About
In 1995, in the midst of my busy life as a mother of young children and hospital chaplain, I felt called to help others explore the presence of God in their lives as a spiritual director and retreat minister, and so in January of 1996, I began graduate coursework at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Mo. Six and a half years and one more child later (born at the end of my third semester of graduate school) I graduated with both a master’s degree in pastoral studies and a certificate in spiritual direction.
Since 2001, I have helped facilitate retreats with titles like Summer Stillness: Be Still and Know that I am God and Holy Women: Remembering their Words, Celebrating their Wisdom at Mercy Retreat and Conference Center. I am a former member of the preaching team at King’s House Retreat and Conference Center in Belleville, Il., where I helped facilitate weekend retreats such as Searching for Light: Befriending Life’s Questions and Eye of the Storm: Finding God in Chaos and Calm. I have also facilitated retreats and adult education workshops at St. Louis area parishes like St. Francis Xavier (College) Church, Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church and St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church.
To help others explore the presence and activity of God in their lives, I offer the ministry of spiritual direction to individuals of various denominations – Methodists, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, to name several. Though their denominational basis may differ, the common underlying focus for all my directees is their desire to grow in relationship with God and to know they are loved by the Holy One. It is my privilege and joy to be able to companion my directees – listening, discerning, questioning, affirming and challenging – as they wrestle with the unique contexts that form their lives and where God is in the midst of their day-to-day challenges.
I now work at SSM St. Louis University Hospital as a staff chaplain. As I attempt to provide emotional and spiritual support to patients and their families, I am mindful that I am but an instrument, and it is God who does the real healing. I am grateful for the opportunity to witness daily the extraordinary care our patients receive.
I enjoy writing, and am the author of the prayer pamphlet Prayers for Healing Body and Soul and the book Let’s Begin with a Prayer: 101 Prayers for Meetings. Both are published by Liguori Publications.
I also find God in the midst of married life and in my love for my children. Having embraced the denomination of the Episcopal church, I reverence and respect God’s presence in other faiths as well, knowing that our God is too big to be confined to any one church. I welcome honest discussion with all those who seek to live an authentic life and who desire to know and be known by Love.
.