My life of full-time ministry found me when I least expected it. Life around me was happening in a fast paced way and I knew I was being called to serve God through my story.

I’ll be honest, in the midst of my ugly stories I didn’t know what it meant to serve others. Even after all my own hard work, I still have days with moments with God, “Do I hear you correctly? You want me to do what?” I have a degree in business. I love business and finances and figuring out complex problems to stuff I can put on paper. You know those things we can solve that have facts behind them and a lot of research. But here I was feeling pulled into something that I couldn’t factually wrap my head around, something I felt so inadequate in, and something that made absolutely no sense from the path I was previously on. Here I stood, a young woman with a high-functioning autistic son, a newborn daughter, a husband that had stories and demons far greater than I knew how to handle, a quick uprooted move halfway across the country, no Christian upbringing, a struggle to understand Bible theology, a set in her way attitude of the facts I was taught growing up, and no true group of mentors or believers to surround me. I questioned what in the world I was hearing, or believing at this juncture. But this was the first encounter when God clearly began to show me….You aren’t going to go through all this without a greater purpose of helping others.

This is when I could relate to some of the strongest characters in the Bible. I was shown that those used by God didn’t always have the right gender, the right circumstances, the right education, or the right upbringing; they simply surrendered to God and walked it out for His purpose. People often would hear the highlight real of my stories over the past 10-12 years and say, “Your story sounds like Job.” Just like Job, in the midst of losing everything over and over again, I had a big choice to make constantly; choose to walk from God, be mad at Him for all I had gone through, and figure it out in my own ways, or turn to God, feel what I needed to feel but rejoice in Him knowing that one day He would make a way. Over and over again I found myself knees to the floor, and even at times nose to the floor, praying and praising for God seeing my kids and I through every single day, even when it felt impossible.

“God will provide a way when we least expect it!”

I began to serve wherever I could. I started women’s bible studies at church, I joined ministries and wrote for them, I worked with youth groups, I started speaking at retreats by sharing God’s goodness no matter your story, I even took a position full-time at a church with the beginning steps of becoming a Pastor. Anywhere I saw a door open to share HOPE for others I found myself there. I found myself being the person people would contact to help them navigate through hard topics: infidelity (both sides), church abuse, sexual abuse, relational abuse, abortion, pornography, legal battles, suicide, mental health battles, and more. The topics that people try to hide from within church walls, tend to be the exact areas I feel called to speak life into. These are the areas where Jesus has the opportunity to show us what resurrection looks like in modern times. Our stories of complicated, messy paths are here to shine light on the hope that God freely gives. These are just a few of the reasons I feel led to walk along side of people and point it all back to The One that saved me from my own dark trenches. I am living proof that one day, even when it feels absolutely impossible, there is a way to hope.

Ministry

“God will provide a way when we least expect it!”

Blended