My nest has emptied, and I admit to camouflaging my encroaching gray. In my post-career season, I’m embracing more time to connect with people around me and support them if I can. I want to offer the person I am today, shaped by the journey behind me.

“As Indiana Jones said, “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.” In my fullness of living, I’ve got dings and scratches inside and out, along with some deeper dents. My “mileage” includes some of the common stopovers:

• I have conflicting feelings about my parents.

• I’ve buried pieces of my heart along with those in my life who suffered terminal illnesses.

• I endured cancer and still fight off the worry of an encore. (Read more of my story.)

• I’ve disappointed myself in failure.

• I’ve been visited by depression and nagged by anxiety.

• I’ve wept over and for my children.

• I’ve been let down by those I trusted.

• I’ve felt insignificant, overlooked, and underestimated.

• I have also fought to achieve a long and lasting marriage, letting it change me—hopefully for the better.

I’ll be candid: I love Jesus. I am a follower of the Christ of the Bible. I am a lover of words and the ones I adore the most are those God has written to us. I have tested God’s patience with my shenanigans and stubbornness. I have felt the safety of his care and the grace of his work for me. I’ve known him to be a perfect promise-keeper.

I’m curious about everything. I’m a lifelong learner and homeschooled my two children for six years. When they went to college, I went to grad school to study my passion: What is God all about? I graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Master’s in Biblical and Theological Studies. My dachshund, Prince, sits with me as I study—it’s his happy place.

Books live in every room of my house. I inhale their smell and they make me happy. They open endless doors of ideas, places, and conversations. They inspire me to write almost every day.

Sit with me for an unhurried conversation, it’s my favorite. I’m an introvert who can extrovert when needed. Chit-chat evaporates quickly for me. I’d rather go for a deep dive. And if we can laugh along the way, so much the better.

You are the reason for Luminosity. I hope we can explore God’s presence and words together and find the light in the shadows of our lives.