About Me

Hey! Thanks for checking out my blog!  Consider this your briefing before the mission.

Born in Madison, WI in 1993, it's a miracle I even lived to see my first birthday. I was rather gray when I was born, and thus was whisked away to ICU. There, they discovered that in addition to not breathing well, I also had a hard-to-discover infection that kills most infants that have contracted it, because it isn't detected until it's too late. Obviously, God had plans for me!

My little sister, Danielle, was born 2 1/2 years later, and an...interesting relationship has ensued! We spend plenty of time fighting, but woe to the person that picks on our sister! 

Our mother made the hard choice to homeschool us from the very beginning, and while it has not been an easy road, it is one that none of us has regretted.  At least, not for very long!  I graduated last spring, and Danielle will be joining the ranks of the graduates this summer, as well. 

I was raised in a Christian home, went to church every Sunday, always believed that God was an active part of my life.  However, it wasn't until about 6 years ago that He really became real to me. In February 2006, a very close friend of my dad's was killed in a snowmobile accident, and his widow and three children spent most of the next 4 years living closely with us. Those 4 years stretched, challenged, grew and changed me more than the rest of my life put together! Not much about our relationship with their family has been easy, but as we look back on the years, it's clear that God used everything to make us more into His likeness.

Two years ago, I got involved with the youth ministry at Cornerstone:Spring Green, where my family and I have been attending since the summer of 2007. Again, nothing about those two years has been easy! More nights than not I have come home frustrated - with the leadership, with the kids, with myself, with nothing specific...it didn't really matter. However, I have learned so much through these struggles!  And each time I'm ready to give up, something happens that reminds me that I'm not in youth ministry for me - I'm in youth ministry for the youth! (One might think that would be obvious, but believe me, it fades into the background far easier than you would think!) This year, our faithful leader, Ben Stimpson, is leaving us to join his brother and sister-in-law on their church-planting adventure in Romania! This leaves a huge vacancy, which I plan to step (at least partially) into, to the best of my ability.

In June of 2011, I attended the One Year Adventure Novel Summer Workshop with mom and Danielle, where I was privileged to meet Mr. Bryan Davis, author of the Dragons in our Midst series. The seminars we attended during the 4-day workshop inspired me to return to the writing I had all but given up on. In August, I completed my first novel, Scarred, and entered it in the OYAN Student contest, where it made it to the Semi-finalist round. Needless to say, I was absolutely stoked! I have since begun my second novel, currently titled Through the Flames.

February of 2012, found me in the hospital, facing death much closer than any of us would hope. My parents rushed me in to Urgent Care the night of the 12th, because I was having difficulty breathing. The doctors suspected my cold had turned to Bronchitis, and then progressed to Pneumonia. When the typical breathing treatment for Pneumonia had no effect on my condition, however, they decided to take a chest X-ray. In the course of 8 days, 3 hospitals, 4 different hospital rooms, and countless different doctors, I was diagnosed with Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Basically, a mass had developed just above my heart and grown until it almost completely occluded my airways and blood vessels. Thank God, this is a very rare, but very curable form of cancer. (Of course, any form is curable with the Great Physician!) As of May, 2012, I have one treatment left, and the doctors are expecting a full cure. Thank you, Lord!

The rest, well...let's just say the next chapter hasn't been written yet.