Janelle Hartsfield

Janelle Hartsfield

Home Groups Ministry Assistant

Life Story

I was born in Los Angeles to incredible parents who love the Lord. My dad served as a worship minister in different churches throughout the country. Because of this, I was immersed into a Christian culture from day one. I remember so clearly—even as a little girl—loving time spent with my parents at church and bearing witness to my dad leading our congregation in worship.

For most of my life, I led a life free of trials with an almost effortless commitment to my relationship with God. A desire to know His Word grew throughout my teenage years and into college. While pursuing a marketing degree at Dallas Baptist University, I met my husband. He is the funniest man on the planet.

We had our sweet daughter, Ella, in 2006, and before long, we knew that we were ready to grow our family again. Devastatingly, when Ella was 2 years old, we discovered that we were in the throes of what would seem like an endless battle with secondary infertility. My faith was challenged for the first time. During this rough season, it felt impossible to balance the joy we had in our beautiful daughter against the grief of not feeling able to provide a sibling for her. I so desperately wanted to trust in God’s plan and know He was good, but more often than not, the spiraling despair and confusion of infertility robbed me of my trust and dependence on the Lord and His plans for me.

Even when I was faithless all those years, God was so faithful. When I was shaking my fist at Him in anger and desperation, He was graciously putting the pieces of our family together and knitting a precious baby boy together in his birth mother’s womb. Due to the Lord’s beautiful and perfect plans, we adopted our son Elijah when he was 7 days old. He is a constant reminder of God’s steadfast love for us and each of His children.

Hope for The Village Church

My hope is that we will continue to be a place of refuge and gospel truth spoken to hurting people, and that the hope of Christ would continue to be known locally and globally.