Reflections From The Fire

Reflections from the Fire has hit 3 years of podcasting! Here's a quick update and a little background into how we prepare for the interviews. Thank you for all of the support!

Warrior, Husband, Father, Man of Faith, Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient, friends lost, friends wounded, suicide, and more. This story has it all. Joe Policarpo shares his story of enlisting in the military, serving multiple tours oversees, pushing through the unknown of improvised explosive devices and overhead bombs, being injured and helping friends in a time of need. These experiences take a heavy toll and even the strongest warriors experience lasting impacts. Joe shares how he worked through them all with his beautiful family enduring the struggle and providing support all along the way. 

In 2015, Troy accidentally runs over his 9 year old son Austen, killing him. The grief and loss are overwhelming for the family. For years they struggle to carry-on living. In 2021, just as life was starting to resume for the family, Deedra, Austen's mom, suffers life threatening injuries by an impaired driver traveling in the wrong direction. She spends 136 days in the hospital and undergoes countless surgeries. To this day she continues to struggle with the permanent damage of many of her injuries. This is a story of enduring to the end. This is a story filled with pain, sorrow, grief, and most of all, this is a story of a family buoyed up and led by faith, hope, love, and courage. 

Greg and Cammy share the heartbreaking story of losing their daughter Brooke. At 19 years old, she was abducted, assaulted and murdered. Their story is what any parent fears, but their message is filled with hope, faith, forgiveness, love and kindness. 

While serving a mission in Mongolia, Ashley begins having health troubles. Chronic pain develops and nobody seems to be able to figure out what's wrong. Her story travels the road of self doubt, faith in crisis, college, marriage, depression, eventual diagnosis, surgery, miscarriages, miracles, a new perspective, and so much more.

In our previous episode we heard from Bryce about his struggles with abuse, addiction and infidelity. Today we hear from Ashley, Bryce's wife. Ashley shares her side of the story and how Bryce's actions impacted her. But Ashley's story is so much more than just "the other side" of someone else's story. She has a powerful, hard-earned story of her own. Ashley struggled with feelings of worthlessness, doubts in her faith, battling cancer, and more. Her strength today comes from a lifetime of experiences. 

Raised in a household of faith and good values, Bryce was taught to be kind and to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. But what happens when the hero becomes the victim? In an act of outreach and kindness to an outcast in the group, Bryce found himself powerless to protect himself from a predator. In this episode, Bryce opens up about sexual abuse, addiction to porn, the chains of bad decisions that followed him into his church mission and even his eventual marriage to his sweet wife. Bryce shares how love, faith, boundaries, persistence and a lot of patience truly saved his life.

Allison & Ryan have a beautiful family with 7 children. In this episode, they share the love and joy of the life of their oldest son Jefferson as well as the heartache of his untimely death at the young age of 17. Come to understand why Allison can say; "Death is not the worst thing". 

Sheila shares her struggles with Infertility, Invitro, adoption, and a near-death experience that complicated things from the start.  

Holly and Wade were a happy couple of 25 years. They were the proud parents of 3 wonderful children. One of their favorite past times was racing their boat out on the water. They loved their life as a family. Then one day, their world changed in the blink of an eye. Listen to Holly as she shares her story of losing Wade and how the family still finds happiness and peace today.

While riding his bike in Southern California, an unusual accident sent Adam into a coma for 6 weeks. He spent the next 2 years learning to walk and talk again. But his path to recovery was just beginning. 

Not all trauma is a single event thrust upon us. Sometimes trauma is self inflicted. And sometimes it happens slowly over time through small, seemingly inconsequential choices. Follow along as Heather recounts her story of how she became addicted to pain pills and how after many years of struggle, she finally freed herself from their relentless grasp. And though she is thriving and well today, she has learned that even a recovering addict must forever be cautious of the enticements from the past. 

Tyson was a healthy baby boy. But, when his health began to decline rapidly,  his mother Brandi rushed him to the hospital. It was bacterial meningitis and Tyson was in for the fight of his life. Brandi and Cameron share their story of how their life was forever changed when the son they went home with, wasn't the same as the one they had arrived with just 1 week before.

Austin, a triathlete and newly wed is left paralyzed when the driver of a jeep is momentarily blinded by the sun and runs him over. Life has forever changed. But if you ask Austin and Jill, it's changed their life for the better. Hear all about the miracles, the angels, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Hope and depression. Successes and failures. Get comfortable, cause there's a lot to take in on this one.

Kim shares her story of the perfect pregnancy that resulted in Cerebral Palsy for her son. Hear about how she found a new normal in life and how unplanned outcomes became a blessing for the whole family.

A field trip from Utah State University that claimed the lives of nine good men. Robbie, the only one of the two survivors to make a full recovery, shares his story. Robbie gives us a glimpse into the miracles of that day and the close connection we all have with heaven.

I share my own story of losing my best friend Seth and how it changed the trajectory of my own life.

Emily and Burke share their story of grief, faith, and miracles when they lose their twin son Aiden on the day of his scheduled birth. Hear how they clung to hope in the face of uncertainty and how prayers were answered in ways they never expected. Also hear about Emily's book "Is There No Other Way:  Exploring Growth Through Grief", inspired from her own painful loss and the strength of 50 special women that surrounded her. 

We all have hopes and dreams for the future. At age 16, Eden was in a relatively minor car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Eden shares what it's like to watch your dreams vanish before your eyes and how she's found a new life with her new normal. 

Krystal's world was shattered when she lost her husband to suicide. A widow in her twenties with no idea what she was going to do next. Find out how she faced it all and found hope, love, and joy all over again.

Why this? Why now? In this Introductory Episode I'll share some of the background that drove me to start this podcast.