- About Me -
Come on in! The door is always open. Pour yourself a cup while you "hush the rush" for a while. How do you like your coffee? Perhaps you prefer tea? I do love my afternoon herbal teas! I am obsessed with 'Laughing Man' dark roast at the moment. I get all panicky when the box runs low because I can't always find it in the store! Do you take cream or sugar? I love to tease my daughter for having a little coffee with her creamer! Today I'm having a scooch of cream with a few drops of vanilla creamer. Your cup smells divine!
Forgive me! I haven’t told you about myself. I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and follower of Christ. I didn't begin learning about Jesus until I was a young adult in college. It wasn't until I met my, now, husband, that his and his family's unwavering faith and commitment for God captured my heart. We joined a church shortly before we married, and a new relationship with Christ was born!
As a social worker in my twenties, I served an adult population of individuals with developmental disabilities. I worked at this non-profit organization in Southern California for seven years before deciding to stay at home with our first child. My husband, Ian, is incredibly gifted as a Funeral Director and has considered it his ministry over the years. So, with baby in tow, we bought a Funeral Home in Globe, Arizona. Globe is a small mining town nestled in the foothills of Tonto National Forrest, east of Phoenix, where we have made our home for 28 years.
As our business grew, I stepped out of the day-to-day office to focus on raising our kids and volunteering. I have the blessing of a tight-knit family, including two adult kids.
My daughter, Holley, shares my maiden name. She is a tiny but fiery thing that loves to remind others that she is not short, but "Fun-sized!' She is now married to her childhood sweetheart, Jon, who adores her.
My husband's namesake, Ian III, often goes by "Tripp," proudly credited to both of his grandpas. This young man, with a highly empathetic soul, loves his family fiercely and battles an ongoing addiction. He is supportive of and the catalyst for my writing path where you find me today. When I say we are "tightly-knit," it doesn't mean we have not had struggles over the years. It means we have each other's back, we love unconditionally, and we leave no one behind.
So what leads me to this thing called blogging?
I want to share with you how I found one of the purest, most authentic, bottomless relationships with the mightiest God. I did not embrace this relationship overnight. I fought it for many years.
I sat with, questioned, adored, became stagnant with, recommitted, tumbled, ghosted, tossed aside, and rushed back to the most forgiving friend I've ever had.
I groaned to the Lord, and He groaned for me.
I had a profound communication with Him that, at times, felt so wounded that I had no words. The Spirit knew. When my heart hurt so deeply that I could not breathe, He heard me. He wept with me. He interceded for me. He picked me up, dusted me off, and equipped me with a song in my heart that carried me through one more day.
Wordless Groans is a phrase that stirred my soul and hung in the air like a gentle breeze; like a whisper in my mind. Some days it came in a blustery wind that changed my direction. On other days it brought refreshment that moved me forward. It repeatedly wafted my way, carrying me to Romans 8:26:
"Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
It beckoned me. It shook up my beliefs, and it remade me. I could never have imagined the places this one verse would take me on my path of accepting, healing, and serving. I found hope and encouragement in the groans, and I want that for you too! That is what I hope to bring to this exciting world of blogging!
Enough about me. I want to hear more about you!
What brings you here? Is it a feeling of isolation; of being alone? Have you been waiting to find "your person” who will, without question, understand you? Perhaps you need to hear a voice out there that says: "I GET IT!" Are you broken with raw emotion that has nowhere to land, but on these pages? I have been there many times. I hear you!
Is the affliction I see in your eyes begging for company right now? Chronic illness, Depression, or Crippling fear? Which is it? The look of distress that once stared back at me was a cancerous tumor and the ravages of radiation. I remember what I called the "foggy brain, chronic pain, feelin' insane" aftermath!
What is the affliction you have been wrestling to the point of exhaustion? What is that thing that makes daily life a constant challenge? I sense the anger and regret that lurks behind the shattered framework of who you used to be.
Are you in need of a companion to share the grief of your daddy's death? Or maybe it's the decision to place your mom in memory care that has left you feeling fragile. How could you have predicted then that a pandemic would prevent you from seeing her or hugging her? It must feel like you are grieving alone. I will sit and listen. Nights are the worst, aren't they?
I don't mean to pry. I know you find it difficult to talk about your son's addiction.
It feels like a vacuum of darkness where you are unable to breathe.
You tell me you feel shame. You've been judging yourself unfairly.
Let me set my mug down right here and hug you for a while. You can cry. I know I have, many times.
Weariness hangs heavy on your shoulders. Though you groan in the rubble of the dark places, you need not continue to live there. May I walk you along a different path; A path that points to the Holy Spirit, who promises to help you in your weakness? His groans, too deep for words, will beckon you in your brokenness and turn your deep longing into a life you've longed for. There is more than where you've been. There is so much more.