Episode 230: How to Find Encouragement When You Need It

🎙️ Life Happens Laugh Anyway Podcast

Episode 230: How to Find Encouragement When You Need It 💁‍♀️📖🤣

Feeling discouraged? Overwhelmed? Gassy? (You have to listen to this episode to understand the gassy part!) 😂 You’re in good company.

In this episode, Tracy and Cathrine get real (and ridiculous) about what to do when life is a lot. Whether you're in a tough season or just having one of those blah-for-no-reason days, this episode is your practical pep talk—with stories, scripture, and some side-splitting laughter. Yes, wheezing too!

Here’s what’s inside:
✨ Cathrine shares from the heart—from giving birth to a daughter with a heart defect, to financial stress and work injuries. She opens up about how her faith family (and real family) helped her find strength.
💔 Tracy talks about depression and motherhood, including losing her mom to cancer as a young wife/mom and raising five boys through chaos—like that one Christmas Eve with ZERO presents. (Don’t worry. Her siblings saved the day!)
📱 Our favorite encouragement habits: daily “Top 10 Thankful” texts and ridiculous memes
📖 Encouraging Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:14–15, Psalm 32:8, and a side mention of Isaiah 41:10 because, let’s be honest, it’s Tracy’s life verse.

😂 BONUS: Tracy talked Cathrine into revealing her most embarrassing VBS moment—which may or may not involve falling, peeing (just a little), and a well-timed toot. In return, Tracy shared a prayer that had a little extra gas in the amen. These are too good to keep secret.

👂 Why being a good listener might be the most powerful form of encouragement
💡 Plus: Cathrine shares insights from the late, great Dr. Charles Stanley on how to truly uplift others

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💬 How We Encourage Each Other (and YOU!)

• ✅ Texting our daily Top 10 Thankful List

• ✅ Memes that crack us up when life feels heavy

• ✅ Just being present—a quiet listener is sometimes the best gift

• ✅ Scripture + prayer at the right time
  ("Sometimes it’s not a sermon, it’s a text that says: 'I see you. I'm praying. Also… here's a squirrel meme.'")

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📣 Call to Action:

We need encouragement too! 🧡
If something in this episode blessed you, made you laugh, or reminded you that you’re not alone, let us know! Send a message to: 📧 tracy@tracydegraaf.com or find us on social media. We hate to be overly needy, but sometimes we just need to know you're out there. Your words might just be the boost we need today.

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🎧 Listen now—and don’t forget to laugh anyway.

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