FaithfulReader.com - Shannon Ethridge

Shannon Ethridge

BIO

Shannon Ethridge is the best-selling author and coauthor of numerous books, including EVERY WOMAN'S BATTLE and EVERY YOUNG WOMAN'S BATTLE. As a writer and speaker, she seeks to help women of all ages discover the joy of pursuing a mad, passionate love relationship with God rather than “looking for love in all the wrong places.” Shannon first encountered the passionate, sacrificial love of God as a sixteen-year-old girl in Greenville, Texas. As she was driving to school one morning, Shannon accidentally hit and killed Marjorie Jarstfer, a wife and mother who had served many years with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Terrified of facing Marjorie’s family, Shannon was shocked when Gary, Marjorie’s grieving husband, insisted that she come to their home. Gary’s response to his wife’s death changed Shannon forever. Instead of seeking justice, he showed mercy, saying, “You can’t let this ruin your life, Shannon. God wants to strengthen you through this. He wants to use you. I want you to love Jesus without limits, just like Marjorie did.”

It has taken Shannon over 20 years to truly experience that kind of love. As she has shared so transparently in her books, she wandered in the wilderness of sexual sin for many years as she futilely attempted to fill her hunger for love, attention, and affection. As she came to realize that her real need was for intimacy with her Creator, God restored her purity and gave her a dream for the special ministry He designed with her in mind. In July of 1999, she began to feel a tremendous compassion for women who struggled with guilt and shame over their sexual past --- a feeling she knew all too well. In March 2000, after working on their campus for several months as an advisor to college age women, she began leading a growth group on the topic of sexual restoration and emotional integrity for Teen Mania Ministries. To her surprise, many young women began asking for copies of the lecture notes to share with their friends. Through a series of divine events, the lecture notes became her first book, WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WOMEN AT THE WELL.

Shannon’s ministry soon expanded to include women of all ages. Her EVERY WOMAN'S BATTLE series has been translated into Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Russian, German, Portuguese, Afrikaans, and Japanese. The most common response she receives from women is: “I thought I was the only woman struggling with this issue! Thank you for your vulnerability!” Since she began publishing books on sexual integrity for women, Shannon has received hundreds of emails from readers all over the world claiming that they, too, are committing themselves to reaching out to other women in a similar manner. In her latest book, COMPLETELY HIS: Loving Jesus Without Limits, Shannon shows an even greater level of vulnerability as she reveals the true story of the deadly accident she caused, her first encounter with the transforming love of Jesus, and the process through which she truly began to see herself as his bride.

Shannon holds a master’s degree in counseling and human relations from Liberty University. She lives in East Texas with her husband, Greg, and their two children.