Meet the Hosts

Tabitha Howard

Hi Ladies!  My name is Tabitha Howard and I am so thankful you have chosen to spend your time with us here at The Purposeful Women of God.  I graduated from UNG in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.  I began a career in Banking after graduating high school in 2001 and when I left my position in 2010, I was a manager for a local branch of a National Bank.  I am a Georgia Girl through and through!  I love all things Georgia Bulldogs and Atlanta Braves! My family loves cheering on our favorite teams any chance we get.  I have been a stay-at-home mom since 2010 after my oldest was born.  In 2016, my husband also left the corporate world to pursue full-time ministry and we are currently serving at a church in North Georgia where he is the Senior Pastor. When I was 13 years old, I felt the Lord calling me into ministry as a Pastor’s wife.  After many years and seeking God’s purpose in my life, the Lord finally revealed His plan for us and we thoroughly enjoy serving our community in ministry.  I’ve played piano in church, taught Sunday School as well as spoken at Women’s Conferences, all of which truly bring so much joy to my life.  If we’re not at church, you can catch us at the gym watching our girl play volleyball or at the baseball field cheering on our boys.

Family

My husband, Derek, and I began dating in 2003 during his senior year of college.  We actually went to the same high school but it wasn’t until college that we became friends…and the rest is history!  We got married in 2006 and our daughter, Madyson, was born in 2009.  In 2011, we welcomed our first son, Landon.  Shortly after Landon was born we began to pray about expanding our family.  Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control we could no longer have biological children.  In 2016, the Lord in His infinite mercy heard our prayers and we were able to adopt our twin sons, Justin and Charlie.  I can’t wait to share more of this story with all of you!  It was truly the work of the Lord in our lives!  Derek is a full-time pastor in North Georgia.  Mady enjoys volleyball and this year started running track for the first time.  She often sings in church and is learning to play piano.  Landon loves all things sports!  If he’s not on the baseball field he’s playing basketball and trying to convince me to let him play football.  Our little guys, Justin and Charlie, are still trying to find their passion.  Justin enjoys riding bikes and motorcycles. Charlie likes to play video games when we give in and they both have started playing baseball.  And well, you can catch me running them around and being their biggest fan!

 Testimony

My testimony is really very simple!  My parents were very faithful in taking me to church.  I was always under the teaching of God’s Word…Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and you can also throw in quite a few revival meetings.  At the age of 6, the Lord began to reveal my need for a Savior.  I began asking lots of questions as many children do and after a Sunday morning service as we were leaving church, I began to cry and confess to my parents that I wanted to be saved.  Thankfully, my grandparents lived close by.  My grandfather was my pastor at the time, so we stopped by their house.  In their living room, my grandparents along with my parents led me to the Lord and I prayed, confessing my sin and asking Jesus to become Lord of my life.  Today, I’m most thankful for grace.  Grace that despite the fact that most of my sin would occur after salvation, the Lord was faithful and saved me in spite of what I would do later in life.  My godly heritage made the biggest impact on my life and encouraged me to follow Christ.  I believe that’s why I am so passionate today in teaching women about the principals of God’s Word to equip them to pass on the gospel of Jesus to the next generation. 

Ashlee Calvert

Hi Friends! I’m Ashlee just a small fish in a very large pond! I was born and raised in Georgia with my two amazing parents Rusty & Lesia and my younger brother Ronnie. I graduated from North Georgia College in 2011 with my Bachelors degree in Accounting.  I had a professional career in accounting from 2004 until 2020 when I was able to quit after my second son was born.  Since then I have had the privilege to be a stay at home mom to my two boys. I have worked in various ways in ministry over the years whether it be a Sunday school teacher, children’s choir leader, VBS teacher, helping with a food pantry etc. but I never knew my most important calling was going to come in the form of my husband. In February of 2021 God called my husband into the ministry and he has been preaching ever since.  If you would have asked me in 2009 when we met do you think you’ll be a preachers wife one day I would have said you’re crazy but it has been such a blessing.  I am happy to be a preacher’s wife and serve alongside of my husband.  We were able to start a College and Career class where we were previously attending church as well as serve as the youth leaders there for a time.  God has only begun working in Aaron’s ministry and I can’t wait to see what the next chapter holds for him and our family.

As much as I love serving alongside of my husband, I also like having my own ministries to contribute to. This podcast is so far out of my comfort zone, I’m normally more introverted until you get to know me and am definitely not the best conversation starter but I know God has lead me to do this and I just want to please him I’m reminded of one of my favorite versus of scripture Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  I have to keep telling myself that God doesn’t call the equipped he equips the called.  I hope that you get a blessing out of this podcast and it can help you in some way to live a more purposeful life for God.  I can’t wait to connect with each and every one of you! God Bless!

 Family

My husband Aaron and I were married in October of 2011 we currently live in Jefferson, GA where we are raising our two amazing boys Pace and Reece.  We enjoy camping as a family with our fifth wheel especially taking trips to Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach.  My oldest son Pace loves to play football he’s quit and reserved until he really gets to know someone. My youngest son Reece is quite the opposite he’s full of personality and keeps me on my toes! Our family is centered around God and we make sure to always try and put him first in everything that we do.  It is important for us to show our kids who Christ is and that he comes first before any sport or hobby that we do.  I’m truly blessed with the most amazing family in the world including my parents and in-laws God has been so good to us!

 Testimony

 I was saved in 1994 at the early age of 8 in the Pizza Hut parking lot after attending a judgment house.  If you’ve never been to a judgment house they walk you through all of these different scenes…One was showing teenagers getting in a car accident, the other was a grandmother holding her newborn grandchild and next thing you know they were both gone with only their clothes lying on the floor, another scene was hell where it was hot, hot, hot and you could hear chains and groanings then the last scene was Heaven where the book of life was open and God was calling out all the names that made it in.  I realized after we left that I needed a Savior and leaned over to my mom in the car in the Pizza Hut parking lot and said Momma I wanna be saved she then called my aunt Bobbie to the back seat along with my cousin Tabitha (yes the same Tabitha who is co-hosting this podcast with me today) and they began praying for me it was after that I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior and I have been trying to live for him ever since.  Have I made mistakes since receiving him when I was 8? Sure I have and a lot of them but the difference was I had the Holy Spirit living inside of me and that always led me to repentance and to turn away from any bad things I was doing.  See when you get saved you don’t become PERFECT but we should constantly strive to have a mind like Christ as mentioned in Philippians 2:5. I look forward to hearing your testimony!