Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Howard.
Hi Kathy, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Studying the Bible changed my life. Although my parents raised me in church and taught me to love Jesus, somehow, I missed what it really meant to be a Christian. Then, in my mid-twenties, I joined a women’s Bible study group and began to read and study the Bible for myself. Through my study, God exploded my understanding of Him and what it looks like to follow Jesus. God also gave me a passion for Scripture and for helping others learn to study it too.
Primarily, I am a Bible teacher, but I get to do that in a variety of ways. I speak at Christian women’s events around the country, at virtual events, and have also had the opportunity to teach in Canada, Moldova, Norway, and Czechia. I have written eleven books, Bible studies, and devotionals that are used by individuals and church groups. I also lead a daily Bible reading group on Facebook comprised of almost 2,000 women from around the globe. Each day, women from North America, Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe read the same passage and then discuss it together. And I get to teach Bible study groups in my own church.
The path along the way was different than I expected. As a child, I wanted to be a writer. My love for reading sparked that desire. I read many of the classics like Wuthering Heights, Little Women, and Huckleberry Finn. I dreamed of writing the next great American novel and spent countless hours writing short stories. But other things captured my attention and pushed that dream to the background.
In 1983, I earned a bachelor’s in marketing from La Tech University and married the young man who captured my heart in a science elective. His job in the oil industry moved us from Louisiana to Wyoming and from Texas to Alberta, Canada.
During the six years we spent in Alberta, I felt God’s call to attend seminary. It was a busy time balancing a full course load, three children, and ministry responsibilities at church. But two months before we transferred back to Texas, I earned a Master’s in Christian Education.
During my time in seminary a strong desire to write resurfaced, but with a different focus. A lot of adults who knew nothing about the Bible had started coming to our church. After teaching several rounds of classes for these Bible newbies using some material I had found, I felt strongly that I should write something that would better suit their needs. So, I studied, wrote, and taught the new curriculum for my seminary field study class. The material proved its effectiveness. It helped dozens of people in our church understand Jesus and why we need Him. I wanted others to have also access to the same material. That experience began my publishing journey.
At the time I recognized the irony. Decades earlier God had planted a desire in my heart to write. But I had misinterpreted both the focus and the timing. Instead, God melded my passion to teach the Bible with my childhood dream to write. However my writing pursuit did not come to fruition overnight. Six more years passed before my first book was published.
In the meantime, we moved back to Texas. I wrote a second unpublished Bible study and began to teach it in our new church. I learned how to write book proposals and attended writers’ conferences. I reached out to old connections and made new ones. And I received a lot of rejections. But I persevered.
My first book released in 2008. My tenth and eleventh books released in the fall of 2021 and the twelfth is due to release in the fall of 2022. So much has changed in publishing and technology in those fourteen years. I constantly scramble to try to keep up by learning new things, trying new formats, and of course asking for a lot of help. Seriously, I remember when my parents got a VCR and now, I’m recording Bible teaching with my phone so I can reach people around the world.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Rejection is hard. Especially when it’s something you’ve poured your heart and soul into. Every new book feels like my baby, a bit of myself. I am still looking for publishing homes for several full studies, and partial studies that I’ve written. Sadly, it’s not just the value of the work itself that publishers must consider. They have to balance each potential book with what they already have, what their other authors are writing, and how well they think it will sell. Even Christian publishers have to make money to stay in business. I understand that.
COVID presented challenges for my ministry as well. My spring 2020 speaking calendar was packed. But it got wiped out in just few days when the country went on lockdown. But we learned to pivot. I got to teach in several new virtual conferences and retreats through 2020. The first time I got to teach again in person was rejuvenating.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Teaching the Bible through writing and speaking is ministry to others and service to God. My primary goal is to help women grow in their understanding of God and in their relationship with Jesus. In addition to teaching a Bible passage or spiritual topic, I want to help women learn how to study the Bible for themselves, so they can enjoy God’s Word for a lifetime. I teach practical methods and share useful tools so they can open their Bibles with confidence, anticipating that God has something to say to them.
My most recent devotional book is part of a series that shows readers how to interact with and apply Scripture, not just read it. “Deep Rooted: Growing through the Book of Acts” takes readers on a journey of a lifetime. They’ll experience the powerful arrival of the Holy Spirit, witness the birth of the church, and walk the dusty roads alongside those first missionaries as they boldly share the Gospel of Jesus with the world. The 50 meaty, daily devotions through the book of Acts use a simple study framework designed to help readers develop a regular habit of spending quality time in God’s Word. They’ll learn how to dig into Scripture on their own with a basic inductive Bible study method.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Looking back over the years, I see God’s hand in everything. For instance, my first publishing contract came about through a connection I’d made years earlier. In 1991 I was part of a short-term mission’s team to distribute Bibles in the Soviet Union. The leader of the team and I hit it off but lost contact after the trip. Years later, when I was seeking my first publishing contract, I discovered she was the publisher of a small Christian publishing house. I reached out and she invited me to send a proposal. That old connection produced my first contract. I don’t believe in sheer luck. But I do believe in hard work, perseverance, and God’s direction and intervention.
Contact Info:
- Email: kathy@kathyhoward.org
- Website: https://www.
kathyhoward.org - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/kathyhhoward/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/ KathyHowardUnshakeableFaith - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/ UCczyEWuDdsw80plfYg9xpEw - Other: https://www.amazon.com/
dp/1946708682?tag=kathhowa-20
Image Credits
Darby McFall
