I grew up in west central, Illinois, on a small farm two miles outside a town of 500 people and 25 minutes to a city of about 40,000. I grew up within a mile from much of my mom's family and a half hour from some of my dad's family. Some of the greatest memories I have are from playing with my cousins around the farm.
My mom is one of the most godly and wonderful people that I know. She helped lead me to Christ when I was just 5 years old. My dad is not a Christian, but he raised me well. One thing that has always stuck with me that he taught me is consideration of other people. My parents were separated most of my life and divorced 6 months after I was married. I have one sibling, a brother named Tim. We are good friends and I adore him. He and his wife have two beautiful young daughters and an adorable toddler boy whom I blog about as often as I can. He's now a pastor in the bigger city where I grew up. A few years ago, my mom remarried a very godly, wonderful man that I actually knew from church growing up! God is good and provides in wonderful ways. I'm so thankful for him and the way he's made my mom so happy, which she really deserves. I love my step-sister and her family like crazy. I have a great relationship with my family and am very thankful for all of them.
I was sexually molested when I was 19 by a family member. It was traumatic, but God has used it to teach me greatly. Despite the heartache and torment it brought, I've learned a lot about true forgiveness and love. Now I am thankful for it because of how it's helped me grow and the ways I've been able to help other people.
Hubster Tim and I met at college in Indiana (a small Christian liberal arts college). We met the second semester of my sophomore year when he was a transfer student. We had three classes together that semester. What brought us together though was me trying to help hook him up with my RA (resident assistant). In the end, I got him. Haha! :)
We've been married for 13 years in June of 2013, and together for 15 years in April of 2013. Admittedly, it's been a long, hard road, but also fun and wonderful and amazing. We love each other dearly and are fully committed to each other, but life definitely has thrown us some curveballs that really surprised us. I was honestly very naive when we got married and I thought everything would always be 'perfect'. Only until the past few years did I really understand the reality of life and marriage. I am very thankful for Tim and all that we've learned together. He keeps life interesting. :)
One of the toughest things that we are working through is me having Fibromyalgia. I started having symptoms in August 2006. We think it was from a car accident in December 2005, but there's no real way to know for sure. Read more about it on the "My Fibro Story" tab.
After a long, hard road of trying to have kids, and exploring adoption... by God's grace we had our first child on June 20, 2013. Elijah is an utter joy and treasure, and despite the hardships we've endured with him already, we are utterly grateful to the Lord for this gift!
My life hasn't been totally easy, but I've also been abundantly blessed. I never want to take it for granted but fear that I often do. God always brings me back to reality and reminds me in His sovereignty and grace that there are others out there struggling even more than I am. Which helps keep all things in perspective and reminds me of God's sovereign ways.
Some of the things I enjoy are hospitality, party planning, reading, journaling, writing, scrapbooking, serving God at church or with loved ones, and I'm a total entertainment junkie.
I am a sinner, saved only by God's grace. I absolutely love my imperfect-doing-life-together-amazing church & pastor(s), and am blessed to work for a wonderful Christian book & Bible publisher as an scheduler/project manager/catalog editor.
I'm just a normal person with a somewhat normal life. I needlessly ramble about various things that I'm not sure are all that interesting, but even through that, perhaps I can leave a mark of some kind on this world for Christ. Whether through the minor everyday things of life or the slightly bigger stuff like dealing with Fibro, I hope you enjoy your time here.
I'm really LEARNING TO TRUST God more each and every day through this experience. I hope you enjoy it here and return again soon, subscribe, or become a follower. Be blessed!
