Alyssa:  She is a daughter, a wife. And a girl learning daily what it means to fully trust God. And she recently started a new Instagram page, which inspired her page, and inspired me to ask her to come on the podcast because her page was created during a season of loss and new beginnings.

After losing her mom, she found herself turning to scripture more, and she also got married. She and my son Baker got married on December 6th, so just about two months ago. So they are very much still newlywed and you can find her page anchored above on Instagram. And so we are going to dive into the interview. I will start that. So we are starting with the experience that you had.

It’s been almost two years now. When your mom passed away in November of 2024, what were some of the first emotions that you experienced?

Ashlyn: Yes, anger initially, which was confusing because I don’t consider myself an angry person. But it, I was angry at myself for a while, thinking that there was something different that I could do.

But really, I was angry at God, ’cause I had thought, why would you allow something like this to happen? But yeah, underneath all of that anger, I really think it was just heartbreak.

Alyssa:  Definitely. And one of the things that I wanted listeners to know is, is very young, you can tell just by looking at her, and no, she had just started her first year at university, so she had moved in August, and her mom died in November, and she was just 20 years old at the time.

Going through a lot of changes, of moving away from home for the first time. So I wanted you to know that in that experience as well.

So how did grief affect you emotionally and then also spiritually in those first few weeks?

Ashlyn: Emotionally, I was exhausted and overwhelmed.

There were a lot of different people who had a lot of different reactions to this, and I’ve always been the kind of person to control everybody else or feel like I need to. But some days I would cry constantly, and then some days I would just be numb. But spiritually, I struggled more than I had expected.

I found myself where I didn’t really wanna read my Bible at all. I didn’t want to talk to God or pray just ’cause I was so angry with him. But even when I chose to be distant, he was still near, like holding me until I could figure out how to come back to him and be honest about my hurt.

Alyssa:  Yeah, absolutely. So you said that you clung to the scripture in a way that you never had before. So during that process, what do you think changed?

Ashlyn: I always grew up, and I had always been taught the importance of scripture in our lives. But after she had died, it changed the way I like to hold scripture or my perspective on it.

Scripture felt like the only thing that was constant at the time. As I said, there were a lot of different things going on. But it went from something that I just learned to something that I leaned on every day. For everything.

Alyssa:  Yeah, it’s like a lot of us probably, I can tell you early on in my life learning Scripture, I can remember learning it in Bible school, years and years ago, and most of the time we were probably learning it just to get the candy that they would give us for learning the verse or whatever, but it’s really different as an adult learning scripture and also, utilizing it in your everyday life because it’ll come back. That’s why I think the word says to “hide in our heart” because then you know it’s there and you can use it when you need it, and you don’t even have to have your Bible.

So that’s to me how God speaks through his word to help us in times of grief or anxiety or fear or any, yeah, I think you can put any emotion in that blank there, and then that’s what God uses the scripture for.

So was there a specific verse or a passage that became your anchor during this time?

Ashlyn: I would say Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you.”

That’s a promise to us. Not if we go through something, but when we do, because, as Christians, we’re not promised easy lies. If anything, it gets a little more difficult. But it was a promise to me, or that reminded me that the pain didn’t mean that God had left me at the time.

It meant that I was walking through something hard and that he was with me through it.

Alyssa:  So just because you had experienced the pain didn’t mean that God was gone. It was just the situation that he had allowed to happen. So you were in that place and then, of course, during this time you had lots of emotions about the loss and the grief, but you also had good things happening as well.

Your life. And to give them a little background, Baker and Ashlyn had been dating for a little while prior to her mom’s death, and they had actually become engaged in July, right before they left for college in August. And so soon after, obviously in the last few months, they have stepped into a marriage during this same season.

And what was it like to hold both grief and joy at the same time?

Ashlyn: Yeah. As you said, a lot was going on at the time. We had just gotten engaged, just started college or university. And then this other big, like monumental thing happened. So it was complicated, and it was confusing.

I was thankful for the new season of life that I was in, and I was thankful for you and Baker and your family just to be there and love on me. I was excited about building a future and starting a new chapter, but. On the same table, my heart hurt because I wanted her to be there for me picking out my flowers, the bridesmaid dresses, and then, I wanted her to be on that front row to sit there and see me.

So it was hard balancing those different emotions, a high of excitement and then the lowest of lows. But I learned that you can cry and celebrate within the same breath. Joy doesn’t erase grief, and grief doesn’t cancel out your joy.

Alyssa: Yeah, that is so wise. I think that’s what I was most impressed by with Ashlyn. I’ve loved her from the day I think that I met her. If you meet her. Her favorite color is yellow. And I will say that she represents that color well because she’s like sunshine when she pops into the room. And it’s funny because my son is a very serious person, and she is that balance because she’s very fun and outgoing.

But I got to witness all of that with her wedding and with being honored to sit on the other end of the pew where we honored your mom. And so it was a joyful day, and I know that she was there in spirit for sure. So as we wrap things up, I know that you have found peace through this and through this experience.

And what does the phrase true peace is found above look like in real life?

Ashlyn: Yeah. Yeah. It looks like choosing to trust God on days that I still don’t understand. That grief doesn’t just go away. It’s still there behind the curtain. But it’s waking up and choosing to give him that hurt every day, like again and again.

It’s knowing that peace isn’t in the absence of sadness, it’s in the presence of Jesus in the middle of that sadness.

Alyssa: And so that is where it is a daily choice to choose Jesus rather than our circumstances. And so when the, obviously, we know that I have another person in my life who lost someone recently, and she told me afterwards in a conversation that her grief comes in waves.

And so when those waves come, what keeps you from drifting?

Ashlyn: Yeah. I like to say that grief is like glitter. It’s just there; after you clean it all up, you still find it randomly. But remembering that God, who he has already been to me, I remember his faithfulness during one of the hardest times in my life so far. And it makes it easier to know how faithful he is gonna be to me in the future.

And knowing that the same guy who carried me through this has not changed, and he won’t change. So he’ll just continue to carry me.

Alyssa: That’s right. Absolutely. And I’m glad that even though you had to learn that early in your life, I think that it’ll help you a lot in the future.

You can find Ashlyn’s Instagram account, Anchored Above, where she seeks to encourage others to find their anchor in the Lord and his word.

The post Anchored Above: Finding Peace after Loss appeared first on Alyssa Avant.

Then we’ll look closely at what the Bible says about each of these words.

What the Bible Says about Anxiety

The first one is anxiety. Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, and it is typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

Fear is a synonym for anxiety. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous or likely to cause us pain or a threat.

It can also be defined as a mixed feeling of dread and reverence. For this definition, it might be the love and fear of God, for example.

Then let’s define the term stress. Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. An example here is he’s obviously under a great deal of stress.

I would venture to guess that we’ve all experienced one or all three of these things in our lifetime. Obviously, at times, both fear and anxiety are helpful to us, keeping us from making poor decisions or protecting us from harm. So, as the great Billy Graham said, “Historians will probably call our era the age of anxiety.”

Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered on anything short of God and his will for us. The funny thing is that Billy Graham wrote those words in 1965, but they are still true for us today, maybe even more so. Something to consider about all three of these things is how they affect our relationship with God.

I have found this to be so true in my life, so I’m sharing all of this from experience. In the Bible, it says, consider this: anxiety, stress, and fear can distract us from our relationship with God. Sorry, that’s not from scripture, but consider this: anxiety, stress, and fear can distract us from our relationship with God.

But the Bible does say in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

He even goes on further, the Lord does, and he tells us exactly what we need to focus on instead.

That’s in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.”

The truth is, we aren’t the first people to deal with anxiety, fear, and stress. The Bible mentions all of these things in different forms. You might remember the story of Esther, one of my favorite stories in scripture and Esther. Four. The Jewish people were anxious because of a Roman decree, a royal decree, that had been set, and they were going to be killed.

However, Esther was working to save them. She, too, is anxious as she was risking her life on behalf of her people. Fear, death, and the unknown are key elements of anxiety. This is why not all anxiety is sinful, but we do not know what God tells, but we do know that God tells us in Matthew six to not worry about the necessities of life.

This is probably the verse that sticks out in our minds when we think about what the Bible says about anxiety. It says in Matthew 6 25, “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body. What you will wear is not more than food and the body more than clothes.”

It continues in verses 26 and 27. “Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not so much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying at a single hour to your life?”

Another example from God’s word that I’m reminded of often is when I think of fear and anxiety is the story of Jesus and the disciples in the boat.

During a storm, the disciples easily became distressed because of the storm, but Jesus remained calm. He even rebuked them for their lack of faith, but he also rebuked the wind and the waves. One thing that we must always remember is that as long as Jesus is there, there is nothing to fear.

So I want you to think about this as you ponder the things that anxiety and fear have brought into your life.

I know I have plenty of stories that I could share with you about times when anxiety and fear took over my life in a big way. But each time I was always brought back to scripture when I really sat and thought about it, when I really sat and gave it to the Lord. And almost every single time he would take me to those two scriptures I shared with you, the ones in Philippians four and Matthew six, and I wondered sometimes, why do you keep bringing me back to these scriptures?

But the Lord was reminding me of what he promises in scripture. So every time I prayed, he brought me back to those scriptures. I hope that you will find some key verses of scripture that will help you in times of anxiety. Keep those key verses near and dear to you. Either memorize them or write them on a couple of note cards and stick them in your purse or your wallet or your car, or clip ’em up on the mirror in your bathroom.

These are ways that we can use scripture to help overcome our anxiety. I hope that you’ll put this into practice in your life this week.

Need some Scriptures to focus on.  Download my free list of 80+ verses that talk about “fear not”.  Click on the image below to download.

The post What the Bible Says about Anxiety appeared first on Alyssa Avant.

Today, we’re going to talk about why seeing a counselor can help with your anxiety. I want to share first of all that I have personally benefited from counseling. In fact, I have been seeing a new counselor for several months now. I know that a few weeks ago, when we relaunched the podcast, I had my friend Deanna Woods on. She has a counseling practice in my local area here in Mississippi. However, because of my insurance, I was able to get a telehealth professional counselor, and I actually do my counseling sessions through Zoom.

Hesitations

We’re going to talk about why counseling can be such an important step when dealing with anxiety and how it can work hand in hand with our faith. I know that many individuals are hesitant about counseling for different reasons.

One reason might be that you think to yourself, “I should be able to pray my way through this.”  I have mistakenly thought that myself in the past. I have received or been through counseling on and off for many years, especially when there are times that I can’t seem to find my way out of a particular anxiety-ridden situation. In order to do that, I have found a counselor who has been the perfect person for that.

Another common hesitation that can sometimes prevent someone from looking into counseling is the fear of being judged as weak or lacking faith. The truth is, many times people won’t even realize unless you tell them that you’re going to a counselor. A counselor has legal reasons to keep your information private. Remember, it’s not something that you have to share with others unless you choose to.

That goes into the third hesitation, which is worry about what others in your church or your family might think. Now, you’re probably going to tell your family, but personally, I haven’t gone around telling my church family about my counseling. You will, however, probably tell your family, especially if you’re married, your husband, or your wife; outside of that relationship, it’s not something you have to share, as I said, unless you choose to. These are some of the practical hesitations. The biggest hesitation for me was the lack of time, the lack of money, or worrying about finding the right counselor.

God Works The Details Out

Because I chose to do an online service, I was afraid that I might not get someone who understood my faith because this service was not solely faith-based. For me, my anxiety and my faith go hand in hand. I believe that God works out the details in those situations because even though she is not marketed as a faith-based counselor or Christian counselor, she does understand my faith, and it has been a good fit for me.

I want to reassure you that counseling is not a lack of faith. It’s a source or a resource that God can provide. Please look into the different options that you have for obtaining counseling, because they could be provided by your insurance. You might be able to find something locally for a low cost or on a sliding scale fee. One of the times in the past that I sought out counseling, I was able to get counseling for a lesser cost than what it might normally cost by doing this. Definitely look into your options.

How Counseling Can Help

I want to share with you five ways counseling can help you. Counseling does many things.

First of all, counseling provides a safe and confidential space to process your thoughts.

As I shared with you, I will go many times because I’m in a situation in which I don’t know what else to do in that situation. Because of that, my anxiety is high. By seeing my counselor, I’m able to talk with someone who is removed from my situation, and I have been able to process my thoughts, feelings, and anxiety. Therefore, it has helped me to move forward. This is why I encourage you to do counseling, because it is a safe space.

Secondly, it helps you identify triggers and patterns in your anxiety.

I have suffered from anxiety since I was eight years old; it has been a large portion of my life because I’m in my forties. Since I have suffered from anxiety and dealt with anxiety for many years, I have learned my triggers and patterns. I highly recommend that you do this. It’s almost like if you have an addiction; for example, when you’re trying to overcome that addiction, you tend to stay away from whatever the addiction is. You don’t go around those things as often. And so with anxiety, you don’t want to put yourself in situations that will cause your anxiety to be triggered. learning those triggers through counseling is beneficial to you.

Thirdly, it offers tools and techniques.

If you listened to the podcast with Deanna, the counselor, she talked about some different techniques that you could use. She talked about grounding. She also talked about breathing and reframing your thoughts. Those are just a few of the many examples of techniques you can learn from your counselor. They will walk you through some of these techniques and tools that you can use to help you with your anxiety. I have experienced these tools and techniques, and they have been beneficial to me in the past.

Fourth, it gives you someone to walk alongside you who offers you accountability and encouragement.

Many times, we tend to put off or procrastinate dealing with our emotions because we don’t know how to deal with them, or we get overwhelmed. Because of this, having someone to encourage you and to hold you accountable—that “Hey, let’s try something different”—helps to overcome the anxiety that you have. That’s what a counselor can do.

Finally, number five, it normalizes the struggle and reduces isolation. It can help you to feel like you’re not alone.

You have someone on your side who you can talk to because, in many cases, maybe you can’t talk to your family members, or you can’t talk to your friends about what you’re dealing with because they don’t understand. Counseling gives you a person who does and has the tools and techniques to help you to overcome.

So I want to also talk about one of the reasons that people are hesitant. Often, they believe they are not leaning into their faith enough. Or that they might not be praying enough.

I want to tell you how these two things can work together. Counseling doesn’t replace prayer or scripture. It complements it. God gives us the provision of counselors to help us. Even the Bible talks about it in Proverbs 11:14, “where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” It is wise to seek help. It is using wisdom, not weakness, when you seek help.

When to Seek Counseling

Now, here are some examples of when you should choose to seek counseling.

1. When anxiety interferes with your daily life, your work, your relationships, or your sleep.
2. When anxiety attacks are frequent or overwhelming.
3. When you’ve tried self-help tools, but you still feel stuck.
4. When you’re carrying constant guilt, fear, or hopelessness.

Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Take some practical first steps. Pray for guidance in choosing a counselor and ask for referrals. You can even look at directories such as Psychology Today that Deanna mentioned last week. I want to encourage you to take that first step that is brave and that is faith-filled.

Let Us Pray

I pray that this encouraged your heart and reminded you that you don’t have to face anxiety alone. God is with you, and peace is possible through Him.

If today’s episode blessed you, would you do me a quick favor? Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode and share it with a friend who might need some encouragement, too. And don’t forget, you can grab your free resource, 5 Days of Peace, a scripture and prayer guide for anxiety. 

It’s a simple way to invite God’s peace into your everyday life. Until next time, remember this: you are not alone, you are deeply loved, and you can find peace one step at a time through faith.

The post Why Seeing a Counselor Can Help with Anxiety appeared first on Alyssa Avant.

She is passionate about fostering honest conversations that break down the stigma surrounding mental health. With a compassionate heart, Dayna seeks to remind others that they are not alone and that healing is possible one step at a time.

I am so happy she agreed to do this interview. This is more of a testimonial-style conversation between her and me. It is about her experience with anxiety throughout her life. She and I have connected before on this topic because it’s something we had in common, and I am going to let her tell you about when the anxiety started in her life.

How it started

Dayna Clunan: Anxiety started for me probably around six or seven years old. I remember bits and pieces about some of my anxiety, but I have what they call contamination OCD. So with that, I also have emetophobia, which is the fear of getting sick. I’ve witnessed a lot of sickness, like deadly sickness, in my life at a young age. So that is what I believe triggered my anxiety in the first place, at such a young age.

Alyssa: Right!

Dayna Clunan: I don’t really remember life without anxiety, honestly. It just grew worse and worse as I got older and older. I have lived this for a long time.

Alyssa: Wow! I also started really young, around eight years old. What are some of the ways that anxiety has affected your life on a day-to-day basis?

Dayna Clunan: It’s hard if you do not have anxiety; a lot of people don’t understand how it’s not just an on and off switch. That you can’t just turn it off or tell yourself, it’s just your mind; it’s not real because there really is more to it than just that. If it were that easy, I could easily just turn it off.

With my day-to-day life, anxiety has just really changed the way I view things, especially with my OCD and my emetophobia added to it. I am not big on crowds. If somebody’s been sick or if I think there’s going to be a trigger with my anxiety, I try not to go to those places. With my day-to-day life, it gets hard some days to want to get out and do what I’m supposed to do.

What About Covid?

Alyssa: Because you self-protect yourself. Could you give me some examples of how this has affected you? I know during COVID, for a lot of us who have anxiety, it really affected us. Did you see that as well in your life?

Dayna Clunan: Actually, COVID was a break for me, which is very strange because it was a scary time, but everybody was taking so many precautions at that stage that it felt like almost everybody got a glimpse as to what my life was

Alyssa: Wow. Yeah, that’s true.

Dayna Clunan: With everybody taking precautions, I felt a little safer to get out and do things that I needed to do. Everybody was shut in, too. So it was like, okay, this is a time where I can just breathe. And it was honestly a reflection time for me just to be able to keep my head above the water and be on land for a little bit.

Alyssa: Yeah, it’s awesome that it gave you a reprieve instead of more anxiety. I know for me, anxiety has kept me from doing certain things throughout my life. What are some of the things that it might have kept you from doing?

Dayna Clunan: Probably just living my life to the absolute fullest. There have been times when I have wanted to do things, but it has stopped me from doing them. Like going on trips with family or just spending time with family. It stopped me from taking in the precious memories.

The Medication Question

Alyssa: Let me ask you this. This is a controversial piece on anxiety, but have you ever taken medication for your anxiety, and has it helped you in any way?

Dayna Clunan: Okay, so before a year and a half ago, I realized it had gotten worse. I did not take medication. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in medication; it was more about my relationship with God. I just really wanted to give him all of my anxiety, cares, and worries. I don’t want to say it pulled me away from God, but I was focusing more on my triggers and my anxiety than on praying and really giving it over to him. At one point, it got really bad, to the point where I was having anxiety attacks five out of seven days a week. And my attacks would sometimes last maybe an hour, but most of them lasted all day, on and off.

Alyssa: Hours and hours. Yeah.

Dayna Clunan: Yeah. I was mentally and physically exhausted. When it got to that point, I said, “Lord, I know that you provide for me, and I know that you have provided doctors that can help me be able to live and focus on you because I’m losing my focus.” I did start taking medication, and I’m still on medication. Personally, it has helped me be able to live the life that I’ve wanted to live. I am grateful for it. I understand that not a lot of people want to take medicine, and that’s okay. But for me, medication has truly changed my life.

Faith Plays a Part

Alyssa: Exactly. And I think that as a Christian, it’s okay to do that. That’s just my personal opinion. As you said, God gives us these resources, and he gives us ways to help in our lives. And that’s one of them. It has given me the ability to do things I probably would not be able to do without taking the medication.

I’ve tried to explain to people before that even with medicine, it doesn’t make it all go away. There’s no cure; it’s not going to completely go away. We still have to have our faith in the equation, so to speak, to live daily with anxiety. This leads me to my last question for you, and that is, how has your faith played a part in helping you to cope with your anxiety?

Dayna Clunan: It has really played a big part in it. I always think about the scripture, “Have you tried my servant Job?” That’s one thing that has always just stuck with me when dealing with anxiety. Even though my anxiety attacks were really bad, I would try to breathe through them and say,” Have you tried my servant Job?”

Who we are is no different than Job. We’re not going to have it easy all the time. God gives us tests and trials to bring out testimonies and triumphs. That scripture has always stuck with me, along with Psalm 23. I know that no matter what is going on in my life or with my anxiety, I know I am going to be okay because he’s not only walking with me, but he’s also carrying me through the valleys.

Alyssa: That’s right, absolutely. Being able to go to him in faith and trusting that he’s going to get you through that next tough season, issue, or worry is a relief for us as Christians to know that we can do that.

I just want to thank you so much for coming on the podcast because I wanted others to see that they’re not alone and that they have the ability to overcome and to cope with anxiety daily. And I just appreciate your sharing your heart and your testimony with us today.

Dayna Clunan: Absolutely.

I pray that this conversation encouraged your heart and reminded you that you don’t have to face anxiety alone. God is with you, and peace is possible through Him.

If today’s episode blessed you, would you do me a quick favor? Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode and share it with a friend who might need some encouragement, too. And don’t forget, you can grab your free resource, 5 Days of Peace, a scripture and prayer guide for anxiety @alyssaavant.com.

It’s a simple way to invite God’s peace into your everyday life. Until next time, remember this: you are not alone, you are deeply loved, and you can find peace one step at a time through faith.

The post Faith in the Middle of Anxiety: A Conversation with Dayna Clunan appeared first on Alyssa Avant.

In this episode of Overcoming Anxiety Through Faith, I sit down with Deanna Woods, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Woods Wellness and Counseling. With over 20 years of experience in healthcare, including hospice care, Deanna brings both professional insight and a compassionate heart to the conversation.

Tools To Use

The post Is Anxiety a Sin? A Faith & Counseling Perspective with Deanna Woods appeared first on Alyssa Avant.

If you’re new here, I want to give you a big welcome. If you’ve been listening since the early days when I launched this podcast back in 2021 and into 2022, I’m so glad that you’ve come back. It means so much to me that you are here.

The podcast has been on pause for a season, and today I wanted to share why I stepped away, why I’m coming back, and most importantly, how God has been at work in my life and in this message.

So here’s what you can expect moving forward:

• Honest conversations about anxiety
• Encouragement straight from God’s Word
• Some practical tools to help you trust God in the middle of worry and overwhelm.

If anxiety has been weighing heavily on your heart, then my prayer is that this podcast will become a safe place where you can breathe deeply, feel seen, and also find peace through faith.

My Journey

I want to share with you about the pause and about the return. Obviously, what brought me to do this podcast was what I experienced, like the rest of the country, during the pandemic of 2020, and how that affected so many people.

I believe that anxiety skyrocketed, even tripled, during that time period. If it were not for my faith, I don’t believe that I would have done as well as I did during that season.

I wanted to share that there is data that came out during 2020 that about 36% of US adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, which remained elevated throughout the pandemic, and I believe has continued to stay elevated to this day. So, that’s what made me decide to do the podcast. But as you may or may not be aware, I also have a lot of other things going on in my life. 

Reasons for the pause

One reason I paused is that I have another podcast. It’s called the Christian Business Advantage, and it is part of the tools that I use to market my virtual assistant agency, Alyssa Avant and Company. 

I use that podcast to help reach the Christian author speakers and coaches that we serve through Alyssa Avant and Company. I found it hard to juggle more than one podcast.

The second reason was that my children were younger; they were still in middle school or junior high and high school, and now they are all three in college, and there were just so many things going on.

Relaunch

Now feels like the right time to relaunch this podcast. One reason is I believe when God puts something on your heart to speak out about, talk about, or share about, that He will do it repeatedly until you are obedient. So, He has brought up the topic of anxiety as something for me to share about now and to write a book on soon. What better way to prepare for that than to share on a podcast?

You can always go back and listen to former episodes of the podcast from the early days.

One of them is entitled My Story, and it’s one of the very first episodes that I launched on this podcast.

God accompanied me through anxiety, from being diagnosed with it at eight years old to my adult management, which began about seven or eight years ago when God found me in a hospital room.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons this season about peace, trust, and his presence.

I know that I’m not the only one who has faced anxiety, fear, and worry, and that’s why this podcast is important to me.

The Mission

The mission of this podcast is to help Christian women find peace and strength in God when anxiety hits. I want to do this through scripture-based encouragement because it is my faith that has helped me through prayer and practical tools. Also, in the past, when I did this, I did very few guest conversations or guest testimonies. I have already lined up for the first two episodes some guests who are going to provide a safe place for women who feel overwhelmed by anxiety.

The first guest is actually a woman whom I know in my community. She and I connected in various ways, and because of our random friendship, we have struck up conversations about anxiety.

I knew that she and I had that in common, and I knew from her post, even on Facebook, that she had always gone to God with her anxiety. I’ve seen her give testimony of how God has helped her through these times in her life.

So, I immediately reached out to her and asked if she would be on an episode, and Dayna said yes. I will interview her, but I also, I have a friend from junior high and high school who recently started her own counseling practice, and I know she has the knowledge and expertise that she could share from a more clinical perspective, and I will interview Deanna as well. She’s going to bring that professional knowledge to us, so you’re not alone, and we will walk this journey together.

I hope you will subscribe to the podcast so that you don’t miss any new episodes.

I also created a free resource, The Five Days of Peace Guide,

So let’s close this episode in prayer.

Father, I thank you for everyone who has pressed play today on this podcast episode.

You know their heart; you know their worries, and you know exactly why they need you in this very moment.

I pray You will give them peace, the peace that passes all understanding, and that would cover their mind and calm their anxious thoughts and remind them You are with them, that You are for them, and that nothing is too heavy for You to carry.

Lord, help us all to trust you more deeply, to release what we can’t control, and to rest in your presence in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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How I Chose the Word Endurance

This year as I prayed about my word the Lord revealed the following verses to me:

” For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

Colossians 1:9-13

Specifically, verse 11 says, ^“being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,”

From this, the word endurance stuck out to me, and that was the word that I chose for 2022.  I posted about it on my Instagram account and shared the truth about this word.  It scares me.

As I suspected already in the first 19 days of 2022 I have had some lessons in my life that have caused me to learn more about what it means to endure.

As my pastor was preaching on Sunday, this year has started off much like the last two, with lots of uncertainty and unrest in our world.  He mentioned how we might be living in the “new normal” the media keeps warning us about, whatever that means.

After the last Sunday in December, our church family was hit by COVID-19 hard for the first time since the pandemic began.  Unfortunately, we were unable to meet in person for almost two weeks.  During this two-week period, my family also faced some trials.

You may have heard of something that the world refers to as Murphy’s Law.  The first of Murphy’s Laws is this: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. ”

Over the course of those two weeks, the following all happened in my household:

1. We took our new-to-us Chrysler Pacifica van into the dealership to be serviced and discovered the transmission was going out on it after we’d only made 10 car payments.
2. Our dishwasher quit unexpectedly.
3. Our dog ate a mouse poison packet while we were replacing said dishwasher with a new one.

After those things had happened and we decided to trade in the van for a vehicle with a better working transmission, I was talking to my 18-year-old son and told him, “Whatever you do, avoid choosing endurance as your word of the year.”  He laughed and said, “You did say you were scared of it.”

But all joking aside, even though I have already ‘endured” much in the first few days of 2022, God has also blessed us much as well.

We now have a new-to-us Nissan Rogue that has a lower monthly payment, lower insurance, and a lower car tag.  We have a working dishwasher and our hound dog is still alive and well.

God is already teaching me much in 2022, which I am attempting to share with my children as I try to teach them what endurance in the Christian life means.

As mentioned in this week’s podcast, I have begun blogging for a ministry called Rise Up Christian Counseling. This is a nonprofit organization that I feel would be a valuable resource for those who struggle with mental illness or just everyday life.  They offer free Biblical counseling.

The Lord led me to this organization and gave me the opportunity to become a contributing blogger for them, so I am excited about what He is going to do through this ministry.

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From a Christian perspective, this particular definition, which I got from battlefocused.org in an article about spiritual warfare. It says that spiritual warfare is the cosmic war of good versus evil. Its battles are fought daily between God and Satan, between the Christian Church and the world system ruled by our spiritual enemy. Within every child of God, between the Holy Spirit and the lust of the carnal flesh, the clear meanings of good and evil as defined by God rather than man are revealed within the verses of the Holy Bible and the life of Jesus Christ.

According to the book, The Adversary by Mark L. Bubeck, the book of Ephesians is the New Testament Handbook on spiritual warfare. The defeat of our enemy depends on the reliance upon the word of God, the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have to be honest and admit that up until the past few years of my life, I was not very knowledgeable on the subject of spiritual warfare. Unfortunately, this topic is one that I feel is not covered well in most churches. I’ve been a Christian since the age of nine, and I have been very involved in the local church. Up until about three years ago, I had never heard the term.

To simplify the idea of spiritual warfare, we must think of life as a battle between two distinct areas: the spiritual realm and the world itself.

Unfortunately, there is a lot that takes place between the forces of good and evil that takes place in the spiritual realm, which we cannot see, and because we cannot see it, it makes it so much harder to understand.

This is why spiritual warfare should be founded and grounded upon the growing use of the word of God. The world is the enemy of all believers. It is a spiritual system of things that opposes God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Over the past 18 months or so, you would’ve had to be living under a rock not see the absolute unrest that our world is in.

If we study scripture, we will see just how much of this was predicted in scripture hundreds of years ago.

None of this is taking the Lord by surprise. However, as the term might suggest, spiritual warfare is a war. We are engaged in a war where we cannot see with our eyes the adversary. For some of us, it’s much easier to just close our eyes and pretend that our adversary, the devil, does not exist, rather than be fully aware of his presence and his war on our lives.

If we choose to ignore or not believe in the spiritual realm, we will find ourselves confused, frustrated, and quenching the peace that God has promised to each of us. The best defense is a strong offense. Just educating ourselves about the spiritual realm is half the fight. God gives us everything we need to be victorious in the other half.

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God’s Miracle Math

An Example of Anxiousness

“Well, how much money do we have?” My husband asked.

I cringed every time I heard those words. It was the end of the month, which meant the end of the money. In my years of working from home, I haven’t always known where the money we needed was going to come from, but I can tell you it has always shown up. I like to call it God’s Miracle Math.

Being able to trudge through even on our bad days all comes down to our willingness to put our trust in God, not in our ability to earn money. When I quit my salaried part-time job, I gave up a steady income. I quit in March, and by October, my family and I were feeling the pinch on our finances.

I knew I had to do something, and God provided a way for me to make income from home with my writing in addition to the sporadic income I was making through speaking events over those four years. From when I quit my job to when I wrote this book, my faith has increased, and I have watched God provide for me again and again.

That has continued since 2013, when I wrote this book, and one of our keys to dealing with your finances and your financial concerns is to realize that everything we have belongs to God. Here’s what God’s Word says about this. God entrusts us with what he gives us, not only monetarily, but also with the gifts and the talents that He has blessed us with.

That is why it’s so important we realize we have gifts and then use them. This is why we focus on God’s gifts so heavily in this book.

A Scriptural Story of Giving

Scripture tells us, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” This is from Luke 12:48.

We must faithfully use our talents and our money wisely. God will bless us for what we choose to do with what we have been given.

Let’s recall the parable of the bags of gold from Matthew 25:14-28. It is about a man who went on a journey and entrusted his wealth to his servants.

“To one, he gave five bags of gold, to another, two bags, and to another, one bag, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.

“The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.

“So also, the one with two bags also gained two more.

“But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.

“The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

“So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?

Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.

“For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

“Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This story helps us to see clearly that God is faithful, and His blessings are abundant when we are faithful to Him and with the blessings He has given us.

He also promises in Joshua 1:5, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

These words—that I will never leave you nor forsake you—are found in Scripture multiple times. Our Lord knows and wants us to know that He will take care of us. If you are not already aware of God’s faithfulness, learn to trust Him. He will never let you down.

A Command of Charity

Be willing to give back to Him, since He has already given so much to you. One way to do this is through tithing. I admit that this was a struggle for me in my early years of marriage.

Growing up, I’m sure my father and my mother tithed, but it wasn’t something we talked about. We’d give a dollar here or there in Sunday school or in the offering plate, but I don’t recall a time in my life where we had a conversation about the meaning of tithes or how tithing worked. My education on tithing has come from what I call the school of hard knocks.

Early in my marriage, I was determined to do well with my finances. But despite my best efforts, I still struggled.

One of the common questions I was asked when I sought help with finances was, do you tithe? Every person who asked me this backed up their question with the loving advice that you cannot out-give God. They assured me that God would bless my efforts.

Soon, my husband and I began to tithe, and I can honestly recall story after story of times that I would write out my tithe check, lay it in the offering plate, and say a prayer that I would have enough money for the other needs that we had that week.

Each time, not only did we have the money, but many times we were blessed with more. A new client would appear, someone would give us a few dollars here or there, or maybe someone would even bring us food or items.

That was just what we needed at the time. We had blessings such as a church member giving us this gigantic garbage bag full of diapers at a time when I had two babies in diapers.

A Faithful Father

God shows up in big ways and in small ways, and He will do the same for you when you are obedient to Him and what His Word teaches. His Word teaches us to tithe. To tithe means to give back a tenth of what has been given to you as part of trusting God. We must learn to give back our tithe. Scripture tells us this.

This means if we make a hundred dollars, we should give back ten dollars to God when we tithe. It is my feeling that we should tithe to the local church. However, some of you are called to give above and beyond the tithe, and that would be considered an offering.

My husband and I often give offerings for special funds that they collect at church. Many times, this goes to help with disaster relief, church plants, mission trips, and other specific ministries. An offering is optional, but either way, when we give to the Lord, we will see results.

The Lord is clear that He loves a cheerful giver and He will bless abundantly for our obedience to His commands.

Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Though I have been the receiver of God’s blessings, I’ve often done the hard things to follow His Word. This does not mean that I have not done so with fear and trembling many times. Let me tell you one of these stories.

I sat in the college parking lot and hurriedly dialed the automatic teller at the bank. I fumbled to punch in my bank account and pin, and the automated voice came over the line.

“Your account balance is negative six dollars and six cents.”

My heart sank, and my throat clogged. Tears stung my eyes as I realized what had happened.

This was the first time in my young marriage that this happened. Furiously, I hung up the phone and dialed my husband’s number, terrified of what his reaction might be. I explained to him what happened through my sobs.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Alyssa,” he said carefully. “It happens to people every day. It could be worse. I get paid tomorrow.”

My husband has always been that calm and level-headed constant in my life. My anxiety levels can soar and bottom out within a matter of minutes, but my husband can level out the playing field.

Early in my marriage, while I was still in college, my husband supported us on his salary. Three to five days a week, I would make a 70-mile one-way road trip to college for classes and back home. And for months, I had been listening to this money guy who came on the radio every day. You’ve probably heard of the famous Dave Ramsey. Dave shared his tried-and-true plan for financial peace with his guests.

As a newlywed, I truly wanted to live a debt-free lifestyle. So, one day I called the show, and Dave generously gifted me a copy of his first book as a late wedding gift. I began to write budgets and plan our finances because of this. But most months, even recent months in our lives, I’ve looked at our finances and thought we would end up with more money left than money.

We have always made it through, though I cannot quite tell you how it happened other than God’s provision. Unfortunately, we’ve created some debt along the way. A house, a minivan, not to mention medical bills, private school tuition, and other decisions that Dave might call the stupid tax, were made.

But as a Christian mom who’s also a business owner, it’s imperative that all areas of our lives be in line with Scripture. And Scripture tells us that the borrower is a slave to the lender.

So, I’m still trying to get out of debt. I wish my husband and I could have avoided debt at all costs. As a Christian, my debts from the past weigh heavily on my heart. Having a good portion of our income each month going to debt is disheartening, but I want to be faithful in paying those debts off.

If you or your family aren’t currently in debt, please don’t make the mistake of funding your business through debt. I’ve done that before, and it definitely wasn’t worth it.

But I will say that God has always been faithful, and we have always had our needs provided for, whether those needs were met through monetary earnings that we had through my business, or through my husband’s job, or through a gift from someone, or many other times that things just coincidentally happened. All the time, it was God’s provision that was making a way for us.

So, it is my prayer that this podcast episode has been a blessing to you, and you can see how God is providing. If one of your biggest anxieties is like mine and it’s about money, I encourage you to look back on your life, to look at your situation, and to see how, if you’ve been obedient to God, he has provided for you.

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You Are Not Alone

Dealing with Anxiety

I took a poll this past week on my Facebook page. Family, friends, and associates answered the poll, and I’m not going to name anyone, but I wanted you to realize that you are not alone in dealing with anxiety. I wanted you to know that you can overcome anxiety, which is what this podcast is all about, but I feel like just sharing my story may not be enough.

I’ve overcome anxiety, though there are times that I still deal with it. This past week, I’ve had some things in my personal life that have caused my anxiety to spike, and sometimes that happens. I just wanted you to see that you are not alone in this.

Statistics

So, let’s start with the statistics that I found, and then I’m going to share from my Facebook post some of the things that people just like you struggle with. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults in the US ages 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.

Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only 36.9% of those suffering ever received treatment. It’s okay to ask for help. 

People with anxiety disorders are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than those who do not suffer from anxiety. Anxiety Disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events.

Personal examples

I asked this simple question on my Facebook page last week: “What is something you struggle with regarding anxiety?” This way, you can see what others are feeling and dealing with when it comes to anxiety.

Some answers included social anxiety, fear of failure, and accomplishing tasks. People build it up in their minds that they’re not going to be able to complete a project, so that causes anxiety. Other answers included things being out of order, the unknown, fear of public speaking—even in small groups. 

One person mentioned self-doubt and trusting the wrong people. Several people mentioned crowds, public spaces, and anxiety over health. One mom of twins said that her anxiety is more about her kids. She doesn’t know if she has what she needs, but she said she knows God has her.

One woman mentioned anxiety on the road, and I agreed with her because driving and traffic have definitely become a source of anxiety as I’ve gotten older. 

These were some comments from 24 different individuals. Many of the comments were the same, and many of the people agreed with each other. This is a problem. This is a disorder, a situation that plagues a lot of people, and you are not by yourself in this. 

The biblical response

The last commenter said that she went to God in prayer in these situations. And honestly, this is the best thing to do. 

If you have listened to some of my previous episodes, I’ve talked about how we need to replace those anxious thoughts and renew our minds as the Bible tells us. Here are some ways to do that:

1. Immediately catch yourself when you have anxious thoughts.
2. Turn your thoughts over to God in prayer.
3. Replace anxious thoughts—not just with positive thoughts, but with God’s word and what God’s word says about us as Christians. 

This is the path that you must take to overcome your anxiety.

If you haven’t listened to episode four about your thought life, it talks about this, and I encourage you to go back and listen, because this is how we all can overcome anxiety through faith.

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