I grew up in Dallas, Texas, a city girl who attended operas, rode horses, visited art museums, swam in a creek, studied dance and classical piano, and played outside with the neighborhood kids until well after dark. Mine was an idyllic childhood in a secure home with a loving family.
At sixteen, Jesus called my name. As though someone had flipped a light switch, in an instant I understood the cost of following Him. He demanded everything I was or ever would be. But God, in His mercy, whispered truth to my soul. I knew I’d been created for a purpose, and the Voice calling me belonged to my Maker, the Architect of my moments, the One who loved me more than anyone else ever would. His plan would far exceed any I could devise. I took the extended, nail-scarred hand and the dance began.
On a frosty evening in December of 1977, a diamond fell from the starry night sky and landed in my heart. I met George Damoff, and by our second encounter, I felt I’d seen his soul and found a home. After nine months of pure, delightful friendship, he proposed on my 21st birthday. It was our first date. Our courtship followed a pattern all its own. On our wedding day, we shared our first kiss and skipped off into Happily Ever After. Or so we thought.
George and I both graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, in December of 1980. I graduated with honors, a double-major in sociology and social work, a minor in English, and secondary certification in English and sociology. But I didn’t immediately pursue a career in any of those fields. I walked across the stage at graduation with our first son, Jacob, blossoming in my belly. From there I returned to the home nest for a crash course in motherhood. Grace joined the family in 1983. Then Luke in 1985. I had three beautiful, healthy full-time jobs.
In 1987, when George completed his MS in biology, we moved our family to Lynchburg, Virginia, where George taught at Liberty University. I accepted the exalted position of arrow sharpener. In other words, I stayed home with the kids. After Jacob endured a disappointing first-grade year in public school, I began homeschooling all three. In 1991, when Luke was old enough to enter first grade, the kids and I descended on New Covenant Schools, a classical Christian school, where I taught third grade and Latin.
The following summer of 1992, George accepted a position in the biology department of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. As much as we loved the beauty of central Virginia, George and I wanted our children to grow up near family. Through an unlikely set of circumstances, which we took to be God’s providence, all five of us moved in with a couple who owned a 6000-square-foot, historic home in the heart of town, and I accepted a teaching position at Trinity Episcopal School. All within a week of arriving in Marshall. We enrolled the children at Trinity, bought their uniforms, and school started two weeks later.
In May 1996, the world ended. We traded “Happily Ever After” for brokenness and sorrow. My book, Parting the Waters: Finding Beauty in Brokenness, tells the story of Jacob’s near-fatal drowning accident and our family’s subsequent journey through a valley of lost dreams and into a deeper understanding of God’s sovereignty. As our eyes adjusted to the shadows, the beauty of God’s plan came into focus. A pebble is dropped into a pond. Ripples are set in motion. Ever widening, they accomplish eternal purposes becoming ever more visible to those who are willing to see.
Grace graduated from Seattle Pacific University in June, 2005, with degrees in theology and Spanish. On September 15, 2007, she married Curtis Romjue, and together they serve as chief musicians at Cross Sound Church on Bainbridge Island. They also direct a non-profit ministry called First Aid Arts that provides training and therapeutic art resources for trauma survivors. Their daughter, Harper Sparrow, joined their family in 2010, and Malia Eden was born in 2012.
Luke graduated from Wheaton College in May, 2007, with degrees in philosophy and English. He spent nine months working as a health intern in Ivory Coast, West Africa, then enrolled in seminary at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. After three semesters, he moved to Texas to marry Sarah Wilson on February 29, 2010. They lived in a refugee community in Dallas until early 2011, when they moved in with my parents to help my father care for my ailing mother. They stayed there until we bought a house across the street and took over as Dad’s primary helpers. Their daughter, Naomi Belle, was born in 2011, and our first grandson, Eliot Patrick, arrived in 2013. Two years later, they welcomed their second daughter, Haven Jeanette. Luke earned a Master of Divinity at Redeemer Seminary in 2016, volunteers at All Saints Anglican Church, and works for a software company.
Jacob is a simple but beautiful, brain-injured young man. His life is a powerful testimony to the faithfulness of God, whose ways are higher than our ways, and whose thoughts higher than our thoughts. The ripples from his life are still spreading and new ones are being formed every day.
He is a gift.
George completed a PhD in forest ecology in December, 2008. He’s in the midst of several ongoing research projects. I am honored and delighted to minister to women and Gospel Communities at Northway. I write, because I love words, both for their meaning and their music. I also speak and love the opportunity to connect with others around our stories. Photography lets me focus my eye on detail, framing the ordinary and turning it into art, and music is the mystery that never ceases to amaze. I try to approach each day as a gift, living by faith in the One who loves me and laid down His life for me. Each new day is an adventure with Him. I see myself as a child, holding her Father’s hand, looking up into His eyes and beholding a valiant hero and strong protector, a wise and adventurous Friend. I don’t know what lies around the next corner. But He does. And that’s enough.
Thanks for reading. It’s a privilege to share the journey with you.