Hey friends, and welcome to the relaunch of the Overcoming Anxiety through Faith podcast.
If you’re new here, I want to give you a big welcome. If you’ve been listening since the early days when I launched this podcast back in 2021 and into 2022, I’m so glad that you’ve come back. It means so much to me that you are here.
The podcast has been on pause for a season, and today I wanted to share why I stepped away, why I’m coming back, and most importantly, how God has been at work in my life and in this message.
So here’s what you can expect moving forward:
- Honest conversations about anxiety
- Encouragement straight from God’s Word
- Some practical tools to help you trust God in the middle of worry and overwhelm.
If anxiety has been weighing heavily on your heart, then my prayer is that this podcast will become a safe place where you can breathe deeply, feel seen, and also find peace through faith.
My Journey
I want to share with you about the pause and about the return. Obviously, what brought me to do this podcast was what I experienced, like the rest of the country, during the pandemic of 2020, and how that affected so many people.
I believe that anxiety skyrocketed, even tripled, during that time period. If it were not for my faith, I don’t believe that I would have done as well as I did during that season.
I wanted to share that there is data that came out during 2020 that about 36% of US adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, which remained elevated throughout the pandemic, and I believe has continued to stay elevated to this day. So, that’s what made me decide to do the podcast. But as you may or may not be aware, I also have a lot of other things going on in my life.
Reasons for the pause
One reason I paused is that I have another podcast. It’s called the Christian Business Advantage, and it is part of the tools that I use to market my virtual assistant agency, Alyssa Avant and Company.
I use that podcast to help reach the Christian author speakers and coaches that we serve through Alyssa Avant and Company. I found it hard to juggle more than one podcast.
The second reason was that my children were younger; they were still in middle school or junior high and high school, and now they are all three in college, and there were just so many things going on.
Relaunch
Now feels like the right time to relaunch this podcast. One reason is I believe when God puts something on your heart to speak out about, talk about, or share about, that He will do it repeatedly until you are obedient. So, He has brought up the topic of anxiety as something for me to share about now and to write a book on soon. What better way to prepare for that than to share on a podcast?
You can always go back and listen to former episodes of the podcast from the early days.
One of them is entitled My Story, and it’s one of the very first episodes that I launched on this podcast.
God accompanied me through anxiety, from being diagnosed with it at eight years old to my adult management, which began about seven or eight years ago when God found me in a hospital room.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons this season about peace, trust, and his presence.
I know that I’m not the only one who has faced anxiety, fear, and worry, and that’s why this podcast is important to me.
The Mission
The mission of this podcast is to help Christian women find peace and strength in God when anxiety hits. I want to do this through scripture-based encouragement because it is my faith that has helped me through prayer and practical tools. Also, in the past, when I did this, I did very few guest conversations or guest testimonies. I have already lined up for the first two episodes some guests who are going to provide a safe place for women who feel overwhelmed by anxiety.
The first guest is actually a woman whom I know in my community. She and I connected in various ways, and because of our random friendship, we have struck up conversations about anxiety.
I knew that she and I had that in common, and I knew from her post, even on Facebook, that she had always gone to God with her anxiety. I’ve seen her give testimony of how God has helped her through these times in her life.
So, I immediately reached out to her and asked if she would be on an episode, and Dayna said yes. I will interview her, but I also, I have a friend from junior high and high school who recently started her own counseling practice, and I know she has the knowledge and expertise that she could share from a more clinical perspective, and I will interview Deanna as well. She’s going to bring that professional knowledge to us, so you’re not alone, and we will walk this journey together.
I hope you will subscribe to the podcast so that you don’t miss any new episodes.
I also created a free resource, The Five Days of Peace Guide,
So let’s close this episode in prayer.
Father, I thank you for everyone who has pressed play today on this podcast episode.
You know their heart; you know their worries, and you know exactly why they need you in this very moment.
I pray You will give them peace, the peace that passes all understanding, and that would cover their mind and calm their anxious thoughts and remind them You are with them, that You are for them, and that nothing is too heavy for You to carry.
Lord, help us all to trust you more deeply, to release what we can’t control, and to rest in your presence in Jesus’ name, Amen.