Midlife Repurposed

This week, my guest and I have a heartfelt chat about how God showed her that when her dreams and plans crumbled, he gave her hope and a message that she could have another beautiful life after the heartbreak.* More than anything, this episode is about hope and renewal, about transforming our minds and breaking old patterns of thinking. I got chills a few times while recording. Hope is very much alive.

*I want you to know that this episode includes a topic that may be triggering. Although we do not talk about suicide in a graphic or detailed way, please use discretion if suicide is a sensitive topic for you.

After the tragic death of her husband, Tricia is learning to put the pieces of her life back together by leaning on the love and hope of Christ one day at a time. His promise to her of “another beautiful life” is evidence of His gracious mercy and tender care for the brokenhearted. Hers is a story of loss, broken dreams, and complicated grief. But it is also one of redemption and great hope that is full of evidence of God’s loving presence that is proving to be beautiful and good. 

Tricia Zody is a Speaker, Life Coach for Christian women, and podcast host of Another Beautiful Life. Tricia lives in the Houston area and is the mother of three beautiful adult children who are scattered all over the globe. 

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Are you ready to ditch diets forever? Erin Todd takes a Christian approach to intuitive eating, helping you unlearn everything you were taught about calorie-counting and other aspects of diet culture and break free from weight stigma. This episode came about when Michelle began exploring intuitive eating and found Erin's podcast. This content in the tip of the iceberg in what's out there, but Erin's approach ties in the guidance of the Holy Spirit—a piece missing from a lot of advice out there! Join Michelle on her journey toward a life repurposed that's free from diet culture.

Erin L. Todd is a wife, dog mom, attorney-by-day and writer-by-night living in St. Petersburg, Florida. As a redhead who battled insecurity and body image issues for over 30 years, she now claims the concept of being both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously. Her blog “Ginger In Progress” was born from a spiritual awakening where Jesus set her free from diet prison. Now she is on a mission to empower and equip women to heal their relationships with food and body so they can find freedom, purpose and health, too!

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This week’s episode forces us to take a look at our Christian organizations and our beliefs. When Amy Fritz's husband’s job at a well-known organization ended because he refused to be silent about what was going on in the organization, it shook their world. They had to learn to differentiate between Christ and Christian culture. It tested their integrity when they had to choose between money and following God with consistency and honor. Now, Amy is helping others by telling her story and pointing them to resources that can help them through spiritual abuse and more.

Amy is the host of the Untangled Faith podcast where she hopes to help encourage people who have been hurt in their faith communities. She’s a Minnesota native who relocated to Nashville for her husband's dream job that ended up breaking their hearts and teaching them a lot of the problems behind the curtain in some Christian organizations. Amy has three teenagers and two dogs.

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Gina lost her dad when she was a teenager in college. God has reclaimed and repurposed in her life to bring her to a relationship with a stepdad who she calls a second gift. Our circumstances don't always end up the way we had originally hoped, but God always brings hope in the midst of them.

About Gina Stinson:

Gina Stinson invites you to reclaim every day for God’s glory. She’s a pastor’s wife and mom of two teenagers. Her first book, Reclaimed: The Stories of Rescued Moments and Days, released in November, 2020. She is featured in several anthologies and writes regularly for Lifeway’s Journey Magazine for women. You can find Gina sharing the good news of Jesus, coupled with humor and hope, on social media or her website www.ginastinson.com.

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God has given Clarissa Moll a joyful life again after the tragic death of her husband on their family's vacation in 2019. As a young widow, she’s helping others by providing a map for finding grace in the grief after being blindsided by loss.

Clarissa Moll is an award-winning writer and the author of Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief and Thriving after Loss. She cohosts Christianity Today’s Surprised by Grief podcast, and her writing appears in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, RELEVANT, Modern Loss, Grief Digest, and more. Clarissa holds a master's degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and delights in God’s good creation with her four children from their home along the New England seacoast.

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Are you using your strengths and abilities in a way that is uniquely aligned to your best life? This week, life coach Jenni Schubring talks about the CliftonStrengths assessment and how fulfilling life can be when we stop trying to be someone else.

Jenni Schubring is a Certified Gallup Strength Coach and owner of Embrace Your Story Coaching. Jenni wants everyone to experience the freedom and empowerment that comes with knowing who they are in Christ. Along with her 1:1 clients, she works with teams, speaks at conferences, and facilitates an online community. Jenni helps people understand their strengths, identify their values, and dig into their story so they can embrace the beauty God created in themselves. Jenni has been married to her best friend for almost 23 years and is mom to 5 not so little kids.

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Do you long to be gutsy enough to break free from the stuff that keeps you in defeat? God hasn't wasted a single heartache in Jennifer Watson’s life, and she’s passionate about helping others break free. From working through her own brokenness and learning to end toxic patterns in relationships, marriage, ministry, and work, Jennifer now helps others advocate for themselves in ways they never thought possible. Whether brokenness, trauma from abuse, or bondage from shame, you can experience freedom too.

Jennifer Watson is an author, cohost of More Than Small Talk podcast, mother of two teenagers, and a fierce advocate for anyone working through trauma from broken relationships and systems. Author of Freedom!: The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough & the Life Beyond It.

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Voice actress Katie Leigh is known for the popular roles she has played in films and on radio dramas, including Connie Kendall on Adventures in Odyssey, but that isn’t her real identity. What started out as a gig to pay the bills led to a calling and the path to true identity. With each speed bump, God has shown her how to find true joy.

In this episode, she's transparent as she shares how she almost lost her career when unexpected circumstances shook her world, how her most famous role almost wasn't, and how God worked it all out in the best way. Katie's life is an example of what happens when passion and purpose intersect.

Katie Leigh is a voice actor, director, coach and author. Possibly best known to the Christian community as Connie Kendall on Adventures in Odyssey. Since 1981, Katie Leigh has been a part of the Los Angeles voice over community, staring in such Emmy-award-winning and fan favorites hits as "Muppet Babies,” (Baby Rowlf) "Darkwing Duck,"(Honker Muddlefoot) "Richie Rich,"(Richie) "Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears,"(Sunni Gummi) “Totally Spies,”(Alex) and many more. In 1987, she took on the role of Connie Kendall in the world-wide radio show "Adventures in Odyssey," a role she continued ever since.

In 2015, Katie took on her first voice directing job with the award winning radio play “Rex Tanner and the Sword of Damocles.” She has directed several cartoon series and film trailers since. She has an extensive background in ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement), which includes supplying the voice for the Maharaja in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Katie is best known for her fantastic children, teen and character voices (but she can sound like a grown-up, too!). A frequent guest on nostalgic podcasts, convention guest and public speaker, she also coaches up-and-coming animation voice actors through her online workshops and private sessions.

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Have you ever felt as if you weren't following the "rules" when it came to how you practiced spiritual growth?  If you thought that you were somehow broken because you weren't doing it the way everybody said you should, then you'll enjoy this interview with Gwen Jackson, who explains how we have different habits: daily rhythms, weekly-monthly, and seasonal.

For 30+ years Gwen Jackson served in numerous ministry roles alongside her husband, Dennis, in pastoral ministry, including becoming an ordained minister in The Wesleyan Church in 2014. Her greatest joy is to process life and faith with others. Her first book, Unforced Rhythms, was released in the fall of 2017. She enjoys hiking, running, summer, but more than that, she loves sharing life with her husband of 43 years and spending time with her family of four grown children and eight grandchildren.

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This bonus episode explains some changes coming to the Life Repurposed podcast, which includes a focus on fewer episodes with a continued focus on sharing great guest stories.

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