Join me for inspiration and encouragement as I talk with women who are using their gifts to impact the world for Christ. Discover how you too can use your gifts to impact the world and further the Kingdom of God.
We are a community of women who are taking action where our passion, compassion, and conviction intersect.
Life can be crazy messy, but God loves you like crazy and He wants to use YOU for His glory. Woman of God, you have a Fierce Calling!
Subscribe to this podcast and visit dorisswift.com.
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Join me for inspiration and encouragement as I talk with women who are using their gifts to impact the world for Christ. Discover how you too can use your gifts to impact the world and further the Kingdom of God.
We are a community of women who are taking action where our passion, compassion, and conviction intersect.
Life can be crazy messy, but God loves you like crazy and He wants to use YOU for His glory. Woman of God, you have a Fierce Calling!
Subscribe to this podcast and visit dorisswift.com.
Embracing New Beginnings After Unexpected Challenges with Melissa McLaughlin
Fierce Calling
40 minutes 24 seconds
2 months ago
Embracing New Beginnings After Unexpected Challenges with Melissa McLaughlin
Welcome back to Fierce Calling! In this episode, host Doris sits down with Melissa McLaughlin, an author, teacher, and speaker, who writes to uplift and inspire followers of Christ.. Melissa opens up about her faith journey, including her unexpected bout with debilitating health issues that led her to an unexpected and unplanned early retirement from her teaching career. What could have been a season of loss became a time of deep spiritual renewal, as Melissa rediscovered her identity in Christ and found new ways to connect with God through scripture-based prayer.
Out of her darkest moments came her first book, In Dark of Night When Words Fail, Voice of Jesus, Pray for Me, designed to help those who struggle with prayer find their voice again through scripture. Melissa also shares how her second book, The Whole Bible Devotional: Seeing Jesus in Every Book of the Bible, was inspired by her own challenges with reading the Bible all the way through, and her desire to help others see the big-picture story of Jesus woven throughout all the books of the Bible.
Join us for an encouraging conversation about hope, identity, and the power of God, Who creates beauty from ashes. Whether you’re in a season of uncertainty, desire to deepen your prayer life, or looking for fresh ways to engage with Scripture, Melissa’s story and resources will inspire you to keep seeking God’s purpose—no matter what twists and turns life may bring.
We're Talking About This Amazing Devotional and More!
Florida Women's Ministry Leadership Conference mentioned in the intro:
Passion for pursuing Christ with biblical truth, grace, and prayer
Brief overview of her books:
"In Dark of Night When Words Fail, Voice of Jesus, Pray For Me"
"The Whole Bible Devotional: Seeing Jesus in Every Book of the Bible"
Context of her writing coming from personal struggles
Doris’s introduction and excitement about the conversation
2. Melissa’s Personal Faith Journey
Growing up in a Christian home
Making her faith her own during college years
Becoming a teacher and her passion for education
Marriage and raising three grown children
3. The Impact of Health Challenges
Long history of back problems leading to debilitating health issues at age 50
Forced, early, and unexpected retirement from teaching
Struggles with loss: health, job, and sense of identity
Spiritual wrestling: questioning God’s plan and lack of healing
4. Rediscovering Identity in Christ
God “peeling back” layers of false identity
Coming to see herself as a child of God, identity rooted in Jesus
Faith being deepened and transformed through suffering
5. Losing and Regaining the Voice to Pray
Feeling unable to pray during her darkest moments
Returning to Scripture and learning to pray aloud from the Bible
Rewriting Scripture into personalized prayers
Restoration of her prayer life: God’s words empoweri...
Fierce Calling
Join me for inspiration and encouragement as I talk with women who are using their gifts to impact the world for Christ. Discover how you too can use your gifts to impact the world and further the Kingdom of God.
We are a community of women who are taking action where our passion, compassion, and conviction intersect.
Life can be crazy messy, but God loves you like crazy and He wants to use YOU for His glory. Woman of God, you have a Fierce Calling!
Subscribe to this podcast and visit dorisswift.com.
