Who Am I?

I’m Erin—pastor, gardener, artist, writer, mom, wife, and someone who is almost always in the middle of learning something new.

My life has never fit neatly into one box, and honestly, I’m pretty happy about that.

I’m an ELCA Lutheran pastor, and faith is a huge part of who I am. But for me, faith is not just something that happens inside a church building. I find God in gardens, old things with stories, broken pieces of stained glass, long conversations, road trips, grief, laughter, and ordinary everyday life.

Before ministry, I worked as a hairdresser. Over the years, I have also become an author, gardener, stained-glass artist, crafter, teacher, caregiver, and lifelong learner. I love creating things with my hands—especially when I can take something old, broken, forgotten, or ordinary and turn it into something beautiful again.

That probably explains my love of antiques too.

I love wandering through old shops, learning the stories behind things, growing flowers and vegetables, preserving pieces of the garden, making stained glass and resin art, and trying projects that occasionally begin with, “I wonder if I can make this…”

Sometimes it works.

Sometimes it becomes a learning experience.

Either way, there is usually a story.

Wild Grace grew out of all of those pieces of my life.

It is a place for faith without pretending life is perfect. For gardens that sometimes thrive and sometimes absolutely do not. For art, antiques, creativity, family, travel, grief, joy, and whatever interesting thing I happen to be exploring next.

I believe grace often shows up in unexpected places.

In dirt under our fingernails.

In broken glass becoming something beautiful.

In an old object someone else almost threw away.

In a conversation that stays with us.

In starting over.

And in realizing that life does not have to be perfect to be meaningful.

So welcome to my little corner of the world.

I’m glad you’re here.

— Erin