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    cherylscruggs

    Explore "cherylscruggs" with insightful episodes like "Allie Marie Smith", "Andi Andrew", "Becky Keife", "Dr. Matt Chalmers" and "Special Holiday Episode with Cheryl Scruggs" from podcasts like ""Thriving Beyond Belief with Cheryl Scruggs", "Thriving Beyond Belief with Cheryl Scruggs", "Thriving Beyond Belief with Cheryl Scruggs", "Thriving Beyond Belief with Cheryl Scruggs" and "Thriving Beyond Belief with Cheryl Scruggs"" and more!

    Episodes (49)

    Allie Marie Smith

    Allie Marie Smith

    Do you ever wonder why you’re here, contemplate the purpose of your life or find it hard to push back the darkness?

    Allie knows how hard it is to be a girl or woman in our world today. She was the good girl and scholar athlete hiding behind a smile as she worked overtime to keep it all together. But at the age of eighteen, she came undone. Two weeks after she graduated high school, due to a mental health challenge and many complexities, she found herself in the psychiatric hospital wanting to end my life.

    She was as broken as a girl could be. Jesus found her there and though her journey has been full of detours and breakdowns, she lives loved by the God who has mended the broken pieces of her life together and given her more purpose and joy than she ever could have imagined.

    As an author and the Founder and Director of Wonderfully Made, a Christian ministry for young women, she spends her days writing, speaking and helping girls and women live into their true value and identity.

    She's a California girl and lover of bluegrass who is always covered in dog hair. She loves to surf and adventure up and down the golden coast with her husband Paul and their Golden Retriever Gidget.

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    Andi Andrew

    Andi Andrew

    I love (in no particular order), date nights, being a momma, Taco Tuesday, going to the movies with the fam (popcorn with extra butter and peanut M&Ms – always), good reports at our Staff Meeting, dancing at weddings until they kick me off the dance floor, a good historical fiction novel that makes me think and cry, worship, baking, long deep chats that bring change and revelation, reconciliation, the Word of God, prayer, hosting parties (when I’m not feeling introverted), Central Park in Fall, walking my dog in our neighborhood, vacation with my crew, building the church in any way I can, writing, creating, 80’s music, working out, coffee, kombucha, green juice and trying new food.

    Here’s a little bit about Andi:

    "I was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, and in 2002, met, fell in love with, and married my husband Paul (aka Paul Hot Andrew) in Sydney, Australia where I lived for nearly 10 years. My first three children were born on Aussie soil – pretty much back to back – three kids under the age of three (I’m sweating again just thinking about it). In May of 2010, our family sold almost everything we owned, bar a few keepsakes and clothes of course, packed up our lives and moved to New York City to establish Liberty Church, now a growing church with multiple communities in the city and beyond. We weren’t done having kids just yet, until the one and only American born Samuel Malachi came in to our lives in 2012 (Sam for President). We currently reside in Brooklyn, New York with our four children, Ezekiel (Zeke) Benjamin, Jesse Freedom, Finley Grace, and Samuel Malachi."

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    Becky Keife

    Becky Keife

    Becky Keife is a beloved speaker and is the Community Manager for DaySpring’s (in)courage, a widely followed online community where authentic women link arms to build community, celebrate diversity, and live courageously for Jesus. 

    Becky’s debut book, No Better Mom for the Job: Parenting with Confidence (Even When You Don’t Feel Cut Out for It) reflects her passion for empowering moms to find their confidence in God and encouraging women in the thick of it.

    She is also the author of the new releases, The Simple Difference: How Every Small Kindness Makes a Big Impact and it's companion Bible Study, Couragoues Kindness: Live the Simple Difference Right Where You Are. (October 2021)

    Becky has been featured on The Hallmark Channel's Home & Family show, The Crystal Paine Show podcast, HomeLife Magazine, and many more media outlets.

    Keife has a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and Master’s in English. With a decade of experience as a professional editor, she enjoys championing writers and equipping them to use their voice for God’s glory.

    Becky is a huge fan of Voxer, Instagram, Sunday naps, and imperfect people leaning on Jesus. She and her husband live near Los Angeles, where they enjoy hiking shady trails with their three spirited sons.

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    Dr. Matt Chalmers

    Dr. Matt Chalmers

    Dr. Matt Chalmers is a health and wellness expert, author and speaker who specializes in the areas of long-term wellness, nutrition, women’s health, weight loss, athlete wellness and holistic healing.

    With a client list that includes professional athletes, business executives, politicians and celebrities, Dr. Chalmers takes a holistic-based approach with patients to identify and treat the source of their issues. Medical doctors regularly refer patients to Dr. Chalmers when traditional medications and treatments are not working with their patients.

    Dr. Chalmers works with patients to identify, treat and manage a wide variety of issues, including weight loss/gain, digestive problems, chronic fatigue, pain, injuries, celiac disease,

    chiropractic problems, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome and plantar fasciitis. He also provides patients with hormone therapy guidance and treatment.

    Dr. Chalmers is the author of the bestselling book “Pillars of Wellness,” which helps readers cut through the information overload about wellness, exercise and diet to figure out the actions they can take that will have the greatest impact. The book details how to fuel the body physically, mentally and spiritually.

    Dr. Chalmers received his degree of Doctor of Chiropractic from Parker Chiropractic College in Dallas. He has a Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness, is a Certified Clinical Chiropractic Neurologist, a Certified Chiropractic Sports Practitioner and has additional certifications in spinal decompression and quantum reflex analysis. He currently lives in Dallas with his wife. More information is available at www.ChalmersWellness.com.

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    Special Holiday Episode with Cheryl Scruggs

    Special Holiday Episode with Cheryl Scruggs

    The holidays can be tough when it comes to family dynamics and lots of other things we are dealing with in life! But today, I want to encourage and challenge as we move in to this wonderful time of year!

    Let's go there and talk about where you are; emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally during the holidays.

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    Rachel Macy Stafford

    Rachel Macy Stafford

    Join me this week on Thriving Beyond Belief with my guest Rachel Macy Stafford.

    In LIVE LOVE NOW Stafford shows readers how to become a truth-teller, encourager and guide to help young adults through the top stressors they face today—academic pressure, parental expectations, technoference, lack of purpose, isolation and the absence of effective coping skills.

    Stafford bravely and beautifully weaves in her own parenting struggles and breakthroughs throughout the book. She exposes a season of personal depletion and overwhelm that culminated when she raised a casserole dish over her head and smashed it on the kitchen counter – a scene that every adult can relate to. Stafford was relieved that her apology to her teenage daughter, who had been a witness, was met with suggestions of loving, self-care tactics – ones that Rachel had modeled countless times to her family members during their difficult times.

    Stafford says, “In the face of failure, shame, and embarrassment, in times of loss and rejection, in moments of pain and trauma, our kids will recall the moments they saw us struggle. But it won’t be the struggle that they will remember most, it will be the resilience, the effort, the refusal to give up and the willpower to keep trying.”

    Jeff & Cheryl Scruggs with Aaron & Jamie Ivey

    Jeff & Cheryl Scruggs with Aaron & Jamie Ivey

    This week on Thriving Beyond Belief, we have a special episode with Jeff and myself with Aaron and Jamie Ivey, co-authors of Complement: The Surprising Beauty of Choosing Together Over Separate in Marriage.

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    Kat Harris

    Kat Harris

    Welcome back everyone! Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast is our guest, Kat Harris!

    In Sexless in the City: A Sometimes Sassy, Sometimes Painful, Always Honest Look at Dating, Desire, and Sex

    The popular podcast host and founder of The Refined Woman shares how she researched, wrestled, and discovered a God who wasn’t afraid or ashamed of sex and desire. Realizing countless women were dying to ask the same questions she was—and to get answers from a female who had actually walked the walk—Kat compiled her findings to empower women of faith to navigate today’s dating culture with vision, clarity, and freedom.

    In a culture where relationships often begin by swiping right, does biblical wisdom about sex and dating still hold water? Having grown up in the height of the purity movement, approaching 30 and fresh to the dating scene in New York City, Kat Harris wasn’t so sure. Caught between the rules of her raising and popular culture’s do what feels good, she set out on a multi-year journey to find answers to her biggest questions about sexuality and faith.

    Jarrett Stephens

    Jarrett Stephens

    Welcome back everyone! Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast is our guest, Jarrett Stephens!

    A message of hope for an anxious day: God never changes. He is still here and ready to transform our lives. What we must ask is if we are ready to respond to him.

    In these turbulent times, many wonder where God is…and why he doesn’t seem to be intervening. Sure, he performed miracles in the Bible, but what about now? What about us? In The Always God: He Hasn’t Changed and You Are Not Forgotten (Jun 1, 2021, Multnomah), Pastor Jarrett Stephens reveals how God is always present, always working, and always faithful.

    In The Always God, Jarrett, pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, gives hope to those who think God has given up on us. It invites us to quiet ourselves and listen to the God who does not change or forget us. Not ever. And that changes everything.

    Jarrett asks readers: Do you wonder if God has forgotten you?

    He responds,
    “I wrote this book for you because I’ve been where you are. As a pastor, I walk with people who are where you are: in the midst of a trial, needing to be reminded that our God is always God and needing to be invited to journey with him to a place of greater assurance and intimacy. Regardless of how things may seem, he is always the same and can always be trusted.”

    Jarrett shares moments of his wild and sometimes painful journey, including:

    • As a boy, when he was a victim of sex abuse from a little league coach for four years
    • When he and his wife lost a child to miscarriage
    • The years he prayed for a prodigal brother
    • The suffering of a dear friend with cancer

    Bringing sound biblical teaching along with comforting guidance, he can help your audience answer such questions as: Is God listening and does he see me? Can I have an unwavering confidence that God is always here and always working? Can I get to a place where, no mat­ter what happens, doubt won’t overtake me?  

    Jarrett’s prayer is that every reader will discover in a very personal and powerful way just how faithful the always God really is.

    Jarrett Stephens is the senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church, in Houston, Texas, one of the largest and most diverse churches in America, and he is the author of The Mountains Are Calling.Previously, he served as a teaching pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church alongside Dr. Jack Graham. He has a bachelor of arts in biblical studies and psychology from Ouachita Baptist University, a master of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctorate of ministry from Liberty Theological Seminary. Jarrett has been featured on The 700 Club, I Am Second and dozens of radio and podcast shows.

    “In these pages, you’ll find empathy, wisdom, encouragement, and a thoroughly biblical perspective for times when God seems distant or disinterested. Jarrett Stephens doesn’t flinch as he courageously confronts some of the most nettlesome issues that vex so many followers of Jesus. Whatever you do, don’t miss this journey toward wholeness. Let Jarrett lead you to a place of genuine hope and faith!”

    —Lee Strobel, bestselling author of The Case for Christ and The Case for Miracles

    Todd & Brooke Tilghman

    Todd & Brooke Tilghman

    Welcome back everyone! Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast is our guest, Todd & Brooke Tilghman!

    So often we hear “Just keep your eye on the prize!” and “focus on the ‘big picture!’" Todd and Brooke Tilghman offer this counter-cultural advice: look for the small things, not the big things––relish each and every small step/moment.

    When Todd Tilghman, pastor of two decades and father of eight from Meridian, Mississippi, auditioned for NBC’s The Voice, he counted it as a win simply to sing in front of an audience other than family and church members. Despite no music or vocal training, he not only made it through the blind audition––with all four celebrity judges vying to coach him––he also won the show's entire eighteenth season.

    In their forthcoming book, Every Little Win: How Celebrating Small Victories can Lead to Big Joy (Thoman Nelson, June 22, 2021), Todd and his wife, Brooke, share how decades of unrelenting challenges have taught them a joyful mindset of embracing not only winning NBC’s The Voice, but also “every little win” along the way. This is the first book ever written by a winner of The Voice.

    Fans were drawn to Todd's tremendous joy on stage, giving them much-needed inspiration during the hard challenges of a global pandemic. In Every Little Win, Todd and Brooke discuss how their focus on joy and celebrating every little win has helped them to overcome numerous challenges over their twenty-plus-year marriage. Todd and Brooke share the lessons they've learned and the strategies that have moved them from fear to faith to ever-present joy.

    They share in the book, “We win as we discover that in God’s economy, brokenness leads to beauty, and scarcity to abundance.”

    • Relationships––from being a young dating couple breaking up (for the sake of Christ), to getting married, to being at the brink of divorce, to reconciling, to facing the negative aspects of social media on relationships.
    • Parenting––from adopting two girls on a pastor’s salary (which is practically impossible without an act of God), to parenting a critically ill child (and wondering why God doesn’t answer all our prayers for our children), to having to check one of their sons into a facility to get treatment for depression following bullying at school, to helping that same son later navigate “going viral” for his artwork.
    • Handling adversity and cultural stressors––pastoring a church during times of adversity.
    • Mental Health––from Brooke’s own battle with anxiety/depression, to how Todd learned to support and care for her in her darkest hours, to both Brooke and Todd parenting one of their children through depression.

    Together, Todd and Brooke explain how to find special moments in the middle of ordinary days––from their childhoods to winning NBC’s The Voice and “every little win” in between. Through it all, Todd and Brooke count their blessings. This book isn’t sugar coated. It’s real. It’s honest. It’s intimate. And it’s hopeful.

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    Abby Turner

    Abby Turner

    Welcome back everyone! Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast is our guest, Abby Turner!

    Before the pandemic led to social gatherings being literally outlawed, the deck was already stacked against the everyday hostess who wanted to practice the discipline of hospitality in her home. A five-course meal? A beautifully curated tablescape? A hand-engraved invitation? A less-than-sparkling-clean home? Real or imagined, lofty prerequisites for entertaining have scared many away from inviting others into their homes and enjoying the unique, divine connection that happens only when people sit down around the table and enjoy a meal together.

    Abby Turner, the food blogger and writer behind A Table Top Affair, has made it her mission to help women toss aside the pressures of a Pinterest-perfect dinner party in exchange for meaningful and simple gatherings that feature easy and delicious dishes, allowing hostesses to shift their focus from the food and party preparations to communing with the people who are present.

    In her first cookbook, The Living Table: Recipes and Devotions for Everyday Get-Togethers (DaySpring, April 13, 2021), Turner equips women with the tools to live life as God intended around the table: simple, delicious recipes for life’s big and small occasions, a practical guide to no-fuss hosting, and devotions and encouragement for the hearts that will gather and be nourished around the table.

    “The table is important,” writes Turner. “God, in His infinite wisdom, designed the table to be a safe place where the human soul receives healing from past events, forgiveness from past actions, and a deep-seated love that only comes from the presence of God.”

    As a young professional, Abby found herself working long hours and living alone, with little time for community or friendships. Following her mother’s advice, she invited friends into her home and hosted her first dinner party at the age of 24. After four years of learning her way around the kitchen while cooking for her friends, she launched her blog, Pinterest and Instagram pages to encourage people who were stuck in a rut, didn’t know how to meet others, and were starving for community. Drawn to the table, Abby hopes that her recipes will inspire others to build their tribe and experience the presence of God, one meal at a time.

    About the Author:

    Abby Turner is a young professional who is single and loving life as a food blogger, speaker, and writer. Born into a large family, she grew up in Central Arkansas, where she learned the importance of community and Biblical hospitality at a young age. After completing undergraduate degrees at Ouachita Baptist University and obtaining her Master's from Baylor, Abby lived in 6 states in 5 years, learning that community is essential to a healthy relationship with Christ. Over the last few years, Abby has spoken at college/universities, churches, companies and has been featured on regional TV shows and podcasts. Abby's passion is to encourage women to stop wasting time waiting for the perfect family, house, or table and to start opening their homes, cooking for friends and building community. You can learn more about Abby and enjoy even more recipes by visiting her website at atabletopaffair.com.

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    Hannah Brencher

    Hannah Brencher

    Welcome back everyone! Today on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast is our guest, Hannah Brencher!

    Hannah Brencher is a writer, TED Speaker, and mental health advocate with a heart for building leaders. She is the author of two best-selling books- “If You Find This Letter” and her latest book, “Come Matter Here.” Her forthcoming book "Fighting Forward" will be available in bookstores everywhere on January 5, 2020.

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    Debra Fileta

    Debra Fileta

    Today on Thriving Beyond Belief, we have Debra Fileta!

    According to Fileta, people tend to assume they’re okay—until they’re not. Becoming healthy is an ongoing process that requires stopping, digging deep and asking the hard questions.

    In her new book, Fileta challenges readers to get real with who they are and how they’re doing spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically so they can recognize where they need growth and healing. Readers will learn to...

    • Understand and express emotions in healthy and helpful ways
    • Get to the root of what they believe about themselves, others, and God
    • Recognize the influences of past traumas and replace them with God’s truth
    • Honestly assess their own mental health and pursue help when it’s needed
    • Prioritize their physical well-being and see how it affects every other area of their life
    • Combat commonly believed lies about mental illness such as “true believers don’t suffer from
      depression”
    • Say “no” and set up healthy boundaries

    Fileta knows firsthand that being a Christian doesn’t automatically make a person healthy. After 10+ years of marriage, 15 years of counseling clients, and four and a half books (she’s currently cowriting one with Gary Thomas), she not only possesses the knowledge and experience to coach readers on their journey to becoming more than okay––she has the heart for it. In Are You Really Okay? Fileta reveals some of her own traumas for the first time in print, including a miscarriage that nearly killed her and her deep struggles with both anxiety and depression––writing to her readers as if she were talking to a close friend and yet counseling them with the professional tools they need.

    Crystal Paine

    Crystal Paine

    Today on Thriving Beyond Belief, we have Crystal Paine!

    Crystal Paine had it all together—a happy marriage, three healthy children, national bestselling books, a wildly successful business, and a mortgage-free home—until suddenly, she didn’t. Her world turned upside down the day she learned her child was not only being expelled for bullying others, but was also depressed and suicidal. Sitting in an emergency room with her husband and child, her world crumbling around her, Crystal hit her all-time parenting low—but she also heard the voice of God say “I love you.”

    “God allowed me to hit rock bottom so that He could help me relearn how to parent,”

    writes Paine.

    “I realized that most of my parenting had been about me. I was parenting for my own approval and reputation, instead of for my relationship with my kids and for their well-being. I cared more about what others thought than I did about my kids’ hearts. I worried more about producing kids who made good decisions than about kids who knew they were wholeheartedly loved.”

    Throughout the book, Paine shares her own parenting stories—the good, the bad, and the ugly—what she’s learned, and how she’s shifted into a love-centered model of raising her children. And because you can’t give what you don’t have, she first had to let God reparent her, relearning to parent from the inside out.

    Kelsey Chapman

    Kelsey Chapman

    Today on Thriving Beyond Belief, we have Kelsey Chapman!

    Let's talk mentoring and mentorship!

    Meet Kelsey Chapman

    Kelsey Chapman is an author, podcaster and personal cheerleader to women building their dream life and business.

    When she first launched her own brand in 2015, she felt all the overwhelming feelings, too. It was scary to take such a huge leap and commit to showing up for a dream she didn’t know would pan out.

    People are CRAVING investment! Don’t we all just want someone to step in, help us walk the next few steps in front of us, and offer their wisdom so we can shortcut the distance?

    • Your mentor is probably not going to be Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, or Bobbie Houston…
      How to find a mentor, that’s probably already in your inner circle, that will be *equally impactful* as one of those people you have on a pedestal in your mind!
    • How to recognize mentors in your everyday life
      Sometimes our mentors are friends that make us feel at home in our own skin, strong women in our faith circles, or the mother and wife that we look at and think, “I want the life I see you building.”
    • Want to be a mentor? How to get past imposter syndrome…Stop disqualifying yourself! The average mentor is just 3 steps ahead of their mentee. Someone, just a few steps behind you, would be honored for you to step into whatever facet of life they need support in.
    • Standing as a daughter of God in the midst of your fears, I had a lot of fear growing up and even into adulthood - one of my mentors helped me face these with confidence knowing I was safe, loved, and empowered in my identity.
    • Your mentor isn’t going to be perfect…
    • You can learn from anyone. And it will be important to realize that as you get up close and personal with your mentor, they aren’t going to be killing it in every area. While you may be looking for mentorship on how to be an incredible person, you might realize they may not be killing it in the family department - and that’s OKAY! You can learn what you need from them and seek mentorship for another facet of life elsewhere.

    Tara-Leigh Cobble

    Tara-Leigh Cobble

    Today on Thriving Beyond Belief, we have Tara-Leigh Cobble!

    Despite an early introduction to Christianity, Tara wasted years coasting on the second-hand information she learned from others. In 2008, through the gentle encouragement of a friend, she read all the way through the Bible for the first time. It awakened a recognition of her need to have others walking closely alongside her in my pursuit of God -- people to hold her accountable for scripture memory and Bible reading and all the things that were bringing her so much newfound joy!

    Out of that need, Tara started D-Group (Discipleship Group) a handful of college students in 2009 and it has grown into 250+ groups around the world. What she's learned has motivated her to encourage others to pursue relational knowledge of God, because she has found that He is where the joy is! She loves to speak to audiences about God and His Word, and she has written a few books with an aim to point others toward Him through her story as well as their own. She also writes and host a daily podcast called The Bible Recap, which aims to keep people connected to reading the Bible when they're tempted to quit for lack of understanding, as well as a daily radio show called The God Shot.

    Tara lives in a concrete box in the skies of Dallas, TX, where she has no spouse, pets, or children -- or anything else that might die if she forget to feed it.

    163: Richard Lui

    163: Richard Lui

    Today on Thriving Beyond Belief, we have Richard Lui!

    Seven years ago, Richard Lui walked into his supervisor’s office at NBC’s 30 Rock headquarters, prepared to give up his dream news anchor job. Having just learned of his father’s Alzheimer’s, the journalist wanted to be with him during his important last years, even if it meant setting aside his career. Lui reduced his work hours and joined 53 million Americans in becoming a family caregiver. Enough About Me is inspired by that decision to live to take care of someone else.

    Book: Enough About Me

    The Unexpected Power of Selflessness

    What if your path to a more successful, healthy, and satisfying life is actually not about you?

    Richard Lui shares how one of the big ideas of our time is more in reach than we thought. How small choices toward selflessness are not a compromise. Choice by choice, step by step, we can do something bigger than ourselves.

    Noelle Mering

    Noelle Mering

    Today on Thriving Beyond Belief, we have Noelle Mering! She an author and the Arts and Culture editor for Theology of Home. She studied philosophy and theatre at Westmont College in California and did graduate work in philosophy at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Noelle and her husband live in Southern California with their six children.

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    Kait Warman

    Kait Warman

    The sting of rejection is one of those bitter parts of life that we can’t fully escape. Whether it happened in grade school or last week, rejection can leave deep scars that affect our relationships, our self-worth, and our identities for years to come. But instead of letting it weigh us down as we drown in despair, what if we used it to catapult us into profound healing, growth, and a deeper sense of love of self?

    Popular dating coach and host of The Heart of Dating podcast Kait Warman has reckoned with rejection to find a life of freedom, wholeness, and purpose, and wants deep down for others to do the same. In her new book, Thank You for Rejecting Me: Transform Pain into Purpose and Learn to Fight for Yourself, Warman vulnerably shares how she grew through her deepest, darkest rejections and offers readers the tools to heal from the past, take back their power, and walk in strength, victory, and love into their future.

    "My biggest life rejections have made me into the woman I am today," writes Warman. “They’ve led me to discover deeper parts of my soul, given me great endurance and profound strength, and helped me come face-toface with hidden wounds and grimy shame to experience healing and love. They’ve also taught me how to stand strong in my identity."

    Warman’s incredible candor and openness coupled with a voice will encourage readers to acknowledge the pain of their past rejections, commit to finding the courage to move forward toward healing and wholeness, and to see and fight for their true, lovely, worthy selves.

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