I Do Every Day Contributors
Leslie J. Barner
Leslie Barner joined FamilyLife staff in 1997 and has served in a number of roles, including Director of Publishing, Senior Director of Content, Interim Chief Operating Officer, and currently serves as the Chief of Staff. She has overseen the development of numerous FamilyLife resources, including The Art of Marriage, Stepping Up, Vertical Marriage, and The Story of Us; and is the author of several books and articles. Leslie and her husband, Aubrey, married in 1981, and are the parents of four grown daughters and the grandparents of seven grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. They reside in St. Cloud, Florida.
Janel Breitenstein
Janel Breitenstein is an author, freelance writer, speaker, and regular contributor for FamilyLife. Her work also appears with Focus on the Family and Christianity Today. After five years in East Africa, her family of six returned to Colorado, where they continue to work on behalf of the poor with Engineering Ministries International. She is the author of Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids’ Hearts (Harvest House); Deliver Us from Meltdowns: And Other Real-Life Prayers for Parents (Andrews McMeel), and the upcoming How to Stop Yelling Up the Stairs: Keeping Your Cool While Raising Your Kids (Kregel) and Parenting without Losing Your Mind: 7 Shifts for an Emotionally Resilient Home (working title, NavPress). You can find her—“The Awkward Mom”—having uncomfortable, important conversations at JanelBreitenstein.com, and janelbreitenstein.substack.com.
Judy Burrows
Judy Burrows is a writer for FamilyLife and serves on the Global Outreach team with her husband, Jim. Married since 1982, the Burrows have had the privilege of living overseas in two different Asian countries for 15 years total. They have three adult children and a growing number of amazing grandchildren. She and her husband presently live in Kissimmee, Florida.
Tracy Lane
Tracy Lane is the Vice President of Content for FamilyLife. She is the author of numerous articles, coauthor of Passport2Identity, and guest on multiple FamilyLife Today® broadcasts. Tracy and her husband, Matt, live in the Philadelphia suburbs with their three children. Follow her special needs motherhood journey at HeartForAnnie. Find her on Instagram @HeartForAnnie or at www.tracy-lane.com.
Ashford Sonii
Ashford Sonii is a contributor for FamilyLife. He enjoys ministry, learning, and communicating practical life applications of God’s Word within marriage, family, and how to walk with Jesus. Ashford and his wife Olivia currently live in North Carolina with their twin girls, Ivey & Oakley. Ashford serves as the Next Generation Pastor at Cape Carteret Baptist Church.
Audrey Castro
Audrey Castro is the former social media manager for FamilyLife. She’s been in the digital and communications space for over 10 years. But her greatest joys are her husband and their three children. You can find her creatively finding ways to save money on home décor, clothing, and more @centralarkansassaver on Instagram.
Joe and Cindi Ferrini
Joe and Cindi Ferrini spoke for FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember marriage getaway for over 20 years, with involvement with FamilyLife since 1990. Joe retired from dentistry after 41 years. Joe and Cindi have spoken extensively and written books and blogs together and individually on marriage, special needs, discipleship, and leadership development. They have three grown children (and grandchildren) living near them in the Cleveland, OH area. They can be reached at www.cindiferrini.com and on Facebook at Cindi Ferrini and My Marriage Matters.
Bruce Goff
Bruce Goff is the Manager of Pre-Production for FamilyLife. He’s worked on Passport2Identity® as well as FamilyLife’s radio programs and podcasts. Before coming to FamilyLife, he did production for radio stations near Kingston, New York, and Houston, Texas. He and his wife, Maria, have four daughters and live in Orlando, Florida.
Brian Goins
Brian Goins. Husband of Jen. Father of three. Roaming teaching pastor. At FamilyLife, he serves as Sr. Director of Strategic Projects and gives leadership to the Weekend to Remember® marriage conference. He co-created and was executive producer of Brain.Heart.World, a docuseries for adolescents on the scientific side effects of pornography. You can find his book, Playing Hurt: A Guy’s Strategy for a Winning Marriage, on Amazon.
Leigh Harper
Leigh Harper married to her high school sweetheart 10 years ago. They have a 6-year-old biological daughter and a 12-year-old daughter they adopted in 2019 through foster care. Leigh has more than a decade of experience in event planning and communications, partnering with organizations like Passion Conferences and Leadercast. Currently she works part-time for her local church in metro Atlanta and writes as a freelancer while raising her family.
Lisa Lakey
Lisa Lakey is the Manager of Content Strategy for FamilyLife. Before joining the ministry in 2017, she was a freelance writer covering parenting and Southern culture. Lisa lives in Benton, Arkansas, with their two children, Ella and Max.
Jennifer Grandlienard
Jennifer Grandlienard lives in Xenia, Ohio, with her husband, two sons, and puppy. She loves to read, write, and help others discover their unique talents through her leadership development business, Jenn Grand Consulting. You can follow her at @heyjenngrand on Instagram or on her website jenngrand.com.
Ben McGuire
Ben McGuire serves with Cru as an International Sending Coordinator and a Theological Development Coordinator. He received his M.Div. from Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY. Ben and his wife Jill live outside Raleigh, North Carolina with their three children Reece, Wyatt and Claire. Find Ben at his blog: A Legacy in Words.
Ashley Mercier
Ashley Mercier is a contributor for FamilyLife. A few years ago, she and her husband, Chris, followed God into the world of foster care and adoption, eventually welcoming two forever children, Micah and Chloe. Chris and Ashley have been married since 2013.
James Metzger
James Metsger is a pastor at Christ Point Church in Charlotte, NC, speaker, and author of the devotional book Vast: Experiencing the Inexhaustible Love of God. James has a heart for the local church, a love for people, and a passion for world missions. He is married to sweet Melissa, and together they have three children.
Jim Mitchell
Jim Mitchell is the Executive Producer of FamilyLife Today® and also a frequent contributing author for FamilyLife®. He’s written three published works – The Vertical Marriage and Love Like You Mean It video small group studies and the You Can Be a Mentor! training booklet. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, Jim previously served as a local church pastor in Texas. He is husband to Lisa, father to Grace and Evan, and grandfather to Eliza. In his free time, Jim loves crafting hardwood tables and teaching the Your Unique Design™ class to help people understand their God-given fit in the world.
Sherri Oehme
Sherri Oehme serves as a Weekend to Remember® shop operations specialist for FamilyLife. She married Rob while in college and experienced great joy in being a homeschool mom to their two children. Sherri and her husband operated a printing distributorship in Missouri for over 20 years before coming on staff with FamilyLife, and are now happily serving guests at Weekend to Remember® events all over the U.S. In her downtime, Sherri enjoys reading, cooking, sewing, camping and the outdoors, and making up silly games to play with her grandchildren.
Marilette Sanchez
Marilette Sanchez is a full-time missionary with Cru working alongside high school students and families in New York City. College sweethearts and NYC natives, she and her husband, Moses, are FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember® speakers known for their transparency and their ability to inject their love of hip hop and pop culture into their discussions of love, sex and marriage. They married in 2011 and homeschool their five young kids. Follow their parenting and homeschooling journey on Instagram at @bigcitybigfamily and Marilette’s musings on womanhood and pop culture at MariletteSanchez.com.
Carlos Santiago
Carlos Santiago is a contributor for FamilyLife and has written and contributed to numerous articles, e-books, and devotionals. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in pastoral counseling. Carlos and his wife, Tanya, have two children and live in Arkansas.
Justin Talbert
Justin Talbert serves as the Student Pastor at Christ Community Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. He received his MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary. Justin and his wife, May, have three Vikings-in-training: Soren (5), Aksel (3), and Isen (2). It’s a quiet, simple life…when the grandparents take the kiddos. You can find him on Instagram: @justinltalbert. And he regularly blogs at getgroundedministries.com.
Karen Turcotte
Karen Turcotte is a mother of eight, two on this side of heaven. She serves full time with the FamilyLife Expansion team and enjoys a good challenge. Before joining the ministry in 2016, she taught elementary and middle school, homeschooled, and served as a private reading specialist and piano instructor. Neither she nor her husband, Greg, are native to Texas, but they’ve called the Lonestar State their home base for 20 years.
Ed Uszynski
Ed Uszynski is an author, speaker, and sports minister with over three decades’ experience discipling college and professional athletes. With a heart for reconciliation and justice, he also works as a racial literacy consultant and marriage conference speaker, blending Biblical wisdom with practical living in the midst of complex cultural realities. He has two theological degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. He and his wife Amy have four children and live in Xenia, Ohio.
Aubrey Way
Aubrey Way serves as a project manager with FamilyLife. He, his wife, Laura, and their two daughters live in Orlando, Florida. Prior to joining FamilyLife, their family lived in East Asia for seven years. Aubrey loves sports, music, and reading.
Scott Williams
Scott Williams and his wife, Ellie, were headed to the remote parts of the world to work with unreached people groups when the Lord redirected them. Since 1995, Scott has been ministering to marriages and families. Since 2004, he’s been doing so as a senior writer with FamilyLife’s content development team. In 2019, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, but by God’s grace is doing remarkably well and is continuing to write for FamilyLife. Scott and Ellie live in Little Rock, and have seven adult children and three grandchildren.
Emily Youngblood
Emily Youngblood is a wife and mom located in Little Rock, Arkansas. While she is a Registered Dietitian by trade, her true passion is walking alongside new moms battling postpartum depression and helping them to know that they are not alone in their suffering. You can find her on Instagram at @alongcamecove, or on her blog at alongcamecove.com.