Karla Downing is a speaker for women’s groups, men’s groups, couples events, college groups, recovery groups, lay counselor training, and Christian leaders’ training. Her messages provide practical and biblical truths that bring balance and clarity to life and relationship issues.

God has graciously allowed Karla to speak from a place of personal and professional experience that touches hearts. It is her desire and prayer that each person who hears her walks away with practical and biblical information that is life-changing personally and relationally.

Take a look at this sample video showcasing Karla’s messages
of hope and healing for difficult relationships.

The following list is a sample of topics Karla speaks on: 

It’s Time for a Changed Relationship and Let it Begin With You!

Participants will learn how to bring radical change to their lives and relationships with these 15 simple things–even if the other people don’t change at all.

Heart to Heart with God

This audio explains how our relationship with God is affected by our relationship with our earthly fathers, our personalities, our expectations, and our experiences with the Church. Participants will understand how each of these factors affect their knowledge and experience of God.

Heart to Heart with Each Other

Colossians 3:12-14 tells us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, and love. This talk examines what each of these mean and how to put them into practice in our relationships.

Raising Competent and Confident Children

The ultimate goal of parenting is to raise competent and confident children who become competent and confident adults who love God. This talk offers parents fourteen scripturally-based principles that will enable them to accomplish this goal.

All You Wanted to Know About Marriage

A Mothers of Preschoolers Group (MOPS) submitted questions on marriage that fell into five areas: money, sex, time management, childrearing, and in laws. This talk covers how to deal with conflict with husbands in each of these areas.

Nurturing the Nurturer: Finding Biblical Balance in Life and Relationships

Women are by nature nurturers, but too often they nurture others and neglect themselves. Being a Christian does not mean we give without limits, tolerate anything, ignore our own needs, and never confront. Both our needs and the needs of others matter, but in order to figure out how to apply this truth, we need to understand some basic scriptural principles.

Acceptance: The Pathway to Peace

Energy spent trying to change the things we cannot change is wasted. Acceptance of people, the past, and the circumstances beyond our control frees us to change the things we can, move deeper in our walk with God and others, maximize our potential, and enter God’s rest.

The Truth in the Mirror: Finding a Healthy Self-Image

Our self-images include the damaged, projected, reflected, stained, and false images each of us carry. We can be set free from our past mistakes, the inaccurate images others have placed on us, useless comparisons, and the unrealistic expectations we place on ourselves. We become “real” when we see ourselves accurately, accept ourselves completely, live transparently, and measure our worth according to God’s values.

From Ruins to Restoration: A Personal Journey Through Difficult Relationships

Lost that loving feeling? Love is linked to understanding and acceptance. When people look at the world through their mates’ eyes, they have more compassion, tolerance, acceptance, forgiveness, and grace—all of which result in feeling and acting more loving toward them. Suitable for just women or men and couples.

9 Keys to Successful Marital Conflict Resolution

Give your couples these tools to make marital conflict a source for good in their marriages: Keep your Eyes on the Goal, Overlook the Little Things, Confront the Big Things, Look Inward First; Outward Second, It’s Not Right Vs. Wrong, but Mutual Understanding, Have a Game Plan, Give it a Light Touch, Agree to Disagree, and Keep Short Accounts.

Living, Loving, and Thriving in a Not-So-Perfect Marriage

The only perfect marriage was between Adam and Eve before they sinned. The 10 Lifesaving Principles give people in not-so-perfect marriages practical and scriptural ideas to change their marriages for the better. They include: Understand Scriptural Truths, Reach Out to Others, Change Yourself- Not Him/Her, Detach with Love, Nurture Yourself, Face Your Fears, Speak the Truth in Love, Set Boundaries, Make Your Children a Priority, and Enter God’s Rest.

10 Principles to Transform Difficult Relationships

Difficult relationship dynamics are complex whether it is with a spouse, adult child, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent or any significant other. This talk enables participants to understand those dynamics, as well as the 10 Transforming Principles that offer scriptural and practical insight on how to deal with these relationships in a healthy and Christ-like way.   Suitable for general audiences, lay counselors, and ministry leaders.

How to Minister to Women in Difficult Marriages

Ministering to women in difficult marriages is challenging. This talk provides ministry leaders with insights that enable them to understand the complex relationship dynamics, unique spiritual battles, and common scriptural misunderstandings, and offer practical help with scriptural truths that facilitate hope and healing.

Other topics also available to suit the needs of your group and event.