We all have those dark moments – isolated, lonely, desperate, broken moments. If they don’t come from our own choices, they might come from the broken choices of others, the brokenness of the world.

But in those moments, Light never ceases to exist.

Light waits nearby, waits for us to see.

And when the Light shines on our brokenness, we begin to see that it can heal.

Mary DeMuth hosts a beautiful podcast about Light shining on ordinary people in some of our darkest moments. They begin with sorrow, suffering, fear, trials – and they end with a twist, a new story. All of us would love it if you were encouraged by our Re-Stories.

Here’s how my Re-Story found its way to Mary’s ear.

I met Mary at a writers conference.

I was the awed reader invited to sit with one of my favorite-in-the-world authors. You’d have been amazed at how well I kept it together. But you know? Mary’s gracious humility made it easy. Even in those first moments, she treated me as a dear friend. Her kindness opened the floodgates, and I – an introvert of the highest order – shared much of God’s faithfulness in my life.

We have a lot in common, Mary and I. Much of it is the sort that aches from time to time.

All of it is the sort that God uses to bring Him glory when we make less of ourselves and much of Him.

We found solidarity and understanding and compassion in those sharing moments. We thanked God for His hand in our lives, for making the shattered darkness a beautiful reflection of Himself.

My heart was so deeply grateful for my new friend, and that’s all I needed of her. It honestly was more than I’d dared hope for. But later that weekend, she honored me by asking if I’d share the story of my darkest moment on the mission field on her new Re-Story podcast. When I’d last shared this with my small world, it was in two blog posts. Here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).

But if God could use my Re-Story to reach further? Absolutely.

If you’d like to listen to the podcast, click here.

And if you long for more real life stories of Light in the darkest places, you need encouragement, need to hear about the extraordinary happening among ordinary people, scroll through the list of Re-Story episodes.

Take a listen.

Share them.

If one really hits home for you, comment with the name below, will you?