Anne and Cheri met in the 1990s in Hamilton, Missouri, where Anne was the editor of the hometown newspaper and Cheri applied for a position as a freelance writer.

Through the years despite a divorce, three relocations between them, the death of a spouse, changes in employment, and the sale of the newspaper, they stayed in touch.

In 2015, Anne contacted Cheri to tell her about a revelation she’d had in reference to creating “Memoir Making Kits.”  Cheri had worked earlier in her career for her father’s company which designed and sold custom binders, index tabs and packaging. So, with Anne’s creativity and Cheri’s connections, they created and then launched their line of Personal Chapters memoir products at the Missouri Press Association’s annual conference in Branson, Missouri, in 2016.

While waiting in line to board a connecting flight at the Denver airport to join Anne for the product launch in Branson, Cheri had a revelation of her own. Upon arriving in Kansas City, she shared with Anne that she felt inspired that “one day” they would work together on creating a journal and accompanying curriculum that would help people write to heal from trauma.

This change of focus from supporting memoir writing to working on creating the first of the “Writing to Heal” masterclasses happened sooner than they anticipated. While continuing to promote the memoir products, more changes happened for both women.

Cheri and her new husband eventually moved back to Missouri, and Anne remarried and moved to Kansas.

Then the Covid pandemic hit. Anne documented it in a book of of poetry and photography while many, including Cheri, let their hair grow and go natural when hairstylists were ordered to remain closed. Shortly thereafter the four year journey to create Writing to Heal began.

Since Cheri had been the one to receive the revelation about Writing to Heal, she took the lead this time.  She began by designing a journal based on the metaphor of a storm — to represent the journey into, through, and out of  trauma in small pieces.

When it was time to write the curriculum, Cheri knew that she needed divine help.  Turning to the Lord in prayer, her petitions were met with the extraordinary experience of hearing what to write, and then simply transcribing what she heard.  At the end of several days, twenty-three lessons (one for each section of the journal) were drafted.

At that point, Anne stepped in and edited the manuscript. When the subtitle “Journaling with Jesus” came to them, scriptures were chosen and more references to the Savior were inserted into the basic text.

At that point, they each were impressed to move forward with different aspects of Writing to Heal.  While Anne was inspired to lead a support group through the curriculum and obtain feedback, Cheri was inspired to use the curriculum herself privately with regard to trauma earlier in her life. Later they invited a new acquaintance who also had experienced trauma to do the same.

What they learned was:

1.  Everyone who used Writing to Heal received divine insights and had spiritual experiences as they journaled, just as the dictated curriculum promised.

2. Having the guidebook in one manual and the journal in another was cumbersome and awkward.  It was clear all the materials needed to be in one volume.

3. Cheri received the clear impression that they were to create a separate version for men as well as women because the original version would not appeal to men — and men needed to heal from trauma too.

4. The Writing to Heal curriculum is flexible.  Some will choose to do the curriculum in a group setting while others will do it individually. It works equally well both ways.

As Cheri and Anne began working on combining the guidebook and journal into one volume and then to design the men’s version, the process was slow. Opposition cropped up at every stage. After 14 months of tireless work both in person and over Zoom, at last it seemed to be finished.  That is — until they realized the original title said nothing about trauma!

Seizing the opportunity to refine the title resulted in one last change:  another change in cover design.  The new design for both the men’s and womens’ books brings Jesus and healing from trauma into greater focus.

Meanwhile, Anne and Cheri have both been working on individual manuscripts to share their own journeys of healing (including their personal use of Writing to Heal) with others. They  look forward to seeing this first masterclass make a difference in the lives of many, as it has in their own.