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Barefoot Conversations

Barefoot Conversations

Written by: Rachel D Fox
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Hey, I'm Rachel D. Fox — but you can call me Rachel.

I created Barefoot Conversations because I know what it's like to wear the mask. To perform. To smile when you're falling apart inside. I know what it feels like to run from your own story because it's too heavy to carry, let alone speak out loud. I know what it's like to look in the mirror and not recognize the woman staring back — because somewhere along the way, you lost her.

And I also know what it feels like to come home. To finally stop running. To let God meet you right where you are — messy, broken, tired — and hear Him say, "I've been waiting for you."

The name of this podcast comes from Moses at the burning bush. Before God gave him his calling, He told him to take off his sandals. Holy ground required bare feet. Vulnerability before calling. Surrender before assignment. That's the foundation of every conversation I have here. We take off the masks. We stop performing. We get down to the truth about what it really took to come home to ourselves and to God.

Each episode, I sit across from a woman who's walked through something that tried to take her out. Abuse. Addiction. Betrayal. Loss. Broken marriages. Shattered identities. Trauma that doesn't have a name. The kind of pain you don't talk about at brunch. The kind you bury so deep you convince yourself it's gone — until it isn't.

And she tells me the truth. Not the cleaned-up version. Not the testimony with the pretty bow on it. The real one. The version with tears and laughter and long pauses and "I can't believe I'm saying this out loud." The version that makes you feel like you're sitting right there with us, leaning in, holding your breath, and whispering, "Me too."

This isn't a self-help podcast. I'm not here to give you five steps to fix your life. I'm not here to tell you to pray harder or trust more or get over it already. I'm here to sit with you in the mess and remind you that you're not alone. That your story matters. That the woman you buried under all that pain and all those years of surviving? She's still in there. And God's not done with her yet.

This podcast is for you if you've been through something that tried to break you — and you're still here. If you've been wearing the mask so long you forgot what your real face looks like. If you've been performing for everyone else and you're exhausted. If you're in the middle of a season that doesn't make sense and you just need someone to say, "I see you. I've been there. Keep going."

It's for you if you grew up in the church but your faith got complicated somewhere along the way. If you love God but you've got questions. If you're not sure where you stand but you know you're searching for something real.

It's for you if you've been called crazy, too much, too sensitive, too broken. If people have counted you out. If you've counted yourself out.

It's for you if you're ready to stop hiding and start healing. If you're ready to reclaim the parts of yourself you thought were gone forever. If you're ready to remember who you've always been.

I'm not here to preach at you. I'm here to sit with you. To hold space for you. To remind you that it's not too late. It's never too late to come home.

So pull up a chair. Grab some coffee or tea. Take a deep breath. And let's have a conversation — the kind that changes something inside of you.

This is Barefoot Conversations. Real women. Real stories. Real faith. No masks allowed.

Let's go barefoot.

2026 Rachel D Fox Christianity Hygiene & Healthy Living Ministry & Evangelism Spirituality
Episodes
  • The Thing That Was Worse Than Cancer | Kat's Story

    The Thing That Was Worse Than Cancer | Kat's Story
    Jun 26 2026

    Some stories make you wonder how one person carried all of it and still kept her faith. This is one of those.

    In this episode of Barefoot Conversations, I sit down with my friend Kat, a breast cancer survivor, author, and trauma coach. Eighteen years ago she heard the three words nobody wants to hear: you have cancer. What she learned in that fight became the very thing that carried her through a season she calls harder than cancer itself.

    We get into the kind of betrayal that rearranges a person, what happens in the body and the brain when the hard things keep stacking up, forgiveness that has to be spoken more than once, and the question that changed everything for her: am I being punished, or have I been chosen?

    Kat does not tie it up with a bow. She is still walking it out, scars and all. But by the end she has a word for anyone sitting in a hard place: there is help, there is healing, and you are not nearly as alone as you have been told.

    If you have ever wondered where God was in your hardest season, pull up a chair. This one is for you.

    A gentle heads up: this conversation touches on illness, loss, and seasons of deep struggle. Take good care of your heart as you listen.

    IN THIS EPISODE

    - Why the lessons of cancer became the tools that carried her through what came next

    - Forgiveness as a daily practice, not a one time decision

    - How trauma that nobody names still shows up in the body

    - Where faith and the science of the brain finally meet

    - The Job and Joseph question: punished, or chosen?

    - A message of hope for anyone suffering in silence

    ABOUT KAT

    Kat is a breast cancer survivor, author, and trauma coach who walks with people through grief, betrayal, and the hard work of healing. Her devotional, Breast Cancer Radiant, was born out of her own treatment. Learn more at coachwithpurepeace.com.

    CONNECT

    Kat: coachwithpurepeace.com

    Rachel: www.racheldfox.com | rachel@racheldfox.com

    If this episode met you somewhere, share it with one person who needs it today, and follow Barefoot Conversations so you never miss a story.

    Rachel D. Fox, DSL

    CHAPTERS (optional, supported by Apple Podcasts and Spotify)

    00:00 The three words no one wants to hear

    01:17 A typical suburban mom, then a diagnosis

    03:18 Three weeks after radiation

    05:43 The trauma no one named

    08:32 The hard work of forgiveness

    10:45 Why she speaks forgiveness out loud

    12:40 When radiation became radiant

    15:54 The book that came from the table

    16:20 Keeping life normal for the kids

    19:23 A neurobiological break in trust

    20:13 Betrayal again, and nowhere to go

    25:03 When the body keeps the score

    29:32 Can you lose trust that God is good?

    32:16 When the church is not equipped for real pain

    34:08 Where faith meets the science of the brain

    38:59 Punished, or chosen?

    41:36 A masterpiece in the making

    46:04 Why she is telling this story now

    48:02 Her message to you: there is hope

    51:52 Where to find Kat
    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • She Survived, Then She Rose: Surviving, Getting Sober, and Building a Ministry - Julie's Story

    She Survived, Then She Rose: Surviving, Getting Sober, and Building a Ministry - Julie's Story
    May 29 2026

    Julie Shrader knows what it is to survive. Exploitation, abuse, homelessness, years lost to alcohol, and a voice in her own head telling her she was trash. In this episode, she sits down with me and tells the whole truth about how a trafficking survivor becomes a woman who founds a ministry to help set other women free.

    We talk about the day she heard God say "Julie, I told you to stop," and how 14 years of sobriety started not with willpower but with obedience. We get into the part nobody warns you about, that getting saved is not the end of the struggle, it is the beginning of the journey. Julie shares the tear that rolled down her father's face on his deathbed, the wrestling season that felt a whole lot like Jacob, and the gut punch of losing a ministry she poured 12 years of her life into.

    Then we get to the new thing. Innocence Freed. Same heart, same mission, brand new wineskin, including a free boutique where trafficking survivors of every age can come shop in private and feel human again.

    If you have ever felt like you were too far gone, too messed up, or too late in life for God to use you, pull up a chair. This is one to sit with.

    Listen, then share it with one person who needs to hear it today.

    A note for listeners: this conversation touches on abuse, addiction, and human trafficking. If you or someone you love is in danger, you are not alone and help exists. In the U.S. you can reach the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Sober, Saved, and Still Broken: A Journey to Becoming Whole - Amanda's Story

    Sober, Saved, and Still Broken: A Journey to Becoming Whole - Amanda's Story
    Apr 24 2026

    By 22, Amanda Lawrence had four DUIs, multiple arrests, and had failed out of college twice. The dreams she once had — law school, a future, a plan — were buried under drugs, alcohol, and a three-day party that ended in an overdose.

    She woke up in her apartment that Christmas and looked in the mirror. She had no idea who she was looking at.

    That was 2006.

    Today, Amanda holds a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling. She founded Haia Ministries, which offers mentorship, faith-integrated counseling, and is opening a sober living discipleship home for women. She's living proof that God meets us in our lowest moments — and doesn't leave us there.

    In this conversation, Amanda shares it all: the childhood sexual abuse that started her running, the darkness that almost took her out, the woman named Carolyn who loved her without an agenda, and the moment she finally surrendered.

    If you're in a season where you feel too far gone, this episode is for you. You're not.

    🎧 Listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio & Apple Podcasts 📺 Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@RachelDFox 🌐 Learn more about Haia Ministries: www.chayahmin.org
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins
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