Treasured with Courtney DeFeo

Jodie Berndt is the author of nine books, including the bestselling Praying the Scriptures series for Children, Teens, and Adult Children. A speaker, Bible teacher, and former television personality, Jodie’s heart is to equip parents to lead lives marked by purpose, grace, and joy. Find Jodie’s blogs, videos, and printable prayer resources at jodieberndt.com or follow her on Instagram @jodie_berndt. She and her husband, Robbie, have four adult children.    

Annie Agarwal is a wife and mom who loves Jesus and desires to use her life to encourage others to step into a relationship with Him. She has a degree in Elementary Education from Florida State University, where she also met her husband Rahul. After marrying, they attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary together, where they both earned their Masters of Divinity in Christian Education.For 11 years, they served in college ministry, pouring into the lives of students and challenging them to follow hard after Jesus.

During this time, Annie was also a photographer and the coordinator of her local church's mom's ministry. For 7 years, Annie led moms to connect with one another and with Christ, discovering a passion to see moms parent with grace and intentionality. Three years ago, the Agarwal family relocated to Georiga, where her husband is now on staff at Gwinnett Church.

Annie currently creates the content and manages social media for Treasured Girlz, is a contract writer for Lifeway, photographs sweet families, and helps with special events at the church whenever she can! She resides in Buford, Ga with her husband and their four children: Collin, Griffin, Eden and Matthan.

Melanie Shankle writes regularly at The Big Mama blog and is the New York Times bestselling author of On the Bright Side (Zondervan). Melanie is a graduate of Texas A&M and loves writing, shopping at Target, checking to see what’s on sale at Anthropologie and trying to find the lighter side in every situation. Most of all, she loves being the mother of Caroline, the wife of Perry and the official herder of two wild dogs named Piper and Mabel. The five of them live in San Antonio, Texas.

Kelli is the best friend of Treasured Girlz' host, Courtney DeFeo.

Jonathan Pitts is an author, speaker, and the executive pastor at Church of the City in Franklin,Tennessee. He previously served as the executive director at the Urban Alternative, the national ministry of Dr. Tony Evans. Jonathan has co-authored two books alongside of his late wife, Wynter Pitts. He is also President and co-founder of For Girls Like You Ministries, an equipping and resourcing ministry for tween girls and their parents.Jonathan is the father off our daughters. His oldest daughter is actress, author and vocalist Alena Pitts. He was blessed with fifteen intentional years of marriage to Wynter.

Amy grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and spent “the best four years of her life” on the plains as an Auburn Tiger. She has spent time in the classroom teaching kindergarten, second grade and third grade. In addition to her classroom teaching career, she has also taught etiquette classes for both boys and girls.

After 20 years in the classroom and 19 years teaching etiquette classes, Amy says, “I love teaching children some of the basic rules of etiquette, but I know that helping them develop their inside character is what matters most. I want to join with parents in helping children understand that while it is important to know how to act in social situations, nothing can replace kindness, compassion and gentleness.” She began working on developing a curriculum that integrated etiquette AND the character qualities found in Colossians 3:12. Her hope is that each lesson will help children and teens learn the basics of proper etiquette while also helping them incorporate these qualities in their lives (and she finds that SHE needs the reminder as much as the students do!)

In addition to teaching weekly etiquette classes for children and tweens, Amy writes articles for magazines and speaks to groups of all ages. She has most recently developed a series of online etiquette courses for “in home” use, as well as a “large group curriculum” that teachers can purchase to create their own business opportunity. For more information about Amy’s programs or to view her online curriculum offerings, visit www.etiquettewithmissamy.com.

Amy and her husband, Jay, live in Mountain Brook, Alabama. They also share their home with three teenagers, one cat and two shaggy dogs. 

Kaitlyn, Camryn and Olivia Pitts are young collaborating authors from a ministry family of authors. They are the sisters of actress, author and vocalist, Alena Pitts, and daughters of the late author and founder of ​For Girls Like You​ magazine, Wynter Pitts. They each have their own creative energy, spunk and talents that they use together to entertain, inspire and engage young girls, just like them. Each of the sisters lend their voice and talents to the family ministry as executive producers of ​For Girls Like You​ magazine. Most recently, their lives have inspired the story and books in ​The Daniels Sisters​ series, with each of their personalities being captured for the characters of Ansley, Ashton and Amber, respectively. They live with their dad, pastor, author and speaker, Jonathan Pitts in Franklin, TN.

BECKY THOMPSON is the author of the books My Real Story, Truth Unchanging, Hope Unfolding, and Love Unending and speaks frequently to the issues of balancing life as a wife, mother, and daughter of God. She is the founder of the Midnight Mom Devotional Facebook page and is also known to millions as the author of BeckyThompson.com (formerly Scissortail SILK), a blog that reaches a global audience of readers in need of hope, healing, and the Father's love. A recent transplant to the Nashville area, she lives there with her husband, Jared, and their three young children. For more information, visit www .beckythompson.com.

SUSAN PITTS lives in Oklahoma City with her husband, Marc. They have been married for 40 years and together host conferences and events, ministering across the state. Pitts spends much of her time as the Midnight Mom Devotional prayer director, praying for the thousands of requests that come in from around the world. She has two adult daughters and three grandchildren. In her free time, Pitts enjoys trying to keep her New England garden alive in Oklahoma red dirt soil.

Kristen is the Executive Director of Messaging at Orange (The reThink Group,Inc.) and the Co-Founder and Director of The Phase Project. She and her husband Matt are currently parenting their three amazing children through the phases. Before beginning her career at Orange in 2006, Kristen earned her bachelors of education from Baylor University in 2004 and a Master of Divinity from Mercer University in 2009. She worked in the public school system as a high school Biology and English teacher where she learned firsthand the joy and importance of influencing the next generation.

At Orange, Kristen has played an integral role in the development of the elementary, middle school, andhigh school curriculums and has shared herexperiences at speaking events across the country. Kristen is the co-host of the Parent Cue Live, a weekly podcast for parents. She is also the co-author of twenty-four books, including her latest release: 18-part Phase Guides series.

Courtney DeFeo shares some encouragement and tips about your daughter's FAITH! This is an area moms desire for their daughters to grow - but can also seem daunting and overwhelming. Tune into this episode for perspective and practical advice around this common topic for tweens. In addition, Courtney will share some lessons learned from the Treasured Study and this final session for the girls.