THIS MONTH IN BE

Her-story

When the Miracle Doesn't Come: Finding Faith in the Midst of Unimaginable Loss

Jessica had a beautiful life. A husband she adored, three children, a strong faith and a future filled with promise. Then, in the summer of 2023, everything changed.

When her 39-year-old husband, Phil, was diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable cancer, Jessica prayed, believed and held on to God's promises for a miracle. But seven months later, Phil was gone. And the woman who had trusted God with everything was left questioning how to move forward when the very thing she had believed for hadn't happened.

What do you do with your faith when God doesn't answer the prayer you begged Him to answer? How do you continue believing He is good when the person you love most is taken from you?

In this deeply personal cover story, Jessica shares the heartbreaking journey of losing her husband, raising their children through unimaginable grief and discovering that faith isn't always about getting the miracle you prayed for. Sometimes, it's about choosing to trust God when you cannot understand His plans.

Her story is one of extraordinary love, devastating loss and the courage to believe that God is still good—even in the valley.

Our Top Stories

Celebrate, Inspire, Inform, Empower

FAITH By Melanie Stevenson

Faith

Trusting God During the Changing Seasons of Life

As seasons change and we are faced with new or unexpected transitions, we can rest in the assurance that God never changes, and his faithfulness never wavers.

RELATIONSHIPS By Stephanie R.Jackson

Relationships

What Remains When We Grieve

Faith doesn't make grief disappear. And I don't believe it was ever intended to.

This Thanksgiving, as more than fourty members of our family gathered around my sister's kitchen island, something was painfully different. For the first time, my dad wasn't there to lead us in prayer.

And in that familiar moment, I was reminded that grief has a way of finding us when we least expect it.

Since saying goodbye to my dad in August, I've been learning that grieving is holy work. That believing in heaven doesn't make us miss someone less. And that a heart can be full of faith and still be completely broken.

Guest writer Carla Bellamy shares some deeply personal reflections on loss, legacy, the love of a father, and what I'm discovering about God's presence in the middle of sorrow.

Because the presence of grief doesn't mean the absence of God.

MONEY By Rosemary Horwood

Money

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

WORK By Amanda Stassen

Work

The Legacy Builders: Patty Bowman Kingsley

Welcome to The Legacy Builders — a special feature series I’ve created as Co-Editor of BE Magazine’s Work section. I launched this series to spotlight women who are doing more than showing up for a job — they’re leading with conviction, building with purpose, and using their work to leave something that lasts.

Meet Patty Bowman Kingsley: artist, ordained Christian minister, and missional speaker whose work is rooted in creativity, compassion, and cultural renewal. Patty merges creativity, societal structures, and cultural transformation. Her acclaimed artworks and missional engagement catalyze transformational change by creating, activating, mentoring, and publishing across diverse community settings in business, education, industry, culture, and tourism. From civic platforms to grassroots outreach, Patty crafts innovation that is both attainable and sustainable, always guided by a vision for redemptive purpose.

The BEat

HEALTH/WELLNESS. FASHION/BEAUTY. OUR FAVOURITE PRODUCTS, PLACES & PEOPLE. EXPERT TIPS ON WHAT REALLY WORKS!

THE BEAT

PUT YOUR FACE ON

After years of clean-girl beauty, barely-there balms and trying very hard to look like we weren’t trying at all, lipstick is back. So are berry lips, plum liner and a little more intention.

But maybe this season’s beauty shift is about more than makeup. Somewhere along the way, effort became something we were almost embarrassed by. Yet relationships, faith, joy and almost everything worth having require us to keep showing up.

So yes, put your face on. Not because you need makeup to face the world, but because sometimes choosing to show up for your own life is reason enough.

This month on our radar:

Spark

By Brigitte Foisy

Spark

What’s in a Name?

What if some of the names you’ve been answering to were never yours to begin with? Failure. Rejected. Not enough. Too old. Unqualified. Somewhere along the way, labels can become part of how we see ourselves, even when they were never spoken over us by God. Inspired by the story of Sarah, the science of self-talk and a few lively debates in my own house, this month’s SPARK looks at the power of the stories we repeat, the names we accept and what might happen when we start seeing ourselves a little more like God does.