The God Who Wants to Be With You | Psalm 68

Closed Hands: Why You're Blocking God's Blessings

Why do so many believers find it easier to give than to receive? In this episode, Tonya Bruton explores how control, perfectionism, and performance culture can quietly influence our relationship with God. Looking at Naaman's healing, Paul's letter to the Galatians, Jesus' invitation to the weary, and the promise of Romans 8:32, this conversation reminds us that God's grace is not earned—it is received. If you've ever struggled to accept help, rest without guilt, or believe that God truly delights in giving good gifts to His children, this episode is for you. Why do so many believers find it easier to give than to receive? In this episode, Tonya Bruton explores how control, perfectionism, and performance culture can quietly influence our relationship with God. Looking at Naaman's healing, Paul's letter to the Galatians, Jesus' invitation to the weary, and the promise of Romans 8:32, this conversation reminds us that God's grace is not earned—it is received. If you've ever struggled to accept help, rest without guilt, or believe that God truly delights in giving good gifts to His children, this episode is for you. Why do so many believers find it easier to give than to receive? In this episode, Tonya Bruton explores how control, perfectionism, and performance culture can quietly influence our relationship with God. Looking at Naaman's healing, Paul's letter to the Galatians, Jesus' invitation to the weary, and the promise of Romans 8:32, this conversation reminds us that God's grace is not earned—it is received. If you've ever struggled to accept help, rest without guilt, or believe that God truly delights in giving good gifts to His children, this episode is for you.

The God Who Wants to Be With You | Psalm 68

What if the central story of Scripture is not humanity searching for God, but God continually moving toward humanity? In this episode of Grit and Grace, Benjamin and I explore Psalm 68 and the beautiful thread that runs from Genesis to Revelation: God's desire to dwell with His people. We talk about the Garden of Eden, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the coming of Christ, and the promise that one day God will fully dwell with His people again. Along the way, we reflect on stillness, communion with God, and what it means to make room for His presence in our everyday lives. If you've been feeling distracted, weary, or spiritually dry, this conversation is an invitation to slow down, listen, and remember that God has always desired to be near. 🌿 Visit my website for blog posts, resources, and updates: TonyaBruton.com [https://www.tonyabruton.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 🌿 Interested in joining our prayer team? We'd love to hear from you. If this episode encourages you, please follow the podcast, leave a rating and review, and share it with a friend Enjoying the podcast? Follow Grit and Grace, leave a rating, and share this episode with someone who needs encouragement today. Your support helps more people discover these conversations. 🌿 Read the blog and join the community at: TonyaBruton.com [https://www.tonyabruton.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com]

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.