Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith

The search for God is a deeply personal endeavor, often paralleling our journey to self-discovery. As we seek to know more about Him, we might read books, listen to sermons, or study Scripture. These all add to our understanding of who God is, but the best way to find Him is simply to talk to Him like you would a friend. And in case we think that we have to pray a certain way, or act a certain way to talk to God, we can rest in the knowledge that a relationship with Him doesn't demand perfection; instead, it thrives on authenticity and humility, fostering a safe space for exploration, growth, and understanding.  When actor Dennis Quaid was a young man, he went on a quest to find Him by simply asking along the way one question: Who is God? After much searching and not finding anything that filled the vacant space inside him, he returned to the faith of his childhood and found the joys of a relationship with Jesus. Country singer Makenzie Phipps has been playing music from a very young age, much to the delight of her grandmother who has supported her all along the way. But now, Makenzie has found herself in a place of needing to support her grandmother as she faces the long decline of Alzheimer’s disease, and now she’s seeking God through it all.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Cam Ayala Upcoming interview: Jo Dee Messina Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Dennis Quaid Fallen: A Gospel Album for Sinners   Makenzie Phipps Alzheimer’s disease Alison Krauss Crystal Gayle Evanescence   Interview Quotes: “God was always over there or He was out there and not here, and it was just something about what Jesus said. He's a personal experience that you have with Him, rather than something that's just an idea…It's about letting go and letting God work in your life, that's all.” - Dennis Quaid “There's still room for you at the table.” - Dennis Quaid “We're all sinners, and it's taken me a lot to get the point that Jesus actually came here, and we were forgiven of our sins even before we committed those sins—that's all we need.” - Dennis Quaid  “I just hope people out there do realize that they are not alone, and that everything will work itself out in the end. There definitely will be some things that may take you a step back, but you can only push through and persevere and go to the next step because it's always just a climbing journey.” - Makenzie Phipps  “I just feel like God has a path for everybody and I feel like He's paving the way for me in my music. Every day is just a new opportunity and a new experience, and I just have to leave everything in His hands because He knows what He wants me to do at the end of the day and I just have to trust Him.” - Makenzie Phipps  _______________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In our uncertain world, the quest for faith often becomes a beacon of hope and assuredness. Amid the constant fluctuations of the world, God emerges as a grounding force; offering us a sense of purpose and direction when navigating a path we’re not sure of. Even when the world around us is shrouded in uncertainty, faith can illuminate our path, fostering resilience, strength, and optimism. Dancers Austin and Marideth Telenko met in New York, both pursuing dance careers. Barely a month into their dating life, COVID hit, and the jobs they had dancing fizzled as shows and studios closed. Temporarily relocating to North Carolina, and uncertain about their future, they sought God for guidance, and were led to an opportunity that changed everything. Tom Rudelius is a scientist who began studying the mysteries of the universe long before he would ever have questions about the God of the Universe. His twin brother, who had recently become a Christian, encouraged him to explore his faith; so Tom pursued the truth of the Gospel, very much like he pursued scientific truths, and was amazed by what he found.     Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Dr. Myron Rolle Upcoming interview: Dennis Quaid Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Austin and Marideth Telenko Bible Belt @Cost_N_Mayor   Tom Rudelius Cornell University of California Berkeley Durham University in England Letters from a Skeptic Book of Matthew Book of Revelation Chasing Proof, Finding Faith   Interview Quotes: “There's a lot of people, there's a lot of noise and voices telling you exactly who you should be and exactly what you should look like and exactly what you need to do to get to where you need to go. And I think it's really easy to sort of lose yourself in that noise, which is something that I struggled with a lot.“ - Marideth Telenko “It was really a risky moment of me being like, ‘This is what I have to do for my life, and if that does not align with you, that's okay.’ And I think that I really had to let [Austin] find it on his own.” - Meredith Telenko  “Putting our faith and our careers in His hands—man, look at what the Lord does, because we would have never, ever in a million years thought that coming out of the pandemic we would be in the position we're in.” - Marideth Telenko  “We always try to make sure that the light shining through us is brighter than the light shining on us.” - Marideth Telenko  “I think that science tells us how the world works in the absence of supernatural intervention, but it doesn't tell us whether or not supernatural intervention is possible in the first place.” - Dr. Tom Rudelius, Ph.D. “If we're going to talk about Jesus's miracles, we should really talk about it through the lens of the Christian worldview. If the Christian worldview is true, then the miracles of Jesus aren't just these random acts that happened for no good reason, but they're actually a key part of the whole story of what God was doing through Jesus.” - Dr. Tom Rudelius, Ph.D.  “The moment I became a Christian wasn't the moment that I sat down and I did this calculation and decided that Christianity was more likely true than false. It was the moment that I realized that I actually needed these things, that the gospel [my brother] Steve had been telling me about offered, things like forgiveness and hope and eternal life and the Holy Spirit.” - Dr. Tom Rudelius, Ph.D. “And so to me, it's when I started appreciating that overarching narrative in the Bible and how it fits onto my own experience that the Bible really came alive for me.” - Dr. Tom Rudelius, Ph.D.  “That's what makes it actually so incredible, the gospel of Christianity, that God would look down at us, just this tiny little planet, a seemingly insignificant species, and He would actually decide to become one of us and to come into our world and to suffer and to die so that we could have life.” - Dr. Tom Rudelius, Ph.D. _______________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Hope holds great significance in our lives and can shape our attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes. As hope affects our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, the absence of it can cause adverse results. For Christians, hope is not merely a positive emotion or wishful thinking but is deeply rooted in faith and trust in God's promises. Life is hard, but we don't have to give in to hopelessness. Though seasons of grief and sadness will come, it is possible, as Paul says in the Bible, to be “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). This week, we’ll hear from neurosurgeon Dr. W. Lee Warren, who shares about what hopelessness can do to our minds and spirits, how he wrestled with the idea that we can have a hard life and still have an abundant life, and what he did to cope after tragically losing his son. Author Lily Taylor shares about the devastation she experienced when her son was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and how by keeping God at the center, she was able to hang on to hope for herself and her son.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Kirk Cousins Upcoming interview: Austin and Marideth Telenko Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt  2 Corinthians 6:10 NIV   Dr. W. Lee Warren John 16:33 NIV John 10:10 NIV Balad Air Force Base Glioblastoma Romans 8:28 NIV C.S. Lewis  www.wleewarrenmd.com Hope Is The First Dose   Lily Taylor Unconfined www.prayersforprodigals.com   Interview Quotes: “I was trying to figure out how to be a good doctor to people when I couldn't save [my patients], and how to be a good brother in the Lord to people when I couldn't save their bodies.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren “The last thing I heard my son say in this life was, ‘I love you.’” - Dr. W. Lee Warren “I had to say, ‘God, this doesn't feel like refinement. It feels like you're burning me up.’ But if I want to move forward in my life, I'm going to have to find some way to redeem this time and make something out of it that [my son] Mitch could be proud of.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren  “What happens with the gift of time, as time passes, God opens your eyes in a new way, and the light comes back on a little bit and you start being able to see ways in which those promises are actually true.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren  “Tragic events happen in our lives, and the bad news is they happen to all of us, but the good news is there really is a way back.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren  “We heard the news that [our son Stephen] was going to be sentenced to a very long prison term, and it was really hard. So we just had to do what we had been doing up to that point when we heard the news, which was to just turn to God and say, ‘Okay, God, you can still work a miracle here.’” - Lily Taylor “[Our son Stephen] started getting a little bit of joy back because he started to feel that presence, get comfort and peace from the fact that God was so big, so loving, so amazing that nothing that he was facing was going to be impossible to face.” - Lily Taylor  “Your destiny is not defined by what you did, a detour is not your destiny. Your destiny is whatever God says it is, and your job is just to be faithful to whatever light He gives you on your path today.” - Lily Taylor  “God showed us that there's absolutely nothing that He can't use for good. God hears those prayers. It may not look like anything good in the natural, but in God's economy, He is covering it and He does hear our prayers and He does answer our prayers.” - Lily Taylor ________________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Belief is a crucial factor in personal growth and success. It fuels our determination, inspires resilience, and empowers us to overcome challenges. When we trust what is true we are less influenced by the opinions and judgments of others, which can often be hindered by their own limitations or biases. The object of our faith and belief must be sound, reliable, and constant. When we define our worth by a divine standard instead of the perceptions of others, we find greater self-confidence, authenticity, and ultimately, fulfillment. This week, author and registered dietitian Leslie Schilling shares her philosophy on having a “full and fed” life where we resist what society tells us is “healthy,” and decide that the bodies God gave us, no matter their size or shape, are miraculous. Author and preacher Bianca Juarez Olthoff shares how she defied the voices that told her that she was “prone to fail” by believing her status as a child of God would bring her a true definition of success.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Upcoming interview: Dr. W. Lee Warren Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Leslie Schilling  CSI University of Memphis  University of Tennessee NBA  Cirque du Soleil  diet culture www.leslieschilling.com Feed Yourself   Bianca Juarez Olthoff Grit Don’t Quit The Father's House Bill Gates Millennium Scholar Harvard Business Review  Interview Quotes: “It's important to have a healthy relationship with food so we can actually feed ourselves, so we can have the energy to go out and connect with others and take care of those we love around us and do our jobs. We have to be fed to live this life well.” - Leslie Schilling  “My hope is that people realize that it's never wrong to feed yourself and that we are diverse by design so we can move into more of a fed and full life.” - Leslie Schilling  “Diet culture has made us not trust our bodies and not believe that body diversity is by design.” - Leslie Schilling  “I think connecting with God daily helps us have a healthy mindset. If we really think about what healthy means, it's our own definition of healthy and not the world's definition of healthy. And for me, that's starting my day with time with God.” - Leslie Schilling “I think pursuing health in a way that aligns with our individual values can help us spiritually by being fed. If you are living a fed life and not a restricted one, you can do more.” - Leslie Schilling  “No matter what I walked into, no matter what people said, no matter what my test scores evaluated me as, I knew that I was a child of God, and with God on my side and a whole lot of work, you can step into the God call upon your life with or without a traditional educational story or a traditional story of how you were raised.” - Bianca Juarez Olthoff “We all love an underdog story, but I think it was more the Spirit of God reminding us of our truest identity, that we have a good Father who hears us and loves us.” - Bianca Juarez Olthoff  “This idea of grit, this idea of resilience, this idea of perseverance has been something that has been fostered and fought for in my life.” - Bianca Juarez Olthoff  “Our God is the God who redeems. If the situation is not good, then God is not done, that is the perspective that we need. That perspective allows us to be gritty.“ - Bianca Juarez Olthoff ________________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

On this bonus episode of Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer, we’re talking with the head of faith-based partnerships at Facebook, preacher, and author Nona Jones about why we often compare ourselves to other people and their accomplishments, using that as a marker of our worthiness, and how she has had to deliberately learn to refocus her mind on her spiritual value as God’s beloved child.    Guest’s Links Facebook: @NonaNotNora Instagram: @nonanotnora ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Even though it may not feel like it, grief can be a source of great hope. The way that we react against what is wrong comes from a deep desire for things to be made right. Our loss may actually lead to healing and restoration. The Bible assures us that better days are coming when God Himself will wipe every tear from our eyes. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,” it says in Revelation, “for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4) Our guests this week have walked through deep and unexpected grief and what even seemed like unfair losses. Best-selling Christian author Philip Yancey uncovered a shocking secret about his father’s death while he was still in college, one that illuminated the sometimes overbearing religious convictions of his mother. Yancey shares how he dove into his family’s origins and how he ultimately found healing from what he calls “toxic faith.” After nearly thirty years of marriage, author Mike Nappa lost his dear wife, Amy, to cancer. Mike turned to scripture to help him get through the day and to cope with processing his grief—and even today, he sees how grief and joy can coexist.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Eddie Montgomery Upcoming interview: Leslie Schilling Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt  Revelation 21:3-4 NIV   Philip Yancey Christianity Today magazine  The Jesus I Never Knew What's So Amazing About Grace? Where the Light Fell  Polio iron lungs American civil rights movement Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Disease Control G.K. Chesterton Columbine High School Virginia Tech Sandy Hook www.philipyancey.com   Mike Nappa Reflections of the Grieving Soul Psalm 16:8 NIV Queen Elizabeth John 15:11 NIV Matthew 26:38 NIV Interview Quotes: “When you grow up in a church environment, it's easy to learn how to behave, how to give a testimony, how to pray, how to do the things that look spiritual. And then one day you wake up and wonder, Is this just a learned behavior pattern that I have, or is it genuine? Am I really connecting to the God of the universe?“ - Philip Yancey “I started looking for people who were made larger by their faith.“ - Philip Yancey “Don't just give up on God because of the way God may have been presented to you. It's worth that quest to try to find who God really is and to find that God loves you. And God indeed does imagine a role for you on this earth that no one else has. That's why we were created. We were created in God's image to reflect something of God back to others.” - Philip Yancey “There's nothing that you can do to get God to love you more. No amount of spiritual calisthenics, no amount of trying to be more spiritual than everybody else—there's nothing you can do for God to love you less.” - Philip Yancey “God wants to remake us in a way that's good for us. God wants to restore us. God wants to give us a calling, a reason for being, a reason to live on this planet, and grace is the attitude that God has toward us all the time.” - Philip Yancey “I understand that God is really who He said He was, just like I thought He was before, in the moments of great joy and in the moments of great sorrow. And He is always near in the moments of great joy, and when it gets hard, He doesn't step back and run away. He'll just stand there and stay with you.” - Mike Nappa  “The grief that we have is not something to be thrown aside any more than love would be thrown aside. The grief that we have is something to visit and understand and take value and take benefit from.” - Mike Nappa “I don't have to be consumed by grief. It can just be part of who I am as I also experience joy and happiness.” - Mike Nappa ________________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In celebration of CMA Fest 2023—a country music festival that takes place in Nashville, Tennessee—we’ve got a special episode showcasing country music and faith. We’ll revisit some favorite episodes from country singers who share their stories of heartache, joy, struggles and success–—and how they trusted God through it all, including interviews with Brett Young, Lathan Warlick, Tayla Lynn, Granger & Amber Smith, Reba McEntire with her sisters Susie and Alice, and Travis Tritt.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interviews: Larry Fleet, Lauren Alaina, Randy and Mary Travis, Aaron Tippin, Gary LeVox Upcoming interview: Philip Yancey CMA Fest 2023 Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Brett Young   Lathan Warlick Luke 15 NIV   Tayla Lynn Loretta Lynn Coal Miner's Daughter   Granger & Amber Smith   Travis Tritt “Everything Is Beautiful” Carlos Santana  Ray Charles Eagles  Common Thread   Reba McEntire with her sisters Susie and Alice Opry    Interview Quotes: “I moved to Nashville and God said, ‘Here you go, here's your career.’ And from that moment on, I made writing songs important and I made being authentic in my songwriting important, because I feel like that is the only way to connect with your fans.” - Brett Young “God was calling me to be a light out into the world.” - Lathan Warlick  “I never felt abandoned. I never felt like God wasn't there. I always knew any time that I wasn't feeling God, it was because that was of my own doing. God is everything to me. Jesus is everything to me. You know, it's always been that way.” - Tayla Lynn “If you believe like we do that God is sovereign, then [our son] River had three years on this Earth and all of our days are numbered and we have to surrender to that and accept that. And then just do the next best thing to try to move forward to still continue to grow our faith.” - Granger & Amber Smith “I'm one of those people that can look back and say, honestly, my dreams have more than come true.” - Travis Tritt   “When I don't have anything else to pray about, I just stop and I say, ‘Thank you, God, thank you. I don't know what's coming next. I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I just want to say thank you.’” - Susie McEntire-Eaton ________________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Our guests this week speak to living a life where they’re seeing things they never thought possible come to fruition, and how faith factored into those events. From singing in small town church choirs to receiving the Golden Buzzer on America’s Got Talent, country trio band Chapel Hart never thought they’d be where they are today, playing music for audiences all over the country and sharing their faith. Andy Partington, author of Hope in Addiction, grew up in a rehabilitation center where his parents worked. He discovered from a young age that recovery from addiction is possible no matter your story, and found his passion for helping addicts see there is hope in Christ for a better future.     Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Emily Chang Upcoming interview: Brett Young, Lathan Warlick, Tayla Lynn, Granger & Amber Smith, Travis Tritt, and Reba McEntire along with her sisters Susie and Alice   Chapel Hart America's Got Talent Simon Cowell  Glory Days Loretta Lynn  Dolly Parton    Andy Partington Novo Communities Yeldall Manor Hope in Addiction Interview Quotes: “It's been a joy for us to watch God bless people through our music and through our presence because we prayed before every show, ‘God just allow us to be the vessels, may nothing that we say be to glorify us, may all be to glorify You, but more than that, make people hear You through what we do and what we say.’” - Danica Hart “Every day won't be perfect, but we know that it's all a part of the journey, and that it makes the glory days what it is.” - Devynn Hart “You're in your glory days and because these are the times of your life, it doesn't exempt you from loss and grief and disappointment and heartbreak. All of those things still happen while you're in your glory days, and our faith has been instrumental in being on this journey.” - Danica Hart “Even in the things that you don't understand, trust that He's got your path laid out, that the path is there ,and everything you need for your journey is already inside of you, but you've just got to trust that He'll lead you there.” - Danica Hart “Really, addiction is this experience of losing the power to choose, and recovery is discovering again that that power to choose addiction lives on a continuum.” - Andy Partington “We live in an age of addiction. Let's talk about addiction. Let's think about addiction, and let's work together, really, to create communities where we have the depth of relationship with one another and the depth of relationship with God, where actually we have a recovery promoting, and an addiction-preventing environment for one another.” - Andy Partington  “When we're in addiction, it's not about pleasure…it's about the avoidance of pain. It's about getting away from something, not moving towards something else, and I think that helps us as we walk alongside those who are in addiction. It helps us to understand what's making them take, what's keeping them in the addiction.” - Andy Partington “We're not made to be alone. We're made to be together. At a societal level, if we want to ask ourselves why we are seeing so much addiction, those are the kinds of things we need to think about.” - Andy Partington “A relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is absolutely transformative for our experience of life, as well as our eternal hope…whether you're in addiction or you're leaving addiction, God wants to hear from you. He wants to enjoy spending time with you.” - Andy Partington  ________________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

There are no guarantees that we won’t face heartache and disappointment in life. But God guarantees that there is deep meaning in all the seasons of our life, and that grief can eventually give way to joy. This is reiterated in scripture, where in John 16:20, it says “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” Whether we are grieving the loss of a person, or experiencing disappointment that we haven’t found what we’re looking for in life, God will find a way to bring us beauty from the ashes.   Singer and songwriter Jimi Cravity is a two-time Dove Award nominee whose music has made its way into the hands of artists like Ludacris and Usher. Cravity faced the tragic loss of his son and made a stunning discovery about God and music during his deepest sadness. Leslie Means thought she was living her dream as a news anchor, but always felt that she was made for something more. With the encouragement of her husband Kyle, Leslie stepped away from her news job and went on to create an online community that helps women in times of need—Her View From Home—and found what she’d been meant to do all along.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Luke Weaver Upcoming interview: Chapel Hart John 16:20 NIV   Jimi Cravity  Ludacris  Usher The Last Amen liver cancer Potter's House at One L.A. Revelations Revelations 22:13-15 NIV Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV   Leslie Means  Her View From Home University of Nebraska-Lincoln Houston Rockets So God Made A Mother   Interview Quotes: “Of course, as a parent, you never want to become a bereaved parent. You never want to deal with loss, but what I can say now on the other side is that God has given me beauty for ashes, that He's given me a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness, that He has turned despair into dancing, and I'm thankful for that.” - Jimi Cravity “I remember there were Sundays where all I could do was just go into the service and I would just go to the altar and kneel and weep. And it was in those moments that I felt very near to Christ, that I felt very near to God, that I felt the nearness of His Spirit, that I felt strength, that I felt Him in those moments of bowing and kneeling at the altar there.” - Jimi Cravity  “The Bible says that God is near to those who are brokenhearted. And I think it's really clear to feel that when you feel blessed, when everything is going your way, when you feel like you're on top of the world–but it's challenging to feel that and remember that when you are experiencing loss and when you're experiencing some of the darkest days that you could possibly experience.” - Jimi Cravity  “I remember driving around for my lunch breaks and I would call my mom. I would call her every day and I'd say, ‘Something is missing. I'm not where I'm supposed to be.’” - Leslie Means “I knew that God had such a bigger plan for this [Her View From Home website], something that I could never even fathom. And I remember specifically being like, ‘Okay, God, I'm going to keep going on this site as long as you want me to.’” - Leslie Means ________________________ 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 Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

On this bonus episode of Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer, we’re talking to country music singer/songwriter Aaron Watson, who shares how an injury to his vocal chords necessitated a need for him to come off the road and rest his voice–with no guarantees that his voice would return. Aaron tells us how scary it was to consider that he may not sing again, but how he chose to trust that God would provide for him, and how he was motivated to tell others about God’s grace in a new way.     Guest’s Links Facebook: @aaronwatsonmusic Twitter: @aaron_watson Instagram: @aaronwatsonmusic ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media* Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.