The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

How do you choose joy when it feels impossible? What can you do when a chronic diagnosis leaves you debilitated? For Lindsey Wheeler, the answer did not come easily. After a Lyme disease diagnosis left her struggling to get out of bed everyday, Lindsey knew she had to make a choice: to see the good in life in spite of her circumstances or to dwell in self-pity. It wasn't easy, but Lindsey chose to change her perspective on her life in the middle of so many challenges that included her health and raising a child with special needs. It was that perspective shift that has given her the strength to bring hope to others in their pain. She started a company called Bottle of Tears that provides curated gifts of comfort to those who are hurting. In this episode, Davey talks with Lindsey about what it looks like to choose joy when life feels hard, the power in reminding people that they are seen in their pain and why community matters so much in our suffering. This conversation is an encouragement for anyone who has ever felt like some parts of life cannot be "fixed" this side of heaven and offers an invitation to hope and joy in the midst of it.   Website: https://www.bottleoftears.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bottle_of_tears/ https://www.instagram.com/lindseyewheeler/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bottleoftears Book: Sacred Tears: Simple Reminders That God Sees You and Loves You: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Tears-Simple-Reminders-Loves/dp/073698173X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2QD78389NPU7&keywords=sacred+tears&qid=1645388803&sprefix=sacred+tears%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you grieve what never was? What does it look like when your grief is over a dream rather than a reality? For Megan Smalley, learning to navigate the unseen grief and pain of infertility was difficult and at times, lonely. Megan experienced the whole range of emotions that came through her initial diagnosis of infertility to the arduous, sometimes discouraging path through IVF to the wrestlings that came after three miracle babies. At no point was her journey easy, but within it, God had important lessons and unending comfort to guide her through. And from that, she was able to in turn help others walking a similar path through an online community called The Infertility Sisterhood.In this episode, Megan joins Davey to talk about learning to take difficult seasons step by step, why knowing the truth of God's Word matters in the midst of it and how community can help us along the way in our pain. Whether infertility is part of your story or not, this conversation will teach you how to walk in your own hurt over the loss of a dream as well as how to help others through theirs.   Website: https://www.megansmalley.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MEGANSMALLEY/ Book: Give Grace: How to Embrace the Beauty of Life’s Brokenness https://www.amazon.com/dp/140021758X?psc=1&smid=A2JP70VDYUHTKB&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp The Infertility Sisterhood: https://www.theinfertilitysisterhood.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you find your way back to faith when grief seems to tear it apart? For Pastor John Onwuchekwa, losing his brother Sam sent him down a path that he never expected. Having spent his whole life teaching others about the goodness and power of God, John found himself questioning the very foundational truths he so often preached. Grief made him feel like a liar. But he slowly began to see that it was in the wrestling that these truths and others he hadn't learned, could be found. Through community, honesty with God and persistence, John traveled the road back from what seemed like a lost belief into a deeper faith than he ever could have imagined. In this episode, join Davey as he and John talk about the importance of others walking with us in grief, the wrestlings that can come out of loss and why hindsight is better than insight. If you are finding yourself drifting off the path of faith in your pain, this conversation will encourage you to find your way back. Website: https://www.johno.co Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jawn_o/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnosr YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MrJawnOTwitter: https://twitter.com/jawno Book: We Go On: Finding Purpose in All of Life’s Sorrows https://www.amazon.com/We-Go-Finding-Purpose-Sorrows/dp/0310460115/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1PTJ7BY9UXHD2&keywords=we+go+on&qid=1651257118&sprefix=we+go+on%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when the life you've built turns to dust? For Steph Teague, it began with just a few short sentences: "I don't think I believe in God anymore and I want a divorce". Hearing those words from her high school sweetheart, Chris, was devastating and yet, she slowly began to rebuild her life after such a deep hurt. Chris was on a seemingly separate journey through addiction, doubts, and deconstruction. In time, the Lord got a hold of Chris' heart and he experienced true life transformation, only to realize the mistake he had made in leaving his wife. Through God's kindness, the two would later reconcile, remarry and go on to start a band called Out of the Dust, where they would write songs of the loss and redemption in their story. Join Davey, Chris, and Steph as they talk about how to trust God when those we love wrestle with doubts and deconstruction, healing a marriage after brokenness, and the importance of community in whatever pain we face. This episode is an encouragement for anyone who feels like life's circumstances are beyond repair and who longs for redemption out of the dust.   Website: https://outofthedustmusic.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outofthedustmusic/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofthedustmusic Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Yp0ywd05n7U64KpZ8JSbu?si=bJa7JY6_TJmwhAsyqiLpdg&nd=1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you do when you realize the things you've been taught don't quite match up with God's Word? How do you navigate when what you believed to be true of the body of Christ doesn't hold up when you need care and protection? For Carlie Cleveland, experiencing an abusive relationship was painful enough yet more hurt was heaped upon her when the response of Christian leaders was shaming and blaming. It was through that difficult season that Carlie began to rightfully question some of the lessons she had learned through the years about purity. Her questions led her to untangle some prescriptive religious rules that ignored the heart of God's purpose in pursuing purity. In this episode, Carlie and Davey talk about the heart of the matter when it comes to sexual ethics, warning signs in abusive relationships and the importance of deconstructing ideas that don't align with scripture. This conversation is so important for those who know or love young people who may be wrestling with what purity truly means.   Website: https://www.carliecleveland.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlieraecleveland/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmv4z5NLTvn-ZYVQdcmfAIw Real Truth Ministries Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealtruthministries/ https://www.therealtruthministries.com/ "Ask the Question" available on Spotify, Apple, Anchor, Google, and Youtube: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-the-question/id1615108377 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmv4z5NLTvn-ZYVQdcmfAIw My Esther Bible Study:https://www.carliecleveland.com/theblog/queen-esther Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if your worst-case scenario happened? Could you still say that God is good? For military spouse Liset Navas, those questions prompted a searching and wrestling with God long before she lost her husband, US Marine Captain Mo Navas in combat in 2020. Just days before the world shut down from Covid, Liset got the knock at the door that no military wife wants to receive. In her grief, Liset found that she had to answer those hard questions about God and His goodness while walking her four young children through the painful loss of their father. In this episode, Davey has a conversation with Liset about the importance of numbering our days as well as our spouse's, grieving with hope, and leaning into the fears and doubts that come before and after a loss. Whether or not you are a military spouse, this episode is a powerful challenge for us all to keep a heavenward perspective about life and learn to live each day to the fullest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a near-death experience, how do you return to life? For Micah McElveen, it took almost losing his life to begin to live fully alive. After diving head first into a wave as a teen, Micah found his story taking an unexpected turn due to a near fatal injury. In what can only be explained as a miracle, God gave Micah a second-chance at life and the realization that life was truly a vapor. It was from the difficult journey through the physical, emotional and spiritual pain that God showed Micah the purpose He had for him. Years later, Micah began a world-changing ministry called Vapor that serves the most marginalized and in need people around the globe through clean water, medical care and meeting other physical needs while sharing the gospel. It is through that work and his own story of suffering that Micah has been given a unique perspective on what it means to live fully alive, how to find purpose when life threatens to take it away, and the importance of caring for the least of these in the world. Davey sits down with Micah for an important conversation that will help you look at your own story and know that you are alive to make a difference.   Website: www.micahmcelveen.com ; www.vaporministries.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micahmcelveen/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MicahMcElveen/ ; https://www.facebook.com/VprMinistries Book: Dying for Purpose: Light for the Lost, Directions for the Found Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"We're letting you go." It's the words no employee wants to hear and yet, job loss is at a staggering high. What do you do when the company you've given your time and talents to tells you they no longer have a place for you? Job loss and unemployment is more than just a financial loss, it can lead to a spectrum of emotional, spiritual and mental pain points as well. Dale Kreienkamp knows all too well about the feelings that can come after being let go, having experienced it not once, but twice in his career as an executive. In this episode, Davey sits down with Dale to talk about how to wrestle through the emotions of losing a job, practical steps to take in the waiting, and how to help those we love who may be going through unemployment. Whether or not you personally are walking through this, you'll want to listen to this episode to gain insight on what to do when life takes an unexpected turn.   Website: www.dalekreienkamp.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HowLongOLord/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/DaleKreienkamp/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpwLNR4ACJ6BA0SOM5ZQTsQ Book: How Long, O Lord, How Long? Devotions for the Unemployed and Those Who Love Them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever asked yourself how life can be good again after a devastating loss? Have you found yourself having to learn to depend on God in your deepest pain? Author and speaker Lisa Appelo knows all too well what it looks like to search for meaning and joy in life when your world falls apart. In the summer of 2011, she found herself a widow and single mom of seven children after the sudden, tragic loss of her husband, Dan. Davey chats with Lisa about how she walked her children through their own painful grief, how death revealed her idol of self-sufficiency and how she learned to lean on God for everything in her journey towards healing. Whether or not you have lost a spouse, Lisa's wisdom on how pain can shape us and wake us up to eternity is for you. Her story is a reminder, no matter what your pain, that life can be good again.   Website: https://lisaappelo.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaappelo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AppeloLisa Book: Life Can Be Good Again: Putting Your World Back Together After it All Falls Apart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many Americans, the recent headlines about the war in Ukraine came as a shock, but for the people living in the reality of the conflict, life has felt unstable for quite some time. Ukrainian missionaries Yuriy and Madison Perekotiy know firsthand what it is like to live in a place where wars and rumors of wars exist as part of daily life. But when the most recent invasion happened while they were in the United States for a visit, the helplessness of being so far from home and the people they know, love and serve became a difficult reality to bear. In this episode, Davey and Kristi have a candid conversation with the Perekotiy's about what is happening across the globe in Ukraine, the trauma that war can unleash on so many and how others can step in and help, no matter where they are. If you've been watching the news and feeling at a loss as to what to do, you won't want to miss the insight and honesty the Perekotiy's share about how we as believers can help the most vulnerable in the world right now.   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theperekotiys/?hl=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices