I am so excited and humbled to be joining the staff at ACA as the Literacy Lab Instructor / Librarian. I have enjoyed volunteering at ACA in many ways over the years and being active in PTF. Literacy has been a passion of mine since I was young. I graduated from UNI with a major in Elementary Education and a Literacy minor. I also received Reading and Language Arts endorsements. I was a classroom teacher for 2nd and 4th grades prior to the birth of our first son. I am married to my husband John and we have two boys, Brock and Dean, who have now attended ACA for several years.
I am very discerning of materials introduced to children and believe in high quality content that not only provides depth, but is also rooted in truth (and not necessarily what is being pushed by popular culture). There are many books published today that are very popular among children, but don’t add much depth and value to their reading time. I want to help kids fall in love with books – to fall in love with reading! I love the anonymous quote – “Everyone is a reader; some just haven’t found their favorite book yet.”
I grew up in a home that didn’t know Christ, but God’s grace covered me long before I knew Him. He placed people in my life that planted seeds throughout my teen years and I became a Christian after my freshman year of college. I quickly learned, when we can focus on Christ, instead of the world around, we can ‘throw off everything that hinders us and run the race He has set before us’, rather than the race we ourselves want to be in! God continues to humble me daily in my walk as I grow closer to Him and the path He has set before me. He continues the sanctifying work through His Holy Spirit and I’m thankful for the pruning over the years that has allowed me to grow more into who He wants me to be versus what I thought the world wanted me to be.
I’m so grateful of the awareness I’ve gained through the Spirit of the spiritual warfare and that our greatest strategy is prayer and putting on the Armor of God! He has equipped us with His Word to daily battle the enemy who wants to distract us from God’s purpose for us. We have faced many trials and hardships through the years and I’m thankful it has grown me closer to God and be more able to fully surrender my life to Him. It’s opened our eyes to more clearly see what matters and to daily seek how I can have kingdom impact and be used for His glory. I can’t do things in my own strength, nor can I find peace in anything or anyone but Christ alone. My prayer is that others may have seeds planted by my walk, words, prayers, or simply lifting others up with a smile. I believe each year, I should be able to look back on my walk with God and see how I’ve grown closer to Christ through the study of His Word, prayer, serving, and loving others well.
I stumble daily, but I’m thankful His mercies are new every morning! Finding JOY isn’t always easy, but as God has helped us persevere through trials, He has helped me find the positive side of most things and it has become a life outlook – seeking the positive in all situations. We don’t find joy in things of this world, but by setting our mind on things above – thinking of Jesus first, then Others, then Yourself. JOY. It’s a simple, yet profound way to shine our lights for Him and I look forward to bringing that simple reminder to the Library and students at ACA!
