Hey there! Thanks for stopping by…

I’m Andrea and I host Strengthen here on Substack. I’m a UK based coach, mentor, speaker and writer who loves deep and real conversations on Jesus, faith, living and loving well.

Strengthen is an online community of people who love Jesus and want more of him in their lives. I create audio and written content that encourages you in your wellbeing, your confidence, your emotional life and, most of all, your walk with God.

We like to lean in here! So if you’re thirsty for more of him in your life - whether you’ve been walking with him a while, you’re just discovering or returning to faith in Jesus you’re welcome here!

Our values and content are:

  • Invitational - There’s no musts and shoulds here about how you respond personally to content. You’re a grown up and you make your own decisions and choices about your walk with God, life and relationships.

  • Encouraging - We’re a community that values encouragement and creating a space where we all feel safe to share and ask questions.

  • Lean in - We’re hungry and thirsty to know God more fully in our lives and we believe we do that by choosing intimacy with him and making space in our thoughts as well as time in our routines (or our messy days!) to lean into his extravagant love and beautiful presence

  • Unashamed - I’m big on stepping out of shame and inviting that natural, overflowing presence of Jesus in our lives. So we talk deep stuff here in the devotionals and Living Well content. Strengthen insiders have powerful testimonies of how leaning in here has revived their walk with God.

    This is me:

I’m just like you. I live, love, laugh, cry, struggle sometimes, push through… and have made a choice to lean into Jesus. I have good hair days and bad hair days. Things I’m proud of and things I’m not. Gifts, talents and challenges, just like you have yours too.

My heart is big and it’s always to facilitate growth in others. Especially in their walk with God and their inner peace. I love to see people grow more confident and to walk into greater freedom in their lives.

Strengthen holds a growing archive of content I’ve created, but it’s not all about my voice. I’m on a mission to grow the courage and confidence in others - people like you - to share from their heart in different ways too. Because we all have light that can make a difference to others in our personal worlds. So expect to read and hear more voices here as time goes on!

Come join us if you also want to lean in to Jesus and share his light naturally with others ❤️

Professionally, I’m an educator, an emotion and positive psychology coach and mentor. I’ve pastored, taught, trained others and been an event speaker in the UK and internationally. So there’s a strong wellbeing element to Strengthen content too.

Let’s say we’re deep but grounded here!

I create accessible content and love accessible conversations. If you’re feeling lost in jargon, science or theology, I’ll break it down for you. No question is a stupid question here. It’s a safe space to lean into and grow.

Want to know more?

Strengthen is one online community with a free subscription option and an upgrade option. If you upgrade, you become a Strengthen Insider. If you stay on the free plan, you’re a Strengthen member.

On the homepage you’ll find a magazine style display of the latest content and freebies. When you keep scrolling down, you see more and more of the published content. It’s a treasure trove!

In the menu bar, you’ll see different sections. Like Devotionals, Podcasts, Strengthen Voice and My Voice. We’ve also got a Chat area where Insiders can reply to chat threads I post and create their own. It’s a great way of connecting!

When you subscribe, you are automatically signed up to all Strengthen sections. You receive everything that is part of your free or upgraded subscription straight to your email inbox.

But if you don’t like emails then you can opt out of receiving emails from any section at any time in your personal settings here.

You can also opt back in if you change your mind! You’d still have access to that content via the app or webpage anytime.

Cool to have so much control over your settings, isn’t it?

I recommend always remaining opted in for emails from the main Strengthen section as this way you’ll hear about what’s new across the whole community in the Friday Weekending Well email.

Feeling excited?!

Looking for online community with no ads, no algorithms but still offers the ability to interact on the go on your phone, tablet or computer?

Longing for a Christian space on the internet where you can be encouraged and build relationships?

Wanting to be intentional about how you use your time and grow your relationship with God more?

Hoping for opportunities to meet others at online events too?

And if you could have all that and some wellbeing content that includes scientific knowledge alongside theological understanding, you’d be delighted?

Come join us! You’re welcome!

Here’s what you need to know. You can subscribe on the free plan or upgrade to the paid Strengthen Insider plan. There’s a big difference but choose whatever works best for you. Know that you can unsubscribe at any time.

Subscribers on the Strengthen free plan receive:

  • The Strengthen Weekending Well article

  • The monthly themed article

  • An occasional encouraging note or two throughout the week.

  • Occasional access to free tasters of the Living Well podcast and devotional audios.

  • The Strengthen Voice monthly article. Please note, this is a developing section of the community.

  • Ability to comment on free content only.

  • Invitations to some free online retreats and other freebie download gifts.

    Please note, you do not have to be a paid subscriber to submit content to the monthly Strengthen Voice article. However, you do need to be a subscriber.

Subscribers on the Strengthen paid plan enjoy:

  • Access to all podcasts & audio content:

    • 1 Living Well podcast each week.

    • A Mini Deep Dive devotional and three devotionals connected with that each week.

    • Occasional other audios (watch this space!)

    • All with accessible, bite sized, deep audios with transcripts.

  • Weekending Well email

  • The monthly Strengthen theme article

  • Plus more regular notes, community-only articles and other great content and opportunities!

  • Ability to comment on all content

  • Ability to comment on all paid Strengthen content and to join and create Chats in our Chat thread.

I know what you’re thinking! It’s a lot isn’t it? But it’s actually all yours for a very modest monthly contribution - the price of a cuppa and a treat in a cute deli or coffee shop!

You’re more than welcome to subscribe on the free plan but for the full Strengthen experience with full access to the newsletter and website archives, come join us as a Strengthen Insider by opting for the paid upgrade. Never miss an update!

Paid subscribers get a lot of deep, practical, heartfelt content and I appreciate the financial support that the very modest subscription gives me to create and encourage via Strengthen.

Not sure? Pop over to our homepage and explore what’s there. Insiders have a 7day free trial, so if you don’t like what arrives in your inbox, you can cancel your subscription at any time. No hard feelings.

Hey, we have a group option too!

If you lead a group, church or have family or friends you’d like to invite to join with you our group subscription offers 50% off for group members who join under a full paying Strengthen member. This community option is a great way for you all to access the same, encouraging and upbuilding content and be able to comment or join and create chats. You would also be part of the wider Strengthen community here which gives you the chance to join events together and get to know other Strengthen members.

This is a perfect option for smaller life groups or women’s groups and churches where leaders don’t have time to create and curate content regularly. Let Strengthen provide the content for you and you simply interact and share together!

Whether you’re joining alone or with a group, you’re welcome here!

See you on the inside!

Here’s that subscribe button again:

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.

Subscribe to Strengthen

Welcome! Enjoy audio devotionals and wellbeing content that focus on how God entwines who he is with our evolving stories. Challenging religious stigmas, busting some Christian cultural myths and leaning into faith and intimacy with God through Jesus.

People

Writer, coach, mentor & speaker - I'm a UK based Emotion & Positive Psychology professional coach and Founder of the Strengthen community. Sharing heart to heart and creating devotionals and content to strengthen you as you walk with God.