Coming Soon…
About Us
5 Essentials for Flourishing
All we offer at AYSF is designed to cultivate these essentials for flourishing:
Wisdom, Courage, Healing, Resilience, Allegiance (to God)
God tells us wisdom is better than gold (Proverbs 16:16), but for how many of us is growing wise a truly top priority? Sure, we may pray for wisdom in certain circumstances, but if we’re honest, we wish that God would just drop the “right” answers to our dilemmas in our lap. The irony is, if you were just handed the “right” answer it wouldn’t require wisdom; you would just have knowledge. Knowledge is certainly important (we help women grow in knowledge, too), but wisdom is what’s needed when knowledge (especially about the future) is limited. Wisdom is about how you activate truth to navigate the unknown. At AYSF, we help women learn how to harness what God has revealed in his Word to effectively handle the nuances and complexities of their personal plotlines.
Get wisdom… Do not forsake her… love her, and she will guard you…she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.
Proverbs 4:5-9
We are living in an unprecedented time in which anxiety is the most common problem reported by women pursuing counseling. And the mainstream rhetoric around anxiety is only making things worse. The prevailing narrative is that what is needed is for us to calm down. But the truth -as it may be gleaned from the Word of God- is that our intended response to fear (anxiety is fear) is to rise up, not to calm down! With the skillful support they receive at AYSF, women learn to “stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13-14) no matter what challenges they face, instead of succumbing to the lie that they are – or will be – overwhelmed.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, & do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
At AYSF, we help women live courageously.
In a world that profits from persuading us that pain management is the best we dare hope for, we have a God who is a healer (Exodus 15:26). That’s right: healing, not just “coping strategies” is what is available to you in Christ. Women come to AYSF with emotional wounds that have remained open for years, even decades, and are amazed to encounter God in fresh ways that lead to real resolution, to peace in places they never thought possible. And healing is about more than “feeling better.” Imagine going into battle with a balm, such that if you were wounded you could put it on and be healed. How much braver would you be? How much more valiantly would you fight? Healing enables you to move through the world in confidence that “If you hurt me, my God will heal me, so I will not shrink back…”
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me…You restored me to life.
Psalm 30:2-3
At AYSF, we help women heal.
1. the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened
2. the ability of a substance to return to its usual shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed*
Women come to AYSF reeling from emotional hits they have taken. Often they are weary and cannot see a way forward. We link arms with them and help them heal, grow wiser, become more courageous, and deepen their allegiance to Christ. And as they do, they begin to recover faster and more easily the next time they “take a hit.” When challenges come, they are able to affirm, “I am afflicted but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor 4:8-9) They embrace their identity as warrior daughters of the king who are not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
For the righteous falls seven times and rises again.
Proverbs 24:16
At AYSF, we help women become resilient.
At AYSF, we help women get free from distortions in how they view God (and how they think he views them.) The more clearly they see him, the more faithfully they desire to follow him (allegiance). Allegiance involves no longer leaning on our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6) or appeasing others in fear of their judgment (1 Cor 4:3-4) or getting caught up in the unbiblical “philosophies of this age” (Colossians 2:8). It involves reorienting our thoughts, emotions, decisions, and actions around what God has said is true. This leads to greater confidence, faithfulness, hope, and perseverance. Like Esther we can say, “‘If I perish, I perish’ (Esther 4:16) but I shall not be moved.”
Serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
1 Samuel 12:24
At AYSF, we help women deepen their allegiance to Christ.
Founder Bio
Susan Castillo Kusmin is the founder of And Yet She Flourished (AYSF): Biblical Counseling, Teaching, & Training in Biblical Counseling for Women. She has been on staff with Redeemer Counseling Services (RCS), The Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and Young Life. She began her studies in counseling and theology at Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF), went on to attend Westminster Seminary in P.A., and earned her master’s degree from Redeemer Seminary in Dallas.
Susan is passionate about equipping God’s beloved daughters to prevail over whatever is keeping them from operating at their full potential. Her extensive study of the Word of God, Spirit-given gifts of discernment and insight, and her ability to communicate robust truth in clear and compelling ways, have helped many sisters in Christ walk in freedom they never imagined possible.
About Us
5 Essentials for Flourishing
All we offer at AYSF is designed to cultivate these essentials for flourishing:
Wisdom, Courage, Healing, Resilience, Allegiance (to God)
Wisdom
God tells us wisdom is better than gold (Proverbs 16:16), but for how many of us is growing wise a truly top priority? Sure, we may pray for wisdom in certain circumstances, but if we’re honest, we wish that God would just drop the “right” answers to our dilemmas in our lap. The irony is, if you were just handed the “right” answer it wouldn’t require wisdom; you would just have knowledge. Knowledge is certainly important (we help women grow in knowledge, too), but wisdom is what’s needed when knowledge (especially about the future) is limited. Wisdom is about how you activate truth to navigate the unknown. At AYSF, we help women learn how to harness what God has revealed in his Word to effectively handle the nuances and complexities of their personal plotlines.
Courage
We are living in an unprecedented time in which anxiety is the most common problem reported by women pursuing counseling. And the mainstream rhetoric around anxiety is only making things worse. The prevailing narrative is that what is needed is for us to calm down. But the truth -as it may be gleaned from the Word of God- is that our intended response to fear (anxiety is fear) is to rise up, not to calm down! With the skillful support they receive at AYSF, women learn to “stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13-14) no matter what challenges they face, instead of succumbing to the lie that they are – or will be – overwhelmed.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, & do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
At AYSF, we help women live courageously.
Healing
In a world that profits from persuading us that pain management is the best we dare hope for, we have a God who is a healer (Exodus 15:26). That’s right: healing, not just “coping strategies” is what is available to you in Christ. Women come to AYSF with emotional wounds that have remained open for years, even decades, and are amazed to encounter God in fresh ways that lead to real resolution, to peace in places they never thought possible. And healing is about more than “feeling better.” Imagine going into battle with a balm, such that if you were wounded you could put it on and be healed. How much braver would you be? How much more valiantly would you fight? Healing enables you to move through the world in confidence that “If you hurt me, my God will heal me, so I will not shrink back…”
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me…You restored me to life.
Psalm 30:2-3
At AYSF, we help women heal.
Resilience
1. the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened
2. the ability of a substance to return to its usual shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed*
Women come to AYSF reeling from emotional hits they have taken. Often they are weary and cannot see a way forward. We link arms with them and help them heal, grow wiser, become more courageous, and deepen their allegiance to Christ. And as they do, they begin to recover faster and more easily the next time they “take a hit.” When challenges come, they are able to affirm, “I am afflicted but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor 4:8-9) They embrace their identity as warrior daughters of the king who are not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
For the righteous falls seven times and rises again.
Proverbs 24:16
At AYSF, we help women become resilient.
Allegiance
At AYSF, we help women get free from distortions in how they view God (and how they think he views them.) The more clearly they see him, the more faithfully they desire to follow him (allegiance). Allegiance involves no longer leaning on our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6) or appeasing others in fear of their judgment (1 Cor 4:3-4) or getting caught up in the unbiblical “philosophies of this age” (Colossians 2:8). It involves reorienting our thoughts, emotions, decisions, and actions around what God has said is true. This leads to greater confidence, faithfulness, hope, and perseverance. Like Esther we can say, “‘If I perish, I perish’ (Esther 4:16) but I shall not be moved.”
Serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
1 Samuel 12:24
At AYSF, we help women deepen their allegiance to Christ.
Founder Bio
Susan Castillo Kusmin is the founder of And Yet She Flourished (AYSF): Biblical Counseling, Teaching, & Training in Biblical Counseling for Women. She has been on staff with Redeemer Counseling Services (RCS), The Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and Young Life. She began her studies in counseling and theology at Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF), went on to attend Westminster Seminary in P.A., and earned her master’s degree from Redeemer Seminary in Dallas.
Susan is passionate about equipping God’s beloved daughters to prevail over whatever is keeping them from operating at their full potential. Her extensive study of the Word of God, Spirit-given gifts of discernment and insight, and her ability to communicate robust truth in clear and compelling ways, have helped many sisters in Christ walk in freedom they never imagined possible.