Grit and Grace Podcast with Tonya Bruton

Restoration Is Possible | Our Marriage, Addiction, Betrayal & Rebuilding Through Faith

What does restoration really look like after addiction, betrayal, brokenness, codependency, and years of pain? In this deeply personal archive episode of the Grit & Grace Podcast, Tonya and Josh Bruton sit down with Pastor Mike McInerney for an honest conversation about marriage, faith, mental health struggles, rebuilding trust, and the long process of healing and restoration. This is not a polished “perfect testimony.” It is a real conversation about grit, grace, rebuilding, forgiveness, identity, boundaries, faith, and learning to heal through complicated seasons. Whether you are struggling in your marriage, rebuilding your life after addiction, walking through betrayal, or simply trying to hold onto faith during difficult seasons, we hope this conversation reminds you that God still works through imperfect people and unfinished stories. ✨ This conversation continues in this week’s companion blog post at tonyabruton.com. 🏆 Thank you to everyone who supported Grit & Grace Podcast in the Prayze Factor Awards. We officially made it into Round Two for Podcast of the Year, and we are incredibly grateful for every prayer, vote, share, and word of encouragement. 💍 Josh and Tonya are also celebrating their anniversary and vow renewal this week, so be sure to follow along on Facebook and TikTok for surprise moments, updates, and possible live streams during the trip. 🌿 CONNECT + FOLLOW: tonyabruton.com 📩 Prayer Requests & Testimonies: gritandgracepodcasttx@gmail.com [gritandgracepodcasttx@gmail.com] 💛 Support the podcast ministry: Venmo: Tonya-Bruton If this episode encouraged you, please follow the podcast and share this episode with someone else who may need encouragement today.

Motherhood, Grace, and the Stories We Don’t Always Tell

Mother’s Day is often presented as simple: flowers, cards, brunch, sweet posts, and celebration. But for many women, Mother’s Day brings grief, longing, estrangement, regret, complicated family history, or the ache of someone missing from the table. In this episode of Grit and Grace Podcast with Tonya Bruton, we talk honestly about the complexity of motherhood and the grace of God in the unfinished places. Tonya reflects on the pressure many women feel to live up to the image of the “perfect mother” or the perfect Christian woman, including the way Proverbs 31 has sometimes been used as a measuring stick instead of encouragement. She also talks about mother wounds, forgiveness, boundaries, estranged adult children, mothers separated from their children, grief, miscarriage, infertility, grandmothers, aunties, spiritual mothers, and the God who comforts what family could not fully reach. The heart of this conversation is simple: Mothers do not just need applause. Mothers need grace. Companion blog: www.tonyabruton.com/blog [http://www.tonyabruton.com/blog] Prayer requests and connection: www.tonyabruton.com [http://www.tonyabruton.com] Story submissions: gritandgracepodcasttx@gmail.com

Cara’s Story: Medical Trauma, Faith & Grace

In this deeply personal episode of Grit and Grace Podcast with Tonya Bruton, Tonya sits down with her daughter, Cara, for an honest mother-daughter conversation about medical trauma, faith, motherhood, and learning to trust God through fear and uncertainty. Cara shares pieces of her story — the pain, emotional strain, fear, exhaustion, and spiritual growth that can come with walking through medical trauma. Together, Tonya and Cara talk about what it means to keep showing up when life feels heavy, and how God’s grace can meet us in the middle of suffering. This conversation is especially meaningful as Mother’s Day approaches, because it reflects the love between mothers and daughters, the strength built through hard seasons, and the kind of faith that is often formed in waiting rooms, hospital rooms, and moments we never would have chosen. Medical trauma can leave deep emotional and spiritual marks. It can affect how we see our bodies, our relationships, our motherhood, and even our faith. But this episode is also a reminder that grace is not found in the absence of struggle — sometimes grace is found in the strength to keep going. Tonya also pauses during this episode to introduce a prayer request opportunity through her website and prays over listeners who may be walking through medical trauma, anxiety, grief, health struggles, addiction recovery, depression, or a painful season of their own. At the end of the episode, Tonya introduces a new recurring segment: Real People, Real Stories of Grit and Grace, featuring Lisa Creswell’s testimony. If you have walked through medical trauma, chronic illness, pregnancy-related fear, motherhood struggles, anxiety, grief, or a season where trusting God felt hard, this episode is for you. Scripture reflections mentioned in this episode: Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 — “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s words in Philippians remind us that “I can do all things” was written in the context of enduring every circumstance through Christ’s strength. Read the companion blog post: www.tonyabruton.com/blog Send in a prayer request or connect with the podcast: www.tonyabruton.com If this ministry has encouraged you and you would like to support the podcast, you can give through Venmo: Tonya-Bruton. Thank you for listening to Grit and Grace Podcast with Tonya Bruton — a Christian podcast sharing real stories of faith, healing, addiction recovery, mental health, motherhood, and God’s grace in the middle of real life.

Practice the Pause: Anger, Pride & the Holy Spirit

This episode is different. No script. No outline. Just a real, unfiltered conversation—recorded live while sitting on the floor, Bible open, painting, and processing in real time. Over the last few days, I’ve been dealing with anger—losing my temper, feeling justified, thinking it was anxiety… But God showed me something I didn’t expect. It wasn’t anxiety. It was pride. In this episode, we talk about what it really means to grieve the Holy Spirit—not in some distant or dramatic way, but in the everyday moments where we react instead of pause. 📖 Key Scriptures: Ephesians 4:26–32 James 1:20 Proverbs 16:32 Proverbs 29:11 Proverbs 17:27–28 Psalm 141:3 1 Peter 2:23 1 Peter 5:8 Romans 8 We unpack: • Why human anger doesn’t produce God’s righteousness • How pride fuels our reactions • What “be angry and sin not” actually looks like in real life • How reacting in the flesh gives the enemy a foothold • Why the pause is not self-control—it’s surrender ✨ The Pause Practice: 1. Identify the trigger 2. Take a 3-second breath prayer 3. Ask: “Lord, what does love look like here?” 4. Respond led by the Spirit—not your emotions This isn’t about managing your anger better. It’s about letting the Holy Spirit lead you in the moment. 📝 Companion blog (deeper reflection): 👉 https://www.tonyabruton.com/blog 💛 Support the show: 👉 Venmo: Tonya-Bruton If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who needs it.

When God Says Wait (But Your Heart Wants Love)

What do you do when your heart is ready for something… but nothing is moving? In this episode of the Grit and Grace Podcast, Benjamin takes the lead and talks through the tension of wanting love while learning to trust God’s timing. This is a conversation about waiting, surrender, and what it looks like to release control when something meaningful is still uncertain. If you have been praying, hoping, and still find yourself in a season where nothing feels clear, this episode speaks directly to that space. We talk about: * Waiting on God in relationships * Trusting God when timing does not make sense * Letting go without losing the ability to care * Finding peace in seasons of uncertainty This is not about having everything figured out. It is about continuing to trust God, even when the outcome has not been revealed yet. 🌐 https://www.tonyabruton.com [https://www.tonyabruton.com] 💛 https://venmo.com/Tonya-Bruton If this episode resonates with you, consider following the podcast and sharing it with someone who may need encouragement in their waiting season.