Welcome to Leaving a Legacy.

I’m Angie Tolpin, thanks for stopping by to get to know me a little bit better. I always struggle with writing these little about pages, because honestly, this website isn’t about me. So I am going to share this raw, real life little video with you. I hope you take the time to connect with me and hear what is on my heart and impressed into my soul.

One of the main missions of Leaving a Legacy is to virtually mentor and encourage women in the Lord. I believe we are all called to be Aspiring Titus 2 Women {or Men} of God. I think it is crucial that you understand that when you read a book or a blog you are choosing a mentor. And when you choose a mentor, choose wisely, recognizing that you will be influenced by them. So, it is important that you evaluate the fruit in their life in determining who you choose as a mentor. No one is perfect, and the minute you realize this the better off you will be. I don’t claim to have all the answers, in fact, if there is one thing marriage, motherhood, and relationships have taught me, it’s that I don’t know it all, and opinions don’t matter eternally. So my heart and goal here is to share with you the good times and the hard ones. My IRL Friends would say I am an open book. And I have no agenda but to fulfill God’s call and mission in my life to Aspire to be a Titus 2 Woman of God.

So thank you for meeting me here. My desire is that as I share the things I have learned in my faith journey as a wife, mom, and woman, that you would be encouraged to partner with the Lord in redeeming the hard times you walk through in life, learning and growing in your relationship with Christ and others.

A little about me and my family:

By God’s grace, I have been married to Isaac for 15+ years and have six beautifully unique children. We own and cultivated Damascus Vineyards, but recently moved our family to Central Oregon. My husband is the co-owner and founder of two businesses, Choose Growth and Throwing Boulders. He is an entrepreneur at heart and we have experienced the ups and downs of owning and starting our own businesses over the past 16+ years. This experience combined with our heart for seeing marriages thrive, not just survive, led us to start running Leaders Marriage Seminars in 2011, which we hope to begin doing again some day soon.

I’m a stay at home wife and mom. Pretty ordinary when you look at my tasks. I do laundry, dishes, cook, clean, organize, weed, prune, garden, educate, nurture, care for the sick, discipline, disciple, train and mentor our children. Many of my hours are spent very similarly to yours I’m sure. When I first got married, I knew nothing about managing a home, child training, and never in all my young years ever expected I would educating my children myself, let alone have six of them. In the hours when I am not doing those things, I am writing, speaking to women’s groups in churches, enjoying ladies night out with dear friends, practicing hospitality, working with my husband, blogging, and getting frustrated with my computer. 🙂

I am a blessed woman. I recognize that God has blessed me abundantly with the family and life He has given me. But just because we are blessed doesn’t mean that it’s easy.
Our life is a testimony of His grace and blessing, as well as a testimony of the growth He has done in our lives to place us where we are today.

My 1st Jurisdictions {Priorities}

My relationship with the Lord is my first priority, my relationship with my husband is second, and my relationships and responsibilities in raising up my children are third. Those are my first fruit jurisdictions and I believe that any other ministry or calling should enhance your first callings in life. So, you will not see me overly posting here on Leaving a Legacy, because I am leaving my legacy. It is living my life that inspires me to write. But it is a full one. There are seasons when I am driving more than others, and seasons when other roles require more of my time. But if I cannot fulfill my first callings well, then I give you my word, I will not be writing here.

Why I Write:

You should know that I write because it is part of how God made me. It’s how I can give my best and highest contribution. I love to teach. I love to connect with women. I have actively sought out mentors since I was 14 years old and been very blessed by them over the past 21 years. My wisdom, is not my own. It has been gleaned through hours of mentoring from older Titus 2 women God put in my life, books, and dear friends I have watched over the years, and all of that wisdom has been inspired by biblical truths and a genuine desire to obey God and brand Jesus well as one of His ambassadors.

Many people can learn, but execution is the key to really making it your own. What I share with you is what I have lived. No more. My prayer is that the Lord would use those hard, ugly times I have walked through to teach you, to warn you, to be redeemed. And I pray that the fruit that I see and words the Lord impresses onto my heart to share with you inspire you, motivate you and teach you so that you can be filled up in your high callings as a woman of God.

For the past ten years or so I have been writing on Leaving a Legacy and in November 2012, we launched the ministry website Redeeming Childbirth, with the mission to disciple sisters in the Lord through the childbearing season and young motherhood. I wrote my first book, Redeeming Childbirth: Experiencing His Presence in Pregnancy, Labor, Childbirth, and Beyond, which was published Jan. 2013. The Birth Planning and Study Guide was published in July 2013.

Our family has lived on our small farm and vineyard for the past nine years, so a lot of my teaching has been through a lens of what God has taught us there with regard to marriage, parenting, and relationships. Our family does what we call Curated Education. A lot of our education does happen at home, but we participate in co-ops, hire tutors and teachers, try to involve our children in our work as much as possible, and utilize technology and friends as mentors as often as possible. You can also find me speaking occasionally at homeschool conferences. And can visit my speaking page to get links to talks.

I recognize there is a need for women to have encouragement to live out their high callings.  How we train our children has massive impact on their lives as well as the generations following them.  It doesn’t end there, it’s not just how we purposefully train them in those moments when we are on. It’s also in the example we live out everyday.

Seeking God’s face personally, impacts and influences our legacy.  His word penetrates our soul and transforms our worldview. His Spirit lives more concretely in us as we grow in our relationship with Jesus and His fruits are more readily seen in us and ministered through us.

How we love our husband, has eternal value in our relationship with him and the legacy we leave.  It’s doing the hard things, because its a matter of obedience to God.  It’s living out character and integrity.  Its living on purpose, with passion and enthusiasm for each day that is a gift from God… not wasting our days or our time with our children… but embracing it and making eternal impact.