About Me!

Hi! My name is Jessica, but you can call me Jess. :)

A little background...

I grew up in Devils Lake, ND. I was raised Catholic by two amazing parents who taught me that it was important to have your priorities straight: Faith, Family, Friends, Everything Else. The motto in our house is "Normal is Boring" to give you a taste of family life. My father, Dean, is a farmer and still farms the land he grew up on. My mother, Heidi, is a family physician/OB doc. They both have been such a witness to me about living your faith in the midst of the world, whether it was not working on Sunday (even when it's nice out and you'd like to be in the combine) or refusing to prescribe contraception (even when your patients don't understand). They taught me to tithe, to be kind, and to treat people with their God-given dignity. They also taught me to trust in God - even when you are in medschool, married to a farmer, and you are blessed with three children all within 17 months of each other! I am the oldest of three. My sister and brother are twins! My little brother Nick is the BIG brother I never had, haha. He graduated with a degree from the wind energy program and is working on a wind farm here in ND. Natalie is my best friend. She recently married Nick Crawford (Yes, two Nicks in the family now!) and is planning on starting medschool in the near future.




Here's a picture of the family!
From the left: Brother Nick, Me, Natalie, Nick C, Mom and Dad

Back to me! I graduated from the University of North Dakota with a degree in Chemical Engineering, but some of my favorite times were spent at Swing Dance Club and the Newman Center. I'm now a campus missionary with FOCUS and work at the University of Northern Colorado.

Why did I become a missionary? Let me tell you!

When I entered college, I was your typical freshman. There was so much more freedom and so many new people; it was exciting, but a little scary. For the first time, I had to choose my own priorities instead of being told what they were - and quickly reaching the top of the list were finding friends and fitting in.

My sophomore year, I became an RA in an all girls freshman dorm. It was here that I realized that I wasn't the only one whose priorities rearranged during the transition to college and, in order to fit in, many students would end up compromising part of who they were. This was done in many different ways, through eating disorders, the party scene, alcohol and promiscuity, suffering grades, and some coped better than others, but ultimately the lifestyle began to affect their faith. I was not immune to it - I had grown up in a Catholic home with a Catholic education and I still struggled to be involved in my faith the first two years on campus.

Luckily, there was a girl in my math class junior year who invited me to be in her FOCUS Bible study. I began going - and it may sound cliche, but the farthest distance to jump really can be from your head to your heart - and by encountering Jesus Christ with these women, I realized in my heart for the first time that Jesus WAS A REAL PERSON, WHO REALLY LIVED ON THIS EARTH, AND REALLY DIED FOR ME BECAUSE HE LOVED ME. and that made all the difference. Suddenly, I realized that with all these decisions I was making during college (what I should be studying, who my friends are, my boyfriend), I needed to keep in mind that unless they brought me closer to Jesus Christ and ultimately, Heaven, that I wouldn't be happy.

Now, I want to be "the girl in math class" for the rest of my generation. I want to be able to introduce students like myself to Jesus Christ and teach them about His love for them. I want to be there for support when it's hard to be Catholic on campus and when they are making those big decisions. Because Jesus LOVES THEM and I want them to know it!!