When we’re seventeen, we don’t realize that the silly things done at parties or the gossip spoken about others sticks. I still remember the nicknames and terrible decisions made by myself and others during that time…17 years later! At that point in our lives, we are the truest reflection of what our parents have raised us to be and the experiences we’ve had; we are just shy of going out into the world and becoming our own selves. A coping mechanism of mine during school was to be critical, and to carry a confident facade which didn’t bode well (read about my Hudson High School Hit Lists here).

Jayme is beautiful. There is nothing plain jane or small thinking about her. Upon meeting this bombshell, I remember that she was the always-booked, master designer behind the new Viva Voce Salon hot spot downtown Hudson. Regular, every day people would come into the salon tired, exhausted by the world and its demands and leave completely refreshed and glamourous. It is a waste to see Jayme and then go home. For the the love, have a date or find a reason for a girlfriend dinner. Because by the time she’s done with you, you’re going to look bomb.

I spent almost 30 years being petrified of having children. My parents had an oops baby at the age of 40 and I had watched tumultuous times with a toddler (and divorce) follow. Growing up, I was told that children are unpredictable and uncontrollable; what if I couldn’t cut it as a parent? What if some poor kid inherited all of my weaknesses?

When I first met Greta, she struck me as a warm, kind and beautiful person. She was studying to become a hair stylist and lived down the hall from my sister. Fast forward a couple of years… My sister and her friends had asked me to lead a small group bible study. At the time, Greta wasn’t yet part of the group. Randomly one day, I asked my sister how Greta was doing, to which she replied that she hadn’t really seen her much since school. The next day, Greta showed up at the salon where my sister works – just to say hi – and that is when we invited her to join our group (Greta lives 40 minutes away from that salon and was only there because she was visiting another friend in town; the coincidence of my having asked about her not 24 hours earlier even struck my sister as completely crazy). I knew then that God had a little something planned for Greta; What I didn’t know, was that there was nothing LITTLE about it.