tricia marburger

tricia marburger

wife to code geek @lmarburger.

boyMom.

recovering perfectionist.

kidMinistry director at #LCBC_HBG.

 

 

I grew up in this small little town, surrounded by my extended family.

My cousins were my first best friends.

I'm the firstborn, nerdy, book-loving, straight A girl that lived on the outskirts -

who thought she didn't need anyone, who tried to numb away the hurt,

who tried hard to never mess up and mostly didn't.

But as hard as I tried to numb it, I still battled with feelings of hurt and loss.

I've struggled with feelings of emptiness.

I've experienced alot of death in my family at a young age.

Six years ago, I lost my brother suddenly in a car accident.

It rocked me.

About this time, my husband & I were trying to grow our family,

and was struck with the sadness that they would never meet their uncle.

 

And though dealing with loss has been tough,

I can look back now and look to see that it has served to soften my heart

the process allowed me to grow a deep sense of empathy.

But I find myself with this deep caring spirit
for the struggles my friends and community face.

God took this empty, numb heart and filled it with this overwhelming

-sometimes to a fault- empathy for others.

And to my surprise, as I walk alongside their pain,

the covering over my hurt comes off, it finds air, and God begins to heal it.

I think God is telling me my story backwards.

Or at least, I'm figuring it out backwards.

Maybe we all do to a degree.

My struggles open up doors to encourage others in a real and vulnerable way.
Not because I’m super smart or awesome,
but because God was teaching me and leading me to a place of sharing.

In 2004, my husband & I began attending LCBC.

I was drawn to volunteering with the three year olds in the kidMinistry.

As an introvert I felt more comfortable connecting with kids.

Through my loving on kids,
I started to realize the growing number of adults feeling lonely and disconnected;
my heart grew for them.

He developed in me this heart and passion for the lonely and unconnected.

That led me to a place where I realized I was always feeling lonely and unconnected.

 

He took a loner, introverted girl and grew her to love people,

their stories, and to connect them with others in relationship.

I now work as the kidMinistry Director at the LCBC Harrisburg Campus.

And now I find myself loving and caring for 175 volunteers.

God is funny that way.

And now every weekend me and 100 friends
get to create this beautiful kidMinistry together.

 

I'm also a perfectionist.
I love details and getting them all right.
God has given me this ministry to lead at the moment,
so it's messy and fun and not so much about the details
but the people I get to do life with.
And through that God is teaching a perfectionist to take risks,
to speak up, to jump in, and even (gasp) to fail.

And when that risky-failure-speaking up stuff was so hard to do,
I realized I was always battling feelings of good enough-worthiness.

I remember vividly this turning point...
One Sunday morning a few years ago, the lights wouldn’t come on – literally.
I was hiding tears from those I passed in the hallway thinking to myself
‘who is going to trust me with their kid when I can’t even turn the lights on?!’
God nudged me, kinda hard. And I gave Him control.

When I let go of what I thought I was, I start to become what I was always meant to be.

Now - I get to watch God develop this heart and
lead me on this journey of community,
of caring, of vulnerability.

And I'm totally content to figure it out a little backwards.

 

Connect with Tricia:

Twitter @OHbymyfam

Instagram @tmarburger

we're back!

 

Welcome 2014!

After a brief hiatus, WE ARE BACK &

so excited about the upcoming stories

and fresh ideas we have for this project.

this year you can expect us to be more present:

on the blog,

social media,

& specifically our jam, Instagram.

[follow us @storysociety]

As we think ahead for this year,

our goal of sharing stories still will remain our primary focus.

Also, we are pumped about the potential to incorporate better connection

within this community as we continue to introduce more stories.

We truly feel that this project is about YOU, the community we are creating together.

So please feel free to get involved in anyway you feel most comfortable;

whether that be as a follower or a contributor.

Thank you for your continued encouragement & support.

 

Love,

Susan & Shea

P.S. you can now receive email updates when new content is posted.

(located on the right sidebar of this page)