From Yes to Sisterhood: How One Encounter Led to Faith, Books, and a Powerful Women of God Conference
It started with one simple yes.
Not a loud yes. Not a fully planned yes. Just a willing yes, the kind that comes from trusting God even when the full picture is not clear yet.
I believe God places people in our lives for a reason. Sometimes it happens in church. Sometimes it happens through family. Sometimes it happens in the most unexpected places, like a dealership. What seemed like an ordinary encounter became the beginning of a sisterhood, a book project, and a yearly gathering where women of God come together to share how faithful God has been through every trial.
That one moment opened doors I could not have imagined. It led me to co-author a book called Built God Tough, and that project became more than pages in a book. It became a movement of women standing together, testifying together, healing together, and reminding one another that God still covers, keeps, and restores.
A dealership encounter became a divine connection
Some meetings stay with you because they feel different from the start.
An encounter at a dealership may not sound like the beginning of ministry, friendship, or purpose. Yet God can use any place as holy ground when His hand is on the moment. That day was not just about business. It was about connection.
What began as a conversation grew into something deeper. Over time, that connection turned into sisterhood. A bond formed through faith, obedience, and shared purpose. There are people who enter our lives and immediately feel assigned by God. They carry encouragement. They bring confirmation. They help pull out parts of our calling that we may not have seen clearly yet.
That is what happened here.
The yes that started everything was not only about agreeing to an opportunity. It was about saying yes to God’s timing. Yes to new relationships. Yes to the unfamiliar. Yes to trusting that He was building something bigger than one person.
Built God Tough opened a new door
Co-authoring Built God Tough was a powerful step. The title alone speaks to endurance, faith, and strength formed through pressure. It carries the truth that being tough in God is not about pretending life is easy. It is about knowing who holds you when life is hard.
Writing alongside other women of faith created a space for testimony. Each story carried weight. Each voice mattered. Each chapter became proof that God can bring beauty out of places that once felt broken.
That project did more than create a book. It opened a door.
From that shared writing experience came a yearly conference where powerful women of God gather under one roof and on one stage. They come together to speak about real trials, real pain, real grace, and a real God who never stopped being faithful.
There is something special about hearing women tell the truth about how they made it over. Not polished, not perfect, just honest. Those stories help someone else breathe again. They remind someone else that if God covered one woman through grief, sickness, disappointment, loss, or struggle, He can cover another too.
Testimony has a way of turning private pain into public hope.
The conference became a place of covering and courage
The yearly conference has become a sacred gathering. It is a place where women of God come together with expectation. They come to listen, worship, connect, cry, laugh, and remember that they are not alone.
The heart of the conference is simple and powerful:
God covered us through the trial.
God remained faithful in the waiting.
God gave strength when ours ran low.
God turned grief into testimony.
God used our yes for more than we could see.
There is power in being in a room with women who have survived things they once thought would break them. There is power in hearing someone say, “I went through it, but God kept me.” There is power in bringing stories out of silence and letting them become light.
This is what makes the gathering more than an event. It is ministry. It is remembrance. It is sisterhood.
The women who come together are not just sharing what they have done. They are sharing what God has done. That shift matters. It takes the focus off performance and places it back where it belongs, on the faithfulness of God.
My books are part of my testimony
At this year’s gathering, I had the opportunity to share more of my own journey through a video that highlights my bio and the books I have written, The Hero Inside of Me and There Is Gospel in My Grief.
Both books come from places of purpose.
The Hero Inside of Me b is a children’s Christian book written from the perspective of a young boy who is learning how to navigate life without living with his parents. Through the love, guidance, and wisdom of his grandparents, he begins to understand that even when life feels confusing, lonely, or difficult, he is never alone.
As his grandparents help him navigate the challenges of growing up, they remind him of something very important: God is always with him.
The book teaches children about the gift of the Holy Spirit that God has placed inside of us
There Is Gospel in My Grief carries a message close to my heart. Grief can feel lonely. It can feel confusing. It can make the future look different than what we hoped for. Yet even there, God speaks. Even there, He comforts. Even there, the gospel reminds us that sorrow does not get the final word.
A plaque that represents more than recognition
This weekend, I also received a plaque. I am grateful for that moment.
A plaque is an honor, but for me, it represents more than recognition. It represents obedience. It represents the journey from one yes to many open doors. It represents the prayers, the tears, the writing, the stretching, and the courage it took to keep moving.
It also represents every person God used along the way.
No one walks into purpose alone. God sends people. He sends sisters. He sends encouragers. He sends people who see what He placed inside of you and help remind you when you forget.
When I look at that plaque, I see more than my name. I see God’s faithfulness. I see the dealership encounter that turned into sisterhood. I see the book project that turned into a conference. I see women standing together and declaring that God has been good.
One yes can carry generations of purpose
Looking back, I can see how much was connected to that first yes.
A yes to connection became a sisterhood. A yes to writing became Built God Tough. A yes to sharing testimony became a yearly conference. A yes to telling my story became books that can encourage someone else through pain, grief, and faith.
This is the beauty of walking with God. He sees the full story before we do. He knows which conversations will matter. He knows which relationships will grow. He knows which rooms we need to enter and which assignments are waiting on the other side of our obedience.
He was faithful in the beginning. He was faithful through the trials. He was faithful in the grief. He was faithful in the open doors. And He is still faithful now.
Sometimes purpose starts in the most unexpected place. Sometimes sisterhood begins with a simple conversation. Sometimes a yes becomes the seed for something far greater than we imagined.
Say yes to God. You never know what He will build from it.
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