I Told God Don't Send Me a Wife — I'd Just Lost Mine and My Mom

Remarriage after losing a spouse felt impossible to me — until God said, "I'm going to send you a wife." In this first-ever podcast episode, my wife Mallory and I sit down on camera and tell the whole story: how I lost Amber to stage four metastatic breast cancer, lost my mom one month later, walked through clinical depression, and slowly healed through counseling, community, and the Holy Spirit — before I ever knew Mallory existed. Mallory shares her side too: the season of singleness where she surrendered her deepest desire to be married, how older, wiser women called out her blind spots, and what it felt like to marry a man whose grief the whole church already knew by name. In this video:- Why healing after the loss of a spouse has to happen before the next covenant, not during it- How a counseling intensive and one hard book broke open years of unexpressed emotion- What being single without being lonely actually looks like- Why we practiced sexual integrity and celibacy through our entire courtship- The "box" moment that became the first real test of our marriage- How Mallory responded to my depression without resentment — and what set me free If you're single and waiting, engaged and nervous, or married and quietly struggling, this Christian marriage testimony is for you. CHAPTERS 00:00 – Intro02:01 – Why We're Finally Starting This Podcast05:18 – Mallory's Season of Singleness Before We Met08:17 – Her Expectations and Assumptions About Marriage11:33 – Surrendering the Desire to Be Married14:06 – Community, Wise Women, and Blind Spots20:58 – Losing Amber to Stage 4 Cancer, Then My Mom23:12 – The Counseling Intensive That Changed Everything26:52 – For Men Who Feel Numb After Trauma29:20 – Healing in Community and Pursuing Professional Help31:46 – The Depths of Clinical Depression32:32 – "Prepare Your Home, I'm Sending You a Wife"33:58 – How We Met: Her Stepdad's Prayer43:40 – The 5PM Calendar Invite First Phone Call45:12 – The Question I Asked on Our First Coffee Date51:15 – Dating Through COVID and God's Provision55:57 – Sexual Integrity and Celibacy While Dating01:04:18 – A 30-Person Wedding and Investing in the Marriage Instead01:11:00 – Year One: Marrying Into a Public Grief Story01:19:20 – The Box and Prioritizing the Covenant01:23:58 – Behind Closed Blinds: What Depression Really Looked Like01:30:03 – Set Free, and What's Next 🔗 Resources & Links Book a 30-minute virtual coffee call (no pitch, no pressure): https://bit.ly/30minVirtualCoffeewithChris Watch next — The Real Reason Millennials Are Burning Out (It's Not the Money): https://youtu.be/iCzOztFbD7E • Podcast (faith-based wealth, legacy, leadership)👉 https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/the-impactful-leader/id1852272191 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.a.callahan.5Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccallahan9239/ Subscribe, share this with one friend who needs it, and tell us in the comments what stood out most — and what you want us to talk about next. #ChristianMarriage #RemarriageAfterLoss #GriefAndHealing #GodlyDating #FaithAndMentalHealth