Ashleigh Slater is the author of the book, Team Us: Marriage Together from Moody Publishers. As the founder and editor of the webzine Ungrind and a regular contributor at several popular blogs and websites, she unites the power of a good story with biblical truth and practical application to encourage readers. She has 20 years of writing experience and a master’s degree in communication. Ashleigh lives in Atlanta with her husband Ted and four daughters. To learn more, visit AshleighSlater.com.
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!
Christina Fox
Christina Fox received her undergraduate degree from Covenant College and her Master’s Degree in Counseling from Palm Beach Atlantic University. She writes for a number of Christian ministries and publications including Desiring God Ministries and The Gospel Coalition. She is the author of A Heart Set Free: A Journey Through the Psalms of Lament and Closer Than a Sister. You can find her at www.christinafox.com, @christinarfox and on Facebook.
Chrystal Hurst is a writer, speaker, and worship leader in addition to serving as the chief executive operating officer in her home as a wife and mother of five. She is a self-proclaimed “geek” and bibliovore, who is actively seeking help for her addiction to Starbucks, sweet tea, and chocolate chip cookies.
Chrystal is a co-author of the recent release, Kingdom Woman. She also blogs regularly at Chrystal’s Chronicles where she poignantly reflects her thoughts about her faith and day-to-day experiences. Chrystal firmly believes God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans that I have for you…” and she desires to help others believe and apply that truth to their lives.
Denise McDowell
Dr. Garrett Higbee is 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.
Erika is a wife and mama to 4 littles, and she loves Jesus with her whole heart. Burning deep in her soul is the truth that “God’s steadfast love is better than life,” and it has transformed her. She is passionate about prayer and God’s Word, and her heart is for encouraging women in their faith and equipping families to disciple their children. She is the author of Pray Truth: Praying God’s Word for My Husband’s Heart and Clean on the Inside: A Family Devotional for Holy Week.
On her blog, erikadawson.com, Erika shares ideas, resources, prayers, and Scriptures to help you and your kids live an authentic, transforming faith in Jesus. You can also find her on most social media channels, but her favorites are Instagram and Facebook.
Gary Thomas’ focus is on bringing people closer to Christ and closer to others. Author of 15 books including Sacred Marriage: What if God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy? and The Sacred Search: What If It’s Not About Who You Marry, but Why?, Gary also holds an MA degree in systematic theology from Regent College and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Western Seminary. As Writer in Residence and a member of the teaching team at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas and as an adjunct faculty member at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, his ministry integrates Scripture, church history, and time-tested wisdom of the Christian classics into our modern faith experience. Gary speaks all over the world and has made multiple appearances on both Focus on the Family and Family Life Today. An avid runner, Gary has completed 11 marathons, including the Boston Marathon three times. He and his wife Lisa have been married for 28 years, and they have three adult children. You can find Gary at GaryThomas.com.
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 children ranging from teen to adult. She resides in central Michigan where she enjoys cheering for the Detroit Tigers and processing life with the many teens that gather around her kitchen island. Although she only has three biological children, at last count she was listed as “Mom” in the cell phones of seven different teenagers. You can connect with her at www.karenehman.com where she helps women to live their priorities and love their lives.
Kathryn O’Brien writes books for kids and has a heart for moms. She’s published five children’s picture books, including her latest series (Sit for a Bit, Tyndale) and freelances for several publications. When she’s not writing or enjoying her day job as a Christian school administrator, Kathryn can usually be found texting her three grown children, hanging on the front porch with her husband, or hiking the canyons near her home in Southern California. Visit Kathryn at kathobrien.com.
Kristen is a Northwest native who grew up surrounded by family, books, alpine peaks and lots of green. She never thought she’d leave. And when she did, she landed in a lot of concrete in a city that shapes the world’s culture.
Now she’s figuring out a life that she longs to have marked by gratitude and grace, beauty, art, and homeschooling all squeezed into a Manhattan apartment. She writes about living with intention as a wife and mother of four in the midst of a city that makes her heart beat just a little bit faster every time she walks outside at Hope With Feathers.
Kristen spent years as a missionary in Asia and Europe and now relishes in her role working with writers as the Editor of The Better Mom and For the Family. You can also find her musing on Twitter at @KristenKill
Kristi Clover
Kristi Clover is a Christian, homeschooling mom to five kids ranging from teens to tots and wife to her high school “crush.” Aside from her family (and chocolate), she’s passionate about encouraging women in their faith and inspiring them in their daily lives as moms, wives, and homeschoolers by offering “simple solutions for a more joy-filled life.”
Not surprisingly, you can usually find her at home trying to bring some order and fun into the mayhem of daily life. Kristi is a down-to-earth writer and an energetic speaker who loves to share about her adventures in marriage, motherhood, and homeschooling at KristiClover.com — and on her new podcast, the Simply Joyful Podcast!
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!
Michael & Carlie Kercheval have been blissfully married since June 10, 2000. They are blessed with 3 precious children that Carlie has been homeschooling since their first child was born in 2001. They are the co-authors of the Learning to Speak Life Family Bible Study Guide. Together they founded Fulfilling Your Vows in obedience to the ministry God has placed in their hearts to promote biblical marriage.
Patrick Schwenk is a father, husband, pastor, and author of 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 ten to sixteen. They love serving in local church ministry as the lead pastor of the church plant, Refuge Church, spending time together as a family, reading, drinking lots of coffee, and resting in God’s grace.
Ryan Snow moved to Toledo 10 years ago to plant a church after serving on staff at Vineyard Church in Columbus. He has been married to Libby for nearly 16 years and married out of his league. Ryan has four awesome kids Ellie, Emma, Griffin & Grady. His passions are Jesus, leadership, running marathons, reading, and eating.
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 homeschool 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 to encourage 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.
Jeffrey Dean
Jeffrey Dean is a radio host, family & student-culture expert, speaker, an ordained pastor, and author. As an authority on Generation Z and family culture, he has spoken to more than 4 million people throughout our nation’s churches, universities, conferences prisons, and public & private schools. Jeffrey serves as host of The Jeffrey Dean Show, a two-hour call-in radio show each Saturday night equipping families to be family strong. Jeffrey also serves as a contributing writer for Stand Firm Magazine, Horizon, Fusion, and The Brink, and his monthly column appears in Direction and Horizon Magazines. Through his messages, books, blog, podcast, and more, Jeffrey equips parents with the tools they need in order to be their kid’s hero. He also keeps a pulse on this generation to help students win in life! Connect with Jeffrey at www.jeffreydean.com.
Nicole Behnke
Nicole is a Pastor’s wife, adoptive Mama to 3, and blogger who lives in WI. When she’s not busy managing her household she can be found blogging with a good cup of coffee within reach. Her blog, called Real Life in Reverse, focuses on living a life that goes against our current cultural context. She is passionate about implementing practices in her faith journey that goes against the cultural norm. Nicole and her husband adopted their three beautiful children out of the Foster Care System and became an instant family overnight so her heart for adoption overflows.
Shelby Turner
Angelene Woodard
Amber Collins is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend who is passionate about knowing God and telling others about Him. She is a former missionary to Africa and contributes her independent spirit and desire to always move her furniture around to being the product of homeschooling. She believes knowing God is truly where her hope is found and finds joy in writing, speaking and teaching about Him. Although she is a Texan by birth, she currently resides in Arizona where she ministers alongside her husband who is the Global Pastor of Outreach at their church, Scottsdale Bible. She and her husband have 3 kids – a teenager, preteen and 1st grader, who constantly remind them to lean into God’s grace and wisdom. In her spare time, Amber loves to teach children to read and is an elementary literacy coach at a local school. You can follow her on Instagram @5collinsclan.
Brenda Yoder
Brenda Yoder is a speaker, author, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and life coach whose passion is encouraging others when life doesn’t fit the storybook image. Brenda’s been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the Washington Post, and For Every Mom. Brenda is also a former teacher and school counselor and was twice awarded the Touchstone Award for teachers. Her ministry and podcast, Life Beyond the Picket Fence, is found at brendayoder.com where she writes about faith, life, and family beyond the storybook image. Brenda is a wife and mom of four children, ranging from teens to adults, and lives on a farm in Indiana.