102 episodes

Challenges. Uggh. Life is full of challenges. How do you navigate those unexpected turns in your path? You could crumble and believe life isn't fair, giving that challenge permission to defeat you. But that's not you who you are. Neither are the courageous women who our host, Melony Brown, interviews. These women chose to fight to overcome life's tough challenges. They share their stories, as well as the strategies and habits that strengthened them and helped them maintain a 'challenges won't stop me' mindset.Throughout the season, Melony publishes video solocasts to share messages and resources to strengthen you for your current challenges and those that are right around the corner. Discover what kind of journey navigator you are when life's tough challenges intersect your path. Take the quiz at journeyonquiz.comInterested in sharing your overcomer story? Email me at melony@melonybrown.comMy book "Challenges Won't Stop Me: An Interactive Survival Guide for Overcoming & Thriving" is available on Amazon.

Challenges Won't Stop Me Melony Brown

    • Religion & Spirituality

Challenges. Uggh. Life is full of challenges. How do you navigate those unexpected turns in your path? You could crumble and believe life isn't fair, giving that challenge permission to defeat you. But that's not you who you are. Neither are the courageous women who our host, Melony Brown, interviews. These women chose to fight to overcome life's tough challenges. They share their stories, as well as the strategies and habits that strengthened them and helped them maintain a 'challenges won't stop me' mindset.Throughout the season, Melony publishes video solocasts to share messages and resources to strengthen you for your current challenges and those that are right around the corner. Discover what kind of journey navigator you are when life's tough challenges intersect your path. Take the quiz at journeyonquiz.comInterested in sharing your overcomer story? Email me at melony@melonybrown.comMy book "Challenges Won't Stop Me: An Interactive Survival Guide for Overcoming & Thriving" is available on Amazon.

    102: I'm Not in Control. God Is. a mindset interview with Jessica Roberts

    102: I'm Not in Control. God Is. a mindset interview with Jessica Roberts

    Jessica Roberts shared her story of being wrongly accused of drug conspiracy and sentenced to serve 27 months in prison in episode 101. If you haven’t listened to it yet, it would be helpful as Jessica refers to her story several times throughout this interview.
     
    While in prison, Jessica realized she was not in control. Her story had many similarities to Job’s story in the Bible. It was clear that God is in control. 
     
    Throughout the stories Jessica shares, you’ll hear her wisdom, humor, determination, passion, and faith. Choosing to return to prisons to train and encourage male and female prisoners strategies for successful re-entry into society is a statement about God’s powerful work in her.
     
    Notable quotes from this episode with Jessica Roberts: 
    ·         “As long as you have Him on the inside, it reflects on the outside. And you will have the mindset of overcoming, conquering, determination, and just a pressing forward in spite of your circumstances.”
    ·         “You are judged by the company that you keep. Be mindful. Be mindful of the company that you keep and separate because unfair things do happen in life.”
    ·         “God is Almighty. The things He can do is limitless . . . We as human beings are limited, but God is not limited.”
     
    Bible verses: 
    ·         Job 42:12 “And the Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.”
    ·         Genesis 50:20 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
    ·         Romans 8:28 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is not being done – the saving of many lives.”
     
     
    Connect with Jessica Roberts:
    Her website: https://www.jessicanroberts.com
    On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.roberts.3591
    On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicanicole8726
    Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!

    • 27 min
    101: Not Built to Break: being wrongly accused & incarcerated didn't stop her with Jessica Roberts

    101: Not Built to Break: being wrongly accused & incarcerated didn't stop her with Jessica Roberts

    When you hear a story about someone in prison claiming to be not guilty, do you ever wonder what that would be like if it happened to you?
     
    I know not all who claim to be not guilty are, but Jessica Roberts was wrongly accused AND given a 27-month prison sentence. Was she upset? Yes. Did she feel wronged? Yes. 
     
    She could have fallen into negativity and anger, but she chose a different response. In today’s interview, Jessica Roberts explains, "My attitude was to remain as positive as possible and play the cards we were being dealt. I was determined not to break. I was not built to break."
     
    Jessica is the author of Triumphant! One Woman’s Journey from Prison to Purpose. She describes herself as a re-entry activist with a passion to help promote smooth re-entry into civilian life for men and women who are soon to complete their prison sentence.
     
    Jessica describes her childhood and young adult years as ‘being a good girl.’ She had no desire or intention to become ‘a bad girl,’ but being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people led to her being charged with the crime of drug conspiracy. 
     
    As difficult as prison was, God met Jessica there and changed her life. She shares about how reading the book of Job while in prison impacted her. Instead of never going near a prison ever again, Jessica is passionate about following God’s call to minister to male and female inmates, pointing them to Jesus and offering them hope.
     
    Notable quotes from this episode with Jessica Roberts: 
    ·         “That’s when the spiritual side took over because I was raised in the church, but I didn’t have a personal relationship with God . . . when I became incarcerated and when my mother and father and no one could help me, God was taking the blinders off little by little. I began to see things in the different light, from a different perspective. Job lost everything, but God would not let the devil take his life. He was tested and tried, but He would not let him take his life. It resonated with me really, really deep.”
    ·         “In the shower, I just would cry out to Him – ‘I have to go through this. I must go through this. Be with me. Never leave my side.’ And so, I found comfort in that and that’s where that strength came from. I’m in prison physically, but not mentally or spiritually.”
     
    Bible verse: 
    ·         1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character.”
     
    Connect with Jessica Roberts:
    Her website: https://jessicanroberts.com
    On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.roberts.3591
    On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicanicole8726




    Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!

    • 30 min
    100: God Is Bigger Than the Worst Kind of Evil: Columbine 25th Anniversary with Kacey Johnson

    100: God Is Bigger Than the Worst Kind of Evil: Columbine 25th Anniversary with Kacey Johnson

    Where were you when the news hit about President Kennedy's assassination (November 22, 1963)? When the news hit about MLK Jr's assassination (April 4, 1968)? When the news hit about planes hitting the Twin Towers in New York (September 11, 2001)?
     
    Where were you when the news hit about the Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado (April 20, 1999)? I remember it clearly. I was teaching at Garrett Middle School. It's hard to believe the deadliest school shooting occurred twenty-five years ago.
     
    The lives of twelve students and one teacher were taken that day. Twenty-one others were wounded, including Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson. 
     
    In this interview, Kacey shares her story of being shot in the library, her recovery, and how those challenges prepared her for the challenges she would face in the following years. 
     
    Kacey’s daughter, Logan, was diagnosed with aniridia, or the absence of irises in her eyes. She knew what she’d learned would help her parent a child with disabilities. She said, “Only God could have known that the injuries I sustained at Columbine would turn into a huge blessing with regard to my parenting journey.”
    Kacey is on the Board of Directors for the Limb Preservation Society.
     
    Notable quotes from this episode with Kacey Johnson: 
     
    ·         "In that most horrific moment of my life also came the proof that I love a living God and that He's bigger than the absolute worst kind of evil that was right in my face. He's bigger than that. It gives me so much to live for."
    ·         “I’d become comfortable in the trauma I knew and how I was just surviving it. I didn’t know how to get out of the surviving and into the thriving. And I wanted to be thriving as a parent and not just surviving.”
    ·         “God has ultimately transformed the shotgun slug that tore through me into seeds that have grown to produce very good fruit in my life. The fiery missile of hate that burned through my body has not had the pleasure of destroying me, and what was ultimately meant for evil will continue to be choked out by all the beautiful good that is still to come.”
    Bible verses: 
    ·         Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
    ·         Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”
     
    Connect with Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson:
    Her website: https://www.kaceyjohnsonspeaker.com
    On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaceyRuegseggerJohnson
    On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaceyjohnsonspeaker 
    Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!

    • 45 min
    99: Get Real to Heal: a mindset interview with Grace English

    99: Get Real to Heal: a mindset interview with Grace English

    Dr. Grace English joins me again to discuss the mindset of getting real to heal. She is a speaker and the director of the Deep in the Heart Conference, which is held in Texas every spring. 
    Didn’t catch her story interview in episode 98? She refers to it several times, so I would encourage you to listen to it before you listen to this episode.
    When she found herself getting extremely anger with her two-year-old daughter, Grace began to realize she’d stuffed her pain. She shared, “Not until I really got real and had true confession and repentance over my sin of abortion and acknowledging the humanity of my baby did God free me from that guilt and shame.”
    Grace knows getting real to heal is hard, but she believes it’s the way for God to heal your heart.
    Notable quotes from this episode with Grace English:
    ·         “I think we have many idols in our life. He’s a jealous God, and He doesn’t want to be put second on the back burner. When we think other things in life are more important than Him, then that’s when we get into trouble.”
    ·         “I have had to just get really real with the Lord. God, this really sucks. And He’s like, ‘I know it does, but I’m writing your story and there is going to be purpose from this whole journey.”
    ·         “The Lord can’t use that pain and that loss to minister and speak to you unless it rises up to the surface.”
    Scripture references:
    ·         Luke 4:18-19
    ·         Romans 8:1
    ·         Galatians 5:22-23
    ·         Nehemiah 8:10
    ·         John 13:7
    ·         Philippians 4:7
    Connect with Grace English:
    On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grace.s.english
    On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracecenglish
    About Deep in the Heart: https://deepintheheartministries.com
    Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!

    • 24 min
    98: Speaking the Secret Breaks Its Power: overcoming emotional infidelity with Grace English

    98: Speaking the Secret Breaks Its Power: overcoming emotional infidelity with Grace English

    We are discussing emotional infidelity on the show today. It’s a topic no other guest has covered. During my interview with Dr. Grace English, she shared the following statistic from Shannon Ethridge’s book, Every Woman’s Battle: “More than 90% of women have had emotional thoughts of another man that’s not their spouse.” Grace explained that she has struggled with emotional infidelity for many years. 
    Dr. Grace English is a speaker and the director of the Deep in the Heart Conference, which is held in Texas every spring. 
    In Ethridge’s book, Grace learned a love-relationship addiction stems from a childhood in which you weren’t nurtured. Not having a good relationship with her parents left her with a father-daughter wound and a mother-daughter wound. 
    Sharing her struggles with two close friends led to her realizing that speaking her secret broke its power. In this episode, Grace explains why speaking our struggles is the first step in breaking the stronghold it has over us.
    Notable quotes from this episode with Grace English:
    ·         “Me sharing it [emotional infidelity] with a friend actually opened that door where the power of the secret is broken when it’s spoken.”
    ·         “He [God] can’t speak truth into my life if I refuse to acknowledge the truth of what is actually happening to me.”
    ·         “Somebody needs to speak light into the darkness. Shine the light because so many times we want to hide in the dark.”
    Scripture references:
    ·         Matthew 5:28 reads, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
    ·         1 Corinthians 10:13 reads, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
    Connect with Grace English:
    On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grace.s.english
    On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracecenglish
    About Deep in the Heart: https://deepintheheartministries.com
    Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!

    • 27 min
    97: Meanwhile: Meeting God in the Wait with Carol McLeod

    97: Meanwhile: Meeting God in the Wait with Carol McLeod

    Are you in a meanwhile?

    My guest, Carol McLeod, describes a meanwhile as "the test of faith between a crisis and God's visible intervention."

    What do you do or say during the time between when a crisis intersects your life and when you see God's visible intervention?

    My guest is Carol McLeod. She's an overcomer, an award-winning author of sixteen books, host of the Significant Women podcast, international speaker, Craig's wife, and Marmie to her ten grandchildren.

    Carol and I discuss several snippets of her Bible study about the life of Joseph titled "Meanwhile: Meeting God in the Wait."

    I gained so much insight and understanding about those months or years in the meanwhiles - in the waiting - when I worked through Carol's powerful Bible study.

    Notable quotes from this episode with Carol McLeod:
    "Just as God has a plan for your life, so does the enemy. His ugly plan is that you, as a believer in Christ, will live out your earthly days in the dit of despair, in the pit of hopelessness, and the pit of unending depression. There is no potential for growth or nourishment there. The devil is unable to take eternal life from you, so he endeavors to take abundant life from you.""Joseph spoke generously because his life had been refined by human pain and he saw the unprecedented and miraculous plan of God unfold."Bible verses:
    2 Corinthians 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight."Psalm 138:8 "God will accomplish what concerns me."John 16:22 "... no one can take away your joy ..."Genesis 50:20 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many nations."Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Carol's Bible study, Meanwhile: Meeting God in the Wait, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

    Connect with Carol McLeod:
    On her website:  https://www.carolmcleodministries.com
    On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.b.mcleod
    On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolmcleod_

    Get your ticket to the 20th annual women's conference: Overflowing: Living Abundantly in a Broken Culture HERE. 



    Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!

    • 35 min

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