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Real Relationships that Work

We all want friendships a comfy place where we can be ourselves and come away feeling loved and understood. Yet, it’s not that easy. Good friendships take time and work and there are no guarantees each one will be a good one. In this session on friendship Brenda tells plenty of stories of what she did wrong and right and how she learned to be a good friend from her good friends. Brenda discusses practical healthy ways to:

  • Be a friend.
  • Move past the awkwardness.
  • Develop friendships that not only work, but last a lifetime.

  • What God Wished I Knew

    One day God gave me an inkling of what I might experience my first thirty seconds in heaven. It was the realization of the lessons He had been teaching me all my life, but for whatever reason I did not grab on to. In that moment they seemed so obvious—how could I have missed them? In this session I will share the six biblical truths that God made so clear to me that day. I will help you:

  • Know that God is active in your life.
  • Turn from stress and experience God’s peace and joy.
  • Discern God’s next steps for you.
  • Enjoy today.

  • High School Girls’ Retreat Sessions

    Life for teens is harder than it was for their parents or grandparents. Technology creates subcultures that most adults are unaware of and, if they were aware, incapable of dealing with. However, the adults in teens’ lives are not powerless to affect change. Teens crave real relationship with caring, authentic adults. In such relationships they are eager to listen and as importantly, be listened to. In my sessions just for teen girls, I will

  • Give them tools to discover the person God made them to be.
  • Explain to them the love of God for them in a way that matters to them.
  • Help them see how Jesus makes them clean and perfect before God. Their past does not define them nor does it dictate their futures.
  • Help them start a personal relationship with God, no formulas or checklists, but real relationship.
  • Help them build healthy friendships.
  • Talk honestly about boys and how to have safe, healthy relationships with them.

  • Priorities, Boundaries, and Goals

    What do you want your life to be about? When you look back on your life at age 60, 70, 80 or beyond, what do you want to see? What do you want your family and friends to say about you? In this session I will talk about living in a way that helps you fulfill all God planned for you. Through much prayer and listening into God I have discovered God’s the priorities for me. My priorities and boundaries help me navigate life and live the life God intended for me. Less distracted, more intentional. In this practical message Brenda will help you:

  • Discover God’s priorities for you.
  • Live a life of intention and purpose.
  • Know what is yours to do and what is not yours.
  • Say no to what is not yours.
  • Arrange your life in a way to live your priorities and keep distractions at bay.

  • Building Relationships with Your Kids that Last a Lifetime

    My husband and I enjoy growing and loving relationships with our three girls, three sons-in-law, and fabulous grandson. It’s definitely been a process through some tough growing up years but it was well worth the work and heartache. I would love to share with you a few things we did well and a few things we didn’t do well—all on the way to enjoying our kids as adults and the blessing of being in their lives. Brenda will share practical ways to:

  • Cultivate a relationship with your child in the midst of their messiness.
  • Be involved in your kids’ lives without being overly involved.
  • Show unconditional love to your kids, even in their not-loveable season.
  • Give your child room to become who God made them to be, even when that person is disparate from you.

  • Living Brave: When Life is Crazy and Confusing

    “It seems women want permission to take the first step, to find their purpose. They need permission from other women/friends to do what’s in their hearts.” Vickie, an associate director of women’s ministry, confided this to Brenda as they talked about the needs of women in the body of Christ. Brenda has often remembered Vickie’s words and realized how right she was. Women want permission to be who they know they are at their core. They want permission to live the life they know God made them to live. Instead many women hold back for fear misunderstanding, judgment, or rejection. In this conference Brenda will help you:

    • Know you are loved by God.
    • Be secure and confident.
    • Live fully the person God made you to be.
    • Be free from the opinions and expectations of others.
    • Have direction and strength for each day.
    • Experience joy, peace, fulfillment, and the extraordinary life God has for you.

    This conference has three sessions:

    • Fear, Anxiety, and the Good Life
    • Going Deep with God
    • When Life Doesn’t Look Like We Expected

    Each session can stand alone or be combined for a main session.


    Love No Matter What: When Kids Make Decisions You Don't Agree With

    Our kids are sure to make decisions we don’t agree with. While many are preference issues, some are moral issues, and a few may be legal issues. In light of Josh McDowell’s estimate that at least sixty percent of today’s churched kids will leave the church once they graduate high school, we must be ready to answer the question, “How will I respond when my child makes a choice I don’t agree with?

    Brenda was forced to answer this question within a few seconds when her oldest daughter abruptly decided to move out at age of eighteen with no means to support herself. That was not the end of Katie’s decisions that Brenda and her husband, Gene, didn’t agree with. But Brenda’s split-second decision to stay in relationship with Katie continues to guide her as she nurtures her relationship with her daughter who consistently makes choices she doesn’t agree with.

    Brenda will help parents respond to their child’s decisions as the heavenly Father responds to us. She will help parents build a bond with their children that lasts a lifetime by developing and nurturing a parent-child relationship that is open, honest, and loving. Without relationship, parents have nothing—no influence, no say, no opportunity to help. This includes giving and living out an accurate representation of God to their kids. They might not be in church (as statics represent) and they have probably tuned out all talk about God, but they are always learning about God through their parents—their responses, words, actions, how they do life when no one is looking. Parents become the only Word of God their kids read.


    Setting the Stage for Relationships with Your Kids that Will Last a Lifetime

    Your precious child who once adored and obeyed you has morphed into a teen that you no longer recognize. How do you stay in relationship and maintain influence in his life in the midst of this tumultuous stage? How do you not lose your relationship with your child in the midst of conflict? By setting the stage for relationship with your child. Brenda will show you practical, effective ways to build relationship with your child that will last a lifetime.

    Listen to Sample Audio Clip


    Mommy Peer Pressure

    Have you seen her? Worse yet, have you been engaged in hand-to-hand combat with her? She is the “other mommy”—the mommy who pressures you to parent and do life her way. The peer pressure comes not only from other moms, but from family members, teachers, the media, and even the local church. In this message, Brenda helps moms define priorities for raising a family and gives the confidence to defend them. Learn how to:

    • Minimize distractions and interruptions in your family’s life.
    • Prevent outside opinions from pressuring your parental convictions.
    • Determine non-negotiable and negotiable issues for your family.
    • Develop a clearer understanding of God’s intentions for each of your children.

    Princess Unaware

    Many women meander through life with little direction, unaware that they are chosen by God for an incredible purpose. But, there’s no reason to wallow in discouragement, or succumb to self-told lies? Princess Unaware will help you enjoy the rich, satisfying life God has planned for you. Brenda Garrison enables women to see the princess that God made you to be. Discover new ways to:

    • Experience peace and security by knowing you have God’s undivided attention.
    • Break the urge to constantly please others.
    • Be victorious when tempted during times of loneliness and despair.
    • Live each day with confidence and purpose.

    Let’s Talk
    I love that every group is unique. If you see a topic that needs tweaking or don’t see a topic that works for your group, I’d love to talk with you about a topic that would better fit your group. It’s exciting to see what God has for each of us and I am honored to be a part of that. Email me through my Speaking page and chose the topic “Other.” We’ll talk...