Here’s my backstory. You may (or may not) know that my first husband was the man who committed the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting in 2006 (read more here). Walking through those days and that season changed me. But not in the ways you might imagine. As I journeyed through trauma and brokenness, my relationship with God deepened and he met me in a profound way forever changing my life. I felt him with me. He was closer than I ever experienced before the tragedy, and I felt surrounded by his care. 

I became a stronger version of myself. I saw the world through a fresh perspective, and I felt infused with determination to help my children heal and live a life not defined by my husband’s choices. 

And I have.

In May, 2007, I married my second husband, Dan. And there truly aren’t words to describe how amazing he is and how much he loves me. He knows just when (and how) to encourage me. He makes me laugh (usually when I’m too serious and intense), and he balances out my lack of patience with his nearly endless supply.

In the years since 2007, we’ve experienced highs and lows. We lost my dad to lung cancer, I published my first book (One Light Still Shines), and we adopted our youngest son. I’m grateful for the life we’ve built together, and the way God has carried us through it all.

But perhaps the past few years have been some of the most transformative yet. As 2019 ended, and I looked ahead to 2020, I felt God whisper “college”. (I’ll save the specifics of that story for another day, but it proves to me that God has a sense of humor.) I spent the next two and a half years pushing through 6 classes each semester (year-round). I graduated in 2022 Summa Cum Laude, with a degree in Organizational Behavior (psychology for the workplace), from Immaculata University.

During the pandemic I started my coaching business. I love helping women to rediscover the purpose, identify small steps that help them achieve their goals, and cultivate a life they love (regardless of circumstance).

Last fall I wrote a book, To Help You Heal (Transform your life through the partnership of faith, psychology, and grit.) It’s releasing this fall, and I can’t wait to share more with you in an upcoming email.

On an average week you’ll find me coaching the women in my membership and programs, working with organizational clients to strengthen their workplace culture, and speaking to various groups across the country. And of course, I’m soaking up the conversations with my (now older) kids, time with my husband, sticky kisses from my three-year-old grandson and snuggles with my four-month-old granddaughter.

I love my life. And there’s never been a time when I’ve felt more alive than this season. I cherish the conversations that help others gain clarity, reduce distraction, and help them live life on purpose!

Each Thursday you’ll find me popping in with a message that will help you do the same. In celebration of this email launch, I’m offering an opportunity to Reset Your Purpose through a (FREE) 30–45-minute conversation with me. There are only 2 sessions left!  Once they are booked, the link will expire.  (These sessions are intended for those who have not had a free session with me previously.)

Zoom sessions for anyone regardless of location.

Walks for Wellness on my favorite path (the one you’ve seen in my stories) if you’re local to Lancaster, PA.

Coffee Chats at my favorite local coffee shop (Strasburg, PA).

If you’re stuck, tired, or simply want more from your life now, grab one of the sessions through this link. You’ll come away feeling lighter, brighter, renewed with clarity, and clear on your direction.

I’d love to hear about you, what’s new in your life, and what you need most right now.

Send me a message (I read all of them.)

Are you familiar with Joseph’s story? He’s one of my favorites. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may remember reading a similar sentence last week. In fact, you’ve probably heard me talk about him a lot.  I love leading women’s retreats where we spend the weekend studying Joseph’s story together. Those are some of my favorite sessions because we all find places of connection within our stories and what God did in Joseph’s life.

Human Destruction

I think we all have our favorite Bible passages, the ones we find ourselves coming back to over and over again. For me, in addition to Joseph, it’s Nehemiah, Joshua, and Esther. I read them again because I want to remember the things God spoke to me before and search out additional meaning that I’ve missed. But in this season, it’s Joseph. Maybe you can relate? I imagine that Joseph’s motto could’ve been: “Nothing in your life going the way you planned? Just wait, it gets worse.” We all have those times, they feel endless, but it’s not the end of the story.

Joseph grew up as the youngest brother in a large sibling group (you’ll want to read the back story on that in Genesis 37). His father favored him; his brothers hated him. They despised him so much that they decided to sell him to a group of traders passing by the area where they were tending their sheep. And that wasn’t the worst part. His journey becomes increasingly hard, with new challenges at every turn.

Although Joseph made great choices and seemed to try to do the best he could with every situation, those around him continued to betray him. But the thing that gets me about Joseph is that he didn’t give up. He didn’t become bitter, and he did not stop pursuing a relationship with God. He lived for that relationship. **Spoiler alert** at the end of the story, Joseph says this to his brothers: “As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20 TLB). He couldn’t have said that unless he allowed God to bring healing to his brokenness. God’s redemption stories are majestic.

Majestic Redemption

And it’s within that reminder, that I find everything I need, no matter what season. Life isn’t always going to go the way I planned, and it’s the same for you. Most of the time we’re trying to control things, or people, that are completely outside of our control. However, that does not mean that we are outside the realm of God’s restoration. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to unpack some of these stories from Joseph’s life, in the hope that they continue to speak truth to our lives. Joseph’s story is amazing because God is amazing. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If he could take the broken pieces of Joseph’s life and craft something beautiful with them, then he can do the same for us!

Changing the world is simple.

Changing the world happens when you touch one life with the love of Christ. When you touch one life—you’ve changed their world.

Simple acts of encouragement make a huge impact. I know this, because I’ve been the recipient. It’s the conversation when someone looks straight into your eyes and sees all the way to your heart. Their words speak life and touch the ache you’ve felt but have not uttered. It’s the written message read over and over—proof that you’re not alone in this journey. It’s the unexpected gift found at your front door. The contents make you smile. It’s the reminder that God sees and reaches in a tangible way: lifting your heart, settling your doubts, and silencing your questions.

We all need encouragement. We need to know we’re not alone. You can make a huge difference in the life of another simply by reaching out. You can change their world. Would you join me? What would happen if 100 of us touched the life of one other person this weekend with Jesus’ love? What if those 100 were also inspired to reach out to another with the love of Christ? Love multiplies changing the world and we’re all in on it.

You’ve heard stories that tell of the way strangers paid for the car behind them at Starbucks and Chick-fil-A. My eyes light up to hear of love poured out. It’s the most powerful force on earth and takes nothing more than a few moments of simple obedience and courage. Right now, ask God for your assignment. Where will you spread his love? Is your heart beating faster? That’s love multiplied inside you. It’s love that can’t wait to get out. Cultivate willingness in your heart for spontaneous assignments too. You are changing the world—one life at a time.

Oh yes, and watch for the way God returns the gifts you’ve given!

I feel entirely different about it. That movie falsely portrays the most personally difficult, and beautiful, moments of my life. It’s a fabricated story of relationships within my family, within my community (including my Amish neighbors who showed nothing but grace and compassion) and with God—I never doubted him for a moment! Amish Grace is a Hollywood generated “made for TV movie”, but this is my life, and to me it’s personal.

Please hear me though—I’m not angry. Truthfully, I was frustrated when I found out about it, but not angry. I believe in the redemptive love of God, that is, his ability to take the worst circumstances and use them for good in our lives. His WORD, the Bible, is very clear that he redeems. His redemption covers a bad movie. My life is, and will forever be, a story of God’s love. If you’ve watched the movie, you owe it to yourself to hear the truth. I’m not just talking about the truth of my story; I’m talking about the truth of God’s love for you. One Light Still Shines, is a true story- my viewpoint on relationships within my family, interactions with the Amish community, and above all, the miraculous way God restored my life. I pray that as you read it, you would feel His redemptive love washing over you, encouraging your heart to believe that he’s not finished writing your story.

You can read reviews and find out more about it at Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/One-Light-Still-Shines-Schoolhouse-ebook/dp/B00BW29466/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398088629&sr=1-1&keywords=one+light+still+shines

or Zondervan- http://www.zondervan.com/one-light-still-shines.html

I entered the store with a list, a list of things weighing heavy on my heart, an accumulation of very personal little things.  I felt this list.  I strolled through the store and began a conversation with God.  I asked him what he was going to do with those things and what I was supposed to do about them.  I wasn’t getting any answers.  I’m firmly convinced that my surface questions are often related to processing, and I must keep asking to find the deep answer my heart needs most.  I circled the store, picked up a few things, and, at the same time circled my issues.  The conversation changed.

Do you see me?

Factually, I knew this wasn’t THE question, but I was getting closer.  I even knew the answer as I asked—I know he sees me.

I continued to explore my heart in an effort to try to understand what I desperately needed to know.

I need to know that you see me.  Show me that you see my heart.

Surprisingly it wasn’t a question, but it was THE KEY that would unlock the door and let me out of my self-made irritation.  I needed God to come to me, in the middle of Target and remind my heart that he sees me.

I was browsing through the picture frames when this revelation occurred.  I looked at my cart and decided to put back the things I had collected.  I pushed the cart in silence.  There was nothing more to say, no more questions to ask.  I needed to wait.

I found the shelf, popped the items back in place and started towards the front of the store.  I looked at my watch.  Maybe I wasn’t going to meet him in Target.  It was time to go home.  I passed another shopper, but didn’t look up, I felt subdued by silence.  She stopped me, “Excuse me, are you Marie?”  Jolted from my inward conversation, I stumbled to answer her question.  “I knew it was you, I saw you earlier but didn’t say anything and then I told God, that if he wanted me to talk to you then he would have to make sure our paths crossed again.”  She continued, “I’m sure you get lots of these conversations, so I don’t want to bother you, but I just have to thank you for sharing your story.”

The words I type don’t accurately convey the way she expressed them and how God used this encounter to touch my heart.  She went on to tell me that she had been praying for my family and was encouraged to know what God had done.  I thanked her and walked away, still stunned and silent, but completely changed.  All my “issues” remained; nothing was different, however the weight had lifted. This was only the 3^rd time a stranger approached me to talk about my book.  This was not a coincidence; this was God.

You see me. 

Tears filled my eyes.  I held them back.  I was not going to break down in the middle of Target.

I felt his arms surrounding me, his hands holding my heart—the love of the Father in tangible form.  It’s startling to think God would send me to Target to process and pray, and that he would simultaneously send a stranger, used with precision to encourage my heart.  If she had spoken the first time she saw me it would’ve come before my revelatory moment and the impact would’ve been reduced.  Her words came with perfect timing.

I returned home, confident that while my circumstances remained the same, everything had shifted. I was able to view my life through the lens of love, confident that God sees my heart.  He doesn’t have to instantaneously fix my problems—I just have to let him change me.  I am comforted, because I know he sees me.

This song says it all-

And nothing is hidden from Your sight

Wherever I go, You find me

And You know every detail of my life

And You are God and You don’t miss a thing

You Know Me- Bethel Music