As a little girl my mom would dress me in frilly dresses, curl my long hair with ringlets, and gave me a pink bedroom complete with canopy bed and French provincial furniture. As a teenager, my mom enrolled me in charm classes and insisted on proper etiquette. Raised in the north by a British mother, my mom was surrounded by china tea cups, tea parties, frills, lace, and finery. She was a Victorian-style woman and she wanted me to be a girly-girl like her. Now, imagine the opposite of that and you have a picture of ME – at home in flip flops, jeans, and a t-shirt, my goal is comfort over style … and that applies in most areas of my life.

For over 30 years, I have served alongside my husband in youth ministry. While not “polished” in any way, our approach to ministry could be classified as one filled with comfort – food, relaxation, friendship, mentoring, fun, Bible study, trips, and sweet tea. It’s the kind of ministry methodology that sounds a bit like the words of the Beverly Hillbillies’ song: “You're all invited back again to this locality to have a heapin’ helpin’ of their hospitality … Set a spell, take your shoes off. Y'all come back now, ya hear?”