When Life Breaks You with Shane MiachelWhen Life Breaks You with Shane Miachel
The Hope Over Coffee Podcast
Shane Michael shares his story of losing his infant daughter, walking away from church in anger, and years of coping through alcohol, parties and broken relationships. He describes how men’s groups, marriage groups and renewed faith helped him lay down old habits and begin leading others toward hope in Christ.
1:51:35•2 Sept 2026
When Life Breaks You: Shane Michael on Loss, Alcohol and Finding Hope Again
Episode Overview
- Words from church leaders or Christians can wound deeply, but they do not define God’s heart or a person’s worth.
- Isolation after trauma fuels alcohol and other unhealthy coping mechanisms; honest community is crucial for healing.
- Blended families need intentional communication, shared faith and support from others who understand their unique challenges.
- Freedom, men’s groups and marriage groups can help expose long-held pain, confront hidden habits and bring them to the cross.
- Forgiving others and yourself is a continual process, and even long after failure, God can still use someone to lead and serve.
“As adults and as parents, we are to bury our parents. Not our children.”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This conversation between Jared and guest Shane Michael follows a brutally honest journey through loss, addiction, anger at God, and eventually a very deliberate return to faith. Shane shares how he grew up in a Baptist church, gave his life to Christ as a kid, then drifted into drinking, partying, the rodeo scene and the military.
Life seemed to reset when he married, became an Army firefighter, and welcomed his baby daughter, Stephanie. Then came the unimaginable: a call over the fire radio for “quarters, 6861, infant not breathing” – his own address. He describes the shock of arriving to find his daughter already gone, the trauma of organising her funeral, and then losing his marriage, stepdaughter and grandmother all within two weeks.
A chaplain’s devastating comment – “maybe that’s why God took your daughter” – became the moment Shane walked away from church, spiralling into alcohol, drugs, and wild living. As he says, “As adults and as parents, we are to bury our parents.
Not our children… when that role is reversed, it is absolutely traumatic.” Over time, he talks about trying to build a life again: blended families, construction work, moving house, and repeatedly dipping in and out of churches that sometimes hurt more than they helped. The turning point came years later in Louisiana through men’s groups, marriage groups, Freedom, Faith Walk and a community that wouldn’t let him stay isolated.
You’ll hear how he and his wife cleared their house of alcohol, started praying together for the first time, and even now lead marriage and men’s groups, pointing other men back to Christ while still carrying their scars. If you’ve ever felt burned by church or crushed by grief, this story asks a straight question: what if you didn’t have to carry it on your own anymore?
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