June 24, 2026

Speechless

🎙️ Have you ever been left completely speechless? Not because you didn't have words... But because what happened was bigger than words could ever explain.
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💔 A painful loss. 🙏 An unexpected act of grace. ❤️ A love that changes everything.
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In this week's episode of "Other People's Shoes", Cristina Simmons shares a moment that left her speechless and how that moment became a turning point in her life.
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Together, we talk about faith, healing, restoration, and the powerful truth that our pain doesn't have to be our prison.
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✨ What if the very thing that broke you became the thing that helped someone else heal?
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✨ What if your story isn't something to hide... but something to honor?
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✨ What if grace shows up when you least expect it?
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This conversation challenged me, encouraged me, and reminded me once again why I never get tired of hearing people's stories.
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Take a walk with us. 🎧 Listen now: opspodcast.com
#🎙️OtherPeoplesShoes #📝TheList #🩵Faith #👟Empathy

🎙 SPEECHLESS

Season 23: The List

Have you ever been speechless?

I know I have.

I remember getting cut from the basketball team in high school. Speechless!

I remember standing at the front of the church and watching Elizabeth walk down the aisle on our wedding day. Her beauty took my breath away. Speechless!

I remember hearing my daughter Adia's heartbeat for the very first time. Speechless!

I still remember meeting Roy Williams, the legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach. Standing there asking for his autograph, I didn't know what to say. Speechless!

Those are the kinds of moments that leave me searching for words.

But there's another kind of speechlessness I've wrestled with over the years.

As someone who has followed Jesus for a long time, I've realized there are seasons when I lose that sense of wonder. That fresh amazement at the Gospel. The reality that God would love me, save me, and give my life purpose.

And then there are moments when God reminds me all over again.

Moments that leave me speechless.

What if you came face-to-face with a love so profound that it changed everything?

In this episode, Cristina Simmons shares a moment that left her speechless and how that experience shaped the course of her life.

Together, we explore faith, healing, restoration, and what can happen when grace shows up in ways we never expected.

GUEST INTRODUCTION

Today, we're joined by Cristina P. Simmons.

Cristina is an author, TEDx speaker, occupational therapist, wife, mom, and advocate for healing and restoration.

Her work is rooted in lived experience, faith, and nervous-system awareness, creating safe spaces where people can heal without pressure, shame, or guilt.

Cristina believes that when our stories are honored instead of silenced, healing becomes possible.

As she says:

"Pain doesn't have to be your prison it can become your platform."

And:

"Freedom is not the absence of responsibility, but the conscious choice to live in alignment with who you are becoming."

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EPISODE DETAILS

In this conversation, Neil and Cristina discuss:

✔️ A moment that left Cristina speechless

✔️ The power of honoring your story

✔️ Faith during life's most difficult seasons

✔️ Healing without shame or guilt

✔️ Why pain doesn't have to define your future

✔️ Finding purpose through adversity

✔️ God's faithfulness in the middle of uncertainty

✔️ Staying amazed by grace

Cristina also shares insights from her bestselling book, Eat Your Feelings.

Over two decades, the Simmons family faced challenge after challenge, yet through unwavering faith and a marriage that refused to be broken, they discovered restoration on the other side of hardship.

This episode asks some powerful questions:

What leaves us speechless?

Can pain become a platform for helping others?

How do we hold onto faith when life doesn't make sense?

What happens when we allow our stories to be honored instead of hidden?

Sometimes the moments that leave us speechless become the moments that change everything.