This Unexpected Life

When Jeanetta Bryant’s daughter was diagnosed with autism, her world changed overnight. What began as heartbreak soon became a journey of faith, perseverance, and unexpected purpose. In this episode, Jeanetta shares how God met her in the middle of the unknown—guiding her through grief, growth, and the birth of her nonprofit, Abilities Workshop. Through her story, you’ll hear powerful reminders that God is present in every diagnosis, every setback, and every small step forward.

If you’ve ever wondered where God is in your own unexpected journey, this conversation will encourage you to keep trusting the One who brings healing and hope even in the hardest places.

January 6, 2026; Eps. 34
Resources:
Jeanetta Bryan Website
FB & IG

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• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this Advent reflection, Carrie M. Holt closes out the year with a powerful reminder for the special-needs mom who finds herself afraid. Drawing from the Christmas story—Zechariah’s uncertainty, Mary’s shock, and Joseph’s quiet fear—Carrie shares how God met each person right where they were, in their real-life moments of confusion and overwhelm.

Through honest stories from her own month of unexpected struggles, Carrie points to the truth that God not only sees our tears and our long nights of tossing—but He dwells with us right in the middle of them.

If you’re ending this year feeling anxious about your child’s future, worn from the weight of advocacy, or unsure how God fits into the foggy unknown ahead, this Advent message will remind you: No matter what you fear, God is near.

December 9, 2025; Eps. 33

Resources:

Scriptures Mentioned: Matthew 1, Luke 1-2

Music Provided by: Pixabay: Silent-night-lofi-version

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this Advent reflection, Carrie M. Holt invites weary, overwhelmed, and tender-hearted special needs moms into the ultimate unexpected story—Christmas. Through a first-person narrative inspired by Mary’s journey in Luke and Matthew, Carrie draws parallels between Mary’s unexpected calling and the everyday realities of disability parenting: medical crises that interrupt holidays, the longing for peace, and the ache of carrying a story you never planned for.

With soothing Scripture, honest storytelling, and gentle encouragement, this episode offers a pause in the chaos. Carrie reminds us that Emmanuel—God with us—is present in hospital hallways, IEP meetings, surgeries, sensory overwhelm, and our deepest fears.

This Advent, may you find rest, hope, and companionship in the God who enters unexpected places through unexpected stories.

Eps. 32; December 2, 2025

Date: 12/2/25

Resources:
Be Born in Me by Francesca Batistelli

Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song) by Amy Grant 

Joseph’s Lullaby by Mercy Me

Scriptures Referenced:
Matthew 1, Luke 1-2, Isaiah 9 & 40

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this profoundly moving conversation, Carrie M. Holt talks with author and advocate Jess Ronne about her powerful and unexpected story—one marked by disability, grief, resilience, surrender, and the refining work of God. Jess shares her journey from learning of her son Lucas’s profound disabilities, to walking with her late husband through terminal brain cancer, to unexpectedly meeting her second husband, Ryan. She opens up about the weight of long-term caregiving, the burnout that left her unable to get out of bed, and the painful process of releasing control when Lucas transitioned into a group home.

Together, Carrie and Jess explore themes of grief that evolve through the journey, anger God can hold, the idolatry of identity, and the ongoing call to surrender in every season. Jess also offers encouragement to caregivers with limited support and explains why she believes rest, community, humility, and honesty are essential for survival.

This is a conversation for every special-needs parent who feels exhausted, unseen, or afraid of the future—offering real hope, gentle truth, and the reminder that God is present in every season.

Eps. 31; November 18, 2025

Resources:
Jess Ronne’s Website

Social Media FB & IG

Caregiving With Grit & Grace 

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this episode, Carrie Holt closes her grief-cycle series by exploring acceptance, a stage often misunderstood in the journey of raising a child with disabilities or receiving an unexpected diagnosis. Carrie explains what acceptance is not—it’s not “moving on,” it’s not pretending everything is fine, or always a permanent emotional destination. Instead, she unpacks acceptance as surrender, rest, identity rebuilding, active waiting, learning to see God’s beauty again, and believing that life can still hold goodness even when it looks different than what we planned. Through Scripture, honest reflection, and practical insights, this episode invites special-needs moms to gently receive the life they’re living—while trusting the One who holds their future.

Eps. 30; November 11, 2025

Resources:
Why Fixing Feels So Heavy & Acceptance (and Acceptance Feels So Light) with Carrie Holt

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Volume 5
How Can You Survive Without…Part 1 - Wild At Heart Podcast with John Eldredge

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this episode, Carrie M. Holt continues her grief-cycle series by exploring lament—the Biblical practice of bringing our raw, honest emotions to God. Through Scripture, personal stories, and reflections from resources like Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, she explains why lament becomes the bridge between overwhelming sorrow and renewed trust. Carrie outlines the four parts of lament and reminds listeners that God is near, attentive, and tender toward our tears. For special-needs moms walking daily through loss, uncertainty, or exhaustion, this episode offers permission to slow down, name grief, and come to God honestly—just as you are.

Eps. 29; November 4, 2025

Resources:
Dark Clouds Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop
Remind Me You’re Here by Jason Gray
Jesus & Women by Kristi McLelland (Pg. 76)
Prayer In the Night by Tish Harrison Warren
Miracle or Not - Devotion by The Worship Initiative

Scriptures Mentioned: Psalm 13, Psalm 77, Luke 39, 

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this episode, Carrie M Holt explores one of the most misunderstood emotions in the grief cycle: anger. Whether it’s anger at a diagnosis, inaccessible systems, unfair treatment, or even at God Himself, Carrie reminds us that anger isn’t inherently sinful — but it is an invitation.

She walks through real examples from her own life (including her battles with accessible parking rage!) and shares three powerful choices we can make when anger rises:

1️⃣ Choose Curiosity — Ask, What is this really about?
2️⃣ Choose Connection — Resist comparison; suffering speaks a common language.
 3️⃣ Choose Coming — Bring anger to God, not away from Him.

With honesty, scripture, and hope, this episode equips weary hearts to process anger without shame — and to find healing in naming what hurts most.

Eps. 28: October 21, 2025

Resources:

Scriptures Mentioned: James 1:19, Ephesians 4:26

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this episode, Carrie M. Holt discusses the complex emotions of guilt that often accompany the grieving process.  She unpacks the difference between conviction (from the Holy Spirit) and accusation (from the enemy), and how the “shoulds” we carry pull us deeper into shame and self-judgment.

Carrie offers practical advice for managing guilt, including the importance of rest, replacing lies with truth, relinquishing control, and reveal - giving our feelings to God. This episode concludes with a powerful reminder of the listener's identity in Christ, encouraging them to embrace their worth and value as God's beloved children.

Eps. 27; October 14, 2025

Resources:

"Reframing the Mom Guilt Narrative and Finding Your Strength by Amy J. Brown

Scriptures Referenced: Romans 2:4; II Peter 1:3; 

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this solo episode, Carrie explores fear and anxiety as one of the recurring stages in the grief journey for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities. She unpacks the distinction between fear and anxiety, drawing from Adam Young and Hilary Jacobs Hendel, and shares how perceived dangers often shape our reactions more than present realities.

Carrie vulnerably shares a personal story about facing her fears and explores how counseling, prayer, and leaning on Jesus helped reshape her feelings. She identifies common pitfalls in this stage of grief and four things to focus on as we shift our gaze from fear to the ONE who holds it all. Through Scripture and real-life application, she reminds listeners that even when our worst fears unfold, we are not alone. 

Eps. 26; October 7, 2025

Resources:
Eps. 4: When the Unexpected Involves Grief

Eps. 8: Experiencing Denial In The Unexpected Grief
AY Podcast: Episode 109: Anxiety: What It Is and How To Respond To It
There Was Jesus by Zach Williams & Dolly Parton
Scriptures Referenced: Matt 6:27; Mark 10:49; II Cor. 4:16-18; 4:7; II Peter 1:3

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this final episode of the month, Carrie is joined once again by her husband, Bruce, for a candid conversation about marriage in the midst of caregiving. From survival mode in the early years after their son Toby’s diagnosis, to counseling and intentional connection in later years, Carrie and Bruce share the real struggles, arguments, and victories of 25-plus years together. They reflect on the importance of teamwork, practical communication tips, and how family, friends, and faith sustained them. With honesty and encouragement, they offer wisdom for couples learning to love well while navigating hard seasons.

Eps. 25; 9/23/25

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special 

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.