שָׁלוֹם בְּשֵׁם־יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ׃
Welcome in the name of the Lord our God!
My personal mission is to empower people for spiritual growth, wellness, and life in community and service to God; to encourage them to persevere during times of struggle; and to equip them in areas of need. My prayer is that your visit to this site is a time of refreshment and encouragement and that you leave here with a renewed sense that God cares for you.
I am a highly relational person, and I am also a musician. Music provided the first way that I began to learn about God during my childhood. I still find that music is often a great communicator. So, music and relational evangelism are vital elements of Christian discipleship for me.
My first ministry activities were singing and songwriting. Today I work at other jobs that equip people to serve and study biblical text. I also remain active as a musician.
Access to Biblical Text!
Growing up as a blind child in the 1970s and 80s, I did not have access to a complete Bible in braille. Volumes were very expensive at that time. In fact, I did not own a complete Bible of any kind until I was 17 years old.
Today, I not only have an English Bible; but I have gone to seminary and studied Hebrew and Greek. This has been a great joy for me!!
I have taught languages at Anderson University since 2015. I have also taught Bible and theology courses remotely at George theological School in Pakistan. Today, I provide private non-credit instruction in Hebrew and Greek for anyone who wishes to learn, whether sighted or blind. If you need or want to learn Hebrew or Greek, please see more about what I can do to assist you.
Most of my work is in braille transcription, I specialize in providing access to foreign language text. If you need access to material in braille in French, Spanish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, or other ancient languages, please see information about my transcription services.
I maintain another web site, Night-Light, which provides information about accessible study of sacred texts, information for communities of faith about including people with disabilities, and information to help families who are living with chronic illness and disability. If you are looking for my accessible language study information, it is there.
I’d Like to Speak to You
“Deconstruction” is a popular word today. It is also a scary word for the Church. Can a deconstructed faith be reclaimed, and should the Church fear deconstruction?
I experienced my own personal deconstruction during the 1990s. I had a small amount of sight during my childhood and teens, and I lost it suddenly during my second year of college. I began to wrestle with the relationship of disability and spirituality at that time. Today, I am happy to speak about that process and other topics related to biblical study and faith formation.
The purpose of my teaching is to help others to overcome faith and access challenges. I encourage people to draw near to God with their struggles and questions and to explore the text of the Bible in light of their own questions, emotions, and the historical context of Scripture. If you need a guest speaker for a community event or someone to preach in your pastor’s absence, I would like to talk about how I can meet your needs..
I am a graduate of Anderson University (M.Div., 2009; D.Min. 2019). In addition to biblical teaching and preaching, I am also available to provide music ministry. If you are interested in hearing sample sermons or music, please visit my ministry page.
A Personal Note
My husband and I talk openly about our lives with blindness and chronic illness. Living with blindness has taught us both to persevere through difficulty. Living with chronic illness has taught us to draw near to God when we need Him most.
Life, Love, and Other Things
I live with my husband, Kevin and our four cats. We send our deep love to our precious and extremely gifted Louisa, who has embraced life with two sets of parents with great grace.
On this site you will find that blog entries are sprinkled throughout the pages. It is an unconventional setup but I hope that it is useful.
My ministry and other aspects of my life often intersect. You will find that those intersections are reflected here on my web site and in the way that I write blog entries. This is my personal site, so my blog reflects the person that I am and thatincludes the practice of ministry among other things.
I am a home-based professional, and the office goes mobile when I travel. Throughout my life, I have learned to cope with people’s reactions to seeing a blind person. In my adulthood, I have learned to disclose about what is not seen; for it is often what is not seen that creates my need for accommodation on the go. When I travel, I don’t get to put my dietary needs or other medical needs away and take a break. In the midst of blogging about ministry, biblical study, etc, I also blog about what it means to live and work with disability. I have learned through a lot of networking that I am not alone and that it is very hard to find good information about what to do when juggling a lot of unique needs. If my blog sometimes seems jumbled, welcome to my daily life. It’s a wonder I have not washed a Hebrew book in the laundry machine! I do occasionally ask where my phone is while I am talking on it, but so far I’ve been told that this is a symptom of my age. Perhaps my blogs will be helpful to others.
If you would like to contact me, you may do so by sending an email.