Who I Am in
5 Coffee Mugs
My mother’s death while I was in middle school has helped shape me into a passionate supporter of my children.
Whether I am cheering at one of their music performances, standing amazed at their artwork, or celebrating a big task completed, my children will always know I am their biggest fan.
Growing up, I wanted to be the first teacher astronaut. While that dream never materialized, my love of the space shuttle program continues today.
Time spent in Trujillo, Peru, has given me friends who are like family. The love and encouragement I have received from these friends have helped keep me going through recent rough times.
As I worked on my doctorate in
loss and grief,
my husband and children were
my biggest cheerleaders.
Our youngest made this coffin mug -
their way of continuing to
cheer me on.
Supporting adults who are walking with grieving children is a passion of mine.
I believe children must be given opportunities to express their grief. (The movies Inside Out and Coco are among my favorite movies, and they always make me cry.)
I am a teacher, wife, mom, and pastor. Combining my love for history and teaching, I earned my teaching degree from Indiana State University.
Realizing that my future laid outside the classroom, three years later I enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary, where I earned a Masters of Divinity in 2000. I was ordained later that same year.
Since then, I have served as a children’s and youth minister, pastor, associate campus pastor, and professor of a Death, Dying, and Life After Death university course.
In 2020, like many others, I contemplated what life would look like on the other side of the pandemic.
After many conversations with God, my husband and children, I enrolled at Kairos University.
In 2023, I completed my degree and earned my Doctor of Ministry with a focus on loss and grief conversations. I have a passion for helping helping others have honest conversations about loss and grief, and how we can understand our experiences, and those of others, a little better.
Caitlin Doughty and the Death Positive Movement, Julia Samuel and the Good Grief Festival, and C.S. Lewis are among the many who inspire and educate my work.
Since 2017, I have taught university courses and led numerous workshops, including ones in Trujillo, Peru.