USA Episodes

We were finally expecting our second baby. Jackson’s pregnancy proved to be the most challenging on my body, but his delivery changed us forever. Sometimes what we want and what we beg God for is not in our best interest. In this instance, His answer of “no” was the most loving and powerful gift He could have given us. ……………………………….. Sign up for email notifications and subscribe with your favorite podcast platform on our new website: thejourneypodcastwithcarey.com Keep up with and share t...

Jessica was raised in Texas and walked through so many difficulties before she ever reached adulthood: abuse, death of her siblings and foster care. Her story is one of brokenness, pain and a big ole mess. The Lord taught her how to bring the broken pieces into the light and He has faithfully restored great beauty from the ashes. Verses mentioned in this episode: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Genesis 41:52 "Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Re...

Erin was raised in a Christian home and up until her mid-30s, she lived a “pretty good life.” She claims that one of her strengths is positivity and up until that point she “had been able to “positivity” my way through things.” It wasn’t until her family faced a lengthy health crisis that she started to question what she’d always believed about God. At a conference, she heard Jen Wilkin make a statement that rocked her world. “We cannot be content being curators of other people’s opinions abou...

We left Knoxville, Tennessee and pulled into Saraland, Alabama right on time for Nathan to start work and start school. We didn’t want to be there, but were convinced these were the Lord’s plans. Once we arrived, He echoed His instructions to Joshua, “possess the land.” This meant, “I need you to be here. I need you to be all in at this place and this time. Make this your home and love the people that are right around you. Don’t look back to the past or worry about the future, but live fully in ...

Lydia grew up in a single-parent home. Her Grandma took her to church from time to time, but nothing really stuck. While she was in college, she was invited to a Bible study. With the lure of promised snacks, she decided to go. She spent years hearing the Gospel and asking hard questions, but she continued to faithfully show up each week. God had given her a mentor who patiently walked the long path with her. After she finally decided to trust Jesus as her Savior, she walked through a season of...

Lisa and Stephen grew up together and later got married. When their two boys were toddlers in June 2012, and things were going really well, the first cancer diagnosis came in. Stephen said, “We’re about to figure out if we truly believe what we say we believe.” In the beginning, Lisa said she “tried to keep praise music going, so my focus would be on Him and not all the bad stuff going on. I truly think that’s how we got through it. We focused on God and who He is and not on our situation.” On...

Amanda met her husband doing hut to hut evangelism in Africa. Her dream was to take the message of the gospel to people who had never heard the name of Jesus. His dream was to share Jesus with Muslim people groups. The Lord beautifully orchestrated a place where they could do both. When they arrived in East Africa, Amanda encountered fear in a new way. There was suddenly paralyzing anxiety that had not existed before. Worry and panic attacks began to plague her. What if something happened to h...

In 2009 we were living with one income and two mortgages. Money was tight, to say the least, and mathematically, the numbers didn’t add up. But God’s math is not our math. We tithed to the church consistently, we put our daughter in cloth diapers, I couponed systematically, we made our own baby food and laundry detergent and somehow, we never missed a meal or were late on a bill. The Lord used that season to teach us so many things about stewarding His money. We went through Financial Peace Uni...

We met Kathy in episode 2 and learned about how she met Jesus and He moved in her life. In that episode, Kathy shared how she followed the Lord’s leading into strip clubs to love on the women there. In 2017, Jesus brought a crazy idea across their path…what if they were to follow Him around the world, sharing the gospel and the love of Jesus as they go? After much prayer, Kathy and her family sold many of their belongings, put renters in their house, and took off for Asia. God asked them to sup...

Julie was adopted as a baby and the Lord planted a dream in her heart to pass on the gift of adoption. In college she hit a spell of rebellion which resulted in a disease diagnosis and estimated 5 years left to live. She spent the coming months working through her relationship with the Lord and came to the conclusion that God is still good, no matter what. He would later use that faith, grown in the valley, to carry her through a miscarriage, job loss, financial struggles and an 18 month wait t...

I had worked so hard to complete my professional goals before tiny Anna was born. Being a stay at home mom was all I had hoped it would be. When Anna was 5 weeks old, Nathan’s company wanted to move us from south Alabama to East Tennessee, 8 hours away. I resisted the idea at first, but after making the move we learned that the company was preparing to shut down Nathan’s plant in Alabama. His bosses were working hard to save his job before plans of the shut down became public. The Lord was looki...

All my life, all I wanted was to have babies and stay home. That was about the biggest dream I could dream for myself. But first, I had to get through the blasted CPA exam. In 2007 I busted my butt to study 5 days a week, on top of a full time accounting job, to make sure I passed that test on the first try! To my surprise, I passed the exam and came up with a positive pregnancy test at Christmas 2007. During my pregnancy, unbeknownst to us, God was casting vision for our future by sending Nat...

This episode is full of confessions: We had no idea how to buy our first house, we made a horrible financial investment, and I started having doubts about God. One year into our marriage, we weren’t too confident about adulting, but dang it, we were doing it! We bought a house and we got super involved in our church. That’s what we were supposed to do, right? Even though our first steps in adulthood were a bit rocky, I can look back now and see the Lord guiding our path. He led me to a job that...

Mary Beth grew up in a home of church goers and foster children, but her parents decided to call it quits. When she was 7 years old, her parents divorced, the foster siblings were sent away, they walked away from church and life as she knew it changed forever. Church attendance wasn’t enough and Mary Beth was left confused and feeling abandoned. A few years later she was introduced to God as a Father who would never leave her or forsake her. She came to know Jesus as a trusted friend and as her...

Nanette’s mother died when she was 6 years old and she spent decades trying to fill that void. Multiple failed marriages led her to Jesus’ feet where He picked her up and made all things new. For anyone who’s ever divorced and carried shame and regret...this story is for you. For anyone who’s made poor decisions and thought the mess was too great...this story is for you. For anyone who thinks it’s too late for God to bring beauty from ashes...this story is for you. No shame is too great, no ...

Today I bring you an extra special story. My mom has joined the podcast to share my Grandmother Annetta's story. Her life was marked by tragedy after tragedy but was balanced by miracles only the God of the universe could deliver. Annetta lost her mother at 3 years old. She married young subsequently divorced a physically abusive husband, something that simply wasn't done in the 1940s. She received a fatal diagnosed of chronic malignant hypertension and knew she would never grow old. Her great...

Lindsey's story is one of God's faithfulness and how He has a magnificent plan for each of us, if we're just willing to give Him our "yes." Her relationship with Jesus started as a child when He provided friendship through a difficult move. Lindsey learned that she could trust the Lord and He would be there for her, no matter what. As the years progressed, He planted a dream in her heart of living overseas, but that was soon shattered when she was diagnosed with Crone's disease. The dream neve...

We got married at the tail end of university and that day couldn't come soon enough. We did some things in that season really well. Other things...eh, they needed improvement. There were so many new challenges...bills to pay, seeing each other every day, a for real grown up job, petty arguments, and buying refrigerators! We had no idea where this life was headed, but we were thrilled to go there together. Marriage is meant to be the greatest blessing, and we are still walking in the fruit of th...

After dating for a year and a half in high school, Nathan and I chose universities that were 4 hours apart. We each had incredible, full college experiences that have served us well throughout life, but in the end we were both focused on getting through that season and being together.

After leaving China for COVID-19 and being unable to return, the company decided it was best for our family to relocate to USA. We have accepted a job in the Houston, Texas area, but riding the emotional roller coaster and finding a house didn't prove to be that easy. For 5 days we looked at 21 houses, dreaming of what the next season of life might look like. We thought we'd made a decision, but His still small voice directed our path in another direction. On the afternoon of the last day, He u...

Brianne was raised in church in California, but her faith took a turn on her 19th birthday when she realized the emptiness of the world’s offerings. Later, she and her husband followed the Lord to plant a church in the Deep South Biblebelt. She shares of His faithfulness through the big decisions of moving across the country and catching those teachable moments with her kids. She also reflects on how the death of her young niece turned out to be a miracle with a far greater impact than she imagi...

I can't very well ask you to share your story if I'm not willing to share mine. So scattered throughout these episodes, I will share the journey the Lord has had our family on over the last 20 years. It's been a wild, incredible journey, but He always comes through bigger and better than we ever thought He would. In this episode, we'll start at the beginning. I was 16, Nathan was barely 17 and it was an experiment in missionary dating where God showed up. Little did we know we had launched an i...

Even though she was raised in church, Kathy came to a greater realization of what the Body of Christ is meant be in her early 20s. After understanding the power of being honest with God and bringing Him our junk, she was led to share this radical love of Jesus with women in the sex industry.* *Some content may not be suitable for younger listeners.