The GoodHard Story Podcast

Matthew Sleeth, MD, a former emergency room physician and chief of the hospital medical staff, resigned from his position to teach, preach, and write about faith.  Dr. Sleeth has spoken at more than one thousand churches, campuses, and events, including serving as a monthly guest preacher at the Washington National Cathedral. Recognized by Newsweek as one of the nation's most influential Christian leaders, Dr. Sleeth is the executive director of Blessed Earth and author of numerous articles and books. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with Nancy, his wife of more than four decades. Their grown children serve with their families in full-time parish ministry and as medical missionaries in Africa. We’re talking to one of the more interesting people on the planet today, Dr. Matthew Sleeth, who is going all in on becoming a “force for life in a culture of death” in realms as varied as creation care to suicide prevention to the practice of Sabbath. Katherine and Matthew exchange vulnerable stories of their rock-bottom moments and the ways God has miraculously transformed their relationship to suffering. Matthew dispels the taboo around suicide by offering biblical honesty, comfort, and hope for the massive number of us grappling with absolute despair in our stories. If you need real hope in the hard stuff today, this episode is for you. What We’ll Cover: Forming a prayer life that looks more like wrestling and less like a wishlist How to stop waiting for miracles and start recognizing the miracles we’re experiencing here and now Realistic practices to help us do the things we don’t want to do by putting them into perspective and recognizing where God is at work What the story of God’s word has to say about suicide ---- Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content: https://hopeheals.com/hopenote Get to know us: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/camp ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠: https://www.mendcoffee.org/ Instagram⁠: https://www.instagram.com/hopeheals/

What happens when you invite thousands of people with medical complexities to middle-of-nowhere Alabama in the heat of summer? Radical joy and electrifying camaraderie, that’s what. Katherine sits down with just a few of the people who make Hope Heals Camp happen. For nearly eight years, Katherine and the team have hosted this subversive gathering of people who have suffered greatly but are determined to heal together. What could sound like “the ultimate true bummer of all time” (to quote Katherine) is actually one of the most hopeful places that exists. Part classic summer camp, part church experience, and part group therapy, Hope Heals Camp is offering resources, respite, and relationships to entire families experiencing disabilities. No matter the diagnosis, age, or location. And the best part? It’s free of cost to every camper. If you’re interested in learning more about being a camper or volunteer—or you just need a big dose of optimism about the deeply good things happening in the world—don’t miss this behind-the-scenes conversation about one of the most unique offerings on earth. Volunteer and camper applications open January 18, 2024 at hopeheals.com/camp. What We’ll Cover: How Katherine went from resisting her place in the disability community to founding a camp for families affected by disability What exactly makes Hope Heals Camp unique among any other family retreat in the world Our culture of mutual ministry that invites every participant the dignity of serving and the comfort of being served -- Hope Heals Camp video: https://youtu.be/ZHlsGl_L3pI Hope Heals Camp: https://hopeheals.com/camp The 5 Stages of Changing Attitudes from the Wheaton College Center for Faith & Disability: https://www.wheaton.edu/wheaton-center-for-faith-and-disability/disability-foundations/the-5-stages/ Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content: https://hopeheals.com/hopenote Get to know us: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/camp ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠: https://www.mendcoffee.org/ Instagram⁠: https://www.instagram.com/hopeheals/

Ever feel like you need a label across your forehead that reads FRAGILE: HANDLE WITH CARE! In big read letters? It’s hard to imagine that we can be strong enough to handle all the suffering around us. In this heartening and thought-provoking conversation, Katherine sits down with therapist and author Aundi Kolber to reimagine what it means to be strong and understand how God made our bodies to adapt to heartbreak, hardship, and hurt. What We’ll Cover: - What the incarnation of Christ in a human body tells us about God’s design for our own bodies - Just how far we can expand our definitions of “strength” - Healthy ways to process our own trauma responses without being defined by them Show Notes: Aundi Kolber: https://aundikolber.com/ Strong Like Water: https://aundikolber.com/strong-like-water/ Try Softer: https://aundikolber.com/trysofter/ Suffer Strong by Katherine & Jay Wolf: https://hopeheals.com/books The Window of Tolerance from Dr. Dan Siegel, MD: https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/window-of-tolerance/ Gabor Maté on trading belonging for authenticity: https://youtu.be/l3bynimi8HQ?feature=shared Heather Avis: https://www.heatheravis.com/ *** Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content: https://hopeheals.com/hopenote Get to know us: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/camp ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠: https://www.mendcoffee.org/ Instagram⁠: https://www.instagram.com/hopeheals/

You’re invited to ramble with Katherine and Leah as they reflect on when “the most wonderful time of the year” doesn’t feel all that wonderful. Our hurt, especially during the holidays, could drive us into isolation, shame, or guilt. But it could also invite us into a unique camaraderie if we’re willing to share our pain with other people. Join the conversation, covering everything from the holy burden of becoming a survival guide to releasing yourself of some holiday to-dos to a much-anticipated Hope Heals Camp announcement! -- “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10 ESV Hope Heals Camp: https://hopeheals.com/camp Make a tax-deductible donation: https://hopeheals.com/give “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold  from those who walk uprightly.”  Psalm 84:11 ESV “The good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost, in this life; fruition of God’s presence, and vision of his blessed face, in the next.” - Sir Richard Baker Treasures in the Dark: 90 Reflections on Finding Bright Hope Hidden in Our Hurting: -- Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content. Get to know us: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ Instagram⁠

Join Katherine & Jay as they welcome beloved friends of the Hope Heals community, David Thomas and Sissy Goff in for a candid conversation on parenting. The best stuff comes from the hard stuff, but none of us want our kids to go through the hard stuff. What decisions are we making to stand in the way of our kids experiencing opportunities for resilience and growth in safe ways? This is a great conversation that you do not want to miss! David is the Director of Family Counseling and has been a part of the Daystar staff for the last 25 years. He guides Daystar as co-executive director, meets with clients for parent consults, provides assessments with new families and supervises the guys’ staff. He is the author of ten books including the best-selling Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys and Raising Emotionally Strong Boys: Tools Your Son can Build on for Life. He co-hosts the “Raising Boys & Girls” podcast and has become a sought-after speaker across the country. Sissy is the Executive Director of Daystar Counseling Ministries in Nashville, Tennessee, where she works alongside her counseling assistant/pet therapist, Lucy the Havanese. Since 1993, she has been helping girls and their parents find confidence in who they are and hope in who God is making them to be. Sissy is a sought-after speaker for parenting events across the country and is a frequent guest on media outlets including CNN, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, NBC Nightly News, and Christianity Today. She is the bestselling author of 13 books including her latest, The Worry-Free Parent: Finding the Confidence You Need So Your Kids Can, Too. -- “If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it.” - Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality ““Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.” - Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being,the more joy you can contain.” - Khalil Gibran, “Oh Joy and Sorrow” ---- Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Suffering and death are guaranteed for all of us, so why are we so poorly prepared to engage with them? Dr. Lydia Dugdale, an expert on medical ethics and author of The Lost Art of Dying, gives us heartbreaking and thought-provoking insights on the widening access to physician assisted death and the “glorification of choice.” Katherine and Dr. Dugdale discuss how we can think differently about what it means to live, suffer, and die with dignity and purpose—especially those of us living with disabilities. So what does Dr. Dugdale prescribe to us to be able to die well? Acknowledging our mortality and living (and dying) within a community of people. ----- The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom by Dr. L.S. Dugdale “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2-3 (NIV) Ars moriendi (The Art of Dying) Canada’s assisted death statistics since 2016 (Reuters) “Canada Euthanized 10,000 People in 2021. Has Death Lost Its Sting?” by Ewan Goligher for Christianity Today Not Dead Yet Me Before You (2016 film) “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” Ephesians 4:1 (ESV) Dying in the Twenty-First Century edited by Dr. L.S. Dugdale Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Join Katherine as she continues her "Finding Treasure" series! Do you want to know the secret to  being able to truly love the story you’ve been given? It’s called emotional agility, and it’s a choice available to all of us at this very minute. Katherine shares a story from her teen years that had the potential to be a viral-video-worthy embarrassing moment, but instead became a formative testament to the magic of emotional flexibility. Let’s find out what it looks like to trade in toxic positivity or total dejection for the super powers of well-developed creativity, curiosity, and responsiveness within the lives God has assigned to us. The surprising first step to emotional agility? Letting your story break your own heart. Treasures in the Dark: 90 Reflections on Finding Bright Hope Hidden in the Hurting will be  available April 9, 2024. Pre-order today. Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Did you know Hope Heals has run an online shop for almost as long as the organization has existed? In this episode, we’re giving you a rare peek behind the scenes of the Hope Heals Shop and recommending our favorite gift-worthy items for the holiday season. Jay and Katherine catch up with our Shop Manager Tutta about our current lineup of mission-driven keepsakes that serve as a tangible reminder of hope. The foundational feature of our business is a commitment to partnering with ethically minded makers from around the world. Because if our whole deal is about connecting people with true hope, we want that to include the people making our shop items! And you know who else receives hope from your order? Our Hope Heals Campers! Every purchase from the Hope Heals Shop directly benefits Hope Heals Camp so our campers can continue attending free of cost. Prodigal Pottery HOPE Sweatshirts Holding Cross Kintsugi Frame Kintsugi Ornament Kintsugi Ring Dish Black Anchor Hat Camp Anchor Hat Keychain T-Shirts Tumblers Candles ------- Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Join Katherine as she chats with the legendary Max Lucado on this Episode of the GoodHard Story Podcast. Max shares about his new book - God Never Gives Up On You - which is the story of Jacob. Hear them dig into how dealing with our past is essential for being able to move forward into the future, and how God does great things through the greatly broken. We don’t have to pretend that we’re not broken. When we’re candid about our brokenness, God gets the credit.

Katherine and Caroline cover the practicalities of what it looks like to enter into the suffering of the people in our lives. They also discuss practicing gratitude as the antidote to comparison, which allows us to believe that the boundary lines around our lives are good and purposeful. Katherine reflects on how we can protect the narratives that are spoken over us to avoid becoming victims of our own stories. She also shares how she and her husband Jay continue to show up to a marriage full of complicated dynamics they never could have anticipated. Finally, Katherine relates some rhythms that have been enriching her life lately, like a New Testament reading plan and her family’s quick and simple gratitude practice. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg Anatomy of the Soul by Dr. Curt Thompson, MD Brené Brown on Empathy Psalms 16:6 - “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” (NIV) Philippians 4:19 - “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (NIV) ---- Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠Hope Heals⁠ ⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠ ⁠Mend Coffee⁠ ⁠Find us on Instagram