Episode 102: A stay-at-home dad's road to healing with John Ricciardelli

We have a wonderful story of healing and hope to share with you to kick off the month of February! We were joined in the studio by John Ricciardelli.

 ⚠️ Before you listen, we do want to give you a trigger warning for this episode. Domestic violence involving children is discussed throughout this conversation. ⚠️ John and Sarah begin their conversation by discussing some mid-2000s reality TV but don't worry they don't spend too much time on it. John and his family began attending Desert Springs in 2021 and love to worship right in the front row. John is originally from New Jersey and that is where his story begins. By the grace of God, he came to know Christ around the age of six or seven in the midst of his family life being very difficult. As early as he can remember John repeatedly witnessed his parents being physically abusive to each other. As he and his three brothers consistently observed this it created some unhealthy patterns, particularly with John's older brother who in turn physically abused him. This was way beyond brothers roughhousing or playful wrestling, which caused John lived in terror in his own home, both of his parents and older brother. While he was in high school, he met his wife Melissa, though they would not date and marry until years later. The story skips forward a little bit to 2018 when John and Melissa move to Arizona. They began to settle into their life with a newborn and made the transition to Melissa working full-time as an Occupational Therapist and John being a stay-at-home dad. Somewhat suddenly in the fall of 2020 John and Melissa realized their marriage was not in a healthy place. In fact, it was in a really bad place, and they teetered on the brink of divorce. Among other things both John and Melissa realized their painful pasts were creating big cracks in the foundation of their marriage. A gift from a friend helped John and Melissa begin their healing journey in marriage counseling. This led John to pursue individual counseling to finally address and create room for healing from his childhood. We really admire John's willingness to be incredibly open and vulnerable with us about his healing journey. He challenges all Christians to really dig in to emotional healing and take the steps to seek professional help with therapy if it is needed. You have to hear this story of amazing change and healing in Christ!

DSCC Care & Support Ministries: https://www.dscchurch.com/care-support
*scroll to the bottom of this page to see the local therapists and counselors we refer to

D|S Kids Parents' Night Out (2/23) - https://dscchurch.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2114484

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