A (Random) Glimpse Into My Life

I'm convinced I was born with the desire to express my thoughts through written words.

As writers, don't you love how we can edit--in real time--the very words we write?

I can't count the times I wanted to backspace and delete what slipped out of my mouth. No wonder I'm a better writer than I am a speaker.

My passion for writing flourished as my small hand curved comfortably around my first pen. Poetry, narrative essay, and secret journals consumed my young life.

Today, I write because I am passionate about making a difference in the lives of others. I long for the sustaining comfort I have received from God to overflow into the lives of many people.

In The Message (NavPress 2002), Eugene Peterson understands how I feel. In his paraphrase of 2 Cor 1:4 he shares how God, "comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."

I care deeply about the overwhelming issues that confront women daily: health, parenting, relationships, broken families, addiction, abuse, and more.

There is hope! And, through my writing, I desire to share the hope that offers insight, practical application and Jesus' healing love and restoration to those in need.

My deep-rooted faith convinces me that God has a purpose in allowing pain into our lives. We discover the purpose of our life experiences is greater than the pain of our trauma -- only as we surrender the pain to God and allow Him to use it as He desires.

I don't convey that message lightly. I understand there is horrific pain in our world. I, too, have survived tremendous personal pain. Yet, it fuels my desire to reach out and bring comfort to the heart of others.

More than anything I write because I am called to write. And, as a child of God, I'm thankful that He reached down from on high and made me a writer.

I'm also thankful that He has richly blessed me with an amazing family: A compassionate and loving husband, a beautiful daughter, four vivacious step-daughters, a supportive mother, as well as an abundance of priceless family members and friends.

I love my sometimes crazy, always passionate, and supernaturally creative life.

Warmly,
Jo Ann