Meet Kelly Needham

I started a blog in 2008 while traveling with my singer-songwriter husband, writing about faith, friendship, family, and suffering. I knew how the writing of other people had blessed me, so I wrote with the goal of doing the same. Through the ups and downs of my faith, through our journey of having three miscarriages and two healthy pregnancies, through difficult transitions like job changes and moves, I put my words into the blogosphere, praying that they would produce hope, encouragement, and clarity in the hearts of others.

In 2014, I wrote a series of posts called “Friendship Gone Wrong,” addressing some of the difficulties and unhealthy tendencies we have in friendship. The response was overwhelming. I read story after story of people who, for the first time, didn’t feel alone in the problems they had and finally understood how to resolve them. Five years later, this became the theme of my first book: Friendish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion.

Today, writing and speaking is a normal rhythm in my life. And honestly, it’s still not my favorite thing to do. But helping other people thrive is. So I keep going, writing and sharing my story and what I’ve learned along the way and praying it propels each person who hears into truly abundant life.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh, definitely not! Though my series on friendship in 2014 was a great help to many people, I also received a lot of angry emails. People who misunderstood me, disagreed with me, or just didn’t like my thoughts on friendship. But there weren’t only problems on the outside, some of the biggest hurdles I faced were internal. Writing continually challenges my perfectionist tendencies and speaking still makes me nervous. But challenges are rarely a bad sign. Some of the things most worth doing are the hardest. And I consider each hardship, whether external or internal, an opportunity for growth and faith.

Please tell us about your work.
As an author and speaker, I’m continually driven by my desire to help others thrive. That goal drives everything on my website (kellyneedham.com) and everything I post on social media. I work hard to make my articles, videos, and talks free (if possible) and easily accessible to others. As a Christian, I believe the Bible has so much to say about our thriving as human beings, and so I specialize in teaching the Bible to others and helping them learn how to read it and understand it themselves. But you’ll also find resources on adoption on my website (since I am an adoptive mom), on grief, on parenting and more.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memories are centered around being together with family. When we were young, my parents would play board games with all four of us kids and it was the highlight of our month! Just being together and having fun brought joy and life to our home.