BORN & RAISED IN TEXAS
Born in Raised in Dallas, TX. I grew up in a diverse home of faith. My father was raised Jewish and my mother was Southern Baptist. I had the opportunity to learn about and celebrate both faiths, which has given me a love for learning about people and cultures. I was the only child for about 8 years before my sweet and sassy Sister, Sara, came along. I went through several phases during my adolescence and in my teen years, and now looking back, I see where God was working and the results that followed when I was obedient and when I wasn’t. In my late elementary years, I struggled with my weight, I remember the despair I felt at one of my pediatrician appointments when the doctor told my mother and I that I was 30 pounds overweight. This is embarrassing to admit, but I want to be real with y’all, there was a point where my parents literally had to hide food from me, especially sweets. Thankfully through a better diet and exercise by the time I was in middle school I had gotten down to a healthy weight. There was still a lingering insecurity that the enemy would use over the next several years of my life from this experience.
THE MOVE & HIGH SCHOOL
When I was 15, we moved to a new city, and having to leave all the friends I grew up with was hard. I had a lot of good friends that loved the Lord around me and I took that for granted. I now know having a strong Faith-Filled Inner Circle is vital for our faith and protection living in a
fallen world.
At this new school, I was exposed to so many different influences; some being good and some
not.
High School was literally a crockpot of experiences. By the time I was a senior I had been involved in Student Council and elected to Student Council Historian, I Competed and won state with my Cheerleading Squad, was inducted into the National Honor Society, was an Anchor on our School Announcements, was First Female Bone Head (will have to save that story for another time), Homecoming Queen and Prom Queen and enlisted into the “Who’s Who of High School Students”.
High School was where I learned the value of a strong work ethic, and the positive impact kindness has when you give it freely.
When I graduated from college, I focused on my career development and landed a great job in the medical staffing industry. This career choice was one the Lord has used to bring on so many challenges that put me on a fast track to develop skill sets in attention management, planning, and conflict resolution.
All those challenges and learning lessons played a key part in how I created the planner portion of my JoySoul Connection Devotional.
TRUE LOVE, HEART BREAK & LIFE CHANGING PRAYER
Becoming Bradyn’s mother completely changed my heart. It was truly the beginning of, what I feel, the Lord used in my life to bring my attention back to my identity in him and not in “myself” and my “insecurities.” It was like the hazy goggles were removed and I could finally start to see my value in Christ.
About a year after Bradyn was born, his father and I divorced. This was a very difficult time and as I share in my transformation story, this was the first intervention where I literally felt the Lord speaking to me, guiding me, and rescuing me from my sin and rebellion.
During that time the financial burden and parental responsibility to raise Bradyn was one of the heaviest burdens I have ever experienced in my life. I had been consistently in prayer at that time leaning on God to help me through. After I had put Bradyn to bed I felt this strong sense to pray over Bradyn and specifically ask the Lord for wisdom. I didn't know at that time, but I was praying one of God's promises, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5 That night with tears and emotion and faith, I asked the Lord for Wisdom to help me raise Bradyn, to be strong, courageous, honorable and to have a heart and mind that loves Jesus.
After praying that prayer, a wave of peace rushed over me and I wasn't scared of not being able to raise Bradyn well. I knew with the Lord as my parental partner, being a single mother was not going to limit my ability to lead Bradyn well.
In addition to peace the Lord awakened in me a strong desire to read. I really hadn't been much of a reader before, but within a year after that prayer, I read 50 books – Praise the Lord!
The topics I read about included communication, parenting, relationships, attention management, the psychology of the human brain and healthy habits.
Second Chance
I began volunteering at my church and praying over protection for my future and whom I choose to date. I asked the Lord for help because I knew I needed the Lord's guidance, and I wanted to ensure Bradyn would have a better.
Within a year after my divorce, the Lord led me to my second chance at love, Jason. When Jason and I first met, I could see from his actions, that he truly cared about my heart and my faith vs. what he could get from me. It was a welcomed change, and I was so thankful to the Lord for bringing us together.
The beginning of our relationship had a lot of amazing memories, love, and fun but unfortunately also a lot of turbulence and trial. I came with a child and an ex and so did he. It wasn’t just us in our relationship, we had 6 people in our relationship! We dated for two years and during that time had 3 break ups that the Lord used to draw us closer to him, grow us in maturity and allow us to see the fruit that comes when
you are committed to working together and being on the same team under the Lord’s authority and for your family.
At the time I write this we’ve been married for 10 years! (November 23, 2012, is our anniversary, well we have 2 anniversaries, but that’s a story for another time)
We hit a rough patch about 7 years into our marriage and after attending an intensive 7-day conference the Lord
really went to work on both of us and our hearts through accountability, ownership, and reflection.
This was also a period where I realized I was idolizing my work to give me my “identity” and the trial that followed from this idol revealed itself to me in 2020, but also led me to finally and truly rededicating my life to Christ and receiving his direction for JoySoul Connection.
THE BIBLE RECAP & D-GROUP
One of the resources the Lord led me to, which has been one of the best blessings to my Faith and growth in my relationship with the Lord came from the 1-year Chronological reading plan called “The Bible Recep”. This resource not only helped me read through the entire Bible in 1 year but also helped me discover the Lord in a whole new way that I had never been able to before.
I also had a better understanding of the Bible story because Tara Leigh’s Recap after each reading gave me a higher-level view of context as well as revealing the character of God every single day I read. During the reading plan recap, Tara Leigh consistently spoke about a Discipleship Group, called D-Group. Every time I heard her speak about it I could feel the Lord telling me he wanted me to lead a D-Group.
Honestly, my first thought was, this is too much, how would I find the time, but then I thought about how I wanted to build relationships with other women that were as committed to living out their lives under the Lord’s authority as I was. So, I found a D-Group about 20 minutes from my house and decided to join to ensure I could fully commit before starting to lead a group on my own. The Lord was at work in this plan as he led
me to my then D-Group Leader Venessa, she and I hit it off right away and had so much in common.
After a series of meetings, I first made the leap to Co-Lead with Venessa, and then on Easter Sunday 2022 Venessa Baptized me in my backyard; it was beautiful and so meaningful and special.
Shortly after that, I began to lead D-Group full-time at my home and the fruit that the Lord has placed into my life from this group will most likely be a future blog post I share.
In the meantime, if you are looking for a place to grow in your understanding of the bible, and be in a community that will challenge you and encourages you in living out the Gospel, then D-Group may be a tool God uses to lead you toward growth and joy in Him.
To learn more about D-Group check out mydgroup.org and if you want to learn more about The Bible Recap, check out www.thebiblerecap.com/start
REDEEMED
Through these trials, and blessings the Lord has revealed to me how I can use all the lessons from my past and present to help women bring their focus and attention back to abiding in the
Lord so that they can live out their God Given Purpose!
Love your sister in Christ
Amanda
