Hi, I'm Julie... I am married to my best friend, Dave, and we have two adult children, two dogs, and three cats. I live just outside of Portland, Oregon and attend an incredible, fast-growing church where I have been a high school youth leader. I enjoy writing, crafting, cooking, and spending time with family, friends, and many remarkable young women who teach me more than I could ever teach them. Over the years, I have been an elementary school teacher, a music teacher, and a stay-at-home mom. God has used all of those experiences to mold me and prepare me to guide others from lives of comparison and struggle into lives of purpose and joy.

Why No Ordinary Grace? Because I lived most of my life with anxiety and insecurity. Perhaps you can relate. I let other people, the things I owned, the way I looked, and my abilities define me. I allowed all of those things to dictate my worthiness, my value, based on what I perceived as acceptance or rejection. Even though I grew up knowing about God and attending church, it was many years before I truly gave my life over to Him and let the transformation of my heart and mind begin. Jesus is the way to true acceptance, authentic relationships, and passionate purpose. He reminds me every day to stop fighting Him for control, to love others the way He loves me, and to let go of the worldly things I tend to hold too tightly. I’m so very grateful for God’s endless grace. My hope in writing these devotions is to help you take a deep breath and rest in His love and grace: grace that is anything but ordinary. As you grow in a deeper relationships with Jesus, I pray you will come to fully understand just how truly amazing you really are! I am so thankful you are here!

Love, Julie