By Editor Amber Weigand-Buckley
Linda has told you about the day God put a women’s magazine on her heart in Longmont, Colorado.
What she may not have told you is that nearly 800 miles away, in Springfield, Missouri, I was praying the other half of that prayer.
WHEN EVERYTHING FELL APART AT ONCE
About a year earlier, my world came apart all at once. The print industry was collapsing, and the staff of the magazine I edited dwindled until it was just me. The irony? That same season, I won two big awards for my magazine.
Then everything crumbled. The pressure escalated into a six-month manic writing spree and a stay in what I lovingly call the funny farm. While I fought for my sanity, the cuts came and my job went with them. Even then, God took care of me. Between severance and short-term disability, He gave me almost a year off with pay, as if to say, You need to rest now.
I could barely lift my head, let alone write. When that year ended, I landed in fundraising, the last place I ever expected to be. As far as I could tell, my dream was dead.
A PRAYER FROM THE BOTTOM
So I prayed the most honest prayer I knew: God, you gave me this gift, this journalism degree, and this longing that won’t leave me alone. How could you put all of that in me just to take it away? Let me do what I do. I’ll even do it for free.
One week later, my phone rang. It was Linda Evans Shepherd.
“I feel like God wants me to start a women’s magazine,” she said. “Would you help me?” Be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it. We had no money; and I was willing to honor what I said to God .
But in faith, Linda agreed to pay me and prayed a prayer of faith over every dollar she knew God was going to have to provide. It definitely didn’t come rushing in all at once, but those funds came in right on time. That was the beginning of Leading Hearts. In its first year, it won an award.
HOLY SPIRIT HOLDS IT TOGETHER
Every time we finish an issue, I stand on the other side of it and wonder, How did this happen? But I know the answer. Holy Spirit works beyond our capacity, and when Father hands us a dream, He helps us carry it.
Thirteen years later, He has sustained this ministry and used it to encourage countless women, authors, and speakers. I thought I had lost everything. Instead, God gave me more than I ever dared to ask for.
This issue is another one of those moments. You’ll find inspiring stories, celebrations of thankfulness, and reminders that God is still writing the next chapter, even when we can’t see past the page we’re on.
DREAMS DON’T DIE; THEY CHANGE SHAPE
If you’re holding a dream that feels dead right now, hear me: when God plants a passion in your heart, He doesn’t let it die. It may change shape, but He will not let it die. Pray the fearless prayer. Then keep your phone nearby.
Love, Amber
