What happens when the future you imagined for your child suddenly changes?

In this episode, Carrie M. Holt sat down with Mandy Rawls, who shares how a prenatal diagnosis of Spina Bifida turned pregnancy into a season of uncertainty, grief, and fear. She relates her journey of navigating her daughter's diagnosis of spina bifida, the emotional and medical challenges faced, and how faith and community have been vital in her family's life. This heartfelt conversation offers insights into advocacy, hope, grief, and trusting God's plan through life's unexpected turns. Because sometimes the unexpected journey becomes the place where we come to know God's faithfulness most intimately.

Eps. 61; October 6, 2026

Resources:
Spina Bifida
IEP/IDEA and 504
Scriptures Mentioned: Matthew 6, Proverbs 16:9, and Romans 8:28

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

What if caring for yourself didn't mean adding one more thing to your already-full life?

As we close out our month with the theme of Caring for the Caregiver, Brandice Lardner joins me for an honest conversation about food, stress, self-care, grace, and what it means to care for the whole person—body, mind, and spirit.

Brandice is the founder of Grace Filled Plate and the author of the book, Fully Nourished. After years of believing her struggle with food and body image was simply a lack of discipline, God began showing her that the deeper issues involved anxiety, control, shame, and a longing to find her worth and value in Him. Her journey taught her that transformation doesn't come through another harsh plan or more self-condemnation, but through God's grace and learning to bring our struggles into His presence.

As caregivers, we can tend to run to many things such as food, phones, control, spending, or anything else that might bring comfort, relief, or distraction. These might be some of the things we feel we deserve after a long day. Brandice helps us look beneath those patterns with curiosity rather than judgment and consider what we’re actually longing for.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What realistic nourishment can look like when there is little margin.
• Why self-care shouldn't become another burden.
• How to release the all-or-nothing thinking.
• Simple ways we can care for ourselves, including asking for help.

Most importantly, Brandice reminds us that we don't have to clean ourselves up before we invite Jesus into the places where we're struggling. We can invite Jesus into our most unlovely moments.

Because being fully nourished is about more than what we eat. It's about caring for the whole person—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—and allowing God's grace to meet us in all of it.

If you've been putting yourself last, struggling with food or another coping mechanism, or simply wondering how you're supposed to care for yourself when there is no margin, this conversation is for you.

Eps. 60; September 22, 2026

Resources:
Brandice Lardner’s Website
Brandice on Instagram & Facebook
Fully Nourished

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

Marriage can be challenging in any season of life—but when you're raising a child with disabilities or special needs, the demands of caregiving can put extraordinary pressure on your relationship.

In this episode of This Unexpected Life, Carrie sits down with licensed professional clinical counselor Angela Vinokur, who specializes in working with couples and families, including connection, communication, and relationship repair. Angela shares part of her own unexpected story of betrayal, divorce, healing, and how God ultimately used those experiences to lead her into counseling and marriage work.

Together, Carrie and Angela talk honestly about what happens when marriage gets pushed to the bottom of the priority list because a child's needs are so demanding. Angela shares practical ways couples can create “rituals for connection,” even when traditional date nights aren't possible.

You'll also hear about:

• Why healthy marriages require skills we aren't necessarily taught
• How caregiving can lead couples toward resentment, distance, and functioning more like roommates
• The importance of fairness and shared responsibility in a caregiving marriage
• What co-regulation looks like between spouses
• What marital repair really means—and why couples need to learn how to repair after conflict
• Why couples shouldn't wait until they're in crisis to seek counseling
• And how spouses can remember that they are on the same team

Angela leaves caregivers with an important reminder: you are seen, you are not alone, and your marriage is worth caring for—even in the middle of an incredibly demanding season.

Eps. 59; September 14, 2026

Resources:
Angela’s Website

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

Have you been listening to the podcast for a while? Please leave a review!

Caregiving can leave you living in a constant state of stress, always on alert and feeling like you have to hold everything together. But what happens to your brain, body, emotions, and faith when that stress becomes chronic?

In this episode of This Unexpected Life, Carrie talks with Leslie Hansen, a licensed professional clinical counselor who brings both professional expertise and personal experience to the caregiving conversation. Leslie shares the sacred—and incredibly difficult—season of caring for her mom during the final weeks of her life and how God met her with strength, community, and grace when she could no longer carry it all herself.

Together, Carrie and Leslie explore:

• Recognizing the difference between fatigue and depletion.
• Practical ways to regulate your nervous system in the middle of a demanding day.
• EMDR for helping you process traumatic experiences.
• Understanding Internal Family Systems
• What self-care really looks like

If you're a caregiver who feels exhausted, overwhelmed, guilty for needing help, or stuck in survival mode, this episode is a reminder that you were never meant to carry it all alone—and you don't have to stay stuck. There is hope, healing, and grace for you, too.

Eps. 58; September 8, 2026

Resources:
Mental Health America of Ohio
American Association of Christian Counselors
Peter Rosenberger Resources (mentioned off-mic)
A Minute For Caregivers
Peter’s Podcast
Scriptures mentioned: 2 Corinthians 10:5; Matthew 28:20

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

What if some of the ways you respond to the hard things happening right now are connected to stories of heartache from your past?

For caregivers, especially parents raising children with disabilities or ongoing medical needs, the trauma doesn't necessarily happen once. Hospitalizations, diagnoses, medical crises, uncertainty, grief, and the daily demands of caregiving can create an ongoing cycle of trauma and loss.

In this episode of This Unexpected Life, I sit down with Cathy Loerzel, co-author of Redeeming Heartache and a Story Work coach, to talk about how our past stories can shape the way we respond to the challenges we're facing today.

Cathy explains Story Work and why simply trying to change our behavior “in the now” doesn't always work when those patterns are actually anchored in experiences from “back there.” We talk about the childhood wounds that can shape our ability to connect with ourselves, others, God, and the world—and how revisiting those stories can help us heal.

But this conversation goes even deeper.

We talk about grief, lament, and why Christians don't need to stay on the positive side of the emotional scale. Cathy shares why she believes we have to be willing to experience the depths of sorrow if we want to experience the depths of joy.

She also offers a beautiful picture of grief as letting go of the rope and allowing yourself to drop into the U—to stop fighting, stop gripping, and allow yourself to be held by God and the earth.

And for caregivers who feel like they have to do everything themselves, Cathy has an important reminder:

We were never created to do this alone.

This is a conversation about story, trauma, grief, lament, community, self-compassion, and learning how to flourish—not because our circumstances have changed, but because we are learning how to become more fully human within them.

As Cathy reminds us, there may not be an easy way through caregiving. But there can be resiliency, small moments of joy, and small practices of care along the way.

Eps. 57; 9/1/2026

Resources:
Cathy Loerzel’s Website
Follow Cathy on IG
Book: Redeeming Heartache
Cathy’s Retreats: Sacred Interruptions
The Allender Center

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

For anyone walking through chronic illness, relentless suffering, caregivers, and special needs parenting, this conversation offers gentle biblical encouragement for the days when life doesn’t improve.

Carrie sits down with bestselling authors Kristen Wetherell and Sarah Walton to discuss their new book, Jesus Will Meet You There, and the surprising ways Christ meets us—not after the pain ends, but right in the middle of it.

Together they share their deeply personal stories of chronic Lyme disease, parenting children with complex neurological needs, making heartbreaking residential care decisions, wrestling with doubt, and discovering God's faithfulness when healing doesn't come.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why weakness isn't something God asks us to hide
• How shame often keeps caregivers from receiving God's grace
• What Jesus teaches us about suffering through the Gospels
• The difference between doubt and unbelief
• Encouragement for parents making impossible caregiving decisions
• How suffering changes the way we pray
• Practical hope for caregivers wondering how they'll keep going tomorrow

If you've ever wondered whether Jesus still sees you in the exhaustion of caregiving, chronic illness, and ongoing trials, this conversation reminds us that He isn't waiting on the other side of our suffering—He's already with us in it.

Eps. 56; July 21, 2026

Resources:
Jesus Will Meet You There
Video Series
Sarah Walton IG
Sarah’s Substack
Kristen’s IG
Kristen’s Website
There Was Jesus Spotify Playlist

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

For many parents raising children with disabilities, shame quietly becomes part of the journey. We question our parenting, compare ourselves to other families, wonder if we've somehow failed, and sometimes even believe God is disappointed with us.

In this deeply honest conversation, licensed psychotherapist, author, and special needs mom Dr. Zoe Shaw shares her own unexpected story of placing her first child for adoption, raising a daughter with a rare genetic disorder, and wrestling with the painful belief that God was punishing her.

Together, Carrie and Dr. Zoe explore the difference between guilt, shame, and the concept Dr. Zoe calls Complex Shame—a deeper form of shame that often develops through repeated painful experiences and can quietly shape our relationships, parenting, and even how we see God.

Whether you're newly navigating a diagnosis or have been caregiving for years, this episode offers biblical hope, practical wisdom, and compassionate encouragement for anyone longing to step out of hiding and experience the freedom Christ offers.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What Complex Shame is and why it affects many caregivers
• The difference between guilt, shame, and identity
• How shame influences our relationship with God
• Practical first steps toward healing
• How to recognize shame before it controls your decisions
• Ways to parent without passing shame to your children
• Why it's okay to grieve the life you didn't choose while still loving your child deeply
• How God's pursuit of us continues even in seasons of anger and doubt

Eps. 55; July 14, 2026

Resources:
Dr. Zoe’s Website
Dr. Zoe on Instagram
Book: Stronger in The Difficult Places
Book: A Year of Self-Care: Daily Practices and Inspiration for Caring For Yourself
There Was Jesus Spotify Playlist

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.

In this powerful episode of This Unexpected Life, Carrie sits down with author, speaker, coach, and special needs mom Sandy Ramsey-Trayvick to explore what it means to trust God when life doesn't unfold the way we imagined.

After hearing the audible voice of God tell her she would have a son, Sandy expected God had extraordinary plans for his life. But when her healthy toddler contracted bacterial meningitis at just 13 months old, everything changed. Doctors told her he would never walk, talk, or live outside an institution. Instead of the future she imagined, Sandy found herself walking a lifelong journey of disability parenting, caregiving, advocacy, and wrestling honestly with God.

Together, Carrie and Sandy discuss the questions every special needs parent eventually asks:

• Why would God allow this?
• Can I trust Him when I don't understand?
• Where is Jesus in the middle of suffering?
• How do I continue believing God's promises when life still hurts?

Sandy shares remarkable stories of God's quiet provision—from unexpected doctors arriving at just the right moment to discovering that God's greatest miracles were often not the ones she prayed for, but the ones that transformed her heart.

Whether you're raising a child with disabilities, walking through caregiving, grieving unmet expectations, or simply wondering where God is in your own suffering, this conversation offers Biblical encouragement and practical hope for recognizing Jesus' presence in the middle of life's hardest seasons.

Sometimes we don't see Him while we're living the story.

But looking back...

There was Jesus

Eps. 54; July 7, 2026

Resources:
Sandy’s Website
Sandy on Instagram
When Dreams are Disrupted
There Was Jesus Spotify Playlist

If you enjoyed the show, leave a 5-star review!

• The Podcast is on YouTube
• Check out my new website
• Click here if you want to be a guest on the show
• Carrie’s Facebook or Instagram
• Find me on Substack
• My book: The Other Side of Special

*This podcast features honest conversations with special needs parents and faith-filled guests. While I deeply value the stories and insights shared, the views and opinions expressed may not always reflect my own. Any resources listed are shared for reference, not necessarily a personal recommendation. I invite you to listen with spiritual discernment and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in what you hold onto and set aside.