This issue is an invitation to go deeper. Beyond surface appearances, beyond polite answers. We’re stepping into authenticity—into stories that don’t hide the scars, but reveal them as places where God’s light shines through. Inside these pages, you’ll discover women who share honestly from their journeys.
It started somewhere between Dallas and San Antonio, where I was napping in seat 27A, minding my own business, when my eyes suddenly snapped open. Something wasn’t right. I looked up to see smoke curling out of the air vent. I blinked. Then I leaned toward the man beside me and whispered, “Is that ... smoke?”
Welcome to Leading Hearts—an EPA award-winning magazine created by the members of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. As AWSA celebrates our 25th year, I find myself reflecting on what God has built through us—over 1,000 strong—women committed to using our words, our stories, and our gifts to glorify Him.
Clarity doesn’t always show up at the top of the mountain—sometimes it waits for you halfway down, breathless and freezing, with a lesson you didn’t expect to learn.
When you’re wading through muddy waters, longing for clarity, it can feel like there’s nothing firm to stand on—only murky answers and shifting ground.
Sometimes when I pray, the Lord shows me these lovely pictures. I used to think these were mere daydreams interrupting my prayer focus. I’d try to refocus, but the images continued to break my concentration. One day, in a small prayer circle, the woman who prayed before me shared the pictures she saw as she prayed. I’d never heard anyone share in this way before, but her courage inspired me to share the pictures I saw.
Nearly 25 years ago, while praying, I heard a gentle whisper in my spirit. The Lord asked me to invite Christian women authors I knew to join an online community.
As the world sings, “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,” tragedy can suddenly zap away our joy. Loved ones can pass away, and lives can be turned upside down.
Imagine Christmas without a woman’s touch—no Mary to bring our Savior into the world. It’s impossible because it was God’s divine plan to bypass the seed of man and bring the Son of God into the world through a woman.
I was snuggled deep in the covers when my eyes popped open and I heard the still, small voice of the Lord whisper to my heart. "It’s time to pray for the hurting children."