Useless Details and Bio

Things I’m passionate about:

• God – He and I have had a long and interesting relationship that just keeps changing.  He never stops challenging me and I’m sure I wear Him out with my stubborn ways, with my incessant questions and doubts.  But He is patient and good.  I love Him.  Illusive yet somehow present.  I can’t figure Him out and I guess that’s just the way it’s supposed to be.
• My husband, Keith – love this man (in my head I’m hearing Salt-N-Pepa sing “What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man”).  He is crazy smart, has a heart of gold, and I respect and trust him more than anyone I know.  I don’t know how he has learned to embrace all my quirks, but he makes me feel loved and valued, flaws and all.  He also drives me crazy sometimes, but what would a marriage be without that little test?
• My kids – Casey (26) Carlie (8), Luke (4), Lela (4).  I love them all so much  – you know, that Mommy kind of love that is too deep and crazy to put into words.  Such little characters!  Life is never dull.
• My family – this is a broad term because I have my real family, my FLF (friends like family) and my Christian family – all bless my life in unique ways  and I am so grateful!

The little things that make me happy:

• Reading, writing, song-writing – some of my favorite things to do
• Taking pictures – I won’t even say “photography” because that’s not really what I do, but I love taking pictures.
• Coffee – need I say more?
• Music and dancing
• Chocolate, whoopee pies (the good ones with the real icing) and, best of all, Krispy Kreme donuts!
• Bargain shopping
• Traveling – it’s the best teacher

In case you REALLY want more useless details, here’s a mini version of my life so far:

Strange and wonderful early years:

Let’s see if you can guess my parents line of work with these few clues:  I lived out of a suitcase, traveled to a new place every week, was homeschooled, and performed in front of people.

When I describe my early years, it sounds a lot like I was raised in the circus or something.  I guess in some ways, we were like a circus – a bit of a freak show because our lives were so different. My Dad was a vocational evangelist.  He and my Mom began their ministry (Riddle Evangelistic Association) when I was four years old and my younger brother was only four months old.  They were both seminary graduates and my Dad pastored a church for four years in Texas before they felt called to full time evangelism. (Side note:  my Mom and Dad are extraordinary people – I could write endlessly about them!)

I was just a kid, so it all seemed normal to me.  I didn’t realize our lifestyle was different until I was much older, and even then, I didn’t care.  I really enjoyed being on the road, meeting new people, seeing new places.  My brother and I contributed (voluntarily) to the ministry by singing in church and we even had the opportunity to record songs and travel on mission trips to foreign countries at a young age.  It was a truly amazing life!  I loved the Lord from a young age – put my trust in Him at age 5 and never looked back.  I loved my family, loved the church (although its flaws were not obvious to me until I was older), and, in my opinion, led a unique and charmed life.

High school, college and my 20’s:

My parents altered their lifestyle to allow me to attend public high school and I had a really great experience.  I loved every minute of it, was a cheerleader, involved in everything (or at least got in on the group pictures in the yearbook), and did all the typical stupid things that teenagers do.  I was a social person, flirty and loud and silly – every day was a party.  My freshman year I had some issues with bullies (don’t worry, I was both naive and self-confident, a combination that fully protected me), but looking back at my teenage self, I probably would have wanted to beat me up too.  I went into high school thinking it was my new mission field (I’m not kidding – I was serious about this), but I definitely dropped the ball.  My life became more about me and less about Christ, but this didn’t catch up to me until my sophomore year of college.

I attended college at UNC- Chapel Hill and, again, had a wonderful experience.  I was a journalism major and was humbled at how much I had to study.  It was in college that my faith began to take root in new ways as I began to wrestle with everything I believed and I began to get to know God on a new level.  I partied and had a great time my freshman year, but God really got ahold of me and I began writing music and processing all of those new emotions.  In the summer of my sophomore year, I even recorded an album of original songs and traveled in the summer, doing concerts in various churches.

Convinced that Christian friends and/or youth group would have changed my high school experience, I moved back home after graduation and began working with the youth in our local church.  It was the clearest calling from God I’ve ever had and I loved every minute with those kids.  We had a blast!  God taught me as He taught them and we muddled through together, learning how to love Him and how to live with purpose.  I worked as a compliance analyst for an insurance company and loved my job, but my passion was working with the kids.

I’m not sure why I was in such a hurry, but I married just a few months after graduating from college.  It made sense at the time, but the marriage didn’t last.  Divorce is always terrible and in my conservative little Bible-belt town, it was a tough decision to make.  But as with most difficult situations in life, I learned valuable lessons, and I learned that God is not a punishing, vindictive God – He is a God of redemption and second chances.

 30’s and a miraculous family

My life changed drastically when I fell in love with Keith.  With him, I learned that God has a sense of humor because my perfect mate ended up being incredibly different from me – but it works and it’s wonderful! The first few years we were married, we moved around a lot (three states in four years).

Once we realized we would probably never be able to have biological children, we moved on to adoption (something we both wanted even before we found out about our odds).  Our first child was Casey and she came to us when she was 16.  I hope to tell that story sometime, but those teen years were both wonderful and tumultuous, to put it mildly.  The good news is that I learned quickly that I had to depend on the Lord and my prayer life was vibrant during those years!

We traveled to China to get Carlie when she was 11 months old.  The adoption process is tough, but difficult situations are the best teachers, and God had much to teach us while we were waiting.  Carlie was just a little ray of sunshine from the moment we met her.

As we looked into adopting again, we found out that in Massachusetts, fertility treatments are covered by insurance.  So we decided that if we were good candidates, we would just try it once.  Well, it worked the first time and double – and now we have Luke and Lela.

All of our kids came to us in unconventional ways and I just love it.  God is so good.  So my thirties have been about being a Mom – the most joyful and exhausting and challenging and entertaining role of my life.  It’s a privilege and I just hope I’m not screwing it up too badly.

40’s

I just turned 40 last year, so I’m still figuring out this decade, if I’m lucky enough to stick around.   The twins are now four years old, so it was only about a year ago that I started to get a little of my sanity back.  I spent years in that fog of grossness (diapers, snot, puke, pee, poop, slobber, etc.) and sleep deprivation.  So the fact that I can take frequent showers, get regular sleep, and sit down at the computer to write again – all of that still feels like luxury.  I’m ready to revel in life, take it all in.

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