 The first 18 years of my life were spent in Egypt because of my father's work as a medical missionary. My mother deserves stars in her eternal crown for raising four children in a challenging environment. (The family picture to the left shows that we thrived!)
On returning to the US I attended colleges in TN and OH ultimately graduating as a nurse. I was very challenged and happy with working in medical surgical nursing, intensive care and the emergency room (ER.) It was in the ER that two student nurses approached me because they wanted to meet a Christian nurse. To my amazement, within a year I was teaching nursing in a Christian college and continued to do that for 27 years moving through various positions - instructor, director of graduate program, department chair. After 17 years in Indiana (Indiana Wesleyan U.) I was called to Pennsylvania (Messiah College) to head the nursing department. In 1998 God started using health problems to guide me into the next phase of my life - ministry with NCF which I assumed full time in 2001. Now I see how my entire life has prepared me for supporting faculty and graduate students in thinking Christianly about nursing and in helping develop the character of future nurses. It is a privilege to work out of an office in my home.
 Daily I give thanks for the beauty that surrounds me here in south central PA. I live alone in a duplex, part of a housing development outside Dillsburg. From the deck of my cozy home I can see sunrises over a forested area to my right; watch the cycle of farming in the fields in front of me; and marvel at the sunsets and shifting cloud patterns over the mountains to my left. My yard is a haven for birds of all species from colorful blue birds and cardinals to melodic mockingbirds and mourning doves. The birds are a constant reminder of God's promises and faithfulness ("Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Mt. 6:26-27.) The trees, flowers, and stars a night also attest to God's goodness.
My canine companion of 14 years, Tuffy, went to dog heaven two years ago but I sometimes  I still think I see him sniffing out the boundaries of the yard, checking each tree and bush to see if we have had visitors. Though I live alone, I am well connected with people via phone and internet. I have three siblings who live in the eastern US. My parents, who live about 15 minutes from me in an assisted living, are always eager for me to stop by.
As a member of the Grantham Brethren in Christ Church, my life is enriched by participating in a small group Bible study, serving as a deacon (with a focus on health ministry), worshipping in a more "traditional style" with Biblical teaching, music, drama, art. The church provides an extended family locally and globally now.
It was not always this way. As a child and young adult I did not experience God as one who loved me or had a good plan for my life. Thankfully, I learned many Bible stories and a wealth of hymns. Though everyone thought of me as a Christian, it was experiencing unconditional love expressed by several Christian nurses that prepared my heart to accept God's grace. I came to a personal relationship with Christ while attending an NCF summer conference at Camp Li Lo Li in 1973. Since then my spiritual journey has been "a long obedience in the same direction" (title of a book by Eugene Peterson.) Every day God's grace and love become more meaningful. In response to the question about what matters most to me in life, I say my faith first and my profession second. My professional life has been a blending of these as I have been privileged to teach and mentor nursing students at various educational levels. Now ministry with NCF is a wonderful culmination of all that God has given/made me professionally and personally. In invite you to read more about this ministry in the letter below AND to become a partner in prayer and financial support.
 Select favorite verses:
Ex. 33: 12-17; Zeph 3:17; Psalm 23, 103, 139; Prov. 3:5-6; Isaiah 43:1-4a; II Cor. 2:10 - 4:18; II Cor. 9:8; Phil 4:4-9; II Tim 1:7; Heb. 6:10; Rev. 22
Life Hymn - All the Way My Saviour Leads Me
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