what people are saying about the DVD series

"We just finished Peacemaking Women and Living the Gospel in Relationships (we combined the book with the videos) and they were great! The women loved your transparency so thanks, thanks, thanks! I have to say that I was a little hesitant to do the “women’s” study since I am not a “fluffy girl study” kind of gal and I was concerned about psychology and feel good girl stuff drifting in—but it was all Scripture! And we were all so convicted."

"I just wanted to let you know how much your DVDs have helped me. I first watched them with my church and then shared them with another women’s group. We had a Mormon, a Catholic, two Charismatics, a 7th Day Adventist, some Baptists, and myself – the lone Presbyterian. We had a lot of intense conversations and were truly edified. Thank you for this series!"

"I just finished it with a group of ladies in my church and found it to be most excellent. The constant reminder of the Cross and pointing the women to Christ is refreshing.  The women found it very challenging and inspiring.  Usually after I showed the video, I would have to wait a few minutes and pray while we gathered our thoughts to share. I have been teaching the peacemaker small group material for the past year and this was a great addition. Thanks so much for your transparency in the video.  It was something the women could relate to. May God continue to bless this work!"

"I just wanted to send a note to let you know how deeply I appreciate this incredible study! Living the Gospel in Relationships has touched my heart as the pastor’s wife and I know it has done the same for the ladies in attendance. I plan to use this for both a Sunday school class in the fall and my daughter wants to share it with the “20-Somethings” within her circle. Praise the Lord for taking your life testimony and your ability to teach and allowing us to partake and spiritually grow through watching a DVD! It is my heart’s desire to teach our ladies how to have true discernment and walk in holiness as true women of God. I am VERY careful in choosing studies—so much is fluffy, feel good stuff and lacks the deeper truth's of the Gospel. Thank you again for what you have taken the time to produce. The benefits are eternal!"

"I am so excited about your material which we have just completed, and wanted to tell you how we have benefited from the series. Our group is a woman's co-mentoring group and our goal is to move beyond solely teaching spiritual disciplines and also instill in women a love for the Word that couples itself to a desire to "speak scripture into each others lives" so that each might glorify God as they serve one other. Your material supported these goals perfectly! On a weekly basis women would tell me how much they loved the material, and their reasons always had to do with the practicality of the teaching on relationships, and their growing awareness of personal spiritual growth. Women were excited and said "This is the most timely material in my life!”, as well as how desperately any church needs this teaching. The peacemaking lessons were SO well received (we previously had an adult training class on Peacemakers which had been rather lightly attended). Your handling of Matthew 18 brought a contextual framework to Jesus' teaching that challenges a more sequential, three-step approach that may leave out time and compassion and the thrust of ALL of Matthew 18. I am so grateful Tara for your transparency and humor. Our women loved you and benefited from what you brought to us."

"I'm an associate pastor at an Evangelical Free Church. Having used other Peacemaker material, I recommended your study to the leader of a women's ministry at our church. Our ladies are very appreciative of your teaching both in terms of the biblical content and your transparency. I have viewed a number of the sessions and see why they are so enthused. I am a proponent of biblical counseling, very much shaped by the work of David Powlison and other CCEF faculty members. In fact, our church has hosted Paul Tripp, Ed Welch, and Elyse Fitzpatrick for conferences. With the proliferation of thin curricula produced for Christian women, it is so refreshing to find theologically sound and practical material like yours. Thank you for your ministry."

"We just finished your Living the Gospel in Relationships video series and our women loved it and grew from it.  Thank you for giving us the tools we need to be peacemakers and to glorify God in the area of difficult relationships. It is such a well put-together study!"

"I wanted to drop you a note on behalf of the women in our Bible Study group.  We just completed the eight week video series (plus one for personal application discussions) last night.  What a wonderful eight weeks of studying we experienced under your leadership!  Thank you for being willing to share your humility and experiences with God with us.  We have profited and grown.  You have been a gift to each of us."

"The ladies absolutely love the material! It is so fun to anticipate how the ladies will respond to something you say. Having previewed the DVD before showing it, I can almost predict the response.  We all relate so well to how real you are in your communication.  The laughter is because everyone has experienced the things you share. Secondly, I have personally benefited in so many ways.  The most significant is in how I relate to my family.  You made a comment in one of the earlier DVDs about "valuing the task more than the relationship."  You shared about wanting the piles gone in your house and being willing to make that happen, even if it hurts the relationships.  That is me.  I have really been mindful of that tendency, and have been asking the Lord to remind me of that as I interact each day with my husband and children.  And He does!  And I see myself relaxing and trusting Him more and seeing my family react in positive ways.  So thank you for being vulnerable and willing to communicate personal examples.  They make the truths of Scripture come alive."

"Every Christian woman needs this information to function as a godly woman for Christ.  We are looking forward to having a greater impact in our community with your material to spread.  God bless you today and always!"

"Just wanted to let you know that the video series is such a success!  Thanks for all you adjusted in your life to create the time to tape your lectures. You are a gifted teacher!  I especially appreciate your vulnerability. "

"I must say that after watching the DVD series, I needed a box of Kleenex to wipe away the tears that flowed from my times of repentance! So much so that we are going to use this at the church for our ladies Bible study beginning the 16th of this month. My prayer is that it will be a wonderful tool to produce the same thing in the hearts of my sisters in Christ that it has for me. I am beginning to look at how I view people in a whole new light and am asking the Lord to continue to rid the filthy critical spirit that I have had in the past!"

"I am so excited about this video series!  Can you believe I actually could understand almost all of your message even with my hearing loss and the few things I struggled with, the workbook made clear!  I am so thankful. Especially because the Lord sure has blessed you with an important message to share.  I can't wait to pass the other copies on to the different campus director's wives in our state!  The Lord has enabled you to communicate the gospel so beautifully and I was just overwhelmed thinking of the women I've met with recently who so desperately need to hear this message. I only wish I'd bought ten more copies. I’m heading back to the website now …"

"Our study group is continuing to savor each of the sessions from your DVD series, Tara. This is just one more example of how God is using you to walk us through encouraging and challenging Gospel principles. We are five women in completely different life stages (young grandma, empty-nester, mother with young children, married-with-no-children, and single) and we ALL are benefiting immensely from your ministry. "

"We are really excited to go through your series.  One of the ladies has already gone through it on her own (we originally purchased the material when it first came out, but did a study on the book of Titus to meet the desires of a lot of the women at that time), and she says it has changed her whole perspective on relationships with others, and has helped her deal with long-standing difficulties in some relationships.  She also said that she so appreciates your "realness” and honesty in the videos."

"Five of our women attended your conference last spring and were so blessed by it that we decided to order this video series. We are going through it as an eight week summer study and have had a good response from the ladies (with a slightly different group each week). The women are really starting to open up. Tonight was great - Chapter 4 - about confessing our idols to each other. One young mother confessed about excessive TV viewing - and another about control (of others and their behavior). Good stuff!  We appreciate your commitment to spreading the Gospel of peace to women all over the nation. Keep up the great work!"

"I think one of your greatest strengths (apart from a good handling of solid, Biblical truths) is your tone. Why the message is passed along SO WELL ... why it's easy for us ladies to sit in the room and open up about our difficulties in living the gospel ... is because your tone is so inclusive and gentle. And also having at least one of those little phrases that we can use as an inside joke among us. (“I’m shaking in Keds!”)"

"I have been tremendously blessed by this study! Thank you so much for your willingness to be so open and honest with people. Several times I thought "Wow, I thought I was the only one who thought like that or who reached points that low." It is such a help to sisters in Christ when someone is willing to really "put themselves out there" and share such personal emotions. It really shows all women that none of us can do anything at all without Christ, but with Him, the seemingly impossible can happen."

"We are doing your DVD study right now for summer.  It is so challenging but yet so grace-centered.  Thank you for your teaching and willingness to be in a place that God can use you so powerfully in the lives of women. "

"When I got this study my first thought was I am not in conflict with anyone, but conflict is always good to learn more about.  Let me tell you when I got to your session on Idols, I sobbed my eyes out.  It really struck me when you said "every Christian should know their top five Idols."  To be honest I did not, but the Lord sure brought them to my mind during that session and I saw myself in a new light and how I "cope" using some of my Idols.  Thank you for doing this study, I LOVE when I can take something away and it has a practical change on how I pray or do things.  I am so excited to be able to introduce many more women to this study. "

"Your video series, your book, and your blog, have changed my life for the SO MUCH BETTER! I went through your book with a group of four other women when I was in the throes of a losing battle with infertility at the time. God used your book for encouragement, growth, faith-building, and edification in ways that only God could. I’m sorry to say (or maybe I should be happy) that I have had several opportunities to practice conflict resolution, and I handled each situation very differently than I would have before learning Biblical principles of peacemaking."

“I would recommend this series to every church, every parachurch organization, and every woman! This series will not simply encourage women in deeper study of God’s word, but will create an environment of building godly relationships.”

“I took this study with me to the beach to preview and have been tremendously blessed! Thank you so much for your willingness to be so open and honest with people. Several times I thought "Wow, I thought I was the only one who thought like that or who reached points that low." It is such a help to sisters in Christ when someone is willing to really "put themselves out there" and share such personal emotions. It really shows all women that none of us can do anything at all without Christ, but with Him, the seemingly impossible can happen.”

“Tara, there has been so much of the Holy Spirit moving hearts since your willingness to share the Gospel with our women and open our eyes and hearts toward conflict resolution. There are currently four groups involved in the study the Living the Gospel in Relationships!”

“Hey Girlfriend! Session three WOW! I just finished watching it and the awesome song afterwards (in preparation to facilitate this Sunday’s Sunday School class) and I am so grateful for all God has taught you and your obedience to be vulnerable and to share so openly with all of us that we can all become more like Him. Thank you, Dear sister! May He Be Glorified!”

“I had the first session study yesterday here and we LOVED it -- I can't begin to tell you how fruitful the discussion was. I'd love to just sit with you over coffee (or tea) and describe the conversations to you. We are all three so enthusiastic about continuing. My friends are each going through tremendous issues. Pray for us--that this passion wouldn't die, that we would see God's faithfulness in meeting our hearts' cries, and that we would continually run to the cross together. Can't tell you how blessed we are and thankful for your work on this!”

“Hi Tara! Just a quick note to let you know that we completed the video series last night. We were encouraged and blessed, and thankful to God for your ministry. That peacemaker junkie video is a hoot. I anticipate using this series as part of our yearly offerings to our women. [In addition], many of the women were talking about your conference and the excitement that was generated for believing God for bigger things in their lives.”

“I’m a young mother (of three children) who coordinates the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Ministry in our church. Regarding the DVD series... you have a real gem on your hands. It is a treasure worth dispersing to the thirsty souls of both believers and unbelievers alike … It has truly helped to deepen and authenticate my own relationship with Jesus, as well as given me a tool to use with other women.”