I Do Every Day Contributors
Leslie J. Barner
Leslie J. Barner is the chief of staff for FamilyLife’s Executive Leadership Team. She is the author of numerous articles and several books and has overseen the development of numerous resources, including The Art of Marriage®, Stepping Up®, and Passport2Identity®. Leslie and her husband, Aubrey, have four grown daughters and seven grandchildren. They reside in St. Cloud, Florida.
Janel Breitenstein
Janel Breitenstein is an author, freelance writer, speaker, and frequent contributor for FamilyLife, including Passport2Identity®, Art of Parenting®, and regular articles. After five and a half years in East Africa, her family of six has returned to Colorado, where they continue to work on behalf of the poor with Engineering Ministries International. Her book, Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids’ Hearts (Harvest House), empowers parents to creatively engage kids in vibrant spirituality. You can find her—“The Awkward Mom”—having uncomfortable, important conversations at JanelBreitenstein.com, and on Instagram @janelbreit.
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 manager of content strategy 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.
Ashford Sonii
Ashford Sonii is a writer 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.
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 have spoken for FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember® marriage getaway for over 20 years and have been involved with FamilyLife since 1990. After 41 years, Joe retired from dentistry, and the couple has since written books together and individually. They’ve spoken nationally on marriage, special needs, and leadership development. Joe and Cindi have grandchildren and 3 grown children living near them in the Cleveland area. They are easily reached at their website and on Facebook.
Bruce Goff
Bruce Goff is Manager of Pre-Production with the FamilyLife® Audio Group. 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 three daughters.
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 a writer and editor for FamilyLife. Before joining the ministry in 2017, she was a freelance writer covering parenting and Southern culture. She and her husband, Josh, have been married since 2004. Lisa and Josh live 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 has worked for FamilyLife since 2014. 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 director of multimedia content at FamilyLife®. He’s written two published works, the Vertical Marriage small group study and You Can Be a Mentor! Jim is a frequent contributing author and joke writer for FamilyLife. He served as a pastor in Texas before relocating to Arkansas with his wife, Lisa, and their two children. Jim also loves crafting hardwood tables and teaching a class called Your Unique Design™, helping people understand their unique, God-given fit in the world.
Carrie Morris
Carrie Morris is a former editor with FamilyLife. She has assisted with the development of multiple books, Weekend to Remember® conference manual updates, online articles, and devotionals. She is indebted to her mother, a former English teacher who wouldn’t let her get away with using poor grammar as a child, for her livelihood. Carrie lives in Northwest Arkansas with her ill-behaved but adorable pup, Millie (Millie Jean when she’s in trouble, which is most of the time).
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 senior writer 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 Orlando, Florida.
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 currently serves as Senior Content Strategist for FamilyLife. He and his wife Amy regularly speak at Weekend to Remember conferences and since 1992 have worked in various roles with Athletes in Action, primarily training staff and ministering to college and professional athletes. He has an M.A. and M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Ph.D. in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. They have four children and live in Xenia, OH. Follow him on Twitter @Uszynski32.
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.
Laura Way
Laura Way serves with FamilyLife as a writer and lives in Orlando, Florida, with her husband, Aubrey, and their two vibrant daughters. She and Aubrey lived in East Asia for seven years until relocating a couple of years ago. She enjoys writing about becoming more fully human in Jesus while sojourning through this life at hopeforthesojourn.com.
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.