Stronger Families Podcast
Episode: Heroes at Home – Noel Interview
Welcome to the Stronger Families Podcast, a space where we celebrate the heroes at home through candid conversations on the topics not glorified in the media. The CEO of Stronger Families, Noel Meador, hosts the show alongside co-host Keni Thomas. For today’s episode, though, Noel fills the role of guest as Keni asks about his story and how he became “the jedi of relationships.” Noel and Keni met several years ago through a fundraiser, and Keni quickly came to see Noel as a crusader – a crusader for the Stronger Families organization and OXYGEN program, and more broadly for seeing military, first responder, and veteran couples stay married.
To kick off the interview, Keni asks Noel how he and his wife Karissa got into their work and why they keep at it. For them, Noel says, the work is a passion and calling that arises out of their own story of marriage struggle and healing. They went into their marriage thinking it would be easy, but soon found they were “miserably married, but faithfully enduring.” Eventually, they reached a turning point where they had to decide between separating and trying to work things out; they determined to stay together, became “married junkies” consuming helping content on marriage, and made changes to prioritize their marriage. Years later, having experienced much healing in their own relationship, they realized they had something to offer and wrote Oxygen for Your Relationships. The rest is history!
Moving forward, Keni and Noel talk about faith, which OXYGEN program leaders have found to be the compass keeping married people vectoring back to each other. Faith and hope are crucial, but marriage is also a daily effort and a deep journey. And for many servant-leaders who work as military personnel or first responders, there is the added challenge of coming home at the end of the day depleted and unprepared to give any more at home. Noel and his colleagues are excited about what Stronger Families and fellow organization Heroes at Home have in store to help such people develop the needed skill set for their marriages. Couples eager to make it through challenging times need to stop and do the hard work, and Noel and his colleagues are ready to meet them with instruction and motivation to help them heal and thrive!
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Timestamps:
0:02 – Welcome to today’s episode, in which Keni will interview Noel!
2:45 – Why did Noel and Karissa start their program, and why do they keep at their work?
6:18 – Transitioning to help others, and relying on faith
10:06 – There are exciting things in store to offer instruction and motivation!
Links:
Learn more about Stronger Families, the OXYGEN Seminar, and Heroes at Home.