Hello! And thank you all for sticking with me, many of you for years! I am only a couple followers shy of reaching 200 and felt it would be a nice change of pace to share a bit about myself.
But first, in a nutshell, I started Hopesong blog in 2016 when I realized that I had so much to share about my spiritual journey. My husband and I were going through a two year ministry school through our church at the time, called Zion.
It was honestly the most defining moment in our lives, as everything we believed and hoped for in Christ came to light and became tangible for the first time. We saw miracles, we were a part of miraculous signs that could not be explained. And God opened our eyes to more. As well as helped us to discover our true identities in Him and to heal from the hurts in our past.
Once we graduated, God led us back to our hometown to Hope Family church. Looking back, I see that we were not just called here to serve but to be served. To “do life” with other Christians. That was something we couldn’t do at Zion. It is a church specifically designed to equip believers and deploy them to their regions.
Pastor Dan and Erica showed us what a spiritual family should be. They are the truest definition of the term I’ve ever witnessed. And I know God wanted us to have a home and to be more than just spiritual leaders. He wanted us to become brothers, sisters, mothers to His people and to feel that same connection for ourselves.
I am fully convinced that every believer should feel this connection, somewhere. We are a body and a body should be one. God made us to belong, not to be apart.
That aside, I began writing again and then pulled away as I busied myself with the church, marriage, and factory work. But God was still on the move in our church, and in our lives.
Aaron and I began a ministry of our own, using Hope Song as our new YouTube music channel. We played together on the worship team, Aaron became the worship leader of our church. And we also worshiped as part of Burn. A growing group of worshippers in many regions who share a goal of transforming their towns, states, country with continuous prayer/worship.
Alongside our worship ministry, I am also head of the preschool class at our church. Which is something else God highlighted to me since before I went into factory work I worked with children and felt His anointing on it. Making windows just wasn’t as important as raising the next generation to know Christ.
After that, I found out I was pregnant, had James during the COVID pandemic, and am writing today on the flip side of what all that entailed. It was a dark moment amidst my greatest blessing. But things are looking up now and I have come away from this recognizing how much I need God in my life.
You see, my husband and I have surrounded ourselves with God ever since we were little. We have sought Him and have sought a blameless life. We wanted to give God everything and pursue Him with a ministry career.
I can’t name all the studies, sermons, conferences, seminars, and Bible studies we have attended or even led. And yet, God showed me this year that no amount of time and knowledge can pull me through life’s storms. The only one who can save me from myself is God. I can’t go forward without Him, in fact, I will backslide and fall into a pit just as anyone.
It was a humbling and scary realization. That I really must rely on God fully. That a relationship with Him is all that will do. Because if I pull away from Him I don’t carry Him with me-I forget who I am and who He is! Yikes!
I know I said that this was the story in a nutshell. But I wanted to share this and be vulnerable for the sake of all my readers who are just as human as I am. I don’t want others to make the same mistakes and to think they are alone. That feeling of loneliness only comes and takes hold when we walk away from God. And it will only go away when you return to Him.
And so a bit about myself- aside from everything I shared, that is.
I’m 27 years old, grew up in Marion, Ohio in a Christian home. My parents actually became Christians not long before I was born. I have no siblings, and struggled to find acceptance in school, since I was a total tomboy.
My social life really didn’t begin til 6th grade, when I finally switched schools and discovered what true friendship was like. From there I started growing in confidence and even began singing in the praise band at our old church with my dad.
Still, I was the shy kid who wore glasses and didn’t mingle too much outside of my group of friends. No one knew that the book nerd was actually a rockstar outside of school. I was invited to join a Christian rock band called Faithful Redemption and God opened so many doors for us to go professional someday. Unfortunately, it never worked out and I lost so much more than just a dream when it all fell apart. I lost some dear brothers.
Alongside music, I also loved art and writing. My English teacher awarded me his “best English student” senior year and I received the same from my art teacher. One drawing of mine even made it to an art museum for a show. Later in college as I pursued an associates in social work, I also excelled in writing. The professor kept one of my works for future students to read.
When it came to sports, I really didn’t do much after middle school. I used to love basketball and cross country (even though I had asthma). But once basketball teams broke into A (the best), and B (second best) and cross country races became 3 miles instead of 2, I was done competing.
I did things only for the fun of it. I had no desire to stand out and be popular in school. And so I even refrained from singing in plays and concerts because I had experienced that having talent didn’t always make good friends. I guess in some ways I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted and that’s why I never even tried for it.
Toward the tail end of my high school days I met Aaron at our childhood church. Oddly enough, I knew his sister and dad quite well before I knew he even existed. We joined a new contemporary Christian band called One Way Worship which also fell apart as its members went to college and moved away. All that remained was Aaron and I.
Aaron truly helped me climb out of my shell and blossom. He always believed in me and pushed me when no one else would. I owe him so much and didn’t make it easy on him. My identity quickly meshed into his even before we were married.
And because of this I share many of his interests and he shares mine. From Harry Potter to anime, Christian singers and bands to alternative genres ranging from country to rap. We love the outdoors, good food, board games like settlers of caton, and laughing with friends.
Some interests that still remain my own (though he supports me fully) involve writing and art. I am currently writing my first novels and hope to publish them professionally in the near future. Surprisingly they are Star Trek novels. I’m a huge fan and feel quite comfortable writing about pre-created characters I am familiar with.
The only difficult hurdle will be finding an agent and getting my novels approved by Paramount (who exclusively owns Star Trek). All their novels follow a specific list of guidelines and rules which I’ve made sure to follow.
Someday I hope to write my own Sci-fi novel that tackles spiritual and societal issues we face today in such a way that the reader is influenced unawares. Star Trek was able to do this when other shows couldn’t because on the surface it was just fiction.
There’s so much more that I love but I’m going to cut it short because honestly, I’d love to hear from all of you what your interests/hobbies/gifts are! 😊
Thank you all for reading and for all your support and prayers. God bless!
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