Being a non-traditional college student has profoundly shaped my educational journey and future aspirations. My past struggles and painful experiences have cultivated a deep empathy within me, allowing me to connect with and support others who have faced similar struggles. Growing up in a home marked by abuse and neglect due to my parents’ addictions, I learned firsthand the impact of such an environment on every aspect of life. As an adult, I faced significant challenges, including a decade-long struggle with my husband’s addiction, which ultimately led to our separation and divorce. However, through counseling and a renewed faith in Christ, we found healing and reconciliation. This journey has taught me the profound differences between our truth, God’s truth, and the truth of the Bible. John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” This verse emphasizes that Jesus embodies absolute truth while providing a solid foundation that offers hope and direction Our truth is shaped by our personal experiences and perceptions. It is subjective and can change over time as we grow and learn. For instance, my understanding of love, resilience, and forgiveness evolved through my personal struggles and triumphs. God’s truth, on the other hand, is absolute and eternal. It is unchanging and provides a solid foundation in times of uncertainty. During the darkest periods of my life of divorce and the passing of my parents, it was the unwavering nature of God’s truth that offered me hope and direction. This truth is not influenced by circumstances but remains constant, guiding us towards a life of purpose and fulfillment. The truth of the Bible is the recorded revelation of God’s truth. It serves as a guide for understanding and living according to God’s will. The Bible provided me with the wisdom and strength needed to navigate my challenges and find healing. It is through the scriptures that I found the principles of forgiveness, love, and service that now define my life and work. Today, my husband and I are remarried, thriving, and dedicated to helping others through counseling, particularly those dealing with addiction. He serves as a missions pastor, and while his pay is modest, the ministry is incredibly rewarding, albeit often challenging. I believe it is important to give back, and currently, I do so by building connections in my community roles. My husband and I provide free counseling to those in our community and participate in fundraisers, benefits, camps, and local theater, while also supporting other local churches. As a pastor’s wife, I am inherently woven into the fabric of my church community, sharing purpose and values with fellow congregants. This forms a powerful bond, uniting us in our commitment to faith and service. Simultaneously, my engagement in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and community initiatives connects me with like-minded individuals who share a profound passion for aiding others. These dual roles intertwine, reinforcing my sense of purpose and amplifying the impact I can make. Despite many obstacles, I remain determined to complete my MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduate from Colorado Christian University in December of 2025, and become the first in my family to graduate from college. My goal is to help others achieve holistic healing, mind, body, and soul, so they can go on to lead fulfilling lives. Winning this scholarship would not only bring peace of mind but also be a crucial step in allowing me to continue this journey and fulfill my calling.

Being a non-traditional college student has profoundly shaped my educational journey and future aspirations. My past struggles and painful experiences have cultivated a deep empathy within me, allowing me to connect with and support others who have faced similar struggles. Growing up in a home marked by abuse and neglect due to my parents’ addictions, I learned firsthand the impact of such an environment on every aspect of life. As an adult, I faced significant challenges, including a decade-long struggle with my husband’s addiction, which ultimately led to our separation and divorce. However, through counseling and a renewed faith in Christ, we found healing and reconciliation. Today, my husband and I are remarried, thriving, and dedicated to helping others through counseling, particularly those dealing with addiction. He serves as a missions pastor, and while his pay is modest, the ministry is incredibly rewarding, albeit often challenging. I believe it is important to give back, and currently, I do so by building connections in my community roles. My husband and I provide free counseling to those in our community and participate in fundraisers, benefits, camps, and local theater, while also supporting other local churches. As a pastor’s wife, I am inherently woven into the fabric of my church community, sharing purpose and values with fellow congregants. This forms a powerful bond, uniting us in our commitment to faith and service. Simultaneously, my engagement in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and community initiatives connects me with like-minded individuals who share a profound passion for aiding others. These dual roles intertwine, reinforcing my sense of purpose and amplifying the impact I can make. My community internship has provided me with valuable opportunities to work alongside colleagues, supervisors, and clients. These interactions have laid the foundation for a professional network. Through team meetings, case discussions, and collaborative efforts, I am establishing connections with like-minded individuals who share my dedication to mental health and community well-being. Despite many obstacles, I remain determined to complete my MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduate from Colorado Christian University in December of 2025, and become the first in my family to graduate from college. My goal is to help others achieve holistic healing, mind, body, and soul, so they can go on to lead fulfilling lives. Winning this scholarship would not only bring a peace of mind but it would also be a crucial step in allowing me to continue this journey and fulfill my calling.

Being a non-traditional college student has profoundly shaped my educational journey and future aspirations. My past experiences have cultivated a deep empathy within me, allowing me to connect with and support others who have faced similar struggles. Growing up in a home marked by abuse and neglect due to my parents’ addictions, I learned firsthand the impact of such an environment on every aspect of life. As an adult, I faced significant challenges, including a decade-long struggle with my husband’s addiction, which ultimately led to our separation and divorce. However, through counseling and a renewed faith in Christ, we found healing and reconciliation. Today, my husband and I are remarried, thriving, and dedicated to helping others through counseling, particularly those dealing with addiction. He serves as a missions pastor, and while his pay is modest, the ministry is incredibly rewarding, albeit often challenging. These experiences motivated me to pursue a degree in Clinical Health Counseling at the age of forty-five. I began with an associate’s degree, advanced to a bachelor’s, and am now in my first semester of a graduate program. I have thoroughly enjoyed my studies and the friendships I’ve formed with other non-traditional students. The camaraderie has been essential for encouragement, especially as we all strive to balance school, family, and work. However, the financial strain of returning to school as an adult has been significant. Balancing my education with the responsibilities of taking care of my family, a job, and my obligations as a pastor’s wife, while also paying tuition for myself and my two sons in college, has been challenging. I have found a shared purpose and value in building connections in my community roles. As a pastor’s wife, I am inherently woven into the fabric of my church community, sharing purpose and values with fellow congregants. This forms a powerful bond, uniting us in our commitment to faith and service. Simultaneously, my engagement in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and community initiatives connects me with like-minded individuals who share a profound passion for aiding others. These dual roles intertwine, reinforcing my sense of purpose and amplifying the impact I can make. My community internship has provided me with valuable opportunities to work alongside colleagues, supervisors, and clients. These interactions have laid the foundation for a professional network. Through team meetings, case discussions, and collaborative efforts, I am establishing connections with like-minded individuals who share my dedication to mental health and community well-being. Despite many obstacles, I remain determined to complete my MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, graduate from Colorado Christian University in December of 2025, and become the first in my family to graduate from college. My parents both passed away in 2001, and I wish they were here to see me achieve this accomplishment. My goal, my hearts desire is to help others achieve holistic healing, mind, body, and soul, so they go on to lead fulfilling lives. Winning this scholarship would be a crucial step in allowing me to continue this journey and fulfill my calling.

There is something to be said when we as adults can cultivate empathy through our painful past, to be able to empathize with the suffering of others due to our own painful experience. You see, I grew up in a home filled with abuse, and neglect, a home where the very two people who were supposed to love and take care of me were unable to do so due to alcohol and drug addiction. As an adult, I saw how this impacted me in every area of my life, especially in my marriage. For 10 years, my husband struggled with addiction, one that took such a toll that soon we separated and divorced. Shortly after, we knew something had to change so we began seeing counselors both separately and as a couple. We were blessed to find compassionate counselors who understood our situation, who gave us tools on how to communicate, who taught us strategies to change our thinking and behavior. Through counseling and giving our life to Christ, we found great healing, and are now remarried, thriving and are more in love now than we have ever been. My husband is now a pastor and both he and I welcome any opportunity to counsel other struggling couples or those who struggle from addiction. My experiences are the driving motivation in wanting to help others and have enabled me to have that compassion that moves from a noun to an action verb it was what compelled the age of forty-five, to go back to college and earn my degree in Clinical Health Counseling. I worked my way from my associates to my bachelors and am now in my first semester of the graduate program. Although I have enjoyed my studies immensely, there is a financial strain and stress that comes along with returning to school as an adult and although I was able to pay for this semester, without help, I will be unable to continue the following semester. Anyone who is or has been in graduate school is very much aware of this and with a son in his last year of college and one about to begin college, the financial burden is immense. My husband is a pastor at a small church and his income is very minimal as a full-time student, I am only able to work 2 days a week. At the age of fifty, I am bravely trying to follow my passion, my calling, so that I may help others find mind, body, and soul healing so that they too can live a life of happiness and fulfillment. I hope and pray that I win this scholarship so that I may continue on this path.

There is indeed resilience, strength, and unwavering support for our loved one in uniform. Military families experience deployment, and new environments as well as that factor of uncertainty that accompanies this. Our loved ones in uniform, these heroes who make such a sacrifice often bring back more than metals, they bring back a piece of war in the form of PTSD. Veterans suffer from high rates of mental health conditions, including PTSD, depression, and substance use. I know because my father was one of them, and before the war, he was in a healthy mental state, happy and smiling but after he returned home from active duty, he had transitioned into a state of mental illness. He was a Veteran of Vietnam and the brutal and traumatic combat situations he endured along with physical injury turned him into a father I no longer recognize. A father who was angry and violent, who suffered from nightmares, flashbacks, depression, and anxiety until his only way to cope with this trauma was through drugs and alcohol. Being a child of a Veteran with PTSD, my childhood consisted of abuse, neglect, and trauma. An environment of poverty brought on constant stress and health issues. I struggled with depression and anxiety, I had problems with behavior, school, and social interactions. Life became so difficult for him that being present and engaging in our lives was a challenge and soon he was unable to maintain a healthy, loving relationship with my sister and me. The relationship between him and my mother was very strained and just like that, he left. I suffered from serious emotional and psychological damage, and these feelings of abandonment and low self-esteem made me feel unworthy of being loved, especially by men and by the age of fourteen, I contemplated suicide several times. This experience of my father's PTSD, his mental illness spilled over into adulthood and affected my daily life and relationships. By age thirty-two, I began seeing a mental health professional and addressing my issues. Today, my pain is not without purpose and my experiences have woven within me compassion and empathy that has compelled me to further my education by earning my master's degree in mental health counseling. Counseling gave me a healthy perspective and life-coping skills. Now I desire to help others who have experienced what I have get to the same point of healing. Something that comes through professional help and encouragement that enables one to let go of that past, a past that often traps them, that keeps them stuck in that experience of PDST, obsession, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, or anything else that is preventing them from leading a happy, successful, and fulfilled life. It has been a lifetime of individual experiences that have inspired me to pursue a meaningful career in mental health counseling. This experience with mental health has shaped my goals, relationships, and understanding of the world and has given me unique skills such as empathy and communication and the ability to share my story so that I can bring hope to others.

There is indeed resilience, strength, and unwavering support for our loved one in uniform. Military families experience deployment, and new environments as well as that factor of uncertainty that accompanies this. Our loved ones in uniform, these heroes who make such a sacrifice often bring back more than metals, they bring back a piece of war in the form of PTSD. Veterans suffer from high rates of mental health conditions, including PTSD, depression, and substance use. I know because my father was one of them, and before the war, he was in a healthy mental state, happy and smiling but after he returned home from active duty, he had transitioned into a state of mental illness. He was a Veteran of Vietnam and the brutal and traumatic combat situations he endured along with physical injury turned him into a father I no longer recognize. A father who was angry and violent, who suffered from nightmares, flashbacks, depression, and anxiety until his only way to cope with this trauma was through drugs and alcohol. Being a child of a Veteran with PTSD, my childhood consisted of abuse, neglect, and trauma. An environment of poverty brought on constant stress and health issues. I struggled with depression and anxiety, I had problems with behavior, school, and social interactions. Life became so difficult for him that being present and engaging in our lives was a challenge and soon he was unable to maintain a healthy, loving relationship with my sister and me. The relationship between him and my mother was very strained and just like that, he left. I suffered from serious emotional and psychological damage, and these feelings of abandonment and low self-esteem made me feel unworthy of being loved, especially by men and by the age of fourteen, I contemplated suicide several times. This experience of my father's PTSD, his mental illness spilled over into adulthood and affected my daily life and relationships. By age thirty-two, I began seeing a mental health professional and addressing my issues. Today, my pain is not without purpose and my experiences have woven within me compassion and empathy that has compelled me to further my education by earning my master's degree in mental health counseling. Counseling gave me a healthy perspective and life-coping skills. Now I desire to help others who have experienced what I have get to the same point of healing. Something that comes through professional help and encouragement that enables one to let go of that past, a past that often traps them, that keeps them stuck in that experience of PDST, obsession, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, or anything else that is preventing them from leading a happy, successful, and fulfilled life. To answer the question, “As a college student interested in mental health, what actions will I take to create a positive impact? It has been a lifetime of individual experiences that have inspired me to pursue a meaningful career in mental health counseling while giving me unique skills such as empathy and communication and the ability to share my story so that I can bring hope to others.

There is something to be said when we as adults can cultivate empathy through our painful past, to be able to empathize with the suffering of others due to our own painful experience. You see, I grew up in a home filled with abuse, and neglect, a home where the very two people who were supposed to love and take care of me were unable to do so due to alcohol and drug addiction. Mental health issues stem from a combination of factors and it has been In my personal experience that mental health issues, if left untreated will become a generational cycle. Both my mother and father suffered from mental illness due to childhood abuse while my father also suffered PTSD that went unaddressed after Vietnam. My childhood consisted of abuse, neglect and trauma. An environment of poverty brought on constant stress and health issues. At the age of six, I was bullied simply because I wore pants that were too short as well as hand-me-downs. I struggled with depression and by the age of fourteen I contemplated suicide several times. My childhood mental illness spilled over into adulthood and affected my daily life and relationships. By age thirty-two, I began seeing a mental health professional and addressing my issues. Today, my pain is not without purpose and my experiences have woven within me compassion and empathy that has compelled me to further my education by earning my master's degree in mental health counseling. Counseling gave me a healthy perspective and life-coping skills. Now I desire to help others get to the same point where they can do the same, to help and encourage them to let go of that past, a past that often traps them, that keeps them stuck in that PDST, obsession, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, or anything else that is preventing them from leading a happy, successful and fulfilled life. In 2015, my husband was diagnosed with the disabling and distressing OCPD, an obsessive-compulsive psychological disorder and it is something he to this day struggles with. My marriage is challenging enough through disagreements, raising children, and financial responsibilities not to mention the outside pressures of work commitments but because my spouse suffers from this mental illness, I suffer alongside him. These misguided compulsions are not because he wants to but because of a fear of what will happen if he doesn't give into and I know he cannot just "get it together or deal with it." As his wife, it is heart-wrenching to watch someone you love struggle while all I can do is show compassion, try to get him to talk about it, empathize with his struggle and just hug him. He began seeing a therapist who has played a pivotal role in his mental illness and has been giving him mindful and cognitive coping strategies that are slowly helping him live a happier life. It has been a lifetime of personal experiences that have shaped me and inspired me to pursue a meaningful career in mental health counseling. These experiences, although painful, have had great purpose, they have given me unique skills such as empathy, compassion while also the opportunity to share my story so that I can bring hope, encouragement and healing to others.

There is indeed resilience, strength, and unwavering support for our loved one in uniform. Military families experience deployment, and new environments as well as that factor of uncertainty that accompanies this. Our loved ones in uniform, these heroes who make such a sacrifice often bring back more than metals, they bring back a piece of war in the form of PTSD. Veterans suffer from high rates of mental health conditions, including PTSD, depression, and substance use. I know because my father was one of them, and before the war, he was in a healthy mental state, happy and smiling but after he returned home from active duty, he had transitioned into a state of mental illness. He was a Veteran of Vietnam and the brutal and traumatic combat situtations he endured along with physical injury turned him into a father I no longer recognize. A father who was angry and violent, who suffered from nightmares, flashbacks, depression and anxiety until his only way to cope with this trauma was through drugs and alcohol. Being a child of a parent in the military, one with PTSD, well, my childhood consisted of abuse, neglect and trauma. An environment of poverty brought on constant stress and health issues. I struggled with depression and anxiety, I had problems with behavior, school, and social interactions. Life became so difficult for him that being present and engaging in our lives was a challenge and soon he was unable to maintain a healthy, loving relationship with my sister and me. The relationship between him and my mother was very strained and just like that, he left. I suffered from serious emotional and psychological damage, and these feelings of abandonment and low self-esteem made me feel unworthy of being loved, especially by men and by the age of fourteen, I contemplated suicide several times. This experience of my father's PTSD, his mental illness spilled over into adulthood and affected my daily life and relationships. By age thirty-two, I began seeing a mental health professional and addressing my issues. Today, my pain is not without purpose and my experiences have woven within me compassion and empathy that has compelled me to further my education by earning my master's degree in mental health counseling. Counseling gave me a healthy perspective and life-coping skills. Now I desire to help others who have experienced what I have get to the same point of healing. Something that comes through professional help and encouragement that enables one to let go of that past, a past that often traps them, that keeps them stuck in that experience of PDST, obsession, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, or anything else that is preventing them from leading a happy, successful and fulfilled life. It has been a lifetime of personal experiences that have inspired me to pursue a meaningful career in mental health counseling while giving me unique skills such as empathy and communication and the ability to share my story so that I can bring hope to others.

Mental health issues stem from a combination of factors. In my personal experience, mental health issues, if left untreated will become a generational cycle. Both my mother and father suffered from mental illness due to childhood abuse while my father also suffered PTSD that went unaddressed after Vietnam. My childhood consisted of abuse, neglect and trauma. An environment of poverty brought on constant stress and health issues. At the age of six, I was bullied simply because I wore pants that were too short as well as hand-me-downs. I struggled with depression and by the age of fourteen I contemplated suicide several times. My childhood mental illness spilled over into adulthood and affected my daily life and relationships. By age thirty-two, I began seeing a mental health professional and addressing my issues. Today, my pain is not without purpose and my experiences have woven within me compassion and empathy that has compelled me to further my education by earning my master's degree in mental health counseling. Counseling gave me a healthy perspective and life-coping skills. Now I desire to help others get to the same point where they can do the same, to help and encourage them to let go of that past, a past that often traps them, that keeps them stuck in that PDST, obsession, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, or anything else that is preventing them from leading a happy, successful and fulfilled life. In 2015, my husband was diagnosed with the disabling and distressing OCPD, an obsessive-compulsive psychological disorder and it is something he to this day struggles with. My marriage is challenging enough through disagreements, raising children, and financial responsibilities not to mention the outside pressures of work commitments but because my spouse suffers from this mental illness, I suffer alongside him. These misguided compulsions are not because he wants to but because of a fear of what will happen if he doesn't give in and I know he cannot just "get it together or deal with it." As his wife, it is heart-wrenching to watch someone you love struggle while all I can do is show compassion, try to get him to talk about it, empathize with his struggle and just hug him. He began seeing a therapist who has played a pivotal role in his mental illness and has been giving him mindful and cognitive coping strategies that are slowly helping him live a happier life. It has been a lifetime of personal experiences that have inspired me to pursue a meaningful career in mental health counseling while giving me unique skills such as empathy and communication and the ability to share my story so that I can bring hope to others.

Mental health issues stem from a combination of factors. In my personal experience, mental health issues, if left untreated will become a generational cycle. Both my mother and father suffered from mental illness due to childhood abuse while my father also suffered PTSD that went unaddressed after Vietnam. My childhood consisted of abuse, neglect and trauma. An environment of poverty brought on constant stress and health issues. At the age of six, I was bullied simply because I wore pants that were too short as well as hand-me-downs. I struggled with depression and by the age of fourteen I contemplated suicide several times. My childhood mental illness spilled over into adulthood and affected my daily life and relationships. By age thirty-two, I began seeing a mental health professional and addressing my issues. Today, my pain is not without purpose and my experiences have woven within me compassion and empathy that has compelled me to further my education by earning my master's degree in mental health counseling. Counseling gave me a healthy perspective and life-coping skills. Now I desire to help others get to the same point where they can do the same, to help and encourage them to let go of that past, a past that often traps them, that keeps them stuck in that PDST, obsession, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, or anything else that is preventing them from leading a happy, successful and fulfilled life. In 2015, my husband was diagnosed with the disabling and distressing OCPD, an obsessive-compulsive psychological disorder and it is something he to this day struggles with. My marriage is challenging enough through disagreements, raising children, and financial responsibilities not to mention the outside pressures of work commitments but because my spouse suffers from this mental illness, I suffer alongside him. These misguided compulsions are not because he wants to but because of a fear of what will happen if he doesn't give into and I know he cannot just "get it together or deal with it." As his wife, it is heart-wrenching to watch someone you love struggle while all I can do is show compassion, try to get him to talk about it, empathize with his struggle and just hug him. He began seeing a therapist who has played a pivotal role in his mental illness and has been giving him mindful and cognitive coping strategies that are slowly helping him live a happier life. It has been a lifetime of personal experiences that have inspired me to pursue a meaningful career in mental health counseling while giving me unique skills such as empathy and communication and the ability to share my story so that I can bring hope to others.

How has your experience with mental health influenced your beliefs, relationships, and career aspirations? There is something to be said about our life experiences, when we as adults can cultivate empathy through our painful past, to be able to empathize with the suffering of others due to our own painful experiences. You see, I grew up in a home filled with abuse, and neglect, a home where my mother and father, the very two people who were supposed to love and take care of me were unable to do so due to alcohol and drug addiction while my father also suffered from PTSD due to Vietnam. As an adult, I saw how this impacted me in every area of my life, especially in my marriage. For ten years, my husband struggled with addiction, one that took such a toll that soon we separated and divorced. Shortly after, we knew something had to change so we began seeing counselors both separately and as a couple. We were blessed to find compassionate counselors who understood our situation, who gave us tools on how to communicate, and who taught us strategies to change our thinking and behavior. Through counseling and giving our life to Christ, we found great healing, and are now remarried, thriving and are more in love now than we have ever been. My husband who has also been diagnosed with OCPD(Obsessive, Compulsive Psychological Disorder), is now a pastor and both he and I welcome any opportunity to counsel other struggling couples, those who struggle with addiction or a mental illness. My experiences are my driving motivation in my desire to want to help others and have enabled me to have that compassion that moves from a noun to an action verb it was what compelled the age of 45, to go back to college and earn my degree in Clinical Health Counseling. I worked my way from my associate's to my bachelor's and am now in my first semester of the graduate program. Although I have enjoyed my studies immensely, there is a financial strain and stress that comes along with returning to school as an adult and although I was able to pay for this semester, without help, I will be unable to continue the following semester. Anyone who is or has been in graduate school is very much aware of this and with a son in his last year of college and one about to begin college, the financial burden is immense. My husband is a pastor at a small church and his income is very minimal as a full-time student, I am only able to work 2 days a week. So now, I find myself at the age of 49, bravely trying to follow my passion, my calling, so that I may help others find mind, body, and soul healing so that they too can live a life of happiness and fulfillment. I hope and pray that I win this scholarship so that I may continue this path.

Self-care is self-love, it is the ability to recognize our worth and value through Jesus Christ, it is taking the initiative that produces the fruits of self-love. "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. (Ephesians 5:29). Paul uses the word “nourish” metaphorically while speaking to the church of Ephesus in the idea of maturity while he uses “cherish” to encourage our value and our worth As a woman, my life is busy due to the many “hats” I wear. Let’s be honest, the life of a wife, mother, full-time student, and businesswoman is often very difficult and stressful, but about 12 years ago I changed one simple thing that brought about enjoyment and balance to my daily routines. What is this one thing you may ask? Well, my priority in the morning, the minute I open my eyes, is to put God first! I realized that in saying I put God first, I was not doing it, so He is put first every morning. "My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26:9). Just as the captive Jews, I want to please God and do His will just as the prophet Isaiah describes in this verse. God should be the great longing for our souls, our self-care/soul-care, that spring of life that flows from our hearts. The words stewardship & vocational Integrity come to mind when I think of self-care, and I must remember to give God the time He truly deserves. Spending time with Him every day, glorifying Him in all things, and making my relationship with Him of the utmost importance. When I made this change, my relationship with my Heavenly Father grew deeper, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring clarity to my daily schedule, while also pressing on my heart “self-care/soul-care.” This brought about a needed revival and replenishment from the inside out, along with the ability to identify the wonderful things He has done in my life that in turn grow me in virtue. Self-care is a matter of being good stewards over our lives, for me, as a Believer, it is about making the daily decision to nourish myself through the Word of God, eat nourishing foods, and invest in my overall well-being, mind, body, and spirit. So, my question is: Are you putting God first? What does your prayer life look like? When was the last time you met with a few brothers/sisters in Christ for a healthy discussion or unplugged from social media to just sit by a lake as you praised God for the beautiful scenery? What about the simple things for your body like taking vitamins, relaxing in a bubble bath, treating yourself to massage, going to a movie or using your God-given talents to get crazy crafty? Ultimately, self-care is not a work we do in ourselves. ” He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6), God does the work in us, we make the SPACE for it to happen, and we participate in that good work by taking hold of the various ways God has supplied sustenance to our minds, bodies, and souls; this in itself is self-care.

There is something to be said when we as adults can cultivate empathy through our painful past, to be able to empathize with the suffering of others due to our own painful experience. You see, I grew up in a home filled with abuse, and neglect, a home where the very two people who were supposed to love and take care of me were unable to do so due to alcohol and drug addiction. As an adult, I saw how this impacted me in every area of my life, especially in my marriage. For 10 years, my husband struggled with addiction, one that took such a toll that soon we separated and divorced. Shortly after, we knew something had to change so we began seeing counselors both separately and as a couple. We were blessed to find compassionate counselors who understood our situation, who gave us tools on how to communicate, who taught us strategies to change our thinking and behavior. Through counseling and giving our life to Christ, we found great healing, and are now remarried, thriving and are more in love now than we have ever been. My husband is now a pastor and both he and I welcome any opportunity to counsel other struggling couples or those who struggle from addiction. My experiences are the driving motivation in wanting to help others and have enabled me to have that compassion that moves from a noun to an action verb it was what compelled the age of 45, to go back to college and earn my degree in Clinical Health Counseling. I worked my way from my associate's to my bachelor's and am now in my first semester of the graduate program. Although I have enjoyed my studies immensely, there is a financial strain and stress that comes along with returning to school as an adult and although I was able to pay for this semester, without help, I will be unable to continue the following semester. Anyone who is or has been in graduate school is very much aware of this and with a son in his last year of college and one about to begin college, the financial burden is immense. My husband is a pastor at a small church and his income is very minimal as a full-time student, I am only able to work 2 days a week. So like Steve, at the age of 49, I am bravely trying to follow my passion, my calling, so that I may help others find mind, body and soul healing so that they too can live a life of happiness and fulfillment. I hope and pray that I win this scholarship so that I may continue on this path.