I was born in Cleburne, Texas in a boxcar, the oldest of identical twin girls. The doctor thought I was dead and pitched me on the bed so he could deliver my sister. God had other plans for me, for an aunt saw me move! There were three other in the family, an older brother and two older sisters. For various reasons the children were split up with my brother going to my paternal grandparents, my two older sisters being adopted by one family, and my sister and I being adopted by another family. I was three years old at that time. My young adopted life was extremely turbulent, mixed with physical abuse and molestation.

My teen years were good as I was at school most of the time. I worked and studied hard and was inducted into the National Honor Society my senior year of high school. I was also a Captain for three years in the Drill Team and lettered three years in tennis in the doubles team. I attended the Methodist Church and accepted Jesus into my heart at age twelve. I loved church! Every Sunday night our church had open altar where we could go down and spend time in prayer. I lived for those times--it gave me the peace and strength for the coming week.

Even going off to college did not give me much control over my life. The long and short of it was that I got married at the end of my freshman year and it was many years before I was reconciled to my parents. After ten years of marriage and for many reasons I was divorced. God is good and I was introduced to Ray by a mutual friend. I had finally found that someone who truly loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. One year later we were married on New Year's Eve which we felt was a great time to start a new life. Ray is a strong Christian, an excellent father, a hard-worker which made him a great provider, and a caring husband.

Ray worked for Santa Fe Railroad and I taught a multi-handicapped, self-contained classroom. Ray had two children in his previous marriage that lived in New Mexico so we only saw them during the summers and some holidays. After seven years of marriage we adopted a three month old Korean girl. She was the delight of our lives but experienced a lot of prejudice due to her Korean appearance. She often felt like a minority of one. After many years of dealing with drug abuse and the legal system the battle was won. She has been drug free the last five years and has given us two adorable granddaughters. We also have a great grandson whose parents live here in Stephenville as well.

We moved to Stephenville in August, 2000. When we attended Cornerstone we immediately knew it was the church for us. I became a part of the Prayer Team and was involved whenever we could be with Ray's commuting job. We love Pastor Roy and Lois and were blessed to help them with Eagle’s Wings -- Ray did the music during Eagle’s Wings. After the church lost Pastor Roy we were asked to continue the Eagle’s Wings Ministry. It was a tough decision as we had big shoes to fill. We are wholly committed to Cornerstone as Ray serves Leader of Eagles' Wings and groundskeeper for the church. It has proved to be both challenging and fulfilling!