When Miss Kay Robertson was a young girl, her grandmother told her one day she might have to fight for her marriage. That seemed crazy to Miss Kay’s young ears, but her grandmother was right. Long before Phil and Kay Robertson and their sons, Willie, Jase, Jep, and Alan became famous for making duck calls and the television show Duck Dynasty, Phil and Kay lived through ten hard years. The story of those early years is being told in a movie called The Blind . Phil and Kay started a family and mar...
Mar 17, 2025•44 min
“I’ve often felt I can be too much, but the more emotive I am, the more God surprises me.” Nigel Masenda learned early on that revealing his heart—tears, frustrations, and all—could open the door to unexpected moments of divine kindness. Growing up in a family and culture where men were often reserved, he felt out of place for expressing his emotions so freely. But when his mother traveled abroad for a funeral and couldn’t return for two long years, loneliness and unanswered prayers pushed him d...
Mar 11, 2025•15 min
Justin and Trisha Davis appeared to be living the dream—a beautiful family, successful ministry, and a future filled with promise. After planting their first church, Justin had an affair with a staff member who was also Trisha's best friend. Their marriage, family and careers were simultaneously blown apart and they were forced to come to terms with their brokenness. It seemed their story would be one of failure and loss, but Justin and Trisha found grace, healing and redemption for even the mos...
Mar 07, 2025•52 min
Becky Crane has always been captivated by the power of a good story. From her childhood days curled up with books to sharing Bible stories in kids’ church, she’s seen God show up in the simplest, most surprising moments. Becky recounts how Billy Graham’s words and C.S. Lewis’s depiction of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe helped shape her faith. If you’ve ever wondered how God might speak through stories, this conversation will both encourage and inspire you.
Mar 04, 2025•14 min
Jinger Duggar Vuolo grew up on television. From the age of 10 until she was 27, her family appeared on TLC’s reality shows 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On. As the sixth child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, she grew up in a strict religious system led by a teacher who claimed to speak for God. That belief system contributed to a view of God as an angry judge waiting for her next mistake. Motivated by a fear of rejection, she was driven to be a people pleaser, trying to keep everyone happy a...
Feb 28, 2025•32 min
“My wife was desperate, and in that moment, God intervened.” Much like the determined woman in Scripture who reached out for Jesus’s garment, J.D. King’s wife refused to let her circumstances define her future. This story is featured in the book, "Mighty Like Gideon" .
Feb 25, 2025•8 min
When Brandon Heath heard the Gospel as a teenager, he was hungry for truth, love, and healing. His parents’ broken relationship had left him hurting and carrying a heavy load of resentment. When he heard God is love, and more specifically, God loves him, it was life-changing. But transformation and healing take time. God was putting people in Brandon’s life, including a guy named Bob Goff. They were mentors who saw things in Brandon he couldn’t see in himself. Brandon Heath is a singer and songw...
Feb 21, 2025•44 min
Does God still transform lives in an instant today? Pastor Josh Brewer would say yes. As the leader of Transformation Youth Camp, he’s seen firsthand how God breaks through even the hardest hearts. In this episode, Josh shares the powerful story of a young girl who arrived blind to God’s love—only to encounter Him in a way that removed the scales from her spiritual eyes. She didn’t just see—she was filled with an overwhelming love of God. "She didn’t want to be there. And then, God broke through...
Feb 18, 2025•10 min
Twelve years ago, Gina’s husband passed away after a short battle with cancer. She was left with two young children, and it was so hard. She couldn’t imagine ever loving someone that way again. Across the country, Jeff was feeling the wounds of a hard divorce. Marrying again seemed so unlikely. But as the years passed, both Gina and Jeff began to pray, and their friends started praying, too. Was it possible that God might have someone they could love? In this special Valentine’s episode of The U...
Feb 14, 2025•41 min
“We prayed for her to wake up on Valentine's Day. And she did—but in heaven.” Every year, Lee and Terry commemorate their daughter Amanda’s passing with a homecoming celebration. In this deeply moving episode, they share the painful journey leading up to Amanda’s diagnosis, the heartbreak of losing her, and how their faith was tested in unimaginable ways. In 1985, they noticed Amanda was experiencing sickness—vomiting, headaches, and eventually struggling to walk. What seemed like minor symptoms...
Feb 11, 2025•12 min
Riley Kehoe was 10 years old when her family’s island vacation turned into a nightmare. On the morning of December 26, 2004, an earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia. Riley’s family had to run for their lives from a tsunami with waves up to 100 feet high. It was a terrifying experience that took the lives of more than 200,000 people. In the aftermath, fear threatened to rule Riley’s life. It would take years to understand the wounds she carried and even longer to find freedom from fear. R...
Feb 07, 2025•39 min
Melissa shares how one act of obedience became a powerful confirmation for someone desperate to know that God sees, hears, and loves her. Melissa stepped into a conversation with a woman and felt God’s presence in a way she couldn’t ignore. Then, God asked her to do something bold: tell a complete stranger, “I love you.” Fear and doubt held her back, but what happened next showed God’s perfect timing.
Feb 04, 2025•6 min
As a rising star at a Fortune 500 company, Hope Reagan Harris thrived on the thrill of getting the next promotion and pay raise. A bigger house, more expensive car, and international travel were all the stuff that was supposed to signify success and happiness. But after six years of climbing the corporate ladder at a dizzying pace, Hope realized she’d been so determined to move ahead, she didn’t recognize her heart and soul were getting left behind. Hope is the author of Now Over Next: Conquerin...
Jan 31, 2025•40 min
In the Bible, mountaintops symbolize moments of spiritual clarity, renewal, and connection with God. For Averil Shadd, a new widow navigating the profound grief of her darkest valley, the mountaintop became more than a metaphor. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, not just to find healing but to offer hope to others walking through the shadows of loss. As Averil explains, "I wanted to do something that would stretch me so far that I would embrace suffering, so they would know someone could see them a...
Jan 28, 2025•11 min
Chris Baker has devoted his life to helping people walk out the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” As the founder of Ink 180 , Chris has given away more than two million dollars' worth of free tattoos. Not just any tattoos- these are tattoo cover-ups and removals for people who are making a change in their life, like former gang members, sex trafficking survivors, or domestic violence survivo...
Jan 24, 2025•57 min
Despite achieving material success, Derek Mason found himself consumed by emptiness and despair—so much so that he considered taking his own life. In a moment of desperate prayer, an unexpected encounter with sparrows led him to Matthew 10:29–31, revealing that he was profoundly seen and cherished by God. This pivotal sign brought radical transformation, shifting Derek’s life from hopelessness to a renewed sense of purpose. His story reminds us that, even at our lowest, God’s love has the power ...
Jan 21, 2025•7 min
Bob Goff has spent decades trying to convince people God is over the moon about them. If you struggle to believe God loves you and if you long to live a life of adventure, Bob’s story will inspire you. Bob is known as the guy who included his phone number in the back of his first book Love Does , because he loves people and wanted to be available. Since then, he’s written multiple New York Times bestselling books and included his number in every one of them. Bob says his greatest ambition is to ...
Jan 17, 2025•50 min
Rick and McKenna bring us the story of Megan Woods. At a crucial moment in Megan's life, God's word came to life for her, and a call to sing for Him seemingly came out of nowhere. Here's the full episode on Apple or Spotify , where you can subscribe to The Morning Focus with Rick and McKenna for daily encouragement in God's Word!...
Jan 14, 2025•14 min
When you wait for years for an answer to prayer it’s easy to get discouraged. The Band Jaren is fronted by two sisters, Jaren- lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, and Jade- who sings and plays electric violin. These super-talented young women started playing music before they started school. Now, at ages 20 and 19, they have an unusual clarity about the call on their lives. Their passion is to play music that brings wandering hearts to Jesus. It’s a prayer their mom, Sonya, has been praying f...
Jan 10, 2025•40 min
An update from John Karakian, who was featured on Page 45 of The Unfolding. John's Unfolding episode on Apple John's Unfolding episode on Spotify John Karakian from Novi, Michigan, discovered an unexpected way to share his faith—through the legacy of his late chocolate lab, Buddy. Even years after Buddy’s passing, John’s simple acts of kindness—like calling people by name and treating them with genuine warmth—have opened countless hearts to the gospel. This past Christmas, his church entrusted h...
Jan 07, 2025•8 min
Tarn Cross believes God has hard-wired us for adventure. When Tarn and her husband Matt had a young family in Australia, they began to grow restless. Their church experience seemed more like dry religion than a relationship with the Creator of the Universe. That’s when God led them to their first mission experience in Uganda. Within days of arriving, they realized what they thought would be an adventure was actually going to require radical faith and trust. Today Tarn is a leader who has travele...
Jan 03, 2025•46 min
Are you looking to grow your prayer life in the new year? Join Christina Hannan on her podcast, and discover a new rich prayer life in Praying Through Scripture . PTS on Apple Podcasts PTS on Spotify This week on Unfolding Short Stories, Christina Hannan shares what she learned teaching science to her kids as a homeschool mom. A planet that rains DIAMONDS! The God who can make a planet rain diamonds, is also the God who cares for our needs....
Dec 31, 2024•10 min
Renee Stains recounts a harrowing moment while teaching her young son Andrew to ski. After a mishap on a ski lift, Andrew was left dangling dangerously high above the ground, with no immediate help in sight. In a desperate and chaotic situation, two snowboarders appeared seemingly out of nowhere, skillfully unbuckled Andrew’s harness, and safely brought him down. When Renee turned to thank them, they had vanished without a trace.
Dec 24, 2024•9 min
The Christmas story is filled with angelic encounters. But are angels still active today? Psalm 91:11 says, “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” For many, that verse has come to life. People from all walks of life share their stories of seemingly supernatural encounters on earth in this special Christmas episode of The Unfolding. IT’s one of our most-downloaded episodes of the year! Thanks to Tim Hoerr, Tina Zimmerman, David Egli, Debra Wiese, and Bryan ...
Dec 20, 2024•47 min
"The dream had no expiration date.” In this episode, Jim shares how a dream led him to plant churches outside the walls of a mega-church—and how a trip to the world’s largest basilica in Côte d’Ivoire confirmed that God was just getting started. ‘I was comfortable, like Bilbo in The Hobbit…but God had other plans.’ Hear how one vivid dream fueled over a decade of ministry and ultimately redirected Jim to West Africa.”
Dec 17, 2024•12 min
Michael Ritchason grew up feeling like he was on the losing end of the comparison game. Insecurity drove him to chase affirmation and attention. It worked for a time, but then his girlfriend left, his cool car crashed, and the rest of his world seemed to be falling apart. Soon Michael was falling apart, too. Discouragement led to disconnection, and that led to depression. One night, he began to believe the lie that he was utterly alone. Then God, the One called Immanuel – God with us, did someth...
Dec 13, 2024•40 min
What began as a simple prayer meeting led to deep healing and reconciliation. As Mark wrestled with years of hurt, God’s voice broke through, impressing these urgent words on his heart: “Call your father and hurry.” That phone call, made just three hours before his father’s passing, became a moment of profound restoration. This story is a reminder of God’s relentless pursuit and perfect timing to heal what’s broken. Also, Mark wrote a book called J ust One Word: A Collection of Advent Devotional...
Dec 10, 2024•10 min
Barry and Gina Copeland have learned when it comes to addiction, desperation is a good thing. That’s when you finally realize Jesus is your only hope. Barry and Gina have followed Jesus and worked in ministry for years, and yet their son struggled with addiction for more than a decade. They tried everything they knew to “fix” the problem. In the process, they lost their joy, their dreams, and lived in chaos. Then God used powerful experiences to teach them their son’s addiction was not their fau...
Dec 06, 2024•48 min
After years of questioning if adoption was right for her family, Megan Nilsen felt a clear leading from God to pray, fast, and search His Word. Her 'yes' to adoption opened the door to both immense challenges and undeniable moments of God’s presence, teaching her about love, grace, and identity in Christ. Megan is also the author of the Advent devotional Untangled Advent: Finding Hope in a Weary World, designed to help readers reconnect with God’s peace during the holiday season. Learn more at m...
Dec 03, 2024•16 min
Terry Wildman didn’t grow up immersed in the history and culture of his First Nations ancestors. But after he met Jesus, his heart for Indigenous Americans grew. As he learned more about the painful history of Native North Americans and the Church, he struggled with questions. But through that struggle he felt a call to translate the Bible following the tradition of Native storytellers. The First Nations Version of the New Testament has sold more than 80,000 copies, bringing hope and healing to ...
Nov 29, 2024•51 min
