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Claudia Cantrell
Conference Speaker
Author of
Sacred Love: A Journey of Singleness,
Belonging, and Finding True Love
Travels from Georgia
| I should get an academy award! To look at me or be around me, you would have seen a confident, joyful, and "all-together" woman who “had the world by the tail!"
Every single day for most of my life, I portrayed this woman I wanted so badly to be. It was a disguise on the outside and most importantly, I faked what was going on inside. It was my false self that I learned to show others so they couldn't see the pain, hurt, and insecurity on the inside.
The truth is that I struggled with rejection issues for most of my life and was bullied when bullying wasn’t cool. From a very young age, I asked questions such as, "Why God, did you create me? What's wrong with me? Why can't my mother love me for me? Why am I unlovable?" and many more.
I hated myself and compared myself to every woman. I thought, "If I could only be her, then...." My comparison mentality led me to isolate myself at a young age and believe that I was unlovable.
I fell into the trap of believing that if I could be attractive, accomplished, wealthy, and believe it or not, thin, I would have worth. All I wanted was to be accepted, loved, and belong.
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After striving for decades and finding nothing but emptiness, I slowly realized that I had been believing a lot of lies about myself and God that our enemy wants us to believe. The "blinders" started to come off as God revealed His depth of love for me through excruciating pain.
In 2017, I released a book called, Sacred Love: A Journey of Singleness, Belonging, and Finding True Love. Without a doubt, I know that I was prompted by God to write this book to give those who have experienced emotional wounding hope for healing.
It is a hard story to read, but it ends up great. I am both raw and transparent as I describe my spiritual journey. God opened my eyes to the lies I had been living in and replaced those lies with His truth. My transformation did not happen overnight, but God never let go of me as He revealed the truth about every lie that had held me stuck and in bondage.
Our enemy comes to "steal, kill, and destroy" us. His end game for those of us who are Christ followers is to disempower Christ in our lives and make us ineffective for the Kingdom. For decades, he stole my identity, my life, my joy, my peace, and my love for God, myself, and others by blinding my eyes to the truth. I was only a "pawn" in his hands. He kept me so "BUSY" that I had no time to read Biblical truth and BE with my Savior.
I want to tell you the truth and nothing but the truth about what catapulted me into my transformation.
Questions ...
Are you living in a false self due to your invalid beliefs?
What could you be believing that is not true about yourself and/or God?
Do you want to live in truth?
Not just know the truth but walk in it.
You can do it too and live the abundant life that Christ died to give you.
Claudia and her husband, David, live in a suburb of Atlanta with their two King Charles Cavaliers. Claudia is a certified professional coach for women, a Christian conference speaker, and an author.
Speaking Topics
Identity Theft
This talk is taken from my book Sacred Love: A Journey of Singleness, Belonging, and Finding True Love. The talk is centered around my journey trying to find love, acceptance, belonging, and worth. It is about the lies that our enemy tells us that we choose to believe instead of God's truth that steals our identity, joy, and life. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, our identity is totally in Him. These words had to go from head knowledge to a revelation in order for me to see Jesus. He used brokenness to bring about revelation. Most of my life was riddled with rejection and trying to find my worth. The talk is for women who have experienced emotional wounding and need healing and hope. My journey was hard but ended up great!
Is God Big Enough?
This talk is based on my journey through singleness. I have "walked in the shoes" of single women and did not marry until age 54! Singles are often pressured with our enemy's lies, such as, "Go ahead and sleep with him/her. Everyone else is. God will forgive you anyway." Or "Even though you are dating a non-Christian, you won't fall in love and marry her/him." Or "Being yoked together is not important. He'll change later and accept Christ." There are a lot of lies that I discuss. The talk is centered around the main lie that God is not big enough or powerful enough or resourceful enough to answer your heart's desire for a spouse. The audience will benefit by seeing the importance of surrendering, waiting, and not compromising. Never limit God's power, "put Him in a box," or insist that God meet your timeline. There are consequences.
Coaching Works
This talk is centered around coaching. I am a Christian leadership and career coach for women and am attending The Professional Christian Coaching Institute. I discuss briefly the differences between a coach, a consultant, a mentor, and a counselor. I talk about who can benefit from coaching in general and how one would know if they are "coachable." My coaching is faith-based and Holy Spirit driven. I help women rediscover the joy they once had, discover and embrace their God-given purpose, and build their confidence. I explain the typical woman who would benefit from coaching. The audience will benefit by understanding what a coach does and does not do and how God can direct their path by using a coach to ask powerful questions, listen to what is said and not said, and encourage. The coach manages the process. The client manages the progress.
Testimonials
"Claudia was a guest speaker recently at the MLC Ladies Retreat and what a joy to have her with us for the weekend. Our ladies fell in love with her and enjoyed our time together. Claudia kept your attention with a realistic topic that would fit anyone in the audience. She gave encouragement and wisdom on everyday life with all the many challenges. She was a blessing, and I could truly recommend her for speaking engagements, especially at ladies' conferences."
Mary Lynn Crider
Host, MLC Ladies Retreat
"Claudia Cantrell uses her own brokenness and victory over it to lift her audience from their own shattered lives and pain. She encourages women to find their identity and worth not in what they can achieve, but in the Savior who desires to make them whole. Allow Claudia to take your audience from brokenness to wholeness in Christ."
Ginny Dent Brant
Speaker and Author of
Finding True Freedom and
Unleash Your God-given Healing
"Claudia has a great stage presence and left me 'wanting more' when she finished."
Hillary Ott
"I heard Claudia Cantrell at a women's retreat where she was a keynote speaker. As I listened to her, I knew she was an authentic and committed follower of Jesus Christ. Her message was to give hope and healing through Christ to women stuck in emotional wounding and cannot move forward. Her passion is to expand the Kingdom of God by helping women live the abundant life daily through coaching. I am so thankful God allowed our paths to cross!"
Retreat Attendee
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