After serving a small congregation in South Dakota, she and her late husband moved to Regensburg, Germany for five years. There she earned a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology, studying especially God's presence in suffering. Since then, she's experienced her own share of radical hurt and radical hope, each of which has transformed her world, her perspectives, her theology, and her openness to the messy questions. Taken all together, they are the very roots of the Spent Dandelion Theological Retreat Center.