Halfway There

109: Anna Scheller and Yielding to Grace on the Way

Anna Scheller is a wife of 36 years, mom of 7, black belt and business owner. Today, Anna shares her story of learning to trust God through anxiety, losing money in business, and dealing with abuse of her children. Anna stands out as an example of how the Lord uses such difficult times to refine  and gives the grace needed at just the right time. Anna’s heart for mentoring women and teaching sales as a service will inspire you to be just a little more confident and take the next step toward the abundance of the Kingdom.
Please listen and share Anna’s story!
Stories Anna shared:
Her ministry now including a Taekwondo ministry
What she’s learned about her faith from Taekwondo
Finding Christ after her sister died by watching Billy Graham on television
Beginning to read the Bible everyday
How memorizing Scripture helped her overcome anxiety
Serving in her church together
Yielding to grace in her business
The abundance of the Kingdom of God
How Anna learned to trust that God speaks to us today
The gratitude God brought when two of her children were sexually assaulted
Her heart to mentor young women
God’s desire for us to prosper and live in abundance
Sales as service not arm twisting
Great quotes from Anna:
I had no peace but I wanted peace from God.
Jesus cares about every aspect of your life and if you’re willing to yield it to him, he will lead you through it and out of it. And you will be singing and dancing and rejoicing before you know it.
Prosperity is a bigger picture than money in the bank.
Resources Anna mentioned:
Anna’s Facebook
Anna’s website
The Autobiography Of George Muller (Anna mentioned George Muller and this book might be helpful to you. This is an Amazon affiliate link that sends me a small commission if you use it. Thanks!)
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108: Alex Vasquez and Learning to Live in Abundance

Alex Vasquez is an inspiring Christian who encourages others to be entrepreneurs. He owns a media company, ALEXVMEDIA, helping people get more online traffic for their business. Alex shares the choices that changed the course of his life including giving his life to Christ, repenting and turning his heart back to his wife, and deciding poverty wasn’t for him. Throughout his story, Alex shares the books that shaped him including the one he was reading when he met his wife, the books that shaped his walk with the Lord, and the ones that made him into the businessman he is today.
Please listen to and share Alex’s story!
Stories Alex shared:
Growing up in a non-Christian home and turning to music to soothe his wounds
Finding Christ in 2002 and leaving his old lifestyle
Reading the Bible as often as he could in the early years
Sharing Christ with others in the Navy
Meeting his wife because he was reading a Christian book
How a long distance marriage hurt their relationship
The repentance that led to renewed relationship with his wife
Missing ship’s movement and the how the Lord provided for him
Discovering Napoleon Hill and Mark Cuban
Why it’s important to break the poverty mindset
Why he started his own company helping business with paid traffic
Great quotes from Alex:
I have so many stories when he was far away but he was really near.
I want to be the Joseph for my family.
Poverty is not how much you have in the bank but how you think.
Resources mentioned by Alex (Amazon affiliate links that send a commission to me if you use them):
AlexVMedia
The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised by Napoleon Hill
Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success by Napoleon Hill
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It by Mark Cuban
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107: Mary DeMuth and Her Avenue of Healing

Mary DeMuth is the author of thirty-six books. But it’s the story behind why she started writing and how the Lord used the process to heal her that will fascinate you. Mary shares her story of sexual abuse as a child, her chaotic home, and knowing nothing of God beyond swear words. When she found Jesus, he used the writing process to bring her to joy. Today, Mary explains how that process worked and the advocate she is becoming for victims of abuse. Her joy is hard won and beautiful as a result. I know you will be changed by her story!
Please listen and share Mary’s story.
Stories Mary shared:
Her podcast Pray Every Day
Her chaotic and difficult childhood and knowing nothing about God beyond swear words
Finding Jesus through YoungLife
Why sharing her story helped her heal
Becoming a writer and publishing
Writing her story and how it helped her heal
Becoming a missionary to France
Overcoming sex abuse through marriage
Why she wrote The Seven Deadly Friendships
How her love for the church drives her message for it
The Good Samaritan and victims of abuse
Great quotes from Mary:
The Lord used the bent that he made me to be the avenue of healing.
An untold story never heals.
You will heal in waves and layers.
We have expelled the tutors from our midst.
Resources we mentioned:
The Seven Deadly Friendships: How to Heal When Painful Relationships Eat Away at Your Joy by Mary DeMuth
Building the Christian Family You Never Had: A Practical Guide for Pioneer Parents by Mary DeMuth
Mary’s website
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106: Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Healing Our Broken Humanity

Grace Ji-Sun Kim is Associate Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion and author of 15 books and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Her family found community in church after emigrating to Canada where she began to have some of her deep questions answered. Grace’s questions eventually led her to study theology which was not an easy field to pursue for a woman but her calling was clear. She wrote Healing Our Broken Humanity with Graham Hill as an exploration of the practices it takes to embed the Gospel in our communities to allow us to love with Christlikeness.
Please listen and share Grace’s story!
Stories Grace shared:
Immigrating to Canada from Korea and finding community in church
The youth pastor that embraced her questions about the faith
Dealing with racism in society and sexism in the church
The struggle to figure out her calling in theology
How she overcame being a woman in a man’s field
Feeling God was not with her during college and the peace that resulted
Why she wrote Healing Our Broken Humanity with Graham Hill
Why we should call brokenness sin
Lament as a spiritual practice
Why relinquishing power is a needed spiritual exercise
How we can empower others
Great quotes from Grace:
I had all these unleft questions that I wanted to tackle. Who is God? How do we experience God in this world?
I don’t think these male pastors, even till this day 20-something years later understand how sexist those comments were and how hurtful.
If God loves all people, whatever ethnicity and culture that we’re born into, God must love both men and women equally.
Resources mentioned by Grace (Amazon affiliate links which send a commission back to me if you use them):
Healing Our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World by Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Graham Hill
Mother Daughter Speak: Lessons on Life
The Holy Spirit, Chi, and the Other: A Model of Global and Intercultural Pneumatology
Rabbit-Proof Fence
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105: Suzanne Stabile Shares the Enneagram and Relationships

Suzanne Stabile is an internationally recognized Enneagram master, teacher, and author. Today, Suzanne shares her story of finding the Enneagram, how she studied it for years without teaching, and answers your questions. Suzanne grew up being exposed to many spiritual practices and that shows in her openness to them. Suzanne explains exactly what the Enneagram is, why you should not rely on it exclusively, and how it can help your relationships.
Please listen and share Suzanne’s story!
Stories Suzanne shared:
Founder of Life in the Trinity ministries with her husband
Growing up in the panhandle of Texas with kind, Christian parents in the United Methodist church
Joining the Roman Catholic church and why it was attractive
Being exposed at a young age to many spiritual practices
Discovering the Enneagram with Richard Rohr
How the Enneagram helps us understand ourselves
What the Enneagram is designed for and how it helps us
Whether the Enneagram changes
Suzanne answers your questions about Enneagram
Great quotes from Suzanne:
Every day, at 67 and 71, we get up and ask ourselves the question what is ours to do today, and what is the next right thing for us to do, and what would God have us to do.
When people begin to commit themselves to a deeper spiritual journey, the first two things that happen are they run into the fact that they don’t like themselves. And the Enneagram helps you get over that. And the second thing is struggles with family of origin and with other people. And the Enneagram helps you get over that.
I can’t fall in love with a God that I’m afraid of.
The idea that we are conditionally loved by God is a contributor to conditionally loving other people.
Resources mentioned during episodes (Amazon affiliate links which pay me a small commission if you use them):
The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships and the The Path Between Us Study Guide
The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery and the The Road Back to You Study Guide
The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves by Curt Thompson
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104: Tony Weedor and the Cost of the Gospel

Tony Weedor is a regional director with Advancing Native Mission sending people back to their home countries with the Gospel. Today, Tony shares how he found Christ, what it cost him, and how God is using him now. Tony grew up in a Muslim family in Liberia and describes for us the division and turmoil that country experienced. He is a man of great questions and the Lord used his questions to lead him to Christ when he stumbled into a Bible study one day. The missionaries were not afraid of questions and his heart came alive when he heard the answers. Tony’s story will take you out of North America and into a world few of us get to see.
Please listen and share Tony’s story!
Stories Tony shared:
Growing up in a Muslim family in Liberia where slavery was still part of the culture
The racial and tribal division of Liberia in his youth
The many questions about his faith that he could not ask
The missionaries who were not afraid of his question
The differences between how God is portrayed in the Bible and the Koran
Making a “mistake” and attending a Bible study
The woman who led him to Christ because she was tired of his questions
Why he didn’t tell his family about his conversion for three years
What his mother said when he told her about his conversion
The pain of being rejected by his mother and family
Walking from Liberia to Ivory Coast
His mission to refugees
The fruit of mission work throughout the world
Learning how to wait for God to open doors
Great quotes from Tony:
The concept of sin and forgiveness was not in my worldview as a Muslim.
In the name of Jesus Christ, demons will have to flee. Who is this guy?
You wash five times a day. You pray five times a day. But you can’t wash your heart. You can’t wash your mind.
If I tell you how many Muslims are coming to Christ through dreams and visions, whether from Pakistan to Egypt, Bangledesh to Nigeria, Nigera to South Africa, you won’t believe it.
Resources Tony mentioned (all links below are Amazon affiliate links and I may be paid a small commission if you use them):
The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy: Three Essential Books in One Volume by Francis Schaeffer
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
Out of the Ashes: My Journey from Tragedy to Redemption by Elizabeth Fahn-Weedor, Tony’s wife
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103: Marie White and How God Turns Tragedy into Trust

Marie White is an author, Tedx speaker, and YouTuber. Today she shares the story of how the most difficult time in her life became the catalyst for her work as an author. Marie takes us into the moment when she discovered her child was missing, how she cried out to God, and the intimacy she finds with him as she trusts him. She faced every parent’s nightmare and then wrote the book to help other parents going through similar circumstances and found a wider audience than she imagined. Marie’s story is a powerful example of how God turns tragedy into trust.
Please listen and share Marie’s story!
Stories Marie shared:
Growing up going to church
Feeling unworthy of Jesus for three days after her husband found Jesus
Discovering her husbands secret Bible reading
Sharing the Gospel with her family
Her family’s mission to foster children
How she felt when her youngest child was abducted
The unexplained peace she feels about the situation
The powerful moment she couldn’t hold the sorrow in anymore and cried out to God
Why she wrote her first book, God’s Love for LGBTQI
How God used the worst event of her life to channel her creativity to YouTube
The intimacy with God she felt as she trusted him for her child
What she’s learned about trusting God
Going on a “laughter diet” for health
Great quotes from Marie:
I knew Jesus and I knew I wasn’t good enough.
When the sobs felt forced, I sat up, wiped my face, and went back to sweeping again.
We all have a tendency to marinate on things. We need to hand them to God and let go and that is extremely difficult.
Resources Marie shared:
Marie’s YouTube channel Bible Stories for Adults
Marie’s TedX talk
God’s Love for LGBTQI by Marie White
Strength for Parents of Missing Children: Surviving Divorce, Abduction, Runaways and Foster Care by Marie White
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102: Craig Greenfield and Good News for the Poor

Craig Greenfield is the founder and director of Alongsiders International and author including The Urban Halo and Subversive Jesus: An Adventure in Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness in a Broken World (Amazon affiliate link). Craig grew up in a home of generous hospitality which shaped his view of what it means to follow Jesus. Instead of merely inviting the poor into his home, Craig and his wife make their home with the poor.
Today, Craig shares the story of how he became convinced the Gospel is for the poor, moving to one of the world’s highest drug dealing neighborhoods, and the “God questions” that led him back to Cambodia to lead a movement of children mentoring children. Craig inspires me to think about the Kingdom of God in new ways and I know his story will do the same for you.
Please listen and share Craig’s story!
Stories Craig shared:
The Alongsiders movement that he leads
Growing up in an affluent neighborhood in New Zealand
His parent’s radical hospitality and the impression it made on him
The spiritual warfare experience that led him to choose Jesus
When the Gospel he shared didn’t sound like good news to the poor
How the Magnificat speaks the Gospel to all aspects of our lives
The beggar’s shirt that challenged how he followed Jesus
His battle with claustrophobia and how Jesus’s time in a cave helped him
Facing death when he had cancer six years ago
His book The Urban Halo about his first seven years in the slums of Cambodia
Subversive Jesus and his time in Vancouver to the Downtown Eastside
The “God-question” that led him to reevaluate his next five years
How he worked through ministering to the poor with his wife
Why North American Christians need to get out of the bubble
Great quotes from Craig:
What the eye has not seen the heart cannot grieve.
When you come face to face with real poverty it rocks your world.
We tend to romanticize those who are far away and marginalize those near us.
People have enough condemnation in life. What we need is more love, more joy, more welcome.
Resources mentioned by Craig:
The Urban Halo, Craig’s first book
Subversive Jesus: An Adventure in Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness in a Broken World
Alongsiders International
Craig’s website where you can connect with him
Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus by Ched Myers
Chasing the Dragon: One Woman’s Struggle Against the Darkness of Hong Kong’s Drug Dens by Jackie Pullinger
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