The Carlos Whittaker Podcast

This week on instagram I asked people if they needed prayer to leave a comment. I was fully expecting like 300 comments. I got over 5000 requests. While many people told me that it felt heavy, I reminded them that this is normal. People are suffering and in need of our prayers all around us. So today we dive deep with the prayer warrior herself, my wife, Heather Whittaker. Heather has studied inner healing prayer for years and is basically my go-to when it comes to questions on prayer. Do I need to pray a certain way? What if God doesn’t answer our prayers? How can I know if God heard me? Am I wasting my time praying for something God won’t answer? Yes, we go there. So if you have ever had a question on prayer or how to pray or if your prayer was even worth it… Today’s the episode for you… Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all have a bias towards what it means to be an “undocumented worker” in America. We think it’s cut and dry. We think it’s black and white. Well if that is what we think… Then I promise you we are not Walking With People… we are Standing On Issues. In today's show, we have the honor of hearing from Bambadjan Bamba. An award-winning actor, filmmaker, and immigrant rights advocate. He has worked in prominent roles on numerous hit television shows like NBC’s The Good Place, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Amazon’s Bosch and in blockbuster films like Marvel’s Black Panther, DC comic’s Suicide Squad and Oscar-nominated film Beginners. In 2017 Bambadjan publicly disclosed that he was a recipient of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) that is in danger of being terminated. Ever since Bambadjan has used his inspirational story to change the conversation around immigration. Thanks for listening fam. This is the good stuff… Join the millions of Americans already loving Chime. Signup takes only two minutes, and doesn’t affect your credit score! Get started today at chime.com/HUMANHOPE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You guys know that I am a huge advocate for abolishing the death penalty. Many of you walked hand in hand with me as we watched Brandon Bernards failed last-second appeal last December and were all holding our breaths as he took his last. Stacy Rector joins us today to talk about what we can do to see this broken system abolished. And yes it’s broken. People for and against the death penalty would ALL AGREE that the system is broken. Stacy is the Executive Director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP), an organization whose mission is to honor life by abolishing the death penalty. She also served as spiritual advisor to Steve Henley, an inmate on Tennessee’s death row who was executed on February 4, 2009. Today’s topic is a tough one but I know you are up for it. Thanks for tackling hard issues with me fam… Start getting rewards for brushing your teeth today, go to www.GETQUIP.comHUMANHOPE , RIGHT NOW, to save $10 on a quip Smart Electric Toothbrush. Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley Lemieux is a literal miracle. I’ve known people who have said they have “lost everything”, and listening to their stories you would know why they would say that… But after listening to Ashley you realize that she in fact has lost absolutely everything… And is still standing. Not only standing but running. In today’s episode Ashley shares her story of losing not one, not two, but all three of her children in different ways and how she is finding the strength and purpose to not only survive but thrive. This is human hope wrapped up in one episode. Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Join The Village over at www.aimfree.org/carlos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 months ago someone DMd me an account of a beautiful family who was going through hell. Shanell of @TwoLightsAcademy had the first seizure of her life in March of 2021 and her condition had rapidly deteriorated to where she was having up to 100 seizures a day… She was trying to raise $25k for a seizure alert dog and after a month of fundraising was stuck at $9k. Enter… InstaFamilia… I asked and in a little under an hour we had raised the remaining $15k for her dog and it kept going to $50k. 😭🖤 My Instagram community fell in love with Shanell and keeping up with her military husband and beautiful little “sprout” (her son) on her Instagram. Through raw and emotional posts she updated us on her journey until on August 7th, she stopped posting completely. I’ll be honest that I was really worried. She had recently updated us on a seizure that had almost killed her… After a week of BLOWING UP HER PHONE she finally texted me back 😂 and I’ve been keeping tabs on her the last month but today, she wants to update everyone. It’s not a medically wonderful update… But you would never know it listening to Shanell. If you have ever been in the pit of hell and you have been looking for how to find Hope… Let today’s convo with Shanell give you exactly what you need… We will continue to pray everyday for her healing but in the meantime be in awe of her strength… Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You guys did it again. I asked “What’s the best thing that has happened to you this year?” AND YOU DELIVERED. So if you are in need of some hope, the Human Hope Fam has you covered… From overcoming covid to beating self harm… From road trips with dogs to sight being restored… You guys seriously are the best. I love you so. If you feel led please give some hope to AIM as they fight to end child sex trafficking by heading to www.aimfree.org/carlos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Jan 6th, 2021 I got a text from a friend of mine… “I see now.” Three words from a super close friend who lives on the opposite side of the aisle as I do. Three words that finally broke me and I wept. A white, conservative, middle-aged, Trump-voting man whom I love dearly. We have had many deep talks the last 4 years. Me explaining the depths of my concern. Him listening and explaining his. The goal wasn’t to turn him from his conservative roots. The goal wasn’t to make him lean left. It was simply to be seen. And he saw me. That doesn’t mean he turned his back on his values... It simply meant he faced me and protected mine. In today’s episode, I talk to one of my best friends Rob Sentell. And we talk about how to have rich and deep relationships with people whom you may massively disagree with on politics and policy. Spoiler alert… It’s not only possible… It’s necessary… Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Join the CHIME family at www.chime.com/humanhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So a few days ago I did a Q&A where I talked about how our kids have been doing all the laundry in the house since they were in elementary school. Insert 4324325543 DMs as to how we pulled that off. Yes it’s true. Heather and I have not done any laundry nor have we even made our own bed since the kids were old enough to wash a dish. We go over homeschooling, the sex talk, chores, allowance, technology, dating, roles, struggles, what we did wrong, and so much more. Our way of raising kids IS NOT the best way nor the only way. But we’ve found the best way for our kids. So take what we say with a grain of salt… But also know that we’ve known no greater honor than raising these kids. Hope this helps you guys. Thanks to our partner AIM for sponsoring the episode. Please join ME and their movement of rescuing children from sex trafficking over at www.aimfree.org/carlos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m still blown away at the opportunity I had to interview Karim. Karim was a translator for the United States Marines in Afghanistan and was granted permission to move to America but he had to leave his entire family behind. As Kabul has fallen to the Taliban Karim is now video chatting with his wife and children daily as they try and make their way to the airport to attempt to flee the country. His parents and siblings are still outside the airport walls trying to get in. Karim tells us what’s really happening. Thank you to World Relief for giving us access to Karim... You can donate to their incredible org here https://www.worldrelief.org/ We also dive into 10 tools we can use when the news is overwhelmingly bad that will keep our mental health… well… healthy. Thanks to our sponsor www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Click that to get 10% of your first month of online therapy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guys. I CAN’T WITH THIS CONVO. Mary Heffernan shares her story of how she and her attorney husband Brian risked everything and sold it all in the suburbs to raise their 4 little girls on a cattle ranch in Northern California. THEY HAD TO LEARN HOW TO DO EVERYTHING. And now they are a successful company growing every day. It wasn’t overnight. It was a lot of hard work. But today's conversation will make the most pessimistic 1/2 dreamer out there come alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices