About the Author

Julie grew up on a farm in Iowa. She followed her love for the outdoors and first earned a Fisheries and Wildlife Biology degree from Iowa State University, then realized a high school teaching degree would be a better complement to her husband’s career with the state park system. She earned her teaching degree in Biology and Mathematics, and taught for a short while before staying home to be a mother. She and her husband have four beautiful children. Their life became a roller coaster of peaks of thankfulness as each child was born, and low valleys of despair and bitterness with the loss of five miscarried children. Their third child, their only daughter, was born with lifelong disabilities. Julie sees these peaks and valleys as tests of faith. The Lord has been faithful to see her family through the years of confusion and heartache, doing a mighty work in her heart. She now trusts the Almighty to lead the dance of life and to be the source of her joy. There is a purpose, however hidden, to the difficulties we all experience, and she firmly believes that there is inherent value and worth in every human being no matter the extent of their earthly capabilities. Following years of working as a freelance editor and writer while being a full-time mom and homemaker, she answered God’s leading to write and speak about her experiences of loss and raising their precious daughter. She knows God is using her to reach out to others who are having difficulty finding acceptance and joy in their current life situation. She and her husband Dave have been married for nearly 24 years, raising three sons and one daughter in a state park in northeast Iowa.