My lifelong love of the Episcopal Church has led me to this time in my life, and I am profoundly grateful.

I have a degree in business and have worked in healthcare management for most of my life. I have also always been active in the church in various positions. In 1993, I began going on summer medical missions to Honduras. After five trips, I felt God was calling me to return full-time to Tela, Honduras. I quit my job at the hospital and off I went for 18 months, teaching in a bilingual Episcopal school and working with street children. It was a total joy!

I returned home when my first grandchild was born and went back into healthcare management. In 2007, the assistant priest in my church home gave me a pamphlet and said, “Here, fill this out. It’s time!” It was an application to the Iona School of Ministry, and I couldn’t believe there was a chance to fulfill my deepest desire.

I was accepted, graduated in 2010, and was assigned to Holy Innocents in Madisonville. I spent five years there. Then I went to Kilgore and Tyler, and eventually retired, for a bit! In 2020, I was asked to lead a community in Montgomery through St. Isidore, and I continue to do so at MCC. I also led St. Paul’s in Navasota during that time.

While I was at Iona, I felt called to the mission field again, but in a different capacity. The wife of Bishop Tengatenga in Malawi, Africa, asked if I knew anything about starting a microloan program for the Daughters of the King there. Of course, I learned what I needed to know, and I developed the curriculum and everything needed to begin. We received grants and started working with the women. That program is still viable today. It took three trips across the pond to accomplish.

But my biggest blessing is probably my family. I have a son and daughter, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.