Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith
Jesus Calling
Recent Episodes
*This episode mentions violence and may not be suitable for all listeners.*
This week, we’ll hear from Davey Blackburn, founder of Nothing Is Wasted Ministries, who shares his heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and finding life again after profound pain. After planting a new church, Davey faced unimaginable tragedy when his wife, Amanda, and their unborn child were killed in a home invasion. Through his journey, he discovers a path forward—one that blends sorrow with a powerful hope, reminding us that even in our darkest moments, truly, nothing is wasted.
Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Allyson Golden, an author, speaker, and pediatric nurse. From bringing hope into the difficult moments she faces as a nurse, to reflecting God’s love on social media, Allyson actively seeks to be a light to those who are trying to overcome darkness.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Amy Downs
Upcoming interview: Dr. Chris Rappazini
Jesus Calling commemorative edition
“Nothing Is Wasted” by Elevation Worship
Nothing Is Wasted: A True Story of Hope, Forgiveness, and Finding Purpose in Pain
Other Jesus Calling interviews about coping with grief
Other Jesus Calling interviews about healing
Other Jesus Calling interviews about wrestling with God
Arise and Shine: How to Be the Light That Ignites Hope in a Dark World
Other Jesus Calling interviews about loneliness
Interview Quotes:
“It feels like the bottom had just dropped out and we're going, ‘How in the world, God, is this at all working for good?’” - Davey Blackburn
“God reached into that hospital room in the darkest moment of our lives, and filled it with His presence and whispered to our souls.” - Davey Blackburn
“When we wrestle with God, we begin to realize how big God is, how sovereign God is, and how good God is.” - Davey Blackburn
“It's so hard at times to find the light or have hope. It's really easy to ask the Lord, ‘Where is Your light? You say You're the light of the world, but why am I still seeing all these hard and dark things?’” - Allyson Golden
“As a nurse, prayer plays a huge part in my life. I am praying before and on every shift, asking for strength, asking for grace. It makes me feel connected to the Lord and like I'm not alone.” - Allyson Golden
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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!
Audio Episodes: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7
Bonus Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw
Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C
Peace for Everyday Life: https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj
Peace in Uncertain Times: https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u
What’s Good? https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj
Enneagram: https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY
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Connect with Jesus Calling
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
This week, we’ll hear from Alyssa Bethke, who’s a mom of three, a blogger, YouTuber, and co-host of the Real Life Podcast with her husband, Jeff. Alyssa reflects on the overwhelming pressures women face to excel in every area of life, and the need for honesty and grace toward ourselves, others, and God about our struggles.
Later in the episode, we’ll hear from author and content creator Chelsea Damon, who takes a closer look at the inner workings of marriage. She offers valuable insights into communication, conflict resolution, and seeking the power of grace for couples, with practical advice to keep their relationships thriving.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Christa Hardin
Upcoming interview: Davey Blackburn
Jesus Calling commemorative edition
When Doing It All Is Undoing You
Jesus Calling blog post about prayer in marriage
I Thought This Would Make Me Happy
Interview Quotes:
“I came to this place of feeling completely undone. It wasn't that I needed to find the solution or that the outcome was the answer, but it really was meeting God in those moments. How do I bring my real life to Him? How do I really work through those disappointments with God? How do I still have hope in my life that doesn't look the way I want?” - Alyssa Bethke
“I think that as a church, we need to know how to lament, because this is such a part of being human.” - Alyssa Bethke
“First and foremost, we are not what we do. We are children of God, and we have to learn to rest and to be and to know that our value is not based on our performance, but our value is based on that we're image bearers of God.” - Alyssa Bethke
“He has this way of increasing our capacity, increasing time, helping us get the things done that we need to get done. But learning to do it out of a place of rest and peace instead of this anxious, stressful spirit. And we can do that when we invite Him into it.” - Alyssa Bethke
“Eventually, we found ways to manage our disagreements in loving and respectful ways that gave each other the benefit of the doubt. And we couldn't have done that without looking at how much grace we've been given by Jesus Christ and then learning how to mirror that same grace in our lives with each other.” - Chelsea Damon
“I wholeheartedly believe that if you really want to see change in your marriage, you need to be willing to be the first one to step up and make a change.” - Chelsea Damon
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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!
Audio Episodes: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7
Bonus Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw
Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C
Peace for Everyday Life: https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj
Peace in Uncertain Times: https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u
What’s Good? https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj
Enneagram: https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY
________________________
Connect with Jesus Calling
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
![[BONUS] Preparing Our Hearts for the Holidays with Lanier Ivester](https://us-central1-podcastguru-217d6.cloudfunctions.net/gcf_get_image?image_url=https://www.omnycontent.com/d/clips/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/1095fe93-5321-4d9f-82dd-b1fc010d7843/3cadd331-a091-42d8-ba95-b22c00fcf49e/image.jpg?t=1731943470&size=Large&width=300&height=300&api_key=xqFmUFX5BHLBTA)
As we enter the season of Advent and Christmas, we’re bound to be overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle. The list of dishes to prepare, gifts to buy and wrap, cards to send, and parties to attend feels never-ending… which often results in the real reason for the season getting pushed aside. But when we set time aside to properly prepare our hearts to honor the birth of Jesus, the experience of Christmas can take on a whole new meaning—becoming a season of hope, rest, and renewal.
For this special holiday bonus episode, we’re joined by Lanier Ivester, a writer and homemaker who has taken time-honored holiday traditions and shaped and molded them to fit her family—keeping restful intentionality at the center of it all. Lanier shares how to let go of what doesn’t serve your soul, how to embrace the imperfection that makes gathering with our communities more authentic and real, and how to find glimmers of joy when you’re celebrating Christmas with a grieving heart.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Jesus Calling Podcast
Jesus Listens for Advent & Christmas
Glad & Golden Hours by Lanier Ivester
Interview Quotes
“We can burden ourselves even with wanting to bring intention into the holiday season. But the fact is that very turning of our hearts towards intention is itself intention. And that's honoring to God.” - Lanier Ivester
“In Christ, we can serve and prepare for the holidays and love our people and do all the things from a place of unconditional love. And that is a resting place. We don't have to do it all. We can step in, out of the wind of our culture, and just take refuge under His wings and really ask Him for wisdom.” - Lanier Ivester
“Scientists will tell you that taste and scent really create these pathways in our brain. They are what's known as memory bridges that can connect us to a place and a people and a time really effortlessly. And it's for that reason I've subconsciously carried forward a lot of my favorite meals and recipes from my childhood and brought them into my celebrations to this day with my husband and our friends.” - Lanier Ivester
“It's definitely a combination of anticipation and savoring. We need both, and there's so little room in our culture for either one of those.” - Lanier Ivester
“The reality is, many times the holiday season can be extremely difficult. Whatever we're walking through—whether it's grief, whether it's loss, whether it's deferred hopes or unanswered prayers, or things just not being the way that we want them to be—the holidays really amp that up, because it's easy for expectations of what a happy holiday is supposed to look like to slam up against our reality and make us feel a sense of lack in the light of what seems to be going on in the world around us.” - Lanier Ivester
“Traditions serve our relationships. The traditions that we love are a container for our relationships—they were not the thing. The people are the thing, and the traditions hold the people.” - Lanier Ivester
“We serve a God who is in the details of our lives, and it's very easy to overlook that or think something is not large enough or important enough for His notice. But when we sit down with our plans for our holidays, our plans for our gatherings, and invite Him first before we invite anyone else into this space—asking Him to create a welcoming atmosphere—I think that that brings our holidays into a much more sacred space.” - Lanier Ivester
“Advent makes space for our grief. It gives us freedom to name our sorrows, our longings, our yearnings to the One who will set them right, ultimately. But the flip side of that is if Advent makes space for our grief, Christmas makes space for our joy.” - Lanier Ivester
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*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
*This episode mentions violence and may be triggering for some listeners.*
This week, we’re joined by Demi-Leigh Tebow, a South African native, former Miss Universe, and wife of NFL superstar Tim Tebow. Demi-Leigh is a passionate advocate for individuals with special needs and disabilities. She discusses how her faith helped her overcome personal challenges, including a life-altering carjacking, and how it now fuels her mission to empower women through her Unbreakable Women’s Workshop.
Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Kendall Vanderslice, a baker, writer, and teacher, who takes us on a profound dive into the practice of bread making. Kendall shares how she discovered baking as her calling, explores the rich symbolism of food in scripture, and reveals how the kitchen can become a sacred place for encountering God.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Molly Stillman
Upcoming interview: Alyssa Bethke
Jesus Calling commemorative edition
Bake & Pray: Liturgies & Recipes for Baking Bread as a Spiritual Practice
Interview Quotes:
“I eventually realized that I had a choice to make. I could choose to question God for the rest of my life, or I could choose to trust Him for the rest of my life. I knew choosing to trust Him also meant making peace with knowing that I was not going to have all of the answers, and that that was going to be okay.” - Demi-Leigh Tebow
“I don't like being interrupted. I don't like being taken off the course of my day. I don't like stopping to help somebody else in need. Right? That's uncomfortable. Well, I think that there can be so much blessing in obedience in those moments where we are willing to be interrupted for the sake of somebody else.” - Demi-Leigh Tebow
“I had to learn that if I truly wanted to have real confidence in my identity, I had to root my confidence in something other than myself. Something that is fixed. Something that is never changing. Something that is always trustworthy and something that is bigger than myself.” - Demi-Leigh Tebow
“My diamond and pearl crown did not last. But do you know what will last? The impact that I get to have with that crown, living out my God-given purpose, maybe using that crown as a vessel.” - Demi-Leigh Tebow
“I am thankful for my plans that have been ruined. I am thankful for the wrenches that have been thrown in my plans. Because His plans have been better and bigger and more perfect for me every single time.” - Demi-Leigh Tebow
“It is such a joy to get to share what I have learned through the process of baking with others so that they can meet God in the kitchen with dough between their fingers.” - Kendall Vanderslice
“The simplicity of baking itself is, I think, a really holy calling.” - Kendall Vanderslice
“We have this picture of death and resurrection all woven into the process of baking bread. I think it is no small matter that Jesus then chose bread as the central element of the communion table.” - Kendall Vanderslice
“We are invited to rest, not as a reward for what we've gotten done, but as a means of delighting in God's creation and being reminded that we were created to take care of and delight in this delicious and beautiful world.” - Kendall Vanderslice
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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!
Audio Episodes: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7
Bonus Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw
Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C
Peace for Everyday Life: https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj
Peace in Uncertain Times: https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u
What’s Good? https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj
Enneagram: https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY
________________________
Connect with Jesus Calling
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.
![[JESUS LISTENS MONTHLY SERIES] Prayers of Gratitude: Paige King Johnson](https://us-central1-podcastguru-217d6.cloudfunctions.net/gcf_get_image?image_url=https://www.omnycontent.com/d/clips/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/1095fe93-5321-4d9f-82dd-b1fc010d7843/f83166c4-ce93-483a-9ef6-b21b00d0e70e/image.jpg?t=1730465098&size=Large&width=300&height=300&api_key=xqFmUFX5BHLBTA)
On this episode of Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer, we’ll hear from country singer/songwriter Paige King Johnson, who first fell in love with music when her grandfather gifted her a guitar when she was just a little girl. Paige shares about her new song, “I Thank God,” a prayer turned into a song that reminds us to be grateful for the gifts God gives us, and how practicing being grateful can change our lives for the better.
Guest’s Links
Facebook: @PaigeKingJohnson
Instagram: @paigekingjohnson
YouTube: @PaigeKingJohnson
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Connect with Jesus Calling
*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*
Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.