About Kat

Ministry
I am currently serving as the Interim Women's Ministry Adminsitrator and a member of the Women’s Steering Committee at the First Evangelical Free Church (FEFC) of Austin, Texas. I taught my first women’s study in the fall of 2008 and now I’m hopelessly in love with it. Never before have I felt so close to God and so alive in Him. I’m looking forward to more opportunities to teach at my church and wherever else God would give me a chance.

As the sole staff person for women's ministry at our church, I am the point person for all sorts of activities and minsitry opportunities. I also coordinate the communication needs of ministries serving the women of our church. I spend a lot of time designing promotions and keeping up the women’s pages on the FEFC web site. Our team organizes Bible studies, special events, conferences, prayer meetings, and outreach to a local women's prison. We are a busy bunch of gals and it keeps me hopping!

Day-to day life
I live in Cedar Park, Texas (just northwest of Austin) with my husband, Derry. We got married in 1994 on graduation weekend, just one day after we both got our degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. We have two children; Liana is nine years old and Devin is seven. We also have two dogs, two cats, and two fish tanks. I joke that we live in an ark. We make for a furry, noisy, and sometimes messy bunch, but we are rarely bored.

My professional career
I have two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Texas – one in broadcast journalism and the second in government. My ambition once was to be a TV news producer, a dream that God steered me away from after a year-and-a-half as a radio news anchor and reporter. With that change of plans, I found work as a graphic and web designer for a small consulting firm, working closely with several state associations and local governments.

I struck out on my own as a free lance web design consultant after my daughter was born. I kept my home business going for eight years. Now, I dedicate my time to ministry and developing my writing and teaching interests.

Hobbies and Other Stuff
Music is the first love that I ever knew and is one of my primary ways of worshipping God. My mother’s side of the family is extremely talented and I was surrounded by music from day one. I began singing performances in preschool and took classical piano for eight years. These days, I sing solos at church from time to time, and occasionally substitute for a worship team member during Sunday morning services.

I also race in triathlons – well maybe “race” is a bit of a stretch. I train for them and cross the finish line on race day, but the only person I’m really competing against is myself. I’ve survived several sprint and Olympic distance tris, and I gutted my way through my first (and possibly only) Half-Ironman last year. Swimming comes easily for me. Cycling is just plain fun. But I’m a lousy runner. As long as I get at least a little better every year, I’m happy!

And as my name suggests, I love cats. All kinds of cats. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, fuzzy ones. I’ve had cats in my home almost my entire life. My current babies are Pixel, a white and tabby cutie-pie, and Sonata, a short-haired tortoise shell diva. I don’t sleep well if the cats aren’t on my bed. Not that I don’t like our Alaskan Malamutes, Amarok and Immali, too. They’re plenty sweet, just too big and smelly for snuggling. And don’t get me started on the fish. In my opinion, fish aren’t pets. A pet isn’t a pet if you can’t pet it. Fish are living decorations.