Interview with Jennifer Dornbush, author of God Bless the Broken Road

Welcome Jennifer Dornbush to the blog! She's been here before with a lovely devotional but today, she's here to answer my questions about her debut novel, God Bless the Broken Road.

She's also offering you a chance to win her book! Details about the book giveaway contest are toward the end of her interview.

Enjoy!

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Interview with Jennifer Dornbush, author of God Bless the Broken Road:

Alexis: Tell us about the inspiration behind your book, God Bless the Broken Road. What is this book about?

Jennifer: God Bless the Broken Road is a heartwarming story about a grieving army widow who finds her way back to her daughter, her faith, and a new love. Amber Hill never imagined she would find herself a war widow and single mom. She feels robbed and is angry at God, and she doesn’t know how to help her nine-year-old daughter Bree through her grief. Where, Amber wonders, are the Sunday dinners, the picnics, the bike rides, the time together they should be enjoying as a family? Instead, Amber is left with a folded flag and an empty heart. 

Alexis: What do you want your readers to remember the most about this book?

Jennifer: The book actually started as a movie script that I co-wrote with Harold Cronk. When we were writing the script, the top two take-aways we kept in mind were first, that God is always with us, even if we don’t feel like He is or aren’t seeking Him actively. He is always there and He is always providing us with amazing blessings, even when/if we don’t acknowledge them. One of the keys to healing and hope on our broken roads are to turn our gaze to Him so that we can start to recognize Him along the path. When we turn to Him and humble ourselves, He can start to guide us and shape our brokenness into blessing.

The second take-away that was important to us as we wrote this story is community. My signature hash tag is #ConnectContributeBelong. I’m huge on the importance of building actual, physical, community (not just having virtual community). We don’t have to travel our broken roads alone. God has given us friends and family to lean for support and encouragement. This can make a huge difference when we are going through trying times. I think so many people suffer from depression and suicide because they think they are alone. Mother Theresa said the greatest poverty we have today is the feeling of loneliness because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

So many people feel like this. They feel alone. The feel that no one understands or cares what they are going through. What a travesty. It’s so simple to be there for someone. You don’t have to be a professional counselor or therapist to help someone heal from a wounding. Sometimes the very best thing is to just to take a moment from your day to pause, listen, and lend a hug or word of encouragement.

On the flip side, if you are traveling a broken road it can be difficult to let people into your pain. It takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable and ask for help. But here’s the secret… people love you and want to help you and be there for you. Needing to be loved and cared for is not a sign of weakness, it’s the way we humans need to relate to one another to build real and lasting communities. By the way, building community this deep requires that you get off social media, look up from your phone and have actual human contact! Just sayin’….

Alexis: Why is Amber, your story’s heroine, angry at God? How does God respond to her anger?

Jennifer: Amber is angry because she doesn’t understand why God would take her husband away and leave her daughter fatherless. God responds steadfastly. He is always there for her, but she just can’t see it. Eventually Amber hits rock bottom and finally surrenders. It’s at that moment when her life starts to really find hope and redemption.

Alexis: Tell us about Amber’s nine-year-old daughter Bree. What’s her favorite cupcake flavor? How deep is her bond with her Mom? How is she handling the aftermath concerning the death of her dad?

Jennifer: Bree’s favorite cupcake flavor is pink. I don’t know what pink tastes like, but Bree LOVES pink. Bree also loves her mother and wants to be close, but she feels distant from her because of how Amber is handling her grief. She gets angry at her mother for “not being any fun anymore.”

Alexis: If you were a professional grief counselor and you could step into your story to walk Amber and Bree through their heartache, what would you say? 

Jennifer: Ironically, Amber has many grief counselors who step into her life during this story. They all tell her the same thing… “God is with you in your pain. Go to Him. Lean into Him. And let your friends and family help you carry the burden.”

Alexis: In what ways does God work behind the scenes to fill Amber’s empty heart with His Love?

Jennifer: A million ways… But Amber just can’t… or won’t see it right away. She’s very stubborn and has to learn through hard knocks. (Don’t we all!) But in the end, the main way God works through her is the character of Nelson, a man from Darren’s army unit. I won’t spoil it, but Nelson ends up playing a HUGE role in Amber’s transformation.

Alexis: Cody Jackson is the hero of this story. What’s he like? Describe his look, personality, heart, and the reason why he has a death wish.

Jennifer: I wouldn’t say Cody is the hero of this story. Amber is our true hero. When Harold and I wrote the original script of this story, we were very insistent that we didn’t want to create the kind of story where boy saves girl. We wanted the real love story to be between Amber and God. God’s persistent love for Amber (via a very impactful intervention from an unsuspecting character) is what saves Amber.

However, Cody is a strong catalyst in Amber’s transformation. He plays a pivotal role in that he awakens Amber’s heart and mind to things she needs. Cody is country-boy handsome, has a genuine smile, and is a total gentleman. But he has his own demons to fight. He has a death wish because he’s impatient. He wants to reach his goal of being a professionally competing stock car driver – now! And at any cost. This gets him in trouble over and over.

Alexis: What does Cody love the most about being a racecar driver? Why?

Jennifer: He likes going fast. Makes him feel alive. He’s a visceral person. He acts on instinct. This keeps getting him in trouble in the track.

Alexis: Why is it important to Bree for her Mom and Cody to be friends?

Jennifer: Cody gives Bree a new lease on life when she joins Cody’s go kart club. Bree can see the goodness and lightness in Cody and she knows her mother needs that kind of influence in her life right now.

Alexis: Who notices first that love is in the air between Cody and Amber? What made the sparks fly?

Jennifer: Cody. Definitely Cody. Cody has his eye on her from the first time he spots her across the church parking lot! Amber isn’t really ready to try love again until the very end of the story.

Alexis: What role does Cody’s daredevil tendencies on the racetrack and Amber’s guarded heart play in their love story?

Jennifer: There’s a scene where Cody gets Amber to drive his race car on the track. It’s the first moment of “fun” Amber has had in a LONG time. This playful moment is the catalyst that starts to break down the wall around her healing heart.

Alexis: In what ways does Cody’s walk with God grow as this story progresses?

Jennifer: When Cody steps into Clarksville, we learn he isn’t really the church going type. But his mentor, Joe, insists that he attend church with him and sets Cody up leading a kid’s ministry. As Cody starts to get involved, the church community becomes an important part of his new life. His walk with God is directly related to becoming involved in this new community of Christians. I think that’s how it happens for a lot of us. We find God along with finding friends who love and serve God. The devotion of our family and friends to their faith can often become an inspiration for our own personal growth and relationship with God.

Alexis: Share how your book became a movie. When can we see it in theaters?

Jennifer: God Bless the Broken Road (GBBR) actually began as a feature film script three years ago. My friend and director, Harold Cronk, who is best known for the God’s Not Dead movies, called me one fine summer evening. He pitched me the seed of the idea and asked what I thought? I said I thought it sounded like a solid story. And then he asked if I wanted to write it with him. Of course, I said yes. 

We finished the first draft of the script on Christmas Eve, 2014. Over the course of the next year we refined it while the producers rallied the funds. In the spring of 2016 Harold shot God Bless the Broken Road. 

A few months earlier, as we finished the script version, I talked with the producers about penning a novel version. They thought it would be a great idea. So my agent, Julie Gwinn, put a pitch together and while we were filming I quickly wrote the first three chapters. Within two weeks Julie had procured a couple contracts. We happily chose Simon & Schuster. I spent last summer scribing the novel and here it is a year later. The film version is also “in the can” as we say and will be releasing in 2018.

Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Jennifer! Do you have any closing comments?

Jennifer: “Turn left and drive fast!” (This will make a lot more sense if you’ve read the book!)

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Author Bio: Jennifer is a writer, speaker, and forensic specialist creating a diverse range of stories that shed light on the dark places of the human experience. 

Her story creation is bred from a very unsheltered childhood as the daughter of a medical examiner whose office was in her home. She investigated her first fatality—an airplane crash—when she was 8-years-old and from there gathered a decade of on-sight experience in death investigation and 360 hours of forensic training through the Forensic Science Academy.

The stories she creates stem from the unique range of human experiences. Because of her background, she does not shy away from telling stories about tough circumstances and how characters choose to deal with them. Jennifer’s characters encounter light in their darkness… redemption where none seems possible…and bits of levity to sweeten the journey.

Her feature film, God Bless the Broken Road, is slated for release in 2017 in conjunction with the novel released on June 6, by the same title published by Simon & Schuster.

Jennifer has several crime-drama series being developed for television and a bilingual kid’s show, Team Abuelita, in production with Baby First TV.

Wanting to share her love of forensics with other storytellers, she scribed non-fiction work, Forensic Speak: How To Write Realistic Crime Dramas, published by Michael Wiese Productions, hailed as a north star to creating authentic crime dramas.

As a forensic specialist, she has consulted with TV writers on network and cable TV shows. She regularly leads seminars and webinars on forensics and crime fiction and has taught screenwriting on the high school and university level and mentored new writers.

Sign up for her newsletter and YouTube channel at www.jenniferdornbush.com.

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Blurb for Jennifer's book: God Bless the Broken Road is a heartwarming story about a grieving army widow who finds her way back to her daughter, her faith, and a new love.

Amber Hill never imagined she would find herself a war widow and single mom. She feels robbed and is angry at God, and she doesn’t know how to help her nine-year-old daughter Bree through her grief. Where, Amber wonders, are the Sunday dinners, the picnics, the bike rides, the time together they should be enjoying as a family? Instead, Amber is left with a folded flag and an empty heart.

Cody Jackson has a death wish. Or at least that is what his manager thinks, as Cody pushes his race car and his luck in every race. Is he hiding something, or just daring God and other racers to end the path of destruction he finds himself on as he rounds the last turn? When Cody encourages Bree to join in a Derby car race for local youth, she finds a way to channel her grief into something good—and she likes that her mom and Cody are starting to become friends—or maybe something more.

Cody invites Amber and Bree to see him race, but as they watch Cody narrowly escape a devastating crash, she realizes she can’t lose another person in her life. It’s better to be alone than feel that type of grief again. But when Amber hits rock-bottom, she cries out to God and asks for help. With her faith, her life, her family, and her heart hanging in the balance, Amber is forced to decide between the broken road she knows so well and trusting that God will provide a new path.

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Buy Jennifer's book on Amazon and AudioBooksNow

Watch the movie trailer for God Bless the Broken Road, https://vimeo.com/191227455

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Connect with Jennifer:
Website - www.jenniferdornbush.com
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.graeserdornbush
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jenniferdornbush/
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/jenidornbush/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/JGDornbush

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

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Worth 1,000 Words: Kaitlin Noel Photography

Featured photo:

Photo credit: Katelyn James Photography. Featured: Mrs. Kaitlin Noel Hebert
with her husband and children during their wedding "the second time around."

Today's Worth 1,000 Words post is a bit different than the rest because the featured photo is from the wedding photographer's own wedding, the "second time around" after being married with children. The photographer who captured the photo is Katelyn James and while Katelyn's wedding photography will be featured later on in this series, today is all about her friend Kaitlin Noel of Kaitlin Noel Photography!

Kaitlin would like to share the story of what love means to her through the lens of her work as a wedding photographer, her special day as a blushing bride and her life as the wife to the man of her dreams. 

So here is what love means to Kaitlin, she wrote:

"Love is family!”

My husband and I renewed our vows on our 5 year anniversary in 2014 in front of all of our family and close friends. Our first wedding was a very rushed, last minute and ill-planned event that was more focused on the "wedding" than the marriage. After five years of marriage and two kids later, we really thought about our marriage, all we have been through...all our love for each other and these kids has done for us as individuals, a couple and as parents. We wanted to create a day where we could REALLY focus on our love and our family which are the core values of our marriage.

Love is so much more than attraction, gifts on holidays, date nights, trips, and romantic gestures. It’s about being able to just sit next to this person. Breathe in the same air. Sitting in silence, and be PERFECTLY HAPPY. Perfectly content. A feeling of home. Acceptance. And ultimately, unconditional support and respect.

Raising children is TOUGH! We had our boys, Nicholas and Ryan, back to back and it was by no means easy. It was taxing. We were tired. Poor. And our "romantic fire" was turning into ashes. We knew that we loved our kids and loved each other, but often OUR love was the furthest thought...it was all about the kids.

As of lately, we LOVE showing the kids how in love we are. When cooking dinner, Michael will often come up behind me and offer to help. He will grab me away and dance with me by the stove and the boys come running in. They even scream..."Kiss her dad!" We are TEACHING them about love by SHOWING them what true love is. Love isn't perfect. It is not roses and chocolates and jewelry all the time. It’s about MAKING THE TIME to show each other that you on their mind and always in their heart. We are a huge fan of little notes tucked in each other’s work bags, coffee mugs, or suitcases before we travel on separate business trips. We figured out that we speak VERY different love languages and need different types of support.

For us love is absolutely effortless, but CULTIVATING love is hard work in that you must never, ever stop. Marriage, though a blessing, is work. BOTH members need to work to make sure each other are respected, supported and FEEL safe. His pain is mine. My sadness is his. We are a TEAM.

As a wedding photographer, I get to capture HUNDREDS of love stories. Though each one involves a pretty wedding with music, drinks and captivating floral arrangements....each wedding is perfectly unique. My couples are truly radiant and spirited people that THRIVE on each other. They get their joy from their spouses and vice versa. I love capturing the way each specific couple uses their OWN love language to communicate. I have had grooms that are hair brushers (they constantly sweep their spouses hair from their brow line and cheek). I have had hand kissers and holders (where they never let go of their spouses hand and always lift it to their lips for a soft kiss). I have had twirlers, ticklers, funny-facers and tacklers. Each expression of love in unique and quite frankly ADORABLE to watch play out. I am a blessed girl to see so much love in my life time, let alone be the one that gets to capture it for their generations to look at for years to come.

I am blessed with a wonderful husband, amazing children, and an incredibly moving career. Love surrounds me every day and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

~*~
Photographer bio: 

Kaitlin Noel in action, capturing a moment of love

Kaitlin Noel Hebert is a professional wedding and portrait photographer based in Cape May, New Jersey. She’s the mother of two perfect little boys, Nicholas and Ryan. Kaitlin is the “police wife” to her husband Michael. She is also the mother to a French bulldog named Ellie who was named after her favorite movie character Elle Woods from the movie Legally Blonde.

Kaitlin is approaching her fifth year as a professional photographer. She enjoys traveling for destination weddings around the world and traveling to new locations with her husband and family.

Kaitlin spends her free time with her family at their beach house and up on the boardwalk eating as many deep fried Oreo cookies as possible. Kaitlin’s DSLR camera has become an “extra limb” over the years, so she finds it challenging to ever lay it to rest. However, she finds that it’s nice to unplug and invest in more photography education. Kaitlin attends retreats to become motivated and re-inspired to do what she loves most—photography.

Visit Kaitlin Noel of Kaitlin Noel Photography's website to learn more about Kaitlin and her photography business, http://kaitlinnoelphotography.com/about

True Love Stories: Complement - "something that completes or makes perfect"

The story of The Taylors is so beautiful that when reading it, you just may cry! Tears of joy may cascade down your face as you learn secondhand of how beautiful a love story can be when you allow God to write it! Only God can bring together two people who perfectly complement each other in every sense of the word. 

Okay, so you may not experience waterworks when you read this story but you most definitely will smile as you read the journey Jared Taylor took to the altar with his wife Vanessa. You will learn the value of patience as a virtue and you will be reminded that friendship first with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone is the foundation that helps romantic relationships last and flourish. 

So go ahead, pick up a box of Klennex (just in case you cry) and be prepared to believe in true love again as you read how God brought a "French Girl" known for her beauty and love for God, together with a man with a passion for Jesus Christ, who was raised in the home of his heritage, Trinidad.

Yes, the story is THAT good. 

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Complement- "something that completes or makes perfect"

Jared and Vanessa Taylor's true love story

I met her in college--an exotic beauty. The “French Girl” we called her. We were friendly but not friends. At the time she had a boyfriend whom she seemed really into, plus I had other interests, including her roommate.

Fast forward a few years to the heyday of the social networking site Hi 5! I stumbled across “The French Girl’s” profile and sent her a friend request. Surprisingly she accepted. Turned out there was an attraction on her side as well. We exchanged numbers but our conversations were off and on.

Shortly thereafter “The French Girl” whose real name is Vanessa, completed grad school at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and moved to Maryland. We hung out from time to time, even dated occasionally but we both had other things going on so we never became more than friends. However we became close, confiding in each other, encouraging and supporting one another.

The first time the idea of Vanessa being more than just a friend happened was in October 2010. I had received some disturbing news one Friday evening and I called to share it with her. She dropped what she was doing, came over to my apartment, prayed with me…and just held me. I’ve had people pray for me before, but there was something different about the way this chick spoke to God. Where most people seem to be detached and formal, she seemed way more intimate and familiar; like He was someone she really knew as a real person and not an abstract concept. It was a breath of fresh air! I took notice and thought to myself, “That’s what I’d want in a wife!” Then the moment quickly passed and life continued on as normal…for a few months.

In January 2011 I enrolled in a Master of Arts in Youth Ministry Leadership Program and was required to attend an “intensive” session in Daytona, Florida. On the 12 hour drive home, my friend Keith included me in an email to his friends with a YouTube link to a sermon series by Pastor Henry Wright entitled “The Holy Spirit a& Choosing A Mate.” I listened to pass the time and found it enlightening. I wasn’t actively looking to get married, but I was looking to give my attention fully to a single individual and I found this sermon helpful in evaluating my options, which at the time didn’t include Vanessa.

The end of that semester found me having to conduct surveys for a project on how people viewed God. Vanessa was one of the persons willing to be interviewed. We made plans to go to the movies and decided to meet early to knock the interview out before other people came to the theatre. As I recorded Vanessa’s responses I had several of those “That’s what I’d want in a wife!” moments. We ended the interview, watched the movie and went our separate ways, but unlike the first time, the moment didn’t pass. My curiosity was piqued. I purposed in my heart to take a closer more intentional look into Vanessa and see what she was all about. So I began using her love of food to create opportunities for my investigative endeavor!

When I left Trinidad to return to the United States in 2004, I had a firm grasp on where I believed God was taking me and what he wanted for me. Listening to Pastor Wright's presentation in 2010 helped me get a clearer picture of what a complement to that would look like. To my very pleasant surprise…in 2011, it looked like Vanessa. I recognized it pretty quickly but took time to do my due diligence, spending time in prayer, just to be sure.

I shared my intentions with Vanessa but she wasn’t really feeling it. We were cool, but she wasn’t feeling me like that. Yet, she didn’t say no! In that moment I saw a glimpse of God’s love for me, the certainty of His love and His continual demonstration of that love despite my reluctance to fully accept it. I determined to mirror the love I received from Him in my interactions with her, until she made a decision one way or the other! It wasn’t easy being around while she explored her options. It wasn’t fun being referred to as vegetables (the stuff that you know is good for you) as opposed to Fritters (a favorite food that excites). 

However God kept on loving me and likewise I continued to demonstrate my love for Vanessa, until eventually she returned the love I showed. On December 1st, 2011 I proposed to her and she said "yes". On May 27, 2012 we were married. 

We thank God every day for the opportunity to experience His love in such a marked way and desire to share it with everyone with whom we come in contact!

~*~
Author bio: Jared Renaud Taylor is a graduate of the Huntington University Masters of Youth Ministry Leadership program. He also holds a Bachelor degree in Computer Information Systems from Andrews University.

Jared is the author of New Lenses: How I Met Jesus on MTV. He is also the creator, producer and host of Water For The Thirsty, an online web series which facilitates daily personal devotion and Bible study.

Currently Jared works at CGI Federal as an IT Support Specialist.

Jared has two charming sons, and lives in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with his wife Vanessa, whom he loves dearly.

True Love Stories: Worth the Wait

A common scene in Christian circles is the scenario where a single Christian lady is approached by a wife-seeking Christian male who declares, "GOD told ME that YOU are my WIFE!"

Depending on the person, such a comment can make you or break you. If you've been praying to God for Him to send a spouse to you and a guy at church tells you this "news," you may or may not be happy to hear it. If you like him you're elated but if you don't like the man you're deflated. 

Luckily, if you have a good relationship with God--one where you are spending devotional time with Him in prayer and are living for Him every day--then you know His voice. God will give you wisdom to tell the difference between a man who's pursuing you from His heart vs. a man who wants you for the wrong reasons. So then you're not troubled by this common scenario because as they say when you "know" you "just know" who the person is that God has called you to spend the rest of your life with on this Earth. So clearly you can tell the counterfeit mate from the genuine, God-sent match for you to marry. 

Such is the case with the married couple in today's featured true love story. Natasha and Mario sought God before they sought each other. They knew the importance of being a complete person in their walk with the Lord and they embraced the practice of praying for their future spouse even before they met. So when God worked through a church lady named Karen to bring Natasha and Mario together, they "just knew" the timing was right.

Read the rest of this wonderful couple's true love story and be encouraged as they share their journey. 

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Worth the Wait
Natasha Broussard’s true love story

“Three years and seven months ago, Mario placed receiving a wife on the altar to God. It was the exact same time that I started praying for God to send me my husband…and approximately one week later, Mario and I met. Seven months later, we were married. God is and will always be our foundation!” 

~Mrs. Natasha Broussard

About four years ago, Mario was asked to record a devotional thought for his home church in Columbus, Ohio. After the recording, one of the church members (Karen) asked Mario if he was single, and stated that she had a single friend. She asked Mario to look at pictures of me on Facebook to see if he would at least be interested in giving me a call. Smiling at my pictures, he promised Karen that he would send me a message, in hopes of meeting me one day.

On Friday June 10 2010, I received this message from Mario:

“Hello! It was a pleasure hearing about you from Karen. Her description of you was intriguing, so I decided that I wanted to (at the very least) be associated with such a great person. Hope to hear from you.”

I wrote Mario back that same day because I, too, was intrigued. However, two weeks went by without a response from him. I had even went out on a limb and left him my number in the message.

One day while talking to Karen, she asked me if I had heard from Mario. I told her only once, and she suggested that if I ever saw him online, to just start a conversation and see if it lead anywhere. Although hesitant, one night I did see him online and we ended up “chatting” via Facebook for hours.

Circumstances kept us from talking on the phone that evening, but he called me the next afternoon. Not far into the conversation I said “God is going to do some amazing things with you – He has so much planned for you!” Mind you, I am saying this to a man who was nowhere near where he wanted to be in his life, so he laughed at me. But I felt the Holy Spirit when I spoke to Mario, and we had not even met face-to-face yet. We talked until I had to go to class that evening, and decided to meet each other the next day.

Mario met me at my apartment and all we could do was smile; it was such a sweet moment. Again, we spent hours talking. The next day, God told me that Mario was my husband. I had spent years praying and waiting for this, so it was almost hard to believe that my husband was finally here! But I did not tell Mario what God told me – I waited for him to hear it for himself. 

We saw each other almost every day after our first date, and soon after, we started dating officially. One afternoon we were at the State Fair, and Mario received a phone call that there was a position for him to take in Maryland. I was confused because I knew God had told me he was my husband, but now we found out that he would be moving 325 miles away!

Despite selfish disappointment, we were both excited for Mario’s transition, because this was a door that God opened. We stuffed his car with his belongings, and drove from Ohio to Maryland. Only a few hours after arriving, I had to catch a plane back to Ohio. Mario dropped me off at the airport, and we embraced each other, trying to hold back tears.

We spoke every day, making the best of our long distance relationship. About a month after Mario moved to Maryland, he called me and said “God told me that you are my wife!” The holidays were approaching and Mario came back to Ohio for winter break.

On January 3, 2011 Mario got on one knee, and held a sign that said, “Natasha, will you marry me?” I believe my response included approximately twenty YES’s! We knew we were supposed to be together and wanted to wed soon, despite being long distance, so we set a date. Soon after, I received a phone call that I was chosen for a job in Bethesda, Md. and that they wanted me to start one week after our set wedding date–this was confirmation from the Lord!

So on February 20, 2011 Mario and I married in Takoma Park, Md. 

Everything fell into place perfectly, because we let God take control. After the proposal, amazing friends paid for our wedding insisting that they wanted to be a part of our journey! We even received the Presidential Suite at a beautiful hotel in Washington, D.C. practically free of charge, for three nights after the wedding.

Mario and I want our story to be a testament to the fact that future spouses are worth the wait, and current spouses are worth the fight. The Lord gave us a series of confirmations throughout our journey, leading us to the altar together, which reassures us during our tough times. Although it has only been three years, we remain in the “honeymoon phase".

I hope that in thirty years, you will see that we have never left this spot!

~*~

Author bio: Mrs. Natasha Broussard graduated from Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio where she earned a Master of Science in Business Administration. She also has a bachelor’s degree in Management, with a minor in Accounting. 

Directly after high school, Natasha served in the U.S. Army for four years as a Unit Supply Specialist. Her duty assignments after training included Ft. Polk, La. and Yongsan, South Korea. After returning back to her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, she began working for the Defense Logistics Agency as an Inventory Management Specialist which was her position prior to moving to the Maryland area. 

Currently, Natasha works as the Branch Financial Manager for the Nuclear Weapons Surety Division located in Washington, D.C. Her short term goals include becoming a Certified Financial Planner, and owning her own agency to help others understand and manage their finances to a greater degree. 

Natasha and her husband of three years live in Silver Spring, Md. They enjoy outdoor activities and traveling.