Happy New Year to You! The NEW Mud Stories Podcast App, a free Audiobook download, and highlights from each of the last twelve episodes of the Mud Stories podcast in 2014. Reviewing, reminiscing, and remembering each guest and the hope and encouragement each one shared. Highlights include episodes from Michele-Lyn Ault, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Laura Boggess, Natalie Snapp, Mary Lou Caskey, Jess Connolly, Lysa TerKeurst, Amanda White, Carol Hulin, Michelle DeRusha, and Craig and Jen Ferguson.

Announcing the NEW Mud Stories Podcast App, a free Audiobook download, and highlights from each of the first twelve episodes of the Mud Stories podcast in 2014. Reviewing, reminiscing, and remembering each guest and the hope and encouragement each one shared. Highlights include episodes from Shannon Ethridge, Lisa-Jo Baker, Holley Gerth, Jennifer Smith (Unveiled Wife), Emily Wierenga, Alia Joy, Christy Johnson, Crystal Stine, Carrie O'Toole, and Kate Battistelli.

Craig and Jen Ferguson--authors of Pure Eyes, Clean Heart: A Couple's Journey to Freedom from Pornography--share their personal story of the shame, anger and hopelessness that is associated with a porn addiction, and offer practical guidance for the heart issues that lead to addiction and hope for anyone who struggles with the lure of pornography. Women can find support at the Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood.

Doubt, unbelief, and more questions than answers plagued Michelle DeRusha for over twenty years, as she lived the life of a spiritual misfit. Michelle shares her journey back toward faith and her discovery of a God who loves us no matter what and offers us grace time and time again.

From childhood abuse, isolation, alcohol and promiscuity, to abusive relationships and rape, Carol Hulin is no stranger to mud in this life. And it is no suprise she found herself angry with God and doubting His goodness. Yet Carol tells of her powerful discovery of finding truth, releasing guilt, and shedding shame, and shares her journey back to trusting again.

Through church job loss, hurt, and disappointment in others, Amanda White felt small and thought her dream had died. But over time, God used her everyday circumstances to make her path sure and more incredible than she had ever dreamed, leading her to use her writing and blog to make a difference in thousands of lives through her book, Truth in the Tinsel.

Lysa TerKeurst, New York Times bestselling author, shares the story of her childhood mud, the failure of her abortion, and the way God brought good even from that, through her discipline and calling to write. Lysa shares insight about finding our courageous yes, and fighting for our confident no, and much more, from her latest book, The Best Yes.

Experiencing sex, drugs, and alcohol at an early age led Jess Connolly down a path of feeling broken and 'not enough'. And even after becoming a Christian, she shares her struggle through depression and suicide attempts, and how God great love and grace and mercy met her even there.

Weight loss, overcoming obesity and ditching dieting are Mary Lou Caskey's goals--by replacing eating rules, judgment and the yo-yo diet merry-go-round with freedom and hope, so we can finally enjoy peace with food, no matter what our size.

After experiencing an abortion, a divorce, and then her alcoholic father's death, Natalie Snapp shares how she found God in her journey toward healing, remarriage, and motherhood, and not only accepted God's forgiveness, but learned to forgive her own heart too.

Addiction and abortion are among the many mud pits we can encounter in life, and Natalie Snapp transparently shares her story, all she faced, and how she found God in spite of it all. 

Connection and intimacy with God can be such a challenge, and Laura Boggess shares her mud story of being far from God in her younger years, battling alcohol and the lifestyle it brings, and how she found God through nature, wonder, and in Playdates with God.

If you've ever struggled with perfectionism, comparison, a need for approval, or the feeling of being "not enough," Jennifer Dukes Lee shares how to slay these love idols, know we are already preapproved, all because of Christ.

Michele-Lyn Ault discusses her mud story--a lack of a father's love, a teenage pregnancy, the option of abortion, the way she felt God's love through the love of others, and her process of redemption and choosing to live a life surrendered.

Kate Battistelli, mother of recording artist Francesca Battistelli, shares the story of how her life didn't go as she planned, her resulting anger at God, and the way in which she surrendered to God's plan and His highest good for her life. 

Carrie O'Toole shares her story through the process of international adoption, her child's reactive attachment disorder, her own depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and the anguish of the surrender to ultimately let her child go.

Crystal Stine shares about her job loss and financial hardship crisis, the challenges of a woman's career, the beauty of online community, the benefits of life-coaching, and how crisis and tragedy can actually be a gift.

Christy Johnson shares how to identify our inner love junkie, how to find peace, grace, and joy in our relationships even amidst our trials, and 7 steps we can take toward soul health.

Christy Johnson shares the origin and struggle of her relationship addiction, and how she used relationships as a drug to medicate her emotional pain. She discusses the danger of thoughts and comparisons, how both emotional and physical affairs begin, and the reality that unrealistic expectations can lead to failure in our lives.

Alia Joy discusses her personal story through depression, how postpartum despression is different from chronic depression or cyclothymia, how to recognize depression symptoms in ourselves and others, and some practical steps we can take today in our fight against it--including a community challenge at the end of the episode for the purpose of standing together against depression. #mudstoriesbeautiful

Emily Wierenga shares about her journey through anorexia, about caring for her mom with brain cancer, her memoir Atlas Girl, and how to maintain hope, find healing, and some steps we can take to see God despite our pain.

Jennifer Smith, founder and author at Unveiled Wife, shares the sexual intimacy challenges she faced in the first few years of marriage, how she worked through and overcame her struggle, and offers encouragement to us all as we face the myriad of challenges marriage can bring.

Holley Gerth, co-founder of (in)courage.me, shares about her journey through infertility, how she learned to thrive through disappointment and ongoing grief, and how God has redeemed her situation and made her a mother in a surprising way.

Lisa Jo Baker shares about her personal loss, the universal process of grief, living life without a mom, and how it is possible to be sad and well at the same time because of Christ.

Shannon Ethridge shares how her ministry over the past twenty years was birthed out of her greatest pain, how God showed her how hungry she was for attention and affection, and how her lack of emotional and sexual integrity was eventually used for good.

An introduction to the Mud Stories podcast, with answers to the questions: Who is Jacque Watkins? What is a mud story? What will this podcast be about? And what to expect as you listen.