Connections

Confidence, it's something that many people struggle with, especially women.

Amanda Pittman, now the founder of Confident Woman Co., struggled with insecurity for a large portion of her life. 

The Smallbone family was living a fairly normal life in Sydney, Australia, when their entire world came tumbling down around them.

"My husband, David, had a passion for making a difference in people's lives and Christian music. He was promoting Christian concerts and had a small record company. It was a normal sort of life," said Helen Smallbone. "Then he ended up marketing a tour in Australia in 1988 that lost us a quarter of a million dollars."

For Kira Fontana, music has always been a part of her life. 

Char Harryman faced a life-limiting diagnosis with extraordinary courage and faith, and she used the time she was given to be a gift to others.

On Easter Sunday back in 1995, Char suffered a grand mal seizure. This was followed up by several others. This eventually led to numerous tests where doctors discovered a golf ball-sized malignant tumour on her brain. 

Alexis Lee was living her best life. She worked full-time in the criminal justice system and part-time on the weekend at a shelter for survivors of domestic abuse. She had also started her own business as a personal stylist.

"I had my life on track," said Alexis.

NFL chaplain and pastor Jonathan Evans remembers living life on “cruise control,” comfortable where he was, following in the footsteps of his well-known and respected father (Dr. Tony Evans), until one day he realized he didn’t know his own role or purpose in life.

Jonathan didn’t wait to figure it out; he took action and pursued what God had in store for him.

When unexpected moments change life trajectory, we’re left with a choice: Do we overcome the unexpected, as the world recommends, or undergo it?

Author Jillian Benfield says undergoing an unexpected season begins a transformation that deconstructs our old self and reconstructs us into who God intends us to become.

We were designed for a close, intimate relationship with God, but quite often, life gets in the way and distracts us from truly experiencing it.

Wife, mother of three, and former high school teacher Kristel Ward discovered she had a lifelong, hidden battle with fear after her four-month-old son started having seizures.

He was born at 26 weeks and weighing just 1 pound 12 ounces, with cocaine in his system as a result of his biological mother's drug addiction. His birth complications left him blind and he was later diagnosed with autism, but God also gave him a perfect gift that he's more than willing to use.

Christopher Duffley was adopted by his aunt when he was just a child, and she already had four children. While they faced a number of obstacles, they soon discovered music was a soothing comfort for the young boy. 

Sheila Walsh is the author of more than 30 books that have sold nearly six million copies. A household name in faith circles, most would be surprised to learn about Sheila’s battle with clinical depression—one that landed her in a psychiatric hospital alone and continues in many ways to this day.