Rhonda and Kaley Faith Rhea: Why Changes In Life Are Possible

Everyone's Story warmly welcomes the mother and daughter duo Rhonda and Kaley Faith Rhea. I love watching how God graces people and in return how these recipients take His gifts and turn them around to shower His beauty on others. When I first became acquainted with Rhonda I thought she had so much going for her, marveling how she helps others to smile while bringing them closer to God. Now I'm pleased to see God expanding her reach as Mom Rhonda shares her joy of God with both her daughters in a TV program and co-authoring with daughter Kaley. It's my pleasure to host Rhonda and Kaley Faith this week. Please check out their interview, Rhonda's awesome and uplifting YouTube video, and of yeah, their generous BookGiveaway! We're all looking forward to hearing from you.

Book Giveaway:
Rhonda is offering a great opportunity for two lucky winners. One randomly chosen winner will win ESPRESSO YOUR FAITH and a second randomly chosen winner will win HOW MANY LIGHTBULBS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A PERSON. The winners will be announced here on Friday, February 14th, between 5-6 PM EST. Please leave your contact information within your comment. Thanks!


This is Part 1 of 4 part series on How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Change A Person that Rhonda has shared on YouTube. It's full of warmth and smiles. Check it out!

Questions for Rhonda Rhea and Kaley Rhea

Rhonda, if you were to describe yourself to a stranger curious about your writing and speaking, what would you say?

I would probably say that this kind of insanity is not contagious so DON’T BE AFRAID. Sometimes a bit of crazy is a good way to open the door to chat about topics that really count.

Rhonda, how did you venture into your career as a beloved writer, radio personality, and now TV star?

Beloved? Star? I love the way you ask questions. Thanks for that. I actually started writing articles, then humor columns (and I still enjoy doing both of those), then books. I’m so excited about my 10^th nonfiction book, just releasing now. It’s a book for pastors’ wives titled, Join the Insanity—Crazy-Fun Life in the Pastors’ Wives Club. I happen to be a pastor’s wife and this book is a heart-to-heart to refresh and encourage fellow ministers’ wives. I’m also so very excited about the first two fiction works co-authored with Kaley. The first is releasing this year. We’ve had a blast working on them. Anyway, after the first few books, more radio and TV doors began to open. It’s great to have so many different ways to connect with people on topics I’m passionate about.

Kaley, you’ve co-authored two novels with your mom and both you and your sister, Allie, work with your mom hosting a TV show, “That’s My Mom.” How did this family partnership come about? You make it look easy, but is such collaboration easy?

We make it look easy, huh? Nice. It’s probably because the three of us are all consummate professionals. … Oh, wow. Go easy on the disbelieving stares. Okay, so we’re rarely professional, but that’s probably a pretty huge part of why we work well together. We’ve had a couple decades to get to know one another—our strengths and weaknesses; so I think that kind of frees us up creatively. For the most part, each of us gets to work on portions of whatever our current project is for which we are best suited. Also, I think that—especially with the TV show—the whole opportunity was one we couldn’t have orchestrated if we’d tried. So totally a God thing. It makes it a little harder to have a bad attitude or an ego trip when the very thing you’re working on is a glaring reminder itself that, Hey. It’s not about you. Silly goose. Also it helps that we like each other and if we weren’t doing this, we’d still be hanging out. Probably God realized He’d better give us something productive to do because we clearly should not be left to our own devices.

Kaley, tell us about GET A GRIP and CLING TO REALITY, your soon-to-be released novels.

Stoked! Do people still say stoked? Yeah, I’m gonna go with that. I am so stoked about these two books. They’re in a series tentatively titled Invisible Hands. It follows brothers Micah and Sammy (aged seventeen and thirteen respectively) who lost their parents ten years before the story begins. When a startling and potentially dangerous ability begins to present itself in Sam, the boys are thrust from their already unstable lives into a world of chaos. There’s peril and stuff. Mortal danger, etc. But it’s mostly about these characters—about people and family and trust and whether or not God is even really there much less someone to be counted on. It’s been a blast writing these guys. The target audience is probably young adults, but really, this series is for anyone who’s into fiction.

Rhonda, why “hilarity and hope in Christ”?

The hilarity is a direct result of the aforementioned crazy. That part is actually a tool that helps us get to the heart message, that heart message being the genuine hope found only in Christ. Hope in Christ makes all the difference in life. It’s the difference between living in joy or defeat, bearing fruit in life or never accomplishing anything of eternal value, understanding what life is about or missing it altogether. Jesus IS that heart message.

Kaley, your mom’s forte is humor. What about you and your sister? Do you counterbalance or add to the humor and what do you all offer readers and viewers?

Well, we think we’re hilarious. Ha, I’ve gotta say, Allie cracks me up on a daily basis, and she is so crazy creative. If you get a chance to watch That’s My Mom, should you find yourself laughing audibly, I would lay odds that it was either something she said or some segment that she came up with. All in all, I think we all play off each other pretty well. As far as what Allie and I offer to readers and viewers, I think it’s cool that we’re all at different stages of life. Like my mom, obviously is…hm. As a writer, I should probably be able to come up with a better term than older, but… More mature? Um…ripened? That’s terrible. She’s been a Christian the longest out of the three of us. That’s all I’m saying. And she’s got all this godly wisdom, and she’s an excellent example of a wife and a mom. There’s just a ton there, and I love it. Then there’s Allie who has a giant heart for missions, been all over the world, and is a newlywed. And then there’s me, living the single life. All of us face and have faced different challenges, and I think that’s equal parts fun and valuable. I can hardly be in the same room as these two without learning something.

So, Rhonda, how many lightbulbs does it take to change a person and what does one do—short of dashing off to Wal-Mart to buy more—if they run out of the power to change a bulb?

If I were a good marketer I’d tell you that to find the answer to that question, you have to read the book. But since marketing is not always my best thing, I’ll just tell you. It requires zero lightbulbs. But it does require full surrender to THE Light. And as we surrender to Jesus, the Light of the world, any—absolutely any—change is possible.

If you would like to revisit with Rhonda on her first guest appearance on Everyone's Story, visit here.

Rhonda and Kaley's Ah-hahs To Tweet:

Mother & daughter writing duo, Rhonda & Kaley Faith Rhea, shares how to collaborate with family members. (Tweet This)

Rhonda & Kaley Faith Rhea: adding “hilarity and hope in Christ” (Tweet This)

Rhonda Rhea & Kaley Faith Rhea offer a 2 #BookGiveaway. (Tweet This)

Everyone has a story: meet Rhonda & Kaley Faith Rhea. What’s the firm ground they stand on? (Tweet This)

Authors's Bio:
Get a Grip and Cling to Reality are the first two novels co-authored by mother/daughter writing team, Rhonda Rhea and Kaley Faith Rhea. Along with fellow-family-member, Allie Rhea McMullin, they co-host a weekly TV show for Christian Television Network called, “That’s My Mom.” Rhonda Rhea is also a nationally-known speaker, a humor columnist and the author of 10 nonfiction books, including Join the Insanity and Espresso Your Faith. Rhonda is a pastor’s wife and mother of five grown children. She and Kaley both live in the St. Louis area.

Places to connect with Rhonda and Kaley:
Website for Rhonda
Website for Kaley
Rhonda's Twitter
Kaley's Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon