Hey friends, it’s Raleigh Sadler. In this episode of MercyCast, I sit down with my good friend Tyler Gresham, Administrative pastor to students at Fairhaven Baptist in Demopolis, Al,  to talk about something we all encounter but often don’t know how to handle—suffering, especially in the face of unimaginable loss. Tyler opens up about the heartbreaking journey of losing his daughter, Tessa, to a terminal birth defect, and what it looked like to walk through that adversity with honesty, trust, and a deep longing for healing.

Together, we unpack how compassion—as well-intentioned as it is—can sometimes feel like salt in a wound when we’re not careful with our words. We talk about how simply listening—really listening—can communicate more love than any advice ever could.

In this deeply moving episode of MercyCast, I sit down with Jill Merrier—a foster parent who has chosen to walk the hard road of loving and parenting medically fragile children. We talk about the unseen reality of foster care, especially for kids who age out of the system each year—many of whom carry invisible wounds. Jill brings to light the challenges and beauty of parenting in adversity, and how compassion isn’t just a feeling—it’s a practice, a discipline, and a way to love well.

Hey friends, Raleigh Sadler here. In this deeply moving episode of MercyCast, I sit down with Emmanuel Nabu—known to many as Nabs—to talk about his incredible journey from growing up as an orphan in Sierra Leone to becoming an advocate for family-based care and child welfare in the same orphanage!

"God meets us in our vulnerability, and the Holy Spirit isn’t just a concept—He’s a person who wants to walk with us."

In this episode of MercyCast, I had the privilege of sitting down with my friend Jenny Randle, the author of the new book, The Promised Presence, to have a deeply personal conversation about something that’s been on both of our hearts: the Holy Spirit. We explored what it means to welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives, not just as a theological concept, but as an active, indwelling presence that transforms us from the inside out.

In this episode of The Mercy Cast, I sit down with my friend Jen Thompson, author of Return to Jesus, for a heartfelt conversation that cuts right to the core of what it means to feel distant from God—and how His invitation to return never goes away. We talk honestly about those times when life feels overwhelming, when prayer feels empty, and when functional saviors (things we turn to instead of God) slowly edge Him out of our hearts.

But here's the truth we kept coming back to: God's love is unconditional. Period. It's not based on what we do or how we perform. He loves us because He made us. And He invites us—again and again—to come home.

Have you ever felt disillusioned?

In this episode of MercyCast, I had the privilege of sitting down with Nick McDonald, the author of The Light in Our Eyes: Rediscovering the Love, Beauty, and Freedom of Jesus in an Age of Disillusionment. Our conversation was a raw and honest exploration of vulnerability, adversity, disillusionment, and rebuilding faith.

What does it mean to reclaim your voice?

In this episode of Mercycast, host Raleigh Sadler engages with Vanessa Abraham, the author of the new book, Speechless: How a Speech Therapist Lost Her Ability to Speak and Her Silent Struggle to Reclaim Her Voice and Life. Vanessa, a speech pathologist, shares her harrowing journey of losing her voice due to a medical crisis and the subsequent struggle to reclaim it.

Surrender and connection often go together.

In this episode of Mercycast, host Raleigh Sadler engages in a profound conversation with Brittany Higgs, founder of the Her Campaign, an organization dedicated to helping survivors of human trafficking. They explore the journey into anti-trafficking advocacy, the personal experiences that shaped their commitment, and the importance of connecting with vulnerable individuals.

In this episode of Mercycast, Raleigh engages in a profound conversation with Sean Nowotnik, exploring themes of compassion, grief, and the search for meaning in life. Shawn Nowotnik, an artist and author of the new book F Happiness: The Search for Meaning in the World Gone Mad Chasing Happiness, is a filmmaker and therapist living outside Chicago.

What happens when your story overwhelms you?

This is what happened to Richard. In this conversation, Raleigh Sadler and Richard Hsung, author of Spring Flower, explore the profound challenges of writing a memoir, particularly the emotional toll of reliving painful memories.

Whether you have been married or not, divorce has impacted you.

In this episode, Jessica Thompson, the author of the new book, He Loved Them: Discovering Jesus' Heart for Seekers, Sinners, Doubters, and the Discouraged (and Other People Like Us), joins Raleigh to talk about her journey in learning how to survive and thrive as she lives through a difficult time of transition.