HOLLYN: In All Honesty

by Jennifer Taylor in Leading Hearts Magazine

All relationships can be tough to navigate, but that is only amplified when you are struggling through the confusion with no one to confide in.  

This is a snapshot of feelings that recording artist HOLLYN experienced in a relationship that, in all honesty, ended in heartache and grief. That season and afterward inspired her to write six songs — the culmination of her current album Bye, Sad Girl.

Lyrically Speaking

Bye, Sad Girl is all about stories. Mainly, my story of when I walked through a pretty rough time in my life almost two years ago.

I went through a six-month period where I was in a relationship that was very confusing and crippled me with a lot of anxiety and depression. I really didn’t know how to talk about it at that time,” HOLLYN says.

“I remember feeling so isolated and like nobody could really feel what I was feeling. I had never been through anything like that before. It was so different and new to me that I kind of felt crazy.”

HOLLYN wants everyone who feels alone in these situations to know there’s a God who loves them. She started writing the songs about six months after the relationship ended but knew they were nothing like her other recording projects — because all of the emotions of her journey were just spilling out. 

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When God Calls the Heart to Faithfulness

by Heartie Michelle S. Cox in Leading Hearts Magazine

I just returned home from a week in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. My husband and I enjoyed some sightseeing while we were there, but the main purpose of our trip was for the Hearties Family Reunion. 

I’ve been blessed to co-author the When God Calls the Heart devotional books with Brian Bird. He’s the executive producer and co-creator of When Calls the Heart, Hallmark’s #1 show. 

Each year, the fans of the show — the Hearties — are invited to a family reunion in Vancouver. 

The event sells out in minutes when it opens for registration, with hundreds of more folks on a waiting list. It’s a fun weekend with panels from the cast members of When Calls the Heart and the spin-off series When Hope Calls, sessions with the production crew and Hallmark executives, opportunities for photos with the stars of the shows, and time to bond with other Hearties from around the world. 

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Edie Melson: Why You Shouldn’t Get Caught Up in Your Social Media Numbers

by Edie Melson in Leading Hearts Magazine

One of the most significant issues we have is a tendency to approach online reach with a have-to-do, legalistic mindset. Truthfully, because successful social media is all about relationship building, it works best when we treat it as an exercise in faith.

When we get caught up in numbers and percentages, we lose our way. 

Instead, we must remember that those we interact with are not numbers; they’re people.

If we begin to judge our effectiveness, the worth of what we have to say, by numbers, we’ve lost our way.

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A Powerful Provider

by Pam Farrel in Leading Hearts magazine

“He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever” (Psalm 111:5).

One of the prayers I (Pam) often pray is Lord we look to You for your power, protection, and provision. I know we can ask this because God offers his character to back up His promises. 

In Brave New Woman, I reflect upon God as provider: “My favorite name of God is Jehovah Jireh, meaning ‘the one who provides.’ Jireh is the Hebrew verb for ‘to see.’ And if God sees, He also foresees. 

Author Nathan Stone, in Names of God, writes: ‘As the One who possesses eternal wisdom and knowledge, He knows the end from the beginning. As Elohim, He is all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful. From eternity to eternity He foresees everything. But another word for seeing is vision, from the Latin word video—to see.’ So it’s like God has the video for your life! Not only does he have the video; He is the director!” 

Your opportunities in life directly reflect how you view God. If you know Him, you will trust Him. If you trust Him, you will step out in faith and gain that big wonderful life He promises,” A.W. Tozer says in, The Knowledge of the Holy. “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” 

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New ISSUE—Learn to Lead with Impossible Faith!

Learn to lead with IMPOSSIBLE FAITH! The October/November issue of Leading Hearts features incredible stories of women pursuing the bigger-than-life call that God has on their life and the faith that keeps them moving forward every day!

Karen Whiting is Reaching Families Called to Serve, Tanya J. Miller is helping us Walk the Path of Impossibilities, music artist Hollyn shares hard lessons learned in love gone wrong.

The reality of God’s provision, dealing with unseen results of working for the Kingdom plus practical tips to avoid internet brain drain. ALSO, BRAND NEW Debut for this ISSUE!!! Leading Lady Life Hacks from red carpet style-insiders Shae Wilbur celebrity commentator and Sharon Oliver, publisher of CEO Life & Style Magazine. 

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NEW ISSUE SNEAK PEEK: Karen Whiting: Reaching Families Called to Serve

by Taylor Bernquist, LH Intern in Leading Hearts Magazine.

I hope every family who reads this devotional thrives more, bonds more, serves more, and learns more about themselves and God.

“AS WE WERE GROWING UP, THERE WERE TRAGEDIES THAT MY GRANDFATHER, THE FIRE CHIEF, HAD TO DEAL WITH— BUT COULDN’T TALK ABOUT. I remember the silence after the night that my grandfather responded to an accident that killed one of my friend’s parents.  Because I couldn’t talk to my grandfather about my feelings, I did talk to God.  But still, my fear was a lot for me, or for any child, to process,” says veteran author and speaker Karen Whiting. 

Her memory of her longing to explore her feelings as a child is what inspired Karen to open the conversation about the importance of service careers as well as the unique needs of first responders and their families in her 26th book—52 Weekly Devotions for Families Called to Serve.

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Are You Living Exposed?

by Dr. Susan B. Mead in Leading Hearts magazine

YES, EXPOSED. EMBARRASSED. EXTREMELY VULNERABLE. Has something happened, shattering the world around you, shaming you as your life is exposed for all to see? Do you feel humiliation as others freely comment on your misfortune, both publicly and privately?

Yeah, me too. I lost a son to drugs and alcohol. I did not lose him in a way that others would call honorable — serving his country — or in a way that others would say was unpreventable — to some horrid disease. Yet I lost him, and I know what it feels like to grieve over a lost child.

I was heartbroken and ashamed. Rearing children to adulthood, addiction-free, and having them proclaim Jesus as Lord defined successful mothering to me. And I’d failed. Miserably. I felt exposed. Why?

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