"But Jesus Drank Wine" & Other Stories That Kept Us Stuck

It’s Christmas season, babe! 🎁✨

And if this time of year has ever felt like a lot, the hustle, the planning, the pressure, the trying-to-do-all-the-things, we get it. And we’ve been there. But what if Christmas didn’t have to feel that way anymore?

In this week’s episode, we’re sharing The 10 Best Things About an Alcohol-Free Christmas, the gifts of peace, presence, and actual JOY that come when we take alcohol off the table.

From savoring real holiday magic with our kids…
to waking up on Christmas morning feeling rested and alive…
to actually tasting the cheese board (can we get an amen?)…

This episode will give you a fresh vision of what’s not only possible, but SO much better.

Whether this is your first holiday season alcohol-free, or your 10th, or you’re just sober-curious, this list will make you want to grab a cozy mocktail, light up your tree, and celebrate everything you’re gaining this year. 🎄🩷

✨ What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why slowing down becomes your new holiday tradition
• How Christmas becomes more magical when you’re actually present
• The underrated joy of hangover-free holiday travel
• Why kids get the BEST version of you when you’re alcohol-free
• How Jesus takes up more space when wine doesn’t

💌 Links & Resources:

Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt stuck with your own body—in a similar way you’ve felt stuck with alcohol?
That exhausting push-pull. The promises. The shame. The “why do I keep doing this?” on repeat. If that sounds familiar, this conversation is for you. For the woman who’s tried willpower, plans, promises, and prayers—yet still feels stuck in the cycle of body image battles, emotional eating, and quiet self-criticism. Friend, you are not alone. And you are not broken. 

Leanne joins us to share her powerful story of moving from food addiction and shame to true healing—rooted in both neuroscience and the unshakable love of God. What once felt like a personal failure of discipline became a holy revelation: real change happens when we understand our nervous system, renew our minds, and invite God into the process with us.

In this episode, we talk honestly about how self-image shapes our choices, why “knowing better” isn’t the same as healing, and how faith and neuroscience beautifully work together to bring lasting freedom. Just like with alcohol, you’ll hear how the breakthrough didn’t come from trying harder—but from partnering with God differently.

You’ll also hear how Leanne learned to separate who she is from what she struggled with—and how that shift opened the door to peace, empowerment, and a new identity grounded in Christ.

If you’ve ever wondered why you keep doing the very thing you swore you wouldn’t—whether with food, alcohol, or anything else—this episode will remind you: you’re not failing—you’re in formation. And God isn’t standing at a distance. He’s right in the middle of your becoming.

📘 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How Leanne’s journey began with years of wrestling with food, shame, and body image
• Why understanding your nervous system can change everything about emotional eating
• The role of free will—and why God invites us into transformation rather than forcing it
• Why self-image work is essential for lasting change
• How neuroscience helps explain the patterns behind our behaviors
• Why healing requires both head knowledge and heart alignment
• The freedom that comes from separating your identity from your struggles
• How God’s unconditional love becomes the foundation for real self-acceptance
• Why true transformation is always a partnership between you and God

💡 Mind–Body Renewal Practices to Try This Week

• Speak one truth about your identity in Christ every morning
• Pause and breathe when a craving hits and ask: “What is my nervous system needing right now?”
• Replace negative self-talk with: “This is who I was. This is who I’m becoming.”
• Invite God into your healing with a simple daily prayer: “Renew my mind, Lord.”
• Keep a small journal of “behavioral wins” to train your brain to notice progress

Practice mirror gratitude—thank God for one part of your body each day

💌 Links & Resources

You can learn more about Leanne's work at LeanneEllington.com and StresslessEating.com
or follow Leanne on instagram @leanneellington.

​​This week, we’re leaning into the season of Thanksgiving, and talking about how gratitude really does change everything. 🦃✨

We all know we “should” be grateful, but when life feels heavy, the kids are loud, or your to-do list is a mile long… does gratitude actually help? (Spoiler: yes! And science agrees with what Scripture said all along!)

In this conversation, we unpack how gratitude is not just a feel-good exercise, it’s a spiritual and neurological reset that can lower stress, boost dopamine and serotonin, and literally rewire your brain for joy.

You’ll hear how our own sober Thanksgivings shifted from chaotic to peaceful, why slowing down is the secret to rewiring your mind, and how gratitude becomes the bridge from striving to worship.

Whether you’re early in your alcohol-free exodus or simply craving more peace this holiday season, this episode will help you pause, breathe, and remember: You don’t need more wine to feel joy—you need more wonder.

📘 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why gratitude is literally the antidote to anxiety (Philippians 4:6–8)
• The neuroscience behind how thankfulness rewires your brain for peace
• How alcohol trains your brain for “fast relief” and gratitude retrains it for lasting joy
• Practical ways to slow down, stay present, and practice gratitude daily
• Why gratitude transforms your relationship with God, and everyone else

💡 Tiny Tina Gratitude Practices

• Say “thank you, Lord for ___” at every stoplight this week 🚦
• Write (or voice note) 3 things you’re grateful for before bed
• Practice breath prayer: Jesus in. Me out.
• Share one “proof of progress” in the community—big or small
• Turn up Gratitude by Brandon Lake or Goodness of God and worship it out 🎶
• Memorize Philippians 4:6–8 to anchor your thoughts in truth
• Look in the mirror and thank God for who you’re becoming

💌 Links & Resources

Join The January 2026 40-Day Alcohol Fast! 

This week’s episode is a little different. We’re pulling back the curtain on one of our BJDW Community Masterclasses, the kind of deep, beautiful, heart-level conversations we host each month with special guests to encourage our community gals on the journey to freedom.

We’re joined by Sharon Hodde Miller, author of Free of Me and Gazing at God, to unpack the root of insecurity, and why we often feel insecure when we’re standing on something shaky.

Sharon shares how our culture has taught us to treat insecurity by focusing more on ourselves… when the real freedom comes from shifting our gaze to God. She talks about why self-focus is exhausting, what true biblical self-denial looks like (hint: it’s not self-rejection), and how to spot when we’ve made something about us that was never meant to be.

If you’ve ever found yourself striving for validation, wrestling with comparison, or feeling “not enough” in your faith, parenting, or purpose, this conversation is going to offer you so much encouragement!. 🙌

💡What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why you sometimes feel insecure because you’re standing on something insecure
• The two causes of insecurity and why self-focus is often the hidden one
• What the Bible really says when people bring their insecurities to God
• The difference between self-denial and self-rejection (and why it matters)
• How “self-focus” often masks pain or unhealed wounds
• What to do when insecurity or comparison starts spiraling
• How to gently re-center your gaze on God instead of yourself

💌 Links & Resources:

Join The January 2026 40-Day Alcohol Fast! 

Have you ever wondered why traditional recovery works for some people—but didn’t quite fit for you?

This week, we’re pulling back the curtain with our friend and BJDW team member Heather whose journey to freedom started inside a rehab program that followed a 12-step model…and ended in a deeper, Jesus-led transformation.

Heather opens up about what she learned, what didn’t resonate, and how she found freedom—not just sobriety—through faith, community, and truth.

If you’ve ever felt out of place in traditional recovery, or wrestled with words like powerless and alcoholic, this conversation is going to set something free inside you.

📘 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The parts of traditional recovery that helped Heather build early sobriety.
• The moments she knew she needed “something more” than meetings.
• Why labeling herself “powerless” didn’t align with her identity in Christ.
• How she integrated her faith into a secular recovery space—and what changed when she stopped compartmentalizing.
• The difference between sobriety and freedom (and why one without the other still feels stuck).
• The emotional sobriety piece that’s often missing in traditional models.
• How Jesus met her in unexpected places—from rehab groups to backyard birthday parties.
• Why community, not control, is what actually sustains transformation.

💌 Links & Resources:

Join The January 2026 40-Day Alcohol Fast!