a quick look at our lives
Oldest sister of three
married to Bryan
mom to 3 teenagers
attended Taylor University
bachelor's degree in elementary education
online teacher on Outschool
does all things social media for the podcast
Middle sister of three
married to Bryan (a different one)
mom to 5 - ages 15-6
attended Moody Bible Institute and Jerusalem University College
master's degree in historical archaeology and geography
retreat speaker
Veronica and (her) Bryan
Erika and (her) Bryan
a bit of our backstory
Teaming up with Erika has been a dream come true.
While I was living in Alaska, Erika and I would talk about the Bible studies we were teaching and discuss what it would be like to teach together. We finally figured out we could co-teach using Facebook Live. She was in Michigan, and I was in Alaska with a four-hour time difference, but we fumbled our way through eight weeks on parables. Shout out to those who have been with us since then.
When it comes to the podcast, I'm the one who gets to fill out the day planner, make the to-do lists, and then check them off. It's pure bliss. This is partly why I think Erika and I make such a great team. Organization is not her strength, so she gladly lets me do that.
In the fall of 2006, I taught my first adult Bible study (Priscilla Shirer's "Discerning the Voice of God"). Although I've been teaching since then, I discovered I'd rather teach straight from the Bible than use a Bible study workbook. That's been life changing as it forced me to increase my Bible knowledge. There were years when my only "pleasure" reading was commentaries. Who knew they could be so fascinating!?!?
As much as I love teaching women, my sweet spot is teaching youth. I love love love teaching kids! I've taught one-year olds up to high school students. My favorite class was the Junior High class on Sunday nights at our church in Alaska. We had some of the best discussions during those classes. This is why I do those short YouTube videos about the Bible for tweens. My long-range goal is to offer Bible classes and other resources for tweens and teens in the future.
My freshman year in college I had to decide which path to take. I desperately wanted to teach about the Bible but even at Moody Bible Institute there wasn't a "teaching Bible" track. At that time I had two options, learn about Scripture or learn about communicating Scripture. Well, one night I sat down and began to wrestle it out with God. Finally He said "Erika, you learn about the Bible. I'll take care of teaching you how to communicate about it."
Bible degree it was. After I graduated from Moody, studying in Israel just made sense. If you're going to teach about the Bible you might as well go to where it was originally written and learn from the people to whom it was originally given. Israel changed my life and exploded my view of Scripture. It was in Israel that God took the Bible and began to fill it with color, sounds, and living breathing people. It was because of Israel I met my husband.
And the journey has continued from there. Through it all God has been incredibly faithful and provided me with many opportunities to work on my communication skills. And there's always more to learn!
When Roni contacted me about doing an online FB study together, I was super excited and had no idea where it could lead. I love our conversations and sharing part of what we are learning with our listeners. This is an amazing Book!
These days, I love getting to homeschool my crazy kiddos, eat more chocolate than I honestly should, and share how beautiful and alive God's Word really is. I am constantly learning over and over again… it really is all about God.
One goal of our podcast is to help families study the Bible together. Our prayer is that one day we'll be able to provide materials that help parents, Sunday school teachers, youth group and small group leaders, better understand and explain how all the Bible works together. We'd love to provide weekend workshops where people can come together to discuss, learn, and understand the Story of Scripture.
Veronica teaches elementary students on Outschool. Click on the link to see the list of available classes.
She also teaches Bible classes for ages 10 and up. To skip Outschool fees or for the Bible classes, contact Veronica directly at biblicalbackground@gmail.com.
Erika is an outstanding retreat speaker. She has over ten years experience as a retreat speaker and conference speaker. She has been featured on Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Wolgemuth and Live Like it's True podcast with Shannon Popkin. Contact Erika if you want her to speak at your conference.
April 2026
Erika is the retreat speaker for Huron Shores Fellowship church.
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Hanging out Together
Celebrating 20,000 downloads
Sledding with Our Kids
Mainly Sonlight with IEW
Veronica has a cat and a dog (Australian shepherd). Even though the Lions didn't win the 2024 Super Bowl (long story we shared on social media), Erika's kids were able to get a cat. They picked the sweetest cat from the shelter and named her Elinor.
Now that Veronica moved back to Michigan, we live about 3 miles (7 minutes driving time) from each other. Before that we lived 3,000 miles away (Michigan to Alaska). But when Erika lived in Israel it was halfway around the world. We definitely prefer the 3-mile distance.
If you listen to the podcast, you'll already know that Erika loves chocolate. But she's also a big fan of crackers and cheese. Veronica loves anything gummy - like peach rings, cinnamon bears, jujy fruit.
Veronica's Bryan has been around since 1991. Erika's Bryan came around in 2004. We tend to call them Cope and Van. Although one of them joked we can call them "Bryan the Great" and "Bryan the Magnificent."