When Carole Leathem’s husband, Bill, first began his battle with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, she had no idea years of rejection and identity issues would come to a head. After all, when you’re the wife of a senior pastor, there are certain expectations that come with it. Imperfection and mental illness are not among them. Managing depression in marriage and setting relationship boundaries brought pain, uncertainty, and rejection, which were nearly unbearable. Whenever Carole surrendered to God, he showed up time and time again. As Carole searched...
Posted by Carole Leathem on 12/31/2023
Do you know what matters most to you? What about your spouse, your children, or your ministry/business team?  When we know what our core values are, we can live a life by design instead of default. Our decisions can be intentional, led by a set of guiding values and principles no matter if we are on a mountain top high or in the messy middle of life.  This free core values activity takes you through the four steps to discover and define what your core values are. Knowing your core values unites families and teams, gives direction, and leads to a more fulfilling life.  *Terms: **Resources...
Posted by Tiffany Jo Baker on 09/14/2023
Life can be messy. Life can be difficult. Life can be painful. It's part of being human. Experiencing the struggles in life, in a way, reminds us we are alive. Yet through these struggles and often times pain, we can find beauty once again. For God is able to take our deepest disappointment and use it for His greatest good. The "Pearls of Wisdom" in this book were born out of pain and hurt, both physical and emotional. There were questions, doubts, and many tears. There was also restoration, healing, and a new understanding of God's grace. Whether you are currently enduring...
Posted by Shana Grooms on 02/21/2022
As parents, we long for our kids to have family relationships that last a lifetime. But how do we create an atmosphere for connection while living in the messy moments of parenting? The Messy Life of Parenting shows you small changes you can make now to build lasting relationships, even when the going gets tough. By applying God’s design for interdependence, you’ll be able to: strengthen family relationships, encourage leadership skills, distinguish between enabling and helping, discuss without creating division, and so much more. ...
Posted by Lori Wildenberg on 02/01/2022
Messy Journey is for parents walking the difficult road with a wayward child. Be inspired to drink the deep waters of peace as you draw closer to the Father of all prodigals. Author and licensed parent and family educator Lori Wildenberg offers practical grace- and truth-filled ways of navigating your relationship with a detoured child—whether they are rejecting faith, dabbling in sin, or wholeheartedly embracing sinful behavior. There is hope. After all, their struggle isn’t really with you—it’s with God. ...
Posted by Lori Wildenberg on 02/01/2022
How Can I Give My Child Hope? “I’m such a failure.” “No one cares about me.” “I haven’t felt happy for a long time.” “I don’t want to live anymore.” If you have heard your child utter these words, your fear for their well-being has skyrocketed. But what can you do to help them? Some experts say that depression and anxiety are the new normal. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in young people. As parents, we cannot accept this. Many young people feel helpless and hopeless. Our kids must be equipped with more than resilience...
Posted by Lori Wildenberg on 02/01/2022
During "Finding Joy In A Messy Life: Living with & Loving a Depressed Husband" you’ll discover: • The one foundational truth that will never let you down. • 5 keys to staying sane while living with insanity. • The most important mindset for making it through the roughest seasons. • 3 verses to keep in your purse (and on your heart). • The most shockingly sad realities about this type of journey, and how to forgive. • What to do when you cannot figure out what to do. • 4 insider secret...
Posted by Carole Leathem on 06/21/2021
Fierce Calling Podcast with Doris Swift Because every woman of God has a Fierce Calling We are a community of women who are taking action where our passion, compassion, and conviction intersect. Join me as I talk with women who are rising above challenges, sharing what they know, and using their gifts to impact the world for Christ. Be inspired and discover how you too can use your gifts to impact the world and further the Kingdom of God. Life can be crazy messy, but God loves you like crazy and He wants to use YOU for His glory. You have a Fierce Calling! Subscribe to this podcast...
Posted by Doris Swift on 07/12/2020
Kristin is a contributing author to the new She Writes for Him: Stories of Resilient Faith. It’s not often we speak about abortion, shame, betrayal, depression, anxiety, and loss in our circles of faith. It can be uncomfortable as we try to reconcile why a good God allows suffering and pain. Life is messy, and yet we need not silence these stories. She Writes For Him: Stories of Resilient Faith is written by brave women who have boldly ventured out to tell their hard stories. These resilient women have found that God can be trusted in the midst of difficult and tragic circumstances. They...
Posted by Kristin Clouse on 05/07/2020
Emotions saturate Scripture. God is an emotional God—not in the same way we talk about an emotional woman or emotional person. But God is certainly aware of the runaway emotions we’re referring to when we put a negative spin on emotions. We can’t escape God’s presence. That means he sees and hears alongside us, including our (often messy) emotions. If we let him, God will replace those untruthful messages we’ve learned about emotions along the journey of life with the truthful messages reflecting his character, will, and commands. God didn’t mess up his design...
Posted by Susan Lawrence on 09/24/2018
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M4PPF38 Formally titled Desire's Promise - Newly revised and expanded. Carlie Livingston is steering into her last year of college in Oxford, Ohio, confident that she and Lance Holloway are headed to the altar after graduation. Those plans are wrecked, however, by her dad’s infidelity, causing her parents to walk through a messy divorce. Will she have the same fate if she marries her college sweetheart who comes from a secular family? Her mother insists she will. She tests God’s Word by letting Him take the wheel of her life. But if God...
Posted by Karen Jurgens on 01/02/2018
Life is good. I believe that with every fiber in my being. I believe that good things happen to everybody. That love exists, God is faithful, and grace and mercy are ours for the asking. The trouble is, people and messy moments can get in the way. So, I’m learning. Learning how to reconcile my core belief that life is good with the not-so-good and you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me moments. I wrote the stories in this book to help me find my way. It’s a collage of moments where I’ve experienced life from different places, and have used those moments to question and then steady...
Posted by Gaye Lindfors on 07/30/2017