The Heart of the Home: Mental Well Being and Lasting Love with David Thomas, Sissy Goff, & Gabe and Rebekah Lyons

This week, we’re joined by Sissy Goff and David Thomas, longtime counselors and co-executive directors at Daystar Counseling Ministries in Nashville. With over three decades of experience each, Sissy and David have dedicated their lives to walking alongside kids and families as they face anxiety and stress and providing kids with tools for healthy living.

Later in the episode, we’ll hear from authors and speakers Gabe and Rebekah Lyons. Gabe and Rebekah are parents to four children—including two with Down syndrome—and they share about the unexpected challenges that have deepened their family’s bond.

 

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Jesus Always

Jesus Listens

Past interview: Ellie Holcomb

Upcoming interview: Patricia Heaton

Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith on UPTV

 

Sissy Goff 

David Thomas

Daystar Counseling Ministries in Nashville

Raising Boys and Girls

square breathing

www.raisingboysandgirls.com

The Daystar Dogs

 

Gabe and Rebekah Lyons

Down syndrome

THINQ Media

The Fight for Us: Overcome What Divides to Build a Marriage That Thrives

Interview Quotes:

“[We are] teaching kids that God’s equipped us with something as simple as breathing that will begin to slow down our heart rates and settle our bodies so we can feel more in control of our emotions.” - David Thomas 

“We can only take the kids we love as far as we’re going ourselves. If we’re not regulating our own bodies, if we are not able to respond rather than react, then everybody’s going to be  operating out of the amygdala of their brain, which is the fight or flight region of our brain.” - Sissy Goff 

“Helping [children] learn that they can lean into how loved they are and to where God has uniquely gifted them, and step out in that to experience things that might sound a little scary, ends up being a whole lot of fun, and really rewarding, too.” - Sissy Goff

“We were gracious that God helped bond us through a crisis that we weren’t expecting. That’s given us a bond and a trust and a lesson to keep going back to His faithfulness, as well as what it means to turn towards one another.” - Gabe Lyons 

“Every season of life is an invitation for conflict and stress because it’s new. We’re all rookies throughout the entirety of our marriage.” - Rebekah Lyons

“Sometimes in a marriage relationship you dream early on, but man, as life piles up, we’ve had to really implement a structure of our rhythms that allow us to keep having conversations about the future.” - Gabe Lyons

“[In marriage] we’ve realized that God’s given us each other as part of our healing, to help us experience the fullness of feeling alive and being connected.” - Gabe Lyons 

“We’re so grateful for the example of Jesus who modeled humility, who humbled Himself, that He took death on a cross so we could be free, we could have life. We believe that’s a picture of what our marriage should look like—humbling ourselves, walking in the freedom that Jesus p