Missy Hertless spent decades hiding a painful secret—until God gently called her to trade shame for freedom. In this tender yet bold episode, Missy shares her journey of post-abortive healing through the faith-based study Surrendering the Secret. She now walks with other women on their own paths to healing, showing that no one is beyond redemption. If you’ve ever wrestled with guilt, judgment, or silence in the church, this conversation will remind you that healing is possible—and it begins in the light.

🕊 Learn more: www.surrenderingthesecret.com
📧 Email Missy (Virginia groups): surrenderingthesecretva@gmail.com

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Jason Ward—Harvard-certified resiliency expert, licensed NLP practitioner, and Dr. Rewire facilitator—for a deeply honest conversation about abandonment, emotional repression, and the long road to freedom.

Jason opens up about a defining childhood moment: at seven years old, his father was supposed to pick him up—and never showed. That abandonment went unaddressed for years, quietly shaping Jason’s identity, relationships, and emotional responses. Though he told himself he was “fine,” the unresolved wound followed him into adulthood, surfacing as jealousy, anger, insecurity, and eventually the collapse of his marriage.

During his divorce, Jason sought help through therapy and personal development, but true breakthrough came when he addressed what he calls the root experience. Through hypnotherapy and later NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), Jason was able to access the unconscious beliefs formed in childhood—beliefs that told him he was unworthy, unlovable, and destined to be left.

Rather than labeling his past solely as “trauma,” Jason explains a powerful reframe: experiences themselves are neutral, but the emotion we attach to them becomes the root that shapes future behavior. When fear goes unnamed, it often disguises itself as anger. This insight becomes a central theme of the episode—especially for men who were taught to suppress emotion in the name of strength.

Jason and Wendy discuss how many men live disconnected from their emotional awareness, reacting instead of reflecting. Jason shares how healing the root transformed not only his internal world, but his marriage, expectations, faith, and leadership. He learned the difference between expectations and standards, releasing control while remaining grounded in his values.

Faith becomes a pivotal part of the story as Jason explains how healing allowed him to finally receive God’s unconditional love—something he intellectually knew, but emotionally resisted due to performance-based beliefs formed in childhood. Healing created space for surrender, and surrender opened the door to peace.

Today, Jason uses his testimony and training to help others—especially men and young people—navigate emotional awareness, identity, and freedom. He speaks in schools, athletic programs, and communities, helping teens understand emotions before they harden into patterns that follow them for life.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt abandoned, angry without knowing why, or trapped by reactions they couldn’t explain. It is a reminder that you are not broken—you are responding to a root that can be healed.

Website: https://jdubinsires.com

Instagram: @jwinspires

Also known as: JDub Inspires

Focus: Emotional healing, resilience, men’s identity work, youth speaking, NLP coaching

Jason welcomes conversations with individuals, parents, schools, and organizations seeking healing-centered leadership and emotional literacy.

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.

This episode speaks directly to the woman whose faith journey feels lonely inside her own marriage. Lee-Ann Werner shares how she and her husband met far from God, married young, and quickly entered decades marked by addiction, absence, and heartbreak. Just weeks into marriage, the illusion of “happily ever after” shattered, and for years Lee-Ann lived with the pain of a spouse who partied, disappeared for weeks at a time, and had no relationship with Christ.

Everything changed when Lee-Ann encountered God during a moment when she was ready to walk away. Instead of releasing her, God asked her to stay—and to allow Him to do a deeper work within her heart first. What followed was not a quick miracle, but a slow, refining journey that drew her closer to Christ while stripping away resentment, anger, and noise from outside voices.

Lee-Ann opens up about the dangers of listening to too many opinions, staying stuck in cycles of counseling without direction, and neglecting the importance of discernment. She explains why healing accelerated when she learned to quiet the noise, anchor herself in God’s voice, and surround herself with a small, safe spiritual village.

One of the most moving moments of the episode is when Lee-Ann describes a practical act of obedience God gave her: keeping a daily gratitude journal focused solely on her husband. What began as an almost impossible exercise—sometimes thanking him for something as small as a smile or putting the toilet seat down—became a powerful tool that retrained her heart and shifted the atmosphere of their marriage. Over time, her husband noticed the change in her before he ever encountered God for himself.

Eventually, her husband surrendered his life to Christ—not because of pressure, sermons, or arguments, but because he witnessed the gospel lived out consistently. Lee-Ann reflects on the truth that sometimes the only Bible someone will ever read is the life of a believer standing faithfully in front of them.

Today, Lee-Ann’s marriage is fully restored, her husband walks with God, and she now serves as a Christian marriage coach for women navigating unequally yoked relationships. Her story is living proof that restoration is possible, hope is never wasted, and God honors faithfulness—especially when it feels costly.

Facebook Group: Christian Wives

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leeann.werner.7

Focus: Coaching Christian women in unequally yoked marriages, spiritual resilience, hope restoration

Work: Marriage coaching, testimony sharing, church and podcast speaking

Website: https://theheartsaligned.com/

If you’re carrying a story or testimony and sense a quiet stirring to do something more with it, but you’re unsure what that next step should be, I’ve created a resource to help you discern that.

The Story Discernment Guide is a reflective guide designed to help you pause, pray, and gain clarity around the story you’re stewarding — before you write, publish, or share it publicly.

You can explore the Story Discernment Guide at storycalling.info.

Your story is not an accident.
You are healed.
You are whole.
You are called — and stewarding your story well matters.