"Hope is an escape hatch from the what-if loop because it gives you and me permission to live the lives we have. It narrows our vision to work with what’s in front of us. Hope puts to rest all the lives we could have lived and gently reminds us, “This is the one you’ve got. Don’t waste it.”

In these sacred weeks leading up to Christmas, I want to acknowledge that the holiday season isn’t such a bright time for all of us. These final days of the year can be a painful reminder of what we once had. What is no longer. What will never be.

Each week in the month of December, I'll be sharing a short reflection that invites you reconsider your darkest seasons as times of formation, preparation, and possibility.

Treasures in the Dark Read Along

Starting January 9, 2025, I’ll be hosting a 90-day read along of Treasures in the Dark over on Instagram. Make sure you’re following me there because I’ll be streaming some readings from the book, sharing behind the scenes content, and hosting discussions with all of you. If you want to grab your own copy of Treasures in the Dark, it’s available wherever books are sold. You can find the audiobook on Spotify or Audible.

Like what you heard?

There's so much more to the story⁠⁠. For more messages of hope, free resources, and opportunities to connect with me, visit https://hopeheals.com/katherine.

Follow me in Instagram: ⁠⁠@hopeheals⁠⁠

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

⁠Apple Podcasts⁠: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-hard-story-podcast/id1496882479

⁠Spotify⁠: https://open.spotify.com/show/0OYz6G9Q2tNNVOX9YSdmFb?si=4e5a0a76749b4d91

Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, my monthly digest of only the good stuff, like short reflections from me and a curated roundup of the Internet’s most redemptive content. Subscribe at https://hopeheals.com/hopenote.

"Some of the best fruit in my life will be incubatedin dark, cold seasons of suffering."

In these sacred weeks leading up to Christmas, I want to acknowledge that the holiday season isn’t such a bright time for all of us. These final days of the year can be a painful reminder of what we once had. What is no longer. What will never be.

Each week in the month of December, I'll be sharing a short reflection that invites you reconsider your darkest seasons as times of formation, preparation, and possibility.

Treasures in the Dark Read Along

Starting January 9, 2025, I’ll be hosting a 90-day read along of Treasures in the Dark over on Instagram. Make sure you’re following me there because I’ll be streaming some readings from the book, sharing behind the scenes content, and hosting discussions with all of you. If you want to grab your own copy of Treasures in the Dark, it’s available wherever books are sold. You can find the audiobook on Spotify or Audible.

Like what you heard?

There's so much more to the story⁠⁠. For more messages of hope, free resources, and opportunities to connect with me, visit https://hopeheals.com/katherine.

Follow me in Instagram: ⁠⁠@hopeheals⁠⁠

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

⁠Apple Podcasts⁠: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-hard-story-podcast/id1496882479

⁠Spotify⁠: https://open.spotify.com/show/0OYz6G9Q2tNNVOX9YSdmFb?si=4e5a0a76749b4d91

Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, my monthly digest of only the good stuff, like short reflections from me and a curated roundup of the Internet’s most redemptive content. Subscribe at https://hopeheals.com/hopenote.

"Suffering confronts me with the question, What is it i want from God? Do i want the gifts, or do I want the Giver Himself?"

In these sacred weeks leading up to Christmas, I want to acknowledge that the holiday season isn’t such a bright time for all of us. These final days of the year can be a painful reminder of what we once had. What is no longer. What will never be.

Each week in the month of December, I'll be sharing a short reflection that invites you reconsider your darkest seasons as times of formation, preparation, and possibility.

Treasures in the Dark Read Along

Starting January 9, 2025, I’ll be hosting a 90-day read along of Treasures in the Dark over on Instagram. Make sure you’re following me there because I’ll be streaming some readings from the book, sharing behind the scenes content, and hosting discussions with all of you. If you want to grab your own copy of Treasures in the Dark, it’s available wherever books are sold. You can find the audiobook on Spotify or Audible.

Did you like what you heard?

There's so much more to the story: Click here⁠⁠ for more messages of hope, free resources, and opportunities to connect with me!

Follow me in Instagram: ⁠⁠@hopeheals⁠⁠

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

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Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, my monthly digest of only the good stuff, like short reflections from me and a curated roundup of the Internet’s most redemptive content. Subscribe here.

I became disabled in an instant, but my husband Jay did not become a caregiver in that same instant. No one, like, gave him a pamphlet or anything! He had to learn by trial and error, and the stakes were high.

Many of you, dear friends, are in a marriage with a caregiver or care-receiver and you’re navigating what it looks like to uphold a version of your vows you didn’t see coming. I am the first person to affirm what a complex position you are in.

After nearly 17 years of this caregiving-in-marriage deal, we’ve learned a few things about healthy conflict, surrendering control, and releasing old dreams. We’ve also made all the mistakes. So Jay and I want to share a little wisdom—and a LOT of encouragement.

Here’s what you can expect from our time together on The GoodHard Story podcast this week:

• The #1 way we “beat the odds” of divorce after a traumatic brain injury
• What’s worked for us (and what hasn’t worked) in conflict resolution
• Leaning into non-traditional gender roles in our marriage
• Deciding to dream new dreams for our lives
• How I stopped feeling like a burden in my marriage

If you’re longing to feel seen and supported in a caregiving marriage, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller - https://a.co/d/9P0hVVF

Stanley Hauerwas - https://stanleyhauerwas.org/

Hope Heals Camp - https://hopeheals.com/camp

Ep. 76 - 5 Ways to Start Believing You Are Worthy of Care - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-76-solo-5-ways-to-start-believing-you-are-worthy/id1496882479?i=1000676043943

Ep. 74 - Unspoken Demands for a Perfect Life with Sho Baraka - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-74-unspoken-demands-for-a-perfect-life-with/id1496882479?i=1000674277593

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-hard-story-podcast/id1496882479

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0OYz6G9Q2tNNVOX9YSdmFb?si=043bd6b10a664beb

Want a little hope in your inbox?

⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content: https://hopeheals.com/hopenote

Get to know us:

⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/

⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠: https://hopeheals.com/camp

⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠: https://www.mendcoffee.org/

Instagram⁠: https://www.instagram.com/hopeheals/

If there is such a thing as icons of caregiving, Joni Eareckson Tada and her husband Ken are those icons. After a diving accident at 17, Joni became a quadriplegic. Ken and Joni met and joined lives years later. As Ken put it, he “married into disability.” 

These two saints have cared for one another faithfully for over 40 years, but it’s not always perfect. Joni and Ken were generous to share about the hard conversations they’ve had to have about overwhelm and burnout. Even through all the hard, this couple affirms again and again how the experiences of caregiving and care-receiving have shown them the heart of Christ. 

From healthy communication tips to practical ideas for self care to receiving care well—WOW, do we have a lot to learn from these two?! Join us at the table to receive loads of wisdom from two of my heroes, including…

• Ken’s experience of dating and marrying someone with a disability
• What it takes to care for Joni’s body in a day
• How Joni expresses her gratitude for the care she receives
• Practical rhythms of restoration and self care for both caregivers and care-receives
• Navigating conflict in the complexities of caregiving relationships
• Keeping a sense of joy in their unusual marriage 
• Healthy communication tips 

If you are craving some real talk about all things caregiving and care-getting, this episode is for you.

Joni and Friends website

Hope Heals by Katherine and Jay Wolf

Scriptures referenced in this episode:

1 Samuel 16:7

John 15:13

There's so much more to the story: ⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠ for more messages of hope, free resources, and opportunities to connect with me!

Follow me in Instagram: ⁠⁠@hopeheals⁠⁠

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

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⁠⁠Sign up ⁠here⁠ for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content.

Get to know us:

⁠⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠⁠

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Matt and Ginny Mooney gave round-the-clock care to their first son, a baby boy who lived for just 99 days. All parents are caregivers, of course, but the Mooneys became caregivers in ways they never could have imagined.

Now, 18 years later, the Mooneys have opted into a lifetime of complex caregiving as they raise an adopted daughter living with autism and cerebral palsy. I am fascinated and challenged by their choice to take on more responsibility, more heartache, and more grief.

My two gracious friends were kind enough to answer every one of my probing questions with humor and vulnerability. And if you join us for this conversation, I bet they’ll feel like your kind, funny friends by the end, too!

Here’s what you can expect to hear on this week’s episode of The GoodHard Story Podcast:

• An honest answer about the most difficult part of caregiving
• The one thing the Mooneys want most for their daughter living with significant disabilities
• What to do when you navigate grief and caregiving differently than your spouse
• The best thing to say and do on tender anniversaries
• What to expect from your typical kids—and what  NOT to expect—when it comes to caregiving for a sibling
• Matt and Ginny’s #1 recommendations for caregiver self care
• If you’re grappling with the good/hard realities of caregiving of any kind, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

99 Balloons

A Story Unfinished: 99 Days with Eliot

rEcess

bEfriend

Mend Coffee & Goods

Hope Heals Camp

***

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⁠⁠Sign up here for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content.

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Can I have 27 minutes of your day? That’s all I need to convince you of something you’ve probably never allowed yourself to believe: you are worthy of care.

I’m highly qualified—and highly persuasive—in making this pitch to you because, after becoming significantly disabled as a 26-year old, I can truly say that I am at peace with my place as a care-receiver. All thanks to 5 mindset shifts. (And a lot of help from Jesus.)

If you haven’t reached that place of bone-deep peace, I’m going to change your mind. Or if you’re a caregiver for a person who needs a lot of extra help, I’m going to invite you into a new way of seeing your situation.

Here’s a preview of what I’ll share on tomorrow’s episode of The Good/Hard Story Podcast. Subscribe on your fave podcast platform to make sure you get the episode tomorrow.

• Identifying the lies you’re believing about needing care

• Realizing you’re not unique in your need for care

• Confronting your bias against dependence

• Reframing caregiving as an invitation, rather than a duty

• Finding the “brand” of care only you can give

I am so passionate about this conversation, and I want you to join me in it. If you need a radical mindset shift when it comes to being a caregiver or a care-getter, this episode is for you.

You asked, we answered. And you know we never shy away from the messy, complex, and possibly even invasive questions because we want to be your living survival guides through it all. Bring it on, people!

This week’s episode of The GoodHard Story Podcast is a special “ask us anything” sesh with me and Jay all about how we’re navigating suffering alongside our nearest and dearest—kids, families of origins, friends that feel like family, and even each other. Sit down with us to hear some deeply personal (yet somehow universal) experiences, opinions, and bits of advice.

We’re sharing all kinds of thoughts about…

• Engaging kindly with family members who are waiting for you to be “healed”

• Feeling like a burden to your family and friends

• Raising kids who are frustrated by your family’s limitations

• Celebrating what we have now while acknowledging what we won’t get back

• The miraculous power of making new memories

• Shielding our kids from suffering

• Finding your “framily” in the places you probably don’t want to find them

• Deciding to have another baby after my stroke

If you need help believing your hardships could be a gift to the people you love most, this episode is for you.

Hope Heals Camp

Find the full story of deciding to have another baby in Treasures in the Dark Entry 66: Carpe Diem

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

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⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content.

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Grief, then gratitude. The longer I live and the more pain I encounter, I’m further convinced that this is the healthy cycle of suffering: grief then gratitude. Mourn the life you thought you’d have, then give thanks for the one right in front of you.

Because if we’re honest, most of us have some deep-down assumptions about what our lives should look like. For me, that assumption didn’t include a massive stroke or disabilities. And for my friend Sho Baraka, his perfect life plan didn’t involve raising sons with autism.

Sho is living out his good/hard story in that grief-and-gratitude rhythm, and he shared all about how he got to that place. Today, Sho is receiving his family—and his life—as an “abstract masterpiece of what the Master did.”

Whew, how good is that?

If you join us in this conversation, here’s what you’ll take away:

• Encouragement for when we don’t get the miracles we hope for

• How to see suffering as an opportunity rather than a punishment

• A new way to respond to uninvited prayers for healing

• Insight for grieving the loss of the lives we thought we’d have

• Advice for married people raising kids with disabilities

If you need to release your demands for a perfect life and open your hands to the gifts of the life you actually have, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

Sho Baraka on Instagram

And Campaign

He Saw That It Was Good: Reimagining Your Creative Life to Repair a Broken World by Sho Baraka

The Big Tent Initiative from Christianity Today

A Prayer for Parenting a Child with Special Needs

 Every Moment Holy Volume 3

“Words, 2006”

Spectacular Bond: Reaching the Child with Autism by Miriam Blank

ASD Reading

***

There's so much more to the story:⁠ Click here⁠⁠ for more messages of hope, free resources, and opportunities to connect with me!

Follow me in Instagram: ⁠⁠@hopeheals⁠⁠

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

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Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, my monthly digest of only the good stuff, like short reflections from me and a curated roundup of the Internet’s most redemptive content. Subscribe here.

Get to know us:

⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠

⁠⁠Hope Heals Camp⁠⁠

⁠⁠Mend Coffee⁠⁠

My son was just six-months and five days old when I nearly died. Virtually 100% of my parenting career has been informed by the deepest kind of pain. I often find myself wondering, if I could, would I give my sons a different story? One that didn’t include my stroke and all the suffering it caused?

I didn’t have much help wrestling with that question as a new (and newly disabled) mom. So I want to encourage and equip you—the mom or dad struggling to shield their kids from the suffering—with practical advice for parenting through your pain.

Our kids are gonna survive the suffering. And, spoiler alert, I believe they might even be better because of it.

Join me and my unbelievably wise friend Susan to find out how to…

• Intentionally narrate your family story to your kids

• Empathetically encourage resilience

• Reframe overwhelm as abundance in your home

• Guide your family through non-linear grief

• Prevent raising kids who are afraid of the world

• Discern what slack to cut in your home during hard seasons

• Find rest for yourself so your can parent well

If you need a parenting pep talk from someone who’s processing her own pain, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

Raising Girls and Boys Podcast with David Thomas and Sissy Goff

“True hospitality is when someone leaves your home feeling better about themselves, not better about you”. - Shauna Niequist

Scriptures referenced in this episode:

James 1:4

Romans 5:3  

Romans 8:28

Ephesians 4:1

***

There's so much more to the story: Click here⁠⁠ for more messages of hope, free resources, and opportunities to connect with me!

Follow me in Instagram: ⁠⁠@hopeheals⁠⁠

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

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Want a little hope in your inbox?

⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, my monthly digest of only the good stuff, like short reflections from me and a curated roundup of the Internet’s most redemptive content. Subscribe here.

If you’re like me, you often hear from people reflecting back on how they made it through a hard time. We need those stories, and I value them deeply. But I really, really want to hear from the people who are in the thick of their pain, without a neat resolution or final closure in sight. My dear friends Brent and Ashley were kind enough to share their experience of present-tense pain, specifically in the form of a life-altering medical diagnosis.

As you and I know all too well, hurt refuses to be contained. It reverberates through families and communities. Brent and Ashley are no exception. Their suffering has had a profound effect on their marriage, their kids, and their friendships. But so has their hope.

Live from the center of the storm, Brent and Ashley are giving you and me a look into how they manage to make it through each day. And I am so eager for you to benefit from their generous, hard-won wisdom.

If you join me on this episode of the GoodHard Story Podcast, here’s what you’ll take away:

• Proof that investing in your community today matters for tomorrow

• Why Christians should be the first to acknowledge the sting of death

• Practical insight for having hard conversations with young kids about how your family is hurting

• Encouragement that your suffering can be an invaluable gift to the people in your life

• Why you shouldn’t wait for easy times to start making memories with the people you love

If you need some honest but hopeful company in your misery, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

Ashley Monogue Photography

Integrus

Hope Heals Camp

Scriptures referenced in this episode:

Ecclesiastes 7:2

Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast!

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⁠⁠Sign up here for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our monthly digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet’s most redemptive content,

Get to know us:

⁠⁠Hope Heals⁠⁠

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