--- title: "Teach Them, Learn from Them, Kneel Down and Pray for Them: Words of Wisdom from Lysa TerKeurst" date: 2026-02-25 author: "Laurie Stroud" featured_image: "https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lysa-Terkeurst-with-husband-Adam.jpg" categories: - name: "More" url: "/category/news/more.md" tags: - name: "Cover" url: "/tag/cover.md" --- # Teach Them, Learn from Them, Kneel Down and Pray for Them: Words of Wisdom from Lysa TerKeurst **Cover Story** Best-selling Christian author Lysa TerKeurst is bringing her message of faith-led living to Samford University as part of its[ “Distinguished Author Series” on March 3, 2026](https://birminghamchristian.com/event/samford-universitys-tom-and-marla-corts-distinguished-author-series-featuring-lysa-terkeurst/). The appearance is one of many ways TerKeurst reaches out to Christians to encourage them through challenges and inspire them to lean into their purpose. She serves as the president and “chief visionary officer” of Proverbs 31 Ministries, a *New York Times* bestselling author of nonfiction books, and a sought-after speaker and retreat leader. Her books and ministry explore themes of resilience, forgiveness, and emotional well-being through a Biblically grounded framework. Those themes, TerKeurst says, have been explored in her own life and have helped form meaningful marriage, family, and relational experiences. [![Lysa TerKeurst speaking](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lysa-TerKeurst-speaking-200x300.jpg "Lysa TerKeurst speaking")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lysa-TerKeurst-speaking.jpg)TerKeurst will speak at [Samford University’s Tom and Marla Corts Distinguished Author Series on March 3, 2026](https://birminghamchristian.com/event/samford-universitys-tom-and-marla-corts-distinguished-author-series-featuring-lysa-terkeurst/) beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are [available here](http://www.samford.edu/education/tom-and-marla-corts).**Her Birmingham Visit**. TerKeurst’s appearance at Samford is sponsored by the University’s Orlean Beeson School of Education and is designed to connect audiences with stories that encourage reflection. The Distinguished Author Series is held in honor of Tom and Marla Corts and features authors of inspirational works; past speakers have included former First Lady Laura Bush, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, and editor-in-chief of the Gospel Coalition Collin Hansen. One of the main goals of the author series is to cultivate meaningful dialogue among Christians and also to provide intellectual and spiritual formation. According to TerKeurst, she strives to foster such dialogues and conversations and looks forward to making attendees think deeply about such issues as peace, loneliness, failure, boundaries, forgiveness, and much more. “I love to talk about things such as boundaries, which I wrote about in my book *Good Boundaries and Goodbyes*. I like to challenge the way we tend to think about things,” she said. “We often think that having boundaries isn’t Christ-like, but boundaries are actually God’s idea. I like to talk about why boundaries are important and how to set boundaries in loving and kind ways. We don’t want to betray our desire to help people, but we also know that if we commit to too many things, we’re going to be stressed out,” she said. “The best of us, then, can’t be front and center. But there are practical ways to instigate boundaries in our lives.” [![Have Place Retreat](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Have-Place-Retreat-200x300.jpg "Have Place Retreat")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Have-Place-Retreat.jpg)Lysa regularly hosts gatherings at her retreat called “Haven Place.” The retreats are specifically for women who’ve had to deal with difficult things in their lives.**Inspiring Background & Ministry.** TerKeurst’s Proverbs 31 Ministries began as a small newsletter in 1994. She became president of the ministry in 1995 and helped grow it into an organization that reaches millions of women daily with Biblical truth and wisdom. Her books–which include the *New York Times* bestsellers *It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way*, *Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions*, *Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely* (which was on the list for 31 weeks), *Forgiving What You Can’t Forget*, *The Best Yes*: *Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands,* and *Surviving an Unwanted Divorce: A Biblical, Practical Guide to Letting Go and Moving Forward*–are popular ones with readers around the world. According to TerKeurst, her love for writing began at a young age. “While others were cartwheeling and dancing, I was sitting on our hearth and reading poems,” she said, “and I’ve always been interested in writing.” Particularly meaningful, she said, is being able to take complicated ideas and “make them make sense” to readers or Bible class or retreat attendees. “As a Bible teacher, I really have a passion for taking Biblical truths and applying them to everyday life circumstances,” she said. She published her first book, *Living Life on Purpose: Discovering God’s Best for Your Life,* in 2000, and her upcoming release, called *Making Peace with What I Can’t Control,* is scheduled for release this fall. “My books all relate to how we think about things. It’s often not just the event or hardship we experience, but it’s the story we tell ourselves based on the things we’ve been through,” she explained. “We experience healing by developing a perspective that aligns more with God’s way of thinking.” She extends her writing and ministry work into retreats for women at her own home in N.C. Hosted at “Haven Place,” the retreats take place 8 to 10 times each year and are led by TerKeurst and two other speakers providing “amazing theological teaching and Biblical answers to relationship problems.” The gatherings are designed specifically for women who’ve had to deal with difficult things in their lives. TerKeurst said the retreats host a maximum of 50 women, and it helps her lean into her love of hospitality. “We have a retreat center on the property and small groups inside my home,” she said. “I love hospitality, and people feel welcome and safe. It’s a beautiful thing.” [![Lysa TerKeurst cover image](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lysa-TerKeurst-cover-image-200x300.jpg "Lysa TerKeurst ")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lysa-TerKeurst-cover-image.jpg)TerKeurst’s books explore themes of resilience, forgiveness, and emotional well-being through a Biblically lense.**Family & Faith.** TerKeurst lives outside Charlotte, N.C., with her husband Chaz Adams; her five grown children and eight grandchildren all live in the Charlotte area, and TerKeurst said they enjoy “spending lots of time together at home or on the beach enjoying some solace away from the pace of everyday life when we can.” On her website, she describes her family like this: “We are messy, crazy, sometimes dysfunctional, but always for each other. Fun is the name of the game. Loud is the way we roll. Real is what you’ll get. Love is what we give. And we’re so thankful to just be together.” TerKeurst and Adams married in 2024 after meeting on a dating app following her divorce from her first husband, Art TerKeurst, three years earlier. She’s open about her past marital struggles and her relationship with her new husband and large family, and they often appear on podcasts and events discussing the challenges and joys of life together. TerKeurst authored the book *Surviving an Unwanted Divorce: A Biblical, Practical Guide to Letting Go and Moving Forward*, co-authored with Dr. Joel Muddamalle and Jim Cress, in 2025 to offer guidance after her painful divorce. “The book is deeply personal and grew out of my own heartbreak and healing journey. I never thought I would write a book like this. But I also never thought I would face the death of my almost-30-year marriage,” she said. “Experiencing an unwanted divorce is so deeply complex, confusing, and heart-wrenching. And because I lived through the pain, the questions, and the late-night Google searching, I couldn’t stand the thought of others not having access to the Biblical wisdom and therapeutic insights they need to navigate everything they’re facing, both emotionally and spiritually.” [![Lysa Terkeurst with husband Adam](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lysa-Terkeurst-with-husband-Adam-300x200.jpg "Lysa Terkeurst with husband Adam")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lysa-Terkeurst-with-husband-Adam.jpg)Lysa TerKeurst married her husband Chaz Adams in 2024. He is a group broker and owner of CMA Insurance based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.At the heart of TerKeurst and Adams’ relationship is a mutual dependence on faith. They both became Christians later in life–she in her 20s and her husband just over a decade ago–and today they are involved in both church and ministry work. They are both supportive of the work of The Church of Eleven22, a multi-campus church based in Jacksonville, Fla. This church helped lead Adams to Christ. Adams often accompanies his wife to her speaking engagements. With such a busy life, the couple dedicates as much time as possible to family life–and TerKeurst is always eager to share what she’s learned in her decades as a mother and now a grandmother. She stresses that parenting is not for the weak; in fact, she admits that she’s still learning. “I’m sure I did plenty of things wrong as a parent, but one thing I did right was to keep them talking,” she recalled. “As long as the conversation between us continued, I knew that I would always have influence in their lives.” She believes in the powers of conversation and listening, and that parents should create a safe space for communicating with one another. “You need to listen, then pause before reacting,” TerKeurst said. “I told my children that I wanted to be a source of help for them in life. As long as they came to me in truth, those conversations stayed open.” Today, she says she’s “incredibly grateful for family”- especially in their ability to stay together despite divorce and upheavals. “I was so worried after the divorce that some of the significant relationships of the family would diminish or become hard or strained,” she said. “While we walked through hardship, we made it through, and we’ve thrived.” Looking to her grown children, and now her grandchildren, TerKeurst reflected that mothering never stops. She’s grateful that she gets to spend time with her growing family on an almost daily basis. “No matter how grown your kids get, you’ll always want to protect them, cheer them on, and challenge their perspectives,” she said. “You want to teach them and also learn from them and kneel down to pray for them. Doing all of this together with them makes my life both challenging and sweet each and every day.” Such perspectives are what make TerKeurst so inspiring and encouraging to so many women. *-Cheryl Wray*