Episode 409 - Cradled in Hope with Ashley Opliger

The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

Davey Blackburn and Aubrey Sampson

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2025

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How do you hold onto hope while processing new losses after past ones? How do you reconcile the deep suffering you experience in life with the goodness of God?Ashley Opliger knows these questions well. After losing her daughter, Bridget, to stillbirth, she couldn’t imagine a greater pain. Years later, when her father was killed by a drunk driver, she found herself navigating a new wave of grief layered over the old. Yet, in the midst of heartbreak, Ashley discovered hope and purpose through Bridget’s Cradles, the nonprofit she founded to support families grieving the loss of an infant.She has also authored Cradled in Hope: Trusting Jesus to Heal Your Heart as He Holds Your Baby in Heaven—a practical guide for mothers walking through similar sorrow. In her book, Ashley shares her story and offers compassionate guidance for finding healing and faith after loss.In this episode, Davey sits down with Ashley to talk about making sense of what feels like senseless suffering, learning to surrender our pain to God, and holding the tension between mercy and justice when we’ve been deeply hurt by others’ actions.If you’ve ever faced a new grief after a profound past loss, this conversation will remind you that God continues to cradle you in hope—even in the midst of each new pain that comes your way. Website: bridgetscradles.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/ashleyopliger www.instagram.com/bridgetscradlesFacebook: www.facebook.com/ashleyopligerBook: Cradled in Hope: Trusting Jesus to Heal Your Heart as He Holds Your Baby in Heaven https://amzn.to/4mUKjb2Every story shared through Nothing is Wasted becomes part of a living legacy and you can be a part. Join the legacy and give today: www.nothingiswasted.com/legacyofhope Stories matter. They inspire, uplift, and remind us we’re not alone in our pain. Hope in the Valley: 42 Days of Healing Through the Psalms After Loss, Grief, and Tragedy is a new devotional featuring real stories from the Nothing Is Wasted community—offering strength, comfort, and hope in life’s hardest moments. Order your copy today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/hopeinthevalley Wondering where to get started on your journey towards healing? Join Davey on our next FREE, live Zoom call and find out how you can begin to take back your story and how Nothing is Wasted can help. Sign up today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/starthere Looking for help in navigating the valley of pain and trauma? Our Nothing is Wasted coaches can help: www.nothingiswasted.com/coaching Want a pathway through your pain? The Pain to Purpose Course can lead you through all you've been through: www.nothingiswasted.com/paintoppurpose Please donate today at MercyShips.org/podcast Visit www.OmahaSteaks.com for 50% off sitewide during their Sizzle All the Way Sale. And for an extra $35 off, usepromo code FUN at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Nothing is Wasted podcast, where we meet you in your pain and help you discover a pathway through.
0:09.6	No matter what you've faced or what you're walking through now, we believe your story isn't over.
0:15.0	Each week, you'll hear powerful conversations with people who've partnered with God to reclaim their stories of trauma, loss, and heartbreak, and we'll chat with Christian experts who offer wisdom and
0:26.2	practical tools for healing. This is a place of hope, redemption, and the reminder that
0:31.5	even in your darkest moments, God is still writing your story, because with him, nothing is wasted. I'm your host, Davey Blackburn.
0:50.3	Hello, hello, welcome to the Nothing is Wasted podcast. My name is Davey. I'm your host. And Merry Christmas.
0:57.3	The time of the release of this episode, it is actually Christmas Day. And I'm so grateful that you're joining us.
1:05.4	Perhaps you're not listening to this on Christmas Day. Maybe you are. Maybe you're listening to this after the fact, but no matter what,
1:11.6	Merry Christmas, happy holidays. Grateful for you. Grateful to be a part of your life.
1:18.4	Grateful that we right now are celebrating a Savior, the perfect God man that stepped into our
1:26.7	plight of suffering, that he became an empathetic high priest
1:31.1	that can understand everything that we're going through. And then he walked this road perfectly,
1:37.1	and that's what we're celebrating, that he is God with us, that he is incarnate. You know,
1:42.3	we say often that God doesn't give us explanation for why we go through what we're
1:46.2	going through, but he gives us something even greater.
1:48.9	He gives us incarnation.
1:50.4	He walks with us, God with us, and Emmanuel, that's the whole essence of what today is.
1:58.4	And it's why we really need God with us, Emmanuel, in many of our stories, because
2:08.2	many of our stories are extremely, extremely hard. And there's nothing quite like the
2:15.0	presence of God, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that walks with us.
2:21.4	Every week on this podcast, we sit down with people who've walked some really hard roads.
2:28.0	Every once in a while, I come across a story that absolutely stops me in my tracks, not just because of the depth of
	...

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