I spent most of my growing up years in Nebraska with my parents and two younger brothers. My parents faithfully taught me God’s Word, and I came to understand and believe the gospel at a young age. My mother taught me at home through grade school, but in 7th grade, we moved to a small town and I enrolled in the local public school. Throughout jr. high and high school, I struggled between wanting to walk with God and wanting to fit in with my small class of 20 students. Although I intellectually knew the truth, I often found myself compromising to please others. I also struggled to completely rely on what Jesus did on the cross for me rather than my own performance in my relationship with God. This resulted in a very up and down walk with God and a lack of intimacy with Him.

My freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Kearney was a turning point in my life. I knew that I wanted to get involved with a campus ministry, because I had not been very successful in walking with God on my own. However, I had no idea how to go about doing that. The first week of school, a woman named Machelle Clark, who was on staff with the Navigators invited me to come to her home for a women’s Bible study. I got plugged in right away, and Machelle started investing deeply into my life. As we spent time in the Scriptures together, I began to understand in a deep and transforming way that what Jesus has done on the cross makes me completely right before God. I learned that God doesn’t want me to perform for His love but rather He wants me to trust Him with all of my heart. This transformed my relationship with Him from distant to intimate. Another significant experience was the two summers that I spent at a Nav training program, studying the Bible, and learning how to pass my life on to others. That was also where I met my husband, John! At the end of four years, God had transformed me and given me a heart to walk with Him for a lifetime and to help college women know Christ more intimately and make him known to others. After graduation, John and I were married, and I joined him at the University of Northern Iowa where we were on staff with the Navigators for a year and a half. We were then asked to move to Maryville and pioneer the Nav ministry at Northwest. It is a great joy for me to partner with my husband (and our son Joseph) to advance the gospel of Jesus on our campus.