A Family of Gardeners
Family
I come from a family of gardeners. I was born in the Great Plains Midwest, in the Flint Hills of Northeastern Kansas. My family’s agricultural background was formed generations before I was born, through immigrant farmers who moved from Ireland, England, Germany, and other places to the United States. My parents met at a Kansas agricultural college, studying Horticulture and Turfgrass Science. The first language of my family was plants.
My parents both influenced my approach to teaching and learning. I owe my doctoral education, and love of story-telling, adventure, and writing to my dad. Under the GI Bill, my father served in the military in exchange for his undergraduate education. He later got a doctorate in Turfgrass Science and wove storytelling with plant science. My dad’s sequential thinking, imagination, sense of humor, and love of writing have shaped my approach to problem-solving. His love of in-depth learning and discussion inspired me to get my Doctorate in Educational Ministry.
My mom’s approach to learning focused more on application and skill-building. Through Girl Scouts and volunteer projects at our school, my mom’s vast working knowledge of local plants frequently put her in a “Teacher-as-Field-Guide” role. Some of my favorite moments in Girl Scouts come from times when a hike would become an impromptu walking tour as she drew upon her vast working knowledge of horticulture, identifying outdoor plants’ names, properties, and related anecdotes in stride. In her life, I see endurance, thriftiness, and creativity, intersecting with justice, service, and stewardship. The “Jill-of-all-trades” nature of her role managing university greenhouse collections caused me to associate physical strength with female leadership.
My paternal grandparent’s image can be faintly traced in my life and values, especially when it comes to how I understand caring for my community. My paternal matriarch left a legacy of warmth, generosity, and service within her farming Iowa context. As a chiropractor, my grandfather’s interests in health, wholeness, and justice caused him to develop strong ties with his Amish neighbors. Occasionally, he would trade chiropractic care for fresh produce and chickens. They both taught Sunday School at a Protestant mainline church, taught their children to be storytellers, and had a mischievous sense of humor.
My maternal grandparents embodied resilience and acumen in business. In the unlikely era of the 1960s, my maternal grandmother was an entrepreneur who owned her own stained glass studio and small business. She taught each of her 6 children sodering and glass-cutting techniques, passing on a legacy of practicality and job training. My maternal grandfather was a steadfast manager at Good Year Tire in the American Midwest. He was a stable, humble, and patient man who managed to keep his family together throughout significant challenges. As Irish-Catholic Americans, they valued practicality, service, and community.
Early Years
Despite appearances, the ecosystem of the prairie is incredibly diverse. From an early age, I was exposed to a range of different nationalities, languages, ethnicities, political beliefs, religions, and worldviews. In Kansas, my father’s house bordered an elementary which through proximity to the University of Kansas, was the sole experimental ESOL (English as a Second Language) school for most of my elementary education. I loved learning, and my interest in global languages, cultures, and peoples was solidified through proximity.
Name Meaning
I have a twin sister. My parents and two brothers voted to choose our names. Unintentionally, my sister and I both received botanical names. My sister’s name Lauren means “Victory”, and relates to the laurel leaves that Greek Olympians wore as crowns.
I love to organize information visually. I find it easiest to explain my name as a pictogram.
- Haley:
- My first name Haley means “Hayfield” or “Harvest field” in Old English (heg leah).
- In Norse, Haley means “Brave” or “Heroine”.
- In Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic, Haley means “Ingenious” (O hEalaighthe) or “Claimant/Heir” (O hEilidhe).
- My middle name means “River” in Welsh.
- Nus: My last name means “Seed”, and originally came from the German word Nußbaum. My father’s relatives shortened our last name to Nus after they immigrated from Germany to the U.S. in the 1800s.
- Linguistic Representation: Each of the languages represented in my name relates to my family background, along with French, Scandinavian, and Eastern European ancestry that isn’t explicitly named. As an adult, each of these regions has influenced my faith, friendships, and ministry.
As these separate elements of my name (Field, River, Seed) are combined, they ultimately come together to form a garden. Therefore, my complete name means something akin to:
“Fruitful.”
Other little clues in my life remind me of this meaning, like :
- The high incidence of twins in my family
- Bearing fruit through easy and challenging experiences
- The practice of applying and reproducing what I learn
- A sense of calling to the nations
- A sense of calling to be a bridge between different cultures, denominations, times, and sectors
Given that my first name means “harvest field”, it’s not surprising that some of my first encounters with God were outside in my elementary school’s grass fields at recess.
Early Childhood and Calling Experiences: Finding Hidden Treasure
Three episodes of seeking and finding summarize the connections between some early experiences of God and my present ministry trajectory.
During childhood, my sister and I spent a good amount of time outdoors. We’d roll over rocks looking for rollie pollies (pill bugs), race home to be the first to pick just-ripe raspberries and dissect my parents’ flowers. Amongst the gravel at my father’s house, I’d collect limestone chalk rocks, drawing white lines against the cement.
Fossils: Hidden Treasures of the Past
By the time I entered elementary school, I loved exploring. I asked many questions and experienced school as a sanctuary. Many wonderful teachers kept me challenged. During recess, I would sometimes enlist friends to hunt for small fossils in the gravel underneath our playground equipment. As an adult, I connect the practice of searching for fossils with understanding what God has done in the past and how that may influence the future.
“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him.”
Daniel 2:21-22
Four-Leaf Clovers: Experiencing Miracles
As I grew into upper elementary school, I sometimes felt a sense of dissonance. I felt that something important was missing from my life. There was a sense of longing for deeper spirituality, but no real means of accessing God. I knew that God must be real and powerful. But I didn’t understand the role of Jesus.
During times of great boredom, loneliness, or sorrow, I learned to pray. I prayed: “God if you are real and if you love me, please help me find a four-leaf clover.” Shortly thereafter, I began to find them. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this approach to learning prayer, during that season of life, I believe that God opened up this experience because of how much I needed evidence of his care for me. Over time, I learned more holistic ways of prayer.
Nevertheless, this experience of seeking and finding helped me feel seen and valued. It reminds me of the miracles, signs, and wonders that God reveals to those who seek him.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13
As an adult, I still occasionally look for four-leaf clovers when I am absentmindedly walking. These days, I mostly give them away and enjoy other people’s excitement. Having experienced evidence of God’s faithfulness over and over again, I no longer need to collect my own clovers. But the practice of scanning and praying is still something I value.
Wedding Rings: God Who is Committed to the Wellbeing of the Bride
As I kept spending time with God outside, I would sometimes get the sense of being watched over, or see pictures of things that were hard to describe. During this season, I found 3+ women’s wedding rings as I was walking through the school’s grass fields. As a child, I wanted to keep them! But my teachers had the good sense to return them to their *very relieved* owners.
Looking back, these experiences of finding wedding rings remind me of Jesus’ great commitment to the restoration of his people.
“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.”
Isaiah 61:2 NIV
Overall, these calling experiences remind me of the hidden treasure found in knowing the Lord.
“I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”
Isaiah 45;3
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46
My son, if you accept my words
Proverbs 2:1-8
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Middle Years and Salvation Experience
God sent me outstanding friends when I was in late elementary school, including one friend whose love for me changed the trajectory of my life. Eventually, her blunt challenge caused me to pursue healthier ways of self-expression. Grateful for her friendship and Mexican American family’s hospitality, I learned Spanish.
I studied Spanish throughout middle school, high school, and early college. During that time, I had many questions about God, but couldn’t find people who could answer them. I felt that if God were real, he would have the power to heal and transform people. After graduating high school, I decided to use my time at college to resolve my questions.
Through the freedom of college, I began to heal. I started pursuing Jesus and developed new friends. One Catholic friend challenged me to attend a lecture by a priest and deliverance minister. Through his testimony, I realized that there may be legitimate answers to my questions about God’s character. I had begun to feel hungry to understand.
At the same time, I was deciding where I would study abroad. Having studied Spanish for such a long time, I reached the point where to grow, I would need to leave the U.S.. I ultimately selected a program in Valparaiso, Chile. It was one of very few with a Christian study abroad option. As I boarded the plane with my backpack and suitcase, I told Jesus “If you’re real, I’m ready to know.” In Chile, I began attending church voluntarily for the first time. It was there that I decided to follow his plan for my life.
Fields, Generations, and Nations
Returning to Kansas after that intense time of encounter, I sought a deeper sense of direction. I still had a lot to learn about faith. Nevertheless, I felt to retrace my steps to the elementary school fields where I had encountered God as a child. As I began to pray for God to reveal his purpose for my life, I began a tutoring job working with kindergarteners at my former elementary school.
Over a decade later, the school was nearly as diverse. I was surprised by how easy it was to becoming a role model. In addition to teaching basic math and literacy, I delighted in teaching kids how to look for four-leaf clovers, make flower crowns at recess, and reflect on life. Around this time, I began feeling called to ministry. I sensed that my calling was bi-vocational…somewhere between the Education Sector and the Church. I felt that as a woman, I would have greater opportunities for leadership if I started within the classroom rather than within the Church.
In addition to working as a tutor, I also worked as a student employee at my university’s Office of International Student Services. During this role, God refined my vision for working with various cultures. For four years, I supported the equivalent of my former elementary classmates’ parents with immigration compliance, adapting to the University, and life in Kansas.
As graduation loomed near, I was ready for a new adventure. I was involved with campus ministry through Intervarsity Campus Fellowship, sang in a student gospel choir, and supported Intervarsity’s Asian American campus ministry. During my junior and senior years, I adapted to life as a Christian, I went through a discipleship process and deepened my background in the bible.
At this time, I was still aware of the need to pursue a pathway in Education. Rather than spending more time in Kansas, I decided to pursue an alternate teaching certification program. Eventually, I found an alternative teaching certification and Master’s Degree program specializing in engagement-based learning. The program was based out of Washington, D.C., and utilized a gradual release of responsibility model. Sensing that it was the right next step, I applied solely for that program and prayed. After months of waiting, I received news that I had been accepted. Working under an experienced mentor teacher in a first-grade classroom, I developed a deep love for teaching literacy.
My 6 years in the classrooms of D.C. allowed me to drastically grow my range. I worked in primarily bilingual English and Spanish contexts, supporting immigrants from Central America, Mexico, and other Hispanic countries through my use of Spanish. I enjoyed working with students from East Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and became more conscious of the global conflicts that had caused their families to relocate.
At the same time, I gradually developed a deep hunger to relate my spirituality to my leadership. I eventually enrolled in a Doctor of Educational Ministry (D.Ed.Min) program at Virginia Theological Seminary. Through this program, I explored human development and aging, considered how to support healthy intergenerational communities, and developed an inquiry-based curriculum to support teenager’s spirituality. I began my doctorate at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and graduate in spring 2025.
While in D.C., I also had the opportunity to explore prayer and prophetic ministry. After several years of serving in prayer ministry at a local church, God opened up experiences with the prophetic, most often through dreams and other visual contexts. Through additional training, I became more comfortable parsing, stewarding, and writing prophetic words.
I came to Seattle in August 2022 to finish my doctorate and rest. Through doctoral research and training in prophetic ministry, I recognized that my specific trajectory focused on nations, integrating deliverance and inner healing ministry, synthesizing Renewalist Prophetic ministry with Spiritual Direction, and developing supports for healthy intergenerational communities. I hope that my ministry will eventually support new strategies for prophetic ministry among youth within the Church and Education sector.
The Role of Prophesy in National Redemption
I believe strongly that Jesus is calling the Church to use prophecy as a building tool and to reveal Jesus. Revelation 19:10 says that “The Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus”. Prophets and Apostles support leaders in the nations to encounter Jesus for themselves as Jesus wants to reveal himself to that region. The breadth of God’s character allows him to reveal different aspects of himself to different regions at different times, echoing and revealing how he has revealed himself in the past and through the scriptures. Together the church bears the tapestry of our collective revelation, becoming a table of nations that recognizes Jesus as he moves on the Earth. As servants, we share governing authority as delegated by Christ to establish his Kingdom’s purposes on Earth. We are active, missional, and diverse.
Cultures have unique gifts. At full stature, these gifts become inheritances that support what Jesus wants to do for that nation, confirm God’s faithfulness to generations that have come before, correspond to and extend past promises, signal future purposes, and are ultimately designed to bless the world. Through Christ, we become a healthy family of nations that are brought together by shared testimony of Jesus and the Holy Spirit of Adoption. We are called to love one another with genuine love (Romans 12) and become holistically healthy representations of who Jesus is (Ephesians 4:13).
“In the time of favor I will answer You,
and in the day of salvation I will help You;c
I will keep You and appoint You
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land,
to apportion its desolate inheritances,
9to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the pathways,
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10They will not hunger or thirst,
nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them.d
For He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
11I will turn all My mountains into roads,
and My highways will be raised up.
12Behold, they will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,e
and from the land of Aswan.f”
Isaiah 49:8-13
As of 2022-2023, I believe the Holy Spirit is inviting the nations into national redemption, signaling to prophets and prophetic people what new opportunities for redemption may exist for their territories. Jesus is calling his International Church to lead the way in holiness starting with heart engagement, resulting in purity of heart, and gradually outworking as good fruit in relational ministry development.
Life Verses
Here are some verses that I see God outworking in my life and in the nations.
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar—
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.[b]”13 Shout for joy, you heavens;
Isaiah 49:8-13
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic,b “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
John 20:12-18
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-5
Worship
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The Purpose of Monthly Summaries
In the last days of each month, I write monthly summaries. These contain stories, media, and revelation from each ~30-day cycle. I believe that monthly reflection writing can support prophetic people to remain in pace with the Holy Spirit. I wrote the first of my monthly summaries back in October 2020, having started this portfolio in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe that parsing and celebrating what God does each month allows me to stay in his timings.
Providing a Resource for Other Developing Prophets
In growing in leadership and prophetic ministry, I have needed a lot of help. I believe that monthly summaries can be a glimpse into learning to walk with God, and therefore, can be a useful conversation starter with individuals who need support to find their own rhythms for life and ministry.
Age of the Unexpected 