Hey, Sister! I’m Natalie.

I used to be a conservative Christian woman following all the rules (my own and everyone else’s) and working hard to create a happy life for my family.

My marriage was in shambles, and after two decades marked with numerous failed attempts to get help from my religious community (think BRICK WALL), I hit rock bottom.

One night, eight months pregnant with my youngest child, I escaped to a hotel and spent the entire night writhing in a bed full of tears, trying to get up the courage to slit my wrists in the bathtub and end it all.

But the baby inside me kept thrusting his little foot into my ribs, reminding me that his life was at stake too. I couldn’t kill my own child.

Then God gave me this verse:

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

I hauled my very large and exhausted body out of bed the next morning and went to a bookstore with a laptop and a resolve to figure out what in the world I was dealing with in my life and marriage.

That began my journey up and out.

Over the next four years I learned how to be honest and merciful to myself and stay focused on my own healing rather than the demands of others.

I waved goodbye to some of my closest friends – fear, shame, and guilt – and I turned around and welcomed ALL of me including the imperfections and weaknesses.

I stopped worshiping at the altar of a marriage that was destroying me, and I learned to tolerate the disapproval of others through my three-year separation (one year in-home and two years in separate homes) and then the 19-month divorce process that followed.

I made strides toward healing and recovery, moving toward transformation from a fearful, people-pleasing woman to a more confident, responsible adult with healthy boundaries.

I finally accept, love, and even enjoy who God made me, and I LOVE helping Christian women experience this same inner transformation.