Meet the Writer

One of the most important hats I wear is that of a wife. I am married to Kevin, my college sweet heart and best friend. He encourages me, challenges me, supports me, and makes me better. I have never felt so free to be me until I married this man. I have to admit, we make a pretty dope team!

Our parenting journey began as house parents, with having a hand in raising 6+ pre-teen to teenage boys. Although that journey is over, together we now share the joys and challenges of shepherding and home-educating two beautiful children of our own.

Besides marriage, parenting has been another hat that stretches and grows me in so many ways. I never realized how much my heart breaks for children, until I was blessed with the gift of raising my own.

Kev and I never imagined being home educators, and in fact, we were completely against it prior to having kids. When anyone mentioned homeschooling, we immediately would reply, “No. Not for us!” When we both agreed to homeschool, there was no doubt in my mind that this was the Lord’s will.

Our first year of homeschooling, I cried, I prayed , I struggled, I prayed, and by God’s grace we made it! It definitely was a beautiful mess. Even into our second year, some days I struggle to survive. In spite of ongoing feelings of inadequacy, I can honestly say that being able to homeschool has been a blessing.

Now, I have to admit that I was happy and satisfied wearing what I thought was my child of God hat, prior to wearing the hats mentioned above. I never HAD to be married, and definitely was okay with not having any children. As I have continued to grow spiritually, I have now realize that I was and can be a bit selfish.

I am so glad we serve an all-knowing father who doesn’t always give us, what we think we want for our lives. I can not imagine life without my family. Without being a wife and mother, I seriously would have missed out on SO much. I now have a new perspective of this hat, and I am thankful God never allows me to be complacent with the same old look of it. This hat is the one that has the biggest affect on all the others.

Last but not least, I FINALLY have the privilege of wearing the hat of a licensed marriage and family therapist! This was one of the longest journeys Ive ever embarked upon, and it is only by God’s grace that I wear this hat. I use to have plans to wear this hat with pride, but I humbly submit my plans for wearing it unto the Lord.

All of the previous hats I wear daily. This is one that I have hanging on the hat rack, desiring only to wear it if and when the Lord desires for me to do so. I guess you can say that I now see it as more of an accessory, whereas before it was going to be the biggest and best hat I would ever wear.

As I pray about how I can share this hat with other women, wives and moms, I am being led to focus on parenting. I was previously trained in behavior modification, and was taught to eat, sleep, and potty this approach to parenting. After having my own children, I was lead to the concept of heart shepherding. I am an advocate and fan of scripture based parenting, which I believe incorporates both. I encourage modeling and discipling, and desire to help other parents, “train up their children in the way that they should go, so that when they are older they won’t depart from it.”