This is our first post on our new website.  We are excited to begin this journey with you and hope that you will join us regularly.

The seed for What’s Next Papa was planted during a testimonial that I gave at a women’s conference several years ago.  The conference theme centered on the names of God.  My topic was God the Provider.  I told the story of how God had provided for my mother and us four children in an adventure that took us across four states as we fled from my violent, alcoholic father.  It was a story that I had kept secret my entire adult life.  Now, in front of nearly a hundred women, I felt God calling me to reveal it all.  It was a life-changing day.

During the testimony I reaffirmed that God had, indeed, provided.  He has always been there for me, offering adventure after adventure.  As a child, I decided that if I didn’t have an earthly father that God would be my daddy.  I call Him my Papa.

As I ended my testimony, I told each person that they were also a child of the King and that they, too, could call Him Papa.  I told them that life is an adventure waiting for us.  To try to explain, I used these verses from The Message translation of the Bible…

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance!  We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with Him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! (Romans 8:15-17)

My life continues to be an adventure… some scary, some heart wrenching, but most are more amazing than I can even express.  Our hope for this website is that you will also see the adventures in your life, recognize that Papa is always there for you, and that there is good in this crazy world.

Let’s journey together and ask, “What’s next, Papa!”