Show Notes
Tommy sits down with Katherine Wolf, stroke survivor, author, and co-founder of Hope Heals, for one of his dream conversations. At 26, Katherine had a massive brain stem stroke that left her permanently disabled, and nearly two decades later she is one of the most compelling voices on suffering, hope, and what it means to live a truly good life in the middle of an impossibly hard one. This is a conversation about what it looks like when good and hard coexist, and why the pain you are carrying right now might be too precious to waste.
What You'll Hear in This Episode: Katherine's story: the brain stem stroke at 26 that changed everything and the nearly two years of recovery that followed Why there is no quota on suffering this side of heaven, and how that reframing actually brings freedom The invisible wheelchairs we all carry, and why the disabilities nobody can see often do the most damage The difference between wanting a cure and actually needing healing, drawn from the blind man in John 9 What the practice of hope looks like when the feeling of hope is completely gone The Isaiah 45 passage that became the foundation for Treasures in the Dark and why she chose to gather treasure instead of waste it How to radically accept your story and trust an unknown future to a known God
Timestamps: (0:00) Intro and Katherine's story (7:35) No quota on suffering (11:51) Invisible wheelchairs (14:43) Redefining what good actually means (21:34) Treasures in the Dark and Isaiah 45 (28:18) The difference between a cure and healing (30:18) Practicing hope when you can't feel it (36:04) Hope Heals Camp and radical belonging (45:51) Trusting an unknown future to a known God
Resources / Next Steps: Learn more about Katherine and Hope Heals at hopeheals.com. Listen to The Good Hard Story podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Pick up Treasures in the Dark on Amazon. If you are in Atlanta, visit Mend Coffee!
More from Space for Life
Charis Napier, Worship Lead Pastor at Hope Church, joins Tommy to talk about what worship is and why it's so much more than the singing before the sermon. They cover how to worship when you can't carry a tune or don't feel like it, what it means to sing words you're still growing into, and the many ways people worship beyond Sunday morning. Charis also shares how worship carried her through loss, and how it can be a place of healing in the hardest seasons of life.
Brett McCracken has written about faith and culture for 20 years. His new book, The Wisdom of Sleep, starts with a simple question: why would God design people to be unconscious for a third of their lives, especially now, when a phone makes it easy to stay on? He and Tommy talk about sleep as a gift you receive, what scrolling does instead of rest, and how a bad night shows up in the people around you. What You'll Hear in This Episode Why a few minutes of scrolling feels like rest and leaves you more tired. Why God resting on the seventh day still matters when work can follow you home. How the garden, the wilderness, and heaven are all about rest, and where sleep fits. Why the single best thing you can do for your health is something you lie down and receive. What dreaming does with the conversations and inputs of the day you just lived. When sleeplessness is a disorder you should get help for, and when it is a choice. Why sleep looks like death on purpose, and why waking up points at resurrection. How a bad night changes how you show up for your family and your work. (0:00) How he started writing (9:52) Parenting made sleep urgent (12:45) Technology gives you a reason not to rest (18:16) Why God made us sleep (24:14) Rest was the point, then we lost it (31:36) The best thing for your health is received (38:25) What your brain does while you dream (47:28) When poor sleep is a choice (53:50) Sleep looks like death on purpose (1:01:06) How your sleep lands on other people (1:06:52) The last 30 minutes, and the gaps in the day The Wisdom of Sleep is available in print and as an audiobook Brett narrated. More of his writing is at The Gospel Coalition, and his other books are at brettmccracken.com.
Braxton Byerson grew up in a military family, played with both brothers at Virginia Union, then took the game to Uruguay and China before the ball stopped bouncing for him. Now he coaches, speaks, and writes about confidence, choices, and character, including the hard question he puts to young men: who are you when you do not get applause? Tommy talks with Braxton about getting cut, starting over with middle school girls basketball, life after a divorce, and why the words young people need most are I'm with you.
You're in a known place, and then you're not. Parenthood, an empty nest, grief, a career, retirement. Tommy spent the summer wondering if this was the year he let Space for Life go, then he found Encore. Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons left big law at 35 to be with her kids, called it front ending retirement, and lost her identity anyway.
Tommy revisits a conversation with Lisa Ould, executive director of Barnabas Center and decades-long counselor, on one of the most personal and underaddressed topics he has taken on across all of Space for Life. Whether you tend to suppress what you feel or find yourself regularly overwhelmed by it, this episode offers a clear framework for understanding where emotions come from, why they matter, and how to stay in what Lisa calls your window of tolerance. Tommy gets personal too, sharing a formative story from his high school lacrosse days that quietly shaped how he has related to his own emotions ever since.