I  was born in Fort Wayne and lived most of my life in New Haven. I met my husband, Jonathan, my Sophomore year of high school. We reconnected when I was in college and married in the middle of my Senior year in 2004. I attended Taylor University, in Fort Wayne, where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. My daughter, Brianna, was born in 2005. I decided to be a stay-at-home mom while our children were young. A few years later we were blessed with our son, Ryan, in 2008.

I continued to stay active with teaching by becoming a substitute teacher for Fort Wayne Community and East Allen County Schools. I was offered a full time teaching job teaching 5th grade at New Haven Intermediate. After being cut due to budget cuts, I received a job teaching as a Title 1 tutor at Central Lutheran School. I enjoyed working with every age group from Kindergarten to 8th grade. While teaching at Central Lutheran I developed a love for Middle School students. When the budget was cut for that job, I started to look for a full-time teaching position. God led me to Central Christian School.

I have been working at CCS for 6 years now. I love the atmosphere and being able to feel the Holy Spirit when you walk into the building. I love coming to work each day and getting to spend it with my 6th graders and awesome coworkers. I am looking forward to many more years of teaching at CCS.

I have had many ups and downs in my life, but God continues to draw me closer to him. God is teaching me to go to Him with everything. I struggle with wanting to be in control and to fix problems on my own. God continues to remind me that I need Him every second of the day. He is also teaching me to Choose Joy in every circumstance that comes my way. I can’t choose what happens to me on a daily basis, but I can choose how I respond. I want to be someone who responds like Christ would respond. My biggest prayer is that Jesus will shine through my actions on a daily basis. Some days are easier than others.