For Beth Delaney, life has been a process of learning what she can control, and what she can’t. And finding the balance between the two, and learning to be dependent on Jesus through it all, has given her a resilient faith and a steadfast love for the Lord.

Dr. Delaney, Associate Professor of Nursing, grew up in nearby Xenia. Her father became addicted to pain medications and alcohol as he struggled to recover from a devastating traffic accident. In spite of the difficulties at home, her mom was committed to taking Beth and her brother to church. Then when she met husband Greg in high school, she started attending his family’s church in Xenia, and she grew in her relationship with Jesus there.

During their 34 years of marriage, Greg and she have wrestled with Greg’s own addiction to alcohol, which began as a way to cope with the stresses that came with being an incredibly successful international business professional. In the end, they lost the business, and Beth and Greg walked through bankruptcy. Their faith survived that ordeal, and they are now serving the Lord in powerful ways ministering to those currently in the midst of substance abuse disorder.

Beth’s career has led her to care for and walk alongside those facing another painful trial – a terminal cancer diagnosis. As a nurse and family nurse practitioner, she has focused on oncology, palliative care, and hospice, currently with the Dayton Physicians Group.

“When you stand at the bedside of thousands of people who have left this earth and go into eternity, you learn a lot of things,” she explains in the podcast. “What I have learned is what I have control over, which is not much, and what I do have control over is what Jesus said, ‘Love God and love others.’ That I have control over every single day.”

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Last year, Beth was named to the Ohio Attorney General’s Scientific Committee on Opioid Prevention and Education (SCOPE).