I feel very blessed to have grown up in a strong Christian home where the truths of the gospel were an integral part of our lives. I came to an understanding of my need for a Savior at a young age and grew in my understanding of God and the truths of Scripture. In my early elementary years, I began to realize the need for missionaries to take the gospel into the far regions of the world. I decided then that I wanted to serve the Lord that I loved as a missionary. In high school as I began researching colleges and careers I struggled with my continued desire to be a missionary and my interest in pursuing interior design. As I got closer to choosing a college I felt God continue to prod me with the question of what I was going to do about missions. Around this time a friend of mine  became ill with cancer and passed away after a few short months. I had to come face to face with the fact that I had only one life to offer and I needed to decide how I was going to spend it. I knew the desire God had given me for missions and that He was leading me to serve Him in this way. Now the question was, was I going to follow Him? Shortly after this on a Sunday evening in church we sang a hymn called “Only One Life to Offer.” It expressed all that had been on my heart and standing there singing that hymn I made the decision to spend my life serving Christ in spreading His gospel.

Not long after this, I was introduced to a young man named Tim Lanier. We shared a common desire to serve the Lord in missions and he told me about the Bible school he was planning on attending with New Tribes Mission. I told myself that I would like to marry someone like Tim. Then I thought, well why not Tim?! After many months of correspondence and phone calls, he at the New Tribes Bible Institute in Wisconsin and me at a small one-year Bible school not far from home, we were engaged over Christmas break. We were married in June of 2003 and have since been blessed with two wonderful boys, Noah (Feb 2005) and Micah (June 2007).

God continues to impress on my heart the need for missionaries to take His gospel to those people that have yet to hear. Although, I am daily reminded that I cannot do this on my own and I desperately need Him and the body of Christ!