Hello!

Thank you for visiting. I’m a Jesus-loving, coffee-sipping, homeschooling mama of two boys. I’m a simple person who enjoys the simple things of life like my husband’s embrace, the sound of my children’s laughter, the sun kissing my face, and the smell of the ocean. 

I’m also the firstborn of three children, so I’m naturally not a risk-taker. For the majority of my life, I’ve lived safely by the shallow edge of the water. I’d occasionally venture to the deep end, but only if there was a backup plan in place – a life vest, rowboat, something to offer me proof that I would not sink! 

By about year 40 of living in the shallow end, I began to have a repeating conversation with the Lord that went something like this: “Is this really all there is? What about living life to the measure of all fullness? What about experiencing your goodness in the land of the living? What about your power, and seeing your Spirit work in miraculous ways? I’m one of your children. Haven’t I inherited all of this?” 

I wish I could tell you that after all these years of living as a daughter of the King that I have my faith figured out. But the truth is, I don’t. And more than that, I fail God…daily. That’s why I am SO grateful to the King of mercy who truly is the Author and Perfector of my faith. 

God loved me too much to leave me by the shallow edge. He responded to my questions. There were reasons I wasn’t experiencing life to the full. And He tenderly began to reveal areas of my life where I had not been faithful to Him. 

God used an interesting passage of scripture to woo me into the deep. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 says: “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” (NIV) 

Simply put, God trusted me to play an active role in advancing His Kingdom, but instead, I was too busy building my own kingdom. Sure, I went to Bible studies, brought meals to people and served in various ministries. But I spent a majority of my time doing things that I thought would benefit me and my family, things I thought would result in abundant life. I was living like the servant in the Parable of the Talents who received a talent from his master. Because the servant was too afraid to take a risk, he did nothing with what was entrusted to him and was eventually called out for wasting his master’s assets (Matthew 25:14-30).

Around the time I was having these conversations with the Lord, I heard a quote from a pastor by the name of Matt Chandler. He said that if Christianity is only about living in the shallow end, then Christianity is nothing more than a lame hobby. That’s my paraphrase, but these are his exact words:

“If we’re going to be citizens of heaven, living out the kingdom of God in the here and now, it’ll require a commitment to one another and an understanding of the purpose and task God has given us as his people. Or we could just keep doing church. I’ve said this for 15 years. What a lame hobby. Get a boat, man. That’s what I’d be doing. Seriously. I don’t want to just hear a lecture on Sunday morning and sing. That’s weird. Give me a boat or a rifle and a deer stand or something like that. Yet we’ve been called into so much more…”

God had been calling me into so much more. The truth is, although I wanted to experience His fullness and power, I didn’t want to do the hard things I knew He would ask me to do – like trust Him. 

But something clicked for me when I heard Pastor Chandler’s quote. I made a decision that there really was no point in a relationship with Jesus Christ if I wasn’t willing to leave the shallow edge and really trust Him.

So what’s life like for me now that I’m out in the deep? 

I won’t lie to you. It took a lot of baby steps with God holding my hand for me to get here. It isn’t always easy and God has asked me to do some REALLY HARD THINGS – things I never imagined I’d ever do (like leave my job, homeschool my boys and even write a children’s book)! And when I lose my focus and my eyes aren’t fixed on Him, it gets ugly – I mean really ugly. I start to get swallowed up by the deep water. My arms go flailing and you can hear me screaming for help from miles away.

But when my gaze is fixed on Him…Wow! There’s no greater joy. I experience the fullness I long for. God gives me glimpses of His power and goodness. And it fills my heart with a desire to go deeper still. 

Through this journey, God has given me time to be available to my family and to others. I’ve had the privilege of a front-row seat as I watch God at work in hearts and lives. God has built bridges and provided connections with people that would’ve never been possible if I’d stayed in the shallow end. God has shown me His heart for people and is giving me that same heart too. If I didn’t know it before, I know it now…God is in the “people business.” I don’t mean Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I mean real face-to-face, pull your sleeves up and get messy with people business.

What about you? Are you being faithful with what God has entrusted to you? My hope is that this little piece of the online world can be a place where you would be encouraged to live in the deep by faithfully participating in all that God has eternally entrusted to you!

For His Glory,