Episode 423 - Walking with God through the Heartache of Divorce with Vaneetha Risner

The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

Davey Blackburn and Aubrey Sampson

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What do you do when you find yourself living a life that was never your plan? How do you navigate the heartache of divorce and come out the other side stronger?Author and speaker Vaneetha Risner was no stranger to suffering long before her husband told her he had met someone else and wanted a divorce. After having walked through polio as a child, losing her infant son due to medical negligence and receiving a debilitating post-polio diagnosis, Vaneetha had already endured profound loss. Yet divorce brought its own distinct grief—one she had to walk through while caring for her teenage daughters and navigating her own heartbreak. In her book This Was Never the Plan: Walking with God through the Heartache of Divorce, she shares the practical wisdom and steady faith that carried her through.In this episode, Davey and Vaneetha talk about where to begin when a marriage unravels unexpectedly, how to confront the shame that often accompanies divorce, and what it truly looks like to trust God in the midst of deep pain and healing.If you or someone you love is living a story that feels nothing like the one once imagined, this conversation offers the hope that no matter what you’ve experienced, joy can return—and healing can emerge in the most unexpected places. 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.
0:38.8	I'm your host, Davey Blackburn.
0:50.3	Hello, hello.
0:51.2	Welcome to the Nothing is Wasted podcast.
0:52.9	My name is Davey, and I'm so grateful that you're joining me.
0:55.7	I'm actually joining you from, let's see, I'm on location at Refuge Widower Retreats.
1:02.6	You can see if you're watching this on YouTube. You can see me rocking the swag.
1:08.2	We are here on location in North Georgia, beautiful lakehouse serving 14 widowers.
1:16.7	This is a retreat that I help my friend Daniel Brooker lead every single year.
1:21.8	He has a ministry called Refuge Widowers.
1:23.8	And I do this twice a year, actually, one in the spring, one in the fall.
1:30.4	And we're here serving these widowers that have uh young children at home and so i just took some moments to step aside
1:39.0	to be able to record some intros for you guys and I'm grateful that you're here with us today.
1:46.6	We've got a great episode today planned.
1:48.9	We have an interview that I had with our dear friend, Vanita Reisner.
1:53.2	Vanita is a friend of the pod, if you will.
1:58.2	She has been in a dear friend of mine too.
2:00.9	She's been on episode 163 where she shares her story
	...

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