Interview with Monika Kirkland about her "Ever With You" book

Interview with Monika Kirkland about her nonfiction book 

“Ever With You”

Alexis: Congratulations on the release of your new Christian Living book, Ever With You! Why did you write this work of nonfiction? Share your heart behind the message.

Monika: This book was born out of a season of my life where I found myself exhausted, distracted, and running on caffeine and cortisol. I was juggling parenting four little ones, homeschooling, work, and ministry—and both my fuse and attention span were far too short. One Spring morning during 2020, I got off a work call and the room began spinning. And spinning. This went on for weeks, until finally my doctor diagnosed me with vertigo and ordered me to get my stress levels down. I knew I had to reorient and reprioritize things in a major way, or I wouldn’t survive the season.

What I discovered is that the rest I was so desperate for was right there all along. It wasn’t found in a vacation (though I gladly would’ve accepted one!) or a Netflix binge or a bowl of ice cream or a glass of wine or an online shopping spree. It was found in the presence of God, when I learned to awaken to the reality of His nearness with me.

That season started me on a long journey of walking in deeper intimacy with Him, and this book is all the hard-won lessons of God’s grace I learned along the way. It’s for those who, like me, looked in the mirror and thought, Something has to change.

Alexis: In this book, you emphasize the fact that God is always near, even when we feel a million miles away. How did you reach this realization in your own life?

Monika: I think there has been a collective increase in exhaustion and distraction since 2020, and an increase in our media consumption. Not only are we facing uncertainty, inflation, division, and wars—but we have 24/7 access to news and media via our phones. We also often have jam packed schedules and very little margin for rest. This combination often leads us to feel further from God. But the good news is, even when we feel a million miles away, God is always near. He is right there, and He longs for us to draw close once again. Throughout the book, I help readers find simple, sustainable spiritual rhythms that fit into their actual lives so they move from exhaustion into intimacy and from distraction to connection.

Alexis: Who is your target audience for this book? Explain how you serve them as the author and in other areas of your work in ministry.

Monika: I love to encourage and equip women—specifically women ages 25-45—who want to go deeper in their faith. Maybe they’ve been Christians for a while but have felt that they’ve just been going through the motions of their faith and are ready for deeper intimacy with God. My hope is that through my podcast, Inner Revival, and my new book, Ever With You, women will encounter God’s love and experience transformation from the inside out.

Alexis: You’ve said that we are craving deeper connection, comfort and hope but are unable to quiet the noise long enough to find it. What do you mean?

Monika: On any given day in the Kirkland house, you will find constant noise. I have four kids and a dog, and our house is often loud and chaotic. And I know I’m not alone. The constant noise and chaos of our lives can make it really hard to tune into the sound of God’s voice. This book is an invitation to slow down, draw close, and experience the connection that we all desire.

Alexis: Did you find it difficult to share your heart in this book? The scenes you shared from your life are very personal and the way you teach through it is inspiring!

Monika: Thank you so much! I poured my heart and soul into every chapter with the hope to encourage and uplift others. It’s hard to be vulnerable at times, but I know that God uses our testimonies in powerful ways, and it’s an honor to get to share my story (even the hard parts).

Alexis: How do you think God prepared you to write this book? Share your writing process and publication journey.

Monika: This book has been a long time in the making! It took decades to live it out. Years to fine-tune the message. A year to find an agent and publisher. Another year to finish writing and editing it—and now finally, it will find its way into people’s hands. I’m so grateful to have made it to this point!

Alexis: What would you say to women who are experiencing burnout, anxiety and spiritual emptiness? Share how God helped you survive this and heal.

Monika: I would say you are not alone; I have been where you are. In the Spring of 2020, I hit a wall: physically, emotionally, spiritually. I knew I couldn’t keep going the way I was. I needed to reorient and reprioritize my life in a major way, or I wasn’t going to survive the season. What I learned was that the rest I was so desperate for was right there all along.

It wasn’t found in doing more or trying harder, in life-hacks or self-help books or a tropical vacation (though I would have gladly accepted that).

It was found in encountering the God who was always with me. In and through it all—the miraculous, mundane, and every moment in between. That realization brought me on a journey of healing and growing in my faith, and this book is all the hard-won lessons of God’s grace I learned along the way.

Alexis: What role did prayer and your faith in God play in helping you become restored?

Monika: I believe that prayer is one of the most transformative spiritual practices available to us. And yet so many of us turn to prayer as a last resort, often because of fear that our prayers go unheard or unanswered, or because we are caught in patterns of self-sufficiency.

But restoration comes when we recognize that we can come to God’s throne of grace and pray about the big things, little things, and everything in between. As a busy wife and mom of four, I’ve had to learn to let go of how I think it’s “supposed” to look or sound—and I’ve had so many deep and powerful prayers even as I sweep the kitchen floors, pick up the kids from school, or fold laundry.

Often, Christians subconsciously believe that their connection to God ends when their church service or quiet time is over—but the truth is He is with us, always. In all of it. And when we learn to pray without ceasing and encounter Him in the midst of our everyday, ordinary lives, extraordinary things can happen!

Alexis: How did caring for your soul look for you before writing this book, during the writing process and now?

Monika: Throughout every season, it’s looked like embracing simple, sustainable spiritual rhythms. Rhythms that I unpack more in the book, like prayer, Scripture study, breath prayer, Sabbath, and more. Reminding myself that God is with me and within me, and He is the one who strengthens and sustains me in all of it!

Alexis: You’ve said in the Introduction of your book that God is the answer to the question mark in our souls and He sits there, inviting us closer. What do you mean?

Monika: I think every person someday asks: Who am I? What am I here for? What is the purpose of life? And so many more questions that we have, whether consciously or subconsciously. I believe that those answers are found in Jesus Christ, and that the abundant life we all desire isn’t found in the fleeting things of this world, but is ultimately found in Him.

Alexis: What would you say to someone who feels cast aside, overlooked or forgotten by God? Share your testimony of how you overcame this in your own life.

Monika: A few years ago, my husband and I took our four children to the Chattanooga aquarium. I was walking hand in hand with my third-born daughter, who was four at the time, and at one point, she wanted to lean against the glass to get a better look at the fish.

There were crowds of children all around, each vying for a prime spot against the glass, so I took a few steps back to allow them to get a better look. After a while, my daughter turned over her shoulder but couldn’t see me. “Mommy! Mommy!” she shouted. “I’m right here!” I responded, but she couldn’t hear me over the noise. She started to panic. “Mommy!” I walked over and scooped her into my arms and held her. She cried into my shoulder, “I thought you left me.” I held her tightly and said, “I would never leave you. I was right here all along...I never took my eyes off you.”

In that moment, as I held my daughter, I felt the nearness of God with me, reminding me of the same truth: He is right there. Even when I can’t see Him, even when the sound of his voice is drowned out by the noise. He never left, and He never will.

That was true for me, and it is true for each of us.

Alexis: You’ve said in your book, “Revival starts with you” and you have a podcast called “Inner Revival” where you say that at the start of every episode. How did you reach this conclusion? Explain why you say this to your audience.

Monika: I believe revival starts with the person in the mirror. As we seek God and surrender our lives to Him, inviting Him to restore and renew us from the inside out. And then we can partner with Him to impact our families, churches, neighborhoods, and beyond with the hope of the Gospel. Personal revival is available to anyone at any time—it starts with us.

Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Monika! Would you like to share closing thoughts?

Monika: I am so grateful and honored to get to share more about my new book Ever With You. It is my prayer that it helps readers know Him more deeply and encounter Him right where they are.

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Author Bio:

Monika Kirkland is a Christian creative—writing both nonfiction and fiction—a podcaster, wife, and mother of four. 

Having walked through the trenches of motherhood, marriage, and over a decade of ministry, Monika brings honesty, hope, and gospel-centered encouragement to everything she creates. Through her nonfiction, novels, and the Inner Revival Podcast, she equips women to cultivate intimacy with Christ and experience the transformative power of the gospel from the inside out.

You can buy your copy of Ever With You, follow along on Instagram (@monikakirkland), tune into her Inner Revival podcast or visit her website at www.monikakirkland.com.

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Blurb for Ever With You (book):

God is near, and he wants you to find rest. 

“God is always near, even when we feel a million miles away.”

So many Christian women find themselves exhausted. Distracted. Running on caffeine and cortisol, scurrying from task to task, juggling the never-ending demands of motherhood, marriage, work, and life—and somewhere in the middle of all of it, they’ve drifted.

If that’s you, you're not alone.

We are living in uncertain and often chaotic times, and more and more of us are finding ourselves emotionally and spiritually depleted. We're craving deeper connection, comfort, and hope, yet we’re unable to quiet the noise long enough to find it. We know God is supposed to be enough. We just can't seem to slow down enough to let him be.

Ever With You is the invitation back.

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Buy Monika’s book via:

Amazon

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Walmart