After 20 years of serving on staff at Wooddale, I’ll be retiring on May 31, 2021. God brought me to Wooddale as a broken, “cracked pot” after going through a difficult divorce from a 26-year marriage. He used Wooddale to redefine my life through missions and serving our global partner missionaries who live and work here, near and far. At that time,
I received a late-night phone call from my dad that knocked the wind out of me. My mom had a stroke and because of an existing heart condition, was being rushed into surgery. Time wasn’t on her side. My husband and I couldn’t go to the hospital due to COVID restrictions. Grabbing my women’s small group study book, I started skimming my
The first holiday season after the death of my husband was like no other I’d experienced in my life. From the outside, my husband (Ken) seemed young and healthy. No one expected he’d be diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. My 12-year-old son thought his dad would be around for a long time and in his grief, experienced a life-threatening
I’ve seen God answer the prayers of this anxious mama and my 9-year-old daughter in many ways. Before COVID, we prayed together every morning as I dropped her off for school. We prayed for her day, the staff and any concerns she had. Part of our routine was also picking out a classmate’s name tag, laying our hands on it and praying
As a young idealist, I longed to serve others and make a positive impact in the world around me. I was still 17 when I signed up to be an Air Force linguist. Being young in my faith, I made the dangerous prayer to give up everything to do God’s will. And just like that, my life changed. I found myself in
My faith journey started in the summer of my sophomore year of college. I went to a Christian school but still hadn’t grasped exactly what a relationship with Jesus meant. I decided to go on a summer-long mission trip in Chicago where college soccer players came together to coach soccer camps and teach local children about Jesus. While there, we got to
I had never had a tattoo before and didn’t know if I would ever get one either. After my cancer treatment and all of the incredible events that happened during and after my treatment I felt very compelled to have my “faith” in the Lord ever present for me. I came across a tattoo design that had a cross and a cancer
After graduating from high school and leaving for college, I slowly began drifting away from my faith. Distractions like school and work took priority over God. Many of the habits I’d built up—reading the Word, praying regularly and engaging in community with other believers—had faded away. I was left feeling lonely and confused. My overall attitude had changed completely. I became shorter
