I was born, raised, and baptized as an infant into a Catholic home. My grandparents made sure I knew about God, faith and religion. I am so thankful for my upbringing!! After I made my confirmation in the eighth grade I pretty much stopped going to church. It was as if I had done what I needed… I checked off every box that the Catholic Church recommended. And I thought I was done. I never forgot who God was, but it wasn’t a part of my daily life after that.

Fast-forward a few years later- I met my now husband, Jonny.  We dated, fell in love and within a couple years welcomed our precious daughter, Amelia, into the world. 3 years later Olliver, our sweet little boy. Just after he was born, I started feeling this tug to go to church. Jonny agreed, and we tried a few churches, but we really couldn’t pick one. We had no idea what we were doing or really even looking for. Not too long after this tug God placed a woman in my life who told me that her father-in-law was a pastor at a local church. I shared how nervous I was and that I felt we might not be good enough to go, and that we might not fit in. I had no idea what to wear or how to even walk through the doors. I hadn’t been to confession in many years and growing up in the Catholic Church I thought that’s what you had to do when you missed church for that many years. She assured me you’ll be fine! Just come as you are. My father-in-law is so cool he even cusses on the weekend when he’s not in the church.  Well that was enough to sell me. That very Sunday we went as a family.  We hardly missed a Sunday for the next few years.
For the first time in my life, I met Jesus. I learned that feeling I used to feel as a child, in the Catholic Church, was actually the Holy Spirit stirring inside me. I used to be afraid of it but I was so thankful to learn it was nothing to be afraid of.

I was so hungry to learn more. I joined every Mom and women’s group I could! I joined a small group and really got plugged in anyway I could. Each and every Sunday we went and listen to God‘s word, I would just sit and weep. I didn’t even know why most of the time.  I remember this one time in particular, I couldn’t wait to go. It was my birthday… all I wanted that year was to hear Gods word… and I couldn’t wait to cry. Jonny looked over at me, seeing my wet face and almost laughed as he asked if I was OK. God was refining me and transforming me bit by bit. He was doing a mighty work in me. One that now I look back in awe of!
He blessed me with mentor Moms, who coached me and taught me all the things a Godly woman would. How to love my children like God does, how to pray for my family and love and honor my husband, the way God wanted. I still keep in touch with this precious ladies now 10 years later.  God showed me a love that I never experienced through that church.

I fell in love with Jesus! A couple years later, Jonny proposed!! Some thing I had been praying for with those ladies and some thing I wasn’t sure would ever happen!

I felt the Lord calling me to ask something huge of Jonny. Something we didn’t know much about. But I knew the Lord was asking us to abstain from that moment on. Jonny was shocked and so was our family and friends. But, we dedicated ourselves to abstinence until marriage as we wanted to honor God with our relationship now that we both knew Jesus!
Shortly after our wedding we were blessed with our surprise blessing of a baby girl, Piper.

In hindsight, I can look back over my life and notice that the things I thought were so hard such as, never meeting my dad, growing up with a single mom, or having a new step dad,  to not seeing my siblings for years at a time. From living a lot of my life with my grandparents, to experiencing anxiety and panic attacks while in school… to watching my mom suffer an injury that almost cost her her life & me needing to step up to help raise my baby sister.  to hanging with the wrong crowd at school and everything in between. From a hard go facing special needs within our family that we never thought we would to all the other little things that felt huge that came in life. I can now look back and count it all as joy, because because I know that God has protected me in ways that I could never have imagined, and I know that he has turned all of that into good for his glory.

I’ve always kind of had a blind face. Of course, I would question things we were told our earthly minds couldn’t comprehend or understand, but Jesus has always been so real to me. I still to this day, have a hunger for the Lord, I still signup for all the mom’s groups in an. I still don’t know my earthy dad, but I do know my Heavenly Father.  I no longer cuss and I’m grossed out at the thought of that sounding appealing and drawing me to church. But I’m so thankful God used that to connect to me in that time. I’m in awe of his guidance protection and blessing on my life and my families life, and I am so thankful to know Jesus, and be a Christian. I am no longer afraid of death or the things that used to scare me before I knew who Jesus was. I love learning about Jesus and growing my relationship with Him. I am so blessed to be raising my children to know the Lord and felt it was time to re-dedicate my life to Jesus!!!