Every Day In May: Day 1

The Story of My Life in 250 Words Or Less

I was born in Tacoma, Washington on July 8th, 1984. I'm the oldest of two; my younger sister Katie came along in December of 1986. We grew up in a small town called Roy; we lived on 20 acres and did "ranchy" things: rode horses, built forts in the woods and drank water straight from the hose. We didn't lock our doors at night, and the keys stayed in the ignition. I have the best memories of picking fresh raspberries with my grandma, and manipulating my little sister to run out and feed the horses while I "timed her" so I didn't have to do it myself. We went to church on most Sundays, which was never something I looked forward to. God was scary and intimidating and was always watching and ohnodidhehearmetalkbacktomyparents and I couldn't wait until I was a grown up and didn't have to go to church if I didn't want to. I loved God, I didn't need to sit in a building to prove that.

I showed horses competitively for years. Won a few world titles. I was homeschooled in Junior High and returned to public school in 9th grade; the homeschool liaison for the program I was enrolled in had her office set up in an alternative school. Funny how that works, right? My parents homeschooled me to keep me safe, and I ended up around all the kids that got kicked out of public school for drugs and alcohol. Woopsie.

As luck would have it, I fell in love with the man of my dreams when I was fifteen (haha), he broke my heart (which no one saw coming), I thought my life was over. My parents enrolled me in the local public school if for no other reason than to get my social life and self-esteem back on track. I made great friends, became a varsity cheerleader for our record-breaking 4A football and basketball teams, and had the high school memories that movies are made of. I mean, complete with the printed out lyrics to Vitamin C's Graduation Song in Comic Sans and Brush Script on the cover of every binder and on every mirror in my house.

I got my own apartment and a job with our family friends at a local real estate office right out of high school, where I stayed for almost 6 years. I partied, I charged up credit cards, I had a good time... I thought that was how "adulthood" was supposed to be, until the credit card companies turned me over to collection agencies and my heart could no longer be explained through lyrics to a Kelly Clarkson song. Then I got fed up with life and decided that I wanted to change things: I found a new job, and I also allowed a coworker from the real estate office to drag me to her church on one hungover Sunday morning, because why not.

Clouds part, angels sing. I was home.

I met some amazing people, became convicted, dove in head first and never looked back. I learned the truth about grace, and realized that the God-sized hole in my heart was something I'd been filling with everything but Him, which perfectly explained why I was never satisfied with what I had in my hands.

I became pretty good friends with a really cool guy named Paul, who had grown up in the church. He and I became best friends over the next few years, and then I became his wife four years later - in October 2010. We got married in what had become our church, alongside twenty (!!) of our best friends and incredible family members. Today, he is the worship leader at our church, we are planted and deeply rooted in God's house, and I learn more about what true love is every day.

In December of 2012 we welcomed our first perfect son, Porter Alan Burton.

BAM. That brings us to today!

Way more than 250 words, guys, but I'm going to be 29 in a few months, so I'm exercising my rights as a grown up.