Hometown: Greeneville, Tennessee

Education: Lenoir-Rhyne College (Hickory, North Carolina) and University of Missouri (Columbia, Missouri)

Favorite Bible Verse: Romans 5:1-5

Favorite Quote: “Life is this simple. We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through it all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story. It is true. If we abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe frequently. God shows Himself everywhere, in everything—in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without Him. It’s impossible. The only thing is that we don’t see it.”

--Thomas Merton

From Diana:

My husband and I moved from California to Tempe on a very hot Labor Day weekend in 1980. I was about six months’ pregnant with our first child and my heavily packed Pinto station wagon broke down in Indio. During that adventurous first year in Arizona, I sometimes felt lonely and isolated staying home with our baby daughter. But the friends we made and the spirit of community we experienced at Tempe First UMC became a wonderful part of our lives. Children who were my students in Vacation Bible School and pre-k Sunday school in those early years have grown up and taken leadership roles in our congregation and community. I like to think I’ve grown up with them in my journey of faith and in my work here at Tempe First. As a servant in Christian education & nurture, I am blessed (sometimes and even frequently) to see God shining through.