The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

What happens when our lived experience doesn’t align with what we believe about God? How do we hold on to faith when trauma, suffering, or loss shatters our spiritual foundation? Author and counselor Michael Cusick understands this tension intimately. As a survivor of childhood abuse, Michael found himself caught in self-destructive cycles that threatened his soul and relationships. Yet through his own healing journey, he discovered the profound impact our personal stories have on our attachment to God — and how restoring that attachment can transform our lives. Now, through his intensive counseling work at Restoring the Soul and in his new book, **Sacred Attachment: Escaping Spiritual Exhaustion and Trusting in Divine Love**, Michael helps others reconnect with a God who is both safe and loving — even in the wake of deep wounds.In this thoughtful conversation, Davey and Michael talk about what to do when your relationship with God feels fractured, why attachment is so important spiritually speaking, and why it seems like so many leaders are falling in our generation. If you've struggled in your relationship with God because of the pain you have experienced, this episode is an invitation to begin healing, to rebuild trust, and to rediscover a sacred attachment with the One who will never let us go. Website: michaeljohncusick.com www.restoringthesoul.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/michaeljcusick Facebook: www.facebook.com/michaeljohncusick Book: Sacred Attachment: Escaping Spiritual Exhaustion and Trusting in Divine Lovehttps://amzn.to/3GMXH1l Wondering where to get started on your journey towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and find out how you can begin to take back your story and how Nothing is Wasted can help. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere Looking for help in navigating the valley of pain and trauma? Our Nothing is Wasted coaches can help: www.nothingiswasted.com/coaching Want a pathway through your pain? The Pain to Purpose Course can lead you through all you've been through: www.mypaintopurposeplan.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we help kids build resilience, especially after facing trauma? How do we teach kids the skills they need to persevere after pain?Dr. Nicole Wilke had a front-row seat to the impact trauma can have on a child's development. Her parents had a heart for kids with the hardest stories and welcomed seventy children through foster care and adoption. This experience had a profound impact on Dr. Wilke as she watched her siblings grow and struggle after experiencing pain. It was out of her own experience that she was drawn to the work she does now through the Christian Alliance for Orphans Research Center, where she is on the front lines of discovering how we can best help kids who have experienced difficult things find a way forward.Her latest book, which she co-authored—**Overcoming: What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience**—offers practical wisdom backed by science to help kids take whatever challenges they are facing and use them as fuel to build resilience that will carry them throughout their lives.In this episode, Davey talks with Dr. Wilke about how God is in the business of redeeming our kids' stories of difficulty, why our vision matters when it comes to the trauma kids experience, and how to build a child's resilience so that they can move forward through whatever may come.If you are a parent or love a child who has experienced challenges and difficulties due to trauma or pain, this conversation will encourage you that God can take the most painful moments and use them in our kids' lives so that they can become resilient overcomers. Website: cafo.org/research-center/resilience-books Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.nicolewilke www.instagram.com/cafoalliance Facebook: www.facebook.com/CAFOalliance Book: Overcoming: What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience https://amzn.to/4jGH4mw Caleb Koala’s Comeback Ride: A Journey to Overcominghttps://amzn.to/3F1yZtw Wondering where to get started on your journey towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and find out how you can begin to take back your story and how Nothing is Wasted can help. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere Looking for help in navigating the valley of pain and trauma? Our Nothing is Wasted coaches can help: www.nothingiswasted.com/coaching Want a pathway through your pain? The Pain to Purpose Course can lead you through all you've been through: www.mypaintopurposeplan.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do we do with the secrets that keep us hidden in shame and despair? How do we tell our story in such a way that we can experience the true freedom that God has for us?For author, entrepreneur, and founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Anne Beiler, the pain that came after losing a child in a tragic accident and the abuse she experienced at the hands of someone who should have helped her in her suffering, left her despairing and empty. It was only when she brought her secrets out of the dark and into the light that she was set free from the bondage of shame and pain that were set on destroying her. She shares her journey in her latest book, The Secret Lies Within: An Inside Out Look at Overcoming Trauma and Finding Purpose in the Pain. In this tender conversation, Aubrey sits with Anne to talk about how the Holy Spirit can help us in our suffering, the power that is found in sharing our painful secrets, and how to let go of the shame that grips us. If you've ever found yourself drowning in the shame of a secret from your past, this episode will encourage you to find a safe person to share your pain with and experience the freedom of being known and bringing the darkness into the light. Website: https://auntieannebeiler.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auntieanneb/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auntieannebeilerBook: The Secret Lies Within: An Inside Out Look at Overcoming Trauma and Finding Purpose in the Painhttps://a.co/d/f6kNwsm Are you looking for the perfect study for your small group? Check out the Nothing is Wasted Video Series: www.nothingiswasted.com/bookstudy Do you need someone to walk with you one-on-one through your valley? Our certified coaches are ready to meet you where you are and help you find a way forward: www.nothingiswasted.com/coaching Are you walking through the dark and need some hope? Check out the What We Find in the Dark Podcast with Aubrey Sampson: nothingiswasted.com/whatwefind Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women are leaving churches in record numbers at higher rates than ever before. Yet, all of us are in need of healthy community more than ever. What is causing this mass exodus and how can the Church and women recognize their need for one another?Journalist and author Ericka Andersen wanted to know why and started to investigate the staggering statistics. In turn, she found the deeper reasons such a vital part of the body of Christ was finding its way to the exit. She offers an explanation of why this is happening plus an encouraging call for women to reengage in the Church in her book, Reason to Return: Why Women Need the Church and the Church Needs Women. There she encourages women to see not only their need for Christ-centered community, but also the Church's need for the unique gifts of women. In it, she also shares her personal journey with alcoholism and how the Church played such a vital role in her own healing. In this episode, Davey sits down with Ericka to discuss how women are leaving the Church at faster rates than ever before, how the anger of those who leave is often not against God, and why it is so important to go first and create a safe space for people to share their stories with vulnerability. If you've found yourself ready to quit the Church because of the wounds that people have inflicted upon your or if you've left Church and don't know how to take the first step back towards community, this conversation will encourage you that even in its brokenness, the people of God are an integral part of our lives of faith.   Website: https://erickaandersen.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericka_andersen/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErickaAndersenSylvester Book: Reason to Return: Why Women Need the Church and the Church Needs WomenWould you love to help those in your church partner with God to take back their stories of pain and trauma? Bring the Pain to Purpose course to your church and let the healing begin: www.nothingiswasted.com/churches We want to know how Nothing is Wasted has impacted YOUR story! Share with us at: nothingiswasted.com/stories We know every pain is unique. That's why we created Curated Pathways to give you everything we have that applies to your specific pain point: www.nothingiswasted.com/pathways Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we take the immense heartaches we experience and use them for God's glory? How do we continue to trust in the Lord's goodness when our experience feels quite the opposite in our pain?For author Tim Challies, losing his 20 year old son tragically and unexpectedly gave him the opportunity to lean into all he believed to be true about God as he resolved to steward his sorrow well. Through his writing of his book, Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God, Tim gave a real-time account of his grieving process and his ultimate conclusion that God was still good and the provider of comfort even in our greatest losses. His writing was not only a way for his own heart to process and heal, but it has become a beacon of hope to so many others encountering their own sorrows and pain. In this episode, Tim sits down with Aubrey to discuss what it looks like to lead our family through pain when we too are enduring it, how writing can be a helpful part of healing and the importance of knowing our true identity in the face of our losses.Losing a child is an agonizing and heartbreaking experience and yet Tim's reminder to all of us, whether we have known that kind of pain or not, is that God is our ultimate comfort.   Website: www.challies.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/challies Book: Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God We want to know how Nothing is Wasted has impacted YOUR story! Share with us at: nothingiswasted.com/stories Pastors, looking for a way to establish a path towards healing and redemption within your church? Join Davey Blackburn for a live call on how Nothing is Wasted can help: www.nothingiswasted.com/pastors Want to see healing and life transformation after the pain you've encountered? Check out the Pain to Purpose course and start the path towards healing today: www.course.nothingiswasted.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you stay afloat when it feels like waves of grief and trauma keep crashing over you? How can you keep a marriage together when it feels like everything is trying to tear you apart?For Jeff and Sarah Walton, navigating the relentless storms of a child's neurological challenges, losing a job, and the impact of Lyme disease in their home seemed impossible. It felt like the story of Job where every aspect of their lives were touched by pain and suffering. In writing their book, Together Through the Storms: Biblical Encouragements for Your Marriage When Life Hurts, they shared their own journey through the unending trials of life and how they continue to find hope in the midst of all the pain they have endured and are still facing. In this conversation, Davey sits down with Jeff and Sarah to talk about how God's Word can be a lifeline in the storms of life, why honest lament is a gift, how to endure suffering with hope as a couple and where to even begin when talking to our kids about the trials we endure as a family.If you need to be encouraged by those who are still in the storm, this episode will show you that you can ride the waves between the reality you are living and the hope you have for a better future and find Jesus right where you are.   Website: www.togetherthroughthestorms.com www.setapart.net Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahpwalton www.instagram.com/JeffandSarahWalton www.instagram.com/Walton4J Book: Together Through the Storms: Biblical Encouragements for Your Marriage When Life HurtsWe want to know how Nothing is Wasted has impacted YOUR story! Share with us at: nothingiswasted.com/stories Need some hope right now in your valley? Or have a friend who could use some encouragement through suffering? The Pain to Purpose 42-Day Devotional is the perfect companion in your pain. Get your copy and gift one to a friend who needs it: www.nothingiswasted.com/store/pain-to-purpose-devotional Do you need resources to help guide you in your specific pain point? Our Curated Pathways are designed to give you everything we offer in one place when it comes to your unique journey: www.nothingiswasted.com/pathways Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you do when you have a good theology of suffering and pain and yet struggle in the midst of your experience to believe that God is even present, let alone good? How do you hold the tension between your pain and what you know to be true about who God is? For Pastor Adam Mabry, it was his own hardships and emotional struggles paired with the seeming silence of God that took him on a journey to reconcile his experience with God's character. He would go on to write about it in his book, When God Seems Gone: Finding Hope When Nothing Makes Sense. In the end, Adam concludes that there is hope in the messy middle of our story if we are willing to be honest with God and ourselves about what we are feeling. In this impactful conversation, Davey sits down with Adam to discuss how you can know good theology and yet struggle with internalizing the truth in your pain, the difference between God's will and God's disposition, and why it's important to become curious about our emotions instead of escaping them. If you've ever felt like God disappeared when you needed Him the most, this episode will remind you that there is hope when nothing makes sense.   Website: www.adammabry.org Instagram: www.instagram.com/theadammabry Facebook: www.facebook.com/pastoradammabryBook: When God Seems Gone: Finding Hope When Nothing Makes SenseGet 25% off of Adam's book When God Seems Gone at thegoodbook.com with code the code: NIWHave a friend who is walking through something difficult? Invite them to our next 5 Steps to Taking Back Your Story zoom call with Davey Blackburn. Send them this link to sign up: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere Are you a pastor or church leader who wants to see redemptive healing take place in your church? Find out more about how you can bring Pain to Purpose to your church: www.nothingiswasted.com/churches Do you need a reminder in your pain that God isn't done with your story? Sign up for our free, 7 day devotional delivered straight to your inbox: www.nothingiswasted.com/7-day-devo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it look like to grow in your faith when you came from an environment that contradicted so many of the things of God? How do you become a follower of Jesus after experiencing a childhood riddled with so much trauma and pain? For Preston Perry, growing up in the inner city and facing so many challenges from being fatherless and the collective pain of a community in crisis, Preston struggled to truly know God. As a young person, he found himself entrenched in street life, dealing drugs and watching so many around him succumb to the ills of gangs and crime. It was through being discipled by a friend who grew up in a similar environment and yet was so different from the life they both knew, that God became real to him. The power of that relationship was pivotal in changing Preston's life and leading him to Christ. Since then, Preston and his wife, Jackie, have devoted their lives to ministry. Preston is a speaker and apologist who has been able to take his experiences and speak to people who grew up in a similar context as he did as well as widen the Evangelical Christian perspective on topics like justice. In this episode, Davey sits down with Preston to discuss how our environment can shape our worldview, the way to reach those in communities that are different than our own, the power of discipleship in leading others to Jesus and how to fight for holiness in marriage after stories of trauma. Even if your life experiences are different, Preston's story is such a profound reminder of God's power in all of our pain and mess and how redemption can come after our trauma.   Website: https://withtheperrys.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/preston_n_perry/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prestonperrythepoet Twitter: https://twitter.com/Preston_n_Perry Want to learn more about Pain to Purpose? Learn more: www.course.nothingiswasted.com Are you ready to take a step towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and learn 5 Steps to Taking Back your Story. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere Want to access all that Nothing is Wasted has to offer to help you in your healing journey? Join Community Plus and get resources like our masterclasses, Curated Pathways, and more for just $20/month. www.nothingiswasted.com/communityplus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you continue on in faith when pain and tragedy seems to plague your life? How can you keep going towards healing and wholeness when heartache relentlessly comes into your life?Those were the questions Rachel Faulkner Brown had to wrestle with after losing not one, but two husbands: one in an unexpected medical trauma and the other in a military plane crash. As a young widow twice, Rachel knew what it meant to experience pain, but learning to experience God's comfort took some time. It took her truly understanding God's abundant love for her, even when her circumstances felt quite the opposite. Since experiencing those losses, she has since remarried again and has walked with her husband through depression and anxiety and started a ministry for widows, encouraging them to hope in their pain to purpose journey. Through it all, Rachel has found a rich faith that is rooted in trusting Jesus in every season of life. While it has never been easy, it has been what has carried her through the valleys she has encountered. In this episode, Davey sits down with Rachel to discuss the importance of knowing our identity and God's love for us before we can ever begin to heal, how our worship can become a weapon against the enemy, and the power of encountering God's comfort in our pain. Chances are you haven't experienced the level of loss and pain that Rachel has, but this conversation will spur you on in your journey towards faith and hope in whatever hurt you are enduring.   Website: www.rachelfaulknerbrown.net www.bestillministries.net Instagram: www.instagram.com/rachelfaulknerbrown www.instagram.com/neveralonewidows Want to find out how you too can remove the debris of crisis in your life and move forward with a renewed sense of victory and purpose? Learn more about the Pain to Purpose course at: www.mypaintopurposeplan.com Want to be a part of the Nothing is Wasted Prayer team? Sign up today: www.nothingiswasted.com/prayerteam Are you ready to take a step towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and learn 5 Steps to Taking Back your Story. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever watched someone you love struggle through addiction? Or perhaps you were the one with an addiction and saw the devastating impact it had on those who loved you most? How do you heal, on either side of an addiction? For Geoffrey Banks, a youthful curiosity turned into years long struggle with drug addiction while his father, James, endured the pain of watching his son walk through so much self-inflicted pain. Now, years later, Geoffrey is sober and has followed his father's footsteps into ministry. Both serve as pastors and they've taken their heartbreaking journey through the pain of addiction and shared their story with others who are on a similar path, either as the adult child or the parent. Together, they shared what they've walked through in their book, Hope Lies Ahead: Encouragement for Parents of Prodigals from a Family that’s Been There. Addiction can feel relentless with one step forward and three steps back, but Geoffrey and James prove that through Christ true healing can come. In this episode, Davey talks with Geoffrey and James about the spiritual warfare that can take place amidst addictive struggles, how to love well those who wrestle with addiction, how our journey with Jesus doesn't always look neat and tidy, and the role identity can play in our pain and our healing. Whether you've walked through an addiction or know someone who has, this conversation will remind you that even when things seem bleak, hope can restore even the most broken stories.   Website: www.jamesbanks.org Instagram: www.instagram.com/encouragingprayerwww.instagram.com/geoffreyjbanksy Facebook: www.facebook.com/drjamesbanksBook: Hope Lies Ahead: Encouragement for Parents of Prodigals from a Family that’s Been There Want to see healing and life transformation after the pain you've encountered? Check out the Pain to Purpose course and start the path towards healing today: www.mypaintopurposeplan.com Have a friend who is walking through something difficult? Invite them to our next 5 Steps to Taking Back Your Story zoom call with Davey Blackburn. Send them this link to sign up: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere We know every pain is unique. That's why we created Curated Pathways to give you everything we have that applies to your specific pain point. www.nothingiswasted.com/pathways Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices