My parents have told me a story of how when I was maybe three years old, I exclaimed that I wanted to be a “lady preacher” when I grew up. Even in a tiny town in Texas with no representation of women in the pulpit, that thought entered my mind. Was it ambition? Imagination? God? I like to think a little bit of everything. As hard as the world tried to tell me that Baptist women weren’t pastors, I somehow kept following the whisper of Jesus that told me they were wrong. And here I am today! Following in family’s footsteps toward becoming a social worker and a pastor. This life I live is a fun one, full of joy and family and friends and adventure. It is my deepest hope that I might be a voice that calls out injustice from the small to the systematic, a pastoral presence to those who need it most, and, maybe most of all, someone who pays attention.