The GoodHard Story Podcast

Where do we go when the trappings of Christianity don’t align with the Jesus we know and love?
My friend Mike is making a home for who he calls the “spiritually homeless,” the people who feel wounded by church culture but aren’t ready to walk away from Jesus.
During our time together, he shared the parts of Christianity he’s unraveling from culture, how raising a son with Down Syndrome has reshaped his understanding of healing, and why he’s leading his church toward true belonging rather than just inclusion.

Show Notes
Mentioned in this conversation
Voxology Podcast - https://www.voxologypodcast.com/

Treasures in the Dark by Katherine Wolf - https://hopeheals.com/books

“Which is the real world?” by Amy Julia Becker on Substack - https://substack.com/profile/141020498/note/p-208837720?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=92rp4a

Hope Heals Camp - https://hopeheals.com/camp

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

More from Mike
Voxology Podcast - https://www.voxologypodcast.com/

Journey Church in Brentwood, TN

More from Katherine:
Follow @hopeheals on Instagram

Receive monthly reflections from Katherine - http://hopeheals.com/hopenote

Watch this conversation on YouTube

What if you can’t be brave until you’re scared?
Based on the confident way Jess Connolly lives her life, it’s hard to believe she’s ever felt scared. But she has. In fact, she decided to become an expert on fear.
Jess joined me for a conversation about what’s happening in our bodies when we feel scared, the three words that finally helped her understand what “the fear of the Lord” actually means, and how we can live if our worst fears have already come true.
Show Notes:
Mentioned in this conversation:
You Can't Be Brave Until You're Scared by Jess Connolly

Go and Tell Gals - https://goandtellgals.com/

More from Jess
@jessaconnolly

jessconnolly.com

More from Katherine:
Follow @hopeheals on Instagram

Receive monthly reflections from Katherine - http://hopeheals.com/hopenote

Watch this conversation on YouTube

What if the only way to bear our grief is to share it?
My friend Mayer Buisson is living with the “invisible wheelchair” of Huntington’s Disease. The shame she felt around her diagnosis caused her to keep it a secret. Eventually, carrying it alone became unbearable.
Today, Mayer lives with a radical acceptance of her story, and she’s inviting us into the “collateral gifts” of her grief. In this special conversation, you’ll get to sit down in a version of one of my beloved S.O.S. group gatherings to witness that it’s possible to move from shame to surrender, just like Mayer.

Show Notes
Mentioned in this conversation
Treasures in the Dark: 90 Reflections on Finding Bright Hope Hidden in the Hurting

Hope Heals Camp - https://hopeheals.com/camp

More from Katherine:
Follow @hopeheals on Instagram

Receive monthly reflections from Katherine - http://hopeheals.com/hopenote

Watch this conversation on YouTube

What do we do with the stuff that’s not good and hard, but just hard?
Toni Collier is no stranger to pain. She’s navigated a childhood of tragedy and two marriages marked by abuse and infidelity. According to her, the pain hasn’t been worth it…but it hasn’t been wasted either. In our conversation, Toni shared how she’s surviving those seasons of “ashes from ashes,” and why she’s not trying to do it alone.
Show Notes
Mentioned in this conversation:
Broken Crayons Still Color by Toni Collier

2 Corinthians 12:9

Don't Try This Alone: How to Build Deep Community When You Want to Hide from Your Pain by Toni Collier

Brave Enough to Be Broken: How to Embrace Your Pain and Discover Hope and Healing by Toni Collier

Unshakable Moxie - https://www.odbm.org/en/moxie

Still Color Podcast - How Healing Became an Idol: Why We're More Obsessed with Healing than Becoming Holy

Love Your Life (Even When You Don’t Like It All the Time): A Realistic Guide to Unlocking Joy in Life’s Messy, Mundane, and Magnificent Moments by Rachel Awtrey

Isaiah 45:3

More from Toni:
Follow @tonijcollier on Instagram

Watch on YouTube @tonijcollier

More from Katherine:
Follow @hopeheals on Instagram

Receive monthly reflections from Katherine - http://hopeheals.com/hopenote

Watch this conversation on YouTube

How are we expected to live well on this side of the sky?
Sometimes we need wisdom for the deep, hard, dark suffering. But most of the time, we just need encouragement for the normal lives we’re living on this side of heaven. Laura Wifler is a mother and poet who finds endless inspiration in the mundanity and mess of her everyday life.
In our conversation, Laura shares what’s changed in her theology of the body, why she’s relying on the grace of the present, and how a crisis of faith invited her to doubt “toward God.”

Show Notes
Mentioned in this conversation:
This Side of the Sky: 101 Poems and Scriptures for the Hungry, Hopeful, and Homesick by Laura Wifler

Sword Drill - https://www.sworddrilltrivia.com/waitlist

The GoodHard Story Podcast Ep. 51 with Laura Wifler - https://hopeheals.com/podcast/not-the-mom-with-the-chickens-stewarding-the-story-you-have-with-laura-wifler/

1 John 4:4

Like Me: A Story About Disability and God’s Image by Laura Wifler

All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore

The GoodHard Story Podcast Ep. 104 with Beth Moore - https://hopeheals.com/podcast/beth-moore-on-walking-with-god/

More from Katherine:
Follow @hopeheals on Instagram

Receive monthly reflections from Katherine - http://hopeheals.com/hopenote

Watch this conversation on YouTube