Growing Up Saved

What do you do if the faith that raised you seems to fail when you need it the most?

Kristen LaValley grew up a church kid through and through. She said “the sinner’s prayer” before she could write her name―and spent the next few decades trying to prove she meant it; in a body that couldn’t rest, with a mind she didn’t yet understand, under a God she was afraid to disappoint. She learned to perform the kind of faith that got praised: one that hid pain and swallowed questions.

But in the thick of depression, spiritual exhaustion, and a late ADHD diagnosis, she found herself wondering if the faith she’d built her life on could really hold her.

In Growing Up Saved, Kristen maps the slow undoing of a faith formed in certainty and what it took to find God in the middle of her unraveling.

In these, you’ll find authenticity, empathy, and compassionate theology as you explore:

how to find your way through a faith that was formed in fear the intersection of trauma, mental health, neurodivergence, and spiritual identity the healing work of making peace with your body, your mind, and your story a path for those navigating life after disillusionment, burnout, religious trauma, or pain This audiobook isn’t a call to give up on faith. It’s an invitation to hold it differently. With tenderness, grit, and humor, Kristen offers a hard-won way through grief and grace to a messy, holy rebuilding.

1. Opening Credits
2. Dedication
3. Before You Begin
4. Introduction
5. Chapter 1: Friends Are Friends Forever (Unless You Backslide)
6. Chapter 2: The Pressure-Driven Life
7. Chapter 3: Dare You to Doubt
8. Chapter 4: WWJD? He’d Like You
9. Chapter 5: Acquire the Fire, Survive the Burn
10. Chapter 6: It’s Not a Demon, It’s Depression
11. Chapter 7: Not Left Behind
12. Chapter 8: I Kissed Hating Myself Goodbye
13. Chapter 9: This Little Shame of Mine
14. Chapter 10: True Wholeness Waits
15. Author’s Note
16. Closing Credits