I am first and foremost a child of God and a devoted follower of His precious son, Jesus. I am also a wife to hottie Joe House, a member of The Fields Church, a teacher, a writer, and a dreamer.

My world was turned upside down last August when my mom had a small cough that turned out to be terminal cancer. Within twelve weeks, she was dead. In that twelve week span, she suffered a stroke and multiple seizures which paralyzed the entire left side of her body, sent her home on hospice care, and caused her to miss my little brother’s wedding.

At the same time, my husband Joe and I had been trying to conceive for months. One month after my mom’s funeral, we found out we were finally pregnant, only to wake up on Christmas morning to an abundance of blood which would confirm the loss of our pregnancy. Less than eight weeks after nurses said my mom had no heartbeat, they said the very same words about our unborn baby.

It was in this time that I took to writing. Social media was no consolation — I couldn’t bear to see the highlight reels of everyone else’s life while mine seemed to crumble more each day. Instead, I was drawn to the writings of other sufferers. Authors Elisabeth Elliott and Pastor Mark Vroegop became almost like companions as I buried myself in their writings about lament.

More than anything else, I hope to glorify God by creating a similar community of sufferers grounded in gospel truth. If you’re in a valley, through a valley, or you know a valley is coming, I hope you can find encouragement, hope, and solidarity here.