It's Your Story To Tell

What if the very thing you’ve spent years running from is the thing God has been preparing you for all along?

Wes Key spent years wrestling with doubt, anxiety, fear of failure, and a persistent internal message: You’re not enough.

From the outside, his life told a very different story. Wes had spent decades with Chick-fil-A, built award-winning teams, led hundreds of people, raised a family, served his community, and achieved the kind of professional success many people spend their lives pursuing.

But achievement could never permanently silence what was happening underneath.

In this episode of It’s Your Story to Tell, Wes joins Megan for an honest conversation about the difference between building a successful life and becoming whole.

Wes grew up as a pastor’s son surrounded by faith, yet struggled to experience a personal relationship with God. At 18, he entered seminary and found himself assigned to argue that God did not exist during a class debate. The questions he encountered eventually contributed to his walking away from Christianity and identifying as an atheist.

But that wasn't the end of his faith story.

Through the patient presence of someone who continued to care for him without pressure or condemnation, Wes eventually encountered Jesus differently not through striving, performance, or fear, but through relationship, compassion, and grace.

Years later, another part of his story would begin to unravel.

After devastating losses, the pressures of leading through the pandemic, financial stress, and years of pushing himself harder and harder, the anxiety Wes had learned to manage became impossible to ignore. Eventually, he reached one of the darkest periods of his life.

And there, at the end of his own strength, something began to change.

Not because every circumstance suddenly became easier.

Not because the anxiety instantly disappeared.

But because Wes finally began surrendering the life he had spent years trying to control.

In this conversation, Megan and Wes explore what happens when achievement becomes a way of proving we are enough, why anxiety can hide behind high performance, how our understanding of God can be shaped by our experiences, and why surrender isn't a one-time moment but an ongoing invitation.

They also wrestle with one of the hardest questions of faith:

If God is good, why do painful things happen?

And they talk about what it means to bring our real questions, grief, fear, disappointment, and even anger to God rather than believing faith requires us to hide them.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

About Wes Key

Wesley Key is an author, speaker, and longtime Chick-fil-A Operator who has spent more than three decades learning that a successful life and a whole life are not necessarily the same thing.

For nearly two decades, Wes has served as a Chick-fil-A Operator in Bloomington, Indiana, where he has led hundreds of people and built award-winning teams. Yet behind those accomplishments was a much more personal journey involving faith, identity, anxiety, grief, leadership, and surrender.

His experiences became the heart behind his book, Inspire. Nourish. Cultivate., a story of brokenness, redemption, leadership, faith, and hope.

Today, Wes writes and speaks about the intersection of success and identity, the struggles people often carry behind accomplished lives, and his belief that our hardest chapters don't have to be our last.

He lives in Bloomington with his wife, Kelly, and their family. More than anything, he hopes sharing his story gives other people permission to become honest about theirs and reminds them that a better story is still possible.

About Inspire. Nourish. Cultivate.

Every life tells a story. But not every story is lived on purpose.

In Inspire. Nourish. Cultivate., Wes shares seven movements that have shaped his life:

Inspire. Nourish. Cultivate. Harvest. Calling. Becoming. Freedom.

He writes about the journey from atheism in seminary to renewed faith, from leadership uncertainty to guiding hundreds, from emotional collapse to healing, and from being afraid to tell his story to stepping into obedience and sharing it.

But this isn't simply an invitation to read Wes's story.

It's an invitation to look differently at your own.

Because your life matters. Your story matters. And the chapters you might wish you could erase may not be the end of what God is doing through you.

God is still writing. And He's not done with you yet.

Get Wes's Book

Inspire. Nourish. Cultivate.
Purchase Inspire. Nourish. Cultivate. on Amazon

Connect with Wes

Website: wesleykey.com
Instagram: @kellysguy
Facebook: Wes Key
LinkedIn: Wesley Key
Substack: Wesley Key
Linktree: linktr.ee/wes.key

A Note from Megan : 

One of the things I hope you take from this conversation is permission to get curious about what may be underneath the life you've worked so hard to build.

Maybe you've spent years achieving, helping, leading, serving, fixing, or trying to hold everything together.

Instead of asking, Why can't I just get this right? consider asking:

Why might I be responding this way?

What is underneath this for me?

And what might God be inviting me to surrender?

Your struggle doesn't disqualify your story.

Sometimes it becomes the very place where God begins writing something you never could have planned for yourself.

If this conversation makes you think of someone who has been quietly carrying more than anyone realizes, share this episode with them.

You never know what one honest story might give someone else permission to finally say out loud.

Surrender, Identity, Generational Healing, and Finding Freedom

What if freedom doesn't come when everyone finally understands your side of the story?

What if it doesn't come when the person who hurt you apologizes, your reputation is restored, or someone finally admits you were right?

What if freedom begins before the outcome ever changes?

In Part Two, Dr. Janet S. Abadir shares what happened after the career she had spent decades building was suddenly gone.

Without the title of surgeon, Janet began recognizing how much worth and validation had become connected to achievement and the approval of others.

What followed became more than a career transition. God began revealing generational patterns, healing her relationship with her mother, redefining what success meant, and leading her toward a new calling centered on Scripture, writing, teaching, speaking, and helping others experience freedom.

Sometimes God doesn't restore the life we had. Sometimes He uses its ending to reveal the life we're being invited into.

Key Takeaways

Connect With Dr. Janet S. Abadir

Janet S. Abadir, MD practiced general surgery for 24 years before becoming a writer, Bible teacher, speaker, and coach. She and her husband and three teenage sons live in Kodiak, Alaska, and attend Frontier Baptist Church.

She has been called to speak the message of freedom to God's people. Her extensive knowledge of Scripture, paired with professional skills and compassionate love for others, equips her as a powerful instrument for God's Kingdom in her community.

Connect with Janet:
https://janetabadir.com/

Get Janet's book:
Drink from the River of Delight: Welcome to God's Healing Space in His Word
https://a.co/d/05AyzsJa 

Continue Your Own Journey

Think about one recent moment when you became emotionally activated.

Instead of asking, “What's wrong with me?”, use that moment to learn something about yourself.

The free Unstuck Key™ audio guide and Relationship Activation Worksheet will help you process a recent trigger, understand what may be happening beneath your reaction, and consider how you want to move forward differently.

Download The Unstuck Key™:
https://itsyourstorytotell.mykajabi.com/why-do-i-keep-reacting-this-way

Continue your journey through the Transformation Academy, where you'll find free resources, Bible studies, workshops, courses, and coaching opportunities designed to support your faith, emotional health, relationships, and leadership.

Explore the Transformation Academy:
https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com

About It's Your Story to Tell

It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation.

Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future.

Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible—and that your story matters.

Explore the podcast and free resources:
https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com

 About the Host

Megan Babcock is a Board-Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Board Certified Master Mental Health Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell.

Drawing from more than two decades of healthcare experience, neuroscience-informed coaching, faith, and her own healing journey, Megan helps women uncover hidden relational patterns so they can communicate with confidence, build healthier relationships, and flourish in marriage, parenting, leadership, and life.

She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity toward curiosity, compassion, and intentional choice.

Learn more:
https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com

Finding Your Worth When the Career, Title, or Life You Built Changes

What happens when the thing you've spent your entire life becoming is suddenly taken away?

You worked hard. You succeeded. You built the career, earned the respect, and became someone others could depend on.

Then the door closes anyway.

For Dr. Janet S. Abadir, losing her position as a general surgeon after 24 years in medicine wasn't simply a career change. It exposed something much deeper: how closely her identity, security, and worth had become connected to achievement.

In Part One of this two-part conversation, Janet shares how growing up in an Egyptian immigrant family shaped her understanding of honor, shame, success, and failure and how an early determination to “never fail again” contributed to a life of high achievement and performance-based worth.

When her hospital contract wasn't renewed, what initially felt like failure became an unexpected invitation to discover who she was apart from what she accomplished.

Sometimes losing what defined you creates the space to discover who you were before you ever earned the title.

Key Takeaways

In Part Two, Janet shares what happened when she surrendered the career she had spent decades building and began discovering a new understanding of identity, freedom, family, and calling.

Watch Part Two: When God Changes Your Calling

Connect With Dr. Janet S. Abadir

Janet S. Abadir, MD practiced general surgery for 24 years before becoming a writer, Bible teacher, speaker, and coach. She and her husband and three teenage sons live in Kodiak, Alaska, and attend Frontier Baptist Church.

She has been called to speak the message of freedom to God's people. Her extensive knowledge of Scripture, paired with professional skills and compassionate love for others, equips her as a powerful instrument for God's Kingdom in her community.

Connect with Janet:
https://janetabadir.com/

Get Janet's book:
Drink from the River of Delight: Welcome to God's Healing Space in His Word
https://a.co/d/05AyzsJa 

Download The Unstuck Key™

If this conversation brings up a recent moment when you felt rejected, criticized, overlooked, unsuccessful, or emotionally activated, don't rush past it.

Download the free Unstuck Key™ audio guide and Relationship Activation Worksheet to process a recent trigger, become curious about what may be underneath your reaction, and consider how you want to move forward.

Get The Unstuck Key™: https://itsyourstorytotell.mykajabi.com/why-do-i-keep-reacting-this-way

Explore the Transformation Academy

The Transformation Academy offers free resources, Bible studies, workshops, courses, and coaching opportunities to help you grow in your faith, emotional health, relationships, and leadership.

Explore the Transformation Academy:
https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com 

About It's Your Story to Tell

It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation.

Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future.

Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible—and that your story matters.

Explore the podcast and free resources:
https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com

About the Host

Megan Babcock is a Board-Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Board Certified Master Mental Health Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell.

Drawing from more than two decades of experience in healthcare, neuroscience-informed coaching, and her own healing journey, Megan helps women uncover the hidden relational patterns that keep them stuck so they can communicate with confidence, build healthier relationships, and flourish in marriage, parenting, leadership, and life.

She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity toward curiosity, compassion, and intentional choice.

Learn more:
https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com

Have you ever walked away from a conversation and thought, “Why did I react like that again?  

Maybe you became defensive. Shut down. Got angry. Overexplained yourself. Or immediately tried to make the other person okay. You know that's not how you want to respond. You promise yourself you'll handle it differently next time. And then it happens again.   

In this deeply personal episode of It's Your Story to Tell, Megan Babcock takes you back to the night she collapsed on her bathroom floor and admitted something that terrified her:  “I can't live like this anymore…but I have absolutely no idea how to change.” 

That night came after Megan recognized that she had responded to her son's difficult emotions in a way that painfully echoed something she had experienced as a seven-year-old child.   What looked like a parenting reaction on the surface revealed something much deeper underneath.

That moment became the beginning of a journey to understand why we react the way we do and eventually helped shape "The Unstuck Key™" , a simple framework built around curiosity, compassion, and intentional choice.   

In this episode, you'll discover how a trigger can become more than something you wish would go away. It can become an opportunity to understand what is happening beneath the surface, recognize patterns connected to your past, and begin choosing how you want to show up in the moments that matter most.  

Key Takeaways : 

1. Your reaction may be about more than what's happening right now. A present-day trigger can activate beliefs, fears, or patterns learned much earlier in life. 

2. Behavior change alone may not get to the root. Understanding why you're activated can help you recognize what's driving the behavior you're trying so hard to change.  

3. Curiosity can interrupt shame. Instead of immediately asking, “What's wrong with me?” you can become curious about what your reaction may be trying to show you.  

4. Compassion helps create capacity for change. Understanding what you needed then and what you need now can change the way you relate to yourself and others.  

5. The pause creates room for choice. As you learn to recognize activation, you can begin creating space between the trigger and your response so you can choose how you want to move forward.

6. Repair matters. When you don't respond the way you wanted to, going back with greater understanding, taking responsibility, and acknowledging the impact can become part of healing your relationships.  

7. Changing your patterns can change more than your life. The way you learn to respond differently can affect your marriage, parenting, leadership, work relationships, and the patterns passed to the next generation. You don't have to figure out how to change your entire life today.  Sometimes transformation begins with learning how you want to show up in the next moment.   

Download the free Unstuck Key™ Relationship Activation Worksheet* and walk through a recent trigger using the three questions Megan introduces in this episode. The worksheet will help you slow the moment down, become curious about what may have been happening beneath your reaction, identify what you needed, and consider how you want to move forward differently next time.  

[Download the FREE Unstuck Key™ Worksheet]

You don't have to start with your most painful experience. Choose one recent interaction you feel ready to explore and begin there.

The Transformation Academy is a growing resource hub created to give you practical tools and support for that process.

Inside, you'll find free resources, courses, workshops, Bible studies, books, and opportunities for coaching designed to help you better understand yourself, strengthen your relationships, grow in emotional and spiritual health, and intentionally create the life you want to live. Whether you're just beginning to recognize a pattern or you've been doing this work for years and are ready for your next level of growth, the Transformation Academy gives you a place to continue the journey. [Explore the Transformation Academy]

Coaching scholarships are also available for individuals who need additional support but may be experiencing financial barriers.

About the Podcast

It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast about faith, healing, relationships, and becoming who God created you to be. Through honest conversations, personal stories, and practical tools rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore the patterns that can keep us stuck and what it looks like to move toward healthier relationships, emotional resilience, intentional leadership, and a life of greater freedom and fulfillment. Because your past may help explain your patterns, but it doesn't have to determine how you show up in your future.

Your story isn't finished.

About Megan Babcock

Megan Babcock is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Board Certified Master Mental Health Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, bestselling author, speaker, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell.

Drawing from more than two decades of healthcare experience, neuroscience-informed coaching, trauma-informed principles, faith, and her own healing journey, Megan helps women uncover the hidden relational patterns that keep them stuck so they can communicate with greater confidence, build healthier relationships, and flourish in marriage, parenting, leadership, and life. She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework built around three simple questions that help people move from automatic reaction toward curiosity, compassion, and intentional choice. Megan believes some of the moments we most wish we could take back can become opportunities to understand ourselves more deeply, repair our relationships, and choose how we want to show up differently moving forward.

Start With One Moment You don't have to know how to rewrite your whole story today. Start with one trigger. One interaction. One moment you wish you had handled differently. Get curious about what happened, give yourself enough compassion to understand what was underneath it, and begin considering how you want to show up next time.

One moment becomes another. One choice becomes another. And over time, those choices can transform your relationships, your leadership, and the life you're creating. 

Download the free Unstuck Key™ Worksheet and begin with one recent trigger today. 

#TheUnstuckKey #EmotionalTriggers #BreakUnhealthyPatterns #HealthyRelationships #EmotionalHealing #ItsYourStoryToTell

Trauma, Mental Health, and Nervous System Regulation

What if anxiety isn't always a lack of faith? What if the emotional reactions you've spent years praying away are actually revealing places that need healing?

In Part One of this two-part conversation, Megan Babcock sits down with faith-based psychiatrist Dr. Sabrina Gunn, founder of Exusia Psychiatry and author of The Regulated Church: Trauma, Attachment, and Kingdom Alignment.

Dr. Gunn shares how her own battle with stage three colon cancer deepened her understanding of faith, emotions, and nervous system regulation and why loving Jesus and knowing Scripture doesn't make us immune to anxiety, trauma responses, or emotional dysregulation.

Together, Megan and Dr. Gunn challenge spiritual bypassing and explore what can happen when faith, emotional healing, and mental health support work together rather than against one another.

Sometimes needing help isn't evidence of weak faith. It may be an invitation into deeper healing and maturity.

Key Takeaways

Continue with Part Two In Part Two, Megan and Dr. Gunn move from understanding faith, trauma, mental health, and nervous system regulation to asking how churches can put that understanding into practice.

Connect with Dr. Sabrina Gunn

Dr. Sabrina Gunn is a faith-based psychiatrist, founder of Exusia Psychiatry, and author of The Regulated Church: Trauma, Attachment, and Kingdom Alignment. Dr. Sabrina Gunn is a board-certified psychiatrist, author, speaker, and founder of Exousia Psychiatry. Her life’s mission is to help people heal emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and relationally by combining evidence-based psychiatric care with the transformative power of Jesus Christ. After surviving stage III colon cancer, she developed an even deeper passion for helping others experience hope, restoration, and lasting healing while raising awareness of colon cancer in young adults. Dr. Gunn is the author of The Regulated Church: Trauma, Attachment, and Kingdom Alignment, where she explores the intersection of trauma, attachment, nervous system regulation, and biblical discipleship. Whether she is caring for patients, teaching internationally, or equipping churches, Dr. Gunn’s heart is to see people become whole so they can fully walk in the purpose God has for their lives..

If your church, ministry, organization, or leadership team would benefit from training on trauma, attachment, emotional regulation, mental health, and creating healthier environments for the people you serve, consider inviting Dr. Gunn to speak or facilitate a training.

Connect, Invite Dr. Sabrina Gunn to train your church or organization and get her Dr. book, The Regulated Church: Trauma, Attachment, and Kingdom Alignment https://linktr.ee/dr_sabrina

About the Podcast

It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation.

Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future.

Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible and that your story matters.

About the Host

Megan Babcock is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, Certified Flourishing Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals heal from life's hardest seasons and discover hope, purpose, and transformation.

Drawing from more than two decades of experience in healthcare, neuroscience-informed coaching, and her own journey of overcoming childhood trauma, abuse, unhealthy relationship patterns, perfectionism, and people-pleasing, Megan helps individuals understand the connection between the brain, nervous system, emotions, relationships, and faith.

She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity to calm, clarity, and confident communication.

Learn more and get free personal development resources at www.itsyourstorytotell.com

What if instead of asking, “What's wrong with you?” we became curious enough to ask, “What happened to you?”

In Part Two, Megan Babcock and Dr. Sabrina Gunn explore how churches can better support people navigating trauma, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and mental health challenges without excusing unhealthy behavior or trying to replace professional care.

They discuss why trauma-informed ministry begins with emotionally healthy leaders, how unresolved wounds can affect the way we lead and respond to others, and practical ways churches can create environments where people feel safe enough to be honest, receive support, and heal.

Because when we understand what's happening beneath someone's behavior, we can respond with greater truth, wisdom, compassion, and appropriate support.

We cannot consistently help other people find calm if we don't know how to find it ourselves.

When we learn to recognize activation, regulate our nervous systems, understand our patterns, and intentionally choose how we respond, we increase our capacity to be present with someone else's pain without immediately judging it, fixing it, fearing it, or becoming overwhelmed ourselves.

This matters whether you're leading a congregation, raising children, coaching a client, caring for a patient, managing a team, or simply trying to love the people God has placed around you well.

Healing isn't about becoming less spiritual.

It's about becoming more integrated, more mature, and more fully aligned with the person God created us to be.

Dr. Sabrina Gunn is a faith-based psychiatrist, founder of Exusia Psychiatry, and author of The Regulated Church: Trauma, Attachment, and Kingdom Alignment.

Dr. Sabrina Gunn is a board-certified psychiatrist, author, speaker, and founder of Exousia Psychiatry. Her life’s mission is to help people heal emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and relationally by combining evidence-based psychiatric care with the transformative power of Jesus Christ. After surviving stage III colon cancer, she developed an even deeper passion for helping others experience hope, restoration, and lasting healing while raising awareness of colon cancer in young adults. Dr. Gunn is the author of The Regulated Church: Trauma, Attachment, and Kingdom Alignment, where she explores the intersection of trauma, attachment, nervous system regulation, and biblical discipleship. Whether she is caring for patients, teaching internationally, or equipping churches, Dr. Gunn’s heart is to see people become whole so they can fully walk in the purpose God has for their lives..

If your church, ministry, organization, or leadership team would benefit from training on trauma, attachment, emotional regulation, mental health, and creating healthier environments for the people you serve, consider inviting Dr. Gunn to speak or facilitate a training.

Connect, Invite Dr. Sabrina Gunn to train your church or organization and get her Dr. book, The Regulated Church: Trauma, Attachment, and Kingdom Alignment
https://linktr.ee/dr_sabrina

It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation.

Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future.

Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible and that your story matters.

Megan Babcock is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, Certified Flourishing Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals heal from life's hardest seasons and discover hope, purpose, and transformation.

Drawing from more than two decades of experience in healthcare, neuroscience-informed coaching, and her own journey of overcoming childhood trauma, abuse, unhealthy relationship patterns, perfectionism, and people-pleasing, Megan helps individuals understand the connection between the brain, nervous system, emotions, relationships, and faith.

She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity to calm, clarity, and confident communication.

Learn more and get free personal development resources at www.itsyourstorytotell.com

Finding Purpose, Healing, and Faith After a Relationship Ends

What if the relationship you prayed for, believed in, and thought God had brought into your life suddenly fell apart? How do you trust God when the story you were certain He was writing doesn't end the way you expected?

Tennille Martinez thought she had found her person. They went to church together. They were baptized together. Her students were even planning their wedding. Then, just one week after their baptism, the relationship ended. What followed was heartbreak but also the beginning of a transformation Tennille couldn't yet see. In this episode of It's Your Story to Tell, Tennille shares how God used one of the most painful seasons of her life to uncover old wounds, challenge patterns of running and seeking validation, deepen her identity in Christ, and teach her what it meant to surrender the pen and trust God as the Author of her story.

Together, Megan and Tennille explore what happens when we become stuck asking “Why did this happen?” “Why didn't they choose me?” and “God, why did You allow this?” and how healing can begin when we become willing to ask a different question: “What is this for?” If you're navigating heartbreak, relationship loss, disappointment with God, unanswered prayers, or a season that looks nothing like the life you thought you would be living, this conversation will remind you that the chapter you're in isn't the end of your story. Sometimes the chapter we most want God to remove is the very place where He begins transforming us.

Key Takeaways

The thing that broke your heart may also reveal what needs healing. Sometimes a relationship is the catalyst that brings older wounds, beliefs, and patterns to the surface.

You don't have to have every answer to move forward. God may not reveal the entire plan, but He can give you enough light for the next faithful step. Curiosity creates space for transformation.

Instead of staying trapped in “Why?”, asking what God may be showing, healing, or developing can change how we experience a difficult season. Healing changes how we show up.

As we become aware of our patterns, we can learn to pause, set healthier boundaries, communicate differently, and respond from who we're becoming instead of automatically repeating what we've learned.

Surrender doesn't mean your story is over. Putting down the pen means trusting that God can write something beyond the ending you had imagined.

Connect with Tennille Martinez Tennille is an educator, writer, and host of The Living Story Podcast, where she shares personal experiences, reflections, and practical encouragement for navigating life's difficult chapters while remembering that the story isn't over. Her current series, “If I Never Got My Why and What I Got Was Better,” explores how we can move beyond unanswered questions and consider what purpose may be emerging from what we've experienced.

You can also find Tennille's writing on Substack through Middle of the Story, where she explores faith, healing, relationships, compassion, and personal growth.

Follow The Living Story Podcast on Instagram and explore Tennille's podcast and writing to continue the conversation.

About the Podcast It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation. Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future.

Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible and that your story matters.

About the Host Megan Babcock is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals heal from life's hardest seasons and discover hope, purpose, and transformation. Drawing from more than two decades of experience in healthcare, neuroscience-informed coaching, and her own journey of overcoming childhood trauma, abuse, unhealthy relationship patterns, perfectionism, and people-pleasing, Megan helps individuals understand the connection between the brain, nervous system, emotions, relationships, and faith. She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity to calm, clarity, and confident communication.

Learn more www.itsyourstorytottell.com

Why am I still grieving years after losing a loved one? How long does caregiver grief last? If you’ve experienced the death of a child, prolonged grief, or the loss of your caregiving role, this conversation offers biblical hope and practical understanding.

For parents and caregivers, grief often extends far beyond the funeral. When years of caregiving, chronic illness, and trauma become your daily life, the loss of the person you love also means the loss of the role that shaped every moment of your day. Many people aren’t prepared for the overwhelming grief, identity loss, and emotional exhaustion that can follow.

In this episode, Megan sits down with Paula Romang, a mother whose faith was tested and strengthened through the challenges of raising her son Matthew, who lived with a seizure disorder and passed away at the age of twelve. Through years of heartache and loss, Paula relied on her faith as her bedrock, Scripture as her foundation, and Jesus as her stronghold. She shares how God sustained her through seasons of uncertainty, why grief often lasts far longer than expected, and how she now helps others navigate the painful journey of loss with compassion and hope. Paula lives in the Midwest with her husband, Mark.

Their son Luke has graduated with his Master’s degree and is enjoying life, love, and a fulfilling career, while their son Matthew is in Heaven. Together, they discuss caregiver grief, complex trauma, prolonged grief, faith through suffering, and what healing can look like when life changes forever.

In This Episode

The long-term emotional impact of caregiver grief What it feels like to lose a child after years of medical caregiving How faith can be both tested and strengthened through suffering Navigating identity loss after caregiving ends Why grief can feel prolonged and complicated Finding hope and meaning after devastating loss Key Takeaways Grief after caregiving is often deeper and longer than people expect Faith can become a sustaining foundation through unimaginable loss Healing does not mean forgetting—it means learning to live with love and loss together You are not alone in feeling disoriented after caregiving ends Support, faith, and community are essential in the grieving process.

Connect with Paula

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DDn2k34y6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Website: https://www.paularomang.com

Resources Mentioned

Thriving in Barren Places https://a.co/d/08vHiU0h

About the Podcast It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation. Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future. Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible—and that your story matters.

About the Host Megan Babcock is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals heal from life's hardest seasons and discover hope, purpose, and transformation. Drawing from more than two decades of experience in healthcare, neuroscience-informed coaching, and her own journey of overcoming childhood trauma, abuse, unhealthy relationship patterns, perfectionism, and people-pleasing, Megan helps individuals understand the connection between the brain, nervous system, emotions, relationships, and faith. She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity to calm, clarity, and confident communication.

Learn more at https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com

#GriefSupport #CaregiverGrief #ChildLoss #ComplexTrauma #ChristianPodcast

What happens when you've done everything "right"—and life still takes an unexpected turn?

After years of healing from childhood trauma and helping others find freedom, author and entrepreneur Mike Dyson found himself facing a life-changing heart diagnosis that led to open-heart surgery. What followed wasn't just a physical recovery, but an emotional and spiritual journey through grief, fear, and learning to trust God in a deeper way.

In Part 2 of this conversation, Mike and Megan Babcock discuss how gratitude and grief can exist at the same time, why suffering doesn't mean God has abandoned us, and how difficult seasons often become opportunities for greater healing and spiritual growth.

Whether you're facing illness, grief, disappointment, anxiety, or simply wondering where God is in your hardest season, this episode offers biblical encouragement and practical hope for walking through life's valleys with faith.

About It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation. Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future. Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible—and that your story matters.

Resources Mentioned

The Shadow by Mike Dyson https://www.mikedysonauthor.com/

About the Host Megan Babcock

She is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals heal from life's hardest seasons and discover hope, purpose, and transformation. Drawing from more than two decades of experience in healthcare, neuroscience-informed coaching, and her own journey of overcoming childhood trauma, abuse, unhealthy relationship patterns, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. Megan helps individuals understand the connection between the brain, nervous system, emotions, relationships, and faith. She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity to calm, clarity, and confident communication.

Learn more at https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com

What happens when rejection becomes part of your story before you're even born?

In Part 1 of this powerful conversation, Megan Babcock sits down with author, entrepreneur, and speaker Mike Dyson to explore how childhood rejection, abuse, broken relationships, and unresolved trauma shaped his identity—and how God began leading him toward healing.

Together, they discuss the hidden beliefs that keep us stuck, the impact of trauma on relationships, and why true healing begins when we allow God to renew our minds and reveal our identity in Christ. Whether you're recovering from childhood trauma, emotional abuse, unhealthy relationship patterns, or simply longing to experience greater freedom, this episode will remind you that healing is possible. About the Podcast It's Your Story to Tell is a podcast where courageous people share the hardest parts of their stories and how they found hope, healing, and transformation.

Through honest conversations rooted in faith, neuroscience, and trauma-informed principles, we explore what it means to overcome adversity, build healthier relationships, strengthen emotional resilience, and discover that your past does not have to define your future. Every story shared is an invitation to believe that healing is possible—and that your story matters. In This Episode Mike's story begins before he was born Growing up with rejection and childhood trauma How unresolved pain affected relationships and identity.

Megan shares her own journey of perfectionism and people-pleasing The difference between shame and conviction Renewing your mind through God's truth Key Takeaways Trauma may explain your story, but it doesn't have to define your future. Healing begins when we become curious about the beliefs we've carried. God's conviction leads to freedom—not shame.

True transformation starts by renewing our minds and embracing our identity in Christ.

Resources Mentioned The Shadow by Mike Dyson https://www.mikedysonauthor.com/

About the Host Megan Babcock

She is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse Coach, Certified Trauma and Crisis Mental Health Coach, Certified Brain Health Coach, speaker, bestselling author, and founder of It's Your Story to Tell, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping individuals heal from life's hardest seasons and discover hope, purpose, and transformation. Drawing from more than two decades of experience in healthcare, neuroscience-informed coaching, and her own journey of overcoming childhood trauma, abuse, unhealthy relationship patterns, perfectionism, and people-pleasing, Megan helps individuals understand the connection between the brain, nervous system, emotions, relationships, and faith. She is the creator of The Unstuck Key™, a practical framework that helps people move from overwhelm and reactivity to calm, clarity, and confident communication.

Learn more at https://www.itsyourstorytotell.com