Authentic Life & Leadership
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God Wants Peace for You
My husband and I went through a situation not of our own making where peace was gone from our home. We both had sick stomachs all the time, and couldn’t sleep. Anything I ate seemed to go right through me, I was so lacking any peace. A shift occurred, and we entered...
“Are You Okay?”
Why We Need to Ask the Question
A few decades ago, my husband hired a youth pastor at the church where we were serving as the lead pastors at the time. We had known this couple for several years, adored their family then, and still do now. Bart and Jen (not their real names) had felt a call to the...
When Pastors Tell You You’re Fat
(In a Roundabout Way)
This is me, getting ready to delve into a place that’s one of the most vulnerable for me, but I think someone needs to go there and I'm picking myself for the job. If someone doesn’t say to you, “Hey, I’m fat and need to get in shape and I could use your help…” DON’T...
You’ll Always Be Forgiving Somebody
Seven months ago I met my biological father, Gus, for the first time. Four months and fifteen days ago I brought him home to live with me, and became his full-time caregiver. It was the most amazing journey I have ever been on, and it was also one of the hardest. As...
How to Love Where You Land
When I first began to openly share my deepest struggles, there was an immediate effort on the part of a few people to stop me. For example, when I shared from a stage that I struggled -- and sometimes still struggle -- with clinical depression, or that I take...
The Perfection Trap
When I was younger, I fantasized about having the perfect family. Then I grew up and knocked myself out trying to have one. I have been married for thirty-five years. I believe marriage is about two people out-serving and out-forgiving each other. But for many years...
Are You a Pain Reliever, a Dismisser or a One-Upper?
People tend to think that whatever has happened to them is the worst because it’s what they’ve experienced personally. It's common to hear people attempt to "one up" people when it comes to pain... "You think you have it bad? My child was killed by a drunk...
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BIO
Dr. Deanna Shrodes
Dr. Deanna Doss Shrodes is an author, speaker, and spiritual life strategist whose work has been featured by CBS News, People Magazine, The New Yorker, Woman’s World, GOD TV, and HuffPost. She holds a Master’s in Ministerial Leadership and a Doctor of Ministry from Southeastern University, where she also serves as an adjunct professor.
Dr. Shrodes currently leads as Women’s Ministries Director for the Pen Florida District of the Assemblies of God and directs the Stronger Leadership Network, where she mentors pastors and leaders through practical coaching, spiritual formation, and cohort-based development. A sole author of five books and a contributing writer to five others, her latest work, Uncommon Answers, was released by Chosen Books (a division of Baker Books) in April 2025.
Known for a warm pastoral presence and clear, actionable teaching, Dr. Shrodes speaks at conferences, churches, and leadership gatherings on calling and purpose, prayer and spiritual formation, women’s leadership, and organizational health. She is married to her college sweetheart, Larry; they have three grown children and five grandchildren.
Areas of Focus: spiritual formation & prayer, the Holy Spirit, leadership development, marriage, mentoring, calling/purpose, healthy ministry culture, making leadership transitions.
Become Your Most Authentic Self
Free E-Book
Are you tired of being who and what others expect you to be, instead of who God created you to be?
If you find the pressure of other people's expectations exhausting and you are ready to be the authentic YOU that you were always meant to be, Deanna would like to gift you with an ebook, 29 Ways to Become Your Most Authentic Self.
It's time to break free and finally live according to your divine design!
