The Story of 61 Minutes

As a ministry major in college, I was a part of a Master’s Commission program that held early morning prayer at 6 am three days a week. While being a part of this program, I was surrounded by a community of other students who were seeking God and doing life together. Many of us attended the same churches where we served in various ministries. As we took turns driving and joined each other for Sunday lunches, bonds began to form. 

After graduation, I began teaching at a local elementary school and I quickly found that my personal time with the Lord took a back seat to the needs of my students. Each day started early and ended late due to the long hours of lesson planning, grading papers, calling parents, etc. 

Fast forward a couple more years and I was a newlywed who felt like she was in over her head. I felt overwhelmed by trying to meet the educational and emotional needs of my students while also learning to be a wife. One day as I was lamenting to my mom, she said, “I want you to get the devotional Jesus Calling  and read it everyday before you go to work. It will only take a few minutes and it will help you.”

Feeling desperate, I followed her advice and renewed my old routine of starting each day with Jesus. Reading that devotional and spending a few moments in prayer literally took me about five minutes when I first began. 

Over time, I watched the Lord grow my time with Him again and again. When five minutes felt too short, I set my alarm a little earlier and five grew to 10. When 10 wasn’t enough, the alarm sounded sooner and 20 minutes became the daily routine. At some point, I remembered how helpful a prayer journal had been in my college years, so I bought one and began journaling again. Over and over, Yahweh worked within me to develop a hunger for His presence that outweighed my “need” to hit the snooze button.

In 2021, shortly after attending my first Beauty for Ashes retreat with Christi, I joined a small group that she and Brandy were leading at our local church. Truthfully, I felt like God and I were on the best of terms at this point. I was meeting with Him daily, without fail. I joined the group because I wanted to grow in community. I wanted to expand my circle and develop deeper relationships with other women who loved the Lord as much as I did. 

While attending this group, I learned so much about the Lord. I experienced His presence in ways such as lectio divina and visio divinia. I was consistently challenged again and again not to put God in a box. My work schedule made it very difficult to attend retreats during that season, but each time this group met, I felt renewed. 

I also experienced community. It was that small group of women that supported me during one of the hardest seasons of my life. When I felt like I was drowning, they continually encouraged me, lifted me up in prayer, and helped me feel that I was not alone. 

In June 2024, after nearly three years in that small group, I felt Jesus tugging at my heart to start a group of my own. Yahweh invited me to host other women in my home and help them grow as I had grown. He called me to come alongside others who needed help developing spiritual rhythms for meeting with Jesus, who needed relationships to spur their growth, and who desired renewal through His presence. 

In February 2025, 61 Minutes was born! It is a deep honor to come alongside others and walk the journey of discipleship together. We laugh, we cry, we snack…and we experience the never ending goodness of Abba.

-Liz