I was brought up in a small town church and accepted Christ into my heart in Jr. High. Throughout high school and college I tried my best to live out my faith in my own strength… but something seemed to have been missing.

I met my college sweetheart and was married just after college graduation. We vowed on our wedding day to keep Jesus as the center of our family but did not fully understand what that could mean.

Soon children came along and though I was a music teacher by trade, we opted for me to stay home with the kids. In this time I was very active in our church. It was during this time that I heard God call me into ministry. So I began to pursue God in a fresh new way and when watching the movie, “Left Behind” I fell to my knees and asked Jesus to not just save me but to be Lord of my life. That is when my husband and I started to understand what it truly meant by putting Jesus at the center of our marriage and life.

Upon getting my minister’s license my husband’s aunt was about to pass away and asked me to officiate her funeral. After talking about seeing Jesus she pulled me close and spoke the words, “Make them Understand” to me. At the time she was speaking of her husband and son she was leaving behind but it was on the drive home God spoke to my heart as to my mission to help people understand what a life in Christ really is. This is the definition of who I am… helping people to understand the love of God, the salvation of Jesus, and the empowerment of Holy Spirit.

In 2013 I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins, Large B cell Lymphoma. I had a very large mass in my chest that sent me immediately to the hospital to start chemo. After going 6 rounds it was supposed to be over but as the large mass shrunk two new masses grew. I was sent to OSU for a stem cell transplant. Long story short… God healed me of the cancer but He also opened up the gift of painting which brings us to this point.

In the midst of going through the rounds of chemo and the stem cell transplant I was Ordained with the Assembly of God. God gave many opportunities to help teach people that being a Christian does not mean there will not be hard times but it does mean that we can hold on to Jesus and He will walk through them with us.

The artwork you will see is one way Jesus continued to remind me that He was with me.

I had always been creative but never had the opportunity to take any art classes. Finally, as a continuing education class for my music teacher license, I took one college painting class that gave me the basics to painting with Acrylics. I needed something to help keep my hands and mind active when my body couldn’t… so I started to paint. Much to my surprise, this is where the artist journey began.