• Church,  Faith,  My Story

    My Story- Part 4

    I quickly learned that having a family drama very easily parlayed into having an excuse. Where I had strived to be the “good girl,” even co-hosting advertised “alcohol free” parties and inviting friends to church, I suddenly didn’t care. Maybe I would feel better if I drank, maybe life would be easier if I didn’t have to try so hard. Maybe, after all, I didn’t really care what my parents thought. I slowly started making decisions that I would not have made before. Friends that I kept at arm’s length I suddenly made better acquaintance with. In my mind, I had every reason to drink, to party, to try to…

  • Church,  My Story

    My Story- Part 2

    Mine is a story of reconciliation and restoration through Him, God… of finding myself and a relationship with Him through my broken pieces. So, this story, more than anything, is a spiritual journey. How the Lord rescued me from my own self-inflicted bondage, restored me through his loving kindness, and has now reconciled me to his bride, the church. If you were a church kid in the 80s or 90s, maybe yours is a similar one. Growing up, I just wanted to be happy (hence my dissolve into tears when I displeased someone or someone else was displeased in general). And, above all else, I wanted life to be fair. I…

  • My Story

    My Story- Part 1

    I guess I will start at the beginning. Paint a picture of my simple beginnings if you will. I was born in Lake City, Florida. A smallish highway town adjacent to the even smaller town where my parents lived and served as youth pastors- Live Oak, Florida. There is a certain beauty to the town. It does indeed have some beautiful mossy trees. The kind you see in movies and that you picture in sleepy southern towns. Sometimes the movies don’t lie about these sorts of things. I don’t actually remember living here. But I did visit as a child and even into my young adult years. My dad had…