THIS IS ME...

Originally from Richmond, Virginia, I spent four years living in Cofradía, Nayarit, Mexico (2006-2010) as a missionary through Alternative Missions! While there I worked as admin assistant to the base director, Short-Term Missions (STM) Coordinator, and with the Youth Ministry doing Bible study and discipleship of the youth girls in the area. YEA GOD!

In 2010 I returned to Virginia, though I remain on staff with the mission in Cofradia. Currently, I continue as the STM Coordinator and with long-distance mentoring of youth girls via telephone. I also love to visit anytime finances and the Lord permit!

In addition, I work as a full-time nanny to triplet boys (Aug 2010 to present), and I pick up any other odd jobs I can find along the way. While my ministry vision and goals are still in place, they have shifted slightly to allow room for paying off debt and hopefully furthering my education: I'm interested in Media Arts & Communications (web design, digital, etc.) as well as Spiritual Formation/Christian Discipleship. We shall see how those interests develop into a tangible path over time!

What about before I was a missionary, you ask? Well...

I graduated from Mary Washington College (now University of Mary Washington) in 2003 with a BA in English Literature. I was introduced to the ministry in Cofradía through a short-term trip there with my church, New Life Community Church of Stafford, for Christmas 2005. It was during that trip that the Lord spoke to my heart and began calling me to return to Mexico full-time. Believing that there was more to life, and more for me, than the rat-race that was allowing me to barely keep my head above water, I moved to Mexico three months later trusting that the Lord knew what He was doing. And trust me, HE DOES!! That was the best move I ever made, and I LOVE what I do!

But there's so much more to me than what I do: I love Jesus. I love my friends and my family. I love hanging out with people and talking about more than the weather. I love movies and music and reading. I love life, and I love those moments when I am really alive. I love Mexico, and I love the feeling that I am EXACTLY where God created me to be, even if it's not necessarily IN Mexico. Nothing can beat that peace! I love Lilies and Frogs. I love color. Teddy bears make me happy. I think white Christmas lights are magical! I find comfort in fireplaces, down comforters, flowers, and candles. I love it when the crisp autumn weather forces me to wear sweaters and bites the tip of my nose. I love to smile, and there's nothing better than laughter.

Some of my interests include: the Bible, music (piano, guitar, singing), reading, Frogs, cross-stitch, scrapbooking, Lilies, journaling, tea parties, coffee, movies, MEXICO, friends, Peacocks, things that make me think and sharpen my mind, and oh so much more!

There is no other place I’d rather be than living in the adventure that Christ has set before me ministering in Mexico with the A.M. team, even from a long distance. I invite you to come along with me on this wild ride of faith, fight, and promises fulfilled! Check out the blog to find out what’s going on in life and ministry. Check the calendar to find out about events that are being planned. See pictures and prayer needs, and visit links that you find here. There is nothing that will get in God’s way to complete His plan. As Jesus said to one father, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” The horizons are ours for the taking. Now, we just have to decide which one to start with!

 

THE CALL...

In the summer of 2001, I was praying about whether God would have me pursue a staff position with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the campus ministry with which I was involved during college. During that time I received a call on my life. The call impressed itself on my heart through a series of incidents and encounters, but the confirmation from the Lord came in the form of Luke 10:2-3:

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves.”

My prayer to the Lord had been, “Lord, is this where you want me to go, what you want me to do?” I believed that His answer was "yes", which He seemed to confirm in various ways. However, a year later I discovered that InterVarsity would not be the fulfillment of that call.

In 2003, I graduated from college and immediately acquired a job as office assistant in a start-up OB/GYN practice. Nope, it had nothing to do with my major, but it was a job, and it was a time of extreme spiritual growth. A year later I acquired a job with Northrop Grumman Mission Systems as a technical editor. That job paid well, but I found myself itching to do something that had more eternal significance, that satisfied the pull in me rooted in that call from Luke.

For Christmas 2005, I went to Cofradía, Nayarit, Mexico with a small group of families from my church. We were there for 10 days over Christmas. Only a few days into the trip, I knew God was calling me to be in Cofradía. I couldn’t believe it at first. I had never once considered being a missionary! It had never crossed my mind, yet here I was in another country with the sense in my heart that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.  In March 2006, three months after I returned home from that trip, I returned to Cofradía for a three-month internship, during which time the Lord made it clear that I was to join the staff full-time. I returned home in June of 2006 to raise support, went to Guadalajara in August for some refreshing of the Spanish I’d learned in high school (which had miraculously not been forgotten after 7 years of not being used), and then returned to Cofradía in October where I stayed (except for visa trips home every 6 months) for the next four years.

Then in May 2009, the Lord confirmed to me that it was time for me to return to live in the US. The decision was made official that summer, and on January 12, 2010, I moved back to Richmond, VA to live full-time. However, though He was moving me back to the States, the Lord was not severing my involvement with the Cofradia ministry. I have remained on staff as their STM Coordinator, and I continue to do weekly Bible study and mentoring with the young ladies I have mentored since moving down there.

In addition, in order to supplemente my income and compensate for the higher cost of living here in the US, I acquired a job as full-time nanny to triplet baby boys in August 2010. Caring for them has been a challenge and a delight and has added a new sense of purpose that has filled the void created when I moved off the mission field. I look forward to their daily and continued growth and development just as I delight in that of the Mexican believers I have grown to love dearly.

God continues to teach and grow me in ways I could never have imagined or requested. For the first time ever, I am content. That is a gift from the Lord, and I will stay put wherever He places me for as long as He keeps me there.