” Listen as Caitlin describes her battle to find a cure and then just when life seemed to be turning around, the news that shook her world once more.Caitlin Jane’s story is a light in the darkness for all who face uncertain days, but especially young women and young men as they struggle with the challenges of walking by faith when life is turned upside down. Caitlin’s response to life a life-threatening medical diagnosis, disappointments, even to standing against the tide of cultural pressures is a remarkable and a unique journey that will encourage other young people that they have choices in the way the respond not only to typical teenage pressures, but life crises and a culture that challenges their core values.Caitlin’s story will “raise the bar” for young women who are struggling – in that they will realize they, too, can walk by faith when life seems to be a mess.To book Caitlin Jane for a concert or to check out her music, visit:http://www.caitlinjanetunes.com/

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Depression affects more than 15 million American adults – 6.7% of the population 18 or older. Twenty percent of teens experience depression before adulthood and 70% will have more than one episode of depression before adulthood. 8.3% of these teens suffer depression for at least a year.Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression. Untreated suicide is the leading cause of suicide and suicide is the leading cause of death for young people ages 15 – 24. These overwhelming stats demonstrate that depression is a broad life crisis with many unique circumstances but in this interview Danielle’s story demonstrates that depression in young adults is often rooted in childhood. It’s easy to hide depression and to slowly hide away rather than fight the dark feelings of sadness, loneliness and worthlessness. Danielle offers help and hope as she describes the steps she took to find her way back to a life of purpose. For more help and hope about depression and counseling options: https://www.ccef.org/topic/depression

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Thin. Fat. Thin again. Dieting. Binging. Starvation diets. Grapefruit Diets. Low Carb. Thin. Fat. Thin Again.Constance Rhodes understands the obsession of young people with body image. In this conversation, she shares her own roller coaster struggle with weight. Young people and adults alike will find a friend in Constance as she transparently tells her story of weight loss, weight gain and the thin cage in which she found herself trapped. Out of her struggles has come her book: Life Inside the Thin Cage, A Personal Look into the Private World of the Chronic Dieter. Constance is also the founder and CEO of FindingBalance, a non-profit health and wellness organization dedicated to helping people eat well and live free. Constance offers numerous resources on her website at Findingbalance.com. Constance’s story will encourage young people that there is help and hope when faced with feeling fat, inadequate and “less than.” That hope is not in food. Listeners, young and old, will be encouraged to find balance in their view of food and life.Life Inside the Thin Cage – A Personal Look into the Private World of the Chronic Dieter: by Constance Rhodeshttps://www.amazon.com/Life-Inside-Thin-Cage-Personal/dp/0877880387

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Porn invades younger and younger hearts, often unbeknownst to parents. When encouraged to protect their children from tech invasions, many parents vehemently declare that their child is so innocent and so protected, they are not concerned. Their relationship to their child is so secure, that their child would not secretly travel into such a dark world. Sadly, these parents are often in the dark when it comes to what their young children have already seen and experienced through innocent interaction in video games, research for reports, etc. In this interview, Cooper Pinson lays out practical ways that parents can put into place additional layers of protection and how to talk to their children about the dangers of porn and how to respond when exposed.Cooper Pinson loves student ministry and has a passion to help students live with sexual integrity. Through Student Outreach, a subsidiary of HarvestUSA, he partners with and equips parents, youth ministers and workers, Christian schools and colleges, those involved in collegiate ministries and other organizations to help students follow Christ with their sexuality while finding their life, true identity and joy in Him.

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