Hi, I’m Kristen!

I’m a recovering perfectionist and introverted word nerd who has long believed that if I can get the right words in the right order, I can nudge the world a little. I’m a snarky California kid with Midwest roots, which means I work like a horse but drive like a cartoon character. It also means I know who I am, even as I tear through life with one wheel off the cliff.

I telecommute as copywriter by day, run a busy family by night, and I’m most proud of the 17 years my husband and I have spent doing the next (crazy) thing God has teed up for us. Together we have served five churches in Minnesota, Nevada, and Arizona, including Genesis Church in Phoenix where Ryan is currently the lead pastor. We have three children, one who we adopted from Ethiopia in 2009.

Along my messy, unlikely path to motherhood, international adoption, and church planting, I’ve learned that embracing my place in the story of God is not about being fearless or certain or even all that happy about it—at least not at first. It’s about being just reckless enough to take Jesus at his word and do what he says, one next, small step at a time.

I desire to see us all experience the freedom and purpose found in the forward stepping, in the pushing through barriers—both real and imagined—to leverage the power of Christ in us. I want us to lift our heads in the middle of our ordinary days and notice that the heroes of our faith are gone, and Jesus says we’re up. It’s our turn to be a little reckless, to start something outrageous, to love someone scary, to unearth the gifts we buried. If we have the guts to go first, to bravely own our place in God’s story, then others will get the courage to go next. When that happens, lives will get lived, Jesus will get real, and the watching world will not be able to look away.

Welcome.