Meet Marie

Hi there, I’m Marie—and I couldn’t be more thankful that you’ve found this little corner of the internet.

I’m the kind of person who loves “About” pages (and Acknowledgements sections at the end of books). Maybe you’re the same? Or maybe you’re just here to fact-check my credentials? Either way, I respect it.

Let’s start with the less relevant info, the kind that helps me take shape in your mind as a real, living, breathing human. I’m the oldest of three girls, which probably explains my slightly bossy but deeply adventurous heart. I’ve lived in a handful of major cities throughout my adult life—Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Dallas—and I’m currently trying out the suburbs in Leesburg,VA with my husband. (Honestly? It’s an adjustment.) Most days, you’ll find me working in the local church, trying new recipes, and finding any excuse to sit on a patio.

I’ve always loved words—well, maybe not always. But after I turned twelve and completed “Hooked on Phonics,” the love affair officially began. Hook, line, and sinker. That love carried me through high school and into college, where I focused on Literature and Education. I got my own High School classroom (and completely wild 9th graders) right around the time I started following Jesus. And as my faith grew, so did my love for the Word of God.

That love and the prompting of the Spirit eventually led me to Seminary, where I earned my Master’s in Theology with a focus on Bible Exposition. Suffice it to say: I got some training.

The Bible refers to itself as “living and active,” a Word that can pierce through soul and spirit, joint and marrow. But how can something as intangible as words divide flesh and bone? How can the Bible—a collection of stories, poetry, and teachings—be alive?

I want to show you how. I want to help you.

It would be my joy and deep honor to teach you, with the sincere hope that it changes your life. That’s my honest and humble prayer: that what you read here, study here, and question here would shape, in the words of Mary Oliver, your “one wild and precious life.” And more than that, that it wouldn’t stop with you, but would move through you, changing others along the way.