My Story

*If you would like to share your story, please let us know. This section is dedicated to the testimonies of the women of VCC. We all have a story to share...here's mine.

Flora Washburn

My story begins in a town called Modesto, California. It is a farming community in Central California that has grown to be quite large. Born to Italian/Portuguese, Catholic parents who taught me a lot about faith and family. I have one sister, but we have a very large extended family on my mom’s side – the Borrelli’s. My dad’s family was much smaller. I loved spending time at Nana Borrelli’s farm, playing with my cousins. My dad’s parents lived in Monterey, and we would visit them frequently so I would get my ocean fix and can still smell the salt air and hear the waves crashing against the rocks. 

Much has happened since then. I started college, got sidetracked, went to a merchandising school, thinking that I wanted to be in fashion, met Steve Washburn, got married and started a family – so much for career, which was just fine for me at the time. This was the time of the hippy movement, counter-culture living and eventually, for us, the Jesus movement. For many people it was a lot of turmoil; for many of us growing up during this time, it was a shaking of what was as we tried to discover who we were and what we wanted to do with our lives.  

Steve and I left the city (San Francisco Bay area), headed to Canada and then back to Northern California where we raised our three children – Nicole, Lori and Sai. Our trip to Canada (4 years) was unique in that this is where we both accepted Christ. Fellow hippies who left the United States had met Christ in a little church in Grand Forks, British Columbia. One of them happened to be our neighbor. It was through her influence and the wonderful influence of people within the church who loved and accepted us all that we discovered the meaning of knowing Christ and his influence in our lives.  Their examples of personal suffering, the teaching we received and the fellowship helped to build a rather solid foundation. Missing family and believing it was time to go home, we left Canada and moved back to California. Steve took a job in a small mountain town in Northern California named Quincy.  

Many wonderful things were happening spiritually in California at this time. The Jesus movement brought many of us closer to God and to one another. We were fortunate enough to have a wonderful mentor who had a church in the San Francisco Bay area. He invited us to join the School of Ministry his church, Zion Fellowship, was starting. We did. It was a wonderful season of growth. When we graduated, we went back to Quincy to plant a church. It did quite well for a couple of years, but then discouragement and ill health came and we resigned. We stayed in Quincy, attending a church in Reno, Nevada, about an hour and a half away. Steve was offered a job in Southern California and we moved.  When we look back at these four years, we see those whose life’s were changed and were thankful for the experience. We loved living in Quincy. Our kids grew up there. We still have friends there that we stay in touch with. I can still think of the women who influenced my spiritual journey and gave advice on family and marriage.  

It took some time for us to adjust to Southern California. It was much busier and a lot larger than what we were used to – but it had the ocean, warmer weather and we quickly adapted. So much happened during the fifteen years that we lived there. There was a spiritual nosedive, climb back up, support from friends, church and pastor, I finished my masters in theology, Steve joined the church staff, I worked for a Christian publishing company, involvement with church ministry, motorcycles, ocean, mountains, family, grandkids....We grew to love it. When it was time to leave, I confess it was difficult, but the blessings that have come from our move to Kentucky have made it wonderful.  

Steve and I live in Richmond. Our daughter, Lori, and her son Gage, attend the Vineyard and live in Nicholasville. Our eldest daughter, Nicole, lives in Atlanta but is moving back to Lexington. Our son, Sai, lives in Southern California. We have 5 grandchildren. We first started attending the Vineyard when it was at the Carmike. We knew from the beginning that this was where we wanted to be. We felt at home from the beginning.  

I have to pause a moment and talk about the spiritual journey. There have been many influences in my life starting from the time I was a child growing up in a Catholic home. I rejected these teachings in my late teens and tried to find God on my own. This led me to Eastern Philosophies, meditation and a hunger for God in my life. Finally, six years later, my neighbor in Grand Forks, BC, talked to me about Jesus. I knew then that even though I had been taught so much about God growing up (a true love, awe, prayer and respect), I never grasped who Jesus was. Thus, my relationship with Christ began. Jesus is woven into every aspect of my life. There are times when I wonder if I do enough. There are times when I doubt. There are times when I ask myself if I really believe. And then I read a Psalm or a scripture or hear a worship song, and I know that my life would be empty and meaningless without Jesus, without Father and Spirit – without God. God is my hope, my encouragement, my friend, my salvation. There have been times when I thought that the only way I wanted to serve God was in a particular church or Christian ministry. I had it all figured out, but God in his wisdom led me down a different path.  

All of life is a spiritual journey. Psalm 139 says it so well. This is truly one of my favorite Psalms because it is about life and who we are in connection with God, who he is and who he is in our lives. I read this Psalm and see the marvelous tapestry that is woven from a person’s life. I also see the river of life with its creeks and tributaries, its meanderings, sudden drops and curves as it winds its way to its final destination. Psalm 139 talks about this journey – at least this is how I picture it. I would encourage you to take a moment to read this Psalm and think about your life’s journey. As you do, remember this life is a journey; we have not yet arrived. Do not be discouraged but encouraged that the God who knew you when you were a mere thought in your mom’s womb, is the same God who sees all that is in your life and in your heart and will continue with you on this journey.  

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;  

     test me and know my anxious thoughts.  

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,  

     and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 139:23-24 (NIV)

Thank you for the opportunity to tell my story.

Megan Smith

I hope that in this story, the focus will not be on me but on the Lord, who has given me such a blessed life and is woven into nearly every aspect of my time here on Earth.

I was born in Columbus, Ohio 30 years ago. My parents didn’t stay together long after that. Until I was 8 my mother and I lived alone. I did see my father on weekends and I also had a half brother and half sister and step brother to call family.  As a mother of 2 small boys, I can’t imagine being a single parent. She bought a small home for us and worked her way up the corporate ladder to provide a good life for me. When I was 8 my mom remarried. She and Tom (my step-dad) met at the little Baptist church nearby. That church is where I was saved and baptized. 

My relationship with my father has always been turbulent. He is not a believer and is a man with many highs and lows. I have really great memories with him. He is very artistic and cultured and on weekends would take me to some wonderful places. We would go to art fairs, dulcimer concerts, museums, movies, symphonies, ballets, and festivals. He always had something planned for our weekends together and I was able to experience much more than my peers.

Along with those memories and his “highs”, I also experienced the lows with him. His suicide attempts, being locked out of the house because he was mad at me, emotional abuse, witnessing physical abuse on his girlfriends, and living in fear of when his mood would suddenly change. 

I can look back now and feel sorry for how he was. He must have lived with such turmoil and despair. But in the midst of childhood I was confused, hurt, and scared. 

I tried so hard to please both of my parents. I felt misunderstood and never really fully accepted or appreciated for who I was and the life I wanted to lead.

Thankfully my Father in Heaven has always placed a hedge of protection around me. I can thank Him that I was spared from many circumstances and situations that could have been much more detrimental on my life. 

In middle school I started going to a new church. I went there through graduation and that church, especially the youth group, was a monumental force in how my life has turned out today. I am incredibly thankful for the youth pastor and the youth workers that poured their lives into mine. The women and men who came along side me, mentored me, and encouraged me blows my mind. I had father figures who invested in me and would tell me often how proud they were of me. How incredible that was for me at that age to have a Godly man step up and do what my father could not. I gained so much of my self confidence and my identity in Christ in those years. My faith grew by leaps and bounds!

In high school I went on my first mission’s trip. I was 15 and I went to Papua New Guinea for 6 weeks. On that trip the Lord, again, placed me with team leaders that impacted my life greatly. To this day Randy and Linda come and visit from Wisconsin often and they have been enormous influences on my life and have been Godly examples for both Mike and I.

After my trip to PNG, I went to Africa the following summer, again for 6 weeks. I was challenged further by the need for missionaries in remote third world countries and prayerfully decided that after high school I would pursue a life of full time missions work. 

After graduation I moved to Milwaukee and attended New Tribes Bible Institute. It is a 2 year Bible college with intense course training. After those 2 years I moved deep to the hills of eastern Kentucky to continue with my missions training with the organization. 

I had met Mike in Bible College but it wasn’t until I moved to Kentucky that we started dating. When we became engaged I stepped out of the training for a bit while we considered what the Lord had for our lives together.

In the fall of 1999 we moved to Mississippi to one of New Tribes training facilities. We lived there for one year and intensely studied church planting techniques, how to live in a remote tribal area, and how to get along with co-workers on the field. This was a stretching year for us both and an interesting way to live a first year of marriage! As the last piece of training we moved into the woods and build our own house out of bamboo and plastic. THAT was interesting…and really fun, actually!

Once that year was finished we moved to Orlando to work for NTM and take high school and college students on mission’s trips. We organized several trips a year and led teams to Mongolia and Papua New Guinea. We sent teams to South America, Siberia and South America.

In 2004 we moved back to Kentucky. Mike wanted to finish his degree and we felt God wanted to change our direction a bit. It is now nearly 5 years later and we would have never anticipated that we would still be here in Lexington. This was definitely not in “our plan” but we see God’s hand in it. 

We often call Lexington “the island” (if you watch Lost you’ll understand). There are these magnetic forces keeping us here and although we envision moving someday, this is where we are to be right now. 

We love the community of friends we have made at Vineyard. We love that we are able to serve and grow in this community and that God has given us an opportunity to pour into others lives the way that our lives have been poured into. 

I personally am thrilled that Kevin and Jimmy have given me the chance to serve with Vineyard Women. I am able to use my strengths and giftings to serve to my fullest capacity in this role. I love the bond between women and helping foster that to a deeper and more meaningful level. 

I definitely don’t have life figured out nor do I have it all “together”. I am a work in progress and daily come running to the Lord for strength. 

I can look back on these past 30 years and thank God for the full life He has given me. I have an amazing husband, 2 incredible children, a host of mentors, and people who surround us with love and encouragement. I pray for at least another 60 years of life to serve and love God with all that I am here on Earth and to radiate the light and hope of Christ to those I meet.