Amber Haines, originally from the rural Appalachian foothills in Alabama, lives in Arkansas with her husband, who is an attorney and an amazing gift-giver. Amber has a degree in English/Creative Writing and persevered through half an MFA in Poetry at the University of Arkansas before she and Seth birthed three boys within three years. They are in the process of adopting a daughter from Ethiopia.

Amber is southern and loves strange people and mustard. She imagines herself eating at tables on all sides of the world with people whose languages she doesn’t understand. She imagines God eventually, truly teaching her about grace, especially for the strugglers and the stragglers. Amber is a struggler and a straggler. She believes that the purpose of imagination and art is to know God and that it is the kindness of a righteous God that leads her to repentance.

Find her flying by the seat of her crazy-pants and trying to be poetic about it at the run-a-muck, and follow her at @amberrunsamuck.

Andrea is a coffee drinking, Jesus-loving wife and stay-at-home mom of three in constant search of just the right mug for her brew. She pretends to scrapbook, loves to knit, and avoids housework whenever possible.

You can find her at her blog, Under Grace & Over Coffee or on twitter as @graceovercoffee, where she shares the love she has found in Jesus, along with the caffeine-laden randomness that makes up the majority of her day. Grab your cup and come on over!

Ann Voskamp is a farmer's wife. She homeschools their six farm kids. She deals with a lot of dirt. Especially in her own heart. When the kids and the washing machine sleep, she scrubs the real dirty laundry with words and The Word.

Some words she's scratched down wander off to columns at The San Antonio Christian Beacon, Christian Women Online, and The High Calling of Our Daily Work. Others find themselves in a award-winning series for curious kids, A Child's Geography, of which all profits are donated to World Vision. Ann's currently writing a book for Zondervan.

The words that matter most are the ones she lives.

Every bush burns and she writes of the flame and the (dirty) bare feet at her daily blog: www.aholyexperience.com.

Annie Downs tells stories for a living as a freelance writer in Nashville, Tennessee. Flawed but funny, Annie uses her writing to highlight the everyday goodness of a real and present God.

Annie has been telling stories her whole life. As a child, growing up outside of Atlanta, Georgia, she loved talking to anyone who would listen… whether she was telling true tales or not. Annie received her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Georgia, preparing her for a short-lived but memorable career as a teacher in elementary schools. Now as a writer, Annie uses those same skills from the classroom to engage, entertain, and educate her readers.

Always prone to overshare, you can read more over at Annie Blogs or follow her on twitter as @annieblogs.

Ginny Martyn writes Christian nonfiction and fiction for ladies who love to laugh with their friends and wonder about God. When she is not feverishly typing at her computer she is thinking about her hunky husband or trying to keep their daughter from coloring on the walls of their house.

Ginny considers singing in the shower and eating TexMex equally noble pursuits and would like to give every woman the freedom to be a mess and permission to take off their masks.

Find out what’s on Ginny’s mind today at her blog, Finding Humor in the Mess, or follow her on twitter as @ginnymartyn.

Holley Gerth, editorial director for (in)courage, would probably skip over the small talk if you met her in person and instead want to hear about your heart. What do you love? Who do you want to be? She’d catch each of your words and tuck them away somewhere inside like a treasure. Because she loves people and words, crazy loves them.

As a writer, there’s nothing more beautiful to her than watching simple phrases, sentences, and syllables form a connection out of thin air. And she knows each of those wonderful words still pale in comparison with The Author, The One who has captured her heart. She writes for Him and for His daughters.

She loves deeply, as her husband Mark knows, and lives courageously. She believes that’s why she’s here on this earth…and here on these pages. She recently wrote her first devotional book, Rain on Me and completed a masters degree in counseling.

You can find more of her words through her work at DaySpring, on her blog Heart to Heart with Holley or by following her on twitter as @HolleyGerth.

Jennifer is a mixed media artist living in rural Nebraska - gravel roads, trees, fresh air, peace and quiet. She is married to her best friend, her patient and supportive husband, Heydon.

Art has been a lifelong passion of hers. She has been blessed to know since she was young that art was the gift GOD granted her for this journey. She wants her work to reflect the beauty of God and she hopes it brings joy and inspiration to those who see it.

You can read her words and see more of her art on Studio JRU.

Kristen is a freelance writer, born and raised in Texas. Her work has appeared in Why Fret the God Stuff and Christian Women Online (CWO) and Blissfully Domestic. Her well-read parenting blog, We are THAT family offers an honest mixture of humor and inspiration.

Each Wednesday, Kristen hosts the Works for Me Wednesday blog carnival. Kristen’s blog was recently named to the 2009 Neilsen Online Power Mom 50 Blogger list. Kristen is a sweet tea drinker, wife to her best friend of 15 years and in the throes of raising three hilarious children.

Follow Kristen on twitter as @WeareTHATfamily.

Lindsey Cheney owns The Pleated Poppy. She is married to an incredibly supportive husband and is mom to 3 littles, 6 and under. Her days are full of home schooling, crafting, snuggling, avoiding the laundry, sneaking bites of chocolate, and wondering "is it naptime yet?".

She grew up with an encouraged love for crafting and a mom who bravely let her play with her sewing machine. She is an imperfectionist - she finds pleasure in the rough and distressed, the frayed and the ragged - kind of like her after a long day!

Lindsey lives on the central coast of California but you can visit her online at her blog and find some fun tutorials, new products, party ideas and lots of rambling, or follow her on twitter as @thepleatedpoppy.

Lysa Terkeurst is a wife to Art and mom to five priority blessings named Jackson, Mark, Hope, Ashley and Brooke. Lysa is the author of 12 books, with her newest release with Zondervan called “Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl”.

She has recently been featured on Focus on the Family, Good Morning America, “O” Magazine and on the Oprah Show. Her greatest passion is inspiring women to say yes to God and take part in the awesome adventure He has designed every soul to live. But she always chuckles when people call her the Proverbs 31 woman.

While she is the President of Proverbs 31 Ministries to those who know her best she is simply a car-pooling mom who loves her family, loves Jesus passionately, and struggles like the rest of us with laundry, junk drawers and cellulite.

To learn more about Lysa visit her blog at www.LysaTerKeurst.com or follow her on twitter as @lysaterkeurst.

Melissa Michaels is an interior decorator, a pastor’s wife at a brand new start-up church called Voyage, and a mom of three.

She is the creator of The Inspired Room, the editor of Blissfully Domestic's Blissful Home and a contributor to magazines around the web. She loves the idea of authentic living, which gives her permission to find beauty in imperfection. Follow Melissa on twitter as @theinspiredroom.

When she isn’t super gluing her hands to baseboard molding or finding creative ways to mask the smell of a dead rodent in the wall before guests arrive for dinner, you can find her eating chocolate and daydreaming about living in a fairytale English castle.

Stephanie Bryant, business development manager for (in)courage, would be the first to greet you as you walked through the door. She’d smile, stretch out her hands, and invite you in with a broad smile. Then she’d ask you questions, listen closely to your answers, and make you feel like the most important person in the world.

You’d notice Stephanie is a gatherer of people, ideas, and creativity and that shows in her work for DaySpring. For her, life is all about creating connections and building relationships. While working on (in)courage she once giddily said, “This feels like planning a party!” And nothing delights her more than making an unforgettable experience for God’s daughters.

She has prayed, fought, and labored for you. Those who are closest to her, like her best friend and husband Barry, know that's what makes her who she is—strong and beautiful, bold and full of grace, a woman after God’s own heart who is passionate about the hearts of others as well.

Follow Stephanie on twitter as @incourage.

Robin, married to her college sweetheart and mom to two teens and a tween, used to have a lot more answers to the Christian faith when God lived neatly in a box; now that He's happy oozing out of it, she seems to have more questions.

She's passionate about the power and persuasion of words, and uses her voice at PENSIEVE to encourage others, speak for those who have no voice and tell on her kids.

Current loves include photography, writing poetry, cooking & baking and walking in the rain. She believes laughter is divine, words can hurt or heal, and it's never too late to try {whatever it is YOU'VE been puttin' off!}.

Robin is a Compassion blogger , religion/philosophy channel editor for Blog Nosh Magazine, a sometimes-contributor at 5 Minutes for Mom and Blissfully Domestic.

If you dare, keep up with the minutia of her life by following @PensieveRobin on Twitter.

Dawn Camp is a homeschooling mother of eight children, photographer, and web designer at Barefoot Blog Designs. A Photoshop and Lightroom enthusiast, she is the Evangelist for NAPP (the National Association of Photoshop Professionals for the demographic of stay-at-home moms, mom bloggers, designers, digital scrapbookers, and homeschoolers. If you meet her, she will quickly inform you that being a NAPP Evangelist has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with Photoshop.

Dawn has a seldom-used degree in Russian and shelved her dreams of becoming a master spy when she realized what she really wanted was a family. She loves the mountains, sweet tea, and gummy bears. Her favorite pastimes are photographing her kids, hanging out with her girlfriends from church, and late night dates with her husband. She is trying to shed the if only I had a new lens; if only my house were clean; if only I lost 5 pounds everything would be perfect mentality, and just live life fully in the now. Seeking the sublime that exists within the mundane is her goal as a photographer.

She never ceases to be amazed by God's creativity in answering prayers, and is thankful for a God who “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

You can find her blogging at My Home Sweet Home, writing about homeschooling at The Homeschool Post, or penning a Lightroom column for Heart of the Matter. Follow Dawn on Twitter as @DawnMHSH.

Angela Nazworth is a flawed and forgiven wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She’s also an encourager, a lover of good books, coffee, girl's night out, sunshine, and waterfalls. Before exchanging her business suits for yoga pants and burp cloths, she worked in the public relations industry managing programs, editing, and writing for a variety of publications.

Now she works at home as an independent copy editor and writer. Angela believes the creator of the universe is both the author of and lead character in her life story. With every experience she learns more about who she is in Him...and takes another step on her journey of “becoming me.”

Visit Angela online at her blog, Becoming Me or on Twitter as @BecomingAngela.

Angie is the proud wife of Todd Smith of Selah, and the blessed mommy to Abby and Ellie (6), Kate (3), and Audrey Caroline, who passed away the day she was born, April 7th, 2008. Angie was inspired to write Audrey's story, and began the blog www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com in honor of her.

Since then, she has rediscovered her passion for writing and is working on a book which will be published in May of 2009 with B&H Publishing. Her greatest desire is to share her heart and love for the Lord. Angie holds a Master's Degree in Developmental Psychology, and loves to write about topics related to parenting and child development.

She is grateful for the opportunity to share her heart here on (in)courage as well! Follow Angie on twitter as @angelac519.

Deidra is an East Coast girl recently transplanted to the American Midwest. She feathers an empty nest but is learning daily that parenting never ends. It changes, but it doesn’t end.

Deidra loves boxes of 64 crayons, the smell of fresh paint, being outdoors, and living life for real. And she firmly believes a woman will one day play in the NFL.

She knows for sure that grace is amazing. It’s undeserved, unmerited, and unearned and a priceless gift that changed her forever, and for good.

Emily is a writer and photographer who loves to find gifts in the midst of the messy, the lovely, and the unexpected. She speaks from time to time to women on blogging and photography, and to high school girls about what it means to walk with Jesus.

She is a sign language interpreter by trade, but her real job is mommy to twin girls in kindergarten and one toddler boy. She and her youth pastor husband love to eat ice cream and talk for hours about the grace and boundless love of Christ.

Stop by Emily’s blog, Chatting at the Sky or follow her on twitter as @emilychats to find out more about her.

Heather Gemmen Wilson is happily married, proud mom and (very young) grandma who loves her job as a book editor, author, and speaker. She is a devoted Christian.

Find her at http://www.heathergemmen.com or on twitter as @heatherwilson.

Jennifer Schmidt is a full time family manager that writes about her never ending pursuit of “Balancing it all...the good, bad and ugly” at her personal blog: Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

As a motivational speaker and worship leader from NC, Jen finds joy in encouraging women. Yet she still sees her most demanding, yet rewarding, audience as her own family.

As a mom of five and frugal living expert, Jen shares with humor and authenticity on a myriad of topics.

You can find her on any given day dreaming about a clean house, chauffeuring, meal planning, home schooling, thrift store hunting, or quite possibly on a stage sharing both her beauty and bedlam as a daughter of the King. Follow Jen on twitter as @beautyandbedlam.

Jessica Turner blogs on The Mom Creative about her first-time motherhood adventures, scrapbooking, faith and fun products. She spends her days as a marketing professional and her nights enjoying her family.

In what little spare time she has, Jessica enjoys scrapbooking, photography and reading. Jessica and her husband, Matthew, live in Nashville, Tennessee, with their toddler, Elias, who is the joy of their lives.

She loves connecting with other moms in social media (especially on twitter as @jessicanturner!), is Southwest Airlines' official mommy blogger and a teacher for Big Picture Scrapbooking.

Lainie Button, product manager for (in)courage, has the kind of laugh that drifts over to you and makes you smile. Her blazing blue eyes would flit around the room from time to time and you’d know she was looking for beauty. Because that’s just what she does, wherever she goes.

And when she finds it she brings it back to those she loves. Whether it’s a new piece of art, a striking swatch of fabric, or the kind of jewelry that stops you in your tracks, she’ll find a way to pass it along. Whenever you discover something you like here just think of her smiling and saying, “I found this just for you.”

And, of course, Lainie sees the most beauty of all in two treasures she won’t ever give away—her faith and her son Micah. She has years of experience in gathering beauty and now does so for DaySpring.

Lisa Leonard is mommy to two boys, David, 6 and Matty, 5 and wife to Steve. In between school and work they spend their time playing outdoors on the central coast of California, eating chocolate chip pancakes, tapping tunes on the piano (David) and choreographing elaborate light saber duels (Matty). Lisa also creates handmade jewelry and plays at photography.

You’re invited to visit Lisa Leonard online and get to know her!

Mary is a full-time working mom of a sweet, sassy toddler and wife to her high-school sweetheart. When she’s not snapping photos left and right, reading a good book or watching a certain reality TV dance competition, you can find Mary (avoiding housework) curled up on the couch with her laptop.

After delivering a premature baby – who needed to stay home more than she needed to go out – Mary got a little stir-crazy. And when her husband began working evenings, Mary got a little bored. But then she discovered blogging, and life has never been the same.

Mary blogs about an imperfect life at Giving Up on Perfect. She talks about family, faith, books, diet-friendly and fiber-filled foods like granola bars and nachos, celebrity look-alikes and chick flicks. You know, the important stuff.

You can follow her on Twitter @givingupperfect.

Sarah Mae is a household engineer (a.k.a stay-at-home mommy of three and wife to one very cool motorcycling husband) who adores her man, her babes, wild blue skies, coffee, and Jesus!

She owns the blog Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee (home of the 5:16 Club) where she spends her time journeying alongside other women who are seeking to find the eternal value in who they are and all they do. She is proud to be called a java-hugger.

Follow Sarah Mae on Twitter: @sarahmaeblogs

The Nester, who writes anonymously, is a home stager, redesigner and design school drop-out. She and her husband and their three boys have moved 14 times in 14 years of marriage and they are currently content to be renting. Nester’s favorite place to be is home and you can usually catch her there moving furniture.

In her spare time she writes a blog called Nesting Place {which she considers her second home}, occasionally speaks about blogging and imperfect decorating, and tweets as @thenester.

She is quite uncomfortable talking about herself in the third person.

Sarah Markley lives in Southern California with her husband, two daughters, Hope (7) and Naomi (3) and their family cat, Rosie. She grew up as the daughter of a youth minister, went to Christian schools and got her degrees from Biola University in English and Education. She married Chad when she was just 21.

It’s been over five years since her marriage fell apart. After a year of counseling, healing and restoration, Sarah and her husband now lead a fully redeemed life with a brand new marriage. Grateful for her new life, her two bright little girls, a husband who loves her, and new stewardship in ministry, Sarah lives a restored life in Christ. She and her husband Chad just celebrated 13 years of marriage.

She jogs most mornings. She steps on tiny legos in the dark. She sometimes lets the dinner dishes sit in the sink overnight (Shhh). And one of her favorite things to do is make banana nut waffles for her girls and husband on Saturdays.

Sarah blogs daily about her children, her faith and the idea that every day is God’s best day for her at www.sarahmarkley.com and tweets as @sarahmarkley.

Tsh Oxenreider is a writer, a graphic designer, a wife, a mama, and a home manager. She lives overseas with her family, so she experiences daily language blunders, cultural faux pas, and otherwise confusing issues that come with raising children cross-culturally as American expats. Her far-off fantasy is to take a cooking class from Ina Garten and build an eco-home from scratch with her hubby. In the meantime, she'll settle for making some killer brownies and doing her best to frugally decorate her high-rise urban apartment.

You can find Tsh writing about life hacks for home managers at Simple Mom. Her blog is a member of the exclusive 9 Rules network, and it was also nominated for Best New Blog of 2008 in the 2009 Bloggies. She's also writing a book on simplicity at home, due in bookstores late 2010. Tsh recently formed Simple Living Media, LLC, where she oversees a variety of blogs, all geared towards simple living. Her passion is to encourage all walks of women to find peace about where God has them, to experience contentment, and to cultivate joy about blooming where they're planted.

She loves coffee, and she hates wearing socks.

Follow her on Twitter (@simplemom).

Heather is a brain cancer survivor who lives life on the edge. She loves her family, her bald head and, most of all, her Savior’s grace. She lives in the sunny yet very humid state of Florida with her husband, three children and a miniature schnauzer named Bailey. She homeschools her two oldest children while her youngest daughter, Emma Grace attends a special class for autistic children.

Heather blogs about her trials in raising Emma Grace (who happens to be heart transplant patient) as well as her own personal journey with cancer and faith. Her motto is "It is not about the hair, Its about the heart..."

To learn more about Heather visit her blog at www.especiallyheather.com or follow her on twitter @EspHeather

Lisa-Jo is South African by birth and American by marriage. She is discovering that home is not a place. It is a person. Her husband, certainly, but primarily a God who is at home everywhere, who understands the cultures we oftentimes could not and who doesn't think only in English, but is fluent in Russian, Zulu, Arabic, and Afrikaans.

Despite the odd 32-hour-trip here and there that has been characterized by insane kids and the horror of having run out of diapers, fresh clothes, and milk she wouldn’t trade the extraordinary friendships they’ve formed across the miles for all the white picket fences in the world.

She and her husband have two young sons who color their lives and complicate their frequent travel. In the last decade she hasn't lived in any country longer than two years and with family on two continents she writes about life lived in between countries, callings and kids at www.thegypsymama.com. Her favorite cities are Pretoria, Washington, D.C. and Prague and she welcomes you to follow her on twitter as @thegypsymama.

Bonnie Gray is the writer behind Faith Barista, a blog that serves up shots of faith for everyday life. She is fascinated with the challenge of keeping faith hot and fresh in the daily grind. Her writing springs from the belief that the best often takes place in moments unseen and stories unheard. The inner life with Christ is what draws and opens her, to share and be at rest.

Her passion to find faith brings a love for people and getting lost in The Word. Her heart warms at the thought of pancake breakfasts, a hike in autumn, and enjoying conversation over coffee.

Bonnie is a native Californian living in the heart of Silicon Valley. She loves hanging out with her best friend Hubby and wrangling their two heaven-sent boys on the homestead. As full-time mom, she savors quiet moments to linger and write.

Join Bonnie at Faith Barista and follow her on Twitter @TheBonnieGray, as she shares her journey in the ultimate ministry called Everyday Life.