MEET THE TEAM

From birth to 9 months I lived in Mt. Pleasant Texas and despite my moms attempts to give me some roots by making me a Cowboys fan, I'm no Texan.  I grew up in Canton, Ohio, just about 2 hours north of Columbus.  

 

My earliest memories of church begin in 1st grade and our churches Junior Worship program where I fell in love with puppet shows that introduced bible stories and enthusiastic leaders that enjoyed sharing Jesus with kids.  Though I was baptized when I was 12 years old a series of bible school classes, VBS, church camp, and countless youth events are what truly cemented my love for Jesus and His church.  

 

My junior year of high school I committed to playing Division II Volleyball at Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia.  While there I continued with a busy life of choir, theater and various other leadership roles including Student Government, Campus Ministry and President of my Social Club to name a few.  I graduated in 2005 with my Bachelors degree in Humanities with an emphasis in Education.  That's right folks, 1 semester before I was supposed to graduate I met the love of my life Darin Smith, began questioning many of my life decisions and switched from an Secondary English and History Education major to whatever humanities is.  We got married in August of 2005 and by the Spring of 2006 I was back on the path to becoming a teacher.

 

My son Harrison was born in 2012 and because of some complications at birth was diagnosed with Mild Cerebral Palsy just after his 2nd birthday.  Hudson was born in 2014, just 5 months before becoming part of the launch team for Good News Church.  I quickly said yes to being the part time Director of Good News Kids.  For 12 years I called myself a teacher, working in both regular and special education and finally landing a position as an Instructional Supervisor (my dream job really).  In the summer of 2017 began what I like to call, "a series of fortunate events" that catapulted my life into full time ministry.  It's a story I love to share, but I'll just give you this teaser so we can chat about it over coffee soon!  

 

In my free time I enjoy reading or listening to books, hosting friends and family for dinner, listening to podcasts, watching football, basketball and golf,  looking up and pinning recipes and ideas for parties, gardening, decorations, outfits, photo sessions, organizing, etc.(that I will most likely never do), going on dates with my husband, chatting over coffee with friends and playing with my sons (especially BOO, think of hide and go seek, just taken up a notch).