Hard times can blind us to anything but the pain. We can get stuck wrestling with God and allowing anger and bitterness to steal our joy. Angela Mackey found that asking the hard questions of God can bring us closer to a more intimate relationship with Him. We can still have joy, while we grieve and we can find things to be grateful for when we open our eyes to what is going on around us. We talk about some of the lessons Angela learned in her journey of infertility, and writing the book, Difficult to Conceive.

Angela Mackey has a master’s in biblical and theological studies and is a Maxwell certified speaker and trainer, registered nurse, and longtime Sunday school teacher. She has written for Encouragement Café and the MOM Initiative, she contributed to Overwhelmed: 31 Devotions for Moms and blogs at www.rethinkingmythinking.com. She lives in the Arkansas River Valley with her husband, three kids (two born through IVF treatments), and three dogs. She loves University of Kansas basketball, crafting, reading, and encouraging others to rethink their thinking in light of God’s Word so they can live transformed lives.

For more on gratitude, listen to this conversation with Amber Cullum.

For more episodes of A Woman’s Heart: https://www.lisagranger.com/podcasts

Have you ever needed a change of heart? You had hopes and dreams that are not being realized and you wonder why God seems have to put you on a shelf. It is easy to become bitter and our relationship with others and God can become strained. Beth Runkle remembers feeling frustrated that her career and identity had been lost in the shuffle of multiple moves for her husband’s military career. She was asking “what about me?” when she and her husband learned about a relationship with Jesus. From there, she made the switch in her heart to being passionate about serving the military community.

Beth and her husband serve with Cru Military®. She served as a military wife during her husband’s 25-year career with the Air Force. She disciples and conducts Bible studies for female cadets and young military spouses. Having come to faith through Bible study, she has led small groups for military couples and taught Bible study for 23 years. She is also a women’s ministry speaker in various venues. She earned her Master of Theological Studies at Gateway Seminary and released a book for military wives called Another Move, God? 30 Encouragements to Embrace Your Life as a Military Wife. The Runkles have two kids in college.

To connect with Beth: www.BethRunkle.com

For information about the book: www.anothermovegod.com

What would you do if you had a burning desire to do something and it wasn’t happening? Would you give up or would you keep trying? Life is full of regret when we give up on a dream and the definition of insanity is trying the same thing and expecting a different result. So maybe you persevere with a twist. Mesu Andrews loves the Word of God and wanted to write serious Bible Studies, but it wasn’t happening. That’s when she pivoted and began writing fiction. We talk about her personal journey and her latest book, Brave, in this cozy conversation.

MESU ANDREWS is a Christy Award-winning, best-selling author of biblical novels and devotional studies whose deep understanding of and love for God’s Word brings the Bible alive for readers. Her heritage as a “spiritual mutt” has given her a deep yearning to both understand and communicate biblical truths in powerful stories that touch the heart, challenge the mind, and transform lives. Mesu lives in Indiana with her husband Roy, where she stays connected with her readers through newsie emails, blog posts, and the social media we all love to hate. For more information, visit MesuAndrews.com.

Ever felt overwhelmed or stressed out? Most people have. We know that stress is bad for our mental and physical health. It can cause all sorts of problems, and yet we keep operating in a stressful lifestyle. Barb Roose is well-acquainted with stressful situations and circumstances. She shares some of the disciplines and practices she has learned over the years and writes about in her latest book, Stronger Than Stress. She talks about the four horsemen of Overwhelm: Overthinking, Over functioning, Obsessing, and Overloaded and more. Barb Roose is a popular speaker and author who is passionate about teaching women to live beautifully strong and courageous in spite of their fears so that they can experience God’s great adventure of faith and purpose for their lives. Barb is a real woman who has experienced depression and anxiety, parenting challenges, family addiction trauma and long seasons of walking by faith in unanswered prayer. She’s the author of many books and Bible studies, including: Stronger Than Stress: Developing 10 Spiritual Practices to Win the Battle of Overwhelm. Barb lives in NW Ohio and she is the proud mom to three adult children. Barb enjoys traveling, reading, walking and whenever possible, she prefers to eat dessert first. For 101 Self-Care Tips: www.barbroose.com

Who doesn’t want to love their life? We may know what we want to do and what we should do, but somehow it doesn’t translate to reality. We are striving and frantic in the hustle culture, only to end up exhausted and unsatisfied with pieces of what we want. We can’t seem to connect the dots between what we should do and how to actually implement it. Karen Ehamn has had some of the same struggles and loves to talk to people about how to take principle into practice. She tells some of her own story and we talk about her latest book, The Love Your Life Project. We talk about priorities, proper perspective, pursuing passions and follow up. She also shares some helpful tips you can use in your life now.

Karen Ehman is a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and New York Times bestselling author. Her passion is to help women to live their priorities and love their lives as they serve God and others. She has authored twenty-one books and Bible studies. Karen has been a guest on national media. She is married to her college sweetheart, Todd, and together they have six adult children, three biological and three in-laws by marriage. She is a lover of coconut and dark chocolate, sharpened Ticonderoga #2 pencils, whimsical notecards, and any kind of Post It note.

To connect with Karen: https://karenehman.com/

To Connect with Lisa: www.lisagranger.com

What do you do when the world as you know it is over? You can wallow in grief and misery or you can walk through the pain to a new normal. Dawn Sanders knows what it is like to walk through heartbreaking loss to a new beginning. She shares the steps she learned about creating a new life from the story of creation in Genesis and her book, When Your World Ends: God’s Creative Process for Rebuilding a Life.

Dawn M. Sanders (MDiv, Bethel Seminary) is an associate minister at First Baptist Church of Glenarden where she serves as the director of the sermon-based life groups ministry. Her passion is expository teaching and sharing the wonderful insights God has shown her in his Word. She does this through writing weekly discussion guides for the life groups as well as teaching several in-depth Bible studies. Dawn has written and taught extensively on overcoming adversity and creating a new life, both at church and on her personal blog.

What is your start-over style?

Connect with Lisa!

Have you ever been in a dark place? Perhaps you feel desperate and hopeless with no comfort in sight. Even when we are in the depths of despair and impossible situations, we can find power in prayer. Rachel Wojo shares her story of loss and the power behind desperate prayers that can knit us to God’s heart. We can find peace in the midst of heartache and pain as we lean on God.

Rachel Wojo is an inspirational author, public speaker, podcaster known for her popular blog, rachelwojo.com. Through her biblical approach and personal life experiences, Rachel empowers women to discover strength and hope in everyday situations. Despite enduring the loss of her mother, adult special needs daughter, and father, Rachel remains resilient. She has authored the uplifting book, One More Step: Finding Strength When You Feel Like Giving Up, and her newest work, Desperate Prayers: Embracing the Power of Prayer in Life's Darkest Moments. Rachel is crazy in love with her husband, Matt, and cherishes her motherhood with six children on earth and two in heaven.

Free resource when you don’t know how to pray: www.rachelwojo.com/cant-pray

For more about the book and resources: www.desperateprayers.com

Connect with Lisa: www.lisagranger.com

Have you ever felt exhausted, suffering alone and in silence for a long time? There is a woman in the Bible who knows that feeling. She was bleeding for 12 years until she hears about Jesus and reaches out to touch his clothes. In this episode I share some of the things I learned about this story and healing. It’s not enough to know who Jesus is or have a Bible in the house, we need to reach out and TOUCH Jesus and allow His word to touch our lives.

Time; Obedience; Understanding; Connection; Healing

Matthew 9: 20-22; Luke 8: 42b-48; Mark 5: 24-34

Additional references - Number 15: 38-40; Malachi 4:2; Matthew 14:36, 23:5; Deuteronomy 22:12; Psalm 133:2; Acts 5:15; Matthew 13:14-15; Mark 4:11-12; Isaiah 6:9

“Jesus… deliberately touched rather than healed by his word to show compassion and to anticipate by his action the coming change in law under the new covenant…. Jesus is not defiled, but those are cleansed and healed.” https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/clean-unclean/

“The disciples were incredulous, but Jesus knew that healing power had gone out of Him. We can’t “steal” a miracle from God. After the woman comes forward and explains herself, Jesus clears up any misconceptions about her healing, saying, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:34). God is moved to action by our faith, even when He’s in the middle of doing something else! Jesus could have healed the woman and kept on walking to His original destination. Only He and the woman would have known what had taken place. But He didn’t do that. Jesus stopped what He was doing and acknowledged the result of this woman’s faith: her complete and instantaneous healing.” https://www.gotquestions.org/woman-issue-blood.html

“T’shuva” or “teshuvah” Hebrew – repentance; return as if turning back to something you’ve strayed or looked away from; back to center; take stock of your values; leads to healing; healing for brokenness, new beginnings, www.hebrew4christians.com

Connect with Lisa:

https://www.lisagranger.com