S5 Episode #15- Andy Howard
THE ONE With Andy Howard
This week we are excited to welcome pastor, author, coach, and podcaster Andy Howard to the show! Andy is an advocate for mental health awareness as he has known the heaviness of depression himself. He is passionate about fighting against the awful attack of mental health issues that are running rampant across the human race. In this episode, Andy shares a powerful testimony of walking through depression, learning to see his pain through a Heavenly perspective, and experiencing the hope of Jesus in a life-changing way!
Find Andy: Instagram . Website . Podcast . Book
MORE ABOUT ANDY
For over 20 years, Andy Howard has served in ministry as a youth pastor and marriage ministry pastor. He has found that not much changes in each role, just that some come with more wrinkles and less hair.
At his heaviest Andy weighed 345 lbs and his wife Tiffany weighed 317 lbs. Together, they have lost over 350 lbs combined and have co-founded a health coaching business called Taking Back My Life where they have helped thousands of people get healthy as well. Through this journey, Andy has become passionate about fitness and working out.
Andy loves traveling and sharing his and his family’s story with churches, conferences, and youth camps. In his spare time, he enjoys following his favorite sports teams, and making memories with his family.
Andy was born in Bryan, Texas and currently lives outside Dallas, TX with his wife Tiffany and their three beautiful daughters Payton, Parker, and Presley.
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Andy came to know The Lord at a very young age and accepted the call to ministry at the age of 17. At that time, Andy thought that his life would be a simple and easy road of service to God. But Andy soon learned that this would not be the case. There would be many trials and troubles. In His Word, God never promised us an easy road, but He DID promise not to ever leave us nor forsake us. It won’t always be easy– in fact God promises the opposite– He said we will have trials and troubles, but He will never leave us.
You will never walk alone. In the hardest times is when God often reveals new aspects of His character to us and leads us to places of greater intimacy with Him.
STRUGGLING WITH DEPRESSION
Andy suffered from depression for many years after his daughter was born. She was diagnosed with 10% brain function, she couldn’t walk or talk, she couldn’t use her hands.
Andy prayed diligently for his daughter’s healing. Over time the prayers of hope for healing turned bitter– “God, why would you let this happen to me?” Overtime, the bitterness sunk into depression. Andy was depressed for four years, while still pretending everything was “fine” in his role as a youth pastor.
Looking back, Andy can see that God was faithful every step of the way. Even when Andy didn’t feel like God was there, he learned to trust what he knew was true… even when he couldn’t necessarily feel it.
THE STORY OF LAZARUS
John 11
Both Mary and Martha express, “Jesus, where were you? If you had been here, our brother would not have died.”
Yet, Jesus knew exactly why He was waiting. He said it was going to be for God’s glory. Jesus knew that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew what was going to happen and he still took time to weep. He still took time to see the pain of those around him and he was deeply moved by it.
Jesus sees what you are going through too. He sees your burdens, your hurts, your heartaches. He is there with you. He cares for you. He weeps with you. Even though He knows how your situation will turn out, He still sits in it with you and weeps with you.
A SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE
Andy received a prophetic word from a close friend who had a vision of his daughter Peyton. Peyton’s physical body was laying in her body, but her spiritual body was sitting up, with her legs crossed, spending time with Jesus. They were so close.
Although Andy felt that his daughter was being robbed of things other kids got to do, this vision reminded him that God sees it differently and that Jesus is as close to Peyton as ever and He has not left her. She gets to experience Jesus in an intimate and personal way that most of us miss in this life.
If we could see the things in our life from a Heavenly perspective, we would be blown away by all that God is doing behind the scenes. He sees the full picture and He will have the victory in the end.
God may not always show up on our timing, but he always shows up on time!
THE BOOK
It can be summed up in one word: HOPE.
We put more hope in our lives on earth than we put in eternity. We think about how fast our life is passing, but we forget how long eternity is. We are designed for an eternity in Heaven!
TIPS FOR WALKING THROUGH STRUGGLE
Invite more people in. You don’t have to carry this alone.
Find a Godly counselor to help you process.
At the peak of Andy’s depression, he was on a vacation with his family and he felt himself sinking deeper and deeper as he watched countless other dads playing with their children. On the last night of the vacation, he couldn’t sleep, so he decided to go for a walk on the beach. As he was walking, there was a couple ahead of him with flashlights. As he got closer, he realized that they were collecting seashells– they would keep some and they would throw some back. After a while longer, Andy realized that they were only keeping the whole shells and they were throwing back the broken ones.
In that moment, God whispered to Andy, “There is beauty in the broken.”
Andy started collecting all the broken shells as he wept on the beach. We are all broken people, we are all in need of a Savior! But we serve a God who remembers you– He Re-members you… he puts you back together. He heals your broken places.
When you feel passed up, unseen, unworthy– it is not true! There is beauty in the broken and God can use every part of your pain and your story. You are loved. You are cared for. You are not forgotten. God RE-MEMBERS you, He puts you back together.
HEALTH COACHING
At one point in his life, Andy was 345 pounds. The very things that the devil meant to kill him, God is using those very things to set other people free! What was once a stumbling block is now a stepping stone!
FINAL THOUGHTS
There is hope for you! It is very easy in this era to live a life in fear and anxiety, but there is hope! Fear, depression and anxiety all have a name, so they must all bow at the feet of Jesus. There is always hope, so never give up!
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The Collected Podcast is produced by Jes Biondo and edited by Jacob Early. Cover art designed by Ben Biondo.