Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV): For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I’m a Texan, a Booklover and a Believer, and since I was young, I’ve had a passion for reading and writing and a hunger and thirst for God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I was raised in a single-parent home, with a hard-working mother and faith-filled grandparents, and I’ve had four sanctuaries in my life: the family home; the library; the bookstore; and the church. I graduated college with a minor in Writing and a Master’s degree in English, and I’ve taught as an English adjunct and full-time faculty at two universities, a private college, and a community college for a combination of fourteen years and as a high school English teacher for at least two years, and currently, I live in East Texas with my family, where I’m actively teaching others, writing novels, sharing devotions, and serving God.
1 Peter 4:10-11 (NKJV): As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
My journey as an author began years ago when GOD gave me an idea for a story—a debut novel called BLESSED, inspired by the saga of King David and his family, including his son, Solomon—and despite challenges in my life, GOD blessed me to finish that first draft in six months, after beginning with a pen and legal pads at my grandmother’s bedside as she lay dying in hospice. After my grandmother’s death, the novel was shelved, seemingly for years. But GOD had other plans for it, and as I changed and grew stronger, so did the novel; as I matured and grew spiritually, so did the novel, and BLESSED became a LABOR of LOVE, full of birth and growing pains. And after it was published, it became my love gift, first to GOD, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and then to others—my family of readers. Now, I write contemporary “true-to-life” fiction and family drama that glorify GOD and bless the Family, heart and soul, with a blend of drama, romance, humor, mystery and suspense, and with themes of faith, grace, forgiveness, love, fatherhood, adoption, redemption, reconciliation, and restoration.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV): All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
When I was an English teacher at a university settling into a new church, this gifted music minister singled me out at choir practice and gave me a prophetic name, a new identity in the choir and the church. Even though I wanted to remain invisible and anonymous, an UNDERCOVER CHRISTIAN in the church, in the community, and on my job at the university, this music minister and, foremost, GOD were singling me out, and GOD was saying, "I know you, and I'm not letting you remain silent, fade out, and hide anymore. I'm not going to let you bury those gifts and talents I've given you. I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. You’re going to acknowledge Me, glorify My name, and proclaim My Word, above all, this TRUTH: GOD is GOOD, GOD is JUST, GOD is LOVE." GOD knew then what I didn't know and wasn't ready to accept until now: My life and identity are found in JESUS CHRIST, and He’s commissioned me into this ministry of reconciliation. So, I am a child of GOD—GOD’s daughter, GOD’s servant, and GOD’s ambassador—a Believer and a Professor who PROCLAIMS GOD’s WORD, which Hebrews 4:12 declares is “living” and “sharper than any two-edged sword”. And GOD the Master Wordsmith had this music minister to call me a name that applied on a secular and spiritual level, for I am a college instructor and teacher, and I am a proclaimer and a wielder of GOD’SWORD, which simultaneously spells GOD’s WORD and SWORD. And as most Believers know from Ephesians 6, in the ARMOR of GOD, GOD’s WORD is the SWORD of the SPIRIT. So, here I am doing what GOD called me and JESUS commissioned me to do—sharing the GOOD NEWS, spreading the GOSPEL. Here I am as GOD’s ambassador in a ministry of reconciliation, and here I am, GOD’SWORD and all, just as that music minister called me all those years ago: The Professor.
