Kirsten Panachyda is a writer, speaker, Bible teacher, and “retired” homeschooling mom. She lives in Central New York with her husband of 28 years, Dan. They have two young adult sons, who were homeschooled from birth through high school. They are not a bread-baking, gardening, matching-outfit-wearing kind of family. They are a roller-coaster-riding, travel-loving, blue-hair-dying kind of family. They love Jesus and each other, but there is still a certain amount of sarcasm and sass.Softened by the experience of parenting a son with mental illness, Kirsten writes and speaks to infuse courage into the soul-weary. Her upcoming book is Among Lions: Fighting for Faith and Finding Your Rest while Parenting a Child with Mental Illness. She also writes historical fiction. If your see a dreamy look on her face, she is probably either wandering the byways of ancient Britain in her imagination, or wishing for a cup of coffee.