Rachel Swanson is a dental hygienist turned author and speaker. Her book, Big and Little Coloring Devotional (released in LifeWay stores, April 2017), was birthed by her own struggle to keep it together as a busy mama of three children under two years old. A rising inspirational speaker, Rachel shares personal and spiritual growth insights related to encouraging moms in motherhood, helping women discover their unique purpose in Christ, understanding God’s design for healthy sexuality, and overcoming stress and anxiety in their lives. Rachel has been married ten years to her husband who loves her despite her love for coffee and often impulsive nature. They rear their tribe of identical twin boys, their baby girl, and a Weimaraner who thinks she's a human.
Devoted Dreamers: 43 - Suanne Camfield: Author | Minister to Women | Paying Attention to The Stirring
Suanne Camfield is the women’s ministry director at Christ Church of Oak Brook and the author of The Sound of a Million Dreams: Awakening to Who You are Becoming (her first book, released in March of 2017). She previously worked for Caris, a nonprofit counseling organization that supports women and children, was an assistant editor at InterVarsity Press and the blog manager for FullFill, a nonprofit focused on mobilizing women to invest their influence in the world for God's purposes. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband--who’s a pastor--and two teenage children.
Devoted Dreamers: 42 - Shanon Roberts: Self-published | Devotional Writer | Leaving a Legacy
Shanon is the author of a newly published devotional book called Rise Up! Devotions. She's a gal who married her high school sweetheart and now lives in Columbia City, IN with their two teenage daughters. When they’re not attending girls’ soccer or basketball games, they’re playing recreational sports, or cuddled up with a good movie. She's worked as an orthopedic designer for nearly seventeen years, and co-invented a handful of patents in that time. About nine years ago, Shanon consciously committed her life to Christ and has been relying on Him to lead, guide, and grow her ever since. As her love for Him has grown, so has her love for her husband, daughters, and others; she now finds herself standing with arms wide open simply saying, “here I am, this life is Yours.”
041 || Why Community Matters to Your Dream || Lauren Jones
Lauren is a homeschooling, bio/adoption and foster care mama of four kids ages 9 to 9 months. If you can’t find her in the kitchen or the mountains, she’s probably scouring vintage shops for beautiful books. It should be said that she’s definitely not cleaning her house--you can pray for that if you’d like. Lauren and her husband Joe started foster care three years ago and have had 7 placements in that time. It’s been a healthy mix of “this is amazing” and “this totally sucks.” They recently founded Treasured Kids--a ministry aiming to get beautiful books into the hands of foster kids. They are excited for a new season of respite care as well as continuing to educate their crew at home and learning what exactly it means to be a family.
040 || How to Just Take the Next Step || Julie Landreth
Julie Landreth has a passion for healthy and thriving relationships–especially in marriage. She is a speaker and wife coach who loves sharing with women her passion for prayer and how to cultivate a thriving marriage. She leads a growing number of women in San Jose, CA through her weekly WifeLab curriculum: Loving Well, The Art of Praying for Your Husband. This year Julie and her husband will celebrate 13 years of cultivating a marriage filled with intentional love. Their secret? A date night every Friday since her now 10-year-old son was 7 months old. In addition to speaking, writing, and teaching, Julie is also a freelance photographer and designer.
Devoted Dreamer #39 - Natalie Ard: Illustrator | Unexpected Business Owner | Learning Patience
Natalie Ard is the creator, author, and illustrator of The Christmas Star From Afar® and The Easter Story Egg™. She is a wife and mother to three and has built the Star From Afar Kids company on the foundation of creating inspirational, interactive games and toys that help children play with a purpose. Star From Afar Kids creates toys and games that spark a child’s curiosity and creativity while delivering positive messages and creating lasting family memories.
Devoted Dreamers: 38 - Amy Peterson: Once Misguided Missionary | Author | Caring for Our Words
Amy Peterson lives with her husband and two children on a couple of acres of Indiana farmland. She teaches and works with the Honors program at Taylor University. With a B.A. in English Literature from Texas A&M and an M.A. in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College, Amy taught ESL for two years in Southeast Asia before returning stateside to teach in California, Arkansas, and Washington. Amy has written for Books & Culture, Christianity Today, The Other Journal, Comment Magazine, The Cresset, The Living Church, and Art House America, among other places. Her first book, Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World, released on Feb 1, 2017
Devoted Dreamers: 37 - Cynthia Culver
Cynthia Culver spent seven years in the corporate world before returning to school for a M.A. in Biblical Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary and her LPC license. She split the next 10 years working for Watermark Community Church and in private practice. Now, Cynthia has a coaching practice called Un+Stuck, created to help people who are overwhelmed by their responsibilities and a sense of angst because they feel aimless and unintentional about their lives. It's her passion to help people gain clarity and develop a plan to live out what matters to them.
Devoted Dreamers: 36 - Hannah Edwards: Church Planter | Acquainted with Grief | Making Room for Brokenness
Hannah is a Midwesterner loving the Colorado life. She’s married to Brad -- a pastor, passionate engager of culture and beer, and a lover of bourbon. They were recently blessed with a bright-eyed baby boy, Ransom, after five years of infertility. While learning to be new parents, they attempt to keep up with their spirited husky/blue heeler mix, Scout, and meet the needs of their entitled cat, Brooklyn. Brad and Hannah started The Table Church in Lafayette, Colorado, with a beautiful group of adventurous souls in 2016. Hannah does not consider herself a “dreamer” but rather a pragmatist. She is learning how those two things can intersect in a redemptive way in Gospel community.
Devoted Dreamers: 35 - Alexandra Kuykendall: Writer | Speaker | Encourager of Women
Alexandra Kuykendall spends her days driving to multiple schools, figuring out what to feed her people and searching for a better solution to the laundry dilemma. Author of Loving My Actual Life: An Experiment in Relishing What’s Right in Front of Me and The Artist’s Daughter: A Memoir, Alex is co-hostess of The Open Door Sisterhood Podcast. A trusted voice in mothering circles, Alex speaks to women around the world about issues of parenting, faith and identity. She lives in the shadows of downtown Denver with her husband Derek and their four daughters.
034 || Letting God Use You for His Purposes || Jess Connolly
Jess Connolly is passionate to communicate about Jesus. Whether that's through writing, speaking, or having a coffee date -- she loves spurring other women on and wants to leave her generation more in awe of God than she found it. She's one of the cofounders of SheReadsTruth, one of the owners of Amen Paper Company, co-author of USA Today Best Seller "Wild and Free," and the co-founder of The Influence Conference and Network. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina where she and her husband have planted Gospel Community Church.
Devoted Dreamers Mini-Episode: 33 - Erin Straza: Creative Writer | Heartfelt Speaker | Redeemed Dreamer
Erin Straza is a creative writer, heartfelt speaker and redeemed dreamer. One of her greatest joys is seeing others learn and grow through the lessons she shares on a stage or through the written word. You can find her musings on her blog, Filling My Patch of Sky, and she is also a co-host on the Christ and Pop Culture Podcast called Persuasion. Erin works as a freelance marketing and communications consultant, telling her clients’ stories in authentic and compelling ways. She and her competitive-marathon-runner husband, Mike, live in Illinois.
032 || Getting Past Fear to Find Your Dream || Amber Brannon
Instead of listening to God, graphic designer Amber Brannon says she was fearful of the unknown in the dream He’d given her. And then there was that day He made it abundantly clear that she was to leave her agency job to create a business of her own. So, with fear and trepidation, she took that step and found herself in a dream job that’s provided more than enough for her needs and allowed her to build a design business full of heart for telling her clients’ stories.
31 || Small Steps on the Journey to Your Big Dream || Angie Weszely
In the first full episode of Season Two I’m introducing you to Angie Weszely, a speaker, writer, strategist and dreamer. Angie is a visionary passionate about reframing the Christian response to abortion and unplanned pregnancy. She’s the co-founder and CEO of ProGrace, a start-up non-profit organization, that equips Christians to shift the way we talk about abortion, the way we think about it, and the way we reach out to women facing unplanned pregnancy.
BONUS Episode: Introducing The Devoted Dreamers Podcast
The Momentum Podcast is now called The Devoted Dreamers Podcast. In this mini-episode you’ll hear a bit about what was going on in my world before I launched this podcast, more about the name change and new tagline, and what’s on my heart for the future of this endeavor that I’m secretly calling a “Dream Ministry.”
Momentum: Episode 30 - Alysa Passage & Cheryl McGrath
My interview this week veers a bit from the norm. In this episode, I’m speaking with two previous Momentum guests, Alysa Passage and Cheryl McGrath, who partnered together to do something new that would move them forward in their God-shaped dreams. Their story is not only a great example of courageous movement toward their dreams, but it also covers a topic we could all benefit from—better self-care. I hope their experience of stepping out and trying something new gives you an idea or some encouragement about what might be your next step. And, you’ll get a glimpse into the value and power of caring for yourself so you have the energy and space in 2017 to continue to pursue what God has laid on your heart.
Momentum: Episode 29 - Sharon Hodde Miller
Sharon is an author, speaker, pastor’s wife and mom of two boys who lives, with her family, in North Carolina. She has been a regular contributor to Christianity Today, Propel, and She Reads Truth, and she is currently working on her first book, set to release in 2017. In addition to writing, Sharon recently completed her PhD, which explored the stories and experiences of women called to ministry. Sharon speaks a message of hope, truth and courage into our lives. I can’t wait for you to meet her!
Momentum: Episode #28 - Amanda Goble
Amanda is a Jesus-loving, adventure-seeking humanitarian who has recently relocated from the U.S. to Iraq where she works with an empowerment program for refugee women as part of Preemptive Love Coalition. A southern hippie who hails from Texas, Amanda loves good coffee, local food, extreme sports, creating, dancing, and Willie Nelson. She has lived all over (Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Kenya, Ethiopia and Zambia) and has worked in every type of job under the sun, including stints in church planting, orphan care, disaster and humanitarian relief, medical outreach and photojournalism/storytelling.
Momentum: Episode #27 - Kate Boyd
Kate Boyd is a business coach and strategist helping entrepreneurs with a God-sized dream to squash their fear, gain strength from their faith, and align their passions with powerful strategy. Kate provides personalized coaching so you can make the income that empowers you to impact lives every day and create the freedom you crave. Kate shares from her experience leading two online businesses, one she’s had for years and the other—her business coaching—she launched after feeling a call from God to fill the gap of Christian voices in the online business world.
Momentum: Episode #26 - Mackenzie Blum
Mackenzie is a young professional working as a biological and agricultural engineer in Raleigh, NC. She has a God-given passion for water and a heart for the global water crisis. Ever since learning about the crisis in high school, she has felt called to play a role in its resolution. While working as an intern for Water Mission in Charleston, SC during one summer in college, her passion grew. Today, she is learning to let go of control and allow God show her how He will use this passion for His glory.