She Speaks Stories

Normally we have a lot of SHE’s on She Speaks Stories (it’s in the name!) but we love it when we can have a HE come join in on the fun. Today’s episode we have a HE and a SHE! Chris and Julie Bennett join us to share their story when they said yes to God before they knew what they were getting into, saw Him use bad for good and were enveloped in a community that allowed them to find permission for authenticity while Julie battled cancer.

They have the specific struggles in their story, but even if you can't relate to all the variants, their story is one worth listening to because it's jam-packed with such applicable truths that will leave you not only encouraged but motivated.

And just in case that description wasn’t enough, here’s a few teaser-quotes from our time with this incredible couple–

If you’ve ever gone through something hard:

“God doesn’t waste our hard.”

If you’ve ever had to step out on faith:

“Faith doesn’t feel heroic in the moment.”

There were many many more. We hope you’ll take the time to listen and that you are encouraged!

Life in the Congo was wonderful for our guest, Bijou Mushengezi, for the first 16 years of her life. But in 1996 everything changed when civil war shattered her beautiful country with evil. 

This is our Bonus Episode, specifically released on International Women’s Day with the intent to inform more people about the horrific tragedies that are destroying a country full of beautiful resources and innocent lives. Caitlin Sturgis and Bijou Mushengezi have a nonprofit that aids in mending the brokenness in the DRC, called: Moseka Action Project. We want this story to break your heart, as it did ours, in order for us to stop and really ask God how we can help. At the very least we need to pray for these people and for those who are doing something to offer a choice to rebuild lives that have been ripped apart. 

This is big. This is heavy. But our God is bigger and stronger. There is hardship but also joy! Listen in as we hear about the GOOD work he is doing!

Chesed is back! This time she’s sharing some of her story of singlehood and how she fell in-love. Who doesn’t love a good love story? But this one isn’t butterflies and chocolates, in this love story we see how much God showed HIS love by introducing Chesed and Matt. God really gives us what we need. And though Chesed saw “Neither has God chosen this one,” over and over, she learned the truth of “The Lord sees not as man sees.” She really could understand the beauty of the man God had placed in her life and the love that came as they began loving Jesus, and promised to love each other for the rest of their lives. Join us in listening to this story of God affirming his love.

Once you’ve sat down with dear Roberta Damon, you can’t help but want to tap into her wisdom and hear what God has shown her in her adventures. Today's episode Roberta shares a story she heard while she was overseas, one that affirms just who God is and how he truly is the Author of our story. Join us for the Part 2 of Roberta Damon’s Faith Stories. (See Episode 194 for Part 1)

Well as we said earlier, we are gathering with family to bring you stories about Christmas that are centered around the theme or emotions of Advent. And this week, Katie and Julia chat a bit about a deeper kind of love at Christmastime, and then we get to hear from Katie's daughter-in-law, Jill Hawkins! Katie went to visit Jill and they're sharing a convo they had about God demonstrating his love during the Christmas season, even when things don't go as planned!

Who better to talk about joy than with children?! So today we have four very special guests: Julia’s kids! She sat down with Wes, Molly, Drew and LE and chatted about what they think of Christmas Joy. 

So join us this week to share some stories of joy in this season of Advent!

Our Advent series continues with the topic of Peace, and boy oh boy does Tom bring us to a new understanding of what peace looks like, why we need it and the key to having it. We don’t know about you, but we could use some more peace in our lives and in this season of Christmas, the Prince of Peace wants to give you the real deal kind of peace: HIS peace. 

We hope you will join us in this conversation about Jesus that brings conviction, hope, understanding and so so much peace!

Our first week of Advent starts off with the theme of HOPE. And as you can tell when you listen in, both Katie and Julia were giddy to have Betty Gagnon join the fun! Betty is Julia's mom and Katie's mentor (who is mentioned in her book!)

Betty brings us back to Hebrews and where our Hope comes from. She shares that Jesus is our anchor in the hard, challenging or uncomfortable. When storms hit, we know:

There is a God. He loves us. 

We may be helpless, but God is our Hope!

We are taking a break from our Faith Stories for the month of December so we can focus in on Advent. And to get us all ready for what the season of Advent means, we have one of our favorites back: Chesed! In this episode, Chesed explains the difference between Advent and Christmastime, the beauty of the ache of waiting and gives us all Advent Permission to hold onto that unseen hope. It’s such a great way to start off this season!