Meet John & Cynthia Toth

Early Foundations

I was raised in Kansas City, Kansas, and received many of my core values from my family and teachers. They helped shape my understanding of life, people, responsibility, and character. Those early influences formed in me both a love of learning and a desire to serve others in meaningful ways.

After high school, I attended the University of Kansas, where I majored in chemistry. I remained at KU for medical school and earned my medical degree in 1974. One of the most significant events of those years, however, happened outside the classroom. In 1972, through a Bible study led by medical, dental, and nursing students, I became a Christian. That experience changed the direction of my life and gave lasting shape to both my faith and my work.

As I began growing in the Christian life, I came to recognize that one of my primary spiritual gifts was encouragement. That discovery helped me understand how I was made and how I was meant to serve others. Whether in medicine, spiritual care, prayer ministry, coaching, or advocacy, I have long felt called to strengthen people, speak hope, and help them move forward with greater clarity and courage.

Medicine and the Search for Deeper Healing

I practiced medicine for more than 30 years while raising a family that included six children. I became a board-certified family practitioner and spent the early part of my career in conventional medicine. I was grateful for the training and for the privilege of caring for so many people, but after about 10 years in practice, I began to feel that conventional medicine often stopped short of the deeper causes of illness and the fuller needs of the person.

That realization led me to broaden my approach. I began incorporating alternative and integrative methods into my work, including acupuncture, herbs, diet, IV therapies, and selected aspects of Eastern medicine. I also pursued further learning through organizations such as the American Academy for Environmental Medicine and the American College for the Advancement of Medicine. Over time, I became increasingly convinced that healing is most effective when we care for the whole person, not just isolated symptoms. I have also benefited personally, and have seen many clients benefit, from learning about additional modalities that support and enhance the body’s healing processes. These are included elsewhere on our website.

A Personal Turning Point

Throughout my career, I made it a priority to attend yearly retreats. One of those retreats, held at a Benedictine monastery, became a defining moment in my life. There I became aware of bitterness I had long carried toward my father, and I experienced a profound spiritual catharsis. That experience taught me personally the value of inner healing.

It was one thing to understand healing professionally; it was another to experience it in my own heart. That moment changed how I viewed both spiritual growth and human suffering. I came to see more clearly that many struggles in life are connected not only to the body, but also to the heart, memory, and soul.

Spiritual Direction and Inner Healing

As my journey continued, I felt led to formalize the spiritual side of my work. I trained as a spiritual director and was certified through the Adelynrood School for Spiritual Direction. That training gave me a deeper framework for listening, discernment, prayer, and walking with others as they sought God’s presence and guidance.

I also became involved in prayer-based inner healing approaches known by names such as Theophostic, Encountering God, and Emmanuel Prayer. More recently, I have become a God Talks practitioner. These approaches have strengthened my conviction that genuine healing often begins as people learn to recognize God’s voice, bring their wounds into the light, and receive truth at a heart level.

How I Serve Today

Now semi-retired in Topeka, Kansas, I continue to serve in roles that reflect both my experience and my calling. I have worked as a health coach, patient advocate, and medical-legal consultant, the latter for 10 years. More recently, I became part of the Transitional Life Specialist team, a beautiful ministry devoted to helping people make thoughtful choices during important seasons of transition. I was introduced to this ministry by my good friend Kathy Disney, who created it.

Learn more at transitionallifespecialist.com

I am also finishing a book on prayer that focuses on the Lord’s Prayer as a meditative tool. It reflects much of what has shaped my life: a belief that prayer is transformative, that healing can be both spiritual and practical, and that God meets people personally in the midst of their struggles.

An Invitation

Through Tend Your Spirit, my desire is to bring together a lifetime of learning in medicine, integrative healing, spiritual direction, prayer ministry, encouragement, and advocacy. I believe people are best served when we honor the whole person: body, mind, and spirit.

If you are looking for someone to walk alongside you with compassion, insight, and faith, I would be honored to serve you. Whether you are seeking spiritual direction, prayer-based support, guidance through a health challenge, or help discerning your next steps, my hope is to offer care that is thoughtful, grounded, and deeply encouraging.

 While expecting my first child, I asked God to reveal to me my purpose, and I heard: 'You are to share My love with others.' I heard the answer clearly while reading Colossians 1:28-29. The commitment there is to introduce others to the love of God and travel with them into Christlike maturity. 

Now, as a spiritual coach, I guide you to listen to God’s voice and to see with clarity as you discover your path, your worth, and your beliefs. If you seek to explore your relationship with God, your past, your future, or your divine mission—these are the meditative questions I lead you through.

Throughout my 40 years as a spiritual director, Bible teacher, herbal educator,  acupuncture therapist, and now, God Talks coach, I have never gotten over how much God loves us, pours out His grace upon us, and leads us in ways that surprise and fulfill us.  

The folks who have sought me out ,have always looked for answers to these (or similar) questions:

• What can I do to hear God's voice?  
• How can I know God loves me and won't abandon me?
• Which part is God's, and which part is mine, when it comes to healing?
• How do I know God is leading me in my big choices, i.e., who to marry or if I should marry? How can I heal my relationships?
• How can I know God is caring for my children? 
• Am I in the right job, business, or ministry and how will I know when I find it?
• How can I break out of repeat cycles of despair and self-sabotage?
• Where did fun disappear to? 
• How about an abundance of personal and family time which feels like freedom, rather than slavery?

Come uncover the future of new possibilities as you tune in to your new revelation that - God talks!