por Angela Donadio
Friend, what if we reframe that word, “unpredictable?” What if - instead of seeing it as a obstacle - we embrace it as an opportunity? What if we welcome unpredictable moments not with dread, but with wide-eyed wonder? Sometimes our undone moments are God’s intended miracles. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in Mary and Joseph, the central characters in the Christmas story. Unexpected. Uninvited., Undone. Yet exactly what God intended.
If you sit with today’s guest more than a few minutes, it’s highly likely that she will pray for you and speak encouragement over you. Author and speaker Christy Christopher knows what it’s like to live in the miraculous. She shares real-life stories from her latest book, Incredible Intervention to help us grow in expectancy and passion in our prayer life and give us key takeaways of the mindset of a giant slayer. www.christyachristopher.com
Best-selling author Michelle Medlock Adams is celebrating the release of her newest children’s book, Dachshund Through the Snow, just in time to gift for Christmas! In this short episode, Michelle helps us know how to talk to our kids about the true meaning of Christmas and give us meaningful ideas to connect with our kids during the holidays. Purchase a copy for the child in your life at www.michellemedlockadams.com.
Girls dream of their wedding day. For Terry Gobanga, hers turned into a nightmare that shifted the trajectory of her life. The Founder and President of Kara Olmurani, her passion to see sexual victims given a safe space to heal and be allowed to dream again comes from her own story as a survivor of sexual violence. Her autobiography, “Crawling out of Darkness,” captures her life’s journey from the dungeons of despair to a life full of promise. A graduate in Bible and Theology from East Africa University, Terry is a sought-after speaker, winner of multiple awards honoring women, a marital coach with her husband, and grateful mother to two beautiful girls. Once you hear her story, you will never be the same. Connect ww.terrygobanga.com Kara Olmurani www.karaolmurani.org She does marital coaching together with her husband at www.tonnygobanga.com More about the work Terry does can be found here www.terrygobanga.com The Make Life Matter Podcast is now on the Charisma Plus App! When you sign up for the FREE app using my personal link, you help support this show and bring encouragement to listeners in more than 130 countries! https://play.charismaplusapp.com/subscribe?code=AngelaD
For former QVC Spokesperson, author, speaker, and host of the So What? Why It Matters podcast, Nancy Hicks, this year, the holiday season will be especially hard. It’s the first holiday season without her oldest son, David, who passed away in May this year after a courageous battle with colon cancer. For the past several years, Nancy has spent her time teaching around the world, inspiring people to live fully alive. Now she’s inviting them to live fully alive in the midst of great pain as she shares openly and vulnerably about her own journey through grief and death. Connect with Nancy at www.nancyhickslive.com
Karina Negron is a Puerto Rican Ph.D. scientist, a mom of two boys, a pastor’s wife, a worship leader, and a creative individual who loves Jesus and her family more than anything in this world. She is the Founder of Created for Delight and my fearless friend! www.createdfordelight.com; Instagram @createdfordelight Pinterest @createdfordelight Gift Boxes – Pre-Order to get a discount Mystery Boxes Listener Coupon Code: SAVE10
What do you do when Christianity hasn’t lived up to your expectations? Pediatric ER Doctor Lina Abujamra felt this same disappointment and shares her powerful story in her most recent book, Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction. As a popular Bible teacher, podcaster, and Founder of Living With Power Ministries, she connects biblical answers to everyday life. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, she ministers to singles through her Moody Radio show, Today’s Single Christian, and is engaged in providing medical care and humanitarian help to Syrian refugees and others in disaster areas in the Middle East.
She has been a Bible Study Teacher in the Rappahanock Regional Jail since 2008 and became a chaplain in 2013 through Christ in Action. She attended the Christian Sisters Transition Program since 2012 and began the monthly meetings, “It’s All About You” designed to encourage and strengthen every woman to know how valued they are in the kingdom of God. She collaborated to write Ready, Set, Release which was brought into the Jail. Get involved this holiday season! CSTP Facebook page (Christian Sisters Transition Program) Socks for Inmates – www.rolva.org (River of Life Church VA)
Pro-life advocate Kelly Lester, the Director of Outreach and Government Engagement for And Then There Were None and Pro-Love Ministries, is a testament to how God can redeem every part of a painful story. Kelly shares honestly about being raped as a teen, several abortions, drug dealing, and even working in the clinic where she had her first abortion. But beauty triumphs from the ashes. Now a wife and mother of six children, Kelly loves to share her story to give hope to the most desperate situations.
What a difference our world would be if our lives were filled with deposits of gratitude instead of withdrawals of gripes. Does gratitude matter to Jesus? Celebrating this month of thanksgiving, find out what Luke 17 has to say and hear helpful tips to express gratitude in today’s short encouraging devotion from Angela’s devotional, “Astounded.”