Specialized Biblical Counselor and Gospel-Centered Coach
LYNDSEY JOLLEY, MPC, MEd
THE SHORT VERSION
Greetings 👋 My name is Lyndsey Jolley, and I am a Specialized Biblical Counselor and Gospel-Centered Coach. I equip women, leaders, couples, and groups in Christ-centered spiritual, emotional, and relational health. My approach is scripturally birthed and guided and is both holistic and strategic, with a focus on experiential, two-way connection with Christ. Below is a short version of my story and how the Gospel Freedom approach came into being at Resilience Ministries.
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CHILDHOOD - By God's grace, I had a beautiful early childhood. I came to authentic faith in Christ around the age of 7, and I remember sensing His presence with me at night when I went to bed. During my teenage years, my dad was in and out of the house as my parents wrestled through some deep marriage difficulties. During this time, I turned from away from the Lord for about three years... angry, curious about the world, and rebelling. There were many poor decisions made during this season. Thankfully, at 17, I rededicated my life to the Lord at a Christian camp and began seeking God again.
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PAIN - In my early adulthood I went through a long season of unresolved pain that coincided with a number of difficult circumstances --
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my parents divorced, which had internal ramifications I was not aware of,
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my insecurities and fears became all-controlling,
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spiritual warfare brought oppression,
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and I journeyed through a disempowering and wounding experience within a spiritual community.
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I spent 5 long years in severe internal pain and defeat, living under strongholds of fear and confusion, despite fervently seeking the Lord during this time.
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FREEDOM - Finally, over a period of about 6 months, through His personal and specific direction, God completely delivered me step-by-step into stable, solid, and sustained freedom, peace, and joy that has lasted for decades. During this time, I married my incredible husband, Bill, completed a Master's in Education and taught high school English. Bill is a bull's eye in my life and a gift from God. He is a lover of Jesus and a multi-talented man. He was an English teacher (an especially gifted one who inspired his students), a musician, an intellectual and impressive knowledge base, a church planter, a runner, a church elder, and now is a pastor at our church. During our season of early marriage and work, the roots of my faith grew deep, and God grew in my spirit the fruit of clarity, confidence, stability, and wisdom.
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TRAINING, RESEARCH & CHURCH PLANTING - After several years of freedom, I started on a second Master's Degree, this time in Counseling, and then set out on a long-term journey of researching strategic, results-based gospel-centered transformation for emotional and relational health. Additionally, my husband and I trained as church planters and then led a church plant, with a steady focus on discipleship and healthy community in Christ.
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PRIVATE PRACTICE - In 2015, after 10 years of marriage, two babies, and completing a Master's in Professional Counseling, I opened the private Biblical Counseling and Coaching practice you are reading about now called Resilience Ministries. I began working with clients who were facing the full range of life's problems -- anxiety, depression, spiritual confusion and disconnect, emotional wounds, trauma, church hurt, difficult marriages, isolation and loneliness, toxic relationships, and the list goes on. It was and is a sacred honor to walk alongside struggling sojourners who are seeking God's fullness in their lives. It has been an even greater gift to see client after client find freedom and victory in Christ time after time!
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GOSPEL FREEDOM! - Along this journey of counseling and church planting, a clear, step-by-step, and Biblical pattern to freedom was emerging. Through my own transformation and growth, my formal training, my personal research, working with clients, and discipling others in the church body -- a consistent pattern of biblical Keys to Transformation revealed themselves to be consistent, reliable, and effective over and over again. As the Holy Spirit revealed these keys, I wrote them down, collected them, and gathered them into coherent tools to use with clients. And so... The Gospel Freedom Approach to Healing and Fullness of Life was birthed!
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MULTIPLYING FREEDOM!! - By God's grace, over the past decade, I have helped hundreds of clients cultivate spiritual, emotional, and relational health through Gospel Freedom truth and tools. It is an absolute gift from above to see real people with real problems find real connection, freedom, and transformation in Christ .
As I continue on this path forward, I look forward to seeing how God will continue to bring healing and victory to more lives along the way!
THE LONG-ER VERSION
MY PERSONAL WILDERNESS & PROMISED LAND
In my early adult years, I went through an extremely difficult and painful wilderness. I spent 5 long years vexed with severe spiritual insecurity, fear, depression, confusion, and oppression.
It was excruciating.
A plethora of combined elements led to this downward spiral...
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I doubted my ability to discern God's voice,
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My parents had recently divorced, and there had been many years of brokenness in my family of origin,
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I did not yet understand my identity in Christ,
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My spiritual community had some unhealthy elements that were disempowering and damaging,
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I had underdeveloped emotional self-awareness,
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I didn't know how to metabolize my emotions with God,
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I was ill-equipped in spiritual warfare,
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I was experience young adult angst and big life questions,
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I had no idea how to receive from God,
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I wasn't sure how to recognize God's nearness and presence,
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My understanding of essential gospel-centered truths was shallow and undeveloped,
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And so much more!
A gray, vague cloud of heaviness and disconnect surrounded me every day. I sought help from mentors, pastors, scripture, prayer, counselors, books, parents, and friends -- for years. Many of these people loved me very well, and some of these resources brought some comfort some of the time, but I wasn't making traction.
I definitely wasn't free.
Truthfully, I spent countless days and weeks weeping over pain that would not leave. I could have been diagnosed with depression. I remember being perplexed with how I had an unending supply of tears and wondering when I would run out.
BUT around four and a half years into this wilderness, God began to walk me step-by-step with Him out of defeat and oppression and into a land of freedom and victory.
I got to a point where I realized it was me and God. I knew he only One who could truly help me in the deepest places of my soul was God himself. I started digging into my Bible in a different way -- this time with my eyes on Him alone, not looking to anyone else for help. I interacted with him honestly and directly. And began listening for His voice very purposefully, as best as I knew how at the time.
And I began to hear Him. For the first time in a long time.
One day at a time, one word a time, one decision at a time, one step at a time, I slowly learned HOW to discern His voice and HOW to follow His way and His roadmap.
God Himself led me into true, real and lasting freedom.
For several years after finding freedom, I was afraid I would go back into the darkness. Into the confusion and vexation. But because it was a deep, real transformation and God who led me out, I was substantially and forever changed and standing on a Solid Rock that became a lasting, firm foundation.
I have now lived consistently in that stability, peace, and joy for almost years! The victory He has taught me HOW to live in is an incredible gift. This is not to say there are not hard days or seasons, but nothing like before... I am free and victorious.
MY PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY, DISCOVERIES & DELIGHT
By His grace, God has given me the profound privilege of helping equip and guide others on this same journey to freedom and joy!
In my time as a Counselor and Coach, I have worked with hundreds of clients and consistently seen them find freedom and victory in Christ.
By God's grace, over and over, I have seen clients walk out of defeat and into sustained places of clarity, peace, joy, and flourishing -- in the midst of very real and ongoing hurdles, problems and challenges.
In working with clients month after month, year after year -- over time a very consistent and solid pattern of exactly HOW real and sustained life change happens was evidenced.
These gospel-centered patterns of life change began being revealed as far back as my own personal transformation and then continued in my training, research and work with clients.
They have now been developed into a collection of rock-solid, Keys to Transformation that I have watched change people's lives over and over again.
As the years have gone by, with such repeated, positive results across the board, I have become extremely loyal to this content, because IT WORKS.
Many people may know what scripture teaches about fullness of life, but few people know HOW to actualize it in their lives and connect with Jesus, our Healer, through a living, interactive relationship with Him.
This is the niche of my expertise that I want to share with you.
In counseling and coaching sessions, I have the sacred honor of being present as lights turn on in clients' hearts and minds as we talk about HOW to connect with Jesus and HOW the gospel applies to the specifics of their hearts and lives.
And then they get to personally experience the healing salve of going to the secret place and allowing Jesus Himself to minister to them in the deepest places of their souls.
I am now delighted to share this same Gospel Freedom content with you. It is Biblically-Grounded, Gospel-Centered, and Results-Based Training and Equipping for Real-Life Transformation and Connection with Christ.
God is up to something really good!