i can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was very blessed with the family I grew up in. We went to church, supported each other, and we're genuinely close. The church I grew up in was a home away from home until it wasn't.

I didn't return to a church until 9 years later when I started attending my now home church, Desert Breeze Community Church. In Junior High my parents went through a very hard divorce. Throughout my youth I dealt with same sex attraction, anger issues, and started drug use with drinking at the age of 12. I was in and out of relationships for years and even tried taking my own life at the age of 15 & 18 because I put my identity in worldly things. 

I dropped out of High School in grade 11. I got a full-time job, met my ex-fiancé, and started using cocaine. I was addicted to cocaine for roughly 4 years and within that time I tried most any drug you can find including fentanyl. At this time my dog Scarlett had become the God in my life and the only reason I wanted to live. In November of 2019 she got hit by a car and I had to do the one thing that scared me most, let her go. I buried myself in drugs and drinking until it almost killed me. The Lord had been warning me of this specific night in dreams for years. As it happened, I remembered the dreams and knew who they came from. That night as I was overdosing and trying to sleep it off the Lord came to me in a dream and told me "It's going to be okay. I need you to trust me." I immediately woke up and told Him that I couldn't do this anymore and that I needed his help.

This is when Philippians 4:13 became my life verse, when I truly realized I can't do anything without HIS strength. The Lord took away my taste for drugs and cigarettes with no symptoms of withdrawal and I started making better choices. A year later, I joined the rest of my family in Arizona, where I started attending DBCC. I later found myself on staff in the Children's Ministry and volunteering with the youth students. Our youth program, Anomaly, is where I met the Craig Family. I love who they are and what they do. Every mission trip we took to help them, I found myself not wanting to leave. At this point I knew God had put the call of missions on my life, but I wasn't sure what that looked like. After months of prayer, He made it very clear where he wanted me and now I get to join Larisa Craig in her ministry for the next year starting on February 15th, 2024. I am excited to see what the Lord has in store during and after this next year!