18 | Ashley Chesnut: Sending Up a Test Balloon

What We Really Want: Conversations About Connection

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Ashley Chesnut moved to Birmingham with a certain future in mind. Graduate from seminary, then get a job as a professor and/or Old Testament commentary writer. But you know what they say about "the best laid plans..."
During her time in seminary, Ashley led a small group at her church, for single women. During that time, some of these women began to share about secret struggles with unwanted sexual behavior: things they'd never been able to share with anyone before.
Ashley began to discover both a gifting and a desire to walk alongside these women and support them toward healing and freedom. She has followed up that desire by getting additional degrees and certifications around trauma and counseling. In 2021 Ashley published a book, It's Not Just You: Freeing Women to Talk About Sexual Sin and Fight It Well. We talked about the way many people "send up test balloons" to see if we're going to be safe, and about the privilege and opportunity it is to be trusted with another person's story.
We have a great conversation with Ashley about how her path to where she is today, the joy of helping hurting people learn to connect with authenticity, her love for her "second home," Birmingham AL, and a lot more. Ashley is also the author of Down in the 'Ham (a children's book about Birmingham), and accompanying coloring books.
Check out Ashley's author link below, and PLEASE give us 5-stars and write a positive review wherever you get your podcasts!
Ashley's books on Amazon
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