Speaker. Author. Companion. Beloved.
Elizabeth Leon is on a mission to inspire and equip others to find freedom and healing in Christ. Her gift is her ability to live with a heart wide-open despite the brokenness of divorce, adultery, abuse, and death. For years, she survived by living in a fortress of perfectionism, control, and unholy self-reliance, thinking healing was not meant for her. It took the death of her son to bring her back to life. In the darkness of grief, she discovered that our sufferings are an invitation to joy.
Elizabeth connects warmly and authentically with audiences of all sizes by vulnerably sharing her story of unexpected brokenness and the restoration and healing she experienced at the foot of the cross. Elizabeth is the founder of the Journey of the Beloved, a ministry that helps men and women move from heartache to healing with Jesus. Through her speaking and her original, dynamic workshop, she leads others to embark on the journey of the beloved and to learn to let themselves be loved.
Elizabeth excels at creating a warm, inviting atmosphere for women to open their hearts to receive “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” through designing retreats, connecting through talks, and leading her healing workshop. She specializes in topics related to our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God, her pro-life testimony, suffering, surrender, grief, sacred story, and healing in the heart of Christ. She is a regular speaker in the Diocese of Arlington and has shared her message through retreats and events in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC and the Dioceses of Houma-Thibodeaux, Lafayette, Scranton, Harrisburg, Lansing, and Venice, FL.
Elizabeth’s award-winning book, Let Yourself Be Loved: Big Lessons from a Little Life, garnered Best Memoir from the Catholic Media Association (2023), 2nd Place in Grief & Bereavement (CMA, 2023) and the silver medal from the prestigious Nautilus Book Awards (2023). When Elizabeth & her husband received a life-limiting diagnosis for their unborn son, she expected her baby to die. She didn’t expect his death to be a sacred experience that transformed her heart and left a message of love for the world. Her writing triumphantly heralds the hope that when we surrender to the Lord, we are offered the pearl of great price, which is His Presence and His deep love for us. Let Yourself Be Loved is a road map to find joy in the valley of the shadow of death and why it is worth it.
Elizabeth and her husband Ralph are parents to 10 children, 5 of hers, 4 of his, and their son John Paul Raphael who died in 2018 after only 28 hours and 10 minutes. She serves as the Director of Family Support for Red Bird Ministries, where she is the co-host and producer of the podcast, It’s Not for Nothing. She also provides Catholic inner healing coaching and Sacred Story workshops through You Are Made New Ministries. Elizabeth carries a Level II Narrative-focused Trauma Care Certificate from the Allender Center and is a subject-matter expert on grief and healing.
Speaking Topics:
- Let Yourself Be Loved & the Journey of the Beloved
- Claiming our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God
- Engaging our wounds for healing and freedom
- Surrender and suffering
- Healing to Lead
- Pro-life testimony (carrying a terminally ill baby to term, living fully alive)
- Divorce, child loss, blended family, abuse
- Grief and moving from grief to grace
- Advent, Lent
Signature Talks:
- The Journey of the Beloved: Learning to Let Yourself Be Loved
- What do you need & what happened to you
- Learning to let myself be loved
- Our healing is not meant for us alone
- Let Yourself Be Loved: Living with Joy in the Apostolic Age
- Finding the glory in your story
- Jesus desires a radical restoration of our freedom
- Surrender to my son’s short & shining life and how I was transformed through it
Sacred Surrender:
- Three practical points for learning to surrender
- Personal testimony on surrender and joy
- Meditation on Alabaster jar
Uniting your Story to the Passion of Christ (perfect for Lent)
- The power of story and the greatest story ever told
- Tell Jesus the whole story – the hemorrhaging woman
- The cross is a promise that your suffering is not the end of your story
Healing in the Heart of Christ
- Jesus revealed the hope and promise of restoration through Journey of the Beloved
- Inner healing: define, how do I know if I need it, “why should I”, and obstacles
- Surrender & the path to True Joy (JPII)
Let Yourself Be Loved: Big Lessons from a Little Life
- St. Faustina and the meek and humble little souls
- Being authentically pro-life means living fully alive
- How the darkness of grief led me to peace, purpose, and joy
From Grief to Grace
- Our greatest sufferings are an invitation to joy
- Unite our sufferings to Jesus: tell him the whole story, radical surrender
- When the miracle you get isn’t the miracle you prayed for
Advent: An Invitation to Love
- Reflection on the Christmas Novena
- Living in the Longing
- When saying “Yes” means suffering & uncertainty
