Brief bio
I'm an author, speaker, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and life coach in full time ministry speaking, training, and advocating for life, faith, and family beyond the storybook image. I am passionate about creating safe places within churches and communities for individuals and families to be authentic about real struggles in life, faith, and their family experiences. I'm a former teacher and school counselor in Elkhart and Lagrange counties, and am a current therapist who's worked in foster care, domestic violence agencies, with addictions, teens, young adults, and children. I'm on the Speaker's Bureau for Dove's Nest, Stonecroft Ministries, Iron Sharpen's Iron, and teach at several national writer's conferences in addition to speaking full time to women, youth, and mixed groups. My second parenting book will release in 2018 by Herald Press. My husband and I have four children from teens to twenties and live in Shipshewana, IN. I've been featured in the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, The Purpose Magazine, the Washington Post, and have a monthly mental health column in the Hometown Treasurer. I was awarded the Touchstone Award for teachers in 2003 & 2004.
