ZionMagazine-Final

Issue 01 

Fall 2016 

Women of Light 

A city on a hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5:14 

Rescuing, Restoring, and Releasing 

a Redeemed Army unto the Light!

Dear Reader, 

Where is your favorite place 

to be? Mine is my farm 

house kitchen. In August 

2013, my marriage took a 

hit…to say the least. I was 

blindsided by the enemy. 

He came at me full force, 

and I was NOT ready. 

God led me from a season 

of busyness and hurt in the 

city to a season of sitting still 

and healing in the country. Guess 

where I did most of my sitting still? Yep - you guessed 

it! At the table in my farm house kitchen. 

In the stillness, I’d sit for hours at my kitchen table 

reading God’s word, meditating, crying, yelling, 

questioning, praying, ultimately seeking. Seeking what 

good could possibly come from all this pain. 

God eventually brought me women to sit around the 

table with me. I shared my unedited heart. Holding 

nothing back. Not even the tears. The more I shared, 

the more I healed. The more I healed, the more God 

shed light on His grace and my future. 

Three years later, I’m starting to see the light…I see 

the redemption that follows the bad and ugly. I’m 

no longer dry bones in the valley. He has given this 

working Martha the worship of Mary. 

“And the breath came into them, and they lived and 

stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” 

Ezekiel 37:10 

God told me to rise up! So here I am at the table with 

you...ALIVE! I’ve invited women of light to join us. This 

is where me and my dear sisters in Christ will sit and 

share with you...so pour a cup of coffee, have a seat, 

and let’s get to know the heart of our Father. 

Much Love, 

Sarah Terry 

Chief Editor

It was underneath the juniper 

tree that I died to self. I walked 

out from under the tree, I shook 

off the sand, and I headed to the 

mountaintop...a city on a hill. 

- Sarah Terry

Hill of Zion Founder: 

Harold Morgan 

Hill of Zion Co-Founder: 

Sarah Terry 

Chief Editor: 

Sarah Terry 

Proof Editor: 

Carissa Meyer 

Layout and Design: 

Robert Gonzales 

Photography: 

Elizabeth Walden 

Women of Light: 

Jacque Clifton 

Lisa Cortese 

Mallory Jenkins 

Carissa Meyer 

Kaci Nicole 

Heather Paul 

Sally Peterson 

Glenda Pyzer 

Jessica Sowards 

Sarah Terry 

Elizabeth Walden

Table Talk Contents 

Radical..................................................................................................1 


I Still Choose Me...................................................................................2 


Holding Your Dreams Close...................................................................5 


With Each Step......................................................................................6 

Kaci Nicole 

One Love..............................................................................................8 

Glenda Pyzer 

Holding Loosely....................................................................................9 

Carissa Meyer 

Roots...................................................................................................11 

Heather Paul 

Dolta Joe Morgan and the Buffalo Tree................................................14 

Tribute Ryan Depp 

The Call to Zion..................................................................................17 


My Promise Unfolding.........................................................................18 

Lisa Cortese 

An Instruction from the Lord................................................................19 


Marching to Zion.................................................................................21 

Sarah Terry 

The Buffalo Tree...................................................................................25 

Sarah Terry 

Author Bios.........................................................................................26 

Women of Light: Prayer Journal...........................................................32 

Prayer Journal Pages.............................................................................33

Radical 


One random day, what feels like an entire lifetime 

ago, my husband and I prayed a prayer. We made 

a declaration in complete ignorance to give God 

everything we had. “Lord,” we said, “Help us be 

radical for You. Help us to love You and follow You 

the way You deserve to be loved and followed.” 

I loved Him then, even though I didn’t entirely 

know Him. We were in ministry, albeit in a very 

Martha-in-the-kitchen type of way. We worked 

for God every day. We were at church for every 

service. Our life was ministry. However, we were 

burning out. We were tired. Our marriage was 

strained and our children overwhelmed us. We 

knew there had to be a level of Jesus we were 

missing. 

We came home from a youth camp where my 

husband was serving as a pastor. And there, sitting 

on the edge of our bed, completely exhausted 

in every sense of the word, we prayed that 

prayer. Without even really knowing what we 

were asking, without even really knowing the 

difference between the working of Martha and 

the worshipping of Mary, we asked Him to give us 

more of Him. 

He is so faithful. Even in my ignorance, He is 

faithful to teach. Even in my fickle distraction, He 

is faithful to woo me into a deeper revelation of 

Him. Even in my unfaithfulness, He has shown 

Himself immeasurably good. 

It took a tornado. On a Sunday afternoon, as we 

unpacked the U-Haul at the little farm I’d prayed 

for my whole life, a tornado ripped through our 

town and began the process that turned everything 

we knew upside down. It’s a much longer story 

than I have space to tell, but it is a story full of love 

and lessons and reverence. It is a story of learning 

to be still and know that He is God. It is a story of 

learning I can trust Him and fear Him; believe Him 

and hear Him. It is a messy story, with bumps and 

bruises and so, so, so much grace. 

That was over two years ago. As I write this, I am 

sitting next to a window in a coffee shop. The rain 

is pooling in dark puddles in the parking lot and, 

as the sky darkens, my reflection is becoming 

more and more distinguishable in the glass. 

Sometimes I don’t recognize myself. The Lord, 

in allowing me to know Him more deeply, has 

healed me more completely than I ever imagined 

possible. He has exposed the very darkest places 

in me. He has shone His bright, bright light on the 

places that felt unlovable and the places that felt 

like I had to prove myself worthy. He has taught 

me to freely receive the gifts He has for me. 

He is so faithful. 

Even in my ignorance, 

He is faithful to teach. 

Over the course of the last two years, He has 

breathed His very Being into my lungs, and as 

His voice spoke to my heart, the chains of false 

identity fell like dead things to the ground. After 

thirty years of trying on every identity I could find, 

I have finally found the one that was tailor made 

for me. While I may be the wife to a good man 

and the mother to five sweet boys, and I may be 

the girl with the little farm and the chickens in the 

yard, and I may be a homeschooler, a writer and 

a photographer, ultimately I am the bride to King 

Jesus. Nothing else really matters. 

I tell you all of this as an introduction of sorts, 

because I have been given a commission from my 

Bridegroom to ready His bride. I have promised to 

share my story and my journey, and I have been 

tasked with the job of empowering the Mary’s. 

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He wants you at His feet. He wants you to hang on 

His every word, to choose the good thing that will 

not be taken from you (Luke 10:42). I want to see 

women empowered to choose Him. 

This world is so broken, so harsh and so altogether 

temporary. Even our alabaster flasks and our 

expensive ointments, the very best of what we 

have, are completely worthless unless we use them 

to anoint our precious King. 

Can I encourage you today? Perhaps you are 

running at full speed, the weights flung off in your 

rearview. I want to cheer you on. I don’t want 

to stand like the disciples did while that woman 

broke her alabaster on Jesus’ feet, questioning the 

wastefulness of the sacrifice. I want to say, “Yes! 

You chose rightly! Keep running! Wash His feet 

with your tears! Yes, He is worth it!” 

And if you haven’t made that choice, yet? If you, 

even now, are feeling that beautiful weight of 

conviction on your heart, can I help you? Can I 

expose the lie of the enemy that comes in the form 

of shame? Shame is a lie and the devil is a liar! 

You are desired by our Father. You are loved and 

wanted and it doesn’t matter what you see anyone 

else doing. He wants your creative best from you. 

He wants your expression of worship. He wants to 

hear your voice and see your face. Let today be the 

day you pray the prayer and make a declaration of 

radical devotion. You don’t have to understand it. 

I didn’t. I didn’t understand it at all, but let me tell 

you something: I pray it every day now because if 

there’s more of Him, I want it. If there are deeper 

waters, I want to walk on them. If there’s another 

alabaster place in my heart, I want to break it. 

Let this be the random day that changes everything 

you are. Repeat after me, and know He will be 

faithful to respond, 

“Let me love you more. Help me know you 

more. Give me more of you, Jesus. I want to be 

RADICAL.” 

I Still Choose Me 


“I would rather be what God chose to make me 

than the most glorious creature that I could think 

of; for to have been thought about, born in God’s 

thought and then made by God, is the dearest, 

grandest and most precious thing in all thinking.” 

-C.S. Lewis 

For the longest time I didn’t want to be me. I 

vividly remember telling my mom that I was tired 

of having to be Mallory. I didn’t want to be who I 

was anymore; I just couldn’t do it. I felt trapped, 

itching to crawl out of my own skin, desperately 

wishing I wouldn’t have to continue on as me. 

Yet now, even with how hard it is to live in this 

body, even with all the challenges I have and will 

always have, it feels amazingly refreshing to say 

that “I honestly, really want to be ME.” Regardless 

of how painful daily life may be-- I still choose 

me... Because God chose me. 

The last three years have contained suffering 

beyond what I thought was possible. At the age 

of 20 my life went from that of a healthy, strong, 

thriving college student, to the life of a terribly 

ill, weak, suffering, dying patient. Still, I wouldn’t 

swap my suffering, pawn my pain, turn back 

time...even if it meant never having to endure the 

torture. I would not edit the beautiful story God 

has graciously chosen to write through my life. The 

lessons I’ve learned and am learning every single 

day are treasures that can only be found in the 

dark. 

And that, dear sisters, is the power of Our King. 

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I’m Mallory Jenkins, a 23-year-old newlywed, born 

and raised in the Bluegrass. 

In October 2013, at the age of 20, I was 

shockingly diagnosed with a solid pseudo 

papillary tumor in my pancreas… a diagnosis 

which turned my world upside down in ways I 

could have never predicted. In the two weeks 

following this diagnosis I would withdraw from 

college at Western Kentucky University- for 

what I thought would only be a few months, yet 

never returned- to move back home and undergo 

massive all-day surgery called a “Whipple” to 

remove this very rare tumor amongst many other 

parts. My surgery was a success. I was declared 

cancer free and, after some time in the hospital, 

my parents brought me home to begin the long 

road to recovery. 

Less than two months later, I was struck by my first 

attack of acute pancreatitis. These attacks would 

soon become my body’s greatest enemy. This 

was thought to be a rare complication from my 

Whipple, yet, nothing that couldn’t be resolved 

with some medical attention. The inflammation 

seemed to go down after that first hospitalization, 

but unfortunately it didn’t stay that way for long. 

Thus, the cycle of unrelenting pancreatitis began– 

excruciating pain, followed by vomiting, calling 

the doctor, driving 45 minutes to the hospital, 

crying in the ER, FINALLY being admitted, 

spending some time in the hospital, back home for 

a few days, start again. 

Pancreatitis is treated through: (1) Lots of pain 

meds (2) Being declared NPO (no drinking or 

eating) until your pancreatic enzyme levels return 

to a normal range. Each time I had an attack 

I would spend several days NPO then slowly 

introduce liquids and solids to my system. But 

after a few days at home my pancreas would 

erupt again, more severely every time. My doctors 

determined that my pancreas needed a longer 

period of rest- this is when I got a PICC line in my 

arm and began TPN (IV nutrition.) After 31 days on 

TPN alone I took my first bite of food. I remember 

thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe I went that long 

without eating. Thank you Lord for pulling me 

How could my faith have 

grown leaps and bounds 

if it hadn’t been tested on 

the most intense level? 

through and for your healing! I hope I never have 

to do this again.” 

Unfortunately, about two weeks later I found 

myself back in the hospital, my pancreatitis not 

ready to let go. During this stay, I had surgery to 

place a feeding tube that would be my sole source 

of nutrition for, what we hoped, the next two 

months. Two months spiraled into three, then four 

and I ended up staying on 24/7 feeds, with nothing 

by mouth other than some clear liquids, for the 

next 8 1/2 months. My body was not healing the 

way we so desperately hoped and prayed it would, 

rather, things continued to get much worse. 

Even though this time was filled with miserable 

pain, constant disappointment, confused doctor’s 

appointments and great sadness, it was also filled 

with the peace that passes understanding, beauty 

from ashes moments, the comforting embrace of a 

loving Savior, and treasures that can only be found 

in the darkness. 

Isaiah 45:3 “I will give you hidden treasures, riches 

stored in secret places, so that you may know that 

I AM The Lord, the God of Israel, who summons 

you by name.” 

On November 6, 2014, I underwent a total 

Pancreatectomy, Splenectomy, and Islet Cell 

Transplant to end the vicious cycle which had 

made me prisoner to a dying body, and give me a 

second chance at life. Nearly 2 years post op I’m 

still a sick person. My focus is 100% on healing, 

trying to teach my body how to eat and digest 

again (this has been a nightmare revealing further 

GI complications/disease), re-entering the world 

and regaining life while enjoying the blessing of 

marriage. We are working hard to get me better 

though this recovery is an entire lifetime in the 

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making. I am eagerly, painstakingly, and patiently 

awaiting the day I will discover my new normal. 

I’m ready to become truly independent, to go 

back to school, to start working even a simple 

job, to continue writing, to become a published 

author...to fulfill my dream of starting a ministry 

that allows me to travel the country doing speaking 

engagements and sharing God’s faithfulness. I have 

no idea what God has in store for my future, but 

whatever it is, I know it’s more incredible than 

anything I could ever imagine. He is showing 

me glimpses of ashes transforming into beauty 

as He continues to bring opportunities (like this 

magazine!) to me, even when I am not searching. 

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. 

I see how blessed I am, now, more than ever 

before. I feel the presence of a Mighty Savior, an 

Everlasting Father and His unconditional love in 

all that surrounds me. I realize the incredible gift 

it is to simply wake up in the morning with a fresh 

start and a second chance at life because I could 

have easily had it all taken away. Many days, 

through countless moments of suffering, the depths 

of my heart longed for that to be the case. Yet, by 

His grace, God continues to place upon my heart 

overwhelming peace, joy, contentment in who I 

am and, more importantly, WHERE I AM. 

When I consider all, by HIS grace, I’ve overcome 

in the last three years, I well up with a great 

sense of confidence, accomplishment and pride. 

Even though these sick years have been the most 

devastating, painful, depressing, excruciating, 

tortuous, hauntingly horrible times of my life, it 

has also been the most important. 

How could my faith have grown leaps and bounds 

if it hadn’t been tested on the most intense level? 

How could I truly understand how much I need 

My Anchor, if I hadn’t been thrown straight into 

the crashing waves? 

How could I grasp the fragility, the precious gift 

that life is, if I’d never had my tomorrow seriously 

threatened? 

How could I come to the realization that Jesus 

is the bread of life, God’s word can provide total 

nourishment, and the fullness of God is more 

satisfying than any meal could ever be, if I hadn’t 

been forced to give up eating for an extended 

period of time? 

How could I come to treasure my time with those 

I love, understanding the unmerited blessing they 

are, if I hadn’t had to FIGHT to be here with them? 

How could I come to the honest belief that 

God is always good, that when I am weak He 

is strong, and He turns darkness into light if my 

circumstances hadn’t forced me to rely on these 

truths just to survive from one minute to the next? 

How else could I come to understand what it 

means to leave my future up to God, allowing my 

faith to be bigger than my fears, if I hadn’t been 

trapped in the realm of total unknown? 

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you rejoice, though now for 

a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved 

by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of 

your faith, more precious than gold that perishes 

though it is tested by fire, may be found to result 

in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of 

Jesus Christ.” 

I absolutely would not wish my experiences on 

anyone. That being said, I cannot change the past. 

And I cannot control much of the future. What 

I can do, however, is choose to EMBRACE this 

testimony the Lord has laid upon my lap. I must 

use every ounce of what I’ve learned, am learning, 

as a vehicle to glorify the One who is holding 

me...to unabashedly witness for the God who is 

graciously healing, guiding, forgiving, and loving 

us all. There is a greater purpose behind this life 

than I can ever begin to grasp. 

I could be bitter in light of all that’s happened... 

the suffering, pain, loss, the nightmare my life 

turned into. I could be sad or exclaim “It’s not 

fair!” when considering all I’ve missed out on, the 

freedom that comes with youth, the memories, 

friendships, events etc. I could mourn and grieve 

4

over the loss of who I used to be, the life I loved, 

the future I thought was guaranteed--a healthy, 

fully functioning body. I could be angry and dwell 

on the painful, permanent, chronic issues which 

will follow me through every moment for the rest 

of my life. 

I could, I could, I could.... I WON’T. It would be 

a lie to say I never experience these feelings; that 

I don’t have to fight them off almost daily. But, I 

choose to rely on God to fill these holes with joy, 

gratitude, and hope. I would have preferred to 

travel on the interstate, yet God placed me on a 

one-lane, slow moving, and winding, dangerous 

back country road. He is ABLE to instantly heal 

and answer every prayer in accordance with our 

desires. But, oh, how grateful I am that He is 

answering according to His will, HIS desire rather 

than my own. He’s granting me ample time to 

learn, grow, pray, listen, be still and discover who 

I’m meant to be. This is who I am according to the 

Great I AM. No matter what trials I must endure, I 

will delightfully choose to be me. 

Holding Your Dreams Close 


There are three dreams that I've had in my heart 

since I was a little girl. I have always wanted to be 

a wife, a mother, and a fashion designer. The first 

two dreams have come true and I was afraid they 

wouldn't. The third dream has yet to happen and I 

was tempted to fear that it might not. 

We hold our dreams so closely to our hearts. 

We often don't tell anyone what our dreams are 

because, to us, the dreams feel so fragile that they 

might shatter even by mentioning them. So we fold 

our dreams up and tuck them back into our hearts 

to keep them safe, to keep us safe. But God will 

not allow you to keep your dreams hidden. He 

will remind you of them again and again. You keep 

telling yourself it seems impossible. You don't have 

enough talent, experience, resources, knowledge, 

fill in the blank. 

But God does. Nothing is too hard for God. 

Jeremiah 32:27 (TLB, 2nd Edition) says, "I am 

the LORD, the God of all peoples of the world. 

Is anything too hard for me?" If you had all the 

resources and everything you needed, it wouldn't 

require faith. "Without faith it is impossible to 

please God, because anyone who comes to him 

must believe that he exists and that he rewards 

those that earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6, 

NIV). 

Sometimes we are afraid to even ask for our 

dreams because they are that fragile. Dreams 

are so personal because they reveal our hearts. 

It's always interesting to me that right when 

I'm tempted to think I'm crazy for my dreams 

or tempted to give up on them, God speaks to 

me about them, gently encouraging me to keep 

asking; to keep seeking Him. 

God doesn't want me to give up, but guess who 

does? Don't let the enemy steal your God-given 

dreams. Don't let him talk you out of them. God 

says His people are to live by faith. So keep going. 

Keep asking. Keep seeking Him. 

Walk in the light as He is in the light. 

1 John 1:7 

5

With Each Step 

Kaci Nicole 

When we believe the lie that our seasons of 

struggle and brokenness will paint us as weak or 

lesser if known, we are held captive under the 

weight of shame and live in the continual fear of 

being exposed. On the contrary, when we are 

able to view these seasons through the lens of 

what God did through them, those same stories 

become stories of power, and we can live in the 

freedom to tell them boldly, knowing that they 

point, not to our shame, but to His glory. 

Three years ago, I found myself on the heels of one 

of these seasons. I’d spent the previous three years 

building a friendship with someone I envisioned 

a future with—a vision he led me to believe he 

shared. He loved Jesus and adventure, and he 

awakened in me a capacity for life I hadn’t before 

known. I developed a deep care for him, fell hard. 

Which is why, when he told me one day that he’d 

lost interest in me and found a new interest in the 

freshmen girl who lived across the hall from me in 

our college dorm, the wind was knocked from my 

chest. 

In an instant, the hopes and dreams I’d tied to him 

were ripped from me like a rug being pulled out 

from under my feet. 

The numbness began to fade after some time, but I 

was left feeling broken, faced with a long, drawnout, 

painful process including confusion, hurt, and 

frustration. Then, slowly, came understanding, 

insight, healing, and gratitude. However three 

years ago, still in that painful part, I found myself 

embarking on a new adventure—a semester of 

studying abroad in London. 

Before I began my time “studying” abroad in 

London (really, you just got to explore a new place 

every weekend and sleeplessly squeeze in the 

occasional 8-page paper), I had the opportunity 

to go backpacking through Italy and Greece for 

two weeks. A few days into the trip, some friends 

and I got to spend the day hiking through Cinque 

Terre, a gorgeous place composed of five villages 

along the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera. 

(Note: gorgeous doesn’t actually do it justice, 

but I couldn’t find a word that does). Numerous 

recommendations from friends and some googleimage-stalking 

preparation had easily made this 

the one destination I was most looking forward to 

while studying abroad. 

I’ll never forget the moment our train rolled 

in through the green, tree-covered mountains 

and under a brief tunnel, only to peel back 

suddenly and reveal our very first glimpse of 

the Mediterranean: rich blue in color, sparkling 

brilliantly, and extending for miles in all of its 

glory. I literally had to catch my breath. 

Jesus will one day 

remove our pain, and 

He also promises today, 

to use our pain. 

I’ll never forget the striped umbrellas spotting 

the sandy beaches, the colorful houses nestled 

in the green hills, the little jellyfish swimming in 

the clear blue waters below, the lush vineyards, 

or “The Chant”—the cheerful product of my 

travel group’s excitement at the beauty before us: 

“Cinque, Cinque, Cinque, Terre, throw your hands 

up in the air, then eat gelato everywhere! Cinque, 

Cinque, Cinque, Terre!” Yeah, we were a little 

weird. I’ll never forget my running jump into the 

Mediterranean, a refreshing, much needed break 

we took from our hike along the coast as the heat, 

lack of water, and sleep deprivation from traveling 

were starting to kick in. I can picture it all, even 

now. 

6

I’ll also never forget what happened next, but for a 

much different reason. Before resuming our hike, 

we decided to grab some food, and I made the 

poor decision of getting a thick, bready piece of 

pizza. When in Rome (sort of), right? The grabn-go-slice 

wasn’t fresh, either, and in hindsight it 

had probably been sitting in that window taunting 

passers-by for quite some time. 

Needless to say, this was a bad idea. I started 

to feel sick pretty quickly into the hike, (which 

we began immediately after scarfing down our 

food), and it hit me hard. I told the others to go 

ahead while I took a little rest before fumbling my 

way through the rest of the trail, which is almost 

entirely uphill. My legs became Jell-O as I climbed 

countless flights of rocky steps, my 30 pound pack 

clinging tightly to my sweat-soaked back. I felt 

miserable. Each time I reached the top of a new 

flight of stairs, another appeared, mocking me. 

So let me ask, what is it 

you’re walking through today? 

“The Chant” had changed its tune in my mind and 

it now rang, “Cinque, Cinque, Cinque, Terre! I 

can’t climb. Another. Stair.” I legitimately doubted 

I could keep going much farther, and everything 

inside of me wanted to give up. I finally got the 

attention of a fellow hiker who spoke English, and 

asked him how much further until the end. I held 

my breath as I waited for his answer. If he told 

me an hour, I had already resolved to park myself 

on that very step and sit there, well, forever. (My 

parents tell me I’m stubborn, but I really don’t see 

it). Thankfully, this was not the answer the kind 

traveler gave me, and so some random step on the 

Cinque Terre was not my place of rest. 

Ten minutes; you’re almost there. 

Okay, ten more minutes. I can do this. Something 

about my closeness to the end—that flicker of 

hope—gave me motivation to push past my pain, 

frustration, and defeat to keep on going, step by 

step. It didn’t take long for me to see the parallel 

of what I was experiencing in that moment to 

what everyone goes through in different seasons 

of life. Our circumstances or our pain can seem so 

unbearable that each “step” takes an exhausting 

amount of energy. We wonder how much longer 

we must endure this period of waiting or fighting 

or suffering or yearning—how long we’ll be made 

to persevere. 

I think not only of my story, but the stories of those 

around me—friends, family members, even those 

I don’t know well. The things people experience 

in this fallen world are unimaginable. Hurt can 

be heard in the undertones of anyone’s story 

if even just a little bit of time is taken to listen, 

and sometimes the sheer vastness of it all can be 

overwhelming. The hope that’s necessary to keep 

us pressing on—you’re almost there—can be 

found only through the assurance we have in Jesus 

that things will not always be this way. 

Jesus will one day remove our pain, and He also 

promises today, to use our pain. 

The thing is, not only did God use my season of 

pain to strip away the things I found my identity 

in so that He could show me who HE says that I 

am, He also used that season of pain to birth in 

me a passion that would ultimately connect to my 

purpose. 

London was an incredibly special time in my 

relationship with God. It was as if He had taken 

me away to dust me off and wipe away my tears, 

and in that space of healing and rebuilding, 

I experienced an intimacy with Jesus that I 

hadn’t known when everything was “okay.” The 

pain made me press in. Truth is, as hard as the 

circumstances were, God was working behind the 

scenes, using them to surface deeper things, to 

bring me further back into my own story so that I 

could come to a fuller understanding of myself and 

of His love. He allowed me to be broken down so 

that, with His own hand, He could build me back 

up in Him, resulting in a healthier and more whole 

version of myself. Slowly, the story I once thought 

shameful became one I loved to tell, because 

it was no longer about me, it was a powerful 

testimony of who God is in my life. 

7

I wanted people to know the Jesus I’d met in my 

struggle, the one who was transforming me from 

the inside out. That semester in London I fell 

in love with writing—the creative challenge of 

finding a way to communicate who God is and 

the work He’s doing in my life in a way that might 

help others know Him more. This is a passion I’m 

pursuing still today. 

So let me ask, what is it you’re walking through 

today? 

No matter how strongly you feel that you aren’t 

making any progress or that nothing is changing, 

keep climbing, taking it one step at a time. Press 

into the heart of the One who sees, knows, and 

loves you—the One who offers us the hope that 

things will not always be this way. Cling to the 

truth that He is redeeming all things for your good 

and His glory. 

Though it’s rare to see while in the midst of a 

struggle, I’ve found that if you climb enough steps, 

eventually you reach a viewpoint that’s far enough 

removed to enable you to look back at the path 

you’ve just journeyed, and understand it. 

Much love, 

Kaci Nicole 

Put on the armor of light. 

Romans 13:12 

One Love 

Glenda Pyzer 

My name is Glenda Pyzer and I live in a small 

town in Northern California. I have seven children 

and have been a teacher of special needs kids 

for 23 years. I grew up in a close family and was 

blessed with an atmosphere of love and faith, 

which in turn, I have tried to give to my own 

children. Together we have shared great joy and 

endured many losses. However, nothing could 

have prepared me for the devastating loss I would 

one day endure. 

The day Ryan died 

my entire world fell apart. 

In 2010 I lost my sixteen year old son, Ryan. 

He was a very healthy boy and his death was 

completely unexpected. One night he was here, 

the next morning he was gone. During the night 

he had suffered an acute hemorrhagic pancreatic 

attack and never woke up. He was a beam of light 

and love to all who knew him and I often said he 

was an old soul. I believe this to be true even more 

now. 

The day Ryan died my entire world fell apart. I 

could never adequately explain the devastation 

and darkness that encircled me but I understood 

immediately that unless you had lost a child, you 

could never understand such pain. I was led to 

begin a blog about my journey (www.glendapyzer. 

blogspot.com ). Writing has always been a 

8

great release of feelings for me, but I have never 

been one to share my pain publicly. I am a very 

private person, especially when it comes to my 

own personal pain. Although I didn’t understand 

why, I knew I was being called to take my grief 

to a public place. I was being led to share all 

my turmoil, darkness, sadness, desperation and 

glimmers of light as I felt them; completely sharing 

my heart as it was. My blog profile says it all: “On 

September 22, 2010 I lost my beautiful 16 year old 

son, Ryan. My life has changed, the woman I am 

has changed. I am just beginning the most painful 

journey of my life. This blog is for my healing and 

growth, but if it helps someone else along the way 

who is in pain, or suffering from a loss... I will 

understand why I was led to share my heart.” 

During the process of writing my blog, I was 

contacted by many people who had lost a child. 

They thanked me for sharing my pain because 

they knew they weren’t alone anymore. They 

understood my words and felt everything I had 

shared. I was deeply touched by each person and 

have become friends with a few of them. I now 

understood why God led me on this path, although 

I am certain He is not done with me yet. 

I have just finished a book, which will be 

published on Amazon very soon. The book, 

Life After Losing a Child…A Mother’s Grief and 

Spiritual Journey, is based off of my blog, as well 

as the spiritual gifts I have been given. I knew the 

moment Ryan died that the woman I was would 

never be the same as before. I didn’t know what 

that looked like, or what it meant, but I knew it 

was a reality. God showered his Grace over me 

in my darkest moments and has given me gifts to 

share with others. I am to bring hope and light 

into darkness. 

My journey is far from over and I am committed 

to follow where He leads me. My heart was 

shattered, but somehow I rose from the ashes. That 

doesn’t mean my heart doesn’t ache for Ryan, it 

absolutely does. Helping others through their pain 

by sharing the light, love and gifts I have been 

given is what keeps me moving forward. My son 

is very much alive and I look forward to the day 

I can hold him in my arms again and hear him 

say….”You did good Mom.” 

Holding Loosely 

Carissa Meyer 

Holding Loosely, Loving Deeply... 

Through every season of life since becoming 

a believer at the age of eighteen, God has 

consistently asked me to hold loosely to my own 

hopes, dreams, ideas, and expectations while 

loving deeply those He has chosen to bring 

into my life. Whether it was friends, family, my 

husband or my children, God has had to remove 

my way of seeing things and give me eyes to see 

them from His perspective. 

This has never been more true than when I 

became a mom. Five years into my marriage, Dave 

and I became pregnant with our first, and God 

had his work cut out for Him. My mind was set 

on having all boys. NO GIRLS for this mama! We 

chose not to find out the gender of the baby, but I 

already knew. How? Because God and I wrestled 

for nine months so He could prepare my heart 

for what He designed my family to look like… 

and we welcomed Kaity Michelle in Nov 1997. 

God blessed us with two more daughters, Megan 

and Courtney and let us know our family was 

complete—NO BOYS for us! 

Before our third one entered the picture, it was 

becoming increasingly obvious that something 

was wrong with our oldest. She wasn’t learning 

things the way she was supposed to or behaving 

in a typical way for a preschooler. This particular 

journey with Kaity led to God asking me to let go 

9

of ALL of my hopes and dreams for Kaity’s future 

and place them in His capable hands, while I 

simply loved her to the best of my ability. Turns out 

she had a significant learning disability and, for a 

time, her future was unclear, at best. 

The day we started homeschooling Kaity, in 

second grade, we were hit with a false and vicious 

lawsuit by a neighbor over a piece of property that 

neither of us could use for anything significant. 

We had to hire a lawyer, and quickly, the dreams 

we had for adding on to our house disappeared. 

Together, Dave and I were being asked to let go of 

our own hopes and dreams of how we would use 

our finances and instead try to show this immoral 

and corrupt man what it looked like to handle 

things with dignity, respect, and honor no matter 

what was thrown at us. 

Fast forward to when my youngest, Courtney, was 

in second grade (2010). We had noticed she was 

showing some of the same struggles as her oldest 

sister, Kaity, and it was time to get some testing 

done. Sure enough, she had the same learning 

disability, just not as severe. Heart broken, I 

remember going to God and asking Him, “Do I 

really need to go through this all over again with 

another child? I don’t think I can do it, Lord!” 

I remember sensing Him say, “Hold loosely to 

what you want, Carissa, and trust me. Love these 

girls that I have entrusted to you to the best of 

your ability, and let me take care of the rest. For I 

know the plans I have for them, plans for a hope 

and a future!” I clung to that promise and pressed 

forward as I did what I could to help my two girls 

who were struggling their way through school. 

And then, in 2012, our middle daughter, Megan, 

began spiraling downward into a very dark 

place. She was overcome with depression, 

anxiety, and soon after added self-harming to the 

list. She began doing poorly in school, making 

poor choices with boys, and eating lunch in the 

bathroom to avoid being bullied or being around 

the other students. Soon, suicidal thoughts and 

attempts were added to the picture. Our lives were 

completely turned upside down. 

Once again, I was being asked to hold loosely to 

how I thought she should be behaving or handling 

situations. I had to let go of trying to control the 

situation and ultimately God asked me to be 

willing to let go of her completely…even if it 

meant I lost her this side of heaven. Instead, I was 

being called to love her deeply…to see her with 

His eyes and show an unconditional love that 

required a pouring out of myself and a pouring in 

of Jesus…the hardest thing He has ever asked me 

to do. And I would be lying if I said I even came 

close to doing it well…but I tried. 

During all these years 

of being a mom to children 

with special needs in one 

form or another…I had 

forgotten how to dream. 

It’s now August 2016 and God has been faithful 

in showing me that His plans for my girls future 

are, in fact, bright! Though their stories aren’t 

done being written yet, Kaity DID graduate from 

high school-with honors! AND she is going on to 

college to study accounting and continue growing 

her professional photography business. 

We are no longer in the deep trenches with Megan 

and her story has already impacted hundreds of 

teens and adults. She has willingly shared her 

testimony and we’ve discovered God has given her 

the gift of writing. I know He will use it for great 

things in her future. She’s hoping to be a Realistic 

Fiction Christian author, someday. 

Then there’s Courtney, our spitfire…she’s entering 

into eighth grade this year and despite her learning 

disability she is turning into quite the leader both 

at church and at school! She’s loved by many and 

has a beautiful servant’s heart. 

During all these years of being a mom to children 

10

with special needs in one form or another…I 

had forgotten how to dream. When you’re in the 

trenches, who has time to dream about anything 

besides getting out?! However, several months 

ago, God put it on my heart to begin writing. I’ve 

always journaled and it was time for me to start 

sharing some of the principles and life lessons I’ve 

learned in this journey as a mom. I felt God asking 

me to start a blog, so I did, and realized quickly I 

was in way over my head! 

I tried stopping or giving up…but God was 

insistent. For two months I worked at putting 

together a basic WordPress blog and I finally 

published my first post on May 19, 2016. I was 

thrilled and the feedback was good. So then I 

thought, how do I make money doing this?? I tried 

researching different ways and each time I felt God 

saying, “STOP…hold loosely to your ideas of what 

you think you should do with this blog and give 

me permission to show you what I have planned.” 

Three posts later, Sarah Terry reaches out to me, 

a total stranger, and asks me to be a contributing 

writer for a digital Christian Magazine for women 

she was launching in the fall. WHAT??? 

Of all the blogs she could have come across, she 

found mine! God was about to stir things up even 

more and remind me AGAIN to hold loosely to my 

ideas, hopes, dreams…and simply love those He’s 

placed in my life…and at this moment, it’s a whole 

bunch of teenagers from our church. My husband 

and I have been doing ministry, informally, with 

them for the last couple of years…opening our 

home for hang outs, planning various events and 

activities, and simply doing life with them…loving 

them like they’re family. 

My heart has always been to minister to mama’s 

who also find themselves in the deep and often 

lonely trenches of life with children that have 

special needs. I ache for them to know they are 

not alone…that they are Strong, and Brave, and 

they were CHOSEN for these precious children 

because THEY were meant to be their mom! I 

firmly believe God still has a calling on my life 

to minister to these mama’s. But God is also 

beginning to show me that His calling is bigger 

and is to include teenagers; to be another voice He 

will use to show them their worth, to combat the 

lies of the enemy that they have come to believe, 

and to be an example of what it looks like to 

have a strong marriage, especially for the teenage 

boys… 

It’s not clear, yet, what God is doing. Interestingly, 

I am starting to realize that Sarah finding me on 

the internet was no accident. It turns out God 

has given Sarah a very big God-sized dream and 

somehow, I think Dave and I are a piece of it. 

Only time will tell. In the meantime, Dave and 

I will continue to be faithful to finish raising our 

daughters to the best of our ability, I will continue 

to love on mamas and teens, and I will continue 

to write. The rest is up to God to reveal in His time 

and His way. But one thing is certain…whatever is 

next is going to be beyond anything I could come 

up with on my own, because that’s what God has 

been showing me year in and year out and I trust 

Him… 

Roots 

Heather Paul 

Roots. We all have them. We all began with 

them. All roots look different and their depths 

are not the same, but we each began with a tiny 

shoot, as the Lord knitted us together in the 

depths of the Earth and intricately placed us into 

our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13-16). 

God’s Word has much to say about roots 

throughout the Old and New Testament. The 

inspired Word of God speaks of the withering of 

roots, the planting of roots and fruit bearing roots 

that are firmly planted. In Isaiah 11, the prophet 

gives great detail of the branch of Jesse, and how 

11

... But it was clear to me in 

this moment that we were 

to one day have a home that 

provided shelter and love for 

as many kids that needed 

to walk through the door. 

from his roots, a Branch will bear fruit. And Isaiah 

4:2-3 reads “In that day the Branch of the Lord 

will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the 

land will be the pride and glory of the survivors 

in Israel. Those who are left in Zion, who remain 

in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are 

recorded among the living in Jerusalem.” 

My husband and I came from very different 

backgrounds; different roots. Yet during our 

upbringings, the Lord created both of us with a 

passion for loving children. Before my husband 

Jeff and I ever said the words “I do!” we knew we 

had the desire to foster children in the future. We 

said the infamous words “I do!” in 2003 and well, 

life happened. And it happened fast. 

By 2008, we were the parents of 3 children ages 3, 

2 and under 1. These were our biological children 

and the desire to foster still held a special place in 

our hearts but would not become a reality for us 

at the time as over the next several years we were 

busy raising our 3 stair steps. We also became 

pregnant with another little treasure that we ended 

up miscarrying 11 weeks after finding out the news 

of the pregnancy. 

Along with our busy lives of raising a family, we 

opened an indoor play/party center for children. 

We loved this opportunity to entertain and enjoy 

all the kids from our community who would enter 

our business. This opportunity opened up the 

door for wonderful memories, lots of laughter and 

many new friends...and a dwindling bank account. 

We literally wiped out our savings to keep this 

business afloat, cried out to the Lord daily to 

send us our manna to help provide and clung to 

the words of the song Oceans by Hillsong as we 

trusted the Lord with this fruitful, seed bearing, 

root planting company that sucked away every last 

dime we had to our name. 

As much as we loved owning a business that 

catered to families and fun, there loomed a dark 

cloud above us as we faced the miscarriage of our 

little one...which led me to begin to have panic/ 

anxiety attacks. On top of that, we were owners of 

a company that was sending us straight into debt. 

(And yes, all along our desire to one day foster and 

care for orphans weighed heavy on our hearts). 

Fast forward to 2012, we knew the Lord desired for 

us to close the business due to a failing economy 

and dwindling bank account. Meanwhile my 

husband took several random jobs to continue to 

provide for our family, as I, after much prayer, had 

previously given up my job as a pediatric oncology 

nurse to stay home and homeschool our children. 

Along with homeschooling the kids, I did some 

speaking/writing to Christian women on the side. 

By spring of 2013, the Lord blessed us with an 

unexpected surprise through my giving birth to 

a precious baby boy, Emory Roman. He became 

the sunshine after the storm of our miscarriage, 

failed business and financial hardship. While 

pregnant with this little treasure, I remember sitting 

in a church service under our pastor Louie Giglio 

(Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia) and 

the Lord spoke the words orphan care over me. I 

couldn’t get this thought out of my head. All along 

I thought we would foster a child or two here and 

there... But it was clear to me in this moment that 

we were to one day have a home that provided 

shelter and love for as many kids that needed 

to walk through the door. My husband was in 

complete agreement about this and the idea filled 

both of us with an abundance of peace. 

While this burden stirred our hearts and our 

prayers circled this idea constantly, the Lord 

opened a door of financial freedom for our family 

in a very adventurous way. A job opportunity 

12

came up for my husband to become an insurance 

adjuster. This would require constant travel as 

he would go to areas of catastrophe and help 

home owners with their insurance claims to cover 

damages from the storm. So in Jan. 2015, our 

family of 6 packed all of our things, traded a 4K 

square foot home for a 400 square foot home on 

wheels and have now traveled across 37 states in 

the past 19 months as my husband “chases storms” 

as an insurance adjuster. 

We love this new adventure the Lord has our 

family on. We have grown closer together as a 

family, have learned to live life in a more simple 

way and feel such gratitude as we enjoy this 

beautiful country the Lord created. 

Although we are grateful for this time of traveling, 

we are praying for the Lord to open the door for 

our family to own a piece of land, plant a garden, 

and own some animals; to bring in children from 

all various roots into our home. Our desire is to 

rescue, restore and release these children to go 

and bear fruit...fruit that will last because they 

were taught the love of Christ, how to care for 

and nurture their own soul and to lend a hand to 

serving others, all in the name of Jesus. We desire 

to accept them as they are and to pour into them 

the love of Christ. 

Roots. We all have them. But as children of God, 

we are adopted into His kingdom, grafted in, as 

heirs of Christ and we desire to nurture and care 

for those little children who need our love. 

Jesus, we pray for a miracle. We pray for an open 

door. We ask that you align our desires to reach 

out to foster children and orphans with your 

desires for our lives. Your timing is perfect and we 

pray for you to continue to write our story in such 

a way that your name is glorified and there would 

be no doubt that your hand was upon the story. 

Lead us to a city on a hill... Where strong, solid, 

fruit bearing roots can be planted all for your name 

and renown. 

And the city has no need of sun or moon 

to shine on it, for the glory of God gives 

it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its 

light will the nations walk, and the kings of 

the earth will bring their glory into it, and 

its gates will never be shut by day...and 

there will be no night there. 

Revelation 21:23-55 

13

Dolta Jo Morgan and The Buffalo Tree 

Tribute Ryan Depp 

My brother, Ryan, is loving, caring, thoughtful and 

has a beautiful soul. I’m really sad, but I can feel 

him with me. I love him so much. I wish I could 

of gave him more love because I didn’t think I gave 

him enough love. I love my brother, Ryan. 

Breanna (10 years old) 

The thing that I adore most about Ryan was that 

he never judged anyone. He was a kind person 

and a loving brother. He always found the good in 

people and loved people for who they were. 

Annabel (13 years old) 

There are really no words that can describe Ryan 

besides loving, caring and giving. He is just one 

of a kind. Ryan had a smile that would light up 

an entire room. He also had a heart full of love. 

He was the person that everyone just adored. No 

matter who the person was he would always be 

there to make them feel special. I always say that 

I’m living my life not only for myself but for him 

too. “This is for you and me.” Ryan is someone I 

look up to every day. He is simply my best friend. 

I miss him so much, but I know he’s watching over 

me. I love you big brother. One Love Always. 

Kaitie (19 years old) 

14

Ryan….Integrity, love and passion are 

characteristics that are hard to come across in any 

human being. Those are just a few words that 

could be used to describe Ryan. He was wise 

beyond his years with a pure heart that could have 

changed the world. His smile lit up the room 

and you were happy to be in his presence. He is 

forever my angel and forever he will live within 

me. #foreveryoung16 

Sean (26 years old) 

15

My brother Ryan….Ryan was special to all of us. 

Not just in the typical brother way, but he had a 

gift of making people feel important. I think my 

siblings would agree we ALL felt we were Ryan’s 

favorite. A gift he gave each one of us; a gift we 

do our best to pay forward to the relationships 

we are blessed to have, and that he has clearly 

given to us. I see this in my baby sister who has 

been passed this gift from Ryan as well. I now 

joke with my other sisters that I’m Kaitie’s favorite 

sister! It’s that kind of genuine love Ryan radiated 

to everyone! 

Shawndre’ (33 years old) 

I have a very distinct picture of RyRy in my mind: 

Bright blue eyes, red hair, a huge smile, and 

screaming “Sheshu” as I drove down the street. I 

find that I still think about him daily, and usually 

sing myself what I call the RyRy song: “Ry...Ry... 

PattiPat, Pat, Pat.” In thinking about my little 

brother, I most often feel regret for not spending 

more time with him while he was here, and for the 

time that we lost. 

Jeremy (36 years old) 

16

The Call to Zion 


I think my calling has been on my life for as long as 

I can remember. I can look back on my childhood 

and see the clear hand of God’s guidance. I 

grew up in a household that fell well below the 

poverty level. When I was in first grade my family 

experienced a lot of trauma. My dad crushed his 

hip in a motorcycle accident, the flat roof on our 

home caved in (leaking, even after it had been 

fixed, which led to chronic illness due to black 

mold and mildew), my cousins (whom I was very 

close to) moved to another state, and my favorite 

uncle was murdered. I was also in a first grade 

classroom with a teacher who was both physically 

and emotionally abusive. My mother was pregnant 

with my youngest sister at the time. This sister was 

different than the rest of us and we spent much of 

our lives trying to correct her behavior. 

When I was in sixth grade, I had four biological 

siblings, and my parents began to do foster care. I 

believe the decision was partly because it brought 

in a little extra income and partly because my 

mom was trying to do a favor for a friend, whose 

grandchildren had been placed in state custody. 

Those children never did live with us, but my 

parents took in many foster children over the 

next six years. During that time I saw a lot of the 

behaviors that were typical of children who had 

experienced significant trauma. 

God has been preparing me 

for such a time as this... 

After my husband and I married, we had two 

beautiful little boys. I had spent a good portion 

of my pregnancies on bed rest but I wanted a 

little girl. My heart was open to adoption, so 

my husband and I decided to adopt a little girl. 

Instead, God gave us an older boy. Despite my 

experience with foster children growing up, I really 

wasn’t prepared to take on the role of parent to 

a child suffering from trauma. Our path was very 

hard, even though my son was easy compared to 

many, and the toll on our family was huge. 

It wasn’t until my son was about 19 that I met a 

family who had an adopted child about the same 

age as our son. Their challenges had been a lot 

worse than ours had been and they not only found 

help, but were now helping other families. I began 

to learn much about trauma and how to best work 

with children who have been through traumatic 

experiences. 

I can see now how the many situations in my life, 

that didn’t seem to make sense, have led me to this 

point. I taught at a Christian school for four years. 

I thought perhaps my time there had been a waste, 

but now I see God using those experiences to 

prepare me for this path. 

The years spent at our next church, while 

seemingly unfruitful, were also used to prepare 

us for this path by placing us there to learn about 

trauma, its effects, and how to best care for those 

healing from those experiences. 

God allowed me to go back to school for four 

years to complete an actual degree in elementary 

education. I was frustrated when I first began 

to teach because people who had just gotten 

alternative certification were having an easier 

time getting positions. But, I never doubted I was 

supposed to get that degree. 

God allowed me to be a music teacher for two 

years, which provided the opportunity to interact 

with MANY students dealing with significant 

trauma, to talk to their teachers, and get to know 

their stories. 

17

God allowed me to teach Pre-K where I had 

several students with significant trauma. I began to 

understand what drives their behavior and learned 

ways to deal with it effectively without crushing 

their spirits still further. 

God allowed me to join an adoptive parenting 

forum, which focuses on connected parenting to 

heal trauma. This led to much healing for myself 

and eventually it brought healing for my family as 

well. We finally have a good relationship with our 

grown son. God has restored us. 

God allowed me to walk side-by-side with a 

family through many adoptions and the fallout of 

one child due to a significant amount of trauma. I 

was able to take this child into my home for a time 

to gain insight into what drives them and then sent 

that child back home with the promise that God 

was going to heal that family. He was simply using 

me to shake them up so that they would seek Him 

in the situation. 

God has been preparing my husband and I for 

what is next by placing desires in our hearts to do 

things differently; to spend time in nature, to take 

it slow and steady. He’s given us a desire to have 

a place where we could farm (even though neither 

of us have the skills to do so) and to provide a 

place of rest and comfort to hurting people. I 

kept looking for a place to build a cabin, never 

dreaming that God would be providing something 

so much bigger than I could possibly have 

imagined. He was preparing me for a ministry that 

would be able to reach out to many, many broken 

and hurting people, and bring healing. 

God has been preparing me for such a time as this... 

My Promise Unfolding 

Lisa Cortese 

It was June of 2014. I had given my heart to the 

Lord in February of 2013 and was now in a sizable 

pruning season (John Ch.15). God had let me 

know that I was going to go through a period of 

darkness but that on the other side there would be 

new beginning’s. 

One day, I was watching a pre-recorded television 

show. It was a Christian talk show with a female 

guest and she was talking about having cancer. I 

started to wash the dishes, grumbling about how 

busy I was and would have to hear her story later. 

When I was done with the dishes I was drawn 

back to the television where something she said 

drew my attention. So I rewound it. I had no idea I 

would never be the same. 

This woman said she and her husband run the only 

rescue ranch for children in Texas. I took a deep 

breath and quietly screamed (my children were 

sleeping) into the television. “That’s not enough!” 

The only other thing I remember this woman 

saying is, “All the rejection I faced as a child is 

how I am able to help these children”. My mind 

was reeling and at that point, I knew what God 

had created my husband and I to do. We were 

going to have a rescue ranch for children. 

I didn’t know what our exact role with the rescue 

ranch would be, so I asked God what part we 

would play at this ranch. He showed me many 

large groups of children. Each group He showed 

me He said, “healing the children”. Sometime 

after this, my husband and I fasted for our heart 

preparation for this ministry. 

In the last 12 months He started showing me more 

about the ranch. I want to share a word He gave 

me that just gives me chills every time I read it. 

“Satan can inconvenience you but he cannot stop 

the ranch from being formed and fruitful. I (God) 

am going to heal many children, armies of them, 

18

making them weapons of mass destruction. They 

will step on and pierce the enemy with ease. They 

will be operating in the full power of the Holy 

Spirit.” 

He has given me visions of a huge army marching 

out of the ranch with God smiling down on them. 

He has shown me a soldier getting conditioned for 

war. He has shown me a soldier dragging someone 

(spiritually wounded) toward hills (where our help 

comes from). These are just a few. 

Now I will tell you how my dream was combined 

with Sarah’s dream. 

I met Sarah at a Women’s retreat a year ago. When 

we met, there was an instant connection but it 

was as if it wasn’t time yet. I remember almost 

immediately talking to her about Spiritual Warfare. 

It was as if I couldn’t stop my mouth from moving. 

I had just met this girl but I was telling her I see us 

circling around women and praying for them. 

In October 2015, Sarah had her 1st annual 

Women’s Retreat in Hico, Texas, where she lives. I 

remember at that retreat I felt like a horse at a gate 

at the races. I felt something stirring inside of me, 

so much so, that I wanted to be released. I didn’t 

know what was on the other side of that gate, but 

I did realize it wasn’t time. Looking back I now 

understand why I felt such a strong stirring inside. 

God was about to reveal the larger connection 

Sarah and I would have moving forward. 

In July of this year, a thought came to the forefront 

of my mind. Sarah, another friend named Julie, 

and I all have similar callings. We are all called to 

have a place on a piece of land to help a different 

group of people. I brought this up to Sarah at 

breakfast one morning when we just happened to 

be getting together. Not many people knew of my 

calling, including Sarah. From that moment on she 

began to put pieces together. 

I was certain this ranch was in the distant future. 

Therefore, when she started putting pieces together 

and talking to me about them, I wasn’t convinced. 

I took some time to pray the next day and the Lord 

gave me confirmation that all Sarah was saying 

was right on target, but I was still in disbelief. All 

I could do was walk around in a daze shaking my 

head. That is, until Harold told her the Lord told 

him to give her some land. That is when it got real. 

You will have to refer to Sarah’s article for 

everything that happened after this. After His 

confirmation of my involvement the Lord has been 

quiet with me. For now, He has chosen to share 

His plans with Sarah. 

God is gathering an army of light. 

An Instruction from the Lord 


At twenty-one I was a very outspoken and 

boisterous atheist. I wasn’t unsure about the 

existence of God: I knew there wasn’t one. 

I grew up attending church, bible studies, and 

youth groups, but somewhere along the way 

there was a disconnect. I remember my mother 

periodically asking me if I believed. Typically the 

conversation came up around the holidays (which 

19

I now like to refer to as Holy Days). My response 

was always, “No”, usually followed by some 

snarky child-like comment filled with my thoughts 

on how I didn’t need God to get through life. 

In college my mother was filled with more grace 

than I’ve ever seen in another human being. The 

irony of the Lord: her name is Grace. I made 

all of the wrong choices we pray our children 

don’t make, yet she still showed love and shared 

wisdom in the kindest way possible. She traveled 

from out of state to help my sister pack up her 

things to begin her journey off to college. Mom 

asked if she could stay with me for the night. 

Sadly, I was the typical college student. I lived 

with three boys and we drank often. I showed my 

mother such little respect that evening. I texted 

her that day to see if she cared that I stay at a 

friend’s to watch a movie. She said no. It was my 

friend who nudged me home that night to spend 

time with my mom. When I got home, Mom was 

sitting around the campfire with my roommates. 

Conversation was lead to our beliefs and we 

each took turns sharing our thoughts on who 

we, as humans, are and how we got here. After 

embarking on a journey using drugs the week 

prior, I was convinced that there was someone 

else in the universe that was performing a large 

social experiment: that they had placed us all 

here on earth, split the land, colored our skins 

differently, molded us to have distinctly different 

facial features, and caused us to speak different 

languages. Yet, I didn’t believe in God. My mother 

started sharing her testimony and, as you can 

imagine, it was filled with Jesus. I begged her to 

stop and, with poise, she did by asking each of us 

to think about what we really believed. “Put some 

time into it and do some research,” she said. 

School was about to start up again and I moved 

closer to campus. Within a week I was poking 

around on the internet about religion. I remember 

making a list of things I wanted to do to better 

myself: drink more water, memorize more 

geography, learn about different religions, etc. I 

didn’t want to limit myself to Christianity. My 

mom had placed a curious desire in my heart; a 

desire to figure out the truth (although truth be told 

I never thought I’d find it in religion). I looked up 

the beliefs of all major religions and searched for 

biblical proofs. One night I was googling Christian 

artifacts and the next morning I awoke – changed. 

As fast as you read it, it happened. God had taken 

me out of my self and had made me new. He gave 

me the new eyes, new mind, and new heart that 

we talk about. If it wasn’t for that amazing mother 

of mine, obedient to pray for me and testify in the 

name of the Lord and His ways, I wonder how 

long it would have taken me to receive His calling. 

God is calling each of us. He calls all of us to 

believe in Him, and when we do He calls all of 

us to action. Shortly after coming to faith, the 

Lord called me to write a book for Him. It was to 

be titled ‘Beyond A Reasonable Doubt,’ and was 

to be filled with all of the Christian history and 

artifacts that had originally piqued my interest into 

the reality of faith. I spent two years fervently 

reading my Bible, researching, and taking notes for 

the book. He showed Himself to me. When He 

spoke I heard Him and when I called on Him He 

answered in miraculous God-sized ways. 

I never wrote the book. Life got busy and 

my priorities shifted away from the Lord. Just 

like the Israelites, I quickly lost sight of God’s 

wonder. A few years later, I pursued a degree in 

Criminal Justice and it wasn’t until then that I truly 

understood the meaning of my book’s title. In 

a criminal case, in order to find a person guilty, 

there must be evidence beyond a reasonable 

doubt. I still can’t help but think that if we took the 

existence of Christianity (a Creator of all things and 

the presence of His Spirit within Jesus the Christ) 

to court, there would be enough evidence to say, 

beyond a reasonable doubt, this is real. 

When the Lord places a calling on our hearts’, 

we are to follow. I had asked God to do things for 

me, to show me things, to change things, and He 

did. Failing to write the book that the Lord had 

clearly communicated for me to write wasn’t His 

desire. The Creator of life itself chose to talk with 

me, and He asked me to do something for Him! 

Who was I to choose not to follow His request? 

I chose to place more value on my desires and 

the criticism of those surrounding me. There’s a 

20

popular saying going around youth nowadays. It’s 

phrased, “no regrets.” That is not the reality each of 

us needs to live in. I regret many things: drinking 

and partying it up in college, not saving myself for 

my dear husband, disrespecting my parents, and 

disregarding the Lord’s instructions. However, 

just like my mother did, the Lord shines that 

undeserved forgiveness called grace upon us. He 

continues to speak to each of us, we just have to 

listen. 

Those dreams we have might not be dreams at 

all, they just may be an instruction from the Lord. 

That vision you’ve had: a glimpse of something 

to come. Believe that with God, the Creator of 

all things, the one whom even the wind obeys, 

anything is possible. If He wills it, and you seek 

Him, it will come to pass! When self-doubt or 

the peanut gallery kicks in, fix your eyes upon 

Jesus. “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean 

not on your own understanding. In all your ways 

acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths” 

(Proverbs 3:5-6). God understood that the things 

of this world would grab our attention, but the 

Bible says that, “Since you have been raised with 

Christ, set your hearts on things above, where 

Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your 

minds on things above, not on earthly things. For 

you died and your life is now hidden with Christ 

in God” (Colossians 3:1-3). God made a way 

through Christ to give us life, and through Him we 

can have life to the fullest. We once were blind, 

but now we see! So where will your focus be? 

We have the choice to fix our eyes upon the things 

above, and we can choose to fix our ears upon 

the Lord and His instruction. We can choose to 

trust that God is in control, “(because) we know 

that all things work for the good of those who love 

the Lord and are called according to His purpose” 

(Romans 8:28). 

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound 

That saved a wretch like me. 

I once was lost but now I’m found. 

Was blind but now I see. 

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear 

And grace my fears relieved. 

How precious did that grace appear 

The hour I first believed. 

When we’ve been there ten thousand years 

Bright shining as the sun 

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise 

Then when we first begun. 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound 

That saved a wretch like me. 

I once was lost, but now I’m found. 

Was blind, but now I see” 

Hymn by John Newton 

Marching to Zion 

Sarah Terry 

It was underneath the juniper tree that I died to self. I 

walked out from under the tree, I shook off the sand, 

and I headed to the mountaintop...a city on a hill. 

I missed my mountaintop in the city. I missed 

being an administrator and teacher at the Christian 

academy at our church. I missed coordinating 

the children’s ministry and serving alongside my 

husband. I missed the hugs of the children and the 

friendships I had made over the years. They were 

my family. I missed everything about this city. I felt 

all alone. 

It was on this mountaintop in the city, I was born 

and raised. It was there my home church was 

founded. It was there I gave my life to Jesus. It was 

there I surrendered to full time ministry. It was there 

God blessed me with a sister. It was there I met and 

married my husband. It was there I dedicated all 

four of my children to the Lord. It was there betrayal 

21

entered my marriage. It was there I was knocked off 

the mountaintop. It was there I fled to the country 

to wander. 

God, why did you bring me to the wilderness? 

That’s what I would ask God over and over under 

my juniper tree. I was broken. Alone. I wanted 

to die. All I could do was cry and blame God for 

bringing me here. I had nothing to do but mow 

several acres shaded by trees, so that’s what I did 

until there was no more grass to mow. 

God, what am I supposed to do now? Buy some 

chicks...buy some what? Yep, He told me to buy 

some chicks. We had no chicken coop, but I went 

to the feed store anyways. I went with the intention 

of buying 5 and came home with 30. I spent my 

winter raising chicks in my living room. It wasn’t 

until I caught the flu that my husband saw his 

window of opportunity to move them to the garage. 

A place where women could 

come and find healing. 

And, it would all be free. 

Who comes home with 30 chicks and no coop... 

AND no money to buy or make a coop? Me and 

my husband. Before we know it, God is providing 

everything we need to build the coop. I think when 

it was all said and done we spent less than a $100. 

The next thing I knew we had a chicken mansion. 

You read that right...it’s not a coop but a mansion! 

Now what, God? Plant a garden...plant a what? 

This girl couldn’t keep a house plant alive in the 

city and now God is telling me to plant a garden. 

Okay, Lord. A friend from church bought us some 

seeds, my dad tilled the ground, and me and the 

kids sowed the seeds. Day after day, I’d work in 

my garden. AND day after day, God would meet 

me there. I remember the first time He spoke to 

me...”this is where life begins.” 

Where life begins. He reminded me that life begins 

with Him. I continued to work in my garden and 

care for my chickens while I sought God in my farm 

house kitchen. I began to hear God speak more 

clearly. 

In the spring, God woke me up in the middle of the 

night. He began to talk and I could see my future. 

I would now minister to women. I would host a 

free retreat for women come October. I remember 

God telling me that these women will come broken 

but they will leave restored. That same night He 

promised me that He was going to give me land. A 

place where women could come and find healing. 

And, it would all be free. 

Okay, Lord, I’m listening. Share my love through 

your garden...but how? That summer I had summer 

nights on my front porch. God brought women 

to help my heart heal. They would pick from the 

garden with their children, and we would share 

some tang. I also hosted three ‘Big’ Backyard Bible 

Clubs. Women in my community joined me in 

helping teach God’s children about Him and His 

creation. Everything seemed right. By the end of 

summer, I was finding myself getting out from under 

my juniper tree. 

October 2015 came. Over fifty women attended 

my first retreat. I was so nervous. I had no money, 

yet here I was hosting a FREE retreat. There was one 

lady, Lisa, who donated a $100. She was a woman I 

had just met through another friend, Julie. So many 

men and women in the community provided food... 

but there was one person that stood out to me 

that weekend. My neighbor, Harold. He gave me 

money. I tried to give it back, but he insisted. He 

said he loved what I was doing here on the farm. I 

remember it like yesterday...”I have a camp on my 

property if you ever need to use it,” he said. 

Come winter, God told me to write a devotional 

book, Seasons of My Heart. As I began to read 

my past blogs and prayer entries, I could see 

God’s divine hand over me. I could see the bigger 

picture. In 1996 I began to earnestly seek God’s 

purpose and calling for my life. I honestly thought 

my mountaintop in the city was it...but, no. He 

was only preparing me for what was to come. 

Prayer after prayer in my book has been or is being 

answered. 

22

Spring again. Now what? Hello? God are you there? 

It was a quiet spring. Was God ready for me to act? I 

began to squat back under my juniper tree in doubt. 

Now summer. I kept asking and seeking but nothing 

seemed to be going right. My garden was scorched, 

my garden hoses wouldn’t work, chickens were 

dying, and I felt like my dream must have been just 

that...a dream. That was until I found a property 

online. Something ‘we’ could afford...I forgot about 

the part where God said He was going to GIVE me 

land. It was the cutest two story house with a wraparound 

porch on 10 acres of land. The kitchen was 

huge. I could see my kitchen full of broken people 

that needed a home cooked meal. 

Well, God closed that door; more like slammed it. 

That next week I began my women’s Bible study. 

We were sitting in the kitchen when my friend said 

there was a man walking up my drive. It was my 

neighbor, Harold. He came to offer me free hay 

bales. I invited him in for some dinner, but he didn’t 

want to be a bother so he left. If he only knew how 

much I wanted to feed him a home cooked meal. 

He ended up coming back and that’s where our 

friendship began. For the first time, I had hope. God 

softly whispered...you’re not alone. Dream. 

Night after night, we would take my neighbor 

meals. One night, my husband came home from 

delivering his meal with a story to tell. He told 

me that shortly after we moved here our neighbor, 

Harold, had been stuck under his tractor for days. 

My heart ached. What kind of neighbors were we? 

What kind of neighbor was I? I cried that entire 

night. I purposed from that moment forward to 

check on Harold every day. He was not going to be 

alone. We would be his family. In small doses, of 

course. We are Rowdy with Four. 

On another night we had taken a drive on Harold’s 

land. It had been a long day. The enemy was 

coming at me at full force. No way could he allow 

me to start dreaming again. My husband and I got 

in a huge fight that morning. On that summer day, 

on my knees in the shower, I cried out...GOD, 

I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE. By the time we 

delivered Harold’s dinner, took the drive, I had 

peace again. 

For the first time, I had hope. 

God softly whispered... 

you’re not alone. Dream. 

When we got back to where Harold was loading 

hay, with tears in my eyes, I said...I do believe God 

is going to use you to teach me a thing or two. He 

said he didn’t know about that. But, I knew. I just 

didn’t know what. 

That week we got a call for my husband to work 

out of town. We could use a get-away. God lined 

it up where I and the kids could also go. The 

enemy really fought this. We left on a Sunday 

and I almost returned that Monday. Almost. But, I 

didn’t. Remember my new friend, Lisa? We had met 

through a mutual friend. God told me to call her to 

see if she was home. So I did. We met that Monday 

morning. We both agreed it wasn’t enough time, so 

we decided to meet again on Friday for breakfast. 

It was in a small cafe on my old mountaintop that 

God shook my juniper tree. Our mutual friend 

earlier that week said God had given us a similar 

dream. Lisa began to share her dream with me. 

God had showed her she would open a ranch 

for boys and girls. Well that wasn’t my dream. I 

would be ministering to women in my farmhouse 

kitchen. Writing and sharing my heart with women. 

Ministering to kids was in my past...but as she was 

describing the ranch she was describing a farm with 

a garden and chickens. That wasn’t a ranch it was a 

farm! 

She was describing everything God had shown 

me. We were both speechless. Before leaving the 

cafe and saying our goodbyes, we prayed. I was 

certain that God had a bigger plan than I could ever 

imagine. I began to seek him and God began to 

speak. I couldn’t keep up. 

I had written down that the retreat center would 

have four bunkhouses. God showed me how those 

bunkhouses represented we would be ministering 

to men, women, boys, and girls. Then He showed 

me the greenhouse wasn’t a greenhouse. It was a 

23

church. It was filled with men, women, boys, and 

girls. They were growing…being restored. My heart 

was pounding. We were totally supposed to do this 

together. God would use Lisa through the ranch and 

me through the farm. Now we just needed land. 

Sunday came. We went to church. Everything I 

heard was yes, Sarah, you are hearing me right. 

It was hard not to shout. All I could do was cry I 

believe, Lord, just help my unbelief. On our drive 

home, God put on my heart the song “Marching to 

Zion”. Something led me to look up the lyrics. All 

I could see was “the hill of Zion yields”. Why was 

God showing me this? 

When we got home my neighbor Harold called. 

In a nut shell he said, “Kiddos, God is telling me I 

need to give y’all an acre.” I just started crying. My 

husband was looking at me like I was crazy, but I 

knew this was God. He told us to come over so he 

could show us what the Lord was telling him to give 

us. We did. 

We all got in the truck and Harold led the way. 

When we stopped, we were on top of a hill. He 

began to describe everything he had thought he was 

going to do there with his family. He was describing 

everything that Lisa and I had talked about. A 

garden, an orchard, a ranch with a slaughterhouse, 

and a restaurant. I was in tears as he showed us 

more than an acre. Was this really happening? 

God began to tell me more and more. My vision 

had a one room school house. He told me I needed 

to call my friend Sally and tell her everything. And, 

I was to tell her God was showing me they were to 

start a school. I just knew she was going to think I 

was crazy...but, no! She had said her husband Troy 

had felt called long ago to start a school on a farm. 

At that moment, I no longer doubted. When he 

prompted me to ask or tell, I did. 

telling me that she felt like I was living her dream... 

from even leading at a pediatric cancer camp. 

I obeyed and this is what she replied...we want 

to have a foster home/orphanage and take in as 

many kids as we can. Own farmland and teach the 

kids farming skills and life skills. Have a you-pick 

garden/pumpkin patch for people to come to that 

would help raise money for the orphanage...I told 

her to call me. She called me that night. 

That night they were celebrating their child that 

had gone home with the Lord. God told Heather to 

call me now. God was bringing us together. I had 

the same instant connection with Heather as I did 

Lisa. I talked to her like we had always been sisters. 

Once again God made himself known when she 

had said her and her husband were praying for this 

moment. Such a time as this. We prayed before we 

hung up, giving God all the praise. 

That’s when God softly spoke the farm isn’t yours. The 

ranch is Lisa’s and the farm is Heather’s. Those are 

the daughters I’m bringing Harold. They will call him 

dad. But what about me, Lord? Do I get to be a part 

of his family? Everything leads back to my neighbor 

Harold. A man that saw this vision in ‘92. A man 

that has buried his wife, children, grandchildren, and 

parents. A man that I love like a dad. 

That’s when God showed me standing on the hill 

with my family and Pops (Harold) hand in hand. He 

told me I would always be his dreamer. Together 

we would live on that hill. We would be a city on a 

hill that cannot be hidden. We will rescue, restore, 

and release those that God brings us in the name of 

Jesus because that is the same love and grace that 

has been given to Pops and his children that will be 

joining him on the Hill of Zion. 

So, here I am. I am shaking off the sand, and I am 

headed to the mountaintop...a City on a Hill. 

Next he told me I needed to ask a mutual friend on 

Instagram what her dream was. I remember Heather 

24

The Buffalo Tree 

It was at my first women’s retreat that I met Pops. 

I could see the pain in his eyes when he told me I 

needed to go visit his mama, Dolta Jo Morgan, at 

the Buffalo Tree. 

Almost a year later I finally made my way there... 

when I arrived that summer day, there by the rock 

that marks her grave was a blossoming rose. It was 

remarkable. 

With each story Pops tells, Mama Morgan’s life 

comes alive. A woman of faith. Mama had a 

passion for God’s word that simply couldn’t be 

quenched. 

Mama Morgan was a true Mary. There by the rock 

that marks her grave a blossoming rose remains. 

He too is remarkable. He is a rose of Sharon, a lily 

of the valleys. 

So it’s here at the Buffalo tree we cherish our loved 

ones and keep their memories alive until that 

blessed day we meet them in the sky. 

- Sarah Terry 

25

Remember me not with mourning but with the joy and happiness I brought you 

and you brought me. 

I will still be busy doing the Lord ’s work, but if you need me I won’t be far. 

I will be the wind in the trees...and in the rain that washes your burdens away...a 

stranger’s hug and a kiss on your cheek. 

I love you so much, Kiddo. 


Jacque is a daughter of the King, wife to Dace, 

mother to two crazy kids, and a lover of all things 

fabric. 

You can follow Jacque at shelovesshesews.com. 

Lisa Cortese 

Lisa Cortese is married to Tony and they have twin 

girls, Sophie & Olivia (age 4). She enjoys encouraging 

others in their relationship with the Lord, 

especially during those long dry days in the desert. 

Her interests include ruining satan’s plans through 

prayer and spiritual warfare, drinking coffee, and 

cooking. She is also in the process of writing a 

book about her testimony titled 180 Degrees 

(Coming January 2017). 

You can visit her on her blog itsrainingseeds.net 

26


I’m Mallory, a 23-year-old Daughter of Christ, born and raised in the 

Bluegrass, and now, newlywed! 

At the age of 20 my life shockingly ceased to a halt as I began 

the battle for my life against a rare pancreatic tumor, unrelenting 

pancreatitis, over 300 days without eating by mouth, total debilitation, 

major surgeries and my world forever changed by life threatening 

illness. In the depths of the valley I’ve learned to rely on God in ways I 

never thought possible. Though this time has been filled with miserable 

pain and great sadness, it has also been filled with the comforting 

embrace of a loving Savior and treasures that can only be found in 

the darkness. All this fighting to reclaim ME from disease and dying is 

culminating into something beautiful by the power of His grace. 

Still Waters is the song God has given me to sing, in hopes of bringing 

encouragement, joy, salvation and glory to Him who is worthy of ALL 

praise regardless of the circumstance. Walking by faith is the only path 

that can truly satisfy the emptiest spaces of your soul. 

Stillwaters1.com 

Instagram: stillwatersblog 

Facebook: Still Waters Blog 

Twitter: Malloryyy26 

Carissa Meyer 

Carissa Meyer and her husband, Dave, have been 

married for 24 years and reside in southern California 

with their three teenage daughters-Kaity, Megan, and 

Courtney, dog, Jenna, and cat, Harley. She enjoys 

walks on the beach, reading, crafts, chai tea lattes, 

time with family and friends, and early mornings with 

Jesus. You can follow Carissa by subscribing to her 

blog or by following her on Instagram. 

Blog: www.holdinglooselylovingdeeply.com 

Instagram: mama_meyer & holdinglooselylovingdeeply 

27

Kaci Nicole 

About Kaci: I’m a twenty something living to know 

Jesus more deeply every day, and to share Him 

with others. Everywhere we look, we can find 

God’s truth and beauty, and I’m passionate about 

creatively communicating these things through the 

form of story to bring hope and encouragement to 

others. I believe transparency cultivates connection, 

and that one of the most powerful places we 

can meet people is in the space of “me too.” You’ll 

most often find me laughing with friends and family, 

working my corporate job in communications, 

traveling, getting lost in the mountains, sticking 

my nose in a good book, or diving deeper into the 

heart of God. 

Follow Kaci on Instagram: @kacipiccillo and find 

more of her writing at kacinicole.com 

Heather Paul 

Heather Paul is an aspiring speaker and author. 

Passionate for the Lord, she is eager to share her 

love of her Savior with others. She is the founder 

of Beauty for Ashes Ministries, inspired by Isaiah 

61. Many refer to her as a “prayer warrior” and 

her talks encourage others to discover their inner 

beauty in the Lord as they spend time with God 

in the Word and prayer. She is co-author of the 

recently published book “Going Out On a Limb” 

and appeared twice on Atlanta Live and Talk of the 

Town. 

Words from Heather, “It blows my mind to think 

that He chose me (1 John 4:10). I love the fact that 

He desires a love relationship with us. Regardless if 

we are in church a hundred times or never, He will 

purposely pursue us and “woo” us to Himself.” 

28

Although it wasn’t until Heather was a teenager 

that she came to an undeniable understanding of 

the Lord and His grace, she truly believes that as a 

young child, without much knowledge of who He 

really was, He was already at work pursuing her. 

Her authentic speaking style includes a 

combination of solid biblical teaching infused with 

light hearted, real life stories. Her transparency 

allows her audience to identify with their own trials 

and triumphs. Heather feels that everything that 

happens in life has poten tial to become a great 

story. Her blogs explain how the journey of life is 

one giant master piece of stories to be told. 

Aside from her passion of speaking and writing, 

Heather loves spending time with her family and 

friends and takes great pride in being a Georgia 

Peach! She and her husband Jeff have four young 

children. In January of 2015, her family exchanged 

their home for a house on wheels and now 

travel the US with her husband’s job. Life is one 

adventure with stories to be told! Their lifelong 

dream is to own a farm and foster a house full of 

children. 

Blog:heatherpaul.wordpress.com 

IG: @paul6adventure 

FB: Heather Griffin Paul 


Sally Peterson resides in Saginaw, Texas with her 

husband of 21 years, Troy. She is a mother to 

three young men (Maxim 26, John 18, and Joshua 

17) and is a Pre-K teacher in a public elementary 

school. Her husband is a secondary social studies 

teacher and is also currently deployed with the 

United States Air Force Reserves as a Chaplain’s 

Assistant. Sally is passionate about helping hurting 

children heal and strengthening wounded families. 

29

Glenda Pyzer 

Glenda lives with her husband, Russ, in a small Northern 

California town named Hidden Valley Lake. She has a large, 

blended family, which she adores and is very grateful to 

love. When she married her first husband, he had two very 

small children, Jeremy (36) and Shawndre (33), which she 

immediately loved and raised as her own. During this marriage 

she had three more beautiful children, Sean (26), Ryan (22) 

and Kaitie (19). When she married her current husband, he had 

a grown son, Mike (46), which she also has a deep love and 

respect for. After a few years of marriage, they decided to do 

foster care and have adopted two half sisters out of the system: 

Annabel (13) and Breanna (10). We are all one big family 

with a lot of love for each other! Glenda has been a Special 

Education Teacher for 26 years and is currently teaching at a 

Continuation High School. She has always had a very special 

passion for children and adults with special needs. 

Glenda shares her journey at www.glendapyzer.blogspot.com. 


My name is Jessica Sowards, and I wear a lot of hats. 

My husband, our five sons and I live on a small farm 

in Central Arkansas. A few years ago, on a random 

Monday afternoon, we prayed a prayer asking God 

to help us run after Him radically. I had no idea 

then what I was asking for, but now my entire life is 

engulfed in revival fire. He is faithful and I am forever 

grateful to live a life of worship. 

www.thehodgepodgedarling.blogspot.com 

instagram: roots_and-refuge 

30

Sarah Terry 

Sarah Terry is a wife to one, mama to many, and 

mother of four rowdy kiddos. She is co-founder 

of Hill of Zion, Founder of Women of Light 

Magazine, and a former city girl turned country 

revivalist. She has a passion for God’s word 

coming alive and for loving people. You can follow 

her through the good, the bad, and the ugly on her 

blog. 

Blog: www.rowdywithfour.com 

Instagram: @rowdywithfouronahill 

Facebook: @rowdywithfouronahill 


My name is Elizabeth Walden. I’m a bible-believing 

Christian, and a wife to my husband Jonathan 

Walden. God gave me a passion for photography 

and has allowed me to use it to share the gospel and 

showcase the beauty that he has created: focusing 

on the big and small that often get overlooked. I 

currently work in the appraisal department of an 

agricultural lender, AgTexas. My husband is a peace 

officer for the City of Stephenville, TX, and he’s 

currently working to obtain his Masters in Divinity 

from Liberty University, VA online. In May we took a 

leap of faith and started selling a women’s clothing 

company called LuLaRoe out of our home. The 

company focuses on modesty and helping women of 

all sizes to feel confident. After all, we’re all made in 

God’s glory and we should all feel like it! 

Visit us at www.facebook.com/lularoewithlizwalden/ 

and have a blessed day! 

31


Seeking God Prayer Journal 

Loving and seeking God daily in prayer and in His 

word. How it Works: 

1. Read a Psalm or Proverbs. 

2. Take a closer look. 

Scripture: 

Read and Mediate on the Scripture. 

You are a Woman of Light...step out of the dark 

into the light. 

#womenoflightshine Printable prayer journal 

page available on www.rowdywithfour.com 

Rowdy with Four: Seeking God Prayer Journal 

now available on Amazon. 

Observe: 

Write down the most meaningful verse 

you read today. 

Apply: 

Write down what God wants you to 

do in response to this verse. 

Prayer: 

Reword the verse into a conversation 

with God. 

3. Write it down and look back often. 

God, You are: 

Who is God in this Scripture? 

Thank you for: 

What has God done for you? 

I need: 

What do you need from God? 

I say a special prayer for: 

Who or what does God want you 

to say a special for? 

I’m sorry for: 

What do you need to ask God 

forgiveness for? 

Our outward expression of unity will reflect our inward unity of purpose. 

Seeking God: 9/26/2016 

Reflect: 

God, you are ... 

Able 

I’m sorry for ... 

My unbelief...you are able! 

Thank you for ... 

Love...the foundation 

of my future. 

I need ... 

help with my unbelief! 

I say a special prayer for ... 


Magazine 

Bless it....you are able! 

Scripture 

Eph. 3:11-21 

Observe 

Now to Him 

who is able. 

(vs. 20) 

Apply 

He can do 

more than 

we ask or 

imagine. 

Pray 

God, you are 

able...do it! 

32

Seeking God: 

God, you are... 

Scripture 

I’m sorry for... 

Observe 

Thank you for... 

Apply 

I need... 

Pray 

I say a special prayer for... 

33

Seeking God: 

God, you are... 

Scripture 

I’m sorry for... 

Observe 

Thank you for... 

Apply 

I need... 

Pray 

I say a special prayer for... 

34

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