The After Dinner Mint

Today’s interview is with Crystal Heydenrych, who is a botanist and mother of two. Crystal described the doubts that plagued her after her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died four months later. I really appreciated Crystal’s ability to articulate her fears that God did not see her suffering and she was ultimately alone. She explained how she threw herself into researching the resurrection. She explains how God comforted her through reason, when her emotions were overwhelming.

• Growing up in South Africa and coming to faith through the faith of her mother, aunt, and grandmother.
• The deepening of her faith whilst at university and going to Bible studies where her faith became her own.
• The death of her close friend’s father the night before her wedding and the loss of her own mother to ovarian cancer and the period of doubt that ensued after these losses.
• How God comforted her through reason, the robust evidence of the resurrection and the ultimate hope that God sees and she is not alone.

You can check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the episode.

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Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

This banger of a question came from our end of year survey, “How do I retain my faith while being a first responder (i.e., frontline mental health, health, child protection) when the workplace culture demands dissonance from Christian values (i.e., black humour, seeing Christians as perpetrators of abuse etc). I personally and others I know in front line work struggle to reconcile their core values and faith with what they see in the world.”

Khaiah Thomson is a hospital social worker, the author of the Blackwood series, and one of our regular writers here at Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. Khaiah, Rach and Bec deep dive into some of the temptations we face as Christians working in frontline mental health and discuss what helps us to reconcile our faith with what we see in the world.

In this episode, we explore:

🎧 The temptations we face as Christians working in frontline mental health (see: detachment, overwhelm, burnout, and seeing people as problems to be solved rather than made in the image of God).

🎧 Gospel truths that help us to reconcile our faith with what we see in the world

🎧 The nitty gritty practical stuff that helps us to navigate working in this area wisely.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for honest stories in your inbox on Wednesdays (March through November) from local Christian women. It’s all free 💛

If you want to send us compliments or constructive suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

If you love the podcast, writing us a review on Apple Podcasts or leaving a five star review on Spotify helps other women find us. Thank you!

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

I am so excited to share today’s interview with you. It’s my first interview with a woman who is not one of our writers. It is SO ENCOURAGING.

Mrs. Joy Young is a 96-year-old woman who served as a nurse and missionary to Aboriginal people in the Western Desert, Wyndham, and Kununurra with her husband and three children. At one point, Mrs. Young was the only medical professional for a thousand kilometers in the Warburton Ranges in the Western Desert!

I had to pester Mrs. Young to share with me, as she was convinced she had nothing to say! The result was a delightfully funny and encouraging interview. If you’re stuck in a hard place or don’t know what to do with your life, Mrs. Young encourages us towards prayer and trusting in God in every situation, no matter how big or small.

• Growing up in Melbourne knowing about God but not knowing or trusting in Jesus until she heard a returned soldier speak about what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
• Initially training as a nurse and planning to head to West Africa as a missionary, but ultimately learned that God did not want her to go to West Africa. Instead she waited, married and had three daughters. When her oldest was six years old, she and her husband were convicted that God wanted them to share the gospel with Aboriginal people in Western Australia, so they sold everything they owned and went to the Western Desert.
• Mrs. Young’s experiences of seeing people healed and the Lord provide for her and her family in miraculous ways whilst serving in the Western Desert, Wyndham and Kununurra for more than thirty years.
• How she has remained joyful in her later years and endured the loss of her beloved husband.

You can check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the episode.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for honest stories in your inbox on Wednesdays (March through November) from local Christian women. It’s all free 💛

If you want to send us compliments or constructive suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

If you love the podcast, writing a review on Apple Podcasts or leaving a five star review Spotify helps other women find us. Thank you!

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Rach and Bec chat with Amy Stopher, who is on staff at Providence City Church, and one of our regular writers at Stories I'd Tell You at Dinner. We got a few variations of today’s topic in our end of year survey, but was asked most eloquently in this one, “It would be interesting to hear a discussion on how different Christian women are experiencing the impact of hustle culture on church life and ministry. I feel like there is a disconnect between getting the rest I need as a limited human, spiritual/social/physical/mental rest, and what a Sunday looks like within the modern church, particularly for those who participate in ministry during gatherings. It could be way too specific to my own experience, but I just wondered if it’s something that other women are also wrestling with?”

Join Amy Stopher, Rach and Bec as we explore the idea that if God made us with limits, for our good before the fall, and commands us to rest, how do we weigh up work, ministry, and family commitments? How do we rest amongst hustle culture?

🎧 The temptations we face in church and ministry amongst a broader hustle culture (see: pride, fear of man, people-pleasing and wanting to be seen as high capacity).

🎧 Truths that help us make wise(r) choices about work, family, and ministry commitments without ending up doing nothing or burning out from doing everything.

🎧 Practical nitty-gritty things that have helped us to rest when we should rest and work when we should work.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for honest stories in your inbox on Wednesdays (March through November) from local Christian women. It’s all free 💛

If you want to send us compliments or constructive suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

If you love the podcast, writing a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women find us. Thank you!

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Today we are chatting to the delightful M, who was previously a cross-cultural worker and GP in Middle East, but currently processing all the transitions in Argentina with her Latino husband. She is also one of our writers here at Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner.

We explore M’s lifelong interest in connecting with and finding common ground with the stranger, people whom on the face of it seem quite different to her, and how this has played out in her work history and friendships. We also discuss grief in relation to the cancer diagnoses of two of her brothers, one of whom recovered and the other passed away, and learning to trust a God who is good, loving, and kind.

• Growing up in West Africa as a child of cross-cultural workers, becoming a Christian at five years old, and bouncing around continents as a Third Culture Kid.
• M’s lifelong interest in connecting with and understanding other people, who on first glance are quite different to her, and how this has looked in her friendships and work life. This includes training as a GP and working in Aboriginal health clinics, alternative communities, and moving to the Middle East as a cross-cultural worker and GP.
• Walking through seasons of grief with two of her brothers diagnosed with cancer, one of whom recovered while her other brother passed away. We explore the shift from an intellectual faith to a deeply emotional one, holding both emotions and intellect together, to trust that God is good, strong, and kind.
• Her recent marriage to a Latino man, which has saw her living in Argentina and learning Spanish.

You can check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the episode.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for honest stories in your inbox on Wednesdays (March through November) from local Christian women 💛

If you want to send us compliments or constructive suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

If you love the podcast, writing a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women find us. Thank you!

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Today’s topic was requested in our end of year survey. It’s not an apologetics deep dive, but more, how do I be a Christian at work without being Ned Flanders? Join us as we explore the temptations like fear of our colleagues hating us and getting left out, what it means to see all people as made in the image of God, and balancing being kind and being faithful to what the Bible says. We don’t have the answers but we’re sharing what has helped us nut it out along the way.

In today’s episode, we explore:

🎧 The places we’ve worked as well as the mistakes and temptations we’ve faced in the only Christian in secular workplaces

🎧 What has helped us to grow in faithfulness and love for our colleagues and clients.

🎧 The idea that everyone is made in God’s image and how this touches every part of our work.

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for honest stories in your inbox on Wednesdays (March through November) from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next you get a podcast episode.

If you want to send us compliments or constructive suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

If you love the podcast, writing a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women find us. Thank you!

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Welcome to Season 2 of Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner!  We are chatting with the delightful Jill, who is a GP and cross-cultural worker in the Middle East. She is also one of our writers here at Stories. We explore the cross-section of burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress, but basically: what happens when you feel like you’re being dumped by a wave, angry that you’re the one to fix it all, as well as how Jill found a richer and deeper faith on the other side of it.

Jill grew up in Albany, studied in Perth & Sydney but now lives with three beautiful girl friends in a big ugly city in the Middle East. She helps lead a team doing community health programs and works as a GP with Syrian refugees. Learning Arabic was the hardest thing she’s undertaken. In her work she’s passionate about seeing the unseen people and helping Arab woman and teenagers learn emotional literacy and their God given identity. She enjoys textures, colours, photography and laughing at ridiculous ideas. This is a big year of transitions as she’s getting married in May, to an American!

In today's episode, we explore:

• The joys of living cross-culturally, chaotic home visits, and learning to crack jokes in a new culture and language.
• Growing up in a Christian family, becoming a Christian as a child, and always being the “good” one.
• Moving to the Middle East as a cross-cultural worker, GP and community health worker.
• Walking through a season of burnout and compassion fatigue and how she found a deeper and richer faith on the other side of it.

You can check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the episode.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays (from March-November) from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

If you want to send us compliments or constructive suggestions, flick me an email [email protected]

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Think of Everything to Binge This Summer as your unhinged WhatsApp group chat with your friends and all their best recommendations: books, TV, and podcast episodes. We’re here to save you from the endless scroll cycle where you can’t think of a single thing you would like to watch, or indeed anything you have ever watched. Or the aimless stroll around the library questioning if you are indeed a person who reads? We’re preparing you for reading poolside, living your best beach life, and binge-watching TV with your favourite cousin. We got you!

Of course, if we were actually chatting in person, there might be things that we wouldn’t recommend, but you know, given it’s a podcast we can’t tailor recs for everyone. So please use discernment and debrief with a friend if something we recommended is not good for you. Remember this chat? I mean, even in today’s episode we recommend stuff that the other podcast co-hosts would never read (see: 80s style vampire slayer horror novels).

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

This is our last episode of 2025. Season 2 kicks off in March 2026. Please help us serve you better in 2026. Give us feedback either in our super short survey and let us know what you want us to chat about in 2026 or flick me an email at [email protected]

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

We are interviewing all of our regular contributors in Season 1 for you to get to know them better. Today’s guest is Rhianon Rae, who shares beautifully about her difficulty with vulnerability throughout her life and what God has taught her about his faithfulness and peace through seasons of doubt and church conflict as a pastor's wife.

Rhianon is married to Sam and spends much of her time loving and looking after their three (soon to be four) children. In God’s kindness, she first heard the gospel from her parents, and has since trained in Christian ministry with UWA Christian Union and Trinity Theological College. In this season, she enjoys leading a Bible study, coffee dates with friends, watching cricket, and dreaming of the day she can play netball again.

• The joys of cricket, netball, and reading the Bible one to one with other women.
• Growing up in a Christian family on a farm in the country and becoming a Christian as a child.
• Struggling with doubts as a teenager and young adult, and the role Christian Union had in her life as they were not afraid of the big questions.
• Walking through a season of church conflict as a pastor’s wife and her fears of the damage to her reputation and relationships, her desire to avoid conflict, and what God taught her about forgiveness, his faithfulness and peace, and the value of having trusted people outside of your own ministry context to walk alongside you.

You can check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the episode.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

If you want to send us compliments or constructive suggestions, flick me an email [email protected] 

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Loving On Your Brothers and Sisters was born from Britt texting this essay to our group chat and us collectively weeping at how beautiful and honest and encouraging it was. Join us as we debrief and process the practicalities of loving our as brothers and sisters in the church.

🎧 What it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ

🎧 Where we’ve seen this done well in our own lives

🎧 What we are working on to embrace the idea of church being family

🎧 The barriers we’ve grappled with as we try to love others (see: messy homes, fears of being a bad homemaker, busyness, not wanting to burden others, and not knowing where to start).

Check out the show notes for everything mentioned in the show.

If you enjoyed this episode, sign up for free encouragement in your inbox on Wednesdays from local Christian women. One week you get essays and poetry, the next week you get a podcast episode.

If you want to say hello, give us a compliment or suggestion, drop a line to to [email protected] 

Music: Come Back by Ketsa. Licensed under a Creative Commons License Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives 4.0 International License.