In His Grip

Mental Illness. The very words chill our souls. Yet, millions of people struggle with mental illness every minute of every day. In this powerful, transparent interview, one family describes their extraordinary battle to find stability when their family life revolves around the insecurity of a wife and mother diagnosed with Bipolar illness. The purpose of these resources is to offer help and hope to those who struggle with “secret” pain, those difficult life crises that are hard to understand or discuss, harder still to experience. Mental illness is perhaps one of the loneliest and most isolating of life crises. This family shares their own story with hopes their lives will offer help and hope to others who fight every day to find purpose. This interview is also for those who love someone broken by mental illness. It is our prayer that many will find help and hope in

Jerry was born with Cerebral Palsy, but Joan had worked with people who have disabilities throughout her life, so she thought she knew what she was signing up for when they were married over twenty years ago. In this transparent interview, Joan and Jerry share the challenges of marriage and disability, but you might be surprised at what they describe as some of the greatest challenges. Listen in as Joan and Jerry not only offer hope to people with disabilities and to parents of children with disabilities, but also remind us that the dreams of people with disabilities aren’t much different than anyone else. This conversation is not just for people with disabilities!

Aging is a season of loss on many levels. Married women fear losing their spouse or outliving their children. In fact, today there are 13.6 million widows in America, and about 700,000 women become a widow in the U.S. each year. Single women who have never married can fear being alone in the last years of life. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, seventy-two-year old Jerdone Davis frankly shares some of the emotional challenges of anticipating aging alone, including addressing how we can prepare for this season while we are younger and how can we handle the fears of being alone, especially in the last season of our lives. No matter your marital status, Jerdone’s recommendations for preparing for the last season of life will encourage you to be intentional in taking steps to make things easier for loved ones after your death.In the book co-authored by Susan Hunt and Sharon Betters, Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture, each chapter ends with a story-teller who is at least seventy years old. Each woman gives the readers a glimpse into what aging with grace looks like for her. One of those storytellers is Jerdone Davis. In a five-minute video for the companion series Aging with Grace, Ask an Older Woman, Jerdone answered the question: How do you deal with loneliness and fear as an aging single woman?

In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Miho Kahn and her husband share the story of Miho’s journey into a world of drugs, violence and abuse. At the age of fourteen, Miho pushed against the boundaries of her parents’ quiet life and struck out on her own, telling her sister, “Don’t try to find me.” As you listen, you might think, “This story could be a compelling movie” as you imagine a young girl hitch-hiking alone across America and exposing herself to danger and abuse. Miho shares the story of her drug addiction, rape, co-dependency, abortion - and all of this happened before she was seventeen years old. Miho transparently shares her journey and how she found peace and direction in a personal relationship to Jesus.

David The Shepherd WarriorThis series focuses on the life of David. Why should we study the life of this man? David’s story is a picture of Messianic typology. We see in David the struggle against the flesh that is so typical in all of us. And we will see what a man after God’s own heart looks like. We start in 1 Samuel 16 where the Israelites cry for a king. It is a period of hopeless humanism, void of leadership. The people choose a man based on outward appearance, electability and sound bites. They chose Saul, tall, dark and handsome. Saul was a good looking man, but he lacked character. He was prone to hot tempered outbursts, bouts of intense depression and capable of incredible evil, jealousy, control, obsession with fame and even murder. God gives them Saul. But waiting in the wings is a shepherd boy, David.

Is it ever ok to question God’s love or wisdom, especially when you love and serve Him but experience tremendous loss? Dr. Frank A. James, President and Professor of Historical Theology at Missio Seminary in Pennsylvania joins Dr. Chuck F. Betters to talk about this very question. Frank’s story of loss started when his younger brother, Kelly, was trapped in a snow cave on Mt. Hood and an unyielding blizzard prevented rescue. News outlets from all over the world covered the fear and anguish of Frank’s family as they waited for news about Kelly. Frank describes the emotional roller coaster of hope, fear, confusion, despair and lament as they waited and then as they realized Kelly would not survive. As a professor, author, seminary president, how is it possible Frank struggled with hard theological questions about suffering and lament. Frank’s transparency will encourage you to better understand how God welcomes your questions and holds you tightly in His grip when you struggle to understand His purposes.

David The Shepherd WarriorThis series focuses on the life of David. Why should we study the life of this man? David’s story is a picture of Messianic typology. We see in David the struggle against the flesh that is so typical in all of us. And we will see what a man after God’s own heart looks like. We start in 1 Samuel 16 where the Israelites cry for a king. It is a period of hopeless humanism, void of leadership. The people choose a man based on outward appearance, electability and sound bites. They chose Saul, tall, dark and handsome. Saul was a good looking man, but he lacked character. He was prone to hot tempered outbursts, bouts of intense depression and capable of incredible evil, jealousy, control, obsession with fame and even murder. God gives them Saul. But waiting in the wings is a shepherd boy, David.

Marissa Bondurant joins Sharon Betters to share how her caregiving journey started when her family received a devastating diagnosis for her four-year-old daughter. Not only does she have comfort to offer caregivers, but her story through the land of childhood cancer will also encourage us. Marissa takes listeners deep into her journey of caring for not just one child but two children diagnosed with cancer.  Her passion for helping other caregivers care for themselves shows up in her book, Who Cares for You? Whether you are a caregiver, love someone who is, or perhaps have a child battling cancer, this conversation is for you. Take Marissa with you on a walk, on your way to work, or running your carpool. Listen and share.

David The Shepherd WarriorThis series focuses on the life of David. Why should we study the life of this man? David’s story is a picture of Messianic typology. We see in David the struggle against the flesh that is so typical in all of us. And we will see what a man after God’s own heart looks like. We start in 1 Samuel 16 where the Israelites cry for a king. It is a period of hopeless humanism, void of leadership. The people choose a man based on outward appearance, electability and sound bites. They chose Saul, tall, dark and handsome. Saul was a good looking man, but he lacked character. He was prone to hot tempered outbursts, bouts of intense depression and capable of incredible evil, jealousy, control, obsession with fame and even murder. God gives them Saul. But waiting in the wings is a shepherd boy, David.

We all want to be beautiful and successful. Often this desire pushes us off a cliff into concluding we are never enough. And sometimes these feelings lead us into addictions in our pursuit of beauty and success. At least 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the United States. Perhaps you are one of them or you know someone suffering from an eating disorder. In this Help & Hope interview, Sarah Ivill talks with Sharon Betters about her own struggle with an eating disorder and how it reflected her view that she was never enough. But an eating disorder is not the only addiction resulting from feeling inadequate. With great compassion, Sarah discusses some of the lies that feed into the feeling that we are never enough, the need to get to the root of the lies and how an eating disorder is an addiction that can take a long time to break. Though you may have no experience with an eating disorder, the truths that Sarah shares apply to any place in our lives where we feel we are not enough.