What do you do when you lose someone or something, and it feels like your heart is ripped into pieces? Where do you find comfort or even the will to keep going?

When speaker and author Lisa Appelo's husband, Dan, began breathing irregularly early one morning, Lisa went from performing CPR on her high school sweetheart to telling their seven children their father was never coming home.

In this episode, Barb talks with Lisa about her grief journey and the hope addressed in Lisa's ECPA best-selling new book, God of Comfort: A Devotional Journal for the Grieving Heart. During their conversation, Lisa shares what those bewildering first hours and days were like, and how she held herself together while helping her children grieve. While acknowledging the heartache and confusion, Lisa tells us how she found God in the middle of her pain. If you're grieving, or walking alongside someone who is, this conversation offers honest comfort and the reminder that the way through grief isn't a formula but a person: the God of all comfort.

Resources From This Episode:

Connect with Lisa on IG: https://www.instagram.com/lisaappelo/
God of Comfort

About Our Guest
Lisa Appelo is a speaker, writer, and Bible teacher who is passionate about helping grieving women. She suddenly became a widow and single mom of seven, navigating not only her grief but also shepherding her children through theirs. She helps women navigate their losses through her speaking ministry as well as in-person and online grief groups. She lives in Florida. Find her at LisaAppelo.com.

Know a woman who needs this reminder that God's love is steady even when life isn't? Share this episode with her!

Bold, Brave & Beautiful releases new episodes on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month.

Find all the episodes in the podcast archive at BarbRoose.com/podcast

Barb Roose is a Christian speaker, Bible teacher and author who helps overwhelmed women stop carrying the things God never asked them to carry so those women can experience God's peace, freedom, and purpose. She speaks nationally and internationally at conferences and retreats, including Aspire Women's Events, ECPA Leadership Summit, Proverbs 31 COMPEL and She Speaks Conference. Barb is the author of seven Bible studies, including Surrendered: Letting Go and Living Like Jesus, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle, and five books, including Stronger Than Stress. She hosts the Bold, Brave & Beautiful podcast and writes her weekly Happy Monday devotional. Barb is the proud mom of three adult kids. She lives in northwest Ohio and prefers to eat dessert first.

Have you ever cleaned out a closet and been shocked by how much stuff you'd been holding onto — stuff you didn't even realize was taking up space? Turns out, we do the same thing with our emotions. We stack up worry, resentment, guilt, and old wounds until our hearts feel just as cluttered as that closet — and we don't even realize how stuck it's keeping us.

Today's conversation is with my guest and friend, Laurie Davies. She's the author of Emotional Hoarding: Letting Go of the Stuff That Keeps You Stuck. Laurie tells us about the emotions that often stay stuck inside of us - including shocking data about the average number of grudges that a person holds. Whoa!

Laurie helps us to see how holding onto fear, anger, and resentment might be symptoms of our attempts to protect ourselves or control the things that we're afraid of. With humor, honesty, and deep biblical wisdom, Laurie helps us figure out what's really clogging our hearts — and how to finally clear it out and live free in Christ. I can't wait for you to meet my friend Laurie and get into this conversation today.

Resources From This Episode:

Emotional Hoarding by Laurie Davies

Laurie Davies' online home

Connect with Laurie on Instagram

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

LAURIE DAVIES is a former journalist and women's ministry director. Laurie knows the burdens that weigh women down. As an author, speaker, and lay counselor, she encourages women to trade their "emotional hoards" for freedom. Laurie lives in Mesa, Arizona, with her husband of 30 years, Greg. Their adult son, Morgan, lives nearby.

Know a woman who needs this reminder that God's love is steady even when life isn't? Share this episode with her!

Bold, Brave & Beautiful releases new episodes on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month.

Find all the episodes in the podcast archive at BarbRoose.com/podcast

Barb Roose is a Christian speaker, Bible teacher and author who helps overwhelmed women stop carrying the things God never asked them to carry so those women can experience God's peace, freedom, and purpose. She speaks nationally and internationally at conferences and retreats, including Aspire Women's Events, ECPA Leadership Summit, Proverbs 31 COMPEL and She Speaks Conference. Barb is the author of seven Bible studies, including Surrendered: Letting Go and Living Like Jesus, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle, and five books, including Stronger Than Stress. She hosts the Bold, Brave & Beautiful podcast and writes her weekly Happy Monday devotional. Barb is the proud mom of three adult kids. She lives in northwest Ohio and prefers to eat dessert first.

What if the place where you expected to find God became the place where you were hurt? For some women, spiritual wounds can affect much more than their relationship with a church. Spiritual trauma and wounding can affect your ability to pray, how you engage with the Bible, your willingness to be in community, and even your ability to trust God. The stakes are high!

In this NEW Bold, Brave & Beautiful podcast episode, I'm honored to speak with Colleen Ramser, author of The Shattered Soul: Restoring Wholeness and Rebuilding Your Faith After Spiritual Trauma. She's an EMDR-certified licensed professional counselor and trauma specialist who works at the intersection of trauma and faith. Most of all, Colleen brings both professional expertise and personal experience as a survivor of trauma to this important conversation.

We talk honestly about spiritual abuse and the ways these experiences can shape how we see ourselves, other people, and God. Colleen also shares what healing can look like when we refuse to minimize what happened but also don't want our wounds to have the final word. If you've experienced spiritual hurt or if you love someone who has.

This powerful conversation offers compassion, honesty, and hope. My prayer is that this episode reminds you that being wounded by people does not mean you have to walk away from God.

Resources From This Episode:

The Shattered Soul

Colleen's Website

Colleen's Facebook Page

Here, Not There Podcast Hosted by Colleen Ramser

Colleen Ramser, MA, is an EMDR-certified licensed professional counselor (LPC), speaker, and writer who meets Christ followers at the intersection of trauma and faith. She is a sought-after trauma specialist—particularly on issues of spiritual abuse, domestic abuse, and complex trauma—and she has spent years journeying with souls in the church and within the scope of her clinical practice. Colleen also frequently speaks to pastors, ministry leaders, organizations, and other mental health professionals who desire to help survivors individually and to address systemic harm. She has appeared on podcasts such as The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and The Slow Work. As a survivor of trauma, Colleen is a compassionate witness on the journey, bringing not only her clinical expertise but also a deep knowing of dark nights and the breath of new mercies. Colleen lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and two kids and enjoys being swallowed up by God's beautiful landscapes and catching a good pun.

Know a woman who needs this reminder that God's love is steady even when life isn't? Share this episode with her!

Bold, Brave & Beautiful releases new episodes on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month.

Find all the episodes in the podcast archive at BarbRoose.com/podcast

Barb Roose is a Christian speaker, Bible teacher and author who helps overwhelmed women stop carrying the things God never asked them to carry so those women can experience God's peace, freedom, and purpose. She speaks nationally and internationally at conferences and retreats, including Aspire Women's Events, ECPA Leadership Summit, Proverbs 31 COMPEL and She Speaks Conference. Barb is the author of seven Bible studies, including Surrendered: Letting Go and Living Like Jesus, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle, and five books, including Stronger Than Stress. She hosts the Bold, Brave & Beautiful podcast and writes her weekly Happy Monday devotional. Barb is the proud mom of three adult kids. She lives in northwest Ohio and prefers to eat dessert first.