PATRICIA HEATON
Life Beyond the Laugh Track
Experience Peace
Heartfelt prayers and Bible verses are paired with calming illustrations of nature that gently take you through the seasons and toward a deeper relationship with God. ORDER NOW in
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Winter is a good time to take a breath, check in with yourself, and get ready for the new year. Think about how you’re doing, what you hope for, and let go of your worries.
An exclusive excerpt from Sarah Young’s 365-day prayer devotional
Jesus Listens: Prayers for Every Season
January 28
Compassionate Jesus,
Help me remember how safe and secure I am in You. The Bible assures me that Your Presence with me is a fact—totally independent of my feelings. Because Your death on the cross covers all my sins, I know I am on my way to heaven. Nothing can prevent me from reaching that glorious destination! There I will see You face to Face, and my Joy will be off the charts!
I’m thankful that even in this world I am never separated from You. For now, though, I must be content with seeing You through eyes of faith. I delight in Your promise to walk with me till the end of time and onward into eternity.
Though Your continual Presence is guaranteed, simply knowing this truth doesn’t automatically change my emotions. When I forget to focus on You, I’m vulnerable to fear, anxiety, loneliness, and other unwanted feelings. Yet I’ve found that awareness of Your Presence with me can dispel those painful feelings and replace them with Your Peace. Please train me in the discipline of walking attentively with You through each day.
In Your calming Name, amen.
JOHN 10:28 HCSB · 2 CORINTHIANS 5:1 1 CORINTHIANS 13:12 ESV · PSALM 29:11 NKJV
Jesus Listens for Moms
Jesus Listens for Lent & Easter
Jesus Calling for Easter
Jesus Calling: The Story of Easter
PATRICIA HEATON PATRICIA HEATON
Finding Peace in the Unscripted Moments
by Laura Neutzling
To millions, Patricia Heaton is the quintessential television wife and mother—a comedic powerhouse whose sharp wit and relatable exasperation brought warmth and laughter into living rooms for two decades. From the suburban chaos of Everybody Loves Raymond to the middle-class struggles of The Middle, her characters, Debra Barone and Frankie Heck, became beloved symbols of an American family life that, while flawed, was held together by love and humor. But beneath the awardwinning performances lies a woman whose life story, both on-screen and off, is deeply rooted in a faith that has served as her compass through Hollywood’s unpredictability and life’s many trials.
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There’s zero security in life, except our relationship with Jesus.
For Heaton, her identity as an actress and producer is inseparable from her most foundational roles: wife, mother, and devout Catholic. Her childhood, backdropped by Cleveland, Ohio, was defined by a close-knit family where Catholicism was the heartbeat of their home. “My mother was a daily communicant, meaning she went to mass every day,” Heaton recalls, describing a world brimming with family and a shared heritage of faith that would prove to be an invaluable anchor. The Heaton household was also a creative incubator, a place where humor flourished and young Patricia honed an instinct for comedy that would one day define her career. “Everybody had a great sense of humor in my family,” she notes. “I just think it’s something you’re kind of born with.”
certain foundation you land on when things like that happen,” she shares. While faith did not erase the grief or suffering, it provided an unshakable truth. “Because we knew my mom was with Jesus, there’s certain things you don’t have to wonder about like, Where is my mom? Will I ever see her again? We know we will, so that’s a certain comfort.”
The foundational strength of her faith would be tested again later in life. Heaton openly shares that the grief from her mother’s passing manifested in bouts of depression in her twenties, even leading to “fleeting suicidal ideation.” But her deeply held beliefs provided a “very hard line” she knew she would never cross. During those dark moments, she would instinctively turn to prayer, a constant conversation with God that provided solace and a sense of security when everything else felt unstable. She remembers the feeling of a “shade” being pulled down as depression took hold, but in those moments, “I would be saying prayers over and over. So, it definitely gives you a solid landing place while you’re struggling with your suffering.”
That happy, bustling childhood was shattered when Heaton was just twelve years old. Her mother died suddenly from an aneurysm, a tragic loss that plunged her family into chaos and left a void that would be felt for many years. In an era before grief counseling was common, the family had to “soldier on,” as Heaton puts it, and the emotional toll was immense. Yet, in the midst of this profound pain, her faith provided a crucial lifeline. “It was so important that we had our faith because there’s a
It is this concept of a “solid landing place” that has defined Heaton’s approach to life and her demanding career. She sees the entertainment
Patricia and husband David Hunt
your heart and soul” into a project, she notes, only for it to “never come to fruition.” This reality has forced her to “let God be God,” and trust His unseen plan rather than her own. “We just have to believe that He has a plan, and that He will open doors and shut doors, and that’s what’s best for us.”
industry not just as a profession, but as a spiritual metaphor for the human condition. “The entertainment industry is really a difficult industry— there are no guarantees and there is zero security,” she explains. “It’s actually a really good place to be, because in life, there’s zero security except our relationship with Jesus. That’s the only guarantee.”
For Heaton, a successful acting career is a lesson in letting go. “Every day in show business, I know that even if I’m on a hit show, it’s going to end,” she says. This perpetual state of uncertainty has taught her to commit to the work and the moment without becoming attached to the outcome. You can pour “all
Heaton’s ability to find joy and connection through her work is apparent in how she views the work she’s known for—as a comedy actress, she sees humor as a unique way to reach people, believing that laughter creates a shared space for vulnerability and understanding. “When you’re laughing, you’re oxygenating your bloodstream. You feel relaxed and you feel sort of connected,” she says. “You can hear more messages coming through.” This perspective on comedy transcends a simple desire to entertain, it becomes a form of ministry, a way to use humor to address difficult subjects and remind people of what truly matters. Whether it’s the domestic foibles of the Barone family or the challenges of infertility in her film Unexpected, Heaton’s work consistently aims to find the humor in struggle and affirm the importance of family and human connection.
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When you’re laughing, you can hear more messages coming through.
This same spirit of faith and intentionality extends to her personal walk with God. Heaton reveals that her spiritual life is not a formal ritual, but a constant, ongoing conversation. “I’ve been talking to God for my whole life. All my conversation is with the Lord,” she shares. This daily dialogue has been recently enriched by her rediscovery of the Jesus Calling devotional. A friend had given her a copy years ago, but it was a recent gift from a friend—the notetaking version of the book—that brought the message back into her life at a time of great relevance. She finds that the daily entries are “really popping out at me now and connecting to things I’m going through—the expectations, the busyness of the day, trying to quiet your mind, trusting in God.”
In a world that constantly pushes for more, Heaton has learned to find peace in a very different kind of surrender. Her life’s journey, marked by both profound success and personal loss, has taught her that true security lies not in a hit television show or a perfect plan, but in a quiet, unwavering trust in God’s love. “God is much bigger than our problems. He’s much bigger than our sins. He’s bigger than our failings,” she says. In every moment, whether it’s on a film set or in the quiet of her home, her aim is simply to be present and ready for whatever God has in store.
To learn more about Patricia, please visit patriciaheatonofficial.com.
FROM BOTTOM LEFT: Patricia serving abroad, Patricia and David traveling, Patrica as Frankie Heck in the hit sitcom "The Middle," Patricia in "Everybody Loves Raymond," Patricia on "Carol's Second Act," Patricia with actor friends.
This article has been adapted from the Jesus Calling Podcast
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FROM GRIEF TO GOOD
NFL Star Matt Forté Sparks a Movement of Hope
by Michael Overholt
MATT FORTÉ RECALLS HOW Brandon Spencer was sitting in his car outside his girlfriend’s apartment moments before a jealous ex-boyfriend approached and took Spencer’s life.
Spencer was a friend and teammate when Forté was a freshman at Tulane University—a senior defensive player and one of the older guys Forté looked up to. He had just finished his degree. He was
preparing for life after college, with the possibility of either a professional football career or another path forward. He was a young man with options, purpose, and a future. Then, in a single act of violence, it was all cut short.
At Spencer’s funeral, Forté saw his two young children. “They would never grow up to see their father do great things or be able to hug him,” Forté
remembers. “The future of their lives has all been changed because of gun violence. And not just his children, but his mom and his family and everyone who was there.” The experience left a deep mark on Forté. Years later, after being drafted by the Chicago Bears and spending several seasons in the NFL, that grief began to resurface in a new way. Living in Chicago, Forté found himself confronted daily by reports of gun violence. What he saw on the screen echoed what he had seen up close at Tulane. “Knowing what happened with Brandon and seeing what that can do to a family, and just seeing it at large happening every day in Chicago, I wanted to use my platform in the NFL to start a foundation whose main goal is gun violence prevention.”
In 2014, Forté founded the What’s Your Forté Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing young people with opportunities and resources to discover their potential. The foundation partners with organizations to open doors in industries that are often overlooked by at-risk youth.
“We’ve seen kids who didn’t know that they were interested in these things, and now they are grown, staying out of the streets, and staying out of trouble in order to make a better pathway for themselves,” he explains. “Through God’s grace, He aligned the stepping stones that led to me being drafted and being able to come up here and make an impact,” Forté says.
Forté has learned that we don’t always know how our experiences will shape us. Sometimes, the events that make the least sense in the moment are the very ones that prepare us for a larger purpose later in life.
For Matt Forté, the NFL was just a chapter. But his true calling—helping families, preventing violence, and inspiring young people to discover their own potential—is the story still being told.
Why Mentorship Matters
•Youth who meet regularly with mentors are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school. 37% less likely to skip a class.
Youth Mentor
•After eighteen months in Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programs, youth were 54% less likely to have been arrested and 41% less likely to have engaged in substance use than similar youth without mentors.
UIC Public Health
•Mentored youth show improved lifetime economic outcomes: a study of Big Brothers Big Sisters found mentored youth experienced a 15% earnings increase between ages twenty to twenty-five, and over a lifetime were projected to earn about $56,000 more by age sixty-five than non-mentored peers. afterschoolalliance.org
•74% of young people with a meaningful mentor say that mentor significantly contributed to their later success in life. 58% say their mentor supported their mental health.
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Check out the What’s Your Forté Foundation, whose mission is to “invest in the equitable economic advancement of youth and families through partnership and purposeful relationships.”
This article has been adapted from the Jesus Calling Podcast
To learn more about Matt Forté, check out his children’s book, My Hair Can, available at your favorite retailer.
Seriously Good News for Seriously Flawed People
Lisa Harper Invites Us to Embrace Our “Mess”
by Kelsey Moreno
LISA HARPER OFTEN INTRODUCES
HERSELF with a laugh and a confession: “My name is Lisa Harper, and I have two claims to fame. One is Jesus loves me even though I’m a hot mess. And secondly, purely by His grace, I got to become a mom through the miracle of adoption.”
That down-to-earth mix of humor and honesty has made Lisa a beloved Bible teacher, author, and speaker for nearly forty years. But behind her engaging stories and contagious laugh lies a testimony of grace—of a God who has pursued her through shame, heartbreak, and seasons of doubt.
Lisa came to faith at just five years old, but early trauma left deep wounds. “Around that time, there was some abuse in my backstory, some molestation. From my earliest memories, I felt dirty and I felt less than. I knew Jesus had saved me, but I thought that was really just because it was in God’s job description. I didn’t see how in the world a holy, perfect God could actually delight in a messy kid like me.”
That shame drove Lisa to hide behind theology and performance. As a young woman in ministry, she poured herself into academics, memorizing theological terms and degrees to protect herself from being “found out.” “I pursued theology as a smoke screen,” she admits. “For years, I thought theology was an academic pursuit. But in these last fifteen or twenty years, God has continued to woo me closer to Himself and break more of that shame off. Theology isn’t about data. At its core, it’s relational. It’s about developing an intimate relationship with Jesus.”
Lisa’s teaching reflects this personal shift. Instead of seeing the Bible as a rule book to follow, she sees it as a sweeping love story of God’s relentless pursuit of His people.
“When you think of the Bible as primarily about ethics, then it becomes punitive—something I have to get right. But when you see it primarily as a love story, then everything changes,” Lisa explains.
Lisa often draws from her own life to illustrate the nearness of Christ. At a recent women’s conference, she embraced a woman who was overwhelmed with loneliness. What began as a prayer turned into a long, tearful hug. When the woman apologized, she added with embarrassment, “I just got a lot of snot in your hair.”
Lisa laughs at the memory, but the moment left
a profound impact. “That night I thought, the most Christ-like thing I’ve done in the last year was to be close enough that the residue of her heartache got in my hair. And it reminded me—Jesus chooses to be that close to us. He gets the residue of our heartache on Himself. He doesn’t just love us because it’s His duty. He delights in us.”
Lisa’s authenticity resonates with audiences who feel stuck or inadequate in their faith. She reminds them that Scripture is full of saints who lost their spiritual footing—like Elijah, who after seeing God’s power on Mount Carmel, was undone by one threatening message from Jezebel. “Instead of giving Elijah a lecture, God gave him a nap and snacks. How kind is our God,” Lisa says with a smile.
That honesty with God is something Lisa sees reflected in Jesus Calling. “I love the authenticity you see modeled in Jesus Calling. God doesn’t want your curated life. You don’t have to wear Spanx™ with God. Bring Him everything, even your disappointment, even the places where you’re stuck. Whatever you do, don’t believe the lie that you have to clean yourself up first before you turn back to Him.”
At sixty-one years old, Lisa now treasures the freedom that comes from laying down pretense and leaning into grace. Her life as a single mom to
her daughter, Missy, adopted from Haiti at age four, is filled with both joy and challenges. But through it all, she testifies to the nearness of a God who meets us in our mess.
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When you see the Bible as a love story, everything changes.
“There are a million kinds of prayers, because they come from real people with real problems and real trauma and real grief and real joy,” Lisa says. “And they bring all that to a real God. He’s not an existential construct. He’s an up-close, personal Savior. He is the King of all kings and He’s close. That’s a miraculous juxtaposition.”
Lisa’s prayer life today looks different than it did when she was hiding behind academics. It’s less polished, more personal—and far more honest. “Some days it doesn’t look pretty. Some days, it’s really, really messy. But He says, ‘Bring Me everything.’ And that’s what I’m learning to do.”
This article has been adapted from the Jesus Calling Podcast. Scan this code to hear more of Lisa’s story!
To learn more about Lisa Harper, check out her book, A Jesus Shaped Life, available at your favorite retailer.
More Than Words:
Nurturing Open Dialogue with Your Kids
When my boys were teenagers, I thought I was an expert at playing the emotional detective, constantly observing and over-analyzing their emotions to ensure their happiness. Many moms find themselves trying to interpret typical teen angst versus “we have a problem” behavior. With the rise in teen anxiety, depression, and even suicide rates, it’s hard not to worry about a child’s emotional well-being. Teens can be emotionally unpredictable, laughing one minute and silent the next. Is it hormones, heartbreak, or something else? What if they are trying to carry something heavy, alone?
One day, my oldest son, Cooper, then about sixteen, stopped me mid-sentence and, with a frustrated tone, said, “Mom, would you please stop asking me if I’m okay? I don’t think you realize how often you ask that question!” I was defensive, replying that “I only ask because I care.” But his frustration highlighted how much time I spent worrying if everything was indeed okay. I struggled, and still struggle, with “letting go and letting God” when it comes to parenting. My behavior wasn’t healthy; instead of opening a window for communication, I was closing it.
Through trial, error, and wisdom shared from other mothers on my podcast, Got it From My Momma, I’ve learned that how we check in matters just as much as if we check in. Here are a few strategies that helped me faithfully and gently keep communication open with my children:
• Trade Interrogation for Invitation: Instead of “what’s wrong?” try “I’m here if you want to talk.” This offers a safe space without demanding answers.
• Create “Side-by-Side” Moments: Casual moments, like car rides or chores, foster open conversations with kids more effectively than planned sit-down talks.
• Pray WITH your kids, Not Just for Them: It’s easier to tell my kids I’m praying for them, but praying WITH them lets them hear my words of peace, comfort, and the reminder that the Lord cares about even the small things. Even now, parenting adult children, I’m learning that my job isn’t to fix their feelings or rescue them from every difficult situation. My role is to be a faithful presence, to have hard days and still have hope, and to speak truth over their lives even when they’re not listening.
We’re not going to be perfect, and sometimes we might deserve to be called out by our kids. But we can be present, prayerful, and persistent in love. We’ve got this, mommas!
Jennifer Vickery Smith is an entertainment journalist, host, and producer. She is a mom to rising country music artist Conner Smith, and Nashville-based director/videographer Cooper.
Follow along with Jennifer on Instagram @gotitfrom_mymomma. and tune into the Got It From My Momma Podcast on your favorite platform!
Jennifer's sons Conner and Cooper
We hope you enjoyed this sample of the Jesus Calling Magazine.
To read the full version, please download the Jesus Calling App. There you can check out the entire issue – plus our complete archive. Give the Gift of Prayer Enjoy 50 prayers from Sarah Young’s Jesus Listens, along with Scripture and beautiful illustrations to uplift women of every age.
