A Conversation on Releasing Old Assignments and Walking Away with Dr. Quantrilla Ard

We are finally at the end of our series on contentment and we have covered everything from how contentment is influenced by prayer, the culture, our spiritual disciplines, sorrow, and now release.

Have you ever questioned if your inability to experience contentment is connected to your decision to hold on to assignments you should have released? Could it be time to walk away from a few things?

It's the perfect time to reflect on our motives, and this conversation is one for the books. I pray it supports your growth and the development of contentment in your lives. I know it has mine.

Quantrilla Ard, PhD, lives in the Atlanta area along with her husband and three littles. She is a faith-based personal and spiritual development author and dynamic speaker who believes in the power of collective strength, community, and fellowship.

A passionate creative at heart, Dr. Quanny has answered the call to encourage women in all stages of life and of various backgrounds through empathy, transparency, and love. She holds a doctoral degree in Health Psychology and is an advocate and champion for social and reproductive justice with a focus on Black maternal and infant health and mortality. Dr. Quanny is a professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and she uses her social media platforms to engage, educate, and inform others about her doctoral research and personal experience with preeclampsia. In addition, she provides expert opinions on the same in various print and online media outlets.

Dr. Quanny humbly stewards a grief and loss community and podcast, both entitled It’s All Grief to Me, as a coach and liaison for individuals navigating their loss journeys. You can find her sharing stories of triumph as well as follow her and the work she is involved in at www.thephdmamma.com.

My First Episode with Dr. Quanny on Apple

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A Conversation on Suffering and Contentment with Kristen LaValley

I do know that this month can introduce a variety of emotions and lots of different women, especially as we prepare for Mother's Day. And for years, it was pretty hard to start the month for me because although I wanted to be a mama, I didn't have the opportunity. It always felt a little difficult to send out those Mother's Day text messages to various friends because although I was happy for them, I still felt some sadness.

Now that I've gone through pregnancy and labor and I've familiarized myself with lots of different research about many different struggles that women experience, as well as experiencing some of those struggles myself or with friends, I am also holding those who are feeling the loss of their children in my heart, as well.

So today, as we prepare to begin this conversation, we'll pray for those who hope to experience contentment again despite their pain.

Kristen LaValley is a gifted writer whose words provide a refreshing perspective on faith and spirituality. Her writing resonates with those who carry tensions in their faith, offering insights that intersect doubt and belief, hope and suffering, beauty and heartache, complexity and simplicity. With a deep love for the Christian faith and a willingness to explore its complexities, Kristen's writing offers nuanced conversations that challenge readers to think deeply and wrestle with important questions.

Kristen lives in Massachusetts with her husband Zach and their five children - Jonah, Emery, Anna, Chloe, and Lydia.

Even If He Doesn't

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A conversation about spiritual disciplines (like scripture reading, gratitude, and prayer) that strengthen our contentment with Shante Grossett O'Neal

Y'alllll, the spiritual disciplines have supported my relationship with Christ in the best ways, and I am grateful for them. They consistently remind us that us our God is a relational God, that He has placed us in relationship with others for our good, and that His Holy Spirit will always lead us into all truth and righteousness.

We may not learn them in a formal setting, and we may not always share them on social media, but those spiritual disciplines have the power to remind us we are always growing in the Lord when we let Him lead us there.

Shanté Grossett O’Neal is the founder of Daily She Pursues. She is passionate about teaching women how to pursue the heart of God by studying his word, spending time in prayer, and committing to a daily walk with the Lord. She is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies at Liberty University and some of her favorite things include tea, journaling, art museums, essential oils, and thrift shopping.

The Twelve-Week Jesus Bible Study

My Conversation with Shante on the Imprecatory Psalms

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A conversation about the culture and the pursuit of contentment with Becky Beresford

Welcome back to our miniseries on contentment. When I first found out I was expecting a little one, I had so many emotions they surprised me. I had planned to feel nothing but pure joy and ecstacy. However, I also felt some grief about the things I knew I would have to walk away from for a season. Now, don't get me wrong.

I was overjoyed. Still, I recognized that every time I engaged with cultural values and got sucked into a vortex on social media, I started feeling as if I was falling behind.

That couldn't be further from the truth, but if it is, who cares? We have to think critically about the messages we're accepting and adopting from the culture so that we can ensure they don't impede our ability to enjoy contentment.

Becky Beresford lives in North Carolina and is happily outnumbered by her husband and three wonderful boys. She is an author, speaker, and coach with a Master's Certificate in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship from Moody Theological Seminary. Becky loves encouraging God’s Daughters to embrace Christ-centered empowerment through the truth found in the gospel. She is the host of the inspiring Brave Women Series, where different women share about their journeys toward courage with Jesus. Becky’s first book with Moody Publishers, She Believed HE Could, So She Did, releases in March. Connect with Becky at BeckyBeresford.com where you can sign up to become a part of her Empowered Email Tribe. Or follow her on Instagram.

She Believed He Could, So She Did

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A conversation about burnout, resentment, and wholeness with Lisa V. Fields, founder of the Jude 3 Project.

Welcome to our miniseries on contentment. Over the next five months, we are going to explore what it means to pursue contentment. We'll talk about how it changes the way we live, love, and lead, and I hope you're here for it.

Now, before we get started, let's talk about what contentment is not. Contentment is not an excuse for passivity, disobedience, or complacency. It is a fine balance between faith and gratitude. 

Contentment is not the end of the road, a final destination we somehow get to, but a component that makes the journey easier and more fulfilling. It is the beautiful absence of strife, pride, and competition.

Contentment recognizes capacity and it yields to calling in whatever form it may come.

Lisa Fields, one of the world’s most sought-after Christian apologists, combines her passion for biblical literacy with her heart for sharing God’s love with all she meets.

Since starting the Jude 3 Project, Fields has received several honors, most notably, Christianity Today’s recognition of her work as an apologist in the African American community.

Lisa is taking us behind the scenes to talk about how the pursuit of contentment showed up in one of the hardest periods of her life. I could not be more grateful for how she has invited us behind the scenes.

Watch Unspoken

Watch Faith and Freedom

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Can you believe we are at episode 100?! When I first launched The Best Kept Secret, I couldn't see past episode 3, but our God is so kind.

Thank you for joining me here week after week. In honor of our 100th episode, I'd like you to grab your Bible and listen in as we wrap up this series on worship with a message I shared at Avenue Church this past September.

If you have your copy of Selah: A Study of 1 and 2 Samuel, you can turn to Session 6 as we prepare to talk about the final session, titled Worship Invites Us to Rejoice.

Want to get connected to a healthy church in Las Vegas? Check out Avenue Church, led by Pastors Jeremy and Lindsey Bosma. I can't recommend it enough.

Want to find out what was going on in King David's life when he wrote the psalms He's known for? Grab your download here. 

A conversation about pain, disappointment, and friendship with God with Faith Eury Cho

It wasn't until late in 2022 that one little story in David's narrative stuck out to me. I was going through my own wilderness season, and had been for about a year and a half when I read it.

When King David was returning to the wilderness in 2 Samuel 15 on his way into exile from his son Absalom who had taken over his kingdom, he paused.

He paused to let everyone who was traveling with him (over 600 men and their families to pass by him), while Abiathar the priest made sacrifices. Wow.

Y’all. This is powerful. It shows us that we can keep worshiping, even when we are on the way into a wilderness season, and all of our options feel heavy and impossible to navigate.

I don’t know whether you are coming out of a wilderness season, feeling like you’re on the way into the wilderness or somewhere in between, but the one thing we learn from David is that the wilderness does not dictate our ability to worship the Lord in everything.

This week, we continue to reflect on some of the themes in Session Five of Selah: Worship Invites Resilience in the Wilderness.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Today, Ty and I get ready to close out this season by featuring one woman who has impacted both of us. Today, I have the great joy to introduce you to Tona Haywood, a marketing consultant and boutique h. Get connected to her because she is definitely a woman you should know.

Faith is the CEO and founder of The Honor Summit, a nonprofit organization that equips and activates Asian American women for the mission of God. Alongside her husband, Pastor David Cho, she is also the co-founder and co-pastor of  Mosaic Covenant Church in NJ.

Faith is a coach and collaborator for Propel Ecclesia, for which she has also been a contributing writer. She is also the author of Experiencing Friendship with God: How the Wilderness Draws Us to His Presence.

Faith has spoken on mission fields, churches, conferences, and stages such as Thinq Media and Exponential. She regularly appears on TBN’s Better Together. In addition, she has been a guest on The 700 Club and LIFE Today TV. In January 2023, she was mentioned in Outreach Magazine as one of, “20 Rising Leaders.”

Her most precious role, however, is being a mom to her 4 children— Moriah, Elias, River and Adalynn.

Want to find out what was going on in King David's life when he wrote the psalms He's known for? Grab your download here. 

A conversation about rebellion, grace, and presence with Pamela Henkelman

I am so grateful for those mamas who model how to keep worshiping when your children rebel because they display the heart of our Great God and the love He has for each of us. In fact, my mama has modeled this up close and personally for me.

One of the most interesting relationships in all of 1 and 2 Samuel is that between King David and his son, Absalom. Once David invites Absalom back into the kingdom, he continues to ignore him, and throughout the Scripture we see Absalom fall deeper and deeper into rebellion the more distant he grows from His father.

Thank God that we don't have a Heavenly Father who ignores us-even when we rebel. May we all pray for the parents and their children in each of our lives.

This week, we continue to reflect on some of the themes in Session Five of Selah: Worship Invites Resilience in the Wilderness.

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

In the NLT, it says, “Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.”

Today, Ty and I get ready to close out this season by featuring one woman who has impacted both of us. Today, I have the great joy to introduce you to Heidy de la Cruz, a writer and podcaster. Get connected to her because she is definitely a woman you should know.

Pamela Henkelman is a Life Coach for Midlife Moms, speaker, writer, and host of The Midlife Momma Podcast. With her bright smile and enthusiastic personality, she is passionate about encouraging women, particularly the often-forgotten group of moms with adult children.

Pamela helps these moms navigate their changing roles and build stronger relationships with their grown children.

As a mom of five grown kids and two grandsons, Pamela has first-hand experience with the challenges and joys of navigating the empty nest phase of life. She and her husband, who is a pastor, are living their best empty-nest life and loving every minute of it. Download Pamela’s freebie Your Kids Are Grown…Now What here.

Want to find out what was going on in King David's life when he wrote the psalms He's known for? Grab your download here.