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Welcome to our brand-new series, Parenting in the Weeds! This series is dedicated to parents who feel tired, confused, or frustrated - because let's be honest, parenting isn't just hard; sometimes, it feels impossible. In this episode, we dive into the challenges of parenting today and explore the tension between two popular approaches: gentle parenting and tough love parenting.

John, Lynn and Austin discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each and introduce a balanced framework - love and limits - that can help parents find a more effective and sustainable way to raise their children. Whether you're a parent or someone who interacts with kids in any capacity, there's something in this episode for you!

Here’s what we cover:

1. Understanding the extremes:

1. A Better Way – Love and Limits:

1. Practical Parenting Takeaways:

The truth is that parenting is challenging, but the good news is that you're not alone! God sees and cares about where you are in your parenting journey, and he is with you in the weeds of parenting.

Recommended Resources:

If you want to remember what you learned in this episode, subscribe to our newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com to receive our weekly episode summary and to find our library of resources on all the topics we cover.

Your reviews and ratings help us reach more people so please leave a review and a 5-star rating!

If this conversation resonates with you, share it with someone who needs encouragement in their own healing journey and join the WYITW community on IG & FB @withyouintheweeds.com.

In the final episode of our Surviving and Thriving After Trauma series, hosts Lynn Roush, LPC, John Tinnin, MDiv, MFT and Austin Conner, MDiv, PLPC reflect on the key takeaways from the series and answer listener-submitted questions about trauma, healing, and resilience.

This series was dedicated to helping you define trauma, understand its impacts, and begin the journey toward healing. Not only have we learned from the many trauma survivors we’ve interviewed, we have also come to see the powerful presence of Jesus in the face of suffering. 

These are the listener questions we tackle in this episode: 

The key takeaways we want you to remember are:

Resources to help you on your healing journey:

"In this world, you will have tribulations. But take heart, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

If you want to remember what you learned in this episode, and didn’t have time to take notes while listening, subscribe to our newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com to receive our weekly episode summary and to find our library of resources on all the topics we cover.

Your reviews and ratings help us reach more people so please leave a review and a 5-star rating!

If this conversation resonates with you, share it with someone who needs encouragement in their own healing journey and join the WYITW community on IG & FB @withyouintheweeds.com.

As we near the end of our “Surviving and Thriving After Trauma” series we are covering the essential topic of generational trauma - a hidden force that shapes our beliefs, relationships, and sense of self. Our guest, Gina Birkemeier, a licensed professional counselor, author, and trauma specialist, joins us to explore how trauma patterns are passed down through generations and what it takes to break free.

Key takeaways in this episode:

In this interview with Austin, Gina shares personal insights from her book, Generations Deep: Unmasking Inherited Dysfunction and Trauma to Rewrite Our Stories Through Faith and Therapy, offering both hope and practical guidance for those ready to stand up against the forceful current of generational dysfunction.

To learn more you can visit ginabirkemeier.com or find Gina on Instagram @myoutloudvoice for more great content on this topic.

If you want to remember what you learned in this episode, and didn’t have time to take notes while listening, subscribe to our newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com to receive our weekly episode summary and to find our library of resources on all the topics we cover.

Your reviews and ratings help us reach more people so please leave a review and a 5-star rating!

If this conversation resonates with you, share it with someone who needs encouragement in their own healing journey and join the WYITW community on IG & FB @WithYouInTheWeeds

In this deeply moving episode, John Tinnin sits down with Kari Kaczan, author of A Light in Momentary Affliction, to discuss the profound grief of losing a child and the journey of navigating trauma through faith. Kari shares her heartbreaking yet hope-filled story of her son Christopher’s diagnosis with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare and terminal disease, and the emotional and spiritual challenges that followed.

With raw honesty, Kari recounts the moments of shock, despair, and wrestling with God as she walked through the unimaginable pain of watching her son slowly lose his abilities. She opens up about the loneliness of grief, the difficulty of making impossible medical decisions, and the isolating reality of being part of a “club no one wants to join.”

Yet, in the midst of deep sorrow, Kari found an anchor in her faith. She speaks about the power of surrender, choosing to bring Jesus into her pain, and how lament became her path to healing. The conversation touches on depression, emotional numbness, and the ways grief affects relationships, but ultimately points to the hope and presence of Christ in suffering.

Listen as John and Kari discuss:

Check out the book A Light in Momentary Affliction by Kari Kaczan to learn more about how bringing Jesus into suffering can transform the way we endure pain.

Your reviews and ratings help us reach more people so please leave a review and a 5-star rating!

Connect with us on social media and sign up for our weekly newsletter:

“Sit down. I’ve got to tell you something…” What follows might be your worst nightmare as your spouse confesses their betrayal and infidelity.

Matthew & Joanna Raabsmith have lived through this themselves, and now they work with couples who are trying to rebuild their relationship after trust has been shattered. They have 15+ years of theological and counseling experience helping couples repair the damage that betrayal creates. 

When you listen you’ll get a front row seat of what happens when couples first confess, what their ongoing counseling sessions look like, signs of growth (or lack of growth), and how you know when trust is being restored.

Whether you’ve experienced the trauma of betrayal, or you know someone/a couple who has, you’ll be thankful you took the time to listen to Matthew & Joanna.

You can check out their book Building True Intimacy: Creating a Connection That Stands the Test of Time or their website for free resources and to learn more.

Connect with us!



Are you a fan of WYITW? If so, please share this resource with a friend! Leave a review and a 5-star rating. Thanks for being here!

Can the deep pain and division of racism ever be healed? And does the Christian faith play any role in the work of racial reconciliation?

Pastor Derwin Gray believes that if we rightly understand the message of grace through Jesus, we will see the image of God across all races and cultures, and embrace and promote a culture of love instead of a culture of hate.

In this special episode Pastor Derwin Gray of Transformation Church has a discussion with Shay and Lynn about the history of racism in America, its lasting impact, and the current need for ongoing reconciliation. Derwin’s book, How to Heal Our Racial Divide, proposes that “racial reconciliation is God’s idea”, and that the church should be a place that “isn’t colorblind, but color-blessed.”

This conversation covers topics like:

Although the church should be a natural place for racial healing to occur, the reality is that barriers such as pride, fear, power and economics often prevent the church from taking the risk to love others when the cost seems too high. We appreciate Pastor Gray’s passion and insights on this important topic, as he calls us to see the beauty of diversity as part of God’s design and highlights the role we can play in helping people heal from racial trauma through empathy, compassion and understanding.

If you enjoy listening to With You in the Weeds we’d love to hear from you! You can email us at [email protected] or leave us a review. For more great content from the team you can subscribe to our newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds.

The residual trauma from war can have a lasting impact on veterans and their families. No one knows this better than Dan and Jo Slawski, founders of Guardian Hills Veterans Healing Center. 

When Dan’s father returned from his service in World War II, he struggled to cope with the mental and emotional stress of post-war trauma. Dan experienced his father’s outbursts of rage and occasional disappearances as confusing and disruptive to family life. That didn’t deter Dan from joining the Air Force after college to help pay for his medical school, which was a positive life change for Dan and his wife Jo.

Since that time, Dan’s active military service as well as his experience caring for orthopedic patients opened his eyes to the post-traumatic stress that veterans live with every day. After hearing many stories from POW’s, veterans and family members living with veterans who were suffering both physically and mentally, Dan and Jo knew their calling was to help veterans be restored to health and wholeness. 

In this eye-opening episode, Shay Roush interviews Dan and Jo to discuss their work with Guardian Hills Veterans Healing Center, a facility dedicated to helping veterans recover from the physical, emotional, and relational injuries they often face after service. Located in the beautiful country of northern Missouri, Guardian Hills provides resources and support for veterans struggling with trauma, including post-traumatic stress (PTS) and moral injury.

Many veterans don’t experience their first impact of post-traumatic stress until 11 years after service, and they often don’t have access to the resources needed for them to process the memories or stressors associated with their time in active duty. Their emotional and physical injuries are distressing, debilitating, and often lead to suicide as an alarming 17 veterans a day die by suicide around the country.

You will be inspired and encouraged as you hear the Slawskis' vision for Guardian Hills, and the transformations that are occuring in veterans lives on a daily basis (as captured in this video). 

If you or someone you love could benefit from the services offered at Guardian Hills or you want to learn more about the programs and educational therapies they offer, visit the Guardian Hills website where you can also purchase tickets for the upcoming annual banquet and auction on Saturday, March 8th at Cooper’s Ridge Event Center.

For information about housing for veterans in Columbia, Missouri visit the Welcome Home website to learn about their vision for ending homelessness for veterans in our community.

If you enjoy listening to With You in the Weeds we’d love to hear from you! You can email us at [email protected] or leave us a review. For more great content from the team you can subscribe to our newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds. 

There are several therapeutic interventions that can play a role in your recovery from trauma, and perhaps one of the most proven, effective and powerful methods is EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. But what does that mean and how does it work?

As part of our "Surviving and Thriving After Trauma" series, Austin brings in special guest Dr. Mark Pfuetze, an EMDR trained therapist and Covenant Seminary professor, to explain how the body stores trauma and how EMDR can help you manage distressing memories, experiences, and thoughts that haunt you, shame you, or pull you from the present back into the past.

After listening to this insightful interview, you will understand more about:

Online Christian Counseling Resource: Global Counseling Network

If you have a question for Dr. Pfuetze you can email him at: [email protected] 

If you enjoy listening to With You in the Weeds we’d love to hear from you! You can email us at [email protected] or leave us a review. For more great content from the team you can subscribe to our newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds. 

Have you ever experienced a “complete and total loss” only to have it be flipped into a “complete and total life transformation”? 

In this powerful episode of our “Surviving and Thriving After Trauma” series, Lynn Roush, LPC interviews her colleague and friend, Jules Lundberg, (trauma-informed PLPC & PhD student) who shares the compelling story of her journey as a trauma survivor and how she has worked hard to heal, thrive, and help others flip the script of their trauma.

Together, Lynn and Jules provide listeners with practical steps for rewriting the shameful narrative that emerges from childhood trauma and how to begin breaking generational patterns of sin and dysfunction.

Jules' story of resilience includes severe childhood abuse, domestic violence, divorce, infant loss, fostering and adoption. Lynn and Jules discuss:

If you are wanting to rewrite the narrative of your life, this episode will offer insight, hope and practical steps to help you change your internal dialogue and experience the transformation that occurs when you receive God’s invitation to be transformed by his love and truth. We want you to have hope that you can survive and thrive after trauma and embrace your identity as a beloved child of God.

Bible Verse Highlight:

Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

If you are in an abusive relationship and need support you can call the domestic abuse hotline: 1-800.799.SAFE (7233), or visit their website https://www.thehotline.org/

If you live in Columbia, Missouri, you can contact True North to receive education, counseling, and shelter from an abusive partner. 

Connect with us!

Are you a fan of WYITW? If so, please share this resource with a friend! Leave a review and a 5-star rating. Thanks for being here!

Are you facing a baffling, frustrating and emotionally intense struggle with your child? 

Do you question everything you’re doing as a parent because your best efforts don’t seem to be working to change your child’s misbehavior?

In this episode of our "Surviving and Thriving After Trauma" series, we tackle an increasingly important question: What do parents need to know about trauma? 

Austin is joined by Kari Nietzel, a behavior analyst with over 14 years of experience working with families and children who have experienced trauma. Together, they explore how trauma impacts children, how it manifests in behavior, and how parents and caregivers can better understand and support their kids.

Austin and Kari discuss:

Key Takeaways:

We know you’ll be encouraged, comforted and equipped with parenting strategies through this conversation as you learn from Kari’s personal and clinical experiences. 

Resources:

Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors by Robyn Gobell

The Connected Parent by Karyn Purvis and Lisa Qualls

TBRI podcast

Calm Parenting Podcast

If you enjoy listening to With You in the Weeds we’d love to hear from you! You can email us at [email protected] or leave us a review. For more great content from the team you can subscribe to our newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds.