This is the first in a series of episodes dedicated to a young woman and returning cohost, Dagmar from The Netherlands. She's cohosted about 20 Finding Something REAL episodes in the past four years. Although Dagmar is interested in, learned a lot about, and is drawn to Jesus, and chose to get baptized when she was a child, she has not yet decided to take a leap of faith as an adult. She has a comfortable life and enjoys partying with friends and admits that were she to give her life to Christ her life would change and people would view her differently. She's grown up in a secular culture and for this series, reached out to some friends for new faith questions including some about the credibility of Jesus, why there are so many variations of religion and Christianity, and the history of Christianity.

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LINKS:

Dagmar's 2021 Episode with Josh White

Dagmar's 2021 Episode with Justin Brierley

Dagmar's 2021 Episode with Julia Garschagen

Article I Wrote About My Youth Pastor

Recent YouTube Video with Jason Schmidt

This is the eighth and final episode in a series dedicated to a young woman named Olivea. With my last two cohosts, I have written a final letter. But, I thought for this one, I would bring on some friends. Today I am joined by one of my dearest friends, Melanie, and our guest Dr. Lisa Stanton. Lisa goes into depth about her transformative story of how she came to Jesus. Outwardly, it looked like she had it all, but on the inside, there was a God-shaped hole. Behind closed doors she was struggling with an addiction to alcohol, an eating disorder nobody knew about and even her biggest accomplishments didn’t satisfy what she was truly searching for. Lisa’s testimony beautifully shows how God is the only thing that will truly satisfy us when we have it all, and when he’s all we’ve got. This conversation pinpoints one of Olivea’s questions, “Why is Jesus Worth It?” You’ll find that question gets answered time and time again in Lisa’s story.

ABOUT LISA STANTON

Dr. Lisa A. Stanton, PhD is a social psychologist, writer, and presenter with a specialization in behavior change theory and applications. Lisa currently lives with her husband in Minnesota. She spent two years as a fellow of the National Cancer Institute, which she spent researching behavioral cancer prevention at Northwestern School of Medicine in Chicago. Over the past several years Lisa also taught numerous college courses, co-authored over thirty academic publications, and presented at conferences in four countries. Currently, she helps her thousands of followers through her media and workshops about recovering from addiction.

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LINKS:

52 Life-Changing Lessons I Learned in Recovery: A Journey Towards Sobriety, Honesty and Radical Forgiveness (Spiritual Guidance for Recovery, Receiving Everyday Miracles)

This is the seventh episode in a series of episodes dedicated to a young woman named Olivea. This episode is with special guest, Jason Schmidt. Jason’s parents were Janell’s youth pastors and to this day have had a lasting impact on her life. Jason was on the podcast back in 2021 and opened up about considering going into full-time ministry. He gives us an update on what he’s been up to since the last time he was on the podcast, why he’s passionate about youth ministry and goes into depth about what he learned from losing his dad in a car accident.

ABOUT JASON SCHMIDT

Jason is currently the High School & Young Adult Director at Hope Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before that, he went to Seattle Pacific University for his undergrad and played soccer there, and then went on to Boise State to pursue his Masters. Jason is passionate about reaching the next generation for Jesus and having them have a personal relationship with him. He has seen how God is using his love for both fitness and sharing the Gospel and has gotten to see how both of his passions are reaching the youth in his community.

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Happy Wednesday! We are taking a break from our usual format. We will be back with Olivea next week, but for this episode, we have a special treat! This is a special episode because we are celebrating Finding Something Real's 5th Anniversary! We started Finding Something Real in 2019 with a mission to reach young women. But we could not imagine what the Lord had in store. Today we are taking time to reflect on God's faithfulness over the past five years, with someone who has been there from the very beginning. Today we are joined by the assistant producer of the podcast, Ana!

ABOUT ANA TORRES

Ana has been involved with Finding Something Real from the very beginning. From brainstorming meetings to Zoom meetings during COVID, Ana was always a faithful supporter of the podcast. Ana grew up in the Chelan Valley and has always been passionate about sharing the love of Jesus with others. She graduated with her AA during her time in High School and completed her Bachelor of Business Administration at Northwest University. Ana goes deeper into her faith journey and how she has been able to see the Goodness of God even in some of the darkest times in her life. And why she believes in the mission of Finding Something Real!

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This is the sixth episode in a series of episodes dedicated to a young woman named Olivea. This episode is with special guest, Lindsey Medenwaldt. Although Olivea was unable to join in on this conversation, Lindsey shared about her ministry talking with people about Christianity. She remembers when she encounters questions, and she shares encouragement for Olivea.

ABOUT LINDSEY:

Lindsey Medenwaldt (MA, JD, MPA) is the director of ministry operations at Mama Bear Apologetics and an adjunct professor at Northwestern College in Iowa. She engages extensively on the topics of apologetics and worldview as a writer, editor, teacher, and speaker. Lindsey and her husband, Jay, live in Iowa along with their daughters.

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This is the fifth episode in a series of episodes dedicated to a young woman named Olivea. This episode is with special guest, April Biondolillo. April shares with Janell and Olivea about her life journey, She talks about her ministry, Cherish ministry which exists to empower every girl everywhere to discover her purpose and Cherish her worth. April answers Olivea's questions and talks about her experience in relationships with young women and how she deals with feelings of insecurity and comparison in her own spiritual life.

April was born and raised in Texas. She now finds her home in the east side of Washington with her husband, Andrew, serving in the youth ministry together. After receiving her BA in ministry and leadership and a minor in writing in 2016, she served as a youth pastor in Washington state for 5 years, and led as the Director of the Women and Children's Shelter for the Union Gospel Mission for 2 years. In addition, she is the founder of her nonprofit, Cherish, a ministry that exists to empower every girl everywhere to discover her purpose and Cherish her worth. April loves encouraging and empowering girls to walk out their worth within.

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LINKS:

https://cherishglobal.org/about

This is the fourth episode in a series of episodes dedicated to a young woman named Olivea. This episode is with special guest, best-selling author, Francine Rivers. In this episode Francine shares with Janell and Olivea about her life journey, how she hears from God, why trusting His character is so important, and how she knows He cares even when life can be full of disappointments or unexpected detours.

ABOUT FRANCINE RIVERS New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers had a successful writing career in the general market for several years becoming a born-again Christian; she then wrote "Redeeming Love" as her statement of faith. A retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea set during the time of the California Gold Rush, Redeeming Love is now considered by many to be a classic work of Christian fiction and it continues to be one of the industry’s top-selling titles year after year. Since Redeeming Love, Francine has published numerous bestselling novels with Christian themes—including The Masterpiece, Bridge to Haven, and A Voice in the Wind —and she has continued to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the world. Her Christian novels have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors and in 1997, after winning her third RITA Award for Inspirational Fiction, Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame. In 2015, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Francine’s novels have been translated into over 30 different languages, and she enjoys bestseller status in many foreign countries. Francine and her husband live in Northern California and enjoy time spent with their grown children and grandchildren. She uses her writing to draw closer to the Lord, and she desires that through her work she might worship and praise Jesus for all He has done and is doing in her life.