Meet the Contributors
Patrick Schwenk
Patrick Schwenk is a father, husband, pastor, and author of In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake, For Better or For Kids: A Vow to Love Your Spouse with Kids in the House, The Dig for Kids and The Warrior Weekend. Patrick and his wife Ruth are the founders of For the Family. They met while attending the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL, have been married for over twenty years, and currently have four children ages thirteen to twenty. They love serving in local church ministry as a Teaching Pastor at Grace Bible Church, spending time together as a family, reading, drinking lots of coffee, and resting in God’s grace.
Becky Kopitzke
Becky Kopitzke is a freelance writer, speaker, singer, dreamer, lunch packer, snowman builder, and recovering perfectionist. She lives with her handsome husband and their two young daughters in northeast Wisconsin, where a pink indoor trampoline fills half the once formal living room.
Becky believes parenting is one of God’s greatest tools for building our faith, character, and strength—and it’s not always pretty. On her blog, Time Out: Devotions for Moms, she offers weekly encouragement for fellow imperfect moms, pointing our weaknesses, blessings, and victories to God. Becky’s first book, The SuperMom Myth: Conquering the Dirty Villains of Motherhood (Shiloh Run Press), is now available at booksellers nationwide. Connect with Becky on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Dr. Garrett Higbee
Dr. Garrett Higbee is the executive director of Biblical Soul Care at Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago. He is also the executive director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and co-founder and former president of Twelve Stones Ministries.
Garrett has been involved in counseling for over 30 years. After a life-changing encounter with Christ in 1993, he left the field of psychology behind with a deep conviction that true heart change can only happen through biblical counsel and the sufficiency of the Scriptures. He has recently focused on developing healthy leadership cultures in the church and is a frequent speaker on counseling topics nationally. He has been privileged to author several chapters in books related to counseling and small groups, including Counseling the Hard Cases, Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling and Scripture, and Counseling.
Garrett and his wife Tammy have three children (Rachel, Zachary, and Sarah Beth) and live outside Chicago, IL.
Karen Ehman
Karen Ehman is a New York Times bestselling author, Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker, and writer for Encouragement for Today, an online devotional that reaches over 1 million women daily. She has authored ten books, including KEEP IT SHUT: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All. Her newest book and DVD Bible study, Listen, Love, Repeat: Other-Centered Living in a Self-Centered World, is full of ideas for scattering kindness to family, friends, strangers, and the “necessary people” who help you get life done each week such as teachers, the mail carrier, your hairstylist and more. Karen has been a guest on national media outlets, including The 700 Club, FamilyLife with Dennis Rainey, Moody Midday Connection, and Focus on the Family. She is also a contributor to Crosswalk.com, Redbookmag.com, and LifeBeautiful.com. She has been married for over a quarter-century to her college sweetheart Todd and is the mom of three adult children. She resides in central Michigan, where she enjoys cheering for the Detroit Tigers. You can connect with her at www.karenehman.com where she helps women to live their priorities and love their lives.
Mike & Carlie Kercheval
Mike & Carlie Kercheval are college sweethearts and have been passionately married since June 2000. They have been blessed with three precious children whom they adore will all their hearts. Together they co-authored the best-selling couples devotional, Consecrated Conversations™. Mike & Carlie founded Marriage Legacy University™ to help couples create their legacy with intention. They co-host The Praying Couple Podcast, where they pray gospel-centered prayers over marriages and families around the world.
Alisha Carlson
Alisha, her three energetic elementary-aged boys, hubby, and guinea pig live in the suburbs of Chicago. When she’s not writing, enjoying an afternoon with friends, or redecorating their home, you’ll find her teaching a Zumba class or on an “adventure” with her family. Founder of Makeovers & Motherhood, Alisha’s focus is on encouraging moms to live their best life. You can connect with her, laugh with her, dig into hard truths together, be encouraged by God’s word, and mom hack the beautiful mess of motherhood together at makeoversandmotherhood.com or on Facebook!
Samantha Krieger
Samantha Krieger is a pastor’s wife and mom to four children, ten and under. She’s the author of Quiet Time: A 30-day Devotional Retreat for Moms in the Trenches. Her writing has appeared on The Today Show, Her View From Home, and TheCourage.com. She writes from rural Colorado and enjoys connecting with readers on her personal blog, Facebook and Instagram.
April Cao
April Lakata Cao is a writer and homeschooling mom to five beautiful kids. She is a proud military wife, married to her best friend of twenty years, and cherishes her noisy and laughter-filled home. She is a devoted coffee drinker and book reader. Her passion for encouraging moms was born out of her own struggle to navigate the ministry of motherhood in the midst of constant moves, combat deployments, infertility, and adoption. She has a heart for military families, especially those serving in the special operations and special warfare communities. April is a contributing author for “Faith Deployed … Again: a Selah Award winner and offers daily encouragement on Facebook at A Well Done Life.
Crystal Rommen
Crystal is a Washington native who calls Oklahoma home. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Master’s in Social Work and works part-time as a crisis therapist in community mental health, being present with people at their lowest point to give hope and healing. Crystal is a full-time, fully-caffeinated mom of two, wife, and Daughter of the King, and can be found singing her heart out, recovering from sporadic workouts, loving on littles at church, practicing Mandarin, and traveling the world with her physician husband as they co-labor in the good works around the globe. She is passionate about mental illness, crisis pregnancy, authentic fellowship, getting real with people, and leaning into God to find restoration and wholeness.