Prayer Investigator: Finding Joy In My Desert Season with Carole Leathem

In the episode of The Prayer Investigator, Linda shares an encouraging conversation with award-winning author Carole Leathem (carolesjourney.com) about finding hope and purpose even in difficult "desert" seasons of life. Carole shares her journey through a painful season while caring for her husband with mental illness and how God met her powerfully and called her into a new ministry. The episode offers hope, practical tips, uplifting prayers, and Scripture for anyone struggling.

For Reflection:

1. When have you felt stuck in a "desert season" in your own life? What did that feel like?

2. What encouragement or tips from Carol resonated most with you? How could applying those help you through a difficult time?

3. How have you sensed God meeting you powerfully in the midst of a desert season? What purpose or calling might He want to reveal to you?

Show Notes: 

[00:27] Welcoming Carole Leatham, former actress and current minister

[00:50] Carole shares about feeling stuck in a "desert season" while caring for her husband

[01:41] Hearing a message about her "super bloom" coming at a retreat

[02:47] Being prayed over powerfully at the retreat

[03:25] Friends prophesying over her super bloom

[04:28] Carole feels God calling her into a new season of ministry to caretakers

[05:15] More prophetic words about her purpose

[06:16] Learning to use her own pain to help others

[07:24] Encouragement for those still in desert seasons - don't isolate, rest

[08:00] The importance of Christian community and counsel

[09:15] Taking care of your mind and body with rest

[10:12] There's no shame in getting professional help

[11:00] Uplifting Scripture - Isaiah 35:1-2

[12:10] Prayers over those in desert seasons

[13:52] Don't listen to the enemy's lies in the desert

Linda Evans Shepherd is an international speaker and a best-selling author of 38 books including Praying Through the Hard Times. She is the CEO and founder of Right to the Heart Ministries which includes the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Arise Esther Movement, Leading Hearts Magazine, and the Arise Daily Devotionals.
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Linda's Prayer Books: https://www.gottopray.com/linda-s-pra...

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Transcript

[00:00:00] My friend Carol got stuck in a desert season, but it was in that season that she found treasure in the whispers of God. And wait till you hear about what she calls the super bloom that's coming in your life. Stay tuned. Welcome to the prayer investigator. I'm Linda Evans Shepherd. My guest today is Carol Leatham.

[00:00:27] Carol was a Hollywood actress for 15 years. Then she married Bill, now a retired pastor. They've been married for 48 years. They have two kids, seven grandkids, and they live in Bakersfield, California. Carol loves to share her story with the people that God puts into her life. Welcome to the show, Carol.

[00:00:50] Thank you so much, Linda. I'm so excited to be here. Now, I understand, Carol, that you got stuck in the desert. Now, were you in [00:01:00] a real desert? What kind of desert were you in? It wasn't a real desert, but I will tell you, it felt like a real desert. Eight years ago, my husband began to struggle with mental illness.

[00:01:13] And when he began to struggle, my ministry dried up. Everything in my life changed. I found myself isolated. I found myself alone. I found myself afraid. And I remember Talking to a friend right after it happened and saying, I feel like I've been sent to the desert. And for eight years, even though lots of things were happening, even God was showing up and taking care of me, I still felt like I was in the desert.

[00:01:41] And last summer in August, I was at the AWSA retreat. And in Kentucky, and I was listening to someone speak, and their message was all about your super bloom is coming. It was Dawn Damon! It was Dawn Damon! I just interviewed her for the show! Oh my gosh! She [00:02:00] started, and I'd never met her up at this point, and she did not know me, and I did not know her.

[00:02:05] And my friend Marnie was sitting in front of me. And when Don began to speak, Marnie reached around and put her hand on my leg and said, Hang on, girl, this is for you. And I took a deep breath and I started really listening to Don speak. And as she began to tell her story and how she felt like she had been in the desert.

[00:02:26] But God told her a super bloom was coming. I fell apart. And as she began to talk about how God was opening up the doors for her super bloom, my prayer kind of changed to, God, I want my super bloom. How are, how is this going to happen in my life? And I was sitting there very, I was crying. Uncontrollably.

[00:02:47] It was embarrassing because it was in a room full of women. And Dawn's assistant saw me and she's an adorable girl and she came over and she grabbed my arm and she goes, I think you need someone to pray for you. And she's grabs me and starts walking me to the [00:03:00] front. And when I got up to the front, she walked into a conversation with Don was having with somebody.

[00:03:05] And she said, Don, I think this. person needs to be prayed for. And so Dawn stopped what she was doing. She turned around. She wrapped me in a huge bear hug. She began to pray for me. Somewhere along the moment of her prayer, joy joined in on the prayer. And I was just, I have never felt so loved or encouraged.

[00:03:25] And I heard the Holy Spirit say, Hang on, your super bloom is coming. So here's where God just really, I love God's stories. The next morning I called a friend of mine who had also, we had been in the desert for a while and we had commiserated about being in the desert together for different reasons, but we would talk about it.

[00:03:45] And I said, but I need to. I'm going to tell you this sermon I heard last night and I have written it on a napkin and I'm going to preach it to you over FaceTime and she started laughing and I said, what I need you to hear is your super bloom is [00:04:00] coming. God has told me my super bloom is coming and I believe yours is too.

[00:04:05] And she started to cry and she goes, Oh my gosh, I have a playlist that I listen to every day. And the number one song on that playlist isn't is called super bloom. Okay. Yeah. Chills. So we began to talk about this. And this was in August. So then fast forward to September, I still have not found my super bloom.

[00:04:28] I'm still praying. I'm still looking for it. But I had been asked to speak at a retreat. And so I drove up to the mountains in this beautiful area. And I was speaking at this retreat for women. And the second evening after I got done speaking, this beautiful young girl came up to me and she goes, I've had a vision and I think it's you.

[00:04:50] Does that scare you? And I said, no, that doesn't scare me. I said, bring it on. Tell me what you saw. And she said, I think God wants me to tell you that [00:05:00] this vision is you. And I said, okay, so tell me your vision. She said, I saw this beautiful woman walking through the Desert, leaving a trail of wildflowers behind her.

[00:05:15] And I started to cry and she goes, I didn't mean to offend you. And I'm like, no, you don't realize that God is speaking to me through what you're saying. And she goes there's more. And I said, okay. And she said, your tears will be a balm of healing for many. And I just, I get teary eyed even now just thinking about how beautiful the Lord is in using other people to come and walk alongside of me, Don.

[00:05:43] And I do not even know this young woman's name. She walked away before I could get it. I would not know how to find her. It was almost like she just came in. She gave me a message from God. And my prayer started at that moment. Okay, God, I know that you have a plan. [00:06:00] What is it? I came home from the retreat and you know how it is when you have back to back events, I packed my suitcase and got on a plane and flew to Tennessee from California where I live, and I went to this event in Tennessee with several creative podcaster writers and whatever.

[00:06:16] And one of the young women. came to me on day two of this event and she goes, I need to talk to you because I think I know I had shared with them that I was feeling stuck. I was feeling like I was coming out of the desert and I didn't know what that looked like. And she said to me, I believe God has a plan for you.

[00:06:35] And I believe that it has to do with the caretakers because you, and she didn't know my story yet about my husband, but she goes, I've watched you this week and how you just. Instinctively reach out to the person who's not talking to somebody. Ask me if I need something else. You're just a natural caretaker.

[00:06:56] And she said, I think you need to [00:07:00] do something for caretakers. And then God reminded me that at this event, I had been at the weekend before over half of the women that I talked to. We're caretakers in some respect or another. And so God is opening the door. And I really feel like God is using these last eight painful years of my life where I, sometimes I couldn't see because my tears.

[00:07:24] And I feel like he's opening the doors so that my tears and the things that I've learned over these last eight years can be helpful to other people who are in my situation. And there's a lot of people who just need someone to give them a little refreshing. And I think you have got that. And in fact, what I'd like to do right now is I'd like to ask you about the people that are still wandering in the desert.

[00:07:53] What encouragement do you have for them? The number one issue with people who are wandering in [00:08:00] the desert is isolation. And what I have found is for me, When I start feeling the pressure and the stress of being in the desert, I tend to pull away. I tend to not put myself where I should go to meet people or to be around people.

[00:08:19] I tend to try to watch church online instead of going and standing in the sanctuary and singing. With everyone and there's a difference when I'm sitting here listening to it on tv and I'm immersing myself in it when I'm in the sanctuary even if I'm not around anyone I know it's being in the room with other believers praising the lord and worshiping don't isolate please don't isolate and sometimes it's really hard to pull yourself out of that.

[00:08:47] I have found that I tend to start sinking into a depression when I'm isolated and when I'm cut off from people, whether it be my kids or my grandkids or my family or my friends, or maybe I'm [00:09:00] just tired. The other thing is the other important thing is to rest truly rest because your brain, the part of your brain that deals with the stress and being in the desert can be extremely stressful.

[00:09:15] It only rejuvenates itself. When you go into deep room sleep, and so you need to find ways to rest. And so sometimes I'll just go take a nap. Take a nap or, and if I can't get myself to relax, I'll put on a playlist of worship music with no words, because if it has words, then I tend to lay there and sing, which is not a bad thing.

[00:09:40] But if I need to rest, just putting the playlist of instrumental worship music on in the background and opening up, finding someone to talk to. Whether it's a good friend. For me, I ended up needing to go and have some therapy. And there's no shame in going and sitting down with a therapist and [00:10:00] talking through your stuff because he helped me identify some stuff that I really needed to identify and see some things that I was doing that were keeping me in the desert instead of walking out.

[00:10:12] Oh, that's such a great idea. When my daughter was in coma for a year, I did spend a lot of time talking to a therapist because this was uncharted waters for me. And I didn't know what actions I needed to take or how to stay sane. He was a Christian and he prayed with me every time. And really, I just wanted to get prayed over.

[00:10:34] Yeah, he was a Christian too. And I think praying over me was huge. Yeah, we do need that. We need people to pray over us when we are in the desert. In fact, I'm thinking that there are people viewing right now who are like hello, I am actually stuck in the desert right now and I could use some prayer.

[00:10:57] Would you pray for them? I would love to. [00:11:00] My favorite scripture that I have just clung to comes out of Isaiah 35, and it starts off in verse 1, and it says, The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a wildflower. It will blossom abundantly and will also rejoice with joy and singing.

[00:11:22] I love this scripture. And I actually was reading this scripture before the super bloom ever became a part of my life. And so I want to pray right now for those of you who are in the desert. And hopefully God will encourage you, Father God, I just lift up to the viewers who are watching right now who might be saying, I'm overwhelmed.

[00:11:45] I'm in the desert. I'm parched and dry. I just need relief. And I just pray God that you will touch them that you will help them right now to feel your presence as Linda and I are praying for you. Amen. As [00:12:00] God is right there with you. I pray that you will feel his presence. I pray that you will understand that at this time, it feels like you're in the desert and yes, you are.

[00:12:10] I know I was, and I pray that you will understand that God is there with you. You're not alone. Even on those moments when you feel like you're alone, you're not. I pray God that you will just send peace and relaxation and that you will help them to rest so that they can begin to rejuvenate the parts of their body that are just worn down by the stress of being in the desert.

[00:12:35] God, I pray that your spirit would be living water to them and that they would begin to feel the freedom to see possibilities of walking out of the desert. And God, even more that they would begin to see that super bloom that you have for them begin to slowly pop up in their life. I know God that you are aware of each and every circumstance and you're [00:13:00] already at work in the middle of it.

[00:13:03] And we just claim the promise that you are going to be there with them. And thank you so much for the gift of salvation through Jesus, because he gives us the most important piece and that's the Holy Spirit. And with him, we're never ever away from you. We ask all this in your precious son's name.

[00:13:23] Amen. Amen. And I'm going to add a tiny prayer to that. And my prayer is, Lord, open their ears so that they can hear your whispers. I love you. I am with you. You've got this. And Lord, help them to block out the sound of the enemy's voice. Who do you think you are? You will never get out of this mess. You are stuck here forever.

[00:13:52] Those are lies, Lord. Help them to see that as a lie. Help them to realize that the [00:14:00] tears that they've been crying in the desert are actually seeds of their super bloom. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for that Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Carol, I would love to know what final thought you have. What advice do you have for those still stuck in that desert right now?

[00:14:22] If you feel like you want to reach out to somebody who's been there, You can reach out to me. My website is carol's journey.com. Carol with an e, Carol, C-A-R-O-L-E. Journey carol's journey.com. And in January, Linda, I'm gonna be launching the Caretaker's Journey podcast. And if you go to my website now and sign up, then you'll get all of the information when that launches.

[00:14:47] But if they wanna just reach out to me via email, I would love to pray for them. Individual if there's somebody that really needs prayer. I'm happy. I would be happy to just [00:15:00] encourage them Oh, what a beautiful and precious offer. Thank you for that And let me just say if you feel like you'll never see the end of the desert.

[00:15:11] I just want to encourage you Jesus is going to turn your life into a garden and hang in there because The beauty is going to just bloom and blossom all around you. Yes. Carol, I just so enjoyed having you here today. Thank you. It was wonderful to be here. I hope that encouraged you. And if it did, would you like share, subscribe and ring that bell?

[00:15:39] And we have a gift for you. It is a beautiful blessing that you can play, pray and print that I pray over you. Just go to my prayer gift. com. And remember, God loves you and He wants you to talk to Him. See you next time.