My Story

My dad’s a minister.  My mom is a teacher.  I swore I’d have no part of either.  Now I’m batting 1.000.

The jist of it

I swear I’ve been in church all my life and had a love/hate relationship with it really.  I professed my faith in Jesus Christ at a young age; about when it made sense to my little kid brain that I did bad things for which I got spankings (a lot of them), and Jesus died on the cross to take my place for what I really deserved.  But as I’ve grown up, I’ve realized there’s really so much more to the Abundant Life God has called us to.

We are all made to worship…and we all (even if we claim to be without faith) worship something.  What gets your time, your affection, your energy, your thoughts?  That is what you worship.  And me?  Well I am an Idol Factory.  Sports, academics, abilities, people’s opinion of me, relationships, myself…you name it, I’ve worshipped it.  In the end, all those idols have let me down and many have broken my heart.  I still bear the scars; literally and figuratively.  But like the little rough and tumble girl that I was, I get to show them off and brag on my Jesus, the way He has never failed me, always been there, and “redeemed my life from the pit and crowned me with love and compassion…satisfied my desires with good things so my youth is renewed like the eagle’s”.

The whole 9 yards…well almost…

It was in 7th grade that I had a friend who taught me that the Christian life isn’t just sunday/wednesday/church, but a 24/7/365 ongoing relationship.  I would need that during my junior and senior year of high school when within a 10-month time span I broke my jaw, tore my ACL, and endured two deaths of people near to me.  My identity as an athlete was stripped from me as the doctors told me I’d never play again (demolishing my dream of playing college ball), and my faith was tested as I mourned with dear friends.  God sustained me in a very personal way as I shifted from “an athlete who happened to be a Christian” to a “Christian who happened to be an athlete”.  I was blessed to play soccer in college after all and soon transitioned to Stetson University in FL.  College brought its own challenges on and off the field.  I had no frame of reference for much of what I encountered there, having grown up rather sheltered in a minister’s home.  It was during  that time, however, that I became aware of just how much of an Idol Factory I am.  I never fully understood my influence as a college athlete and feel that I missed out on many opportunities because of my blinders, selfishness, and skewed priorities in relationships.  In that roller-coaster season of life, I began to wonder if I was beyond ever being used by the Lord again.

After graduation, I began a career journey: working in an out-patient rehab clinic to determine if I should accept the position awaiting me in Physical Therapy school.  I then interned with WUSA’s Carolina Courage (women’s professional soccer), and ending up teaching and coaching in the then largest and most diverse public high school in North Carolina.  It was here that I finally began to understand my influence as a coach.  I got to speak into students’ lives about all sorts of issues…I loved it!  God continued to refine me as I learned that the Idol of wins and losses will fail me, that I can’t please everybody, and as He revealed my need for community.  Eventually, my vocational passions led me to enter FCA’s chaplain training program at Auburn University (AL), and I subsequently served at Clemson University (SC), and in the Bay Area of California.  Throughout all that time, I’ve been refined and learned more about servant-leadership, teamwork, and deference to each other…some of the hardest lessons to learn if we’re honest.  I began to watch Him restore to me the years I had wasted as He made use of my greatest failings in the lives of those I served.  I took a brief break from FCA work when I returned to the south to be closer to family.  I landed in Atlanta, and have watched as God has pieced together the details in an extraordinary way, one day at a time.  I am teaching some college classes, facilitating challenge courses at Georgia Tech, and taking some seminary classes.  And just recently, I have rejoined FCA staff to serve the athletic department at Georgia Tech as well!

I turned 30 not too long ago.  Some of you are thinking, “dang she’s old”.  Others of you are saying, “oh you’re just still a baby”.  Whatever your take on it, I’ll tell you one thing, it makes you think!  See, by 30, you’re supposed to be married, have the 1.5 children, a mortgage and a steady career.  Yeah, it’s not been in the plans for me apparently so far.  I started out pre-med, got into PT school, taught PE, then entered ministry…pretty much a decline by much of the world’s standards.  Instead, I’ve been on this crazy adventure to take God at His Word and to trust that He is indeed the “more than enough” God He claims to be.  It looks convoluted from the outside in, but from where I stand, it’s a straight shot.  I don’t understand all His ways…and sometimes am frankly frustrated by them…but I know that this sheep is entrusting her life to my Good Shepherd.  No doubt, we’ll be in for an adventure like none other.