I think this is supposed to be my autobiography, so I am going to try and make this as entertaining as possible! I was born in Ohio, moved to Indiana, and then moved to Detroit, Michigan—all before I was 2! I lived in Michigan until the end of elementary school, so I definitely say Michigan is where I spent my childhood. I loved the fun winters of ice skating, sledding, and playing in the snow, as well as being able to ride my bike to school and stomp on the ponds as they were melting in the spring to see if I could make myself fall through. I refer to these days as my “pond tromping days.” Ahhh…the good ole days. After Michigan my dads job took us to Nashville, TN where we lived for two and a half years. Nashville was fun, but it was definitely during my awkward middle school years, so I think I am going to skip this part of my story! Nashville led us to Atlanta where I have lived ever since.
My Family
As you have probably caught on, my family moved a lot! But, thankfully for me, while sometimes moving can be really hard, I have an amazing family to lean on. My parents, Jerry and Beth have been married for almost thirty years, something that I admire and hope for myself. They have been amazing examples to me of what love and commitment is, and for that I am so thankful. I have had a marriage modeled for me that I have always admired and can only hope the same for myself. My mom, Beth, leads a Bible study for women in our basement each week and it is so cool to see her lead and disciple these women. My mom is a woman who is passionate about her Maker and that is one of the qualities I respect most about her. She is so wise and so eager to learn more about the Lord, I can only hope I can possess the same passion she so openly shares. My dad, Jerry, has been working for the Kroger Company since he was about three years old. Just kidding! But, he really has been working for them since college, so I have grown up a grocery store kid! My dad is one of the smartest, most determined, and hardest working person you will ever meet. He is always working hard to provide for our family and his drive for excellence is inspiring.
I also have two older sisters, Jen and Kelly who have always been some of my favorite people in the world. I used to (or maybe still do) annoy them to pieces, but, thankfully, they still love me! Jen, the oldest sister, is a group fitness instructor on top of being married to Reid, and a mom to their two kids, Ella (almost 4) and Cooper (this will change every month since he is only a baby, so we will say…very small). Kelly, the middle sister, works at North Point Community Church and is a senior at Georgia State University. She also went out the other day and bought the same car I have, so you can see how much she admires me. ;) You can read more about them in the “wedding party” section!
The Journey
Ok, this is getting long…and we haven’t even scratched the surface! Just kidding! Ok, high school graduation led me to Belmont University where I spent one glorious year as a music business and classical oboe performance double major. I know, who wouldn’t want to be a professional oboe player? The end of that year came and I really felt like God was calling me somewhere beyond college, so I decided to take a year off and do a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). In September 2003 I hopped on a plane by myself and moved to London for the first part of my DTS. The first three months were focused on developing my relationship with God and I can honestly say I fell more in love with Jesus on my DTS than I ever knew possible. It was here I feel like I understood for the first time, the seriousness of the sacrifice that was made for me. Following the lecture phase in London, December led me to Targu Mures, Romania, where I spent 3 months with an amazing team teaching English, working in an orphanage, investing in high school and college students, and running a coffeehouse that creatively communicated the Gospel every week. I loved it! Romania is where I decided I wanted to pursue ministry full time! So back to Atlanta I went…ready to be a college drop out and me a missionary!
Turns out there were other plans in store. After an extra semester off I went back to school at Georgia State University (where I will FINALLY be graduating in May!). And now, a few years later, you will find me working in an amazing job with an amazing ministry called BigStuf Camps. We produce camps for middle school and high school youth groups in Panama City Beach, FL and we are able to see over 18,000 students hear the amazing message of Jesus every summer. It is absolutely amazing. I am doing what I love working with hospitality by putting those 
18,000 students in rooms as well as leading an awesome group of college interns through the extremely challenging BigStuf Internship. Every summer I am able to go to Africa with the intern team on an amazing trip with Compassion International to show our interns the severity of what is going on all over the world. It is an incredible trip and every year I am amazed at the way a week in Kenya can absolutely change the lives of college students. The picture you see above is one of the kids I sponsor through Compassion, Immanuel. I have been able to see him for the past 2 years (and hopefully again in May!). It is amazing to see what God is doing in Immanuel’s life through the amazing ministry Compassion has all over the world. It’s a blast and I am absolutely blessed.
(go to www.compassion.com for more information on child sponsorships. Not only will you absolutely change the life of a child and their entire family, but you will be absolutely blessed by the relationships you will build with them!)
In a nutshell?
I am nothing without Jesus. That is where I find my identity and my true joy. I am so thankful for my family and friends that have joined me on this amazing journey and I can’t wait to see what is next in my story. I love my job. I love students and seeing Jesus shatter their worlds and transform them into who He wants them to me. My prayer is that I will be willing to drop everything at anytime and go where the Lord is calling me…THAT sounds pretty amazing!