I grew up in a pastor’s family in northern Indiana with 2 brothers, and lived as a Hoosier till I graduated from college and married my high school sweetheart. Life changed dramatically when after one year of marriage, we moved to Atlanta, GA, where I lived for the next 32 years. I taught chorus and general music in middle school and elementary school, raised a son and daughter, established life-long friends, earned a Masters and Specialist degree, planned a wedding for our daughter, learned to love the South, its people and sweet tea and learned to say “bless your heart.” After 29 years of marriage, I lost my high school sweetheart to brain cancer and became a widow at the age of 53. I fell in love again and remarried in 2015 and now live back in Indiana, Fort Wayne, to be exact. Who would have guessed I’d end up back in the same town I moved from in 1984, now as a pastor’s wife!
Now for the nitty-gritty. I have a problem with procrastination and have been known to watch a movie or go out to dinner with a friend, even when I had a graduate paper due the next day! I also have a propensity for running late for most everything. It’s a time management problem, thinking I can fit just one more thing in before I leave the house. I’ve really run out of excuses, so when I saw this piece of decorated barn wood, I just had to have it. It says, “I’ve officially run out of excuses. I will likely be a little late because of who I am as a person.” My close friends have somewhat accepted this about me, but I haven’t given up on changing my ways. I occasionally shock my friends by arriving a few minutes early! I could also tell you many stories of nearly-missed flights and yes, a few missed flights. Oh, and one other thing. I’m a recovering perfectionist, trying to let go of things that really don’t matter. Just ask my very dear friend, Christie, about my need to follow every recipe to a T, no deviations allowed. In recent years, I have actually modified recipes and changed some of the ingredients. Say what?! I’m making progress. I have an insatiable sweet tooth and love to read:-). Oh, and did I mention shopping? I can out-shop just about any of my friends!
There is so much more I could tell you, but the most important thing you need to know about me is where my hope comes from. Hope to keep going when my world is crashing in around me. Hope that no matter what this world throws at me, my God is with me and for me. This hope is an anchor for my soul. And that anchor is Jesus Christ, who loves me and died on a cross for me, the sacrificial lamb for my sin. In Him alone, I have the hope of life eternal. Whatever life I have left, is lived with the hope of being with Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father and Creator forever.
“In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest doubt and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease. My comforter, my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand.” —Natalie Grant
Soul Care 