Tell us a little bit about yourself and what God has called you to do? My name is Amy Hilliker and I have been married to my best friend Tommy for nearly 16 years. Life with him just keeps getting better and better and it should, as we have worked hard for what we have. I am mom to Kaylie (13), Cassidy (11) and Caleb (9). I love being mom to these three! They really are some of my favorite people on the planet and bring me so much joy. Tommy is a Pastor and Elder at Saddleback Church and we deeply love our church family. Being a pastors wife wasn’t something I anticipated would be my story but is a role I am very comfortable and at ease with. I had phenomenal examples to learn from as my mother, my Aunt, and both my grandmothers are and were pastors wives. I have spent much of the last decade recovering from a very complex, chronic illness and so my ministry has largely been focused within my home and with the people who have crossed that threshold. As the Lord has allowed healing and my boundaries have expanded, I am enjoying teaching more, leading bible studies in my home, mentoring and writing. Having not been able to do much of this for so long -I have deep appreciation for the ability to participate in the Kingdom in a broader sense. It’s truly a gift!

Where do you live and have you lived anywhere else? I live in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. I was born in Fort Worth, Texas but my parents moved here to Southern California when I was 6 months old and I have lived here ever since. As a little girl I used to proudly claim my Texas “roots” (as if they were substantial!) but nowadays I just boast about the privilege of getting to live and make my home in mild and sunny So Cal.

How do you carve out time with God everyday? It’s tricky and changes with the seasons of my life and times of the year. My most favorite and satisfying way to spend time with Jesus is to be up for at least an hour before my family. Something about having the house quiet, the day new and all my people accounted for in their beds allows my mind and heart to go deep quickly. This is my ideal but I have walked through several seasons, including the one I am in right now where this is not feasible. What I have learned works best for me is to try and plan my day around the devotional time I need with the Lord. If that is penciled in first, even if just in my head, then that time almost always happens. I am also a big believer in along the way devotions. I take my “bible bag” with me everywhere. Its just a simple bag with my bible, my journal, pens, ear buds, and any devotional reading or study I am currently working through, and of course my phone with which I listen to sermons and teachings. I learned this from a Bible teacher many years ago and its helped me to capture unexpected windows of time to be in the Word and with Jesus.

What is your best organizational/planning tip? Oh heavens. I am probably the wrong person to ask this of. In my dreams I have systems, routines and fabulous organization but really it’s outside the reasonable limits of my personality. I am just too much of a relationally driven hippie to really commit to any one style of organization or planning. I tend to keep things very simple and unfussy. I am not overly enamored with all the new apps and tech for planning and organizing (but that may be more to do with my serious lack of tech skills) and I avoid books and blogs that tell me how to color code and alphabetize my life. Trying to raise my family while recovering from chronic illness has laser focused my life to the bare minimum. So I guess that would be my best tip: keep it super simple and relationally focused.

What is your family’s favorite go-to easy meal? Oven tacos. A couple of girlfriends brought this meal to our family after my brother passed and we all adored it and we have had it almost weekly every since. Everyone has their own family taco recipe but this one’s the best, I swear!

Tell us your favorite God story (in your own life)? I have many that are dear to my heart. My healing story, which is far too long to write here, is definitely my favorite God story. Sometimes God heals in miraculous and immediate ways and other times it’s in bits and degrees over time. My story of healing is definitely the latter. God has faithfully been healing me layer by layer over the last 9 years and I am so humbled and grateful for the restoration and wholeness He has brought to my body, mind and heart. It has been a long road and I have been places I don’t care to return to, but my Papa God never left my side. My life and heart are forever His. He is such a good and perfect Father.

What are your 3 favorite books, other than the Bible of course? That’s nearly impossible to narrow to 3! Three books that have been very shaping of three distinct seasons of my life would be, When God Weeps: Why our Suffering Matters to the Almighty, by Joni Eareckson Tada, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World, by Henri Nouwen and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, by Pete Scazzero.

What is your favorite Bible Verse? I have been hanging out in Ephesians 1:18-20 this past year. It is this incredible passage that talks about the incomparable power that is available to those of us who belong to Christ. Scripture says that it’s the same power that Jesus was raised from the dead with… and now it’s living and available to us! Yes please! I want that kind of empowered life.

We are dying to know . . . how you are teaching the beauty of a life of “depth” to your children? In my experience depth is better caught than necessarily taught. Parents who are emotionally and spiritually deep wells themselves, inadvertently end up raising kids just like them. When people ask me this I always flip it back to the parents: what are you doing to cultivate a life of depth in your own soul? Kids have the best radar about this sort of thing; they know when what you are teaching them isn’t something your living out in your own life. The good news is that a deep and full soul well can’t help but overflow and get all over the people around it. If you as a parent are pursuing God with passion, single mindedness, consistency and humility your life of depth will pour out onto your kids. Your transformed life will transform theirs.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms . . . EPHESIANS 1:18-20

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what God has called you to do? I am a self-proclaimed “leadership junkie” who believes deeply that leadership begins with influence and that each one of us has God-given influence that we are entrusted to steward faithfully. I also believe that those in positions of leadership have the sacred responsibility of leading well. I spend my days working with leaders and organizations to help them live and lead from their God-given best.

Where do you live and have you lived anywhere else? My husband and I currently live in the San Francisco Bay area. We have been here for 3 years and lived in Nashville, TN for 18 years prior to that. I was born and raised in Wisconsin. My husband was born and raised in Georgia. North meets the South and we’re conquering the Wild West.

How do you carve out time with God everyday? Because I travel often for work, this can look very different from day to day. When I am at home, I get up early, make a cup of tea and spend an hour reading, journaling and praying. When I’m traveling, it all depends on the schedule for the day… sometimes my best time with God is on a plane.

What is your best organizational/planning tip? Create simple systems to manage your life. Make the routine things very simple. For example, I rarely misplace my keys because they clip onto my wallet. My wallet and keys are always together. That sounds really trivial but if I counted the minutes I save because I’m never hunting for my keys, it would significantly add up. Another really important thing is that rather than creating ‘to do’ lists, I schedule things that I need to do on my calendar. That way I know when it’s going to get done and it helps me commit to only the things that I really have time for.

What is your family’s favorite go-to easy meal? I know Debbie Eaton said this already, but ours is tacos as well. My husband loves tacos and never tires of them. Easy win for me!

Tell us your favorite God story (in your own life)? This one is very recent for me . . . as I mentioned, my husband and I moved to California three years ago because we sensed that God was leading us there. When we got there it was nothing like I expected and I really questioned whether I had misheard God. I became very angry with God and frustrated with our circumstances. For two years I kept begging God for answers and he just seemed silent. I found myself really wrestling with my faith and with my ability to trust God. Several months ago some circumstances transpired that made it very clear that when God moved us away from Nashville it was a blessing that we could not have anticipated. I was reminded of how small my view is and how God truly is working all things together for my good, even when it doesn’t always feel like it.

What are your 3 favorite books, other than the Bible of course? The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day by John C. Maxwell, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton, and Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

What is your favorite Bible Verse? Galatians 6:4-5 (The Message) “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”

We are dying to know . . . in your opinion, what makes a great leader? A great leader knows that leadership is not about them or for them. Leadership is all about others. Extraordinary leaders recognize that every day they have the power to change or affect the lives of the people around them and they truly see their leadership as sacred work. My personal definition of extraordinary leadership is: “a leader who has searched to discover his or her authentic self and from that place influences others to accomplish great dreams through: intentional relationships (heart), spiritual awareness (soul), wise counsel (mind), and relentless vision (strength)”. I believe great leaders emerge from an overflow of loving God and serving others well.

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” Galatians 6:4-5 MSG