Content Note: This episode includes discussion of depression and suicidal thoughts.

In this episode of Shoes & Soul, Brittany sits down with Austin Cary to talk about identity, faith, and the long journey of learning to embrace how God created you.

Austin shares what it was like growing up deaf in a mostly hearing world. As a child and teenager, he wrestled deeply with what being deaf meant for his identity and his future. Wanting to fit in, he tried to distance himself from deafness and even struggled with anger toward God, questioning why life felt so hard. During this season he experienced deep loneliness, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. 

But at sixteen, something changed. At a Christian conference, Austin found himself confronted with the bitterness he had been holding onto for years. In a powerful moment of surrender, he chose to release that anger and accept both God and the identity he had been resisting. What followed was not instant perfection, but a new direction — one where being deaf was no longer something to hide, but something God could use.

Since then, Austin has traveled on mission trips around the world, connecting with deaf communities in different countries and languages. Through those experiences, he has seen firsthand how God uniquely equips deaf believers to communicate across cultures and reach people who might otherwise never hear the Gospel.

Austin also shares thoughtful advice for hearing parents raising deaf children — encouraging them to let their kids face challenges, help them feel deeply valued, and most importantly, to cover their children in prayer.

Austin is the creator of @deaffatherproject, where he shares encouragement and perspective from his life as a deaf man, husband, and father.

This conversation is honest, vulnerable, and full of hope for families walking through questions of identity, hardship, and God’s calling.