Tell us about your work.
I am a mail carrier for the post office. I started out as a sub about five years ago, but have my own route now. The best part of the job is the people on the route! Many have become like family to me.
Tell us about your family.
I have two wonderful teenagers, a daughter and a son, who fill both my time and my heart. We share our home with a dog, two cats, and 12 chickens.
Tell us about a hobby you have.
I collect flying pigs. A year ago, as I was driving home, I was praying about a particularly difficult situation – one whose resolution seemed impossible in my eyes. When I glanced up at the night sky, I saw a huge cloud outlined by the full moon – in the exact shape of a flying pig! My first thought was, “What’s more impossible than a flying pig? God can make anything happen!” For weeks afterward, I kept seeing flying pigs everywhere – on the sign at Two J’s Smokehouse, on the porch of a mail customer’s house, in cartoons. I even got one in the mail. I have about 20 airborne swine in my collection now. They all remind me that it’s not about the pig, but the One who makes the pig fly. (And my “impossible situation? It worked out better than I could have hoped for!)
Describe one of the highlights of your life.
Second to being a mom – the ultimate highlight! – was riding the BikeCentennial Trail when I was 21. It was a 3,000-mile, three-month bicycle/camping trip from Portland, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia. There were 12 in our group, all strangers at the outset, each carrying 40+ pounds of gear on our bikes. My riding buddy, Nancy, and I had so much fun poking along, stopping for an interesting sight or to swap stories with the local folks. Pretty soon, one of the other guys in the group started asking to ride with us because, as he put it, we were “the only ones coming into camp each night laughing with great stories to tell about the day.” To me, that was the whole point of the trip – to enjoy seeing America, to experience each place and not just rush through it.
Describe one of the biggest surprises of your life.
My kids, who were barely school-age, threw a surprise birthday party for me. They figured out a way to order a birthday cake, decorate the kitchen, and invite some friends over without giving the secret away. I had no clue anything was going on until one of the kids’ little friends called to ask why his neighbors were carrying a present on their way over to our house.
Describe one of the tragedies/struggles of your life.
We went through a really long, hard stretch when we sold our house at the Lake, moved multiple times within four years, and I went to work full-time. That meant giving up homeschooling, which broke my heart. Then the house I eventually bought was in such bad shape – despite assurances from the home inspector that it had good bones and just needed a new roof – that it had to be taken almost completely down. Thank God for many good friends and my son’s Cub Scout pack who all pitched in and offered all kinds of help. There is no way we could have made it through all that turmoil and frustration without them!
Describe a dream you have for your future.
For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of buying a farm with a big old run-down barn and silo. I would make over the barn into a beautiful, spacious house, and have all kinds of farm animals and a big garden. But the main attraction would be the silo! The silo would have an internal spiral staircase with a dumbwaiter in the middle to carry things up. At the top would be a simple bedroom with a glass dome so I could lie in bed and watch the stars all night.
Describe a fear you have for your future.
I fear that America will see her downfall in the entitlement mentality of her people. We as a nation have enjoyed so much prosperity that many no longer consider it the result of hard work and blessing, but rather see it as a God-given birthright. Education has become more of a drudgery than an opportunity, and we have lost perspective on what constitutes a good life. I think that for too many people the American Dream is no longer funded by hard work and saving, but by a lucky lottery ticket or a good lawsuit.
Here’s your chance to sound off. If you could give one public service announcement/word of advice to the public at large, what would it be?
Teaching for the Standards of Learning (SOL) test is such a time-waster, but even more importantly, it is a motivational death knoll. Show students how they will use that information in real life. Stop putting so much emphasis on what shape their letter grade is, and more emphasis on what they can do with that knowledge. Education needs to be about teaching people to think, not merely regurgitating information they’ve been fed.
