What happens when the healing you pray for doesn’t come in the way you expected? In this episode of the Rooted Podcast, Josie & Symone sit down with Renee Dollenmayer, speaker, coach, founder of Even If Ministries, and Christ-centered care support specialist with Joni and Friends.
Born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, Renee spent much of her childhood asking God why He allowed her disability and praying for physical healing. But over time, her understanding of healing began to change. Instead of finding hope in someday walking, Renee discovered something far deeper: a relationship with Jesus.
Renee shares the powerful meaning behind the phrase “My disability is my healing,” why suffering can draw us into deeper dependence on God, and how Christians can hold both genuine joy and genuine grief at the same time. The conversation also explores what it truly means to include people with disabilities in the Church, why presence can sometimes be more powerful than trying to “fix” someone’s pain, and the importance of community, vulnerability, and knowing our identity in Christ.
Renee also shares how a simple six-week Bible study during the 2020 lockdown unexpectedly grew into Even If Ministries, a community serving people with physical disabilities and chronic illness—and why the words even if have become central to her faith: Even if life doesn’t look the way I expected, even if physical healing doesn’t come, God is still worthy of my worship.
Whether you’re walking through disability, chronic illness, grief, unanswered prayer, depression, or simply a season that looks different than you imagined, this conversation is an encouragement to seek the Healer, surrender the outcome, and remember that your circumstances do not determine your worth or your purpose.
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01:20 — Growing up with cerebral palsy
02:40 — Questioning God and praying for healing
04:35 — From religion to a relationship with Jesus
05:20 — Chronic pain, depression & a turning-point prayer
05:45 — How COVID transformed Renee’s faith
06:55 — What does “My disability is my healing” mean?
07:40 — Longing for restoration while trusting God
09:20 — Seeking the Healer instead of only healing
11:15 — How should Christians approach disability?
14:35 — Holding joy and suffering at the same time
19:30 — What chronic pain and depression taught Renee
21:35 — Why we desperately need Christian community
24:15 — How Even If Ministries began
27:00 — Creating belonging for people with disabilities
29:10 — Why it’s called “Even If”
31:55 — “I’m a burden” and other lies we believe
34:40 — Renee’s work with Joni and Friends
36:35 — How anyone can serve people with disabilities
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https://bio.site/rootedtoprosper
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