What does it look like to navigate life when the world isn’t always built with disability in mind? In this episode, I’m joined by Jenna D’Angelo Shiner, who shares her journey from being able-bodied to living with chronic illness and disability. We talk about mobility aids, internalized ableism, accessibility, faith, church culture, and why disability is not a bad word. This honest conversation explores what it means to live fully, advocate well, and create spaces where everyone belongs.

• Jenna’s journey into disability and chronic illness
• The emotional transition from able-bodied to disabled
• Why using mobility aids can bring freedom instead of defeat
• What internalized ableism looks like and why so many struggle with it
• How disability identity shapes the way we see ourselves
• Why accessibility matters and practical examples of barriers people face every day
• How churches can become more welcoming and inclusive
• The relationship between faith, healing, and living with chronic illness
• Why loving others includes advocating for accessibility and justice

Take a fresh look at one space you frequent—your church, workplace, favorite coffee shop, or even your home—and ask yourself, “Would this be easy to navigate for someone with a disability?” Small changes can make a big difference.

Jenna D’Angelo Shiner is a social worker, disability advocate, and passionate voice for accessibility and disability justice. She lives with chronic illness and disability and loves helping people better understand what life actually looks like for those navigating a world that isn’t always designed with them in mind.

Find her at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenna.reza

Instagram: instagram.com/jenrezdan

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Host: April Aramanda

Guest: Jenna D’Angelo Shiner

Music: AudioJungle

Faith can look different in different seasons. Not because God changes, but because our view of Him often changes with what we’re walking through.

In this episode, April shares how chronic illness can become so loud that it fills the entire frame. Appointments, symptoms, pain, exhaustion, and uncertainty demand attention, and before we realize it, we’ve forgotten to look up.

After watching Disclosure Day and reading a thought-provoking quote that pointed to the vastness of God’s creation, April was reminded of something simple and profound:

God is still God.

The God who created galaxies is not overwhelmed by our diagnoses. He isn’t surprised by our stories. He isn’t intimidated by the things that overwhelm us.

This episode is a gentle invitation to lift your eyes, remember God’s greatness, and find hope in the truth that no matter what season you’re in, He remains the same.

• Why faith can feel different in different seasons of life
• How suffering naturally demands our attention
• Why chronic illness can make our world feel smaller
• What God’s vast creation reveals about His greatness
• Why God isn’t overwhelmed by what overwhelms us
• How remembering who God is can bring peace, even when circumstances haven’t changed

“When you live with chronic illness, the illness can become so loud that it fills the entire frame.”

“Suffering has a way of demanding attention.”

“The God who hung every star in place sees me lying in bed on the days my body refuses to cooperate.”

“He is not overwhelmed by the things that overwhelm me.”

“Before my diagnosis, He was God. In the middle of my diagnosis, He is God.”

“Not that my circumstances are small. But that God is infinitely bigger.”

The next time your symptoms, fears, or questions feel overwhelming, pause for a moment and simply remind yourself:

God is still God.

You don’t have to have all the answers today. You only need to remember who holds them.

• Psalm 139:13
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Host: April Aramanda

Podcast: The Invisible Illness Club Podcast

Music: AudioJungle

What happens when chronic illness changes your identity, your relationships, and even the way you show up at church? In this conversation, April sits down with Kaylen Soriano of Chronic Yet Undefeated⁠

to talk honestly about epilepsy, masking, loneliness, faith, emotional exhaustion, and learning how to trust God in seasons that feel unpredictable. Together, they explore church culture, gratitude without toxic positivity, and the difference between real hope and pretending everything is fine.

• What life with epilepsy can actually look like behind the scenes
• How chronic illness can slowly reshape identity and relationships
• Why masking becomes so common in church culture
• The emotional toll of unpredictability and canceled plans
• How Kaylen worked through bitterness, fear, and victim mentality
• What “real hope” looks like when healing doesn’t happen instantly
• Why your emotions are not too big for God
• The difference between gratitude and dismissing grief
• How chronic illness can deepen trust and dependence on God

The next time someone asks how you’re doing, try giving one honest sentence instead of the automatic “I’m fine.”

Not a full explanation.

Not your whole story.

Just one honest sentence.

Kaylen S., Chronic Yet Undefeated

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587608874826

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChronicYetUndefeated

• The Invisible Illness Club Website⁠ www.theinvisibleillnessclub.com
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Hosted by April Aramanda

Podcast: The Invisible Illness Club⁠

Music from AudioJungle

There’s a kind of exhaustion that comes from living inside constant management mode.

Not only physical exhaustion. Mental exhaustion too.

In this episode, I’m talking honestly about the invisible workload that comes with chronic illness — the symptom tracking, energy calculations, recovery planning, medication management, decision fatigue, and emotional weight people rarely see.

Because chronic illness is more than symptoms. It’s the nonstop mental tabs running in the background all day long.

If you’ve ever felt tired of constantly managing your body, wondering whether something is “worth the crash,” or grieving how much effort everyday life takes now, this episode is for you.

You are not weak for feeling overwhelmed by something that never fully shuts off.

Let’s talk honestly about life, faith, and chronic illness.

• The invisible mental workload of chronic illness
• Why decision fatigue becomes so overwhelming
• The emotional exhaustion of constantly managing symptoms
• Grieving spontaneity, ease, and mental freedom
• Why survival mode affects identity and emotional health
• Encouragement for women carrying invisible burdens every day

Pay attention to one invisible thing you’re carrying today without criticizing yourself for it.

Maybe it’s symptom monitoring.

Maybe it’s recovery planning.

Maybe it’s simply getting through the day.

Instead of calling yourself lazy or dramatic, acknowledge the effort your body requires from you right now.

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Hosted by:

April Aramanda

Podcast:

The Invisible Illness Club Podcast

Rest sounds peaceful in theory. In real life with chronic illness, it can feel anxious, guilty, frustrating, and emotionally unsafe. In this episode, April Aramanda talks honestly about the pressure to always be productive, the guilt that comes with slowing down, and why rest can feel so hard even when your body desperately needs it. This conversation explores chronic illness, emotional exhaustion, faith, and the struggle to believe your worth still matters when your output changes.

• Why rest can trigger anxiety and guilt
• The emotional pressure of always feeling “behind”
• How chronic illness complicates rest and recovery
• The connection between productivity and self-worth
• What scripture says about rest and restoration

The next time your body asks for rest, try not to apologize for it.

Join the Unseen Sisterhood!

A weekly newsletter and community for women navigating chronic illness, faith, boundaries, and real life.

https://theinvisibleillnessclub.kit.com/unseen-sisterhood

The Invisible Illness Club Website

https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com

The Invisible Illness Club Podcast

https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com/podcast

Music Credit

Audio Jungle

https://audiojungle.net

In this episode, April talks with podcaster and chronic illness advocate L. A. Sprague from the podcast Christians with Chronic Illness. Together, they dive into the grief that comes when chronic illness changes your identity, your energy, your plans, and even the way you see yourself.

L. A. shares her experience living with POTS and major depressive disorder, the tension between ambition and rest, and the pressure many chronically ill people feel to constantly prove their worth through productivity.

They also have an honest conversation about faith, healing, doubt, disappointment, and what it looks like to trust God when life does not unfold the way you thought it would.

One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is L. A.’s practical approach to self-care through what she calls “little Leah” — learning to treat herself with the same compassion she would offer a child.

This episode is for anyone grieving who they used to be while trying to figure out who they are now.

• What it feels like to grieve your old identity after chronic illness
• Why productivity can become tied to self-worth
• How internalized ableism shows up in everyday life
• The emotional tension between rest and pushing yourself
• A practical way to care for yourself with more compassion
• How faith can feel heavy during chronic illness
• Why doubt does not make you a bad Christian
• The role gratitude can play during painful flare days
• What a fulfilling life can still look like with limited energy

“Maybe what true faith looks like is uncertainty.” — L. A. Sprague

“You are more than a product.” — L. A. Sprague

“God already has you on a mission field.” — April Aramanda

“You’re human. You’re a person worth caring for.” — L. A. Sprague

The next time your body needs something — water, food, rest, medication, a break — pause and ask yourself:

“If this were a child asking for care, how would I respond?”

Then offer that same care to yourself.

Host of Christians with Chronic Illness, a podcast focused on honest conversations around faith, suffering, chronic illness, and hope.

Join the Unseen Sisterhood!

A free weekly newsletter and community for women living with chronic illness. You’ll get encouragement, honest conversations, practical support, and reminders that you are not alone. https://theinvisibleillnessclub.kit.com/unseen-sisterhood

The Invisible Illness Club Website https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com

The Invisible Illness Club Podcast https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com/podcast

Music Credit Audio Jungle https://audiojungle.net

Moving, pain, exhaustion, overwhelm, and trying to keep going anyway. A short honest reminder for anyone carrying more than people can see.

What You’ll Learn

• Why “normal life” can feel overwhelming with chronic illness
• The pressure many people feel to keep proving their worth through productivity
• A gentler way to move through exhausting seasons
• Why small steps still matter

Memorable Quotes

• “You do not have to carry today perfectly for it to count.”
• “Sometimes faith looks less like confidence and more like taking the next small step anyway.”
• “You’re doing more than it looks like.”

Reflection / Journal Prompt

What would change if you stopped measuring your worth by how much you got done today?

One Tiny Step

Focus on the next thing in front of you. Not the next fifty.

Resources

Join the Unseen Sisterhood!

A weekly newsletter and community for women living with chronic illness.

https://theinvisibleillnessclub.kit.com/unseen-sisterhood

The Invisible Illness Club Website

https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com

The Invisible Illness Club Podcast

https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com/podcast

Music Credit

Audio Jungle

https://audiojungle.net

Credits

Hosted by April Aramanda

Living with chronic illness isn’t only about symptoms—it’s about the daily decisions, limits, and invisible effort no one sees.

In this episode, author W.R. Gingell shares what life really looks like behind the scenes while living with endometriosis, POTS, and long COVID. We talk about fatigue, brain fog, shifting identity, and the ongoing process of learning your limits again and again.

This conversation also explores creativity in the middle of chronic illness, the pressure to push through, and how faith changes when your life no longer looks the way you expected.

If you’ve ever felt like your body doesn’t match your life—or you’re constantly starting over—this episode will meet you there.

• What living with endometriosis, POTS, and long COVID really looks like day-to-day
• Why chronic illness forces you to keep “relearning” your limits
• The emotional weight of losing physical capacity and independence
• What people get wrong about being a full-time creative
• Why creativity isn’t a limited resource (and what actually fuels it)
• The hidden guilt and shame around rest—and how to rethink it
• How chronic illness reshapes your faith, church experience, and connection with God
• The quiet way self-talk can become harmful—and how to start shifting it
• What a real workday looks like when you’re dealing with brain fog and fatigue

• “It doesn’t end. It changes shape a little and keeps going.”
• “I always have to keep realizing it… over and over again.”
• “Not being able to rely on my own body—that’s been the hardest part.”
• “Creativity isn’t a finite resource. It’s a never-ending well.”
• “I’m not performing my faith. I’m living it.”
• “You don’t have the right to talk to someone made in the image of God like that—even if that someone is you.”
• “Rest isn’t optional. It’s holy.”
• “Take your rest… it belongs to you.”

Pay attention to how you talk to yourself today.

When you catch yourself being harsh, pause and ask: Would I say this to someone I love?

Find W. R. Gingell! wrgingell.com instagram.com/wrgingell/ facebook.com/wrgingell/

Books by W. R. Gingell Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/W.-R.-Gingell/author/B00HMM6VX4?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1777578369&sr=8-3&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=1a200c2a-b503-47e9-8023-f4e086bcd870 Books a Million https://www.booksamillion.com/search?query=W.+R.+Gingell&filters%5Bauthors%5D=W.+R.+Gingell Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22W.R.%20Gingell%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall

Join the Unseen Sisterhood! A weekly newsletter for women with chronic illness who want more hope, more life, and more joy—plus access to our private Facebook group and resource bundle. https://theinvisibleillnessclub.kit.com/unseen-sisterhood

The Invisible Illness Club Website https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com

The Invisible Illness Club Podcast https://theinvisibleillnessclub.com/podcast

Music Credit Audio Jungle https://audiojungle.net