Why are you a Christian?
I’m sure some people would say it’s because of the way I was raised. And I guess to some extent that’s true! I was raised in a Christian home by Christian parents and I embraced their faith early on. And, no question, to this day some of the ways I practice my faith go back to the way I was raised.
But I remain a Christian because, over the years through study and by experience, I have found Christianity to be true. I have faced too many “points of anguish” in my life where I have questioned everything I have ever known and I’ve torn through the scriptures logically and critically in desperate search, not for quick fixes for my problems or for some kind of emotional crutch, but for TRUTH. And over and over again I have found that truth in Christ. That is why I’m a Christian.
His truth gives hope and meaning in a world that is absolutely and profoundly broken. A broken world needs a savior. Broken people need a savior. I need a savior, and I have found all my life’s hope and meaning in the triune God as revealed in the Bible.
What are your hobbies?
Besides writing? Well I love to read, both for pleasure and to learn new things. I am a proud American history junkie. I also love shopping flea markets, antique stores, and junk shops. My daughters and I get a little giddy over anything Jane Austen-related. Visiting town festivals is something we enjoy a lot as a family and, honestly, there are few things I would rather do than hang out with my husband and kids, even if we aren’t doing anything special.
What are a few of your favorite things?
How do I answer this without singing?
Coca Cola. Coffee. Good pizza and tacos. Hot soups. Fresh cherries. Charles Dickens novels. All things 18th and 19th century. Kentucky. History books and documentaries, especially those surrounding the American Revolution. Summer. Drives in the country. Geeking over homeschooling books and curricula.
These are a few of my favorite things. 😉
What is your favorite book?
What? You want me to narrow it down to ONE? Impossible! So let’s do it this way…
My favorite happy fiction book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Is there a more beautiful love story in existence?
My favorite not-so-happy fiction book: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I cried like a baby. I mean, sobbing, heaving, never-so-devastated-over-a-book-before kind of cried. It was absolutely beautiful. Well, in that terrible, tragic kind of way…
My favorite kids’ books: The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. If you’ve never read them, please do.
My favorite apologetics book: The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve read it, but every-so-often I pull it out again and read through it like a devotional. I want to keep that stuff fresh in my mind and heart at all times.
My favorite biography: The Apostle: A Life of Paul by John Pollock. Another book I wept over. Paul was an amazing man and this book brought him to life for me like no other.
My favorite history book: 1776 by David McCullough. This book may have talked more about George Washington than about the start of the American Revolution itself, but I was totally okay with that. Awesome book.
What’s your favorite scripture?
Wow. That’s a toughie. John 11:25. Or maybe Isaiah 40:8.
Who do you consider your heroes?
My mom, who has been gone from my life for far more years than she was in it, but who left an indelible mark in that time. Also probably Paul the apostle. And Stephen. And Luke the physician. They fascinate me. And I can’t forget George Washington.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I’m still working on this one. I’ll let you know when I get it figured out.
What are some other things that might be interesting to know about you?
I love being alone. CRAVE it, even. Then I married a man who hates to be alone, I had four kids, and then I decided to homeschool so I could NEVER BE ALONE again. Oh, how funny life is sometimes!
I love old cemeteries. Something about those old gravestones just stirs my imagination. I can’t keep from wondering who these people were and what they were like and how they lived. There’s a story behind every grave, and since you can’t usually read it all on the gravestone, I find myself making up the stories in my head.
I love Kentucky. It’s home, obviously, but I think it’s beautiful. It’s rural, but not so backwoods as a lot of people seem to think. It’s southern enough we know good biscuits and gravy and northern enough we still get decent snow on occasional. Actually, we enjoy four distinct seasons, which you might appreciate if you’ve ever endured Pennsylvania’s 5 months of brutal winter or Texas’ 5 months of brutal summer. (Which I have. And I don’t miss them.)
As a 40-something grownup, I got to move to the town I wanted to live in as a child. And I love it! I had long ago given up on ever actually living here, but God had other plans. I’m so glad He did. And now I get to finish raising my kids here.
Yorktown, Virginia is my non-Kentucky happy place. Don’t ask me why. I’m sure at least part of it has to do with the amazing history of the place, but I just fell in love with it there. I’m not particularly fond of the ocean, but I simply loved the lower Chesapeake. And I find it interesting that I now live in a county named for Revolutionary War General Nelson who hailed from, you guessed it, Yorktown, Virginia!
Chattanooga, Tennessee, however, is my family’s non-Kentucky adopted hometown. There’s a story behind that one I won’t go into, but somehow we made a connection with Chattanooga that has endeared that city to us, probably for always.
