About Angela…

I was born into a Mennonite family in the mountains of North Idaho, and those mountains and all the fond memories we built there still hold a very special place in my heart.

When I was nine, I was born again, and Jesus radically changed my life, replacing fear with peace and joy, replacing dishonesty with a sincere desire to live my life for His honor and glory, and replacing an unknown future with a purpose worth living for.

I felt called to the mission field from a young age, and began actively preparing for that calling by learning Chinese, reading missionary biographies, and studying Scripture.  Then my life made a swift change in direction when I moved to Tennessee to teach school for a couple of years where I met and married my husband, which became an extremely destructive marriage.

I have had very personal experience with many types of abuse, including but not limited to: spiritual, emotional, psychological, mental, financial, verbal, physical, and even some sexual.  But the most damaging, I felt, was the spiritual and emotional abuse.  They stripped away who I was, destroying me from the inside out, robbing me of the joy and peace that can be found in being who God created you to be.  Scripture was twisted to mean things it wasn’t meant to say, causing me to measure my life by the wrong standard.  

Through life experiences, I have developed a passion for helping women, in situations similar to mine, to find hope and joy in intimate relationship with God.  I have come to believe that God has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary (Isaiah 50:4).

 

Through tumultuous teen years and a destructive marriage, I had the privilege of learning to know God in a deep and personal way, finding in Him the strength to get through each day, moment by moment.    He became a very real shelter in the time of storm.  

God’s Word became the bedrock of an unshakable foundation, which kept me rooted and grounded in Him through thick and thin.  As a little girl, I loved nothing more than studying the Bible and singing of God’s goodness.  As I grew older, and the challenges I faced became stiffer, digging into God’s Word was not only my delight, but my lifeline.  

I also depended upon prayer – conversations with my Father – to get me through everything from finding my keys, to wading through the grief of many losses.  And I saw many answers to prayer, because I had no where else to turn when I needed help.

Much of my life has been lived in the valleys, but if you were to ask me for something by which I would characterize my life, it would be the song “The Goodness of God”.  Truly, He has been faithful all my life, even when the fulfillment of His promises was delayed or came in ways I didn’t recognize or expect.  My life is more about God and His goodness than it is about me.  May He get all the glory!

My Story In A Nutshell

Personal Life

Currently, I am eagerly awaiting the birth of my first grandson, and struggling with juggling all the responsibilities that come with being a single mom, and trying to make a meager income stretch.  I love how God brings redemption to all the ugly chapters of our lives, and blesses us with more and more of Himself. 

I am blessed to have six children, ranging in age from 6-20, who want to live for Jesus whole-heartedly, and that is truly one of my greatest joys.  Included in those many blessings is my handsome son-in-love.  It is such a beautiful thing to watch him love my daughter so selflessly.  Something I never got to experience for myself, but something I wish for all my daughters, when that time comes.  

We live in rural West Tennessee, and keep a very busy schedule with school, work, and ministry to the homeless, the foreigner, and others God brings to cross our paths, often through the mid-sized Baptist church we are now pleased to call our home.  

I hope to one day further my education in a way that can better aid the women God has called me to serve, but I am awaiting His timing. 

Until then, my life is a joy with daily challenges to continue sending me to my knees at the Master’s feet, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.