Norman Hubbard - Podcast Details

Shows

There Are Good Things Here"In This Place There Are Good Things"In this final episode of Season 3, we find Katie Hubbard characteristically wrestling with questions of doubt and faith, death and life, promises of provision and bills to pay. Most of all, we find her true to herself and her God, committed to the hard work of finding good things in the hardest of places. This podcast is probably the final one, so I share some final thoughts.2024-04-0118 min

There Are Good Things HereReflections and Hopes for a New Year (2014)Katie Hubbard closes out 2013 with a long journal entry on everything she had done since mid-November of that year. (She didn’t journal a lot during that time because her journal went missing for a month.) It’s amazing to consider all she did after finishing chemo, radiation, and reconstructive surgery. It would have been a full life for a person in perfect health. Going into 2014, she lists out lessons learned from the previous year: “What Have I Learned: God is trustworthy. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I can turn towards Him or away from Him in trials...2024-03-1812 min

There Are Good Things HereKatie Hubbard, the Auburn Tigers FanLest anyone think I (Norman Hubbard) edit Katie’s journals heavily when I read them on air, let this podcast stand as testimony. In early December 2013, you get pure Katie Hubbard, the quintessential Auburn Tigers football fan. (Really, the "kick 6" game might be one of the greatest moments in sports!) You also see another example of the way Katie wrote out Scripture in her journal as a means of meditating on what God was saying to her. It’s an inspiring model many of us could profitably adopt.2024-03-1110 min

There Are Good Things HereReconstructive Surgery and GratitudeIn this episode, Katie Hubbard talks about reconstructive surgery with her followers on Caring Bridge. It may be the only time you hear her publicly threaten to beat you with a baseball bat. And she reflects on a common theme in her journals: having a lot of stuff doesn’t make you grateful.2024-03-0413 min

There Are Good Things Here“Katie Hubbard, Beloved Child of God”In the previous podcast, we found Katie Hubbard struggling with the idea that her life, taken by cancer, might be dispensable. Here, we find her breakthrough as she writes out, Romans 8:38: “For I am persuaded that … death … shall not be able to separate us from the love of God.” She goes on to write of herself, “Katie Hubbard, beloved child of God. If you are loved, you are known, not forgotten. Not wasted. Not dispensable. If I am loved, the You are not holding out on me, withholding from me.”2024-02-1914 min

There Are Good Things Here“I Feel Shaken To The Core”Katie Hubbard grapples with the distressing notion that cancer might kill her, and God might regard her life as "dispensable." In her words: "I feel shaken to the core. I feel sad. I just feel totally dispensable. How do you face your life being taken away? Not being here at all?! It might not even be necessary for me to be here, according to Your plan."2024-02-1213 min

There Are Good Things HereMost of the Things We Desire Leave Us Empty When They Become OursIn her journey with cancer, Katie Hubbard learned a thing or two about what truly satisfies. To God, she wrote, “You are the one thing that I crave and desire that FULFILLS. Everything else leaves me feeling empty.”2024-02-0508 min

There Are Good Things Here"Cherishing The Beauty of Your Own Backyard"Cherishing the beauty of your own backyard. Asking God for the things you want. Trusting him for the things that lie ahead. That’s what you’ll hear from Katie Hubbard in her journal entries from mid-August 2013. And you get classic commentary like this: “You just keep providing, and I keep being stingy and amazed.”2024-01-2911 min

There Are Good Things HereThe 8th Anniversary EditionJoin Norman Hubbard as he reflects on Katie Hubbard's life, the "voice" of this podcast, and Jesus' promises of eternal life. January 25, 2024 is the 8th anniversary of Katie's passing.2024-01-2512 min

There Are Good Things Here"Cowardly Joyless Souls"Katie Hubbard tried to find her footing in "the land of the living" after weeks of chemotherapy had kept her sidelined. Resuming something like normal life meant confronting the anxiety of normal life. She wrote down a quote from a friend about Satan's goal to turn us into "cowardly joyless souls" by filling us with fear.2023-10-1706 min

There Are Good Things Here"The Garden Is Always Changing"Katie Hubbard had lived under the shadow of cancer and cancer treatment so long, it was hard to look ahead with hope. Even so, that's what her God and her garden asked her to do. Sitting under her new pergola (of course), she meditated on the way that spring flowers gave way to mid-summer blooms. She felt challenged to look ahead with hope in the Lord. This was important because she also decided to stop her chemo regimen early. It was taking too much away with too little promise of helping.2023-10-1010 min

There Are Good Things HereEveryone Needs a PergolaKatie Hubbard must have spent every morning in June of 2013 under her new pergola thinking about the troubles in her world and the beauty of her God. I don't know that you need a pergola to do so, but if you do, find a friend to build you one. For Katie, it proved to be a place of peace where she could slow down (inwardly) to meditate on the presence and goodness of God in a troubled world.2023-10-0308 min

There Are Good Things HereThe Practice of Disciplined ThankfulnessKatie Hubbard was capable of tutoring an entire generation on thanksgiving in the face of suffering. Many of us know what it's like to write a half-hearted thank-you note or "give thanks" over a meal. It's an honest effort to do what's right, and we ought to keep trying honestly. However, Katie disciplined herself to find the good in her kids and her circumstances so that she could give thanks with the kind of feeling most of us only aspire to.2023-09-2608 min

Samuel HubbardRide with Norman Reedus; Season 6 Episode 1 -FullEpisode 3466026Ride with Norman Reedus Season 6 #Episode# - Full Episode “The Utah Desert With Keanu Reeves” Watch Video ▶️ https://fd.vuizenfilm.online/tv/66402-6-1#2727848 Synopsis : The Walking Dead star and motorcycle enthusiast Norman Reedus hits the open road to explore local biker culture and celebrate the best and brightest collectors, mechanics and craftsmen around the country. Each episode features Reedus and a riding companion – a fellow actor, musician, friend or local chopper fanatic – as they journey to custom bike shops, tattoo parlors, collector’s warehouses, or a roadside smokehouse… with plenty of time for unplanned detours and tire changes. Ride with Norman Reedu...2023-09-0900 min

There Are Good Things Here"Why me? Why now? Why here? Why this?"Katie was not just struggling with cancer. She was struggling with self-pity. Everyone in the world would have given her a pass, but she would not allow herself to go down that road.2023-05-0807 min

There Are Good Things Here"With Whom Did God Seek Counsel"From Isaiah 40:13, 14, Katie Hubbard wrote, "From whom did God take counsel, and who instructed him and taught him the paths of justice?" Her reflection on this thought: "You seek no counsel or direction. You are the perfect source. From you flows justice, truth, knowledge, direction." Words likes these anchored Katie as she finished radiation and faced another round of chemo.2023-04-1712 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Have To Walk Through This Valley""I have to walk through this valley no matter what. No matter how I respond, I am still here. So I can slog through with bitterness and a pity party or I can choose light, love, thanksgiving. God I need the Holy Spirit to work in me love, joy! I can't walk this in my own strength. I can't choose rightly apart from you." —Katie Hubbard, April 2013 2023-04-1210 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Would Choose Heaven This Afternoon"As Katie Hubbard faced the challenges of radiation and the fear of losing her life to cancer, she told the Lord what she often told me. If she only had her own interests in mind, she would choose heaven in a heartbeat. Her concerns were all for us, especially the children. So what do you do with earthly fears and eternal confidence that are both so strong and seem to be pulling you in opposite directions?2023-03-2708 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Can't Make God Do My Will"Stress and anxiety have a way of driving us forward while blinding us to reality. Katie Hubbard was experiencing massive anxiety as she faced radiation, but she was beginning to analyze the deeper cause of her stress. In her own words: "I think I have come to the crux of my anxiety: 'Thy will be done.' I want MY will in all of this: no more cancer, me here. And I can't make that happen or make you make that happen."2023-03-0610 min

There Are Good Things Here"Take Captive Every (Stressful) Thought"After Katie Hubbard's diagnosis with recurrent breast cancer, she struggled to take every stressful thought captive. The idea behind this comes from 2 Corinthians 10:5, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." In its original context, the verse had to do with combatting false teaching from others. In Katie's situation—and often enough in our own—we deal with internalized false teaching. We doomcast about our future and spend our lives guided by inward fears. Perhaps you understand something about the "battle" with...2023-02-1608 min

There Are Good Things Here"Even There"For me (Norman Hubbard), it's an emotional start to a new season of the podcast. Today is the 7th anniversary of Katie's passing, and it falls very close to the time of year when she was diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer ten years ago. Opening up her journals and this chapter of our life together is still very painful for me. (I decided not to edit my tears out of the recorded audio.) More important than my tears, however, are her words as she reflects on God's Word. There is no distant shore of distress or depth of pain where...2023-01-2518 min

There Are Good Things Here"Deeply Happy and Profoundly Emotional"Katie closed her journal entries for 2009 by reflecting on a December that was a fitting end to a hard year! Everyone in our family got sick with strep the week before Christmas. We were so sick we could not even celebrate Katie's birthday (which happened to be our anniversary). However, everyone was back on their feet for our pilgrimage to Wisconsin to be with family for the holiday. Katie rejoiced at the splendid winter weather ... and the chance to go shopping with her mom. If you asked her at the time how she was doing, she would say, "Really well...2022-12-2617 min

There Are Good Things HereWhen Things Are Looking Up, Look UpIn September and October of 2009, things were looking up for Katie after months of feeling bad from cancer treatment. Consistent with her custom of talking with God about everything, Katie looked up because things were looking up. She offers a tremendous prayer where she reflects on God's abundance and asks him to draw her out of a mindset of poverty and want. "My resources are lacking," she writes, "but you're are infinite through eternity." Her journal is a great reminder to look up when things are looking up.2022-12-1212 min

There Are Good Things Here"Promises for Times of Storm"As Katie Hubbard geared up for a new school year, she found herself confronted with so many negative thoughts about the challenges of life with cancer, kids, and limited resources. As she listed her troubles in her journal, she prayed for the courage to trust God in the face of trials and uncertainty. "You have given us promises for times of storm and trial," she wrote, "not blue sky and ease."2022-11-2807 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Am Planted In The House of the Lord" S02 | E20Katie Hubbard was recovering strength after several rounds of chemotherapy for breast cancer. Though her progress wasn't without setbacks, she was looking ahead and looking back on the lessons she had learned: how trials produce character; how God has to be trusted to hold all things together; and how God is big enough to do so. She wasn't just recovering strength after cancer treatment, she was developing trust, hope and gratitude.2022-10-3015 min

There Are Good Things Here"Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please God"Katie Hubbard never quit meditating on what it meant to walk with God in faith. The pressure of a cancer diagnosis, the challenges of chemotherapy, and the worry about her future just made the question more insistent in her mind: What does it mean for a person to walk with God in faith?2022-10-1715 min

There Are Good Things Here“Dare To Trust Him, Dare To Follow Him”As Katie Hubbard regained her strength after chemotherapy, she faced all the fears the future might hold for her. More importantly, she turned to the Lord and his word to figure out how to live forward. She was resolved to hear God and trust him, no matter what, taking her cue from the greatest story of deliverance in the Old Testament.2022-10-0315 min

There Are Good Things Here"You Work Out Of Abundance"After months away from her personal journal during chemotherapy, Katie Hubbard reopened a dialogue with the Lord about his power and our weakness. She wrestled with her own anxiety about money and wondered whether she truly trusted the Lord. In characteristic Katie Hubbard fashion, she considers how effortlessly God sends abundant rain and concludes, “You work out of abundance, no limits, vast power, perfect holiness, complete wisdom.”2022-09-2012 min

There Are Good Things HerePerspective On Chemo For Fellow-TravelersKatie Hubbard excelled at passing on perspective, even when chemotherapy was making her miserable. As she chronicles her final round of chemo, with all its lows and woes, she helps us enter into the valley. That’s one of the gifts she gave as she blogged through this journey. She helped fellow-travelers with cancer and friends who will never face cancer understand what it’s like to laid low … and to look up.2022-09-0508 min

There Are Good Things Here“God Has Flattened Me On My Back And Said, ‘Look Up!’”This is quite simply one of the best podcasts you will listen to as Katie Hubbard wrestles through the darkness of cancer into the light of God. This entry from her blog is nearly miraculous, because she was at a physical low point from chemo and fighting through dense mental fog. Even words were hard to come by during this time … until she sat down to proclaim the good things God had done for her. If ever there were a podcast that capture the radiance in her soul in the darkest hours, this is it: “Mountains had become, in my mind...2022-08-2215 min

There Are Good Things Here“Only One More Time”In this week’s podcast, Katie Hubbard reflects on the difficulties of raising a toddler while undergoing chemo. She also humorously recounts how perilous it can be to pack a diaper bag with chemo brain. With her third chemo treatment behind her, she takes some solace in the fact that she only has to do this “one more time.” Those were hard words to read so many years on.2022-08-0819 min

There Are Good Things Here“Staying Grateful and Staying Honest”As Katie Hubbard lived through her second round of chemo, she found grace from God through the Scriptures that encouraged her not to fear. This was particularly important for her as her hair fell out and she decided to shave it off. Katie’s words during this time teach us how search out the balance between staying grateful and staying honest about your pain.2022-07-2512 min

There Are Good Things Here“Help Mrs. Hubbard Know How To Do Nothing”In her blog post, Katie Hubbard shares a cherished family memory that involves Rachel’s baptism and a pair of very small pants. You’ll want to listen in! She also reflects on her struggle with being so sidelined and energy-less as a mom. One friend’s child even prayed, “Lord, help Mrs. Hubbard know how to do nothing!”2022-07-1113 min

There Are Good Things Here"Chemo, Chemo Brain, And A Toddler"Katie Hubbard was adjusting to life with a toddler (along with 3 older kids) while undergoing her first round of chemo for breast cancer. Things got pretty interesting right away as some of the kids got sick at home, while the fog of ‘chemo brain’ settled on Katie. Throw in insomnia and loss of appetite, and it’s a wonder she could write with the wit she did about her experiences. At the same time, she meditated on the grace that had carried her through these difficult days, knowing that same grace would carry the children, too.2022-06-1515 min

There Are Good Things Here“Despair is Easy. It Takes Hard Work to Find Joy.”When Katie Hubbard started chemotherapy for breast cancer, she stopped writing in her journal but started writing more frequently on her Caring Bridge blog. The world is probably a better place for it, because more people got a window into the practical and emotional challenges of going through cancer treatment for the first time. In this episode, you'll find Katie doing what she can to find the good and express it with humor as she begins chemotherapy for breast cancer.2022-06-0116 min

There Are Good Things Here“If Jesus Had To Suffer, Shouldn’t I?"In mid-April 2009, Katie Hubbard picked up her pen and journal after a few weeks away (recovering from surgery). The three entries from this time all focus on God’s purposes in times of testing and his power in our weakness. Katie also reflects on the fact that Jesus, who never did any wrong, learned obedience through suffering. If “the captain of our faith” suffered, how should we expect to pass through life without suffering, too?2022-05-1609 min

There Are Good Things HereWhen You Cannot Journal, TypeFor the first time since receiving her initial cancer diagnosis, Katie Hubbard finally received good news: there was no evidence that her cancer had spread. Though she couldn’t write in her journal (because she had drainage tubes under her arm from the mastectomy), she did post a couple of updates on Caring Bridge about the relief that good new brought. Of course, learning that the worst hadn’t happened gave her the mental space to process the hard things that had happened. In her own words, she almost fainted twice in one day thinking about the surgeries she had been...2022-05-0313 min

There Are Good Things HereWaking Up To The Reality of More Bad NewsWhen Katie Hubbard went in for a mastectomy and initial pathology on her breast cancer, she was prepared for good news and bad news. She did not know there was a third option: even worse news. When Katie woke up from anesthesia, she discovered the doctor had to remove all her lymph nodes, putting her at long-term risk of developing lymphedema. It also meant waiting for a pathology report to stage the cancer and move on with treatment. In this bleak hour, Katie relied on Romans 8:28 about how God works for the good of those who love him, no matter...2022-04-1821 min

There Are Good Things Here“When, Lord, When Will I Weep No More?”In this episode, Katie wrestles with practical and emotional demands of an upcoming mastectomy and lymph node biopsy. She knew the procedure would leave her humbled and scarred. None of us knew what it would say about the stage of her cancer. Both the known and the unknown were heavy loads to carry.2022-04-0418 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Will Have Wounds. Jesus, You Too Have Wounds."In her journal entries for mid-March 2009, Katie Hubbard describes the apprehension she felt after and MRI biopsy to determine whether her breast cancer had spread. “What will today bring?" she asks the Lord. “Good news? Bad news? No news?” This is the tension every person (and family) lives with after an initial cancer diagnosis. In Katie’s case, she received bad news that she would have to have a mastectomy. This led her to a lot of soul-searching and she cried out to God for help. One of the most searching moments you will find her journal comes when she writes...2022-03-2117 min

There Are Good Things Here"You Don't Know Impossible"Katie Hubbard gives a rare glimpse into her heart and mind as she prepares for a follow up MRI and biopsy after her initial cancer diagnosis. You will be inspired (and sobered) by her raw pleas for help, and you'll smile at comments like, "I survived my MRI! Thankfully, Lord, I had you and two Valium." Mostly, she wanted the procedures to be painless and the news to be good, but she recognized that her Savior, Jesus, had "suffered without anesthesia". She was learning what her own share of suffering would entail at this time.2022-03-0707 min

There Are Good Things Here"Avoid Self-Pity. Combat It With Praise And Thanksgiving" S02 | E03As Katie Hubbard lived through the early days of a cancer diagnosis, she faced the fatigue and fear you'd expect. She also took the time to write short entries of prayer to the Lord. Many of us feel like we ought to say something substantial to God when we pray. That's not a bad idea if you can manage it. If you have a one-year-old who won't sleep, an unexpected cancer diagnosis, and worries about how you're going to make it financially, it may be better not to force things, though. In the early days of her cancer diagnosis, Katie...2022-02-2110 min

Spotlight with Laurie HardieSpotlighting Caring is Art With Leilani NormanArtist and former caregiver Leilani Norman offers a gift of thanks to dementia caregivers everywhere through this journal. She writes, “The daily experience of caring for my mother ranged from fulfillment to heartbreak. When I learned to let go of who my parents used to be, I was able to attend to her evolving needs and to love her deeply, just as she was that day. The most difficult times, emotionally, were when my mother asked me to help her in ways that I could not.” Caring is Art is a journal that offers words of encouragement, quotes from fellow care...2022-02-1522 min

There Are Good Things Here"Is It Possible To Go Through Cancer and Triumph Gloriously?"As Katie Hubbard tried to wrap her mind around her initial diagnosis of breast cancer, she was not traveling alone. The philosopher-pastor Dallas Willard was helping shape her thinking through his book, The Renovation of the Heart. She wondered whether it was possible for God to transform her in the midst of her trials. In her words, "What if all of these tribulations produced perseverance, character, and hope? What if I looked to the future glorying in tribulations, instead of cowering in fear that something might go wrong?" What if your trials could accomplish the same thing in you? Katie...2022-02-0916 min

There Are Good Things Here*New Season "Yesterday, I Found Out I Have Breast Cancer"Welcome to the second season of There Are Good Things Here, the podcast where we follow Katie Hubbard's journal entries through her first year with a breast cancer diagnosis. The podcast opens with Katie's prayers and reflections on the normal busy-ness of life with four kids, lots of company, and the stresses of life near the end of the Great Recession. Katie's practice had always been to process her days in prayer to God, often writing out her prayers in her journal. On January 27, 2009, she received word that a biopsy on a mass from her right breast had come back...2022-01-2511 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Trust You Jesus ... You Have Always Taken Care of Us"Katie Hubbard journals came to an end the way that her life did, with an expression of trust in Jesus in the midst of the trials with cancer. She still brought her prayers and concerns to the Lord to the very last. She mentioned her own sickness, but she concentrated on how the kids were doing at a new school. She also kept praying for the sale of our house. Katie was, if this expression can be used, a "practical saint". The trials of cancer could no more shake her from her practical concerns than they could her trust in...2022-01-1011 min

There Are Good Things Here"If I am to die soon, I would like to die well"Katie Hubbard was nearing the end of her cancer journey on earth, as her comments about dying well suggest. The full quote from her journal, written one month before she passed, was: "If I am to die soon, I would like to die well, which is easier said than done." It may not have been easy to do, but she did it. She kept God and her family in focus throughout it all. She kept giving her life away to others, and she didn't complain about her lot. She kept her Bible and heart open to God. These are some...2022-01-0311 min

There Are Good Things Here"Good Tidings. Great Joy. Will I Know Those Two Things Again on Earth?"Katie Hubbard was living through her favorite holiday, Christmas, one final time in 2015. She wondered openly—to her journal if not to the world—whether this would be her last. The angels announced good news of great joy to the shepherds when Jesus was born (see Luke 2:10). Katie wrote poignantly, almost prophetically: "Good tidings. Great joy. Will I know those two things here on this earth again?" In retrospect, the painful answer to that question was, "No." However, it seems significant that Katie phrased the question, "here on this earth." There would be no more good news here on this eart...2021-12-2609 min

There Are Good Things Here"Unbelief Just Makes the Journey More Difficult"The days leading up to Christmas in 2015 were filled with frustration because of cancer, fatigue, and preparations to move from IL to WI. As she surveyed the scripture, Katie Hubbard knew two things: unbelief would make the journey ahead harder and there were poor people around her already suffering misery during the holidays. As her cancer pain grew more pronounced, she was more attentive to other peoples' hardships. She also knew where she had to focus her attention during a Christmas with cancer.2021-12-2009 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Know Good Things Come Of Hard Things, But ..."In this podcast episode, Katie Hubbard gives you a window into all the small stresses that compounded her challenge of living with advanced stage cancer. Anyone rubbing shoulders with her during this time would know that she was taking most of her frustrations to the Lord, instead of airing them out for others to hear. At the same time, she was reading through Deuteronomy to keep herself anchored in her faith. She believed that the Lord would work "little by little" through the hard things confronting her. The greatest the challenge of living with advanced stage cancer was not the...2021-12-1313 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Feel Like Cinderella Going To The Ball"How could a woman living with a terminal cancer diagnosis possibly feel like she was under a benevolent magic spell? For Katie Hubbard, it boiled down to this: she could see example after example of how God had been generous to her. This podcast provides a wonderful window into the power of a proper perspective. When Katie kept her eyes on God—his word and his provision—the world seemed magical even though her life consisted mostly of trips from the bed to the bathroom.2021-12-0611 min

There Are Good Things Here"What Do You Do On This Side of the Jordan?"Katie Hubbard was nearing the end of her long journey through life with cancer. She didn't know how close, of course, but she could sense it. Curiously, her Bible reading had taken her from Genesis through the Torah, to the book of Deuteronomy, where Moses contemplates the ways of God on "this side of the Jordan River". He will not cross over. In this podcast, Katie reflects on her everyday life and her deeper meditations on life if the Lord does not allow her to keep living forward. "What do you do on this side of the Jordan? You review...2021-11-2917 min

There Are Good Things Here"The Life of Futility Is Fearing When There Is No One To Fear"Katie Hubbard walked the road of life with God knowing that veering off to the right or to the left would lead her into futility and fear, especially with cancer. Nothing helped her keep her gaze more fixedly on God that reading the Scriptures diligently. When she beheld God in the word, she was better able to glimpse him in the world. When she was the ways of God in Leviticus, she could see how he was at work in the furniture outlet in Arcola, IL. If this sounds odd, you should give it a try.2021-11-2214 min

There Are Good Things HereStay Open Before God With Your Bible Open Before GodKatie Hubbard's journal entries from mid-November 2015 cover the range of emotions from gratitude to repentance to impatience for a cure for cancer. Two things stand out: First, all her emotional output is directed God-ward. It's gratefulness to God, repentance toward God, and impatience with God ... before God. Second, all her emotional wrestling is done with an open Bible on her lap as she reads Genesis and Exodus. Katie rarely (if ever) engaged in an emotional free-for-all. She usually processed her heart on the pages of her journal through the pages of the Scripture she was reading. If her journals offer...2021-11-1509 min

There Are Good Things Here"Did Their Terrible Plight Help Them See The Necessity of Leaving?"It seems almost ironic that Katie Hubbard "happened" to be reading the book of Exodus as cancer forced her to pack her home for a move from Illinois to Wisconsin. She models a very active approach to listening for God's voice as she reads her Bible. At one point she noticed how much more difficult the situation became for the Israelites when Moses came back to deliver them. Perhaps their situation had to grow more difficult so they would see the necessity of leaving. "Like us," is Katie's simple reflection. Cancer had forced a move that she would not have...2021-11-0808 min

There Are Good Things Here"We Are Moving Because I Am Dying"This episode takes you into one of Katie Hubbard's most searching journal entries where she weighs all the good happening around her against the reality that she is dying from cancer. Friends and family were surrounding us to help us prepare our home for the market in Illinois, so that we could move closer to family in Wisconsin. The amount of support we were experiencing was staggering, and Katie never failed to give thanks for it. Yet, as the last line of her journal entry says it best, "We have had so many good things to happen, yet all under...2021-11-0207 min

There Are Good Things HereGod Does Not Need Advice About How To Sell A House S01 | E43This episode marks the first entry in Katie Hubbard's last journal, chronicling her faith and hope as she lived with cancer. With characteristic wit, she relays how she advised God that "it only takes one buyer" to sell a house. God responded to her that by saying, "Don't tell me how to sell your house." Katie would have probably said it was a gentle reminder, not a harsh rebuke. She wrote the entry with a smiley face and expressed anticipation about how God would act on our behalf.2021-10-2506 min

There Are Good Things Here"If You Partake In Sufferings You Will Partake in Consolations"Katie Hubbard was struggling with the mind-numbing effects of narcotics to keep her cancer pain at bay, yet she knew the consoling help of God. From Scriptures like Psalm 34, she knew that God saw and heard her. She knew that believers who share in the sufferings of Christ also share in the consolations of God. She experienced both on the day she went to the mall and realized she would need a wheelchair to get around.2021-10-1803 min

There Are Good Things HereSurveying The Book Of Job In SadnessOn October 14, 2015 Katie woke up tired and sad on her long road with cancer. What did she do with her feelings in that state? She canvassed the book of Job in the Bible, and wrote out verse after verse in her journal. Those who believe that religion offers only a crutch to people who are suffering might be hard-pressed to account for what she wrote. There are more questions than answers in this journal entry, just as there are in the book of Job itself. What mattered to Katie on her long road with cancer was that she was asking...2021-10-1100 min

There Are Good Things Here"Cast All Your Anxieties On Him Because He Cares For You"Katie Hubbard began her journal entries in October 2015 facing her greatest anxieties with cancer. Her greatest anxieties happened not to be the normal ones: a fear of death or the probability of pain. She was most anxious about how her family would fare in her absence. From the devotional book, Jesus Calling, she heeded God's invitation to write out her anxieties and bring them into the light of God's presence and goodness. When you are facing your greatest anxieties, whether it be with cancer or kids or an unknown future, will you place them alongside the promises of God?2021-10-0400 min

There Are Good Things Here"These Circumstances Are Father-Filtered"Katie Hubbard was feeling the stress of cancer and parenting, yet she believed that every circumstance coming at her had been filtered through the hands of a loving Heavenly Father. Some people assume that is a cop out when you can't explain the bitterness of life. Others say things like this when they are desperately grasping at hope. Katie had spent a lifetime cultivating the confidence that every circumstance, including cancer, reached her after it had filtered through the hands of her Heavenly Father. With this kind of faith—faith that is its own kind of inner strength—she penned her...2021-09-2700 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Haven't Even Felt Good Enough To Tell People That I Felt Bad"Home from Mexico, Katie Hubbard was beginning a new alternative therapy for cancer that left her feeling pretty bad. She had gone through all the traditional regimens of chemo and radiation, and she was searching for any alternative that might extend her life for the sake of her kids. Though none of us knew it at the time, her systems were already beginning to slow down in advance of her death. You can hear in her journal how badly she wanted something to work. She wasn't afraid of death for herself, but for others. May we all find ourselves in...2021-09-2013 min

There Are Good Things Here"Never Change God's Facts Into Wishes or Prayers"Katie Hubbard faced some powerful internal doubts about moving from Illinois to Wisconsin while her health was failing, but she decided to rely on God's facts instead of her fears. She found assurance of God's power and providence from Habakkuk 3:19 and Isaiah 48:17. She regarded these promises as facts to be relied upon, not lofty sentiments to be hoped for. Her journal entry comes to an end with a powerful question and pointed answer: "Q: What are God's facts? A: My grace is sufficient for you." No matter where you are, you can rely on God's facts instead of your fears.2021-09-1305 min

There Are Good Things Here"Please Help Me Stay Pliable and Tender, Not Hard and Bitter"In late August 2015, Katie Hubbard was struggling to hold on to hope in the face of mounting discouragements with cancer. Life was moving full-speed ahead with her oldest child beginning college and all the demands of preparing to move from Illinois to Wisconsin. You can hear in her journals how deeply she longed for some promise from God that she would be healed. Even so, her greatest desire was to stay close to God—pliable and tender—rather than letting circumstances, stress, and disappointment make her hard and bitter. This episode will encourage people dealing cancer ... or just life ... to know...2021-09-0607 min

There Are Good Things Here"Lord, I Really Want To Trust You Moving Forward"Katie Hubbard really wanted to trust the Lord moving forward ... with cancer treatment, with building a new home, with life! In this episode, she journals her way through several of the pressures she was feeling, not the least of which was how we would pay for our new home in Wisconsin. In the midst of her processing, she writes out or alludes to several Scriptures that were beckoning her not to worry or to trust in God's provision. The greatest pressure, of course, was "cancer, cancer, cancer," as she says. The final sentence in this podcast is a sobering reminder...2021-08-2308 min

There Are Good Things Here"My Days Will Be Fulfilled And Then I Will Rest"As Katie Hubbard thought about the demands of moving from Illinois to Wisconsin, she also thought about the prospect of true rest when the Lord called her home. She wasn't exactly facing the hope of heaven with serenity. Rather, she was fighting through constant anxiety and fear to lay hold of the promises of God. She was also making hard (and sometimes wonderful) decisions about building a home in Neenah, Wisconsin near our family. In a time filled with fear, she found hope in the assurance of true rest in her true home with the Lord.2021-08-1607 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Can't Not Move Forward Because I Am Afraid For My Children"In this week's podcast, Katie Hubbard can be found building a fire with her seven year old son, Joe, and pondering what it means to live without fear for your kids in the face of cancer. We were visiting Wisconsin from Illinois, as we made preparations to move to a new place, so Katie could be closer to family for whatever time she had left. This episode finds her revisiting a familiar passage of Scripture from 2 Samuel 7, where God had established King David after many tumultuous years. Katie had been through her share of turmoil over the years, but she...2021-08-0906 min

There Are Good Things Here"Dear Lord, Home. Together"Almost no entry Katie Hubbard wrote during her final year of life captures her heart and highest values like the words from July 25, 2015. Only four words say so much. Katie characteristically addresses herself directly to the Lord, in gratitude that she was home from Mexico and together with the kids again. I imagine that she will say something like this to us all when we meet again. This week's podcast also features Tom Hubbard, our oldest son, reading and reflecting on a journal entry Katie wrote at the end of July. It was penned almost 6 months to the day before...2021-07-2616 min

There Are Good Things Here"Why should a person fear the passage from life to life?"Katie Hubbard was undergoing alternative therapy and thinking about eternal life. She was not ready to die -- "far from it" -- but she was more than willing to face death and the life that is to come. Sitting in a hospital bed in Mexico, she asks powerfully and poignantly what it says about us that we are so reluctant to die.2021-07-1913 min

There Are Good Things Here"Help Me, Lord, To Hear From You"Katie Hubbard was pursuing alternative cancer treatment but looking to the Lord for help. This was a hallmark of her journey through life with cancer. So much was uncertain ... even the ways of God. However, God's nearness, goodness, and power were Katie's constant source of help. You and I can trust God's character even when we cannot trace his ways.2021-07-1209 min

There Are Good Things Here"Gratitude that this course is available. Sadness that I have to have it at all."Katie Hubbard had come to the end of chemotherapy options, but she was grateful (and sad!) to have an alternative cancer treatment option available. In early July 2015, we were planning to board a plane for Mexico to pursue another course of therapy. For some people, alternative therapy is a first choice. For Katie, it was a last resort. Her body simply couldn't tolerate any more chemo treatments. She wanted to satisfy herself that, for the sake her kids, she had done everything possible to beat the progress of cancer. The open door to pursue alternative treatment made her grateful but...2021-07-0710 min

There Are Good Things Here"What This Girl Wants"As Katie looked back on an unconventional life that was rapidly headed toward an untimely death, she had no regrets. This blog post, written in 2015 for other women in vocational ministry, makes two things clear: she was grateful for her years in ministry, and she remained single-minded about her goal. As she put it, "I don’t want recognition, fame. I don’t want the big selling book, I don’t want a thousand people at Nav Nite…I want laborers." She knew that God had promised to reach the world through the faithful witness and service of those who would re...2021-06-2915 min

There Are Good Things Here"Seriously, Will You Heal Me Now?"Katie Hubbard was running out of cancer treatment options but not faith that God could heal her if He wanted to. As she contemplated the prospect of alternative treatment in Mexico and meditated on Namaan's story from 2 Kings 5, she sincerely asked God again to heal her from cancer. She knew the road of right thinking was getting harder, the longer she lived with metastatic disease. She also felt like her grace to bear it was running out. So, she asked again in faith for God to heal her of cancer. If He had, this podcast would be a very different...2021-06-2105 min

There Are Good Things Here"Everything About You Produces Good In Me"At the halfway point of this first season of "There Are Good Things Here", Katie Hubbard reminds us all that God is the source of all the goodness we seek. This episode in not a re-broadcast—but it is a re-reading—of Katie's journal entry from June 18, 2015. The podcast began (actually, it was episode 2) with this entry because it represents Katie's perspective so well. She didn't hope to become famous and she didn't want to write things for personal glory. Rather, she found herself increasingly impressed with the source of all goodness in God.2021-06-1406 min

There Are Good Things Here"What Does God Want To Do With This Life He Bought?"Katie Hubbard peppers the pages of her June journal with pithy questions like this, "What does God want to do with this life he bought?" She gives credit where it's due, to our friend and mentor Vic Black who said this in his book, Speak Lord. Katie also records her own proverbial observation, "The tradeoff to losing your youth is that (hopefully) you gain perspective." She certainly had lost the one and gained the other. That's what enabled her to live the answer to the question, "What does God want to do with this life he bought?" There's a bonus...2021-06-0705 min

There Are Good Things Here"I focus on what I have not what I have lost"In characteristic fashion, Katie Hubbard explained the ups and downs of a "cancer straightaway" by saying, "I focus on what I have not what I have lost". This was her secret when the currents of life were tumultuous and when they were relatively calm. You and I can experience the same kind of life with God in Christ, but we can't simply will it into existence. We have to practice the same kind of Scripture meditation and deliberate thanksgiving she did. This will help us be able to say with greater gratitude to the Lord, "I focus on what I...2021-05-3111 min

There Are Good Things Here"After We Have Suffered, Things Will Be Made Right"In this episode, Katie Hubbard signs off her final journal entry for May 2015 with the words "after we have suffered, things will be made right." That conviction didn't come from observing her circumstances, but from observing the ways of God in the book of Genesis. Joseph suffered many things through his life, but God exalted him in time. If I can nudge a very powerful statement from Dr. King in a slighty more biblical direction, Katie understood that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward righteousness". After we have suffered for a little while, things...2021-05-2407 min

There Are Good Things Here"You Show Me Astonishing Things From Your Word"If you read the journals of Katie Hubbard without reference to the dates, you would think she was always seeing astonishing things from God's word. As was often the case, though, there had been a lapse of more than two weeks since Katie had last journaled. When she took up her pen again, it was to remark on her sorrow for a young man who had committed suicide and to marvel at the astonishing things from God's word 2021-05-1706 min

There Are Good Things Here"May You Smile At The Future"This week's episode features guest host, Rachel Hubbard, reading a letter that Katie wrote, encouraging her to smile at the future. Rachel, our third-born child, received this letter on her 8th grade retreat in 2015. Katie wrote to affirm and encourage her. There are some priceless memories from Rachel's early years, plus characteristic Katie-wisdom about life. Rachel also reads a letter that I wrote on the same occasion. Hearing these letters today brings tears to my eyes, but hearing Katie's words remind me, too, to smile at the future.2021-05-1015 min

There Are Good Things Here"Faith That Enables Us To Face Eternity With Excitement"Katie Hubbard knew that her cancer was progressing, but she was able to face eternity with excitement. She also knew a thing or two about parenting through the ups and downs of life. This podcast will take you through two journal entries, one email update, and a blog entry that Katie wrote for moms in ministry. You'll find loads of Solomon-like wisdom from a well-seasoned mom living with cancer, and you'll discover secrets about how to face eternity with excitement.2021-05-0321 min

There Are Good Things Here"God, You Are Clearly Showing Your Care For Me"Katie Hubbard knew how to spot God's providential care, not because her life was easy but because she kept looking toward him not her circumstances or herself. The title of this podcast, There Are Good Things Here, doesn't imply that life is easy but that God is good. God's providential care surrounds those who love him and have been called into his eternal, saving purposes. Katie asked for a huge miracle of healing. God didn't grant her that request. Along the way, though, she learned to keep her focus on the good things he was doing by giving thanks. She...2021-04-2604 min

There Are Good Things Here"You Have Taught Me Stillness Through Illness"Through her journey with cancer, Katie Hubbard had to learn an art of stillness that deepened her faith in God. She believed that God himself was a strong rock that remained stable when all else was shifting or uncertain. From that place of stability, she offered one of her deepest prayers in her final year: "not my will but yours be done". Join Katie as she reflects on this prayer of Jesus: it's not resignation but total trust. So deep had her own faith taken her through hours of stillness on the long road of cancer that she actually says, "...2021-04-1908 min

There Are Good Things Here"Must. Spend. Time. With. Jesus!"What would you do with more time and mental space on your hands? Katie Hubbard lets you know where her heart was inclined when time was on her hands. She kept juggling many of the demands of life (Easter preparations, speaking at church, prom dress shopping), but when cancer forced her to slow down, she turned to Jesus. May this brief episode bless and challenge you. What would you do with more time and mental space?2021-04-1204 min

There Are Good Things Here"A Living Hope" | S01E16"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3) On Easter Sunday 2015, Katie Hubbard knew that she was dying. She also knew she had to stand in front of Twin City Bible Church (our home church in Illinois) and describe what it meant for her to have a living hope. She told about her cancer journey, pointed people to Jesus, and expressed her own confidence in the Lord. Katie did not...2021-04-0414 min

There Are Good Things Here"Not One. Single. Regret" | S01E15In this episode, Katie Hubbard talks about living life as a mom in ministry with no regrets. When you say 'yes' to Jesus, you often walk an unconventional road. However, as Katie makes clear in a journal entry and email, the way is filled with blessing. You will appreciate Katie's characteristic humor in this podcast, along with her down to earth account about the challenges of motherhood. More than that, I hope you'll be inspired to keep saying 'yes' to the Lord. There may be no greater joy than to look on a life well-lived and say, "I know it's...2021-03-2916 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Must Cling To What Is True Rather Than To What I Feel"In this episode, Katie Hubbard simply ponders examples from Scripture where people express faith or disbelief in the face of fear and pain. “Where is your faith?” It was a question Jesus asked many people in his day, and Katie heard the divine challenge in her own. Her subsequent journal entry ends with an epigram, the kind she was known for: “I am trading my physical symptoms for mental ones. I must cling to what is true rather than what I feel.” Finally, I read from my own journal entry from mid-March of 2015. I thought it might interest some of you to he...2021-03-2208 min

There Are Good Things Here"Without Faith What Do We Have To Offer Others?"In this episode, Katie Hubbard writes about the fruit of faith and the frustration of missed expectations in the struggle with cancer. “The fruit of faith. Hope. Courage. God is pleased. Fortitude. Stepping out. Encouragement for others.” She had no idea what kind of impact she was leaving behind when she wrote the words, “Without faith and belief, what do we have to offer others?” Her words are raw and powerful as she asks God what her own future will hold, as she tries to hold on to her faith in the present. Katie probes the question of what faith means fo...2021-03-1510 min

There Are Good Things Here"We Want The Miracles Of Acts But Not The Trials"Katie Hubbard was coming to grips with the extent of pain and suffering in the world as she waited for her own miracle. She also knew that the trials recorded in the Bible far outnumbered the miracles recorded. What is more, you can't minister to people in pain unless you've experienced it yourself. That was a lesson Katie learned well. She was waiting on a miracle herself in the face of her own pain and suffering. Yet her heart was growing softer toward a hurting world around her. That is a miracle in itself! Katie would often say (in her...2021-03-0807 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Can Have Cancer And A Good Life"Katie Hubbard had struggled through the final week of February 2015, but she surged into a new season of faith and hope in the face of cancer when March rolled around. She identifies the source of the change in her first journal entry for the month. The first was practical, or circumstantial. We rearranged our bedroom to make it beautiful and functional for her when she didn't have the energy to go anywhere but didn't want to stay in bed. The second reason was deeper. She resolved to do the hard work of believing God. In the face of cancer, faith...2021-03-0107 min

There Are Good Things HereA Prayer Time With KatieIn this special episode, I want to give you a chance to hear Katie Hubbard in prayer … not just her voice coming through as I read her journal entries … but her actual voice. I recorded a handful of prayer times we shared together in 2014 and 2015. There were not remarkable occasions, but I wanted to capture her heart and voice for the Lord so that others could hear her. (By this point in our lives, we knew she would not survive cancer without a miracle.) The recording you’re going to hear was made in Illinois in February 2015. As you listen to it...2021-02-2414 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Feel Like The Train Has Gone Off The Rails"When Katie wrote the two entries featured on today's podcast, cancer treatment and pain medication had combined to leave her so low you can actually see it in her handwriting. If you only had her journal entries, you would assume that she was simply sitting in her bedroom trying to get over her fatigue and nausea. Far from it! Though she was not letting on to anyone (not even me!) how bad she felt, she was still opening up our home to international guests and visiting alumni. She was also welcoming former students who were learning their chops as new...2021-02-2208 min

There Are Good Things Here“Every day is a gift and I have a choice” | S01E08The presence of cancer and the threat of paralysis cannot overwhelm a soul that trusts in God. This week’s podcast features Katie at her best in the worst of times. She opens her heart in a journal entry (below), email, and Caring Bridge post with striking vulnerability, spirituality, and wit. She was passing through a deep place of uncertainty in her soul, faced with the reality that cancer was now destroying her spine and threatening her with paralysis. You see the damage cancer is causing and think "This can't be me" In the face of it all, she says, “I ha...2021-02-1530 min

There Are Good Things Here"Dealing with a Stage IV Diagnosis" S01 | E07How do you keep living forward day after day with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis? If you're Katie, you just open your Bible up and read the next passage. Then, you open your journal up and write out the verse(s) that meant the most to you, underlining the words that matter most. That's what you find in her journal entry from Feb 6, 2015. It's obvious that she wanted to see the salvation of the Lord, just as Israel had. Of course, she was working out that longing while saying "Everyday is such an effort to get up and get going."...2021-02-0807 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Feel Hopeful" S01 | E06Katie was living with Stage IV cancer and didn't often wake up feeling happy or hopeful. Her journal entry from January 31 was uncharacteristically upbeat for this season of life. She sets a good example for all of us going through hard times. It's OK to feel happy and even better to express it to God! In this entry, Katie's lighter side really comes through as she recounts a visit we made to Elkhart, IN, "kind of a dumpy town". (Sorry to all of you who love Elkhart.) As we were shopping for supplies for our motorhome, Katie encountered a particularly...2021-02-0108 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Would Rather Trust And Be Disappointed" S01E05"I would rather be disappointed ...""... tomorrow we will trust you again."Journal entries for January 24 and 28, 2015 In her entries for January 24 and 28, 2015, Katie reflected on lessons she was learning from fellow-travelers as she walked her own road with cancer. In particular, she was processing the tension she felt over parenting (when you never feel good) and trusting in God for a miracle (when you never feel good). In times of intense suffering, it's easy to let circumstances cloud your clear thinking. That's when it's most important to have others around you who are supporting you on your journey, not just...2021-01-2106 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Have So Much To Learn" S01E04In these two entries from early 2015 (dated January 12 and 14), Katie laments how judgmental she feels as a parent. She has been hard on our son's faults while ignoring her own. She considers the example of the father in the parable of the prodigal son and expresses how much she wants to be generous, rather than judgmental. She also journals about an encouraging word on parenting from a friend. You just show up with what you have—your five loaves and two fish—and trust God for the rest. "In everything give thanks ..." As a parent, show up with your five loav...2021-01-2103 min

There Are Good Things Here"I don't know how to handle any of this" | S01E03Katie did not shy away from the fatigue and fear that were her constant companions during her years of living with cancer. She was open to the Lord about her fears, her longings, and her concerns. She felt keenly her inadequacies as a mom living with cancer."I don't know how to handle any of this—and how do you handle it when you don't ever feel well?" I would suggest that one of the ways she handled it was by speaking continually with the Lord about her heart. You'll see in the journal entry above that she also tried to...2021-01-2006 min

There Are Good Things Here"I do not interest me" | S01E02Katie managed the pressure she felt to write by writing ... in her journal. Anytime you write something for others to read, there’s a bit of felt pressure that sneaks in with it. Katie’s journals, of course, were her private prayers and meditations. She also kept up a blog for many years on Caring Bridge. Many of you probably kept up with her life story there. In fact, I encourage you to visit her Caring Bridge page to read her writings for yourself. What you’ll discover is that Katie was an amazing writer with depth of soul and keen w...2021-01-2007 min

There Are Good Things Here"I Trust You Jesus" | S01E01This was one of Katie's final journal entries, written about two weeks before she passed away. When Katie wrote the journal entry featured in today's podcast, she was dying from cancer but growing in faith. You can actually see the toll cancer was taking by observing her unsteady handwriting. With about two weeks to live, however, she was steadying her heart by expressing her trust in her Savior and Lord, Jesus. Katie used to say—and believe with all her heart—that There Are Good Things Here. She often said that would be the title of her book, if she ever...2021-01-2007 min

Dr. Pat ShowTTR Network - Dr. Pat - Mary Rose Campbell - Cheryl Paterson - Norman McCombsThe Dr. Pat Show: Talk Radio to Thrive By!: How to bounce back when times are tough with Mary Rose Campbell and Guest Cheryl "Chirl Girl" Paterson / The Dr. Pat Show: Talk Radio to Thrive By!: A Reason To Be with Norman McCombs 2020-11-2355 min