Hello everyone and welcome to the Graceology with Gwen Smith podcast. I'm Gwen Smith and I am so glad you joined me today.

Around here we have fun, faith-focused, grace-filled conversations, all to help you know and trust God more.

Our discussions are honest, often humorous, and always practical,

and they're going to encourage you in meaningful ways to live out and lean on the grace of Jesus

in the midst of cluttered messy days. You got any of those? I know I do, and I can't wait to

get to today's conversation, which is all about how to hold

on to faith when it seems God is gone.

My guest today is Michelle Kashat.

Now you might remember her from episode 28, which I totally encourage you to listen to.

In fact, I'm going to add a link to episode 28 in the show notes right now so that you

can go and listen because you're not going to want to miss that one either. But for those of you who

might be unfamiliar with Michelle, Michelle Kashat is a three-time head and neck cancer survivor,

and she's also the parent to some school-age children that she tenderly refers to as children from hard places.

She's a reluctant expert on trauma, pain, and the deep human need for authentic connection.

And I have to tell you, I am just a huge fan of this woman. I'm not even kidding.

Michelle's just an incredibly talented storyteller, a biblically

strong communicator, and she's the author of a brand new book called Relentless, which we talk about

in this episode. In struggle, illness, death, and failure, pain causes us to question God's presence.

We pray and we watch the sky for proof of God's nearness,

but in the quiet that follows we fear the worst, abandonment. But what if we could find evidence

that God hasn't left us? In this episode, Michelle and I discuss the message of her new book

Relentless, which exposes the unshakable presence of a God who never leaves

...