StoryTellers Live

While Amy considered herself a good-works kid, she found herself, as an adult, stuck in a pattern of making poor choices. In her words, "Sometimes even with the right heart, you can go in the wrong direction." Shame felt from these detours kept Amy from having confidence in herself and in her future. It would take a long, painful journey through infertility, a lot of personal brokenness, and an unexpected adoption to bring her to a place where she finally trusted God and believed He had a good and beautiful plan for her future.

Heather has not only fought through several open heart surgeries AND breast cancer, but she's also become a mom to five children through international adoption. Heather and her husband most recently adopted in 2015, bringing home two older children -- a brother and sister from Ukraine, who were 15 and 11 years old respectively at the time. While the decision process was not necessarily easy or comfortable, God revealed and confirmed His plan for their family in incredible ways. Heather has learned that when something stays on your mind, you should take time to see what God is saying about it!

So many of our stories have roots in our childhood, and that’s true for this episode’s storyteller, Suzanne. She found at an early age that she could protect herself from criticism or ridicule by controlling her appearance and performance. Since then, her bent toward perfectionism has played out in several areas of her life including school grades, body image, career, and even parenting. That kind of pressure is not only exhausting, but as Suzanne points out, it also limits our potential. Because what we do through our own efforts can never top what we’re capable of doing when God is working through us! Suzanne experienced a huge shift in her perspective and approach to life when she began really engaging with God through prayer and His Word. While striving for perfection is still a struggle at times, she's found the freedom and joy of living in balance rather than in the extreme.

Anyone who has been around Liz knows that she is full of life and humor, and she marches to the beat of her own drum! Liz details her transformation from an insecure, bullied child to a beautiful teen with unique style ... and then from a professional model to a young mom losing her hair from alopecia. Liz shares her story of searching for confidence and finding it (or so she thought)….only to have life circumstances threaten the very thing in which she’d placed her identity and worth. She now celebrates her identity as a daughter of the King.

Whitney reflects on the ups and downs of living with heart issues, and the miraculous but emotional blessing of receiving a heart transplant. Because she’s been given a second chance at life, Whitney’s perspective on many things have changed. Listen now to hear what the Lord has taught her through the journey.

This episode marks an exciting milestone, as it was the first gathering and launch of StoryTellers Live in a new city — Auburn, Alabama. And fittingly, the first storyteller was Sarah Beth, one of our team members and also a former Auburn resident. As you may recall, Sarah Beth was the very first person to share at StoryTellers in Birmingham. You can hear that recording in episode 1. And normally, we wouldn’t record and post someone’s story twice. But… this was a particularly special evening when Sarah Beth could celebrate the remembrance of her husband, Lee, among the friends and community who helped carry her in those early days after his passing. Looking back, Sarah Beth shares the gifts God gave her to demonstrate His love and faithfulness... surprises and merciful moments to get her through each day. From starting over as a widow and single mom, to beginning yet again in Birmingham after marrying Clay, choosing to trust Jesus gave Sarah Beth the peace and strength to take each new step as it came.

Anna calls herself a recovering Southern, Bible-belt good girl. Growing up in a nurturing Christian family and a wonderful church, Anna had all the support and tools to build a strong faith. But being someone who enjoys keeping rules and achieving success, Anna began building her sense of worth in her performance and achievements. Inevitably, goals, pursuits or people fail us... leaving us disillusioned with life and maybe even disappointed with God. For Anna, these moments allowed her to experience God’s faithfulness and provision in new and powerful ways. And she began learning to trust God with her past, present, and future,

Dawn Curtis, producer of the SecondStories books, struggled with feelings of abandonment and fear most of her life. She held tight to her story until she found the love of the Father. Now her heart is open, and she is a huge advocate for vulnerability and storytelling. Recorded 9.22.17

Delphine gives a very honest glimpse into her life, both before and after her marriage crumbled. While her story centers around what she calls her biggest failure and the Big D, divorce, it also highlights lessons she has learned through her roles as a daughter, wife, mom, business owner, and follower of Christ. Through her story, she challenges you to to make the right choices even when it’s the harder thing to do, and to fight for what’s important, especially for your marriage and your family. Delphine also shares on a very personal level about the labels she’d placed on herself, the good that comes from hard love, and discovering the gift of a new purpose in her life that has arisen out of her choices about how to live life moving forward and how to glorify God through the process.

From discovering an auto-immune disease and losing her hair at age 16, to losing both of her parents before her mid-30s, Shea has had to deal with some hard circumstances and adapt to some realities of life that were very different from what she had imagined. The beauty of her story is found in the details.... in all of the small miracles she can see when she looks back... and the ways God turned her attention to the moment and gave her insight to embrace the situation at hand.

After Amy's 2-year-old daughter died in a swing-set accident on Christmas Eve, also Amy's birthday, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to celebrate life again. But her story of tragedy is also filled with hope, new life, and renewed joy. She shares how God gave her freedom from anger, and how He’s continually revealed his love for her and their family.

Robyn, founder of StoryTellers Live, finally gave herself permission to dream. This is the story of what followed as she dreamed big... and then let God take the lead.

In Part 2 of our Couples' Storytellers Live Event held this past summer, Amanda and CJ talk about the different paths God took them on before He brought them together as husband and wife, and about how their lives and faith have been changed through discovering the freedom found in Christ.

At our first couples event, Clay shares on God's faithfulness in his life and in the merging of his and Sarah Beth's family. And Sarah Beth shares some fun and wise insights into what makes their marriage work well and honor God.

Three moms share their experiences and wisdom from parenting adolescents and teens. Lindy, Jennifer, and Becky answered pre-submitted questions about all sorts of parenting challenges. All families and parenting styles are different, but the goal to have children who thrive in life is the same! Recorded 4.20.18