🍬💜 It's not about the candy. It's about the conviction!

Halloween, Harvest Fest, costumes, candy, and Christianity. Can we talk about it, family? ☕️🎙️

Growing up in church, Halloween looked a little different in my household. My mother raised me with faith, boundaries, and traditions that shaped the woman and mother I've become.

But now that I'm raising a daughter who's preparing for adulthood, I've learned something important: Our children need more than rules. They need to understand the faith and convictions behind them.

In Episode 16 of With Love & Purpose: Morning, Coffee & Christ, First Lady Shantrice Montague opens up about her childhood Harvest Fest experiences, her approach to Halloween as a Christian mother, and the importance of allowing children to enjoy life while teaching them biblical discernment.

We'll also journey into Daniel chapter 1, where four young men found themselves navigating an unfamiliar culture while remaining committed to their faith.

In this episode, we're discussing:

🍬 Halloween, Harvest Fest, and Christian traditions

💜 Raising children with boundaries without robbing them of experiences

📖 Daniel's courage and conviction in Babylon

🙏🏾 Teaching our children to develop their own relationship with God

🎓 Preparing our children to make wise choices when we're no longer standing beside them

❤️ Respecting different convictions without condemning others

Here's the question: Are we raising children who simply follow our rules, or children who understand their faith?

Because one day, Mama won't be in the room. And when that day comes, I want my daughter to have the wisdom and courage to make decisions rooted in what she believes.

📖 Featured Scriptures: Daniel 1:1–21, Proverbs 22:6, James 1:5, Romans 12:2, and Romans 14:1–13.

✨ Remember: It's not about the candy. It's about the conviction!

☕️ Grab your coffee, bring your Bible, and come sit with me!

💜 With Love & Purpose

🌐 www.withloveandpurpose.org

You've done the releasing. Now it's time to start living! 💜☕️

What happens after you let go of old habits, learn to rest, and start protecting your peace? How do you actually begin living as the woman God is calling you to become?

In Episode 15 of With Love & Purpose: Morning, Coffee & Christ, First Lady Shantrice Montague brings our Growth Series to a powerful conclusion through the biblical story of Ruth.

From the uncertainty of leaving Moab to the unexpected blessings waiting in Bethlehem, Ruth's journey reminds us that faith doesn't require knowing how the entire story will unfold.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• Finding the courage to embrace new beginnings
• Moving forward even when the future is uncertain
• Releasing old patterns and making room for growth
• Trusting God while taking meaningful steps
• Recognizing that becoming is a journey, not a destination

📖 Featured Scriptures: Ruth 1:16–17, Ruth 2:12, and Philippians 3:13–14.

✨ Remember: You don't have to see the entire story to live faithfully in the chapter you're in.

Grab your coffee, bring your Bible, and come sit with me as we close this chapter of growth and prepare for what's next!

💜 With Love & Purpose

🌐 www.withloveandpurpose.org

Have you ever said YES when everything inside you was screaming NO?

Sometimes we're so busy trying not to disappoint everyone else that we end up neglecting ourselves.

In Episode 14 of With Love & Purpose: Morning, Coffee & Christ, First Lady Shantrice Montague opens up about people-pleasing, overcommitting, setting healthy boundaries, and learning that protecting your peace doesn't make you selfish.

We're discussing how to recognize what God has truly assigned to you, why every opportunity doesn't require your participation, and how to say NO without carrying unnecessary guilt.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• The difference between being needed and being called
• Breaking free from people-pleasing
• Setting boundaries without feeling guilty
• Learning to say NO with love and confidence
• Protecting your peace while walking in purpose

📖 Featured Scriptures: Galatians 1:10, Matthew 5:37, Exodus 18, and Mark 1:35–38.

Remember: Being capable doesn't mean being obligated.

Grab your coffee, bring your Bible, and sit with me! 💜☕️

🌐 www.withloveandpurpose.org

Rest Is Part of the Assignment — You Don't Have to Earn the Right to Rest

Everybody calls her strong. Everybody depends on her. But who checks on the woman carrying everything?

In Episode 13 of With Love & Purpose: Morning, Coffee & Christ, First Lady Shantrice Montague invites you into an honest, faith-filled conversation about exhaustion, boundaries, burnout, and the pressure always to be the strong one.

After unexpected technical difficulties delayed this episode, Shantrice shares how she had to practice the very message she was preparing to deliver: sometimes wisdom means knowing when to pause.

Together, we're exploring what Scripture teaches about rest, why asking for help isn't weakness, and how to stop confusing exhaustion with obedience.

Featured Scripture: Mark 6:31
Also explored: Matthew 11:28, Luke 10:38–42, Psalm 23, and 1 Kings 19.

This episode is your reminder: You don't have to exhaust yourself to prove you're walking in purpose.

Grab your coffee, bring your Bible, and come sit with me. 💜☕️

With love and purpose.

It’s my birthday — and this episode is personal. 💜👑

As I step into Chapter 38, I’m reflecting on the versions of myself that helped me survive, the lessons that shaped me, and the things I’m no longer willing to carry into another year of my life.

In this birthday edition of With Love & Purpose: Morning Coffee & Christ, we’re talking about outgrowing old mindsets, people-pleasing, guilt, comparison, survival habits, unhealthy access, and the fear of becoming someone new.

Purple Reign is more than a birthday theme for me. Purple is my favorite color; it represents Domestic Violence Awareness, and biblically it reminds me of royalty, identity, and who I belong to.

Isaiah 43:18–19 reminds us:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!”

This episode is about honoring the woman who got you here without feeling obligated to carry every version of her into where God is taking you next.

So grab your coffee, bring your Bible, and ask yourself:

What am I not carrying into my next chapter?

Same woman. Higher purpose. 💜

What happens after you finally begin finding yourself again?

In Episode 11 of With Love & Purpose: Morning Coffee & Christ, First Lady Shantrice Montague begins the new Becoming Her series with an honest conversation about identity, healing, survival, grief, motherhood, marriage, ministry, career changes, and the woman God is shaping you to become.

Shantrice reflects on her own journey of rebuilding after domestic violence, learning herself again after seasons of caregiving and loss, and why Michelle Obama’s Becoming has remained one of her favorite books through different chapters of her life.

This episode is for the woman who has survived, changed, started over, or looked in the mirror and wondered, “Who am I now?”

You are allowed to grow.
You are allowed to change.
You are allowed to outgrow old versions of yourself.
And you are not too late to become the woman God is calling you to be.

Primary Scripture: Philippians 1:6
Also referenced: Isaiah 43:18–19, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 139:13–14, Psalm 34:18

“I am not becoming someone God doesn’t recognize. I am becoming the woman He already knew I could be.”

Healing. Growth. Faith. Purpose.
Same woman. Higher purpose. 💜☕️

What happens when life gets so loud that you can barely hear yourself anymore?

In Episode 10 of With Love & Purpose: Morning Coffee & Christ, First Lady Shantrice Montague talks honestly about identity, healing, self-worth, boundaries, rest, people-pleasing, and reconnecting with the woman underneath all the roles.

Sometimes we become so focused on being the wife, mother, professional, caregiver, leader, friend, or support system that we slowly lose touch with ourselves. This conversation is about noticing that disconnection and making space to come back to who God created you to be.

We’re talking about survival mode, forgiving yourself, resting without guilt, setting healthy boundaries, and realizing that finding yourself again doesn’t mean becoming the old you—it may mean becoming a wiser, healed, more intentional version of you.

Reflection question:
Where have I abandoned myself just to survive—and what would it look like to choose myself with grace now?

Scripture: Psalm 139:13–14 and Romans 12:2

Grab your coffee, bring your Bible, and come with God with me. 💜☕🎙️

What happens when the titles come off and it’s just husband and wife?

In Episode 9, First Lady Shantrice Montague sits down with her husband, Rev. Brandon Montague, for a real conversation about marriage, ministry, family, pressure, boundaries, rest, communication, and staying connected behind the titles.

They talk about what people don’t always see—the weight of ministry, protecting family time, handling disagreements, supporting each other, knowing when to rest, and remembering that before “Pastor” and “First Lady,” they are still Brandon and Shantrice.

Primary Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
Supporting Scripture: Mark 6:31

Because ministry may be part of what we do, but marriage and family are part of who we are.

People see the titles. God sees the people carrying them.