By Jenni Borcherding God's Brave Women - Jenni's Story I began pacing and could hardly catch my breath. The walls in my living room seemed to be slowly caving in on me. My heart was racing, and I felt like I had no control over my body. Impending doom surrounded me. I had never felt this way before. I didn’t realize until later that this feeling had a name. Panic attack. The events leading up to this point seemed trivial. In all honesty, my response was disproportionate to th

By Sarah God's Brave Women - Sarah's Story Life is always changing. Nothing stays the same forever. Bittersweet, right? Change can be really hard. While I have always loved adventure, I have simultaneously found myself staying in spaces for a long time or saying “no” because I was scared of the unknown. For example, I worked as a barista in a coffee shop for almost ten years. There were many benefits of that job. The people, the life lessons learned…and many years’ worth of f

God's Brave Women - Alisa's Story There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “Love others as you love yourself.” (Mark 12:31) This verse is a little tricky for me. I don’t really have a problem “loving others” - for the most part that’s kind of easy. It’s the “as you love yourself” part that seems to trip me up. You see, I don’t really love myself. Oh sure, I think about myself and put myself first and consider what’s in my own best interest. Ironically, I think that is a comple

God's Brave Women - Katie's Story Tomorrow is my birthday. I turn 36. For such a long time, I’ve focused on how I’m not where I want to be. I’ve not lived in deep regret necessarily, but the moments I’ve lingered too long on have added up and robbed me of hours of joy and peace I can’t get back. NO MORE. Galatians 5:1 states, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” I’m not a “word of the year” person, but if I

God's Brave Women - Mandy's Story As I sit down to write this I am filled with anxiety, as I have no idea what to write about. I hardly think about myself as BRAVE (wait, who me?) or a writer per say. And to write about being BRAVE seems so strange to me, perhaps self-promoting, if you will. But then again, I haven’t always had a good history of positive self-talk, personal affirmation, or consistent allowance of God to remind me of all who HE knows I am. So, here I sit. Thin

God's Brave Women - Josi's Story Insecurity has always been a mean influencer in my life, but that summer night – July 21, 2016 – was the first time it showed up in a 15-passenger van. It was getting dark. My husband, one-year-old son and I loaded up into the big van. We were heading to O’Hare, Chicago’s international airport. What will they look like? How many belongings will they have with them? Will they speak English? What questions will they have, and will we be able to

God's Brave Women - Jenny's Story As I write this, I ask the question that won’t be answered this side of Heaven. Why? I ask this in the moments of exhaustion or those moments when I attempt to wrap my mind around all that I’ve been through. I want and need to know that there is a purpose for all of this. I close my eyes, shut out all the noise, and remember the one verse that has carried me through, when I didn’t have the energy to stand or receive one more piece of bad news