Laurie Payne was born and raised in West Monroe, Louisiana where she spent the majority of her life.  Laurie graduated from The University of Louisiana at Monroe with a B.B.A. in Marketing. After graduating college she decided that she wanted to attempt her dream of becoming Miss LA.  Laurie was not crowned Miss Louisiana but after competing she did leave everything and everyone she knew behind and moved to Baton Rouge, LA.  She was back home within a year.  It was during that time that her life completely flipped upside down.  It was a significant turning point in her life that would eventually define her purpose in life.  Addiction tried hard to destroy her and those she loved but instead it gave her a platform to share her story and the goodness of God. She is married and they have a son named Kendall Beck.  Both are the reason she is here today and gave her a ministry and purpose that she never would have found without the valleys over the past 17 years of her life. Nine years ago, she started a single mom’s ministry called Moms Matter.  It’s a group that originally was designed or created for single moms to meet once a month to encourage each other biblically while raising our children alone.
She is also in the process of publishing a book about her life and journey titled A Payneful Prison.  It’s a story of hope and perseverance. 
She recently changed careers from the medical field to Real Estate and at this point in life, everything is starting to weave itself together for a greater purpose that only God could orchestrate.  

Questions we discuss in our chat:

2.  What scripture helped you get through the hard days?

3.  What would you tell a single mom that may be new to the single mom life?

4.  What advice do you have for someone that’s walking this path now?

 5. Why A Payneful Prison and why now?

Connect with Laurie on Facebook HERE. 

Connect to her page Moms Matter HERE.

April Rodgers is the published author of Made to Shine: 90 Devotions to Enjoy and Reflect God’s Light. After losing her brother in a tragic car accident, April held on to her faith in God and allowed Him to turn her darkness into light. Now she lives to encourage others to shine in their everyday lives by speaking at conferences and shining God’s light on her YouTube channel titled “The Reflecting Light Show.” April is a seminary graduate with her Masters of Theological Studies, mom to two sweet daughters, and wife to an amazing man. Her favorite things consist of coffee, community, and Sunday afternoon naps. You can visit her website at aprilrodgers.com

1. How do I let my light shine if I’m timid about my faith?

2. Being that the title of your next book is deLIGHT, what does it mean to “delight” in God?

3. What tools can I use if I want to start a Bible study?

4. Why are you so passionate about the Holy Land?

5. What is one thing that is lightening your load?

Jessica-Lauren Newby wears many hats but she considers her roles as a wife, mother, and disciple of Jesus to be the highest of honors. She hails from her hometown of Tuscaloosa, AL. Having studied at both the University of Alabama and Auburn University, she now lives in Oxford, MS and she still says Roll Tide! During her career as a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist she has pioneered nutrition services through a weight inclusive lens in multiple arenas including both university and medical campuses with a large majority of her time invested at Auburn University and Batson Children’s of Mississippi. She first opened her virtual private practice as a side-project in 2017 as a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian to provide care for those with with less access to eating disorder treatment based on location. She has enjoyed working as a pediatric specialist and board certified lactation consultant for Children’s of Mississippi as well as a consultant and supervisor for both treatment centers and university eating disorder treatment teams. She currently works full-time in her own private practice, With Milk and Honey, using her expertise in eating disorders, women’s health, lactation, pediatrics, and medical nutrition therapy through the weight-inclusive approach for all bodies and diagnoses. Jessica-Lauren serves as supervisor, preceptor, and mentor to hundreds of students and other professionals as a CEDRD-Supervisor. She loves helping people find freedom with food so they can experience both physical and mental wellness while they live out their God-given purpose without worrying about weight, calories, exercise plans, or ice cream. Jessica-Lauren enjoys partnering with student organizations and ministries nationwide to bring a gospel-centered message of how to care for our bodies so we can rightly focus on building God’s kingdom now and enjoying it forever. She is married to the love of her life, Andrew. In her free time, she loves reading, running, hiking, teaching the Bible, having spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen, and playing around with her three (soon to be four) wonderfully wild and free kids.

Check out her website here.

Questions we discuss in our chat:

1.What do you love most about what you do?

2. How have you seen God at work in you/thru you bc of your journey?

3. Why do you care so much about helping women break free from dieting and food rules?

4. Tell us about living a recovered life and how that affects your day to day, how you raise your kids around food etc.

7. What are some good resources to check out if our listeners want to learn more?

8. Do you have a favorite thing you want to share?

Other resources:

Carseat hooks: Here. 

Family Feeding Resources: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/the-division-of-responsibility-in-feeding/

adults: https://intuitiveeatingforchristianwomen.com/

Dr. Matthew Turvey serves as a psychologist for Chick-fil-A, Inc. In this role he advocates and encourages for the overall emotional, relational, spiritual, and mental flourishing of the company’s franchisees. Prior to this role, he spent more than a decade in marriage ministry. Matt has been married to his beautiful wife Nicole for over 25 years. Together they have four children ranging in age from elementary to college. They enjoy traveling as a family and have visited 6 of 7 continents….and they’re still trying to figure out an affordable way to get to Antarctica. A guiding scripture that drives Matt is Proverbs 16:9, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

Questions we discuss during our chat:

Jeremy Freeman is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Newcastle, Oklahoma. He was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, but attended college at Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU). He met his wife, Emily, at OBU, and they have been married for twenty three years. They have seven children: Brittany is a senior at OBU, Caleb recently graduated from Rose State College, Clayton is a freshman at OBU, Aubrey is in the 8th grade, Luke is 7 and Addi is 6. They also have one son, Trey, who went to be with the Lord nine years ago. Jeremy has been at First Baptist Church in Newcastle for 13 years and in full time ministry for 22 years.

Caleb is 21 years old, and a recent graduate of Rose State College. On December 19, 2017, Caleb and his brother, Clayton, were in a near fatal car accident on their way to a University of Oklahoma basketball game. Clayton suffered a minor concussion, but Caleb suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. Caleb was not expected to live the night of the accident, and if he did live, was not expected to live any kind of a normal life. God chose not only to spare Caleb’s life, but also to miraculously begin healing him. For the last 4 1/2 years, Caleb has been a walking/talking miracle! His story is impacting thousands of lives all across this country.

Questions we discuss during our chat:

1. What does #butGod mean?

2. How has God used trial, adversity, and loss in your lives?

3. Where have you struggled to trust/believe God in your journey?

4. If you could go back to December 19, 2017 and change anything, would you? Why or why not?

5. How do you pray God uses your story for His glory?

6. What are your hopes for the future? What are Caleb’s plans and how do you see God using the book?

Check out the book here.

Pray for Caleb page here.

Amanda is originally from Kingwood, Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University in 2009, receiving a bachelors in interdisciplinary studies. Upon graduating, she taught kindergarten at Brazos Christian School, a private Christian school near A&M. A teaching colleague introduced her to her future husband, Mike, who was the volunteer assistant baseball coach at Texas A&M. In the summer of 2012, soon after their engagement, he was offered an assistant coaching position at Kansas State as their hitting coach. Once married, she joined Mike in Manhattan, where they spent two seasons enjoying life as newly weds and experiencing a part of the country that offered four true seasons, unlike her experiences in Texas! In the summer of 2014, Mike was offered the position as hitting coach at Ole Miss and they have lived in Oxford ever since.

Here’s an intro to her story! “At the age of seven, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, at 15 I added Polyscistic Ovarian Syndrome to my “health resume.” PCOS “gifted” me the introduction to the world of infertility. After several years of unsuccessfully trying to become pregnant, Mike and I felt called to pursue adoption. We gave the adoption process a hearty effort and battled through three unsuccessful matches. After the third failed adoption, we decided to start over with my original doctor in New Albany. After five years and countless attempts to conceive with the assistance of fertility medicine and IUIs, God finally answered our prayers and we were blessed with a healthy son, Cooper. He is now three and a half and serves as a daily reminder of God’s miracle-working, faithful character! After a shorter stint through unsuccessful attempts to conceive once more, I was introduced to a doctor at Memphis Fertility Associates. After much prayer and pleading with God to make His will known to us, we underwent IVF, and I am currently 27 weeks pregnant with our daughter! One of my greatest joys in life is having the opportunity to be a stay at home wife/mom and serve our family as a homemaker. In my “spare” time, I serve as a group leader for Explorers Bible Study and serve in the nursery at Pine Lake Church.”

Questions we discuss in our chat:

1.In what ways have you experienced God’s presence in your recent experience with infertility?

2. Between the baseball season and trying to get pregnant, it seems as if you have had some highs and lows. How have they been similar and what can you share on what you’ve learned?

3. We have talked a lot about your journey with IVF. Do you mind sharing the process you went through with adoption and your experiences with that season of life?

4. What advice or words of hope you would like to share for others struggling with infertility, or just tough seasons of life in general?

Didn't get to make it to our LIVE event? No worries, listen here!

Alecia Bryant taught high school for 16 years but just recently transitioned to writing at Lifeway Christian Resources in the Student Ministry division. She is honored to help spread the Gospel throughout the world. She serves alongside her husband, Chris, the Discipleship Pastor in their church. Alecia has a passion for discipling women and equipping them to fulfill every longing in Christ. She loves God’s Word, worship, travel, and all Mexican food. Alecia and Chris are raising one kind-hearted boy and a feisty little lady in West Monroe, Louisiana. You can find her personal blog at www.wovenword.org, where she seeks to help others weave God's Word into every fiber of their lives.

Questions we discuss during our chat:

1. Fearing death is very normal, but what was it about grief that you specifically feared?

2. What are some scriptures you clung to during this period of grief?

3. What role did your husband and other people in your Christian community play in helping you?

4. What did God do through this time in your life?

5. What would you say to someone walking through the unthinkable?

Korie Robertson is a New York Times best-selling author, star of A&E’s Duck Dynasty and most recently At Home with the Robertson’s on Facebook Watch. She works in the family business Duck Commander, and is co-owner of Tread Lively Productions working to produce more hopeful, faith and family friendly entertainment through podcasting, film and reality and scripted television.

Korie is passionate about following Jesus, motherhood, adoption, caring for children and strengthening families around the world. She also enjoys travel, tennis, books, and teaching art in the summer at Camp Ch- Yo-Ca. Korie loves doing life with her husband, Willie, their six children and five grand kids in their hometown of West Monroe, Louisiana.

Writing credits include: The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family, and Ducks Built a Dynasty, Duck Commander Devotions for Kids, and Strong and Kind: Raising Kids of Character.

Questions we discuss in our chat:

Bonus: Korie's favorite thing right now!

Visit her website here.

Check out her blogs here.

Kristy Bridgers is a wife, mother, real estate agent and community advocate. She and her family have resided in Oxford, Mississippi since 2005. Kristy is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and has taught in the Mississippi Public School system. She is married to David Bridgers and she and her husband have three children, Alli, Sara Caroline and Winn.  She is one of the founders of More than a Meal, raises funds annually for St. Jude's Children's Cancer Hospital through "Taste of Oxford.” She loves yoga, long walks, spending time with family and friends and of course her golden retriever, Dolly! Kristy is embracing the new life of being sober and finding new ways to share her journey and add Joy to her life as God is rewriting her story for His glory!

Questions we discuss during our chat:

1. What made you feel comfortable sharing your recovery story?