Westside Stories

Kenser Heck and Rosemary Torres share what it looks like to walk with Jesus as teenagers and how Kenser's experience at a camp for families with a disabled family member led her to start rEcess, a respite ministry for kids with disabilities. This is a story about leadership, service, and creating a place where people belong, at any age.

Today's question: How can you change one person's life by extending a simple act of care?

Today's challenge: Find one service opportunity you can commit to in your community in the coming months.

Don Palmer shares about growing up in a home shaped by his father's addiction, abuse, and racism, and the transformation he witnessed when his dad gave his life to Christ, winning back his mother's heart and becoming a different man entirely. This is a story about the Holy Spirit's power to change a person, and a legacy.

Today's question: What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

Today's challenge: Take five minutes to write down the specifics of the legacy you want to leave behind for your family, friends, and community.

Alex and Corey Fleeman, two-thirds of the Christian songwriting group Oh Sparrow, open up about the vulnerability of creating and sharing their music, wrestling with imposter syndrome, and what it looks like to put sacred truth into song. This is a story about creativity as an act of worship, and why no creation, even the imperfect ones, is ever wasted.

Today's question: How could the Lord use what you create, personally or professionally, and multiply it abundantly to bless others?

Today's challenge: Go listen to an Oh Sparrow song and worship alongside Alex, Corey, and Chris, wherever you are.

Kelly Ingram shares her four-year journey with stage four appendix cancer, the fear and hope she's lived between since her diagnosis in 2022, and what it's meant to trust God's purpose even in the unknown. This is a story about wrestling honestly with suffering and finding that God is still writing something redemptive.

Today's question: What is preoccupying your mind? Where is your treasure today, the American dream, or the things of the Lord?

Today's challenge: Reach out to someone who's experiencing physical illness, by text, call, or email. Let them know you care for them and that they're not alone, and bring their suffering before God.

Kathy and Vann Cleveland have been married 43 years, and they have prayed some of the hardest prayers a parent can pray. In this episode, they share about the five years they spent walking with their son Cody through mental health struggles, addiction, and a long search for help. They talk honestly about praying for healing that didn't come the way they hoped, the anger and questions that followed, and how Proverbs 3:5 became Vann's life verse. They also share how peace settled in, how their marriage and faith held, and how they now sit with other families walking through similar pain. This is a story of God's power made perfect in weakness, and of what it looks like to keep the faith when you're devastated.

Content advisory: This episode includes the loss of a child and the topic of suicide. Please use your discretion on when and where you listen. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. You can also visit our care page at atlantawestside.org/care.

Today's question: How is God calling you to trust him even in those long unanswered prayers?

Today's challenge: Do what we often don't want to do. Get on your knees before the Lord and ask him to bestow upon you a robust faith, one that lasts through the highest of celebrations and the lowest of valleys.

Myles Southern, an Army Reserves captain and Westside member, shares his story of deployment to Europe, just months into marriage, and the fear, waiting, and isolation that came with it. Myles opens up about what it looked like to stay connected to his wife Caroline and his community across an ocean, why prayer felt impossible for a season, and how the Psalms became a low-barrier way back to God when he had nothing else to offer. This is a story about loneliness, the discipline of vulnerability, and a community that carried his wife and marriage through the distance.

Today's question: What do you run to when things get hard, rather than pursuing the comfort of the Lord?

Today's challenge: Read and reflect on a Psalm. If you don't know where to start, try the Psalm that matches today's date.

New episodes of Westside Stories release every Wednesday at 5:00 am.

Sixteen years ago, Doug Teachey was on a routine work trip in Montgomery, Alabama when a forklift ran him over, pinning him for nearly an hour. He lost his leg and wouldn't walk again for seven years.

In this episode—shared publicly for the first time—Doug and Jenna talk honestly about what that accident did to their marriage, their faith, and their family. Jenna speaks candidly about her anger at God, the exhaustion of becoming a caregiver overnight, and a grief she still carries. Doug talks about relearning who he was in a body—and an identity—he no longer recognized.

What they've found isn't an explanation for why it happened. It's something steadier: a God who didn't remove the suffering, but never left them in it.

Content note: this episode includes specific, difficult details about the accident. Please use discretion in choosing when and where you listen.

Questions to reflect on:

• Where are you trying to do life on your own right now?
• What do you need to honestly share with the Lord today?

This week's challenge: Move toward someone in your community who has a real need you can support. It doesn't have to be a big act. As Doug and Jenna's story reminds us, being present with someone is often the greatest gift you can give.

New episodes of Westside Stories release every Wednesday morning at 5:00 AM.

Welcome to Westside Stories Season 5, where we build community and connection one story at a time. This season, you'll hear honest stories from ordinary people walking through real struggle and finding genuine hope. These are stories of suffering met with hope, faith that grows a little at a time, and grief and joy carried alongside people who know exactly what that feels like, all pointing to a God who keeps showing up. Ten episodes drop every Wednesday at 5:00a, and trust us, you won't want to miss a single one. Whether you've been part of the Westside Stories community for years or you're just discovering it, this season is for you. We've been praying for you, and we believe you'll leave more known, seen, and loved than when you came in. Thank you for listening!

Today, Campus Outreach International Women’s Development Director, Samantha Roberts, is joined by Westside member, Becca Hermes.

Becca opens up about the ache of the unknown, the tension between hope and heartbreak, and the slow work of finding contentment when nothing feels certain. Through her story, she reflects on God’s perfect timing and the tender ways He holds her even when the path ahead is unclear.

This Westside Stories Advent series is designed to help you walk through the season with intentionality. As you hear how God is inviting our community into waiting, patience, and long-suffering, our prayer is that you are reminded that you are not alone.

Today, Campus Outreach International Women’s Development Director, Samantha Roberts, is joined by Westside member, Weston Straka.

Weston reflects on the seasons where anger toward the Lord felt overwhelming, and yet how Jesus continued to meet him—not with shame, but as a steady, faithful friend. His story is an honest reminder that waiting is often marked by questions, grief, and massive uncertainty, but also by a God who does not leave us alone in it. 

This Westside Stories Advent series is designed to help you walk through the season with intentionality. As you hear how God is inviting our community into waiting, patience, and long-suffering, our prayer is that you are reminded that you are not alone.