We were married directly out of college and have spent our adult lives in ministry, working with youth, college students, and adults. In 2017, we attended our first story workshop with the Allender Center, one of our most transformative experiences. This launched a growth journey as we began engaging our own story and learning our patterns of relating to ourselves, each other, and others.

In 2020, after a year of extensive training, we completed our first certification in Narrative-Based Trauma Care through the Allender Center. The Allender Center believes that you can only take others as far as you have been yourself. We were eager to keep engaging our own stories and dreamed of creating a ministry within our church/organization to walk with others as they engaged their stories. We had no idea what was in store for us. 

That ministry placement abruptly ended, and we were shamed, silenced, and excluded. It was the most difficult season of our life, one filled with excruciating grief as we processed loss and our own brokenness and beauty. It was in the “valley of the shadow of death” where we both experienced the grace of God as we sat with our shame, sadness, hurt, and humiliation. 

We went back to the Allender Center and, for the next year, worked through a grueling and transformative time of growth as we completed the level 2 certification. Over two years removed from that difficult experience, we continue to hold the complexity of the beauty and brokenness of ourselves and others as we pursue our calling. As with most difficult experiences in life, we are grateful for the growth we have experienced individually and as a couple, while simultaneously holding the hurt and loss, believing that will connect us deeper with the heart of God. 

We have led numerous story workshops, marriage workshops, and leadership cohorts. Emily is Level 3 certified through the Allender Center. Daniel is in graduate school, completing a master's in Restorative Practices, a discipline focused on strengthening relationships within individuals and communities and transforming harm. 

We are honored to do this difficult and beautiful work with others.