Life Story

I come from a long line of Texans and grew up just across the pond in Grapevine. I was an only child for most of my life, and my parents divorced when I was a baby. “Normal” for me was a blended family and multiple Christmases (which didn’t seem like a bad thing when I was young). As a child, I loved dancing, having adventures in the backyard, and going to church and school. I cannot remember a time I did not know Christ, the love of God, or the power of the Holy Spirit.

As I entered upper elementary school, I became more aware of the differences between my family and the families around me. The Holy Spirit, God’s protection, and His love became very tangible to me as I navigated the realization that my “normal” looked more like “brokenness.” Those were formative years for me, and I am thankful that God always kept me close. Although there was a spiritual battle happening in my world, I didn’t let those in my outer circles know anything was broken or abnormal. I covered anxiety and stress with positivity and laughter.

I felt convicted in middle school to be baptized and declare my faith as my faith. In high school I studied, danced, and enjoyed time with friends. My youth group was amazing and gave me a solid foundation to grow on. I began sharing my personal life with more people and started to see the fruit a gospel community could bring. As a college student, I had to vocalize my faith in a whole new way, and I quickly got plugged in at Austin Stone. It was there that I truly grasped my depravity and began seeing myself as separate from all the hurt I carried from childhood. God continued to work this out in me through my early years of marriage and after we moved to Florida. I was able to heal and forgive. I was able to begin building trust with others, starting with my wonderful new husband. True freedom and an identity in Christ—not rooted in abuse and anger—was finally forming.

In 2014, God brought us back to Texas, not so far from where I grew up. I am thankful that I can always look at God's faithfulness in my life no matter the circumstance and that He is always at work in me, rooting my identity more and more in Him each day.

Hope for The Village Church

My hope is that we would be a people who flourish with our unique gifts and stories, deeply unified in our love and trust of God. I pray that we wouldn’t stop yearning to know more about God, being more like Christ, and spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth.