I was the 2nd child born to my parents and I have heard it said that when my parents brought me home from the hospital, my older brother asked my parents, “why did you have to have her?”. Well, thankfully I was allowed to stay and was raised in a loving Christian home, right here in Boynton Beach, Fl.

I can’t remember a time when I was not at church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights and basically any time the doors were opened. There was a specific Sunday night in church when I was 7 years old, during a revival, that I heard the guest preacher so clearly say, as I listened very intently, that one day we were all going to die and that every person would go to heaven or hell. Well of course that got my attention, and I also heard him share that we all have sinned and fall short of his glory. (Romans 3:23) God is holy and hates sin and that nobody is good enough to get heaven on their own, but He sent Jesus to live on earth perfectly, never sinning, to then die on a cross to pay the penalty for my sin and then rose from the grave and now is in heaven with the God the father. (Romans 6;23) If I believed in Jesus and trusted in him to forgive my sin, and accept the free, unearned gift of salvation, (Ephesians 2:8-9) then I could be in heaven for eternity.

I remember going home that night and asking my mom some questions and then that next night at the revival, God called me to himself, and I told the pastor through weeping eyes, that I wanted to ask Jesus into my heart and trust in Him to be saved. (Acts 16:31) I was baptized on Easter Sunday, just a few weeks later. I was always active in church, either serving in different ministries, including a large bus ministry, puppet ministry and then in youth activities.

The church had a youth choir where we would travel in the summer and do concerts combined with drama, in different churches and stay in homes of the church members. This time during my youth was an incredible time of growing closer to the Lord and a time of learning to walk in His ways. The time of preparation leading up to the summer tour was very rigorous and the leader, who was the worship pastor at church, really took the time to invest in the group with Bible study and prayer in addition to the practices. It was really through that time that God grew me, and I believe protected me and kept me from a lot of other activities that many other kids my age were involved in. There was a specific time on a youth retreat to Ridgecrest, a Baptist retreat center in North Carolina, where I feel like God opened my eyes and I truly understood the depth of my sin and the true gift of salvation. I believe I was saved at 7 years old and had a childlike faith, but during those years of training, teaching, discipleship and a Godly home, God grew me and continues to use those same means of grace to this day to grow my faith and strengthen my walk with the Lord.

When I was 13 years old, I met this guy, who was the music pastor’s nephew from North Carolina. He also started singing in the youth choir and attending church. When I was 15, I started to like him, but he was 5 years older than me and that was not so cool with my parents. So, he waited for me and when I was 18, we were married and 41 years later, God has kept us together through the good times and the challenging times because marriage is a covenant that should not be easily broken. God has always been faithful in our lives and has proven himself repeatedly as we have trusted in Him. We have 3 children, Jessica & (David), Jamie & (Thadd) and Jared & (Skyler). They are all married and are walking with the Lord and it is a joy to watch my daughters, and their husbands raise their children to know the Lord as well. We have 7 grandchildren in all.

While life is not always easy and I certainly was not a perfect child or teenager nor a perfect adult, I am truly thankful for Godly parents, the investment of Godly leaders and teachers in the church and His protection on my life. His faithfulness has been proven from generation to generation. (Psalm 100:5) God has and continues to be my rock and fortress and I don’t know how one walks through this life without the strength of Jesus in their lives.

I was fortunate to be able to be a stay-at-home mom for some years and then returned to working in banking part time, when my girls were young, before transitioning to the dental field. I worked in a dental office for 16 years, before changing to a dental laboratory, where I perform the duties of Accounts Receivables and Director of First Impressions. In addition, I have and continue to keep books for the business that my husband, Eddie, has operated for the past 39 years.

Serving in church has always been a huge part of my life, leading children’s choirs, teaching in preschool and chaperoning a few youth trips. I have had the privilege of teaching many little ones and then being witness to them growing up to know the Lord.

It was an honor to be asked to consider serving on the board for Gospel City Church and honestly did not feel qualified. After some time of prayer, God made it clear to me, that he will equip me for this task as he has done for every aspect of my life. It will be a joy and honor to serve in this capacity.