In His Grip

Discontent easily arises when our desires aren’t met and our plans don’t come true—but this is a dangerous path that drives us away from God. Megan Hill talks with Sharon Betters about how discontentment can be an insidious, unrecognized poison that robs us of opportunities to experience joy and intimacy with the Lord. Megan explains the meaning of contentment, how we often make discontentment comfortable in our hearts, and how it puts a shadow on everything we do. This conversation took place in the middle of the COVID pandemic, where we all experienced many reasons to be discontent but in this interview, Megan suggests such seasons of uncertainty are opportunities to intentionally draw strength from contentment. Megan offers practical ideas on how to seek contentment in the ordinary and extraordinary seasons of life.

Sometimes one of the hardest places in suffering is the isolation and loneliness of pain. In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Wendy Alsup shares how suffering came in wave after wave, leaving her breathless and lonely. In one particularly dark and painful period after intense surgery for cancer, Wendy discovered she was not truly alone. Though her pain was not alleviated, she found comfort and strength in experiencing intimacy with the Lord Who walks with us in suffering. Wendy describes how the Lord is our companion in suffering, even when we must walk alone.

Mention pornography and most people think, “That’s a problem for men.” Yet 76% of 18 – 30 year old American women report that they watch porn at least oncer a month. Three percent of all women say they either thought they might be addicted or are unsure if they are addicted to pornography. This equates to three million women.* These stats are from 2018, so it’s safe to say the numbers are growing. Is there help for women addicted to pornography? In this conversation with Sharon Betters Jessica Harris says yes!

Jessica shares her own story of how pornography drew her in when she was a middle schooler and how she found solace and acceptance through the internet and eventually chat rooms. Jessica describes the secrecy of her addiction and how it led to shame and guilt that she didn’t know how to break. Then, a woman acknowledged to a group of young adult females that pornography addiction was a woman thing, too. Suddenly, Jessica had hope that the chains of addiction could be broken. Jessica shares her journey as a means to offer hope to others.

But Jessica also shares her story in her book Beggar’s Daughter and her ministry of the same name.

Learn more about breaking the chains of pornography and that you are not alone in your battle – women across the world are ready to come alongside of you in your struggle to break the chains of pornography.

We live in an anti-aging culture – subtle and not so subtle messages convince us aging is bad – do everything you can to hang on to youth. But no matter how hard we try, our bodies continue to age. Susan Hunt and Sharon Betters co-authored a book, Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture because we believe our Creator, God, promises we will flourish in our old age. At the end of each chapter, a woman at least 70 years of age tells her story of what flourishing in old age looks like for her.

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 Dianne Balch. In a five-minute video for the companion series Aging with Grace, Ask an Older Woman, Dianne answered the question: 

What is the hardest challenge and the greatest benefit of aging?

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?

Carol was eighty-three years old at the time of the interview. Carol travels the world continuing the work of the organization her husband started, Equipping Pastors. Surely Carol is a model of flourishing in old age as she regularly gets on a plane in order to spend hours teaching about marriage in less than optimum circumstances. But is traveling the world at eighty-three years of age the only way to flourish? In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Carol answers this question and encourages us to understand flourishing in any age is not about doing but rather about “being”. No matter your age, you will be encouraged and guided by Carol’s insights.

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 storyteller is Carol Arnold. In a five-minute video for the companion series Aging with Grace, Ask an Older Woman, Carol answered the question: 

What does flourishing look like for women who cannot travel the world and teach as you do?

Growing up we all have a vision of what our life will look like. By the time we reach the last season of life, we might struggle with bitterness or depression or discontent because life was nothing like we expected. Is there a way to trade in the bitterness for contentment and joy? Is it even possible to flourish as we age?
At the end of each chapter in Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture, co-authored by Susan Hunt and Sharon Betters each chapter ends with a woman who is 70 or older sharing what flourishing in an anti-aging culture looks like for her. One of those story tellers is Barbara Thompson. In a five-minute video for the companion series Aging with Grace, Ask an Older Woman, Barbara answered the question:
How do our expectations, plans, goals for aging influence our flourishing?
Barbara unpacks her answer in this extended conversation with Sharon Betters, Barbara describes how life didn’t turn out the way she expected when she decided caring for her elderly parents was not a chore but a calling. Saying yes to being their caregiver meant saying no to opportunities to continue speaking at national and local women’s events as well as having an active role in the women’s ministry of her denomination.
She describes how her marriage didn’t just survive but thrived in the middle of these hard places.

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.