About Me — Sharon Hillam

Me from A to Z: A highlight reel of my first 66 years on planet Earth.

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Hello from Texas, USA!

I’m Sharon, and today’s my 66th birthday! What better day to share my About Me Story with you?

Who am I? In my profile About page, I wrote this:

I’m a Jesus follower, wife, Bible teacher, writer, healthy-living enthusiast, avid reader, and lifelong learner who just can’t keep my mouth shut about it all!

First and foremost: I’m not here to make money; I am here to make a difference by telling my story and sharing things the Lord has taught me over the last six decades.

You see, the Spirit of God dramatically invaded my life when I was 12, and I’ve never been the same. My daily walk with Jesus is my reality, not my religion. It isn’t merely a belief system or worldview; it’s an ongoing experience that affects my life in tangible, sometimes miraculous ways.

And everything I write and share here flows out of that reality.

But I don’t just write about my Christian faith. I also write about health, life, note-taking, self-improvement, technology, Wordle, and writing. And I’m just getting started!

More About Me from A to Z

A few days ago while perusing About Me Stories, I stumbled upon one by Karen Wettstein. In it, she shared 26 short tidbits about herself in acrostic form using each letter of the alphabet.

I thought, how cool! So, without further adieu, here’s more about me from A to Z:

A — About My David

I was single for the first 49 years of my life. Then, I met David (in 2006) while writing blog posts on BigChurch.com. I was in Virginia, and he was in England — reading every word I wrote.

How God brought us together is quite a story, and I will share it here at some point. In the meantime, if you’re too curious to wait, you can watch us tell Our Amazing Story.

Note: The video was recorded in 2007 and is almost an hour long. For a slightly shorter version, move the slider to the 9:45 point to skip past the introductions. And if you run out of time (or patience!), be sure and check out the slide show of pics from our first year together in Virginia starting at the 52:50 point. I wrote and produced the background song, Oh Lord, You’re Faithful, and David put it all together. What a team!

B — Bicycling

I took up bicycling in the early 90s and put over 30k miles on my Bridgestone XO-2 bike before retiring it. I’ve ridden bike trails in Washington, DC, the mid-Atlantic states, parts of Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, and Texas.

C — Cooking

I love to cook and have even created a few recipes. We adopted a whole-foods approach to eating several years ago, and our bodies have thanked us ever since. Want to know what we eat? Check out my review of my favorite cookbook:

D — Detail-Oriented

Details are important to me. Being wired that way is helpful for Bible study. But focusing on minute details has its downside. As a writer, I don’t find it easy to summarize books or articles, paraphrase paragraphs, or kill my darlings. The struggle is real, y’all.

Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings. — Stephen King from his book, “On Writing”

E — Education

I graduated high school in May 1976, then three weeks later, moved to Dallas to attend a technical school. On November 1st, I began what became a 32+ year career in computers — first as an operator, then as a programmer.

In 1981, sensing a call of God in music, I moved to Lynchburg, VA, and completed two semesters at Liberty Baptist College. (It’s now Liberty University.)

F — Farm Girl

I grew up on a dairy farm in a small community about 60 miles southwest of Fort Worth, TX. I was eight when I started helping Dad in the dairy after school and on weekends. He paid me .50 per milking and an extra .25 if I helped clean up. And what did I do with my earnings? I bought a Moped 50! Instead of horses, we used motorcycles to herd the cows and get around on our 165 acres. When I left home in 1976, I had owned a Yamaha 100, Yamaha 180, Yamaha 350, Honda 450, and Suzuki 500.

G — Guns & Granny

I had a special relationship with my Granny Outlaw. She and my grandfather lived across the road from us on the same property as our dairy.

One of my favorite memories from those early years was when I took my Dad’s 410–22 caliber “over-under” rifle, crawled up the back of one of our cow ponds, and shot unsuspecting bullfrogs. I’d cut their legs off with my pocket knife and take them to Granny, who then fried them in cornmeal in her cast iron skillet. Oh my! Talk about yummy!

H — Health and Healing

Twice, I have experienced instantaneous healings. The first time was in 1981 when the Lord supernaturally healed me of a back injury. It was dramatic and life-changing. The second time was one early morning in May 2021 when God healed an annoying “crackling” in my right ear.

While it’s awesome to be healed instantly, MOST of the time, healing is a process. Also, as we age, our bodies don’t work as well. So our lifestyles have a tremendous effect on our quality of life, especially in our later years.

Even as health-minded as I’ve been most of my life, stress is my kryptonite. I’m 100% positive it’s the root cause of MOST of my ongoing health challenges with insomnia and high blood pressure. I recently shared some of my story (see my Two Dreams article below), but there’s lots more to come. So stay tuned.

I — Influencers

The two people who have influenced me the most are my Granny Outlaw and Joyce Meyer. To a slightly lesser degree, I’ll add the leader of our singles class at the First Baptist Church in Euless, TX (1979–1981), a handful of pastors and leaders of the charismatic and AOG churches where I attended and ministered from 1982 to 2006, and a great bunch of spiritually sensitive friends who have loved me through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

J — Jazz

I enjoy many genres of music, including Classical, some Country, and rock & pop oldies from the 60s and 70s. But next to my favorite worship music, contemporary jazz is what I like to listen to most while relaxing. My jazz playlist includes such artists as Brian Culbertson, David Benoit, Dave Koz, Keiko, Kenny G, Russ Freeman, and the Rippingtons.

K — Keyboardist

I began playing piano at age 3 and can play pretty much anything with a keyboard, including the organ and accordion.

My Dad once dared me to get up in front of a growing audience and play a new Gulbransen organ at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas when I was 14. If I did, he said he’d buy me the organ. I did; he did. A year later, I recorded my first multi-track recording using it and our old upright piano.

L — Lynchburg, VA

Lynchburg was my home for 26 years (1981–2008) and it still has my heart. I LOVED living in Virginia with its four distinct seasons, colorful trees, beautiful mountains, winding rivers, miles of hiking and biking trails, the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, and its proximity to Washington, DC, and the mid-Atlantic states. I grew up in my faith there. I met some of my most treasured friends there. But most of all, God met with me there in a very special way. ❤️

M — Music and Ministry

My long history of playing and singing in the church began when I was ten. I played the organ, and Dad played the piano. I switched to the piano when we started our youth choir two years later. When the singles class at FBC Euless began their Saturday night Bible studies, I played the guitar and helped lead the music.

But things went to an entirely different level after I moved to Virginia. It started once I became the pianist for a small Baptist church, helping them to transition from hymns to simple worship songs in the mid-80s. Three years later, I became the worship leader of a nondenominational Charismatic church of around 120 people. I alternated between playing keyboards and drums and wrote several worship songs.

During the 26 years I was in Virginia, I helped plant three churches and assisted many others. I also led a home group, was involved in Women’s Aglow, and produced several CDs in my small home recording studio.

Here’s an audio clip of a track on my Spreadin’ a Little Joy to the World CD, produced in 2004:

N — Note-Taker

My life as a writer starts and ends with Evernote — my note-taking app. Recently, I added Readwise and Readwise Reader apps to help manage all the content I consume. Readwise handles all my notes and highlights from Kindle books, Medium articles, web pages, and YouTube videos and automatically exports them into Evernote. Do you want to see how I use Evernote and Readwise in my writing? Check out the article below:

O — Owned Old Apartments

In early 2008, we moved to Texas to help my parents with their apartments — 56 in all known as the Old Colemans. Built in the early 50s, they were already old when Mom and Dad bought them — at a bargain price, of course!

We bought Mom and Dad out on June 1, 2008, and managed the complex until May 2016 when we finally sold it to an investor. It was THE most challenging thing either of us had ever done. Only by the grace of God did we survive the nonstop drama!

P — Planet Earth

I have watched every episode of both seasons of Planet Earth, narrated by David Attenborough. I’m fascinated by the magnificence of ALL of God’s creation.

Q — Quote Collector

I love to collect quotes from articles, books, websites, and anywhere I can find them. When I initially synced Readwise to Evernote, it downloaded 6334 highlights from 234 Kindle books. What a treasure-trove of gems to draw from and include in my writing here!

R — Reader & Researcher

As stated in my short bio above, I’m an avid reader. I spend hours almost every day reading books and articles (mostly). In addition to several bookshelves full of print books, we have over 2000 Kindle books in our family library, and I have more than 3000 resources in my Logos Bible Software library.

But I don’t just read; I research and study. I do this for two reasons:

1. I love to learn, and a big part of learning is asking questions. It’s why my note-taking process is vital. I think on paper (digitally speaking, that is)!
2. Did you notice that I don’t have any letters behind my name? Why should you care what I think or pay attention to my opinions? I fill my articles with links and diligently cite my sources — yes, with old-fashioned footnotes — BECAUSE I have done the hard work, and I want you to know where I got my info.

S — Strengths

I took the Clifton Strengths Finder assessment in late 2013 and my top 10 strengths are:

• Maximizer
• Responsibility
• Discipline (includes being organized)
• Communication (duh!)
• Belief
• Strategic
• Learner
• Activator
• Consistency
• Input

T — Teacher

About the same time I did the StrengthFinder assessment, I took a spiritual gifts test, and it confirmed what I had known for years: I scored highest for teaching, administration, and exhortation, followed by pastor/shepherd, showing mercy, and prophecy.

U — Under Construction

For as long as I live, my life will forever be under construction. I am a work-in-progress, and no matter how much I learn, I will never be able to say that I have arrived.

V — Vertically Challenged

I’m only 5'2".

W — Wordle

I play Wordle every day using these four strategies:

X — “X” and Social Media

Elon! What were you thinking? Yes, I have an X/Twitter account, but I’m not very active there. And it’s not just because of the name change. I share what I write here (and on Substack) with my friends and family on Facebook, but that’s about it at the moment. For me, engaging with YOU on Medium is a much better use of my time.

Y — You!

I’ve written all this for one reason: YOU. I surely don’t have all the answers, but I’ve stumbled upon a few. And nothing delights me more than to share them with you.

Z —Ziva

Ziva was my favorite character on NCIS.

Thanks for reading my story. If you resonated with anything I said, I’d be honored if you would follow me. Let’s see where we wind up on this online journey on Medium.

Cheers! 🤗