Believe it or not, I’ve come close to death multiple times in my life.

A few of them are my fault, a few not. It’s honestly become a running joke for me. I think, when I finally do go and join my creator, I’ll be a little surprised that it actually happened!

Jokes aside, I want to tell you guys the story of the most recent time I almost died—and how it led to me making the best decision I’ve ever made in my entire life.

The Before-Dying Times

Before I was almost dying, I was a pretty sick kid. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at fourteen (hypothyroidism), and fell ill with a cold or a mild flu at least once a month. When I turned eighteen, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and found out, at some point, I’d fractured my back. Big yikes.

Then 2020 hit.

I was told by doctors that I was premenopausal and wouldn’t be able to have kids if my thyroid didn’t figure itself out. I was devastated. If you know me, you know that being a mother is something I look forward to more than anything. I adore children, and I cannot wait to have my own little army of small ones, with sarcastic senses of humor and dorky laughs, like me.

For a really long time, I felt like my body was just…giving up. Like, it was decomposing, and didn’t get the memo that me—that my soul—was still here.

Flash forward to 2021, November, and I’m moving out of my childhood home into my grandparents’ house. We were moving them to assisted living. I started paying rent, and that rent went straight to my grandparents’ care. Granted, I had to work three jobs to afford it, but I didn’t care. I was helping.

Then the Big Sad happened.

My grandpa died on December 23rd, 2021. It wrecked me. It was the first major death in my family. Then my friends made some particular choices, and I lost pretty much all of them as friends. Then I got hurt—real hurt, and my back was out of commission. Then I lost all three of my jobs. To top it all off, my dog died… On my birthday. Oh, did I mention that this all happened from December 23rd to March 13th? Three months is a very short amount of time to lose everything important to you, huh?

The During-Dying Times

It was around this time, in that span of three months, that I really started dying. I started having what my doctor called silent seizures. It wasn’t exactly a seizure in the whole shaking and trembling sense. It was like, suddenly, randomly, I’d start to have a fever. Not low-grade, like my temperature would go from normal to 101. During the fever, I’d be completely unable to speak. I remember feeling like something was snatching my words from me. No matter how hard I focused or how hard I tried, I’d only be able to get two or three words out before I’d completely forget what I was saying and have to start over.

It was probably the most frustrating feeling I’ve ever experienced… I was a prisoner, trapped in my own body. My doctor said these episodes happened because my immune system was attacking my brain, my spinal cord, and my digestive system, all at once.

These episodes would last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Each day, they got a little worse, a little longer, until eventually I was spending all day on the couch, unable to do anything but just…sit there.

It’s April 2022 now. I remember lying on the couch, praying in my head, because that was really the only thing I could do.

“I’m twenty-three,” I told God. “I should be living my life. I should be going out, have a job, and have a boyfriend. I should be living…God, I hate my life. I do. Please, Lord…change it. Change my life…but God? If this is the life you want me to have…Lord, help me be content with it.”

A week later, I found out about The Company.

The After-Dying Times

For those of you who don’t know, The Company is a writing vocational school. It’s like college, but for writers. It’s the only program of its kind. (I think it’s super cool 😉 )

I found out about The Company, and the moment I did, I felt God press on my heart. Like, the pressure was so intense, and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach because I knew what God wanted me to do, and everything in me didn’t want to do it.

I snorted, “God, I can’t go to Ohio, I’m having seizures.”

God didn’t stop pressing. I told my Dad about it. Sort of jokingly, honestly. I brought it up on our way to get some coffee.

“Haha, can you imagine if I went?” I asked.

Dad nodded. “You need to apply,” he said. My smile dropped. He continued, “If you’re rejected, you’ll know God doesn’t want you to go.”

So I applied. Twelve hours later, I had an interview scheduled with the Director, Brad Paqueutte. A week after my interview, I was accepted.

The Best Decision I Ever Made in My Life

The day I put my first deposit down to come to the school was the last day I ever had any seizures. It was like my body suddenly realized, oh, wait, she’s still here, we can’t quite yet!

Before I knew it, I was packing up all my stuff, shoving it into four suitcases to take with me on the plane. It’s a four-hour flight from Nevada to Ohio, and four suitcases were all I had. From June to August, I did everything I could to get ready. Before I knew it, I was on a plane heading for Ohio. My life was completely and totally different from what it had been in April. It was sort of shocking how fast everything changed, actually. Sometimes I feel like I’m still processing it.

God did an overhaul on my life. Coming to The Company was the best decision I ever made! Not just because it stopped me from dying (though, that’s a pretty awesome perk). But because God didn’t just save my life. He redeemed it!

Completely and totally. I went from dying and not living my dream, to living and living my dream. Your story might not be as dramatic as mine, but there’s a universal truth that everyone can take away from my story.

The best decision I ever made? It was being obedient to the things God was calling me to, no matter how scary it was. Trust me, it was terrifying.

Are you ready to be obedient?

No matter if it means applying to The Company or not, that’s the question you got to ask. I can’t promise anything. I can’t promise that your story will be exactly like mine, because it won’t be. It’ll be better because your story is hand-crafted by God, just for you. The only thing I can say is that being obedient and coming to The Company has been the best decision I’ve ever made.

Which is why I think YOU should come to The Company!

I gotta be honest, it’s fun here (so fun that I’ve stuck around, even after graduating, to help out). We laugh together often. We have a real community with each other. We also cry together. The program isn’t easy—it’ll push you to be exactly who God has called you to be. You’ll hit walls. You’ll feel like giving up. But you’ll be doing it with God, and with others.

I’m no longer dying. That was a miracle from God. But He didn’t stop there. The Company has taught me so much more. I’m not just “not dying” anymore. I’m living my literal dream.

Do you dream of becoming a writer?

Well, this is what it looks like…

Consider this your personal invitation from me. 🙂

I want you to apply, even if you aren’t sure yet, even if you don’t know how it’ll work out. Trust me, I had no idea what God was going to do. But I’m so glad I decided to take a leap of faith. I’m so glad that God has redeemed everything I lost. New friends, new jobs, a new church-family (no new dog yet, but I’m still holding out 😉 ).

What if you just applied and decided to see what happens? https://writers.company/training/full-time-apprenticeship/

---

Not ready to move to Cambridge, OH? We have an online program as well! Check our Arche Year! (You could have me as one of your leaders :3 ) https://writers.company/training/arche-year/

OH, and did I mention that, because of The Company, I’m a bestselling author? Check out my latest release!

Check it out: https://amzn.to/40yoPYs