Bio

2001


Now! 2016

Thanks for clicking my bio.

I am the author of Choosing Him All Over Again: A Story of Romance and Redemption (Ambassador International 2015).

This is my personal blog. Yes, I left my husband early in our marriage. Then I came back. Then he left me. I'll tell you more about that in a minute. We made it, and so can you. That's why I love to write on faith and marriage more than anything else, although I o
ccasionally write on other topics. (Update October 13, 2016: I now only blog occasionally to focus more on speaking, and at times, writing articles. My website is to provide information on how to get my book, to schedule speaking events, to publicize articles and speaking events, and to archive past blogs on strengthening faith and marriage.)

I have also written
on parenting and I occasionally wrote about our youngest daughter, Mary, who was born totally blind. I also liked writing on organization and other aspects of Christian living that didn't fit into one of the above topics (I hate to admit itbut being a total slob at heart I struggle with self disciplineI need reminders for home and time management).

I loved ending each blog with a reminder for us to, "Walk by faith." 

My message always boils down to two things: trusting and obeying God. One of the highlights of my life is being mentored by that great woman of faith of our day, Elisabeth Elliot. I can barely go a week without mentioning something that I learned from her.

My goal is to speak and write insightful content that is Biblical and practical that you can apply directly into your life 
(and into minelet's face itI write because writing out what I think helps me to live out what it is that I believe). If you are a Christian woman who seeks to put Christ first in all areas of your lifeespecially in your role as a wifethen my book, talks, articles, and past blogs are for you.

To make sure that you don't miss an occasional post you can subscribe to my blog to get the RSS feed by entering you email address in the box on my right sidebar under my profile picture on my home page, or you may follow me on Bloglovin.

You can find my speaker page here.

My Top Posts

If you are new to my site, you may want to start with some of my popular posts. Here some are, in each category:

Faith

Marriage

Parenting

Elisabeth Elliot

Mary
You can also check out my blog archives to read every post I have ever written. Beginning with the earliest archive to the oldestyou will find 2013 here, 2012 archives here—and my older blog archives going back to 2009 here.  You can also go to the top of my blog and click on any category that may interest you.
  

My Biography

Raised in Richmond, Virginia, I graduated from Meredith College in 1980 and went to work for Xerox Corporation (after I bugged them to death before hiring me!) where I worked for 14 years in sales and marketing; ten of those years I was in a marketing executive position. Selected to work on a Governor’s task force in 1986, I  represented Xerox to my state, where I somehow was selected to receive the Governor’s highest award: The Order of the Longleaf Pine (something I have never quite understood how I received).

I initially learned to speak and sing publicly in a festive environment (this is the kind of summer job where you keep saying, pinch me, am I dreaming?). In 1976, I worked at King’s Dominion Family Entertainment Park in Live Shows as a singer in the Kings of Swing Band, where I performed in front of large live audiences five times daily with two other young women (I never let them know I would have done it for free!)

I married my college sweetheart in 1981. With parents that comprised several marriages and a father that struggled with alcoholism, I had no role modeling in my life for Christian marriage. I left my husband in 1984, knowing that something was “missing in my marriage,” thinking I had mistakenly married the wrong person. 

During our separation, I accepted Christ, and my marriage was reconciled in 1986. Seven years later, my husband accepted Christ.

We later had four children, Blair, John, Alex and Mary. Our fourth child, Mary, was born totally blind. I was befriended and mentored by Elisabeth Elliot in what began as a writing correspondence, after being a listener to her radio program. 


I resigned from Xerox leaving a little over six-figure income in 1994 when I was granted the desire of my heart: to be a full time wife and stay-at-home mother. I exchanged corporate events in my heels at five star locations with clients to peanut butter and jelly with my little ones surrounded by great literature! 

We then taught our children at home for the next thirteen years (nothing I will ever do or accomplish will surpass that fleeting time—don't make me talk about it for I will cry with thankfulness for those years! Oh, how they flew by!).  

I realized the dream of sharing our story, first in 1993, when our pastor called saying the President of Church Initiative, asked us to film our testimony for a DVD series on divorce care. I began speaking publicly in 1995, addressing women’s groups in churches by sharing my faith and story of hope in marriage, and leading seminars on order, home life, and time management for the Christian woman.

I was delighted to appear as a guest for three consecutive days on Elisabeth Elliot’s “Gateway to Joy,” Back to the Bible radio program in 1997 as I told how I got a second chance on the marriage, spoke on family life, and order in the home. In 2007, I was the featured guest on Haven Today for their Mother’s Day program. You can hear the soundtrack of the latter program, by clicking here. I returned on their program in 2015 and you can hear that soundtrack here. I will be the featured guest on Focus on the Family's Daily Broadcast on October 25-26, 2016 in a 2-day program called, "Giving Your Marriage a Second Chance." Beginning on October 25, 2016, you will be able to hear Part 1 here, and beginning on October 25, 2016, you will be able to hear Part 2 here.

My husband and I have been married thirty-five years and make our home in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I especially love being an older woman teaching younger women what is good to grow as the women God would have us be in spiritual and practical ways. 

I began blogging in 2009 (after one blog entry in the entire year of 2008!) and love the topics of faith, marriage, parenting, home, organization, Elisabeth Elliot, and life through the eyes of my youngest daughter who was born totally blind.

My Contact Information

You may contact me via e-mail at juana(at)juanamikels(dot)com or you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter.

Colophon

I began my blog using iWeb from Apple. In June 2012, I switched to Blogger software. I used Kassie Garlock to help me develop a theme, and was thrilled to get permission from artist Rebecca Patman Chandler to use her artwork for my brand. Her pastel color choice and impressionistic style suits my personality perfectly.

In terms of design, the body text font I use most often is Georgia. My banner font is Montez, and my blog titles are done in Gill Sans MT. Ray Barbour took most of my personal photos. I get my stock photos for my blog posts from Shutterstock.

 For blog hosting, I currently use GoDaddy, but may move to Bluehost in the future 

The top picture was taken in 2001, and below is a more recent picture of our family. Don't I have a beautiful family? And to think, when I wasn't following God, I nearly threw it all away! Isn't God merciful and wonderful to us?




To read my Statement of Faith click here.