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From the inner city of Austin, Texas to Pennsylvania Amish Country, we’re taking you on a virtual tour across the country and shining the spotlight on two more of our amazing (in)courage contributors — Michelle Reyes and Sarah Mae.

We know you love reading their monthly articles here at (in)courage, but even more you would love sitting across the table from them, sipping something steamy, and hearing their fuller story. (And you bet we’d love to hear yours too!) While we can’t buy you a plane ticket to Texas or PA, we can offer you this sweet slice of shared life and a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of two of our favorite friends. We know you will be encouraged and inspired by them too!

Meet Michelle Reyes

Tell us a little about yourself.
Namaste! I’m Michelle, and I am a second-generation East Indian gal from Minnesota now transplanted to Austin, TX. I love God, my family, a good cup of chai and talking about all things faith, race, and diversity.

I wear many hats these days (who doesn’t?), including pastor’s wife, writer, blogger, and momma of two, sweet Indo-Mex littles. My (Latino) husband and I moved down to Austin in 2014 to plant an urban, multicultural church called Hope Community Church. I have a Ph.D. in German Literature and used to teach at a local university as a German professor, but I’m now taking a turn in my career path to pursue vocational ministry full-time. My speaking and writing on racial solidarity feel like a natural extension of our daily ministry to the poor, and I’m loving it.

I write and invite women over to my home during nap times, and the rest of my hours are spent enjoying my little ones, homeschooling, and teaching my toddler son how to cook Indian food.

How long have you been an (in)courage contributor?
Since spring 2018. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year!

What’s your favorite thing about (in)courage?
Full-time ministry can often be quite lonely. It’s not a given that you will be linking arms with like-minded women in similar stages of life who get you, get your passions, and earnestly want to rally around you each step of the way. That’s what I’ve found with the women at (in)courage. They are my ministry partners, my biggest encouragers, and my prayer warriors. I thank God each and every day for these dear friends.

What are you passionate about?
I feel the call and burden of living as a bridge builder, connecting people of different ethnicities, cultures, and skin colors together for God’s glory and the advancement of His Kingdom. As a mestizo – half-East Indian and half-Caucasian (and married to a Latino) – I think and move through many worlds simultaneously. I embody white and brown culture in my own life and body, and my passion is to engage and empower men and women on a path toward racial solidarity, forgiveness, healing, and unity.

What personal project are you most excited about right now?
I’ve been writing essays and articles for a while now on cross-cultural friendships, and my goal this year is to start turning this collection into a book manuscript.

What is your favorite . . .

• Way to start the day: I rarely get to sleep in anymore these days with a toddler and a baby, but there are rare occasions that both kids sleep past 7 am, and that feels like heaven on earth.
• Thing to wear: athletic clothes because babies.
• Sweet treat: root beer floats — this was my favorite childhood dessert, and now I make them on Superbowl Sunday as a special treat.
• Salty snack: unsalted mixed nuts.
• Hot drink: homemade chai from tea leaves we get from India.
• Thing to do with friends: cook together, eat together, and find excuses to celebrate the small things in life.
• Way to recharge: sleep!
• Thing that makes you laugh: comedians that talk about parenthood and marriage (Michael McIntyre, anyone?).

What’s your favorite place to connect online?
Anywhere, really. Instagram, Facebook, and on my blog, The Art of Taleh.

In this fun conversation, Michelle talks about the beautiful ways God has created cross-cultural friendships, especially over food. She’s also spilling the funny details about how she met her husband. We know you’ll love it!

Meet Sarah Mae

Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m someone who comes from a divorced family, with an alcoholic, verbally and emotionally abusive mother, who was pregnant at sixteen, was pressured into having an abortion, found false security and veneer love through boyfriends and sex, and who met Jesus powerfully through the tender, persistent wooing of God over the years of my life, finally committing heart and soul and mind to Him somewhere at the end of high school.

By God’s grace I have a family – a good husband and three kids: two pre-teens and one teen.

As for writing, I always wrote when I was sad. I wrote a lot of poetry, all of it on scraps of paper and notebook pages and computer printouts from the computer lab at school. But it wasn’t until I was a stay-at-home mom with two toddlers and a baby, feeling desperate and with my husband saying I needed to get a hobby, that I started writing for the public online on my blog. From there, it just continued, and I’m so grateful because I love what I do. All praise to God!

How long have you been an (in)courage contributor?
Since the beginning!

What’s your favorite thing about (in)courage?
The generous spirit that is here — from the contributors who give of themselves to encourage others to the staff who are incredibly thoughtful and caring to the commenters who bare their souls to strangers risking camaraderie and known-ness. It’s really beautiful the more I think about it.

What are you passionate about?
Freedom. I love love love being used by God to be a part of someone’s freedom journey. I’m all about healing and freedom and telling the truth and dealing with our junk, sin, and pain so we can be FREE to love God, others, and ourselves. The “ourselves” part is really about viewing who we are through the lens of how Jesus views us instead of through the lies we tell ourselves. Our worth is in Jesus, and He says we are righteous when we are His.

What personal project are you most excited about right now?
My book and Bible study! Ahhhhhhh! The book, The Complicated Heart: Loving Even When it Hurts (September 2019), is the story of how I learned to love and forgive my alcoholic mother. But it’s for anyone who has asked and wrestled with these questions:

How do you forgive someone who wounded you so deeply, who carelessly brushed aside your pain, who caused such destruction? And even more specifically, how do you forgive them when your wounds are still open, when they show no remorse, when you are so dang tangled up with them you’re not sure how on earth to get untangled? How do you maintain a relationship with a toxic person? How do you love your enemy when that enemy is your own mother or father or sibling or spouse? How do you get your emotional junk together so you can put a stop to the unhealthy patterns, behaviors, and habits you feel stuck in? Is it possible to get to the point where the pain no longer consumes you? And is there joy and victory in the midst of loss and unmet needs?

Those were my questions, and if someone relates to them, this book is for them. If someone doesn’t relate, it’s still for them because I guarantee they know someone who is struggling in a dysfunctional relationship.

The Bible study I’m working on is Psalm 40: Crying Out to the God Who Delights to Rescue Us. It comes out in June, and I can’t wait!

What is your favorite…

• Way to start the day: Who doesn’t say coffee? Also, my dog jumping on my bed because he’s so excited to see me. It’s painful but also the best.
• Thing to wear: Large, cozy hoodie sweatshirts or my bathing suit because that means I’m at the pool, in the sun, where it’s hot and happy and glorious.
• Sweet treat: Dark chocolate covered cherries.
• Salty snack: Sesmark crackers and Boursin cheese.
• Hot drink: Coffee! If I’m feeling really good, I’ll get a salted caramel mocha from Starbucks — indulgence heaven.
• Thing to do with friends: Go to dinner with a few friends and laugh and talk and eat and enjoy a glass of wine.
• Way to recharge: A two-hour bath and a good book (wine and chocolate included).
• Thing that makes you laugh: My husband is really funny and always makes me giggle with his sarcastic commentary. My kids are funny too. And my dog.

What’s your favorite place to connect online?
Instagram! You can also find me and all the things at SarahMae.com.

If you’ve ever wrestled through the deep waters of dysfunctional relationships, searched for freedom, or struggled with forgiveness, then this conversation with Sarah and community manager Becky Keife is one you need to listen to.

Want to catch up on past Contributor Spotlights? Find them all here.

Tell us: Do you resonate with one of the things Michelle or Sarah is passionate about? What stirs passion for you?