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.

In this deeply honest and faith-filled conversation, Soleil Deane opens up about the moments that changed everything—losing her career after a stroke, becoming homeless during COVID, and realizing that traditional financial systems failed her family when she needed them most. What followed was not just a recovery journey, but a spiritual awakening that reframed how she understood provision, responsibility, and legacy.

Soleil shares how God used the most painful chapters of her life to expose gaps in financial literacy that impact families every day—especially single parents, teachers, and households living paycheck to paycheck. She explains why many believers remain trapped in cycles of fear and scarcity, and how aligning finances with biblical principles can break generational strongholds.

The conversation also explores spiritual warfare, obedience, and the cost of silence. Soleil speaks candidly about regaining her voice after a second stroke, recommitting her testimony to God, and building The Legacy Table to equip families with education—not shame. This episode is a reminder that stewardship is spiritual, preparation is an act of faith, and legacy is built intentionally, one obedient step at a time.

Facebook & Instagram: @SoleilDeane

Organization: The Legacy Table

Focus: Faith-based financial education, legacy planning, family stewardship

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 deeply moving conversation, Wendy Melrose sits down with Linda Lynne Porter—author, educator, AI consultant, and PhD candidate—to explore what it truly means to be healed over time, not just in moments.

Linda courageously shares her testimony of surviving years of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her father, the devastating impact of not being believed, and how that trauma shaped her relationships, self-worth, and life choices for decades. Despite excelling academically, her internal world was fractured, and she describes simply “existing” rather than truly living.

A major heart attack in 2011 became a turning point. In that quiet, vulnerable season, Linda heard the Lord speak clearly: “Now it’s time for you to live.” What followed was a journey of obedience—earning multiple degrees, returning to her childhood dream of becoming a doctor through a PhD in psychology, and finally writing the story she once could not put on paper without tears.

Linda explains how God healed her to the point where she could write Peeling Back the Peach—her raw, redemptive memoir—without crying, a sign that deep restoration had taken place. She also shares how her testimony has impacted women in prison, conference audiences, and readers who finally felt believed because someone else spoke first.

The episode also explores faith-centered perspectives on healing from trauma without shame, protecting future generations through truth and boundaries, writing as a pathway to freedom, and why your story matters even if it took decades to tell.

Linda closes the episode by speaking directly to listeners who were silenced, dismissed, or told “I don’t believe you,” offering herself as a safe, believing voice—and lifting a powerful prayer for healing, restoration, and freedom.

This is not just an interview. It is an invitation to step out of survival and into wholeness.

Linda has intentionally made herself accessible to those who need support:

Phone: 615-878-8742

Email: linda.porter1212@gmail.com

Facebook & LinkedIn: Linda L. Porter

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 gripping episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Matthew Melvin, author of Bullied Behind Bars, to uncover a story most people never hear—and many don’t want to face.

Matthew shares how a depressed state of mind and a toxic work environment at a car dealership led him to make an impulsive decision that altered the trajectory of his life. What followed was a series of legal consequences that resulted in two separate prison sentences totaling 36 months. Despite a late autism diagnosis and eligibility for mental health court, Matthew was denied that path and instead processed through the standard court system—leaving him with a permanent record and limited options after release.

Inside prison, Matthew became a target. As a gay, Christian, conservative man, he endured false accusations, threats, bullying, and repeated placements in solitary confinement. Rather than remaining silent, Matthew advocated for himself—writing grievances, contacting legal counsel, and refusing to disappear quietly. This resistance resulted in being transferred through ten different institutions during his second sentence.

Matthew describes solitary confinement as both the loneliest and safest place he experienced. Locked down for 23 hours a day, surrounded by chaos and screaming, he found unexpected peace through Scripture, prayer, fasting, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Though the system had control over his body, Matthew testifies that they never had his mind.

A pivotal moment in Matthew’s faith journey occurred years earlier, when he narrowly avoided a catastrophic highway accident. That near-death experience became the wake-up call that shifted him from being a “lukewarm Christian” into surrendering full control to Jesus—not as a passenger, but as the One steering his life. Matthew reflects on how that spiritual turning point sustained him through everything that followed.

Throughout the episode, Matthew and Wendy discuss forgiveness, accountability, and justice. Matthew openly acknowledges his responsibility for the actions that led him to prison, while also naming the unjust bullying and systemic failures he endured. Forgiveness, he explains, does not mean forgetting—but it does mean refusing to remain imprisoned by bitterness.

The conversation also turns toward men’s emotional health. Matthew speaks candidly about how many men struggle to identify emotions beyond anger, often suppressing sadness until it erupts destructively. Drawing from his work with men’s groups, he introduces the concept of naming emotions honestly and taking ownership through “I” statements as a pathway toward healing and maturity.

Matthew closes the episode by encouraging listeners—especially men—to seek community, speak truthfully, stay in the Word, and resist isolation. Healing, he emphasizes, happens in honesty, vulnerability, and accountability.

This episode is a sobering reminder that redemption is possible even in the darkest places—and that God’s presence is not limited by prison walls.

Book: Bullied Behind Bars (available on Amazon)

Website: https://bulliedbehindbars.com

Email: bulliedbehindbars@gmail.com

Instagram: @bulliedbehindbars

X (Twitter): @BarsBullied

Facebook: Matthew.melvin.5621

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 sits down with Dr. Brett Hill—chiropractor, entrepreneur, and founder of Experience Life Chiropractic and YourPostureProgram.com—to unpack why posture may be one of the most overlooked foundations of health.

Dr. Hill shares that his journey into chiropractic began not with a childhood dream, but with disillusionment. Watching his mother receive prescription after prescription without ever addressing root causes led him to seek a different path—one focused on understanding how the body truly functions. That search eventually brought him to chiropractic care and, more specifically, to the neurological role posture plays in health.

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Hill reframes posture entirely. It isn’t about forcing your shoulders back or “sitting up straight” through willpower. True posture, he explains, is an unconscious system driven by the nervous system—one designed to hold us upright against gravity so we can move, think, and live efficiently. When that system becomes deactivated through prolonged sitting, screen use, and modern habits, the body adapts in ways that quietly lead to pain, imbalance, fatigue, and even emotional stress.

Dr. Hill explains how forward head posture alone can contribute to headaches, jaw tension, vertigo, chronic neck and back pain, hip tightness, and recurring injuries. Over time, the nervous system begins to treat these compensations as “normal,” making dysfunction feel familiar—even when it isn’t healthy.

One of the most powerful insights of the episode is how posture directly affects the brain. Proper alignment activates the frontal lobe, improving decision-making, emotional regulation, stress response, and confidence. Poor posture, on the other hand, keeps the brain locked in survival patterns, subtly reinforcing anxiety and fatigue.

Rather than creating dependency, Dr. Hill intentionally designed his work to empower people. Through his online posture program, individuals from around the world can complete a posture analysis, receive personalized feedback, and walk through a guided 10-week process that retrains the brain-body connection. The goal is not constant treatment, but lasting change—helping the body adapt in healthier ways so people can maintain results long-term.

Dr. Hill also offers practical, immediately usable guidance—such as using a wall, chair, or car headrest to gently cue proper head positioning and core activation throughout the day. These small awareness shifts, repeated consistently, compound into meaningful transformation over time.

This episode is especially encouraging for those who have felt dismissed, disappointed, or discouraged by past healthcare experiences. Dr. Hill reminds listeners not to give up on healing simply because one approach didn’t work. The body is remarkably adaptable when given the right signals—and posture may be one of the most powerful signals we can restore.

Website / Program: https://www.yourpostureprogram.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 powerful episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Sophia Coulanges—life coach, author, speaker, and mentor—to explore what healing really looks like when faith moves from religious obligation into authentic relationship.

Sophia shares her journey from a childhood marked by pain, rebellion, and unresolved trauma into a life anchored in peace. As a naturally introverted person who learned to fight her way through life emotionally, Sophia found early healing not through public confession but through private journaling. Night after night, she poured her pain onto paper—writing prayers, processing anger, and asking God for freedom from bitterness she didn’t yet understand.

Rather than removing her anger instantly, God invited Sophia into partnership. Through therapy, community, accountability, and Scripture, she learned that deliverance often requires responsibility. Healing wasn’t passive—it was walked out. Forgiveness letters became a key turning point, including letters to her parents, her abuser, herself, and even to God. These letters weren’t about blaming God, but about clearing the lies that distorted her view of Him as safe.

A central theme of the episode is the difference between religion and relationship. Sophia and Wendy discuss how church culture can unintentionally teach performance—clean yourself up before coming to God—while Jesus consistently meets people at the well, in the mess, and without preconditions. True transformation, Sophia explains, happens when honesty replaces image management.

Sophia also shares about her current season of refinement, where God is gently exposing performance-based faith. After striving, fasting, praying, and doing “all the right things,” she faced disappointment—and heard the Holy Spirit ask a confronting question: “Did I ask you to do all that?” The realization was sobering. Performance had crept in where trust once lived.

This episode speaks directly to believers who are tired, overwhelmed, or silently questioning God’s goodness while still loving Him deeply. Sophia models what it looks like to bring incongruence into the light—where truth and lies collide—and allow healing to continue layer by layer.

Sophia also shares the heart behind her book, The Missing Piece, explaining how the “piece” we often miss in life’s broken pieces is actually peace—the peace of God that sustains us even when circumstances don’t change.

The episode closes with a powerful word of encouragement and prayer, reminding listeners that God is not intimidated by honesty, grief, doubt, or exhaustion. Healing begins when we stop pretending and simply come.

Book: The Missing Piece (Peace)

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.