She Speaks 2023 with Rachel Rains (left) and outfit “twins” Anne Cannon and Mary Armand (center).

I promised more to my She Speaks story—and I will be sharing more VERY soon—but today I just wanted to give a shoutout of gratitude to my She Speaks sister in Christ Mary Armand!

Mary was one of my first new friends at She Speaks 2022, and now I’m blessed to be collaborating with her, new friend Rachel W. Rains (who I had the pleasure of meeting this time), and 30 other dynamic writers to publish a collection of life-changing stories (more details in August!). Even though I wasn’t able to move forward with some personal writing projects last year, God gave me this unexpected opportunity to share about His transforming work in my life through Mary’s invitation to collaborate. 

I’m reminded of a proverb that has given me comfort and confidence over the past year when things didn’t go at all as I had planned them. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21 ESV) God connected me with Mary last year, knew that a hard year of surrender and further shaping was ahead of me, and graciously provided Mary’s sweet encouragement to put pen to paper and share this particular story. God gave me strength in a time of weakness to write it, and, guess what—His plans prevailed! The wheels are in motion for Mary’s project to wrap up soon. What a merciful, faithful Father we serve!

Thanks again Mary for obeying God’s call to lead this project and the passion you have for sharing stories of His transformative work in our lives! That’s what her website ButterflyLiving is all about. Be inspired by stories like these today by following her @butterflyliving_ on Instagram and ButterflyLiving by Mary Armand on Facebook.