Hello, my name is Anne!
Welcome to my blog! I am glad you’re here!
We’ve already covered my name, Anne, spelled [Anne] pronounced [Annie]. Now that we have that settled, thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about me! There are so many cool and interesting things that I want to tell you about myself!
Let’s start with the basics:
- I am from eastern Kentucky, specifically, a place called Belfry.
- I am 24 years old.
- I am finishing up my second year as an eighth grade Spanish teacher (and I love it!).
- I am a bit of a jack of all trades, I love to dabble in lots of things, but especially the arts.
- I am undeniably a nerd. I love old video games, like Spyro the Dragon or Crash Bandicoot.
- I love to run- seriously- I really love to run.
Now that you know a little bit about me, let’s go a little deeper. Let me share some of my story with you and how the Lord has shaped me into the woman that I am, and is shaping me into the woman that I am becoming.
I grew up in church. I cannot remember a time in my life when church was not on the agenda. If the doors were open, my family was there. When I was in middle school, my dad took a step out in faith and began pastoring at a church in our area. This meant leaving the church I had always attended, and entering into, what was for me, uncharted territory. I had to make all new friends, and be introduced to a whole new community.
This had a profound effect on me. I liked the new people I was meeting at the church, however, from an early point of the switch I developed the idea that many of the people in this new body assumed that I was a Christian, though I was not.
Fearful to reveal the truth and embarrass my dad, their new pastor, I became what I thought they thought I was. I strapped on the christian mask.
I became one of those really intense youth group kids. You all know what I’m talking about, that kid that always is at youth group, answers all the Bible trivia questions, and shows up an hour early to VBS and stays two hours late. That was me.
I wanted desperately to be accepted; to be someone that my church and my parents were proud of. I didn’t want to disappoint anybody.
I did anything and everything. Youth group, plays, dramas, you name it, I did it. After a while, I became quite good at what I was doing. I started gaining recognition for being a leader and for my talents in theatrics. I had the whole christian thing down pat.
I wore my mask, with pride, from my middle school days until I was a senior in high school. And that’s when it all changed.
On November 6, 2011 the Lord convicted my heart. He spoke some serious truth into my life. He abolished the stronghold of pride, the need to be recognized for what I was doing at church, and the fear of disappointment. For the first time in my life, I knew he was near and I wanted to be with him and I ran hard and fast after him. That night, Jesus Christ became my personal Savior.
I thank God for that night. I was lost, self-righteous, and self seeking. But he saw me where I was and met me there. God is good like that, guys!
About six months after I accepted Jesus, I graduated high school, spent a wild summer of late night conversations, four wheeler rides, and bonfires with my best friends, and before any of us knew it, it was time for the next step: college.
I had made the choice to go to Morehead State University, not by any profound reason or epiphany on my part, just because they offered me the best deal as far as scholarships went.
(Looking back now, I realize how much God was at work in this decision. That’s another neat thing about God, there is nothing that is outside of his control and provision, even when we don’t see it.)
At Morehead, I found the Baptist Campus Ministries (BCM). Early into my college career, the BCM became a very important place for me. I started attending their weekly events and joining the discipleship classes they offered. Not to mention that I met some of my best friends!
The first year I was in Morehead I grew leaps and bounds. I learned about what a relationship with God looked like and how to apply many of the things that I previously knew the scriptures talked about to my everyday life.
The Lord really used that first year to set the tone for how the rest of my time at Morehead would be spent. Throughout the next three years, the Lord continued to grow and develop me into a disciple. He gave me several opportunities to serve Him and to love others and taught me much through each experience. He taught me humility, servant leadership, perseverance, how to exemplify love, discernment, intimacy with Him and so much more.
He provided me with a huge cloud of witnesses to go through this season of life with me. We grew together and helped each other through our struggles and triumphs. It was amazing.
During this time, God also developed in me a love for youth and to see them understanding what a relationship with God was and how they could have their very own. Every summer of my college career I was given the opportunity to spend my days loving students and teaching them about Christ through Bible study, discipleship, and just walking through life together.
After graduating college, I moved back home. I was excited to be back with my family. Going home every once in a while during those wild college years is definitely not the same as getting to spend extended amounts of time with them. I was also saddened by the loss of community I had experienced. The cloud of witnesses that had walked with me through those formative and foundational college years had all walked in separate ways.
Being home was tough at first. I wanted things to be the same as they were in college and they were just not. I struggled to deal with a new set of circumstances, which were by no means bad, they were just different. They presented new challenges and new chances to serve the Lord in ways I never had before.
Transitioning from a time of growth and development to a time of application in new situations proved to be very tough. Yet still during these times the Lord was so faithful to me. He provided me with plenty of people to care for and encourage me, and a great job teaching Spanish which I love dearly.
(S/O to God because He doesn’t change, even when we do.)
Teaching quickly consumed me. I would spend all day at school teaching and working with my students and all night preparing for class, making new activities, and researching the most effective techniques in teaching foreign language.
I was loving my students. I was idolizing my job.
My relationship with God suffered because I didn’t devote the time to Him that I did before. I had clearly seen what God could do during my college years, but yet was choosing to invest more time in fulfilling my job to the best of my ability before everything, including my relationship with Him.
(This was really silly of me. My best human effort is nothing compared to what God can do. I had forsaken time with Him in study and prayer and exchanged it for my human efforts. There is no comparison there guys.)
I’m so glad that God is faithful, even when I am not. At the end of my first year of teaching, God sparked something in me.
I have always loved theatre, so occasionally I would google search auditions for theatre companies in my area. In February 2018 I did one of these searches and auditions for Shrek: The Musical! popped up.
I love Shrek. I love musicals. I was automatically sold. About a month later I auditioned and was offered the role of The Mad Hatter. I took it without any hesitation. There was no way that I was going to pass up an opportunity to perform in my favorite musical.
Little did I know, God was working behind the scenes. I built strong connections with the cast and crew, and God opened my eyes to the opportunity to love them from His heart.
God used this opportunity to pull me out of my job-worshipping funk and draw me closer to Him again. Praise God for His faithfulness.
During this time, I was also involved in a car wreck. I was on my way to work one morning when I was t-boned pulling across the road at an intersection. My car was totaled, and I was shaken up and broken, but God provided. The impact happened at just the right time and in just the right spot. Had the car hit me any sooner or any later the outcome of the crash would have looked very different. I walked away from that crash with some deep bone bruising and a broken wrist. God’s provision is impeccable.
God used this to teach me several things about me and how dependent I was on myself to provide in my relationship with Him.
This coupled with the newly rediscovered desire to love people from God’s heart did a transformative work in my life.
I spent the rest of that summer loving those around me and diving into the word of God. I experienced much growth. The Lord rescued me from myself and brought me back to Him.
Since then, I participated in another play, started my second year of teaching, tried many different outlets of service at my church, welcomed a new niece, and spent much time seeking the Lord and His guidance day to day and for the next steps in my life.
Through it all, God has been faithful. He has been provisionary, patient, graceful, persistent, and merciful. He has never given up in His pursuit of me. I’m so thankful for Him. I’m nothing without Him.
He reveals to me daily His character and He speaks truth into my life through His word and Holy Spirit.
Thank you, Lord!
So, that’s a little bit about me. I realize that it might not seem like a little bit to you, but there are so many more things that I could tell you. Please trust me when I say these are just the highlights.
God just works so cleverly in the ways that He shapes us. He’s so cool. I couldn’t help but share.
Anyways, I hope through all of this that you have seen God. His love and redemptive qualities, His grace and mercy, His relentless pursuit of His people. And I hope that you will praise Him for it all because He is so worthy.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! You are awesome!
