The GoodHard Story Podcast

Ever feel like you need a label across your forehead that reads FRAGILE: HANDLE WITH CARE! In big read letters? It’s hard to imagine that we can be strong enough to handle all the suffering around us. In this heartening and thought-provoking conversation, Katherine sits down with therapist and author Aundi Kolber to reimagine what it means to be strong and understand how God made our bodies to adapt to heartbreak, hardship, and hurt. What We’ll Cover: - What the incarnation of Christ in a human body tells us about God’s design for our own bodies - Just how far we can expand our definitions of “strength” - Healthy ways to process our own trauma responses without being defined by them Show Notes: Aundi Kolber: https://aundikolber.com/ Strong Like Water: https://aundikolber.com/strong-like-water/ Try Softer: https://aundikolber.com/trysofter/ Suffer Strong by Katherine & Jay Wolf: https://hopeheals.com/books The Window of Tolerance from Dr. Dan Siegel, MD: https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/window-of-tolerance/ Gabor Maté on trading belonging for authenticity: https://youtu.be/l3bynimi8HQ?feature=shared Heather Avis: https://www.heatheravis.com/ *** Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content: https://hopeheals.com/hopenote Get to know us: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/camp ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠: https://www.mendcoffee.org/ Instagram⁠: https://www.instagram.com/hopeheals/

You’re invited to ramble with Katherine and Leah as they reflect on when “the most wonderful time of the year” doesn’t feel all that wonderful. Our hurt, especially during the holidays, could drive us into isolation, shame, or guilt. But it could also invite us into a unique camaraderie if we’re willing to share our pain with other people. Join the conversation, covering everything from the holy burden of becoming a survival guide to releasing yourself of some holiday to-dos to a much-anticipated Hope Heals Camp announcement! -- “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10 ESV Hope Heals Camp: https://hopeheals.com/camp Make a tax-deductible donation: https://hopeheals.com/give “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold  from those who walk uprightly.”  Psalm 84:11 ESV “The good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost, in this life; fruition of God’s presence, and vision of his blessed face, in the next.” - Sir Richard Baker Treasures in the Dark: 90 Reflections on Finding Bright Hope Hidden in Our Hurting: -- Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content. Get to know us: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ Instagram⁠

Join Katherine & Jay as they welcome beloved friends of the Hope Heals community, David Thomas and Sissy Goff in for a candid conversation on parenting. The best stuff comes from the hard stuff, but none of us want our kids to go through the hard stuff. What decisions are we making to stand in the way of our kids experiencing opportunities for resilience and growth in safe ways? This is a great conversation that you do not want to miss! David is the Director of Family Counseling and has been a part of the Daystar staff for the last 25 years. He guides Daystar as co-executive director, meets with clients for parent consults, provides assessments with new families and supervises the guys’ staff. He is the author of ten books including the best-selling Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys and Raising Emotionally Strong Boys: Tools Your Son can Build on for Life. He co-hosts the “Raising Boys & Girls” podcast and has become a sought-after speaker across the country. Sissy is the Executive Director of Daystar Counseling Ministries in Nashville, Tennessee, where she works alongside her counseling assistant/pet therapist, Lucy the Havanese. Since 1993, she has been helping girls and their parents find confidence in who they are and hope in who God is making them to be. Sissy is a sought-after speaker for parenting events across the country and is a frequent guest on media outlets including CNN, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, NBC Nightly News, and Christianity Today. She is the bestselling author of 13 books including her latest, The Worry-Free Parent: Finding the Confidence You Need So Your Kids Can, Too. -- “If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it.” - Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality ““Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.” - Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being,the more joy you can contain.” - Khalil Gibran, “Oh Joy and Sorrow” ---- Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Suffering and death are guaranteed for all of us, so why are we so poorly prepared to engage with them? Dr. Lydia Dugdale, an expert on medical ethics and author of The Lost Art of Dying, gives us heartbreaking and thought-provoking insights on the widening access to physician assisted death and the “glorification of choice.” Katherine and Dr. Dugdale discuss how we can think differently about what it means to live, suffer, and die with dignity and purpose—especially those of us living with disabilities. So what does Dr. Dugdale prescribe to us to be able to die well? Acknowledging our mortality and living (and dying) within a community of people. ----- The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom by Dr. L.S. Dugdale “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2-3 (NIV) Ars moriendi (The Art of Dying) Canada’s assisted death statistics since 2016 (Reuters) “Canada Euthanized 10,000 People in 2021. Has Death Lost Its Sting?” by Ewan Goligher for Christianity Today Not Dead Yet Me Before You (2016 film) “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” Ephesians 4:1 (ESV) Dying in the Twenty-First Century edited by Dr. L.S. Dugdale Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Join Katherine as she continues her "Finding Treasure" series! Do you want to know the secret to  being able to truly love the story you’ve been given? It’s called emotional agility, and it’s a choice available to all of us at this very minute. Katherine shares a story from her teen years that had the potential to be a viral-video-worthy embarrassing moment, but instead became a formative testament to the magic of emotional flexibility. Let’s find out what it looks like to trade in toxic positivity or total dejection for the super powers of well-developed creativity, curiosity, and responsiveness within the lives God has assigned to us. The surprising first step to emotional agility? Letting your story break your own heart. Treasures in the Dark: 90 Reflections on Finding Bright Hope Hidden in the Hurting will be  available April 9, 2024. Pre-order today. Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Did you know Hope Heals has run an online shop for almost as long as the organization has existed? In this episode, we’re giving you a rare peek behind the scenes of the Hope Heals Shop and recommending our favorite gift-worthy items for the holiday season. Jay and Katherine catch up with our Shop Manager Tutta about our current lineup of mission-driven keepsakes that serve as a tangible reminder of hope. The foundational feature of our business is a commitment to partnering with ethically minded makers from around the world. Because if our whole deal is about connecting people with true hope, we want that to include the people making our shop items! And you know who else receives hope from your order? Our Hope Heals Campers! Every purchase from the Hope Heals Shop directly benefits Hope Heals Camp so our campers can continue attending free of cost. Prodigal Pottery HOPE Sweatshirts Holding Cross Kintsugi Frame Kintsugi Ornament Kintsugi Ring Dish Black Anchor Hat Camp Anchor Hat Keychain T-Shirts Tumblers Candles ------- Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Find us on Instagram⁠

Join Katherine as she chats with the legendary Max Lucado on this Episode of the GoodHard Story Podcast. Max shares about his new book - God Never Gives Up On You - which is the story of Jacob. Hear them dig into how dealing with our past is essential for being able to move forward into the future, and how God does great things through the greatly broken. We don’t have to pretend that we’re not broken. When we’re candid about our brokenness, God gets the credit.

Katherine and Caroline cover the practicalities of what it looks like to enter into the suffering of the people in our lives. They also discuss practicing gratitude as the antidote to comparison, which allows us to believe that the boundary lines around our lives are good and purposeful. Katherine reflects on how we can protect the narratives that are spoken over us to avoid becoming victims of our own stories. She also shares how she and her husband Jay continue to show up to a marriage full of complicated dynamics they never could have anticipated. Finally, Katherine relates some rhythms that have been enriching her life lately, like a New Testament reading plan and her family’s quick and simple gratitude practice. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg Anatomy of the Soul by Dr. Curt Thompson, MD Brené Brown on Empathy Psalms 16:6 - “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” (NIV) Philippians 4:19 - “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (NIV) ---- Want some hope in your inbox? ⁠Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note⁠ for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: ⁠Hope Heals⁠ ⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠ ⁠Mend Coffee⁠ ⁠Find us on Instagram

Katherine reflects on a recent reunion with childhood friends that brought into striking relief the gap between the expectations they had for their lives, and the reality of the lives they are actually living. She walked away from the experience convinced we must expect more of God and less of the world. But how exactly can we do that? Katherine tells us how she’s doing it. ----- Treasures in the Dark: 90 Reflections on Finding Bright Hope Hidden in the Hurting will be  available April 9, 2024. Pre-order today. Camp Desoto for Girls Hope Heals Camp ------- Scriptures Referenced: John 16:33 - “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (ESV) Isaiah 43:2 - “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (NIV) Isaiah 45:3 - “I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” (NIV) Want some hope in your inbox? Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: Hope Heals Hope Heals Camp Mend Coffee Find us on Instagram

Join Katherine for a new segment she is calling “Ask Amy Julia” with one of her dear friends and Hope Heals Camp alum, Amy Julia Becker! Amy Julia Becker is an award-winning writer and speaker on faith, disability, and family. She is the author of four books, including To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope, a guest opinion writer for national publications, and the host of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast. Becker is a graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv). She lives with her husband and their three children in western Connecticut. Notes:  5 Things I Wish I Had Known When Our Daughter Was Diagnosed with Down Syndrome - Free Download from Amy Julia  Doctor’s Still Don’t Know How to Talk About Down Syndrome  Want some hope in your inbox? Sign up for our semi-monthly Hope Note for a little dose of hope and encouragement along the way. Learn more about us here: Hope Heals Hope Heals Camp Mend Coffee Find us on Instagram