A Good Challenging Whirlwind Year!

Hello friends!

What a year of ministry this has been! Now that I’ve been doing this work for 14 years, I feel like I say that every spring. But this year, I truly mean it: what a year. It has been good, hard, fruitful, challenging, and at times, a complete whirlwind. God has shown up in so many evident ways, blowing my mind again and again.

At the start of this ministry year, I knew we would be launching my long-awaited book. And by “long-awaited,” I mean I’ve known I was supposed to write it since before Google. To finally hold it in my hands has felt like equal parts vulnerability hangover and deep gratitude. Week after week, I hear stories of women I’ve never met picking up this book and finding God’s healing in its pages. Nothing could be more humbling than watching Him use a story I was scared to tell as a salve for hurting hearts across the country.

I am beyond grateful. I have had the opportunity to hear so many people’s stories of real pain but also a real God showing up to meet them. And boy has my faith increased! There was the non-Christian man who drove to a book signing in Idaho with tears in his eyes and asked if he could hug me. Someone had given him the book, and he was so moved by it that he drove all the way to my hometown of Roslyn. There was the young woman who drove a few towns over to tell me that she no longer wants her pain to have the last word. Both her parents have passed, one was an addict and one abusive and she was left carrying their pain. But here she was on page 55, declaring she wants something different than what she inherited. She had decided to follow Jesus, leave her old life behind, and walk away from everything she knew she needed to surrender. One day, while she was praying in her house, the book arrived. She didn’t know how she got it, but she read it. Since then, she has ordered two bookshelves’ worth to start a women’s ministry in her home, where she hopes women will come and heal.

Of course there have been challenges. Writing a book is so different from marketing one. And I find I am way more passionate to write than I am to market. But what would be the point of pouring my heart onto the page if no one ever read it? That’s what my prayer journal is for, sacred words shared only between God and me. This book was written to be shared. The goal has always been to place it into as many hands as possible so more people can collide with Jesus. Many of you have joined me in this ministry of healing by sharing the book with hurting friends and family members. I cannot tell you how grateful I am. Thank you for helping carry this message farther than I ever could on my own.

This year Collide not only ministered to hundreds of women at conferences in Bellingham, Portland and Lynden, but we also dropped a podcast every week and recently were told we are in the top 1% of Christian podcasts. We have been listened to in every state and in 113 countries! Imagine that- people colliding with Jesus in China and Egypt!

We have seen a 200% increase in website traffic in the last 2 years, and we are so grateful! To us this is not “traffic’ or clicks but real women with real stories seeking real ways to collide with Jesus! It is a joy to serve women with biblical encouragement, counseling support, practical tools, and faith-building content. Whether through a retreat, class, conference, podcast, blog, study guide, or counseling session, our mission remains the same: helping women collide with Jesus. We’re currently building a new website and can’t wait to share it with you. And our amazing staff is running hard creating new resources to help bring hope and healing to women.

I think of the husband desperately seeking help for his wife’s addiction. I think of the mom searching for counseling for her teenage daughter struggling with an eating disorder. I think of the woman I met at a book signing who has lost so many people she loves that she has learned to protect herself through isolation—only to discover that isolation was hurting her too.

I think of the pastor’s wife grieving the loss of a child. The woman who lost her husband and called us the very week he died because she needed someone to talk to. I think of the women who flew from Colorado to attend a conference. One had recently been released from prison. That night, she heard a story about God redeeming a life marked by incarceration. It was exactly what she needed to believe that her past mistakes did not disqualify her future. She left with renewed hope that God could still make her life count.

I think of two young women who didn’t know Jesus but texted me afterward to thank us for scholarships because they wanted to learn more about Him. And I think of a woman who handed me two books she had written. Years ago, she came to a conference feeling lost and heard us say, “Be brave for them.” Those words compelled her to tell the story of her husband’s addiction. When he read her book, he gave his life to Christ and got sober. Today, she is battling cancer, but she no longer walks alone. She has a husband who loves Jesus and faithfully walks beside her. Then she met me at Barnes & Noble, the very place where I used to wander the aisles dreaming of becoming an author. As we talked, a young mother wearing her baby in a front carrier picked up my book and said, “I’m going to need this for what I have to fight now.”

Friend, women have real pain, real struggle, real fights and it is my privilege to come alongside them and tell them with all the confidence I have, Jesus loves you, He fights for you. And He wants healing and purpose for you. What a year this has been. God is good. I might rest a bit this summer, but I am already giddy with anticipation about what He has in mind this next year.

All my love,