Leading Hearts Platinum Faith Lookbook

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We knew it wasn’t going to be all butterflies and sunshine, but we knew that God had called us, ordained it and equipped us, and we would get through it together.

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Michelle Medlock Adams & Bethany Jett PLATINUM

STRONG

LEADING HEARTS EDITOR, AMBER WEIGAND-BUCKLEY, HAD A CHANCE TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH TWO AUTHORS — MICHELLE MEDLOCK ADAMS AND BETHANY JETT — WHO RECENTLY COLLABORATED ON TWO BOOKS. Q: You two have co-authored two books. Bethany, tell us about that.

BETHANY: They Call Me Mom is a devotional and Platinum Faith is non-fiction. I think people sometimes think books are all written the same way. But you need to have a different style, a different voice for each kind of book. It was fun to work on two different kinds of books at the same time. And, of course, we got to write them together. We got to talk so much as we worked on them. I know I couldn’t have written these two books myself.

Q: So, Michelle, did one of you focus on one book and the other, on the other book? Or did you focus on them together at the same time?

MICHELLE: We had different deadlines. They Call Me Mom was due before Platinum Faith. So, we focused on that one first. While we were working on writing Platinum Faith, we were working on edits of They Call Me Mom. On each book, one of us would take the lead on a chapter or devotional and the other would add their take on it. It worked out great that way.

-continued on p. 109.

-continued from p. 9Q: Michelle, what did you learn the most from writing with Bethany?

MICHELLE: I’ve co-authored with other people and I’ve ghostwritten for several. I’m used to working with others. In each case you need to create a bond; it’s almost like a marriage. With Bethany, it wasn’t as hard because we were best friends. On the other hand, you want to be very careful when you’re working with your best friend. Sometimes we had some hard conversations. But going through that together made our bond even stronger and richer and it made everything so much more real. In Platinum Faith we weren’t striving for perfection, but rather, progress. We knew it wasn’t going to be all butterflies and sunshine, but we knew that God had called us, ordained it and equipped us, and we would get through it together.

Q: Well, Bethany, what did you learn from doing these two books with Michelle?

BETHANY: Michelle is so polished, so great at the craft.

It made me step up; it wasn’t just my name on it. I tried to hit the right stories at the right time with the right tone.

MICHELLE: I’ve written “mom” devotionals before, but I had never written one since my girls were grown. This was kind of like “the rest of the story.” I have daughters with children of their own, so I’ve graduated to “Gigi.”

It’s like tales from the other side. “I made it!” There is something for every age and every stage of motherhood in this book. Bethany and I have a lot in common, but there are many differences, which makes the book more well-rounded. Something is going to resonate for every mom out there. You may not get my stuff, but you may relate to Bethany.

Q: Bethany as a military mom, with a husband who is away, you probably relate to a lot of the single moms out there who deal with the issues of sometimes having to be both Mom and Dad. BETHANY: A lot of the stories in the book did come from times when Justin was deployed, when it was just me 24/7. I wanted to be careful not to cross a line, because he comes back. I know that for some of those single moms or dads there is no break. My heart goes out to military families and especially single parents.

Q: What are some of the things you want mothers to take away from this book?

MICHELLE: I’d say the same thing. I think we both felt the need to step up our game. We didn’t want to let the other person down.

Q: Tell me about They Call Me Mom and how that came together with you two on different spectrums of the Mom plane.

BETHANY: We wanted every type of mom to find herself in this book. We didn’t want it to just be stories of our experiences. We made sure we had lots of stories.

We want moms to know they don’t have to be perfect even though you want to strive for that. We want moms to find community. She’s not alone. She doesn’t have to live with all this mom guilt. I guess I would summarize the message of the book as: “You’re not alone.”

MICHELLE: I agree with that. We were intentional about weaving encouragement into every devotional.

We designed it to be one devotional per week for 52 weeks, but people are reading the entire book in one

sitting. It’s like they’re binge-reading it. That’s okay.

We’re glad for that. What we hoped for and prayed for — and what we’re hearing — is that they’re picking it up and reading just what God has for them at that moment.

It’s so cool how He does that. We’re already hearing the testimonies coming in.

was worth it, even if only for that one person. We’re making an impact. We are just in awe that people are loving it and hearing from God in it. That’s what it’s all about.

Q: Tell us a little about this second book, Platinum Faith, and how what you learned from working together on They Call Me Mom affected how you worked together on it.

MICHELLE: When it is something that God had birthed in you — like these two books — it means so much that it can be crippling. It’s so holy, you don’t want to mess it up. Not just because you don’t want to let down your writing partner; you don’t want to let down God.

BETHANY: We talked about there being a learning curve while working on two different kinds of books.

Our publishers noticed that we were still in devotional mode as we worked on Platinum Faith. They kept telling to “pull the takeaway up higher.” There were a lot of rewrites to get through Platinum Faith. That made me a stronger writer, learning the essence of the two kinds of writing. We have gotten a lot of feedback that Platinum Faith felt spiritual and devotional-like, even though it wasn’t a devotional format.

MICHELLE: We did a Platinum Faith women’s

conference. The book hadn’t even come out yet, but we had a few advance copies to sell. They went the first hour. A lady who bought one came to the table the next day and said, “I’m so mad at you.” We were surprised. “I was up until 4:30 reading your book. I just couldn’t put it down.” I told her that was the best compliment ever. So, that was our first review.

Later, at a writers conference in Chicago a lady came up who had bought a copy on Amazon for her daughter.

She asked if we could sign it. As I signed it, I saw that the daughter had already marked it up with underlines and notes in the margins. It looked like it had been well loved already.

Never in my life had I ever thought someone would do that with a book that I contributed to. I knew that God was in the middle of all that. Whatever the process we went through — every chapter was like giving birth — it

Q: How do you feel about creating something that God has birthed in your hearts?

BETHANY: I couldn’t have written this book without Michelle. God pulled things out of our hearts. We have said that God did this in spite of us. We believe in this book because we felt His hand over every agonizing moment.

Q: And when you do something for God, you know you’re going to get resistance. Tell us about your online conferences.

MICHELLE: We have 11 women of faith. These are women in our circles. We asked, “Will you let us interview you about your walk in platinum faith?” The interviews did not have set questions. We had live chats going on. It was kind of like a watch party. On night two,one of the ladies was talking about her battle with depression and being bi-polar. She had said, “I had on my I’m-fine shirt, but I wasn’t fine.” Someone messaged me and said, “I’m not fine. I need prayer” I was giving her Scriptures and praying with her. It went so much deeper than we dreamed. If you step out in obedience to God, He can take you farther than you ever could have dreamed. He goes above and beyond.

BETHANY: It was a place of community. It became more than just writing a book. It became what the message of the book was. Seeing that transformation happen in front of our eyes was such a gift.

Q: Could you give a closing word of encouragement?

BETHANY: You are not alone. We have lots of fun things we’re going to be doing for each of the books.

There will be more interviews.

To date, what’s refreshing to me is people who are just willing to share the hard things we don’t see online. I think it’s a safe place to be. No one’s perfect.

No one’s trying to claim that. It’s okay to be where you are in your mess; we’re all there with you.

Read a review on p. 30

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We need to keep reminding ourselves that we are better together as the body of Christ than we are separated.

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BY JENNIFER TAYLOR | MUSIC CONTRIBUTOR

CeCe Winans

LET’S GET

TOGETHER THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THIS HOLIDAY GIVING SEASON KEEPS EVERYONE BUSY, and that’s certainly

true for legendary gospel recording artist CeCe Winans, too! On top of touring her Grammynominated Something’s Happening! Christmas album, CeCe has also recently sung for Rev. Torry and Lois Evans’ 70th birthday celebration and on Broadway with Kristin Chenoweth. She was among an amazing list of artists to perform at the CMA Country Christmas, not to mention all she does for her family and as a pastor.

the world,” CeCe says. “I think his concert was probably the first concert I saw all people there. It wasn’t a white thing. It wasn’t a black thing. It wasn’t an Asian thing. It was across the board. His music was produced in such an excellent way. You could hear the gospel all throughout his music, and it was so entertaining.”

In fact, among her plans for 2020, CeCe is excited to be recording an album of Andraé Crouch’s songs. “I think 2020 will be five years since he passed and went on to be with the Lord,” she says.

“I think it’ll be a good time to honor his legacy.”

As the eighth of 10 children born to Delores and David Winans, CeCe says “Mom and Pop Winans” are her most influential people in her life. “Keeping in God’s Word, living God’s Word, and they both sang. They were ministers of music, and they actually met in a gospel choir when they were teenagers. So, they recognized the gifts we had as their children and really trained us in that.”

And the Andraé Crouch album is just one of the projects CeCe plans to do in the coming year. She and her team are also in the early process of working on a live worship album. This will be the first live album for CeCe, which is hard to believe, but they are gathering and writing songs now. She estimates in the spring she will be doing a live night of worship and recording.

As far as musical influences, she thinks she can speak for all the Winans in saying that Andraé Crouch as probably the greatest musical influence for them. “We grew up on his music, and his music showed us the high bar to reach for. Andraé Crouch wasn’t just limited to the church. His music went outside the walls of the church and really touched

Along with her many notable performances this year, CeCe also appeared on TBN’s faith-centered talk show Better Together. “It’s a message that needs to be shouted from the mountaintop until Jesus comes. We need to keep reminding

-continued on p. 2523.

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The simple things are really the biggest things in our lives, and that is the time I get to spend with my family.

-continued from p. 23ourselves that we are better together as the body of Christ than we are separated,” CeCe says. “We have a lot of fun. It’s real talk. It’s real situations.

I’ve been so blessed to meet some beautiful, incredible, powerful women of God in just the few shows I’ve done thus far. I’ve been blessed to make some divine connections.”

But as the holiday season comes and goes, and the new year quickly approaches, CeCe’s schedule isn’t just full of performances and broadcasts.

She’s leaving room for divine appointments and connections as she serves alongside her husband, Alvin Love, as the senior pastors of Nashville Life Church. Around Thanksgiving, the church came together to serve their community with a program called Love Your Neighbor. Everyone in the church served in different organizations to bless those who are in unfortunate circumstances. “The Word of God is so ripe and so true, but it is more blessed to give rather than receive. You go out with the mind of blessing other people and you leave so blessed and full of the spirit of Christmas,” she says.

CeCe is also grateful for the opportunities the holiday season allows her to slow down and reflect.

“I slow down, and most mornings I’m up early and just thanking God for His presence and faithfulness.

The simple things are really the biggest things in our lives, and that is the time I get to spend with my family. I’m very grateful for my husband, my two children (I should say three with my son-in-law now), and hopefully my grandkids next Christmas.

That’s what I’m hoping for now. For my mom and siblings. So family is huge for us,” she says. “On Christmas morning, we wake up and we pray. We read the Word and go around and tell one another why we’re grateful. It’s just a time to reflect. I get excited about the simple traditions of just being with family. That’s about it. We don’t really do anything that’s out of the ordinary.”

One of the most recent blessings CeCe is grateful for is the Grammy nomination for her Something’s Happening! Christmas album. “I’m very excited about the album because that was produced by my son, Alvin Love III,” she says. “I am excited for him as far as the recognition that he receives from this. What excites me is when I’m in the studio and I hear the lyrics that he’s written, and I hear the faithfulness of God through every generation. The God we serve is faithful, and my prayer for my kids has been for them to love Jesus. And both are in ministry. They love God. They love telling people about Jesus. They’re bold about their salvation, and you know what? That’s all I need; that’s all I want.

So, I’m very excited that he’s chosen that his gifts and talents belong to God, and he’s chosen to use them for God. I’m totally grateful.”

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BOOKSTOREAD BOLD VISION #1

THEY CALL ME MOM

BY MICHELLE MEDLOCK ADAMS & BETHANY JETT

As a mom of adult kids, and a grandbaby, I loved that this book is still relevant for me. From the Bible verses supporting each devotion to the fun, and honest, not-so-pretty stories that are shared throughout, this devotional will encourage new moms trying to figure mom-hood out, and also the mom that is wondering “did I do enough” as their grown kids journey to adulthood. God has provided the Bible verses to encourage, uplift and guide. They Call Me Mom serves those verses in an easy to reference, quick to find resource. I recommend this book for any woman who has been a mom — even your mom role was as “office mom.”

—Anita M. Castaldo

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UNEXPLAINABLE JESUS

SIGNS OF HIS PRESENCE

BY ERICA WIGGENHORN

BY PATTI RICHTER

This study takes you on an incredible journey to discover more deeply the Savior of our souls, Jesus. Beautifully written and well researched, this study will challenge you to look more deeply at the God-man Jesus and what following him actually means to you on a personal level. I have loved this study. It is changing my heart and my life.

—AZ Mama

From the moment I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. Luann does a fantastic job describing our perfect God in the midst of imperfect situations.

Luann describes terrible situations that continually point back to God’s sovereignty and grace. This book uplifts and reminds that God is in the midst of everything — the simple, the complex, the pain, the joy, and the redemption.

Thank you, Luann, for your brave honesty and transparency. For the simple reminder to seek God and his presence in the midst of despair. I am excited to see how God uses your story, this book, and your continued, devout devotion to further his Kingdom.

—Kate Duncan

I was looking for a summer study while I wait for BSF to resume in fall. It has been a great summer study for me. You can join her private Facebook page and watch her videos. She is very accessible and answers posts, takes prayer requests and is very responsive.

If you love Jesus, you will love this!

— Deborah A. Winger