Adrienne shares her incredible journey through unimaginable loss, including the passing of her two children, Mackenzie and Kyler.

As a mother, survivor, and grief recovery specialist, she opens up about navigating life after loss, finding courage through adversity, and transforming pain into purpose.

Adrienne’s path led her to create Dragonfly Coaching

She now helps others heal, rebuild, and rediscover meaning after grief. Her story is both heart-wrenching and hopeful...a powerful reminder that even in the darkest seasons, it’s possible to rise again with compassion, purpose, and love.

Takeaways:

• Grief is not something to overcome, but something to move through with grace.
• Healing comes from connection, honesty, and allowing yourself to feel.
• The loss of two children taught Adrienne that strength and softness can coexist.
• Dragonfly Coaching was born from Adrienne’s determination to help others find hope after heartbreak.
• Sharing stories of pain can open pathways to collective healing.

“I want something good to come from this.” — Adrienne

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction: Overcoming Adversity

02:04 Adrienne's Journey Begins

04:02 Facing Family Health Crises

06:24 Navigating Loss and Grief

10:08 The Impact of Addiction

14:03 Coping with Multiple Losses

17:59 Finding Strength in Healing

26:52 Reflections on Resilience

28:53 A Mother’s Strength in Crisis

33:14 Cherishing Memories and Finding Meaning

38:14 Transforming Grief into Purpose

44:48 Finding Joy Amidst Loss

49:57 Sharing the Journey Through Writing

Learn more about Adrienne’s story in her book:

The Almost Miracle Years

This episode of Adventures in Adversity is sponsored by DIVINI, a honey-based sparkling kombucha tea.

Visit Divini and use discount code Breanne10 at checkout for a discount!

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#grief #resilience #cancer #recovery #mentalhealth #motherhood #loss #healing

In this episode, I sit down with Army Veteran, Empowerment Coach, Host, and speaker Dielle Luster to talk about what it really looks like to walk through adversity with honesty, faith, and community.

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From the discipline and “face it head on” mindset she learned in the military to the tenderness of mercy, vulnerability, and self-love, Dielle’s story is a powerful reminder that it’s okay to not be okay—and that we’re all worth the save.

We talk about the messy middle seasons: separation, shifting identities, and learning to let go of control when life doesn’t follow the plan you had in your head.

Dielle shares how prayer became less of a performance and more of a raw, ongoing conversation with God, and how experiencing God in simple, everyday moments changed the way she sees herself and others.

We also dig into her transition into empowerment coaching—how her desire to help others heal grew out of her own battles with negative self-talk, emotional pain, and starting over. Writing becomes a form of therapy in this conversation: a way to process grief, name hard emotions, and begin the work of self -forgiveness and spiritual growth.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to be “strong” all the time, this one is for you.

Dielle’s story is a masterclass in military grit meets mercy, in learning to embrace vulnerability as strength, and in finding your people - the community that reminds you “you can’t quit” when everything in you wants to tap out.

You’ll hear us talk about:

• Growing up in the military and how “run toward the fear” became a life lesson
• Life after service: identity shifts, separation, and learning who you are outside the uniform
• How community and friendship hold you when relationships get complicated
• Why vulnerability is not weakness, and how it opens the door to real healing
• Prayer as a tool for emotional processing, not perfection
• Experiencing God in the everyday, not just the “big” spiritual moments
• The difference between sacrifice and mercy in your spiritual journey
• Letting go of control and trusting God’s plan when nothing makes sense
• How empowerment coaching became a calling born from her own adversity
• Using writing as therapy for emotional healing and self-discovery
• The hard but holy work of self-forgiveness and talking back to negative self-talk
• What it means to be “yoked with God” in real life, not just in theory
• Why everyone, no matter their past, is worth the save

I sit down with Athena Dean Holtz to explore her incredible journey from spiritual abuse and deception to healing and redemption.

Athena shares how realizing she had been deceived became a defining moment in her faith journey. We talk openly about how taking ownership of her part in the story opened the door to real transformation.

ATHENA DEAN HOLTZ - PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER

Resilience Expert | Discernment Strategist

Creator of The Redemptive Leadership Framework

Athena's books on healing, spiritual abuse, and redemption

Athena's podcast: No Longer Hiding

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Subscribe to Athena's YouTube channel

Athena and I talk about the importance of recognizing red flags in spiritual movements, as well as why developing discernment can help you understand the enemy’s tactics.

She also dives into the powerful role forgiveness plays in finding freedom, while reminding us of a divine truth: God meets us in our pain, uses adversity to grow us, and cares deeply about every detail of our lives.

This episode is for anyone navigating spiritual confusion, betrayal, or loss of faith. If you're looking for a way to experience God’s healing presence again, or maybe for the first time, Athena’s story is a beautiful reminder that redemption is always possible when we surrender our brokenness to Him.