I was born on Easter Sunday. The significance of its Shadow has followed me ever since.
I grew up in Wilmore, KY, home to…
- the rolling hills of the Bluegrass;
- a water tower boasting an illuminated cross;
- exquisite thoroughbreds;
- die-hard UK Wildcat basketball fans;
- Asbury College and Asbury Seminary;
- Sim’s Drug Store.
Yes, I am proud of my hometown. It’s a bit of Mayberry, doused in a heavy dose of authentic, Jesus-lovin’, theologically sound Christians who are out to change the world with the Gospel’s truth.
My father was a professor of preaching at Asbury Seminary for over forty years, while my mother kept the records straight as the Seminary’s registrar. They retired to the Raleigh area to be closer to their grandkids. From the cradle to my current season of living, I’ve been a church girl. The spiritual shaping I received from my parents and my community quickly secured for me my belief in a great big God who loves me far beyond reasonable bounds.
There was little contest as to where I would attend college. I graduated from Asbury with a degree in Elementary Education and would later receive a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Malone College in Canton, Ohio. During that time, I married, relocated to the Buckeye state, and became the mother of two cherished and adored sons.
After walking through a difficult divorce in 1994, I returned to Wilmore with my children. I spent the next few years working at Asbury Seminary amongst a group of people who, years earlier, had taken a hand in both my physical and spiritual shaping. During that time of transition, I met Billy. He was a student at ATS who had a tender and terrific heart for Jesus and for taking part in the Great Commission. He still does! His heart soon extended its boundaries to include his love for me and my sons. We were married in 1997 and soon relocated to North Carolina.
Since that time, we have served six pastorates with the United Methodist Church and have been blessed with two additional children, two daughter-in-laws, and one very grand-girl named Finley. We are a busy and thankful family, daily living with the provision and promises of God’s Calvary love. It has kept us, sheltered us, and delivered us through a few rough seasons.
In August of 2010, I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma (stage IIB breast cancer). To read more about my story, click here. My family and I continue to live out the ramifications of my cancer’s diagnosis, but we do so knowing that our Father has us covered with his incomparable love and mercy.
In September of 2018, our son Jadon suffered a traumatic brain injury when a tree fell on him and my husband on the night Hurricane Florence arrived to our town. He is our miracle boy. You can read more about his story here and view a media clip here.
God began the sacred conversation with my soul from the earliest of ages, and I have spent the past five decades walking the path of such a gracious grace. He has marked me forever for kingdom living and kingdom loving. My overriding hope and desire for my life is to live as authentic before my Creator and his created. If I have a life verse–a verse that speaks the fervent passion of my heart–it would be the words of God as spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
“This is the what LORD says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” {Jeremiah 9:23-24}.
Thus…
My God speaks.
My God is the only God who can be known.
Knowing my God is the only worthy boast of my heart.
My God delights in exercising his God-ness on my behalf.
It is my deep and continual desire to finish my race with this truth inscripted upon my heart and with his boast spoken through my voice and my pen. To learn more about my speaking ministry, click here. To read about my first book release, “peace for the journey: in the pleasure of his company” click here! My second book, Beyond Cancer’s Scars, released on August 23, 2012–the 2nd anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. An updated and revised edition was re-released as Beyond the Scars in April 2014. To read about it and order your copy, click here.
What a privilege and joy for me to run this journey alongside you. As always…
Peace for the journey,
