Aretha Armstrong is an assistant pastor and attends Victory Apostolic Church under the leadership of Senior Pastor Andrew D. Singleton Jr.. She is also the director of Spiritual Care Ministries at Victory. God led Aretha to write Striving and Thriving My Grief Journey in order to share her testimony in hopes that she can help others in their journey with grief and loss. She is a licensed professional counselor holding a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Trinity Christian College. Aretha started the Healing Hearts Grief and Loss Support Ministry at her church 21 years ago and has done several presentations on the topic of grief at hospitals, churches and schools. She resides in Crete, IL with her husband.

When Aretha is not writing, she enjoys serving at church, reading, exercising, going on dates with her husband and spending time with family and friends. One of her favorite pastimes is traveling, she recently visited Cancun and fell in love with the culture, food, and people. She also loves interacting with her grandchildren and catching up with sons, Jerrod and Jonathan. You can find Aretha at the theatre enjoying a play or exploring new places. Although this is Aretha’s first publication, she plans to write more books in the near future – she even has plans to try her hand at illustration.