As I stated before, this blog is not about me. It’s about us. Moms everyday everywhere doing the same things in somewhat different orders and in somewhat different fashions. But it might be interesting if you knew
briefly about me.
As a child I lived in three different places: Wappingers Falls,
New York followed by Lafayette,
Indiana and ending in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Each of these places is distinctly different from the next and is part of who I am.
Around age seven I decided I wanted to be a writer. I would often sit in climbing trees and characters, plots, and storylines would swirl around in my mind.
I held on to that prospect of being a writer for many years until around age fourteen. I took an extra curricular creative writing class my freshmen year of high school. While I enjoyed formulating poetry and creating short stories, I got lost in a frustration of grammatical rules and redundancy. I do not regret giving up writing entirely because God obviously had other plans. After a series of youth group retreats, mission trips, and an intense week at a Christian summer camp, I felt called to be a youth pastor. I decided that was exactly what I wanted to do and I never looked back.
In 1995 I graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School and went on to Calvin College. In 1997 I transferred to Kuyper College (formally known as Reformed Bible College) where I studied youth ministry. In the fall of 1998 during my senior year, I
met my wonderful husband Rob in the campus coffee shop. He was starting his freshmen year. We started dating a month later. In 2000 I graduated and took a half time job as a youth director in a small church on the outskirts of Muskegon, Michigan.
I did a lot of odd “second jobs” to help put Rob through college and eventually seminary. Rob and I were married in 2001 and were able to move into a cute little white house next door to the church. I know some people romanticize
the first few years of marriage before children enter the picture. I see it as bittersweet. I loved my job. I loved our community. I loved the West Michigan lakeshore. But I
knew God had even more in store for us.
In 2004 we said good-bye to our precious friends in Muskegon and spent a trying yet defining year in Gary, Indiana where we lived and breathed urban ministry. At the end of that year we welcomed Hailey into the world. I started a new phase of life and became a stay at home mom. We lived in Grand Rapids for a full year. Then God lead
us across the country to Oregon, a state we knew virtually nothing about—just that were lots of evergreen trees.
In 2007 Derek came into the world followed by Kara two years later.
So here I am. Grateful to get to know so many of you. I hope you will continue to join us on this journey of momhood whatever twists and turns got you here.
