At 2:30 in the morning on September 10th, 2016, Leslie Weirich woke up to the doorbell ringing and the news that her 20-year-old son, Austin, had taken his life. It was the moment that changed everything. This ultimately led her to leave her career as a successful financial recruiter and now speak to thousands of people across the country about suicide prevention.
This is such an important conversation.
In today’s episode, Leslie shares her family’s story, 8 factors that ultimately lower the risk of suicide, encouragement every pastor needs to hear right now, and so much more. This is a conversation I’m incredibly grateful to be sharing, and I hope you are able to listen.
Links to Resources Mentioned or Related
- Use code PODCAST to get 10% off anything in our store!
- Read Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There By Now
- Watch Podcast on YouTube
Key Takeaways
1) Connection is protection. We were not wired to be isolated. We were wired to be connected. Goodness, we could go on about this for hours. And I hope we do as we continue this podcast. Jesus does not desire any of us to live a life of disconnection.
2) “For pastors and their spouses, who’s there for them?” This is why this conversation is especially important to me as stress has been so high over the past two years.
3) If you don’t know where to turn, please please please call us. You can call 855-956-8975 to reach us. We also want to be sure to include the suicide hotline number, which is 800-273-8255.
4) You can’t fill from an empty bucket. There is so much beauty in vulnerable leadership, allowing others to speak into your life as you speak into theirs. You have to invest in your emotional, physical, and spiritual health to invest in others.
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