Healed. Whole. Called.

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Christian Struthers for a steady and hope-filled conversation about addiction, identity, survival, and the mercy of God that meets us even at our lowest point.

Christian’s story begins long before the accident that changed everything. A gifted athlete, he played baseball throughout high school and into college, with a promising future ahead of him. But what began as social partying gradually became addiction. The discipline required to sustain his dream gave way to impulsive choices, and slowly, he watched the life he once envisioned un...

After producing many episodes of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy realized something important — the greatest impact wasn’t coming from perfect production, but from real conversations happening in real time.

In this short update, Wendy shares why the podcast is evolving from traditional recorded episodes into live conversations with resilience leaders, overcomers, and faith-driven storytellers.

While the format is changing, the mission remains the same:
Helping people steward their story, walk in healing, and step into their calling.

You can now join these conversations live on:

Facebook: Wendy C. Melrose
Link...

Teri Houghton’s story is one of quiet strength and steady faithfulness. An accountant by training, ballet teacher by passion, and mother of five—two biological and three adopted—Teri once envisioned a life that would follow a predictable arc. After a 20-year marriage, that vision shifted dramatically when her husband chose a different path, and she found herself navigating divorce as a single mother with children ranging from teens to elementary school.

Divorce brought grief that felt like death—the loss of shared dreams, memories, and a future once assumed. Teri describes the early days not as a col...

For years, Mason Ledbetter was immersed in deliverance ministry. After a radical personal encounter with God in 2020, he dove headfirst into inner healing and spiritual warfare, eventually stepping into full-time ministry and conducting more than 500 sessions with people seeking freedom. He read everything he could find, wrote four books on deliverance, and watched powerful testimonies unfold before his eyes. And yet, beneath the surface, questions began to rise.

Why did freedom seem to come in layers? Why did people return needing more sessions after experiencing breakthrough? Why did deliverance often require hours of navigating legal rights, spiritual...

When Barbara Walsh received her breast cancer diagnosis, she entered a season she never anticipated—one marked by uncertainty, fear, and difficult decisions. Yet even in that valley, God was not absent. What began as a medical crisis became a sacred invitation to slow down, examine her lifestyle, and ask deeper questions about stewardship, faith, and the body’s remarkable design.

Barbara shares how her healing journey was not only about treatment, but about transformation. She began to recognize that the body is not the enemy—it is designed by God to protect, respond, and heal. Rather than l...

In this energizing and deeply reflective episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose welcomes Yvonne Trost, founder of Limitless You, subconscious performance coach, and hypnotherapist. Yvonne’s journey began in a small town in central Illinois, raised by loving parents who modeled stability and survival. Yet even well-intentioned conditioning can quietly shape a life that feels misaligned with one’s true design.

Over time, Yvonne found herself living a version of success that looked stable on the outside but felt disconnected within. A painful and prolonged divorce became the wake-up call she describes as both desperation and divi...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Christian Struthers for a steady and hope-filled conversation about addiction, identity, survival, and the mercy of God that meets us even at our lowest point.

Christian’s story begins long before the accident that changed everything. A gifted athlete, he played baseball throughout high school and into college, with a promising future ahead of him. But what began as social partying gradually became addiction. The discipline required to sustain his dream gave way to impulsive choices, and slowly, he watched the life he once envisioned un...

In this powerful episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Corporal Wesley C. Ross, a United States Marine Corps veteran and author of My War, His War. At just 17 years old, Wesley enlisted in the Marine Corps, stepping into a life of discipline, brotherhood, and eventually combat.

In 2004, during the second assault in Fallujah, Iraq, everything changed. After completing turret watch and rotating positions with a fellow Marine, Wesley found himself sitting with his interpreter when a series of explosions began to detonate nearby. The first was close. The second was closer. The third...

In this powerful and deeply anchored conversation on Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose welcomes Debbie Simmons—CEO, author, adoptive mother of nine, and grandmother of fifteen—whose life was forever marked by both profound grief and profound obedience.

As a young woman, Debbie dreamed of being a “young grandma.” She married, built her plans, and envisioned a full family life—only to walk into years of infertility that shook her identity. When fertility treatments led to pregnancy, hope was restored. But at 26 weeks, complications forced the early delivery of her quadruplet sons—Zach, Josh, Nate, and Chris. One by one...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Carolina Arco — leadership mentor, coach, and founder of ARCO Teachings — for a steady and wisdom-filled conversation about identity, forgiveness, and the kind of love that transforms a life from the inside out.

Carolina’s journey spans continents and seasons of uncertainty. As a teenager in Brazil, she often felt misaligned with the systems around her, unsure of her direction. At 18, she left home with little money and began building a life in São Paulo. A few years later, at 23, she immigrated alone to Canada with the int...

In this hope-filled episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose welcomes Katie Selby, a paraprofessional from St. Louis, Missouri, whose life story is rooted in perseverance and quiet courage. From infancy, Katie experienced developmental delays and significant language impairment, leaving her frustrated and often misunderstood. What some labeled as tantrums were, in reality, a young child’s desperate attempt to communicate.

At just three years old, Katie was enrolled in the Special School District of St. Louis County. Her early years were marked by behavioral struggles tied directly to her inability to express herself verbally. Yet even be...

In this deeply moving episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Tracy Jablant (formerly Tracy Boone), who shares the sacred and painful journey that began with the unexpected deterioration and death of her husband in 2012. What started as subtle personality changes in a strong, faith-filled family man turned into a devastating neurological disease that took his life, leaving Tracy widowed at 43 with a six-year-old son.

The years leading up to his passing were marked by confusion, fear, and spiritual endurance. Tracy describes watching her best friend lose cognitive function as a rare degenerative condition...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Michelle Drew, a certified natural wellness professional and founder of Michelle Drew Naturopathic Wellness, to explore a journey marked by crisis, faith, and transformation. After 28 years in corporate America, Michelle faced a health emergency that left her in a medically induced coma for three weeks, with doctors fearing permanent brain damage. This moment became the pivot point for a spiritual and physical restoration, as she experienced firsthand the redemptive power of surrendering control to God.

Michelle shares the intense reality of her recovery, from relearning...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Sam and Ruth Vazquez, a husband-and-wife ministry team with over 30 years of combined experience in leadership, coaching, and faith-based healing. Together, they share a powerful narrative of trauma, transformation, and divine intervention.

Ruth vulnerably recounts the abuse she endured as a child, describing the deep shame, guilt, and powerlessness she carried into adulthood. Her journey of isolation, anxiety, and striving for approval led her to a point of desperate questioning: “God, where are you?” Despite her struggles, Ruth’s pursuit of God and commitment to faith...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Robin Carr — speaker, mindset coach, author, and founder of Thrive Unapologetically — to explore the path from despair to empowerment. Robin recounts years spent in corporate life, feeling suppressed, unfulfilled, and disconnected from her calling. Despite promotions and financial success, she experienced profound emptiness, culminating in a season of depression and uncertainty that left her questioning her purpose.

The turning point came as Robin began listening to the quiet voice of God, revisiting her roots in psychology, and reflecting on the lessons hidden in her pain. Thro...

In this deeply honest episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Meg Harkins, a wife, mother of three sons, and ministry leader who knows firsthand what it means to be taken, broken, and sent.

Meg’s hardest season unfolded in 2020. Beneath the surface of everyday life, she was battling a severe alcohol addiction—one she refused to name, even as those closest to her expressed concern. The breaking point came when she slipped in her kitchen and fractured her hip. Alone in a hospital during the height of COVID, testing positive and isolated for days...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose welcomes Stephanie Shaw, host of Hello Hot Flash and producer of the limited series podcast Christian Women and Menopause, for a grounded and grace-filled conversation about a season of life many women experience—but few feel prepared for.

Stephanie’s journey into this work was not theoretical. It was personal. In 2017, while on a business trip in New Orleans, she experienced a sudden onset of alarming symptoms—numbness, shaking, rapid heartbeat, tingling, insomnia, phantom smells, and more. What followed was a two-year search for answers that included visits to 18...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Faith Pereira — single mother, corporate leader, author, and founder of Born Again Professionals — for a steady and faith-filled conversation about loss, obedience, and the cost of discipleship.

Faith’s story unfolds through layered seasons of grief. After losing her mother in her early twenties, she later entered into an arranged marriage in India to a non-believer. Years into the marriage, following the death of her father and during the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown, her husband presented her with an ultimatum: abandon her faith or lose her ma...

n this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Beatrice Cortes — graduate counseling student, mother of three daughters, author, and aspiring therapist — for a deeply honest conversation about domestic violence, faith, and reclaiming identity after trauma.

Beatrice’s story begins within the church. Raised as a pastor’s kid, she grew up with a deep reverence for marriage and a belief that divorce was never an option. When she found herself in a domestic violence relationship where her life was threatened, the internal conflict was profound. She not only faced the reality of leaving for her...

In this deeply honest and redemptive conversation on Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose welcomes Vernisa Williams, founder of Reclaiming Your Voice and a social worker with more than 20 years of experience in human services. Vernisa’s story is not one of surface healing—it is a layered testimony of trauma, pride, exposure, surrender, and restoration.

As a young woman, Vernisa was gifted and talented, working successfully as a professional hairstylist. But beneath her success were unhealed wounds—sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather at the age of two, a father absent from her life, a mother...

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

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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 t...

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 aske...

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...

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...

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...

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 neurol...

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 fo...

Lore Soto’s story is one of perseverance, purpose, and principled leadership. A devoted mother of three and founder of The Benefits Boss, Lore never set out to work in insurance—but what began as an unexpected career pivot became a calling rooted in education, advocacy, and integrity. Drawing from years in retail leadership, she brings a rare combination of hustle and heart to an industry that often lacks transparency.

In this episode, Lore opens up about how navigating the insurance system—both professionally and personally—reshaped her perspective. After receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in 2023, she experien...

In this powerful conversation, Wendy sits down with Alex Crowther, a former global advertising executive who once led billion-dollar brands for companies like Chrysler, Jeep, Mercedes, and General Motors. From the outside, Alex’s life looked wildly successful—international travel, leadership prestige, and financial security. But everything changed after a near-fatal car accident that marked the beginning of a decade-long battle with chronic pain.

What began as injuries to his hands slowly spread throughout his body. After years of surgeries, misdiagnoses, medications, and unanswered questions, Alex was finally diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)—a devastating and of...

In this powerful episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Katy Parker, a trauma-informed well-being writer, grief and loss coach, and mental health mentor based in England. Katy’s story begins long before her diagnosis of PTSD — rooted in childhood trauma, family loss, and a life shaped by resilience.

Katy shares the moment everything changed: being struck by a car in 2020, suffering serious physical injury, and later experiencing debilitating PTSD. As she describes the long road of recovery, she introduces a concept many people don’t have language for — “living loss.” These are the losses that don’t c...

Tina LeAnn’s journey is anything but ordinary. An adventurer at heart, Tina has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, trekked to Everest Base Camp, lived nomadically, and explored the world both externally and internally. Yet her deepest explorations were not geographic—they were personal. Growing up in a home shaped by addiction, war trauma, and instability, Tina learned early how to survive by becoming invisible. Those early coping mechanisms followed her into adulthood, shaping her nervous system, beliefs, and health.

After spending two decades in corporate America, Tina’s body began to speak loudly. Chronic migraines, adrenal exhaustion, and depres...

In this deeply moving episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Nathan Wieser, a husband and father whose life has been shaped by both breathtaking love and devastating loss.

Nathan takes listeners back to the beginning — a simple, beautiful love story that started in the Caribbean and led to a decade of island life, adopted dogs, and dreams of building a family. But those dreams were met with repeated heartbreak. Nathan and his wife Lucy endured multiple pregnancy losses, including the traumatic stillbirth of their daughter, Mary, during a medical emergency that nearly took Lucy’s li...

In this unforgettable episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Bambi Lynn — author, life coach, speaker, event planner, and the founder of Healing Through Stories. Bambi’s life is marked by profound resilience, deep faith, and a relentless commitment to helping others turn their trauma into transformation.

Bambi openly shares her story of surviving childhood sexual abuse, growing up with addiction and violence, and spending eight years in a domestic violence marriage. Rather than allowing trauma to define her identity, she explains how God invited her into healing — not by avoiding the pain, but by walkin...

In this deeply moving episode, Wendy sits down with Amber Johnson, the creator of the BEE Channel (Blessings, Edifying and Encouraging Others), to talk about what it truly means to walk faithfully through long-term caregiving, loss, and grief without losing yourself in the process.

Amber shares her story of spending over 12 years caring for her father after multiple strokes and a life-altering accident, navigating hospital stays, home care, medical trauma, and emotional exhaustion alongside her mother. She speaks candidly about how caregiving can quietly consume your identity, how grief doesn’t follow a straight line, and why Go...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Jen McClure — wife, mom, Grammy, author, speaker, and mental wellness coach — for a raw and hope-filled conversation about depression, trauma, and the redemptive power of God.

Jen shares that her story didn’t begin with her own breakdown, but generations earlier. Abandonment, emotional absence, and unresolved trauma flowed quietly through her family line, shaping beliefs about safety, worth, and trust long before she had language for them. As a child, Jen learned how to perform wellness while carrying deep wounds — wounds that were compounded by sexual assault...

In this episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy sits down with Kelly Parker, speaker, coach, and founder of Make Your Mark Movement and Reboot the Script, for a deeply honest conversation about identity, mindset, and the subtle lies that quietly derail purpose.

Kelly opens up about spending more than two decades searching for meaningful work outside of motherhood, repeatedly entering direct sales opportunities that looked promising — only to fizzle out. Each attempt reinforced an internal narrative that something was wrong with her: she wasn’t disciplined enough, she didn’t want it badly enough, she wasn’t capable...

In this raw and deeply honest episode, Wendy sits down with Amy Nicole Ellis, founder of Fix Yourself and Flaunt It, a human design consulting program for women who are done living on autopilot and pretending everything is fine.

Amy courageously shares her journey through three separate bankruptcies, each one layered with heartbreak, financial collapse, and the quiet fear of, “How did I end up here again?” The first came in her twenties, the second during the 2008 housing crash, and the third — the one that nearly broke her — arrived in her early fifties after doing everything right: calling...

What happens when the life you worked so hard to build no longer aligns with the truth God is calling you to live?

In this unforgettable episode of Healed. Whole. Called., Wendy Melrose sits down with Molly Trotter-Gomez—former CBS news anchor, international speaker, and founder of Signature Story Consulting—for a raw and deeply faith-filled conversation about obedience, identity, and the power of story stewardship.

After five years in broadcast journalism, Molly found herself telling stories driven by fear, division, and ratings rather than truth and transformation. When she refused to compromise the message, she...

Some stories are birthed through pain — but written through purpose.

In this deeply personal episode, Wendy sits down with Tammy Schaefer, a woman whose life has woven together trauma, faith, forgiveness, generational unraveling, and miraculous restoration. For decades, Tammy carried the weight of childhood sexual abuse, emotional abandonment, religious rejection, and the lingering identity-wounds that shaped her adult life. But God did not leave her there.

Through inner healing, layers of forgiveness, a restored relationship with her siblings, and a final, breathtaking moment with her father before his passing, Tammy experienced what she describes as a...