Teaching has always played an integral role in how I share my love for Christ with others.  I began teaching in the church right after graduation from Davidson College.  After marrying Mike, my college sweetheart, we served as Youth Directors leading a group of high schoolers at a Methodist church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  That initial teaching position set in motion a lifelong journey of teaching for me; from Youth Group leader to Sunday School teacher, to Community Group Leader, to Home School Teacher!

I’ve also enjoyed leading several bible studies for Davidson College female athletes who were seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord while navigating craze schedules.  Three years ago I started my own business, Yo God Yoga, where I teach Christian Yoga to women and men of all ages, using God’s Word as the foundation for our classes.

Encouragement is a newer spiritual gift, which I find myself developing as I sense the Spirit leading.  I love shooting an email for a job well done, sharing meaningful devotions with my students, arranging a coffee date for an overworked pastor’s wife, or offering our home as a respite for leaders.

After a successful career in corporate sales with Xerox and GTE Sprint, I chose to become a full-time “stay-at-home” mom to David & Nathan…now 27 & 23!  This role has, and continues to be, the most rewarding and challenging to date! With corporate demands aside, I was able to invest more time and energy into my local church, utilizing my musical gifts as organist and interim choir director at Jamestown Presbyterian Church in Greensboro.  When we moved back to Davidson and settled into our new roles as “townies,” I served as soloist and choir member at Davidson United Methodist Church, where I also led a women’s circle of 15-20 women in a Bible study.  While there, God began training me for future Christian outreach roles by allowing me to chair the Evangelism Committee and coordinate the homeless ministry of Room in the Inn.

It was also during our time living in Davidson that my husband co-founded Stewards of the Game with a good friend of his, Mike Kayes.  After meeting in a Disciple Bible Study that I was teaching, the two Mike’s discovered they possessed a mutual passion for sharing the love of Christ through sports.  Since God had been warming my heart for Christian Outreach, it seemed only natural that I would assume the position of Outreach Director for this new non-profit organization.  For the next 12 years,  I helped teach young players and coaches how Jesus’ math worked…while one person may not feel like their individual talents amount to much, the multiplying power of a team can prove otherwise.  We’ve been able to send 1000’s of collected items across the globe to Bolivia, Mexico, Kenya, Sudan and Cuba over the years; some personally delivered by our family to the very desperate souls who needed them! I also chaired our annual Christian Character College Scholarship Committee where we’ve helped over a dozen deserving students attend the college of their choosing.  I currently serve on the Board of Directors of LIFT: 410, a non-profit mentoring organization that provides one-on-one sports training, life coaching, and academic tutoring to at-risk youth.

In 2001, we began worshipping at Lake Forest Church, a small church plant in Huntersville, NC.  I helped oversee the growing children’s ministry by serving on the Children’s Ministry team while Mike and I taught 4^th and 5^th grade Sunday school, which we are doing once again at Lake Forest’s 2^nd church plant in Denver, NC.  As an Oasis Women’s group leader, I organized a spring project to pray for an orphan ministry in Zambia.  This culminated in a trip there to meet the orphan that I prayed for!  I currently serve on our Church Multiplication Committee and served on the search committee for our Denver campus pastor. I was recently ordained as a Ruling Elder and look forward to helping Lake Forest grow missionally through church planting and life-changing discipleship  in the years to come.