Sadly my life is very scarred from my early childhood years. I have known a lot of brokenness, and since the age of 16, I have been committed to addressing those. I was born in The Netherlands, in a home where spirituality or religion was absent. Through my counseling journey, this was awakened. When I was 25 years old, I stepped foot in an Evangelical church, and I was never the same. Through Jesus, I found what I didn’t experience before warmth and belonging.

Around 2008, without me realizing it, a more contemplative lifestyle was unfolding in my life. I found myself going out on long walks every day. At some point, I would not leave the house without my camera to capture what was speaking to me.

I was drawn to moving to a place where I was surrounded by quiet and nature. Once I moved to a house that gave me all that (water behind my home, sheep, windmills, and the town church as my view), I turned quieter, both in how I filled my day as well as how much I sounded out ;-). Every opportunity I had was spent outside, taking in what I was seeing, and what I was feeling.

Back in those days, I would not have told you this had anything to do with my relationship with God until I felt that there had to be more. I longed more and more for the art of silence. My head was always full and busy; I would say I was even afraid to be quiet.

I turned to a spiritual director, and I started going on silent retreats while I also started to learn about spiritual practices. This was life-changing. I realized my faith shift had been unfolding for years; the God I had known thus far was a God I related to through worship, through prayer in the form of much talking, through acts of service. My faith had a striving component. Now I started to get to know God through resting, playing, and trusting. It led to a beautiful journey of more intimacy with God and, healing.

Spiritual Direction has become my breath of life. I have found necessary healing through counseling, and today lots of healing takes place through communion with the Trinity. There is still pain, and the scars are still present while I learn to live with questions rather than looking for answers. Spiritual Direction has helped me to embrace the scars as I rest with Jesus rather than working hard on healing them. I find beauty in learning to ’see well’ in all circumstances and seeing God’s graces amid pain.

This translated into me wanting to learn the art of question-asking. I wanted to help people be intimate with God, and I felt this was not happening through my advice-giving. Lots of healing and growth happened for me when people were courageous enough to be with me in my pain, without trying to fix the pain, or me. It became important to create a safe place for people to be truly seen and felt.

I completed my Spiritual Direction training through Sustainable Faith. In my practice, I meet both with men and women and offer in-person spiritual direction in my home office, online, via phone, or via written word. I offer one-on-one spiritual direction, group spiritual direction, and offer workshops and retreats.

I live in Media, PA, with my husband, Tim. In 2014, we became parents of three truly amazing teenagers through foster care/adoption, and currently, we are adjusting to being empty-nesters. I love being with people, and I also love spending time alone. My morning porch time, in both the winter and summer, I hold sacred. Being creative is my breath of life, and I love to read, bake bread, and write. Taking care of loved ones and neighbors is something I hold very dear. I look forward to visiting my home country, The Netherlands, more often now that our kids have left our nest.