From a Hurting Heart to a Hopeful Frontier

Y’all, life has a way of throwing some mighty big stones our way, doesn't it? Before I even hit double digits, I felt like I’d been through the ringer. By the time I was nine years old, I was carrying a heavy rucksack of hurt. I’d dealt with rejection from friends that stung like a horizontal rain, and I’d said goodbye to grandpa way too soon. Watching cancer take him away broke something inside me, and I started internalizing all that grief until I felt lonelier than a cedar fencepost in a vast field.

I’ll be honest with ya—I got to a point where I started questioning the Good Lord Himself. I’d look up at the sky and wonder, "Are You even there? And if You are, why on earth would You let all these awful things happen to me?"

I felt like I’d lost just about everything, including myself. But looking back, I can see that even when I felt lost, God didn’t lose me. He kept me tucked right under His wing, surrounding me with a grace I didn't even know I needed yet.

Everything changed in the summer of 2009. I was sitting way up near the top of the bleachers in a big ol’ worship center at camp. That night, the speaker started talking about Jesus in a way that finally clicked—like a key turning in a rusty lock. He talked about how Jesus loved me enough to take my place on that Cross, paying a debt for my sins that I could never settle on my own. Right then and there, I realized that only Him and His resurrection power could set me free from the mess I was in.

I’m telling y’all, God spoke to me so clearly that night. It felt like I could physically feel His arms wrapped around my shoulders and hear His sweet, loving voice speaking straight to my hurting heart. As His love washed over me, the comfort was better than any medicine. He showed me He’d been standing there all along, and the only reason He let His Son take my place was because He was—and is—passionately in love with me.

I walked all the way down those bleachers to that speaker, and the moment I accepted Jesus as my Lord and my Savior, the floodgates opened. I had tears of joy streaming down my face as that heavy burden just lifted right off my heart! I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Jesus went through all that agony just for me, but my heart knew it was true. When the Holy Spirit moved in, I knew His love was written all over me. That was the day my real, intimate walk with Him truly began.

You see, the reason I didn’t have any peace before was because I hadn't surrendered the reins to Him. But once I did? Honey, He gave me a brand-new hope and a reason to wake up in the morning! Jesus became my everything.

This journey we’re on here on earth is just a grain of sand compared to eternity, and I want every second of my life to count for Him. I don’t want a bit of the credit—I want God to get all the glory for saving my life, both now and forever. That’s exactly why I started this site. I want you to feel that same peace and joy that comes from turning away from living for yourself and trusting Jesus to forgive you and make your life worth living to its fullest potential.

The frontier of faith is wide and beautiful, and I'm just so glad He's the one leading the way.