My most requested (and favorite talk) where I share about giving our stories back to God. We plan and plan and often accidentally plan Him right out of it all. I talk about what happened in my own life when I opened my hands to Him and gave it all over to the Lord. I also cover how to live well in a period of wait, in massive storms, and how to trust Him through fear. All this (and more) is wrapped around encouraging ladies to know His plans are so much more exciting than anything we could dream up ourselves.

Digging into chapters one and two of 1 Samuel, we look at Hannah's life as she goes from a woman deeply hurting from infertility and unfulfilled dreams to one whose prayers were answered, but not in the way she expected. There is so much about this dear woman that we can relate to today in relation to: Authenticity, trusting and praying fervently, honoring our promises, and living ablaze with praise and adoration. If your group wants to dive into the scriptures in realization that the Old Testament is anything but boring, this will be right up your alley.

Acts 28:30 shares that, For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. We need to do the same whether we're in an apartment, a house that feels too imperfect, or wherever we call home! In a world that's never been so connected (social media, etc), it's somehow easy to feel disconnected and lonely. I talk about how to find "our people" with the simple act of inviting people in. Though as an introvert, I struggle to get out of my comfort zone, I realized I was waiting for people to come to me. Invite me. And I discovered we're all waiting for someone else to do the inviting! Sharing my own story, I also share tips and ideas to do this well...and yet simply. Your gifting doesn't have to be in hospitality to invite people in and love on them. Anyone with a heart for living with intention, warmth, and neighborliness can be used greatly.

Bringing my (free) Bible Nerd guide to an interactive setting, we'll dive into living a life of intention when it comes to opening up God's Word. So many of us have the desire to read and study the Scriptures, we just don't know where to start and how to do it well. You will learn how to break apart Scripture and rebuild it in a way that makes sense, as well as tips and tricks I've learned through the years. Bible Nerd will change the way you study and strengthen your relationship with Christ… just like it did mine. Whether the women in your group have followed Jesus for 5 minutes or 5 decades, there is wisdom to glean as we open our Bibles together.

Leadership is influence, pure and simple—not a role, not a title, but rather those places and ways where we are given the privilege of having a voice. That means in your family, in your friendships, in your work, in your church—wherever you have a voice, wherever you have the opportunity to influence perspective and conversations, you’re leading. After Moses died, Joshua took over leading the nation of Israel. Can you imagine being the new guy after years of leadership under such a beloved and wise man? And yet, under Joshua’s leadership, millions of Jews finally left forty years of wandering in the wilderness and settled down in the richness of a land that God had promised them. As Joshua followed God’s leadership, Joshua’s leadership led the Israelites into a season of victory and flourishing. Wherever we’re leading and whatever our leadership looks like, we can learn from this friend of God and how he led—what he did well and how he could have done better. We grow as leaders when we learn from both mistakes and victories.

A few days into a recent January, my life fell apart. One of our kids decided he didn’t want to be in our family anymore. A few months later, there was death in the family, and then my husband’s dad was in the hospital. Mere months after that, I was called as a character witness in a friend’s murder trial. He had been placed in death row over a decade prior. Life was hard. Life is hard. We have a choice to walk with God through it all . . . or not. We can say yes through the darkness, or we can let it envelop us so deeply that we feel we cannot get out. Yes, this is a study about David’s life and psalms. But it’s more than that. We’re trying to see the fuller picture. We’re looking for the light in it all. Psalms is celebrated for its passages of praise but it’s also known for sections of lament—of learning how to rest in the hard. But I don’t want to just rest in my difficulty and pain; I want to keep moving. This study is about that in-between space: walking from the lament and into the praise. The stepping out through the difficulty, the living in expectation that God will move and we will see light because He is the Light.

What do our lives say about what we think really matters? We glorify busyness—and yet we also acknowledge that hustle leads to burnout. Our mantras are “progress, not perfection” and “my current situation is not my final destination,” yet we feel hopeless and pessimistic when life isn’t “how it should be.” But what if it’s only pointless hustle that leads to burnout? What if struggle can be valuable if we allow it to lead us to growth and depth? What if trading “likes” and approval for authenticity leads to joy? Philippians is often referred to as the “joy book” of the Bible—and though it’s true that Paul speaks eloquently about joy throughout, we can miss the powerful statement he’s making about life in Christ if we focus on joy alone. This book is not just about joy manufactured out of nowhere: It is, most profoundly, about the fundamental reality of what it means to live for Jesus among the people of Jesus. It’s about unity and community, authenticity and dependence on God no matter the season . . . and out of that, deep and meaningful joy. This—not success, not achievement, not independence, not comfort—is the life that really matters. As we journey together through the book of Philippians, let’s learn how to intentionally develop lives that make a difference—by growing deep roots in community and blossoming in the midst of whatever we face.