Along the way, I’ve earned a few degrees, written a few things, spoken to a few groups, and learned far more than any diploma could document.

This site is where those pieces of my life come together: faith, teaching, writing, ministry, and the stories I’ve collected along the way.

I’m glad you’re here.

Teacher and Educator

Teaching has been the thread running through most of my adult life. For twenty-five years, I taught students from middle school through college, although most of those years were spent in high school English classrooms. I also taught theatre, worked in educational technology and instructional design, and served in leadership roles along the way.

I loved the literature and the language, but what I loved most was teaching students how to learn—how to think critically, ask good questions, wrestle with difficult ideas, and discover that struggling with something doesn’t mean you’re failing. Sometimes it means you’re learning.

My own education never really stopped, either. I earned a B.A. in English/Secondary Education from Cedarville University, an M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision from Frostburg State University, an M.Ed. in Educational Technology from James Madison University, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Instructional Technology from Frostburg State University. More recently, I returned to Cedarville for graduate study in Biblical Counseling.

After all those years as both teacher and student, I still believe one of the greatest gifts we can give someone is not simply an answer, but the tools—and the confidence—to keep learning.

Writer and Author

Writing has always been part of my life, although for many years I thought of myself primarily as a teacher who happened to write. These days, I usually say that I’m a teacher who writes, not a writer who teaches. Teaching still shapes the way I approach a blank page: I want to tell a good story, make complicated things understandable, and leave the reader with something worth thinking about.

My writing ranges from stories gathered over a lifetime in education to reflections on faith, Scripture, ministry, family, and the ordinary moments that turn out not to be so ordinary after all.

My work has also appeared in published collections, including Faithful in Every Season, where my three selections tell similar stories in which life and faith meet in unexpected places.

Selected Publications

• Faithful in Every Season — contributing author of “Dear Mom, Trust Me. God,” “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow?” and “Called to Comfort” (2025)
• “Using the SWOT for Student Success: Building a Case for Strategic Planning from Pre-K to Post-Doc” — co-author, College and University (2015)
• Perceptions of Administrative Support: The View from the Classroom and the Office — doctoral dissertation, Frostburg State University (2016)
• Impact of the Flipped Classroom Technique on the Teaching and Learning of a Grammar Unit in an Honors English I Course — master’s thesis, James Madison University (2013)

Women in the Word

These days, one of my greatest joys is teaching the Bible to women.

In 2021, I began leading a small women’s Bible study at my church. What started around a table has grown into Women in the Word, a community of women who gather each week to study Scripture, ask questions, encourage one another, and grow together in faith.

Our purpose is captured in three simple phrases: Connect in Heart. Grow in Grace. Deepen in Truth. But underneath all of it is an even bigger goal: disciples making disciples.

I love helping women discover that serious Bible study isn’t reserved for scholars or pastors. We can open the Word, understand what we’re reading in its context, ask hard questions, and learn to recognize the beautiful thread of God’s redemptive story running from Genesis to Revelation.

Leading Women in the Word has become one of the great privileges of this season of my life—and one I never could have planned for myself.

Speaker and Teacher

Give me a room full of people, a subject worth talking about, and a little time to prepare, and I’m pretty much in my happy place.

After more than 25 years in classrooms—and now several years teaching women through Bible study and ministry—I still love taking something that may seem complicated or intimidating and making it understandable, practical, and engaging.

I’m available to speak for women’s events, retreats, Bible studies, church groups, educators, and other gatherings. My speaking and teaching topics generally fall into a few areas: Bible and theology, Christian living and discipleship, education and learning, and women’s ministry.

Sample Speaking and Teaching Topics

• More Than a Proof Text — Learning to read Scripture in context rather than collecting isolated verses for life’s problems.
• The Bible Is One Story — Seeing the beautiful thread of God’s redemptive story from Genesis to Revelation.
• Disciples Making Disciples — Moving beyond simply attending Bible study to becoming women who help others know and follow Christ.
• What Are You Afraid Of? — Examining fear through Scripture and learning the difference between simply trying to feel less afraid and learning to trust God more.
• Teaching People, Not Just Content — Lessons from a lifetime in education about how people actually learn—and what that means for anyone who teaches Scripture.
• Jesus as Savior, Lord, and Teacher – We often know Jesus best as Savior—but Scripture calls us to know Him as more. This message explores what it means to trust Jesus as Savior, submit to Him as Lord, and follow Him as Teacher, and why all three are essential to a life of genuine discipleship.

Biblical Counseling

Sometimes we need someone to come alongside us and help us think biblically about the circumstances, struggles, and relationships we’re facing.

My approach to biblical counseling grows out of the same conviction that shapes my teaching: God’s Word is meant to be understood, trusted, and lived. Biblical counseling isn’t about handing someone a verse for every problem. It’s about listening carefully, asking good questions, and helping people see their lives and circumstances through the larger truths of Scripture.

I am training in biblical counseling and continue to pursue opportunities to grow in the private ministry of the Word—walking alongside others with compassion, wisdom, prayer, and biblical truth.

Beyond the Bio

When I’m not teaching, writing, studying, or preparing for Women in the Word, life is wonderfully ordinary.

I’ve been married to my husband, Tom, for forty years, and somewhere along the way our family grew to include four of my very favorite people: our grandchildren, Emma, Hunter, Ethan, and Bennett. Being their grandmother is one of the great joys of my life.

I’m a lifelong learner, an enthusiastic reader, a theatre lover, and a traveler who would almost always rather explore a place than sit by a pool. I love good books, good conversation, and a good cup of coffee—actual coffee, no sugar, no creamer, no flavors… but possibly a shot of espresso!

Our home also includes a collection of large, furry family members who ensure that quiet, clean floors, and personal space are mostly theoretical concepts.

I love Jesus, I love people, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the stories God writes through ordinary lives. At this stage of mine, I’m grateful for the opportunity to keep learning, keep teaching, keep writing—and keep discovering what He has for me next.

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you’ll stick around, read a story or two, and join the conversation. If something you find here makes you laugh, think, learn, or look at God’s Word a little differently, then I’m glad you came.