About Me

I am in my 30s and have never been married. Many of my good friends are married and have kids, and I thought I would be there by now too. I still desire and hope I get to experience life with a godly man who loves me and others well, and together we get to train and teach little ones, but I recognize that is not guaranteed.

I am slowly becoming ok with not knowing what the future holds and "living the questions" and uncertainty.

I have taught middle school students for nine years. Though I keep trying to leave teaching for something else like academic advising, God continues to keep me in the classroom. Teaching high school ESL or AVID, being a school counselor, working for a nonprofit, providing support for international students, or nursing sound like fun and rewarding alternatives.

I lived in Xela, Guatemala for five of those years. I loved the friends, the warm people, the beauty, the time for long lunches and afternoon coffee, the simplicity, the colors, and the slower pace of life. I miss the fulfillment, joy, and purpose that I found teaching there.

I want to better recognize God's voice and follow where He leads.

May the prayer of St. Francis be my own.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Some things that matter to me are:

• helping and serving others
• being friends with those on the margins (poor, minorities, immigrants)
• dreaming of what could be
• encouraging others
• showing up for people and being consistent in their lives
• drinking good coffee
• traveling and learning about new cultures
• listening and seeking to understand first
• getting outside (hiking, running, walking, reading)
• reading
• practicing Spanish
• spending time with good friends
• doing small things with great love
• having honest conversations
• laughing a lot
• living life palms up (ready to receive and let go of)

I believe that we live in a broken and hurting world. It's full of pain and sadness and injustice, but that's not how God originally intended for things to be. We sinned (back in the Garden), so we are separated from God, the loving Father, but He wants us to come back to Him. He longs for this, because He created us to be in communion with Him. There's nothing we can do, absolutely nothing. This is hard for me, because I still catch myself thinking that I can earn God's favor by doing more good things. It's more about receiving what's already been done on our behalf. Jesus lived a perfect, flawless life and then offered Himself as a sacrifice for each of us. Through Jesus's death and resurrection, we can return to this relationship with God, and I am convinced that life with Him is far greater than life on our own.