I was raised in a Christian home near Sacramento. I accepted Jesus into my heart at our church summer camp when I was 6 years old. That was the beginning of a very long journey. I wish I could say the road has been straight, but in truth it has had many twists and turns along the way.
Being raised in church I learned all the right things to say and do in order to appear to be a good Christian. The problem was the fact that I struggled on the inside with a deep sense of insecurity and feelings of unworthiness, because I knew the difference between right and wrong and yet I so often made the wrong choices. I couldn't understand WHY God would love someone like me. I knew that much of the time my Christian life was just an act.
Both of my parents were very involved in church. My mother was a Sunday School teacher and my father sang in the choir. I learned to love music by going with my father to choir practice every week - I couldn't wait to be old enough to sing in the choir. It was there, singing in the choir that I began to discover that God was more than a Sunday story. The music helped me connect with important truths about the character of God. I felt closest to him when I was singing...and so I sang - A LOT!
I attended Azusa Pacific University and graduated from there with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education. During my time at APU I traveled on Sundays and during the summer to different churches all over the United States. It was there that I began to see how important it is to be "authentic." I knew that if I was going to sing about a loving and faithful God, I needed to know him and that is when our relationship really began to grow.
I have always been involved in music in the church. In 1987, I was involved with a church plant where I helped with the children and the worship team. In 1991, we came to CCF where I continued to volunteer on the worship team until May 1994 when I was invited to join the pastoral staff.
I love that God is always faithful! 2 Timothy 2:13 says, "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful." No matter what the circumstance, I can always count on the fact that God will be true to his word.
Psalm 63 - the entire chapter!
1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
9 They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. 10 They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.