What happens when faith feels more like performance than relationship?

Taylor White grew up in a small Texas town where faith, family, and church were central to life. Saved at eight and raised in a Baptist church, Taylor always tried to do the right things — the right choices, the right behaviors, the right path.

But underneath the surface was a deeper struggle.

For years, Taylor approached faith like a checklist. Then life began to unravel the formula.

In this episode, Taylor shares:

• The pressure of performance-based faith

• Building a successful career while wrestling internally

• Parenting out of fear and control

• Facing the “end of his rope” when life didn’t go as planned

• Rediscovering faith through surrender, not striving

Taylor’s story is honest, thoughtful, and deeply relatable for anyone who has ever tried to earn God’s approval instead of receiving His grace.

Because the journey of faith isn’t about performing perfectly.

It’s about learning to trust the Father who has been faithful all along.

What happens when the life you carefully planned suddenly changes?

Eunice Nakamura’s story is one of courage, calling, and surrender.

At age seven, she immigrated from Korea with her single mother, not speaking English and stepping into an entirely new world. Years later, that same determination led her through Baylor, law school, and a successful legal career, eventually becoming general counsel for major organizations.

Then at 40, while serving as legal counsel for one of the world’s largest breast cancer foundations, Eunice received unexpected news:

She had breast cancer.

In this episode, Eunice shares:

• Immigrating to the U.S. as a child and adapting to a new culture

• Discovering that calling is about people, not position

• Facing a breast cancer diagnosis at the height of her career

• Experiencing deeper surrender and clarity through suffering

• Learning to trust God through unexpected career turns

Today, Eunice serves as General Counsel for the Texas Rangers, continuing to live out her faith in leadership and influence.

Her story is a reminder that even when life goes off script, God is still writing the story.

And sometimes the hardest moments become the ones that draw us closest to Him.

What if “forever” didn’t last?

Troy and Holly never imagined divorce would be part of their story.

Both grew up in strong Christian homes. Both entered marriage believing in forever. Both experienced betrayal, heartbreak, and the painful unraveling of life as they knew it.

In this episode, they share:

• The emotional shock of divorce

• Wrestling with anger, grief, and unanswered prayers

• Learning to trust God in loneliness

• Rebuilding identity after loss

• Risking marriage again

• Blending six adult children into one family

• Turning personal pain into Divorce Care ministry

This is a story about divorce — but even more, it’s a story about redemption.

If you’re walking through heartbreak, single again, or wondering if it’s too late to love again, this conversation is for you.

God does not waste pain. And your story is not over.

Divorce Care & Support Ministries: https://prestontrail.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/category/9103

Upcoming Divorce Care Event: https://prestontrail.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3341584

What if the life you built on your own terms still left you empty?

Jarod Taylor grew up in chaos — broken homes, addiction, instability, and learning early that if anything was going to work out, it would be on his terms.

God wasn’t someone he hated. God just wasn’t real.

Through his teens and 20s, Jarod became his own authority — chasing women, music, nightlife, success, and control. Eventually, he built a strong career, a home, and a family.

And still felt hollow.

What followed wasn’t a dramatic conversion. It was curiosity.

Jarod decided to “try on” Christianity — reading Scripture analytically, wrestling with doubt, logic, science, and reason.

Somewhere in the process, he fell in love with Jesus.

If you’ve ever:

• Lived life on your own terms

• Believed faith and logic were opposites

• Felt spiritually numb or hardened

• Wanted proof before belief

Jarod’s story is a reminder:

You don’t need all the answers. You just need an open heart.

Connect with Jarod

What if the faith you thought you had wasn’t the same as surrender?

Jason Kanapkey grew up in church. Baptized at eight. Knew the language. Believed in Jesus.

But by 12, he was experimenting with drugs. By 16, chasing highs. By 17, couch-surfing and barely holding life together.

He believed in God. He just wasn’t following Him.

Years later, sitting on his couch as a young adult, reading Scripture with fresh eyes, everything shifted. And when he finally let go of the identity he was clinging to, he discovered something unexpected: obedience felt like abundance.

In this episode, Jason shares:

• Growing up around religion but discovering relationship

• Addiction, identity, and the quiet drift from God

• The surrender moment that transformed everything

• Serving before fully understanding

• Finding deep discipleship and brotherhood

• Navigating open-heart surgery and learning to receive grace

• Living out faith in the marketplace, not just the church

This isn’t a story about having it all figured out. It’s about daily transformation.

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Read: Romans 12:1–2, Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 11:6, Revelation 3:20

What do you do when the faith you inherited never brings the peace you’re promised?

Suzanne Hancock was born and raised in the Mormon (LDS) church. She followed the rules, did what was expected, and built her identity around a faith tradition handed down for generations—yet peace always felt just out of reach.

In this episode, Suzanne courageously shares her long, honest journey of seeking truth:

• Growing up Mormon and quietly questioning what didn’t sit right

• Feeling trapped between loyalty, identity, and unanswered questions

• Wrestling with shame, anxiety, and depression while searching for peace

• Stepping into a Christian church for the first time—alone and uncertain

• Discovering Jesus not as a system, but as a relationship

• Walking away from a lifelong identity and choosing Christ for herself

• Experiencing baptism as freedom, joy, and new life

• Learning to trust God daily with anxiety, parenting, and purpose

This is not a story about switching religions. It’s a story about seeking truth, finding peace, and choosing Jesus—no matter the cost.

If you’ve ever:

• Felt spiritually restless even inside a faith tradition

• Feared disappointing people by asking hard questions

• Struggled with anxiety, shame, or identity loss

• Wondered whether Jesus could really bring peace

Suzanne’s story is a powerful reminder that Jesus keeps His promise: “Seek, and you will find.”

🎧 Listen now to hear how surrender, courage, and grace reshaped one woman’s faith—and future.

• Matthew 3:17
• Matthew 7:7–8
• Jeremiah 29:11
• Psalm 103

• Rooted
• Alpha
• Shalom Message Series

What happens when the life you’re chasing leaves you empty.. and God meets you at rock bottom?

Jackson Ford didn’t grow up deeply rooted in faith. For years, God felt distant - something reserved for holidays and church buildings, not everyday life. College only amplified that distance as partying, addiction, and isolation quietly took hold.

Then everything changed.

In this episode, Jackson shares his raw and hopeful story of transformation:

• Growing up around church but never really knowing God

• How COVID isolation exposed deeper emptiness and addiction

• Hitting rock bottom during college and encountering grace for the first time

• Saying yes to Jesus and watching identity, relationships, and purpose change

• Learning to love selflessly instead of living for himself

• Discernment, surrender, and an unexpected call into ministry

This isn’t a story about having it all figured out. It’s about curiosity turning into conviction.

If you’ve ever:

• Felt far from God even when you knew about Him

• Tried to numb emptiness with success, relationships, or habits

• Wondered if God could really use your past

• Wrestled with obedience when it didn’t make logical sense

Jackson’s story is a reminder that God doesn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up - He meets us in the mess and leads us forward.

• Watch: Defining Moments: Jackson's Story
• Read: Romans 8, Acts 11:1-3, and Matthew 6:25-34

• The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

Raised in a deeply Mennonite home, Brad Brenneman grew up surrounded by faith, service, and spiritual discipline. But it wasn’t until adulthood—after success, ambition, and an unexpected sense of emptiness—that grace became personal.

In this episode, Brad shares a story best described as “surprised by grace”:

• Growing up with a strong spiritual heritage—and learning faith for himself

• Leading businesses with humility, stewardship, and love for people

• Saying yes to international adoption - and watching grace multiply

• Learning generosity as a pathway to joy, not obligation

If you’ve ever:

• Wondered whether your career could truly be a calling

• Struggled to reconcile ambition with faith

• Felt God nudging you toward generosity, leadership, or adoption

• Believed in grace, but wanted to experience it more deeply

Brad’s journey offers a compelling reminder: God often does His deepest work quietly... through faithfulness, surrender, and everyday obedience.

🎧 Listen now to hear how a life rooted in grace can shape work, family, generosity, and legacy.

Proverbs 3:5–6 (NIV) “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NIV) “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 (NIV) “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

Mark 10:45 (NIV) “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Quote “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”