Christians With Chronic Illnesses
Magnifying the voices of chronically ill brothers and sisters to inspirit their health journeys and their faith.
Episodes
33 episodes
God "Told" Me to be a Missionary and Then I Got Sick with L. A. Sprague
When you’re convinced God gave you a specific assignment, it can become your whole identity. And when chronic illness shows up and takes your capacity, it can feel like you didn’t just lose a dream, you lost your direction, your faith confidenc...
Adenomyosis, Endometriosis, and Lament with Therapist Sharkia O'Garro
Pain can make you question everything you thought you knew about God and it can also make you feel painfully unseen by the people around you. I sit down with Shakira “Kira” O'Garro, a licensed mental health counselor who serves Christians navig...
How My Pentecostal Upbringing Helped and Hurt my Health with L. A. Sprague
Some church teachings feel like oxygen when you’re suffering and others quietly teach you to blame yourself for pain you never chose. We’re sharing a deeply personal story from my upbringing in Pentecostal and charismatic spaces, where the Holy...
Panic Attacks, Deconstruction, and Gluten-Free Donuts with Lexi Grey
A seizure in airport security, a college freshman year shaped by fear, and a long road through brain fog, pain flares, and panic attacks! We talk with Lexi about what it’s like to live as a Christian with chronic illness when your body feels un...
In Sickness and in Health with L. A. Sprague (AND HER HUSBAND :D)
Chronic illness doesn’t just change your body, it rewrites your calendar, your energy, and the way you measure a “good day.” We sit down as a newlywed Christian couple and talk honestly about marriage with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia...
Serving God Amidst Your Chronic Illness with Lindsey Rice
Pain that starts in childhood is hard enough. Being dismissed by doctors while you’re still trying to figure out who you are can shape your entire life. We sit down with Lindsay, a Chicago-based teacher and leader with Perspectives USA, to talk...
Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS): Deep Dive with L. A. Sprague
PCOS isn’t gone, but the name is changing for a reason. We’re talking about PMOS, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, and why this new label finally points to what so many people have felt for years: the problem is bigger than ovarian cys...
Depression, Epilepsy, and Praise with Becca Sugg
She broke her nose from a seizure a week before a major show and still performed. That single detail captures the tension we explore with Becca Sugg: the call to create, lead, and serve while living with chronic illness that can interrupt your ...
Reading Your Messages with L. A. Sprague
You can love Jesus and still be worn down to the bone. Today we're doing something simple but surprisingly powerful: reading your messages and responding in real time, with the deep breaths, low energy, and imperfect moments that come with life...
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Psoriasis, and Hope with "Jordan"
A “bad stomach bug” nearly took Jordan’s life and it became the moment she stopped trying to muscle through and started reaching for God again. Jordan joins us as a homesteader, artist, and future certified herbalist to share what it’s like liv...
Navigating Relationships with Chronic Illness with L. A. Sprague
Chronic illness doesn’t only change your body. It changes the way plans get made, the way texts get read, and the way silence can start to feel personal. We’ve both seen how quickly a flare-up can turn into guilt, defensiveness, or that awful q...
CRPS and Refinement with Benjamin Buckland
Pain can make you feel like your whole life has been reduced to symptoms, setbacks, and survival. Ben Buckland’s (Tried by Fire Podcast) story refuses that ending. After a workplace injury, Ben develops CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome), on...
Trusting People with Invisible Illness with L. A. Sprague
Skepticism about chronic illness is more common than people admit and it can quietly damage friendships, workplaces, and church community. So we tackle it head-on. Our host, L. A. Sprague, is answering listener questions while managing a rough ...
PCOS, Endometriosis, and Pastoring with Kylie Wicker
She’s a family pastor in Alaska, a lifelong Nazarene, and someone who goes home after church and crashes on the couch in pain. Kylie joins us to talk about what it’s like to lead in ministry while living with PCOS and suspected endometriosis, i...
Is God Good? Q&A with L. A. Sprague
A chronic illness diagnosis felt, to L. A. Sprague, like both a punch in the gut and a deep exhale at the same time. Having lived with unexplained symptoms, she understood that the real torment was often the unknown and the fear that nobody bel...
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Hashimoto's, and Poetry with Seth Noorzad
Your health can collapse in a way that looks invisible from the outside, yet changes everything on the inside. Seth Noorzad, a Santa Barbara attorney, joins us to tell the story of a sudden crash into chronic illness, a Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis ...
Friendship is Magic with L. A. Sprague (Half-time Show)
We sit down for a Halftime Show Q&A that gets real about chronic illness communication, especially the moment you realize your closest friends or family may not understand how much you’re struggling. We talk through a simple approach: ask i...
Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) and Christ's Ever Presence with Miles Washburn (Miles for GBS)
The day started with a lisp and a stubborn “I’m fine,” then crashed into choking on saliva and legs that wouldn’t rise. From that freefall, Miles met a rare diagnosis—Guillain-Barré syndrome—an ICU room, and a neurologist who moved fast. IVIG a...
Managing Symptoms: McDonalds, Bathroom Floors, and Battery?! with L. A. Sprague (Half-Time Show)
Join L. A. Sprague as she reviews some of TikTok and Reddit's most interesting, weird, and twisted ways of managing chronic illness symptoms including McDonald's burgers, fries, and coke, laying on bathroom floors for hour spurts at a time befo...
B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL), POTS, and Christ's Comfort with Emily Hermann
A cancer diagnosis at 28 weeks pregnant should shatter certainty—Emily chose to build something stronger. We sit down with her for a candid, heart-level conversation about B‑cell ALL, the shock of symptoms that didn’t add up, and the long road ...
You Called Me Out with L. A. Sprague (Half-Time Show)
What makes a day “good” when your body won’t cooperate? We open the door to your most honest questions and share the messy, hope-filled reality of living with chronic illness and active faith. From naming a POTS flare while recording to savorin...
Ankylosing Spondylitis, Crohn's, & Compassionate Parenting with David Heflin of Broken & Mended
What if the path through chronic pain isn’t about pretending it’s gone, but learning to live boldly because Jesus is with you? That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with David Heflin, former pastor and founder of Broken and Mended, a support...
The Powerful Vulnerability of the Chronically Ill Christian with L. A. Sprague (Half Time Show)
Everyone experiences vulnerability; being a faith-filled, chronically ill person increases that experience. Yet this is a chronically ill Christian’s secret power, not his/her weakness.Join L. A. Sprague as she expounds on Brené Brow...
Epilepsy, MCAS and Healing with Karlie Clee
What if healing doesn’t look like a cure, but like fewer seizures, gentler days, and a church that moves chairs so you can stay? Karlie joins us to share an unflinching story of misdiagnosis, an unexpected hysterectomy at 25, daily anaphylaxis ...
Your Ability is Not Your Value - Half-Time Show with L. A. Sprague
What if you aren't defined by what you can do, but by who you are? For listeners of faith, L. A. addresses the pressure to “believe it away.” She shares gentler ways to pray, scriptures that allow lament, and how to love without implying blame ...