Have you ever felt like God keeps putting the same truth in front of you — through a journal entry, a Zoom call, a speaker, a song — until you finally stop and hear it? That’s exactly the thread running through our April 2026 issue of Leading Hearts. And it starts on the cover.
Meet Our Cover: Graciela Kessler
In 2006, Graciela Kessler was Argentine-born, far from family, newly settled in Texas with two young children, and just diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. What followed was a mastectomy, nine months of chemotherapy, and something she hadn’t expected: a revelation about the name of God.
That revelation became a practice. In every new season — every career crisis, every transition — she learned to ask one question: Lord, what is the name I need to know right now? Twenty years of answers filled journals. Those journals became a book: Divine Tapestry: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Names, Nature, Titles, and Attributes of God.
I Am is not only ‘I exist.’ I Am is: I Am who you need Me to be.
— Graciela Kessler, Cover Feature
Read The Cover Story
What Else Is Inside
This issue is full — in the best way. From Pam Farrel’s midnight car repair and the marriage diagnostic questions she asks in a crisis, to Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith asking whether God cares about your weight (spoiler: He does, but not the way you think), to Maureen Miller’s devastating and beautiful story of returning home from a hospital with an empty car seat and hearing God ask, quietly, Am I good?
Veteran recording legend Amy Grant and her first album of original songs in over a decade — written on the other side of open-heart surgery and a traumatic brain injury. Rhonda Rhea brings her signature humor to soul exhaustion. And Edie Melson gives women in ministry a simple, sustainable social media framework that actually works.
Full Table of Contents — April 2026
From the Leadership
5
We Need Renewal — Linda Evans Shepherd
On the three-minute revival and why confession is where freedom begins.
7
When God Repeats Himself — Amber Weigand-Buckley
Learning to discern God’s voice through stillness
Cover Feature
8
Discovering ‘I Am’: Graciela Kessler
Twenty years of journaling the names of God through cancer, burnout, and a calling she tried to ignore.
Faith & Life
8
Time for an Engine Check! — Pam Farrel
A midnight car breakdown reveals the diagnostic questions every marriage needs.
14
Does Prayer Really Work? — Cynthia L. Simmons
What 1860s telegraph operators can teach us about how God hears us.
16
Amy Grant: She’s Still Here
A look at “The Me That Remains” — her first album of new songs in over a decade.
20
When the Kettle Sings — Penelope Carlevato
Honoring a friend who lived 27 years beyond her ALS death sentence, plus the Impossible Quiche recipe.
22
The Queen of Recovery — Jane Jenkins Herlong
An unforgettable pageant story about grace under pressure.
24
A Prayer Blast of Protection — Linda Evans Shepherd
The promise of Psalm 91 and a windstorm that lifted her off her feet.
30
Redemption in the Empty Car Seat — Maureen Miller
A raw, beautiful story of a failed adoption and three words God kept asking on the drive home.
32
Tired Is As Tired Does — Rhonda Rhea
Signature humor meets soul exhaustion — and the only renewable energy source that actually works.
Practical Wisdom
26
The Rule of Three for Women in Ministry — Edie Melson
A simple social media strategy: Encouragement, Insight, Invitation.
28
Does God Care About My Weight? — Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith
Reframing health, comfort food, and what God truly cares about when He looks at you.
