In the summer of 1989, I met a youth minister in a small town church in the middle of nowhere. He asked me if I wanted to help with the youth group since I was home from college. Of course, I said, “Yes!” and now, one wedding and a lot of years later, we have two grown boys, a beautiful daughter-in-law, and a little place we call home. Apart from these life events, here are just a few things you should know about me.
I love education. Since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a teacher, so when I grew up, 
I did just that. I taught junior high and high school, and I’ve served as a campus principal at both elementary and secondary levels. I once had the privilege of being named Teacher of the Year for the district and the region, so I got to give a little speech. You can watch it here.
I love to read. I have a stack of books on my nightstand and more loaded on my Kindle. I usually have a couple of book going at the same time–a nonfiction for a little morning reading when I’m energized and ready to set larger than life goals, and a fiction book for bedtime when I’m exhausted from slaying (not!) all of the goals I set that morning. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite reads here along with some of my favorite podcasters.
I love Jesus. I love everything about Him–His kindness, compassion, tenderness, and outright love for people. I love His word. I am an avid journal writer. I kicked off my prayer journal just like any other ninth grade girl–with a prayer for my future (i.e. ideal) husband! At this point, I’ll be passing on over 100 journals to my kids (including the future husband prayer journal!). If they read them, they’ll get to see the good, the bad, and the ugly, but most of all, I hope they’ll see that their mom soaked up more grace than she ever deserved.
I love encouraging women to lead right where they are. So often, we compare our journey with the Lord to what we see in an Instagram bio or a Facebook feed, and we come up short every time. The reality is that God is not interested in our spiritual highlight reel, He is interested being the object of our heart’s attention and our mind’s affection in the dailies of life. Our relationship with Jesus is rarely made up of spotlight moments but instead Jesus-in-the-moment in the routines and rhythms of life.
It is time for us to stop comparing ourselves to others and start doing what He has called us to do… by being who He created us to be and doing what He called us to do right now. So, I hope you’ll join me as we share our stories and lead right where we are…together.