“For two years I’d get up in the morning and make coffee and go back to bed…’cause that’s what I needed.”Grief is hard. But there is hope. Just ask Ms. Lurene.Ms. Lurene Sanders is a precious friend of ours. Lurene is the coordinator of the Widows Ministry at Hilldale Baptist Church in Clarksville, TN. She’s such an encourager and someone full of hope is spite of experiencing difficult loss several times in her life. As we continue our hope series, we “hope” you’ll be encouraged by...
On today's episode we continue our "Let's Talk About" format and have a discussion around 3 considerations for understanding purpose. 1) Purpose starts with a relationship with Jesusa. Relationships are intentional – Jeremiah 29:13b. Relationships may be different depending on your seasonc. A relationship with Jesus is always available – 2 Timothy 2:13 2) Purpose is discovered when we TAKE NOTICEa. ...
Barb Roose is a popular speaker and author who is passionate about teaching women to live beautifully strong and courageous in spite of their fears so that they can experience God’s great adventure of faith and purpose for their lives.Barb is a real woman who has experienced depression and anxiety, parenting challenges, family addiction trauma and long seasons of walking by faith in unanswered prayer. Rather than teaching audiences to follow God to get what they want, Barb inspires audiences ...
After hearing from several of you that you enjoyed our conversation about Hagar and Sarah…On today’s episode, we continue the format of sharing the stories of women in the Bible and consider the woman at the well.We hope you will be encouraged through our real time discussion of what this story meant then and what it can mean to us now as we all have those places in our hearts we hope no one will see…yet God sees…and loves us all the more. For the map referenced in today's episode ...
There are a lot of negative things we can say about social media- but one thing that we do like is the way it can connect us to people we may never have met in “real life” who can actually become new friends to us. That is exactly the way Stephani met today’s guest. When she stumbled across Kristin’s profile (through what she believes was divine intervention) and discovered she was a former school psychologist who now wrote Bible studies and co-hosted a podcast, she knew they had to connect.&...
On this week’s episode, we are doing something a little bit different. Our vision for the podcast has always been to help you see your story as one that has the fingerprint of God all over it. the Bible is full of stories of real life people, just like us…who also run from God’s calling, make bad decisions, try to hide from God, fight with one another, feel shame and guilt and all of the things we might wrestle with when we think about how our lives can bring honor to God. And yet, he uses ev...
Today's guest is Cindy Brown. Cindy is an award-winning educator, social-emotional coach and public speaker with more than 30 years of professional experience and 24 years raising her own children. As a family consultant, Cindy works with parents to identify their unique vision and goals for their family. Through workshops, coaching, and leading parent focus groups, Cindy's personalized programs provide parents with all the knowledge and techniques they need to be the hero of their household ...
On today’s episode we are so excited to welcome Beth McCord - founder of Your Enneagram Coach. Beth shares her own testimony, how God led her to develop Your Enneagram Coach, why we believe a Gospel centered approach to the Enneagram is so important and why the Enneagram cannot be your source of identity. If you love the Enneagram, have questions or concerns about the Enneagram or have no idea what the Enneagram even is…this conversation is for you. To connect with Beth or to get ...
On today’s episode, we are excited to welcome Tracey Webb. Tracey recently published her first book, The Blossom Project, which is a 30 day devotional designed to help the reader spend time with the Master Gardner. Tracey has hosted an in home Bible study called the "Fun Not Boring Bible Study" for more than 10 years and she is the proud mom of adult sons Caleb and Joshua. Growing up a church girl, Tracey never knew how much she would need to lean on her faith in later years as she...
Traci Koon is an Educator Pipeline Facilitator in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (and also one of Stephani's dearest friends). On today's episode we get honest about working in education...the good, the bad and the ugly ...and get wonderful insight and encouragement from Traci. With almost 30 years in the profession and multiple positions as an educator, she has plenty to share.If you are interested in a career in education or just have follow up questions from today's episod...
Marnie Swedberg embodies faith-in-action while generating "aha" moments of perspective transformation through her keynotes, media appearances, 13 books and online programs. As the mentor to millions she provides coaching, practical help and clear, God-centric focus. Marnie hosts weekly Blog Talk Radio Show and is the founder of http://www.womenspeakers.com, the largest directory of its kind in the world. You might want to listen to this episode when you can take notes because you w...
Lorilee Rager is the owner of Thrive Creative Group and a professor at Austin Peay State University. She writes a beautiful blog that developed out of a practice she calls Morning Pages. She also has a brand new podcast called Ground and Gratitude and her Instagram account https://instagram.com/lorileethrives is a dedicated space for encouraging sobriety and those who struggle with addiction. Lorilee recently celebrated her 18th month of sobriety and she is transparently honest during o...
On this episode we talk with designer Paige Rien all about the home, faith, comparison, friendship, family and more. Paige is a lifelong lover of all things home. She is the author of the book, Love the House You're In: 40 Ways to Improve Your House and Change Your Life as well as the former on-camera designer for HGTV's top-rated show, "Hidden Potential" for five seasons. Paige has her own design consultancy and is married with four children, who have encouraged and informe...
We are so excited to bring you this bonus episode featuring Angie May and Andy Ptacek, guest speakers at this year's On Purpose Live event. For tickets to On Purpose Live visit http://www.stephanicook.org/opliveAngie May holds her Masters Degree in Christian counseling and addictive disorders, is an Enneagram leadership coach, and certified life coach.Andy Ptacek is a best selling author, Certified Mental Health Professional, and Certified Christian Life Coach, working with teens and young ad...
Due to the sensitive nature of today's episode, we are not releasing the name of our guest publicly. We hope that her courage and her story will encourage you in your own faith journey. If you have been a victim of abuse or are currently in an abusive situation, we pray that God will lead you to a trusted professional or friend to help you find safety. Here are a few resources:https://www.rainn.org (sexual abuse hotline and assistance)https://www.hilldale.org/celebraterecoveryhttps://www.theh...
Bethany Jett attended her first writers conference with a proposal and a prayer and left with the Writer of the Year award, an agency contract, and interest from multiple publishers. Three months later, she sold her debut book The Cinderella Rule: a Young Woman’s Guide to Happily Ever After (Revell), which became a Selah Awards finalist.Bethany is the Founder and Co-Owner of Serious Writer, Inc., and Vice President of Platinum Literary Services where she specializes in marketing, nonfiction p...
Melody Cain is a pastor’s wife, adoptive mom with three awesome kids, teacher, friend, and sinner saved by God’s grace! Along with 13 of her friends, she authored Grace for the Journey: A One Year Devotional for Adoptive Moms. Through the book it is her hope to share the grace and faithfulness of God that she experienced despite failures and struggles during the six year adoption process. Melody also shares her long health battle with POTS and how God has led her through the darkest days...
In 2006 Larry and Hannah Overton fell in love with a little boy at their church. His name was Andrew. Andrew was a foster child that the Overtons felt a great desire to provide a home for and to "become his forever family." He would be their sixth child, an addition to their five biological children. A few short months later tragedy struck and their world was turned upside down. Andrew went home to be with Jesus when he passed away from a rare medical condition called Hypern...
Today’s guest is Briana Stensrud. Briana is a human dignity advocate and the Director of Women of Welcome. Her passion is to equip the Church to engage more consistently and tangibly in holistic human dignity issues. Throughout her work in the pro-life movement, Briana continually faced questions from those concerned about immigrants and refugees. Understanding that many concerns were rooted in fear and misinformation she started a journey to re-discover God’s heart for the sojourner. She hol...
Although we often host authors and speakers, most of our very favorite episodes are those with women who are incredibly nervous to share their stories with us because of their humility and tender hearts. Today’s guest definitely fits that mold. Amy Baker is Clarksville famous for loving on others through her baking. She shows up with a fudge pie or other delicious treat during times when many of us have no idea what to say or do. Amy is too humble to call what she does ministry, but Hann...