A Season of Caring Podcast

Rayna Neises
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A Season of Caring Podcast is a place to find hope for your Season of Caring.  Pointing listeners to the hope they can find in God even in the busyness and loneliness of caregiving. I want you to know that I see you and God sees you. What you are doing is not only difficult, and often overwhelming, but it's also one of the most important and rewarding things you can do. The guests featured are both everyday family members who are caregiver survivors and those who are still in the middle of their caring season.  At times, you will meet professionals who bring their experience and compassion for you to our conversations.I want you to feel encouraged and hopeful after our time together, so you can spend this season with no regrets, living content, and loving well.

  1. Jun 4

    Five Years, Five Lessons: Find Hope in Caregiving with "No Regrets"

    Send us Fan Mail Five years after my book No Regrets: Hope for Your Caregiving Season released, I’m taking you inside the message that has come back to me in emails, reviews, and tearful “me too” notes from family caregivers. If you’ve ever felt isolated by Alzheimer’s disease, dementia care, or the nonstop mental load of caregiving, I want you to hear this clearly: you are not alone, and God is not absent from the hospital room, the memory care unit, or the quiet kitchen table where you sort pills.  I share five practical, faith-rooted truths that can anchor you through long days and hard decisions. We talk about intentional caregiving that helps you look back with fewer regrets, how caregiving requires both head and heart, and why faith doesn’t mean you never feel fear. You’ll hear a simple pattern for handling anxiety by naming what’s scary, remembering God’s character, and asking only for today’s portion of strength, plus a needed reminder that honoring your loved one does not require losing your health, your boundaries, or your calling.  To celebrate, I’m hosting a Five Days of Hope Celebration (June 1 through June 5) and giving away five signed copies of No Regrets. Listen, share this with a caregiver who needs hope, then subscribe, leave a review, and tell me: which of the five truths do you want to practice this week?

    18 min

  2. May 21

    Caring for Someone Who Hurt You: Where Is God in Complicated Love?

    Send us Fan Mail Picture this: you’re scheduling the appointments, managing the meds, and making sure they’re safe, while a part of you is still carrying the memories of harsh words, neglect, or a home that never felt emotionally safe. That’s the reality for many family caregivers, especially during seasons like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day when everyone else seems to be celebrating “perfect” parents. I want you to hear this clearly: feeling conflicted doesn’t make you ungrateful, faithless, or “bad” at caregiving. It makes you human. We walk through what Christian caregiving can look like when you’re caring for someone who wounded you, including a moving story from Kinsey Oglesby. After her father passed away, Kinsey found herself caring for a mother who had been verbally abusive, as dementia and vulnerability made the needs more urgent and more intimate. Her journey starts with dutiful care and shifts through a moment of spiritual clarity, offering a picture of what God can do without minimizing the past. We also get practical about honoring your father and mother without losing yourself. We talk boundaries, safety, and why “honor” is about how you behave toward them, not giving them unlimited access to you. We explore forgiveness as a process that releases revenge into God’s hands while still keeping wise limits. If you’re caregiving for an abusive parent, navigating trauma, or trying to make sense of faith and family caregiving, you’ll leave with reflection questions and next-step clarity. Subscribe, share this with a caregiver who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find hope and help.

    24 min

  3. May 7

    What If The Miracle Is Already Here

    Send us Fan Mail You can pray for healing and still feel stuck in the long middle of caregiving. I get it, because I have lived those moments where I’m waiting for God to change the situation and all I can see is what’s missing. But what if the “miracle” you’re looking for is causing you to overlook the ways God is already showing up right where you are? I share a powerful memory from my time caring for my mom, when dementia stole conversation but music brought her back to me for a few minutes on the couch. It didn’t fix the disease, but it created real connection and joy, and it reframed what I thought I needed. Then we talk about seasons with my dad, including infections like UTIs that can dramatically impact mental capacity, and a terrifying fall that forced a hard medical decision. In that crisis, God didn’t just give peace, He reminded me of practical provision that was already there. You’ll walk away with five simple ways to live this out in your day-to-day life as a family caregiver: asking “what worked today,” redefining what you call a miracle, capturing moments of gratitude, inviting God into hard decisions for the next right step, and releasing your grip on what the outcome has to be. If you’re fighting caregiver burnout, decision fatigue, or discouragement, this is a gentle reset toward hope, wisdom, and steady faith. Subscribe for more stories of hope, share this with a caregiver friend who needs it, and leave a review so more families can find the encouragement. What’s one unexpected way you’ve seen God show up lately?

    15 min

  4. Apr 23

    Tender Strength in the Valley: Stories of Hope with Carol Evans

    Send us Fan Mail Caregiving can start with a few check-ins, then turn into a full-time reality before you even have words for it. We sit down with Carol Evans, a mom, business owner, and fellow podcast host, as she shares the tender and difficult story of caring for her mom through a short, intense battle with pancreatic cancer. When symptoms looked like ordinary aging until a stage four diagnosis changed everything, Carol found herself balancing love, urgency, and the painful truth that an adult parent can still refuse help. We talk honestly about the day-to-day stress of family caregiving: the “push or pause” decisions, the discomfort of advocating to medical professionals when your loved one says “I’m fine,” and what it feels like to manage updates, appointments, and end-of-life care while trying not to lose the relationship. Carol also reflects on palliative care and hospice care, how resistance can tie a caregiver’s hands, and why having a knowledgeable support team can make the difference between panic and steadiness. Faith is woven through the whole journey, especially when spiritual routines collapse under exhaustion. Carol shares how Lamentations became a lifeline for grief, and we explore the reality of dying that movies rarely show, plus the healing that can come from hospice education and grief counseling after loss. If you’re walking through caregiver stress, anticipatory grief, or the guilt that sometimes follows death, you’ll find language, perspective, and hope here. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review telling us what part of caregiving you’re in right now.

    37 min

  5. Apr 9

    How To Keep Caring When You Feel Alone

    Send us Fan Mail You can love your family and still feel crushed when no one shows up to help. When you are the one making the calls, managing the appointments, handling the emergencies, and carrying the emotional load, loneliness can turn into resentment fast. We name that pain without shame, because those feelings are human and common for family caregivers, especially when siblings stay silent or relatives assume you can handle everything.  We also get honest about the hidden cost: resentment promises relief, but it drains your strength, colors your relationships, and makes caregiving even heavier. From a Christian caregiving perspective, we turn toward the God who sees, anchoring hope in Scripture and in the reminder that your worth is not measured by how much you do or how well you hold it together.  Then we get practical. I share a reframing tool that changes the tone of support: asking for help as an invitation to something meaningful. You will hear clear examples you can use right away, plus simple strategies for processing emotions, journaling, building a wider support system, communicating specific needs, and setting boundaries that protect your health. We close with a call to forgiveness that releases resentment’s grip and helps you keep moving forward with peace and purpose.  If you know a caregiver who feels unseen, share this episode, subscribe for more encouragement, and leave a review so more family caregivers can find hope and real help.

    17 min

  6. Mar 26

    Dirty Dishes and Holy Moments: Stories of Hope with Mia Godfrey

    Send us Fan Mail Caregiving can look brave on the outside while you quietly fall apart on the inside. We sit down with Mia Godfrey, a certified life coach, speaker, and author, to talk about the 11 month season she spent caring for her sister after an ovarian cancer diagnosis. With her sister in Montana and life based in Tennessee, Mia navigates relocating, caregiving, remote work, and the relentless reality of being “on” day and night for a loved one and four little kids who still need normal life to keep moving. We talk honestly about caregiver guilt and why it can feel impossible to ask for help. Mia shares how watching her mother care for her father shaped her belief that real love means self sacrifice, no breaks, no needs, and no tears. Together, we name what caregiver burnout feels like and why support groups, community, and simple permission to say “I’m drained” can change everything. If you’re caring for a parent with dementia, a spouse, or a sibling with cancer, you’ll recognize the pressure to do it all and the fear of being seen as weak. Mia also offers a powerful reframe: the most important caregiving is often presence, not perfection. Holding a hand, brushing hair, reading the Bible, noticing the sunset, and reminding someone they are not a burden can matter as much as medication schedules and tasks. We close with the practice that carried Mia through grief and exhaustion: gratitude for small, real gifts like breath, strength, and even dirty dishes you “get to” do. If this conversation helps you feel less alone, subscribe, share it with a caregiver friend, and leave a review so more family caregivers can find hope and practical support.

    26 min

  7. Mar 12

    Caregiving After Stroke: Stories of Hope with Lana Wilhelm

    Send us Fan Mail A sudden stroke can upend a life in minutes, but the real story unfolds in the long, uneven days that follow. We sit down with Lana Wilhelm—retired nurse, author of Stroke and the Spouse and Stroke and the Caregiver—to explore the hard truths and hopeful practices that carry caregivers from shock to steady ground. Lana speaks candidly about how medical expertise couldn’t prepare her for the emotional terrain of caring for her husband, the isolation that arrives after the hospital crowds thin, and the invisible deficits that make stroke recovery so misunderstood. Together, we unpack what the world often misses: not all progress is visible, “doing well” in public can mask deep daily strain, and protecting a loved one’s dignity can chip away at your own reserves. Lana offers a compassionate reframe from caregiver to care partner, urging teamwork and clear boundaries that honor both survivor and supporter. We talk about finding purpose in small goals—like the first clean stir of coffee—using gratitude to retrain a fear-driven brain, and building a community that speaks caregiver fluently. Expect frank reflections on anger at God, the imperfect practice of surrender, and the surprising peace that follows when control loosens its grip. If you’re navigating stroke recovery, dementia care, or any long-term caregiving season, this conversation brings practical strategies and soul-level validation: advocacy tips for clinic visits, ways to counter isolation, and rituals that create resilience day by day. We also point you to concrete resources, including Lana’s books on Amazon and the Stroke Caregiver Connection, designed to answer real questions gathered from thousands of families. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help other caregivers find a lifeline. Your story matters—and you don’t have to carry it alone.

    26 min

  8. Feb 26

    Grief, Pressure, And Unexpected Growth

    Send us Fan Mail Caregiving can feel like carrying a secret storm—so many decisions, so much love, and a kind of grief that doesn’t wait for goodbye. We open up about the real weight caregivers hold and how faith, practical wisdom, and honest reflection can turn that weight into steadier steps. Rayna shares her journey through years of caring for a mom and dad with Alzheimer’s, naming the hidden losses, the relentless pressure to get it right, and the slow, surprising growth that follows when we surrender what we were never meant to carry. Across this conversation, we name layered grief—the missed moments, shifting roles, and the parts of yourself that go quiet when life gets hard. We also unpack pressure: family expectations, cultural shoulds, medical complexity, and the inner critic that never sleeps. You’ll hear how to distinguish conviction from condemnation so you can be responsible without living as if you must control every outcome. Scripture anchors the path, reminding us that Jesus wept, that grace meets weakness, and that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. We then turn to growth without platitudes. Growth doesn’t cancel pain, but it does shape patience, endurance, compassion, and a deeper dependence on God. You’ll learn how to honor parents without losing yourself, why boundaries are part of true honor, and how love can be both tender and wise. Rayna offers five practical steps you can use today—naming losses, releasing borrowed pressure, asking for specific help, building a small rhythm of rest, and redefining success around presence and the next right step. We close with reflective questions to help you process what hurts and notice where hope is already at work. If this conversation helps you breathe a little easier, share it with another caregiver who needs encouragement. Subscribe for new episodes and leave a review so more caregivers can find these stories of hope. Your next right step might start here.

    28 min
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About

A Season of Caring Podcast is a place to find hope for your Season of Caring.  Pointing listeners to the hope they can find in God even in the busyness and loneliness of caregiving. I want you to know that I see you and God sees you. What you are doing is not only difficult, and often overwhelming, but it's also one of the most important and rewarding things you can do. The guests featured are both everyday family members who are caregiver survivors and those who are still in the middle of their caring season.  At times, you will meet professionals who bring their experience and compassion for you to our conversations.I want you to feel encouraged and hopeful after our time together, so you can spend this season with no regrets, living content, and loving well.

Information

  • Creator
    Rayna Neises
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    241
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Season of Caring Podcast
  • Show Website
    A Season of Caring Podcast

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