From Colorado to LA, From Wilson to Hover, From Lost to Found..

After a few week of talking about how nice it would be to have a blog... it is finally here. It feels strange though to know where to start. I know it is unrealistic to expect that I could communicate all that has transpired over the last few years into one paragraph, but I will do what I can and I pray that somehow this proves useful to someone.

In 2007 after my broken family had broken even more, my purity was gone, my sister and I both had become slaves to eating disorders and I was back and forth on whether or not at 17 years old there was any point in living- God gracefully intervened. Through participating in a production at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Co and experiencing love like I had never seen, I had given my life to Jesus Christ and was looking for some direction. A friend at the time encouraged me to look into Youth With a Mission and see what they may have to offer me. For shallow reasons only I decided that I would look into YWAM Los Angeles. I wanted to escape life in Colorado and the doors to go to LA flew wide open. I came to do a Discipleship Training School in the fall of that year and was extremely hesitant for the first few hours being near the YWAM campus but after an evening with my fellow students I was hooked. Over the course of the 5 month school I experienced God's provision ($7000 in 3 months), His faithfulness (freedom from an eating disorder) and a gorgeous new hope for the future, along with a humble new perspective on the world (I spent 2 months in Thailand serving girls rescued from prostitution, and poverty stricken children living in villages). I met my husband Shaun in the DTS and we began dating in March of '08. After going through another YWAM school (School of Ministry Development) and going on a 2 month outreach to Spain (created and led by Shaun), we then decided to staff a DTS together. My then 17 year old sister had recently given her life to the Lord and we managed to drag her, quite literally, to do the school herself. Again we saw God's provision as another $7000 came in for her to do the program. Shaun and were engaged that December and we led Meredith's outreach team for two months in India. On May 31st, 2009 Shaun and I were married in his hometown, Rochester Hills, Michigan. The wedding date was the anniversary of my grandparents' wedding which was on May 31st, 1947. Shaun asked my grandmother for her wedding ring, which was designed by my grandpa and also has a piece of my great grandmother's ring attached to it. Since our wedding over a year ago we have been living on the YWAM base in LA and have been working with the Discipleship Training School. We led our first school in January and are beginning to lead our second school on September 19th, 2010. My sister is on staff here in LA and will be a part of the DTS staff- leading her own small group and co-leading a team to South Africa in December for two months. Shaun has also started a skate ministry and is sharing the passionate love of Christ at a couple local skate parks, and I am leading a ministry geared towards the Arts, Entertainment, and Fashion Industries with a heart for using the performing hearts as a ministry tool.

Hmm.. I have only written one blog so far but I think that my first blog is my least favorite. There is too much information to tell all at once. Blog #2 will be better. 

All you really need to know is that God is ridiculous, Jesus is the only way to Him- and He is big and real and near and faithful and merciful and compassionate and slow to anger and abounding in love and what He says, He means. If you never read anything else I write that is okay, at least you got the main point.