And I've had a few. As a girl, I worked on a blueberry farm, traveled Mexico, decided I wanted to be a follower of Jesus, and graduated high school at 16. In college, I studied law, was a Sumners Scholar, and got hired by an ABC News affiliate after the news director glimpsed me on our campus TV station. I reported on robberies and shootings and executions, testified in trials, and was escorted to District Court and put on the stand after sneaking a recorder in (and out) of a closed trial. From there, I went on to CBS News in Dallas where I anchored for KRLD, wrote for the nationally syndicated America at Night, and generally stayed in trouble. I interviewed George W. Bush and Martha Stewart, covered wars and chased suspects, threw up on Senator Phil Gramm (I'm allergic to shrimp), was written up in Time magazine, and got into one hot mess after another.
And for the record: Martha Stewart seems nice in person. And Senators are complete jerks after you vomit on their shoes.
After leaving Dallas and my reporting career, I bought Freeman House- a home with slanted floors in a small town in Texas that time forgot- and set about restoring it. (You can read about those days here on my blog.) I learned to knit, began food blogging for AOL, planted a garden, and became a Terrorism/WMD Public Information Officer. That was also about the time I discovered oil and gas brokering and began a new career. When the economy tanked in 2008 and let the wind of my career's sails, I gambled on the small town economy and opened a bakery called Henrybella's. It was wonderful but woefully short-lived, as was Freeman House. I transferred ownership of my beloved house to its current owner and moved out in 2009.
So by that time life began making things clear: my life would be crazy... and nothing lasts forever. Nothing except God's grace and goodness. And by His grace and goodness, after surviving soul-killing marriage and divorce, I am happy to report that God - ever in the restoration business - restored my heart when He brought Matthew into my life.
And oh, is THIS ever a story for the ages. :D
If there's anything Matthew and I believe in, it's the grace and goodness of God. That, and that we couldn't wait to begin the rest of forever together when we married in May 2019.
So these days, Matthew and I are setting up a home less than 10 miles from Freeman House, on a small parcel of land that Matthew is the fourth generation to own. I run a small honey bee and farm business called Balm and Honey Farm, and help run The ROCK Collective, a non-profit Matthew and I founded in 2018, and try not to concern myself with much beyond loving Jesus and keeping my home and heart open to the abused, forgotten and hungry.
And there you have it. Have you ever heard such?
Welcome to My Messy, Thrilling Life!
(Want to start at the beginning? Grab a comfy chair and click here.)
