Welcome to the Storytellers Live podcast where everyday people share real and personal stories.

Some are profound and challenging, while others are more common and relatable shared with honesty and

humor.

But all of these stories reveal what God can do in our lives when we trust him with the

details.

Thanks for joining us.

Hi, everyone. This is your host Kelly from the Storytellers Live team. On each episode, you'll hear a different woman share her story of God's transforming love. These stories are recorded in a live setting at weekly local gatherings, where we're aiming to build community through sharing, connecting, and encouraging one another.

Most importantly, these stories reveal the faithfulness of God and how he can take what's

ordinary and broken and exchange it for extraordinary and redeemed.

Happy New Year, everyone.

We're so excited to be back with you, and we are kicking off 2020 with our first story of the year, and it comes from Katie, Texas.

Our storyteller Courtney talks honestly about the many masks that she's worn over the years to cover up what she was truly feeling, whether it was fear, shame, loss, or pain.

We all fall victim to the lie that we're

supposed to be okay at all times, and that if we just pretend everything's okay, it will be.

And the problem with that mentality is that we're either in denial or we're essentially

trusting ourselves to fix the problem or provide the answer rather than trusting God.

Even worse, by hiding behind our masks, we cover up the incredible work that God does

through those hard moments.

As Courtney has begun replacing the masks of falseness with truth and reality, God has used

her vulnerability to display his faithfulness and to bring hope to other

women who were tired of holding up their own masks.

Courtney's story is a great reminder that being real is beautiful and powerful.

...