I grew up in a small town in New Jersey along the Delaware River. We had
3 stoplights, two grocery stores, and a high school with 500 students in
grades 7 through 12. It was one of those quaint little towns where everyone
knows your business. If an elderly couple sitting on their front porch didn't
know who you were, they knew your parents, grandparents or some other
relative. It was a wonderful, safe place to grow up.

Unfortuanately, our home was not such a safe place; it was volatile. My
father had a violent temper that often erupted toward my mother, and
towards us three children at times as well. I grew up in fear of my dad.
Several times we left him, only to return when he pleaded and promised
he'd change. But he didn't.

Until my senior year of high school. That's when, through a series of unfortunate events, my parents came in contact with a pastor in our town who led them to the Lord. They were gloriously transformed. My dad's temper disappeared and, instead of drinking with his friends at the Elks Lodge, he spent night after night reading his Bible. I knew there was something radically different about him.

And that's what bothered me. I grew up going to Sunday School, as most kids did back then. I believed with all my heart that I was a Christian. But when I saw the change in my dad's life, I knew he had something I didn't. Just a few months later, I, too, gave my heart to Christ.

The night I prayed to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior, my pastor told me to go home and read as much of the New Testament as I could that week. I started with the short books and read from Galatians right up to Revelation. And somewhere during that week, I became a new person. I had always thought the Bible was irrelevant. After all, these events took place hundreds of years ago. Times have changed, I thought. But during that week of intense reading, I realized God had not changed. His Word had not changed. And His expectations had not changed. My heart was melted and my life transformed.

After a year studying math and chemistry at a college in Allentown, PA, I transferred to United Wesleyan College, a Bible college on the other side of Allentown. I felt God calling me into fulltime ministry, and I dedicated myself to studying the Bible and teaching it to others. From the time I was first saved I have always sought to know God's Word and to lead others to do the same.

I subsequently earned a BA from United Wesleyan and an MA in Biblical Studies from American Bible College and Seminary in Bethany, OK. Now I am finishing up my doctorate through GWUA and am dean of their College of Biblical Studies and Theology. I have been a fulltime pastor since 1983, and I can't imagine anything I'd rather do than serve the Lord. It is still a thrill to me when I see the "lights go on" and someone begins to understand the Scriptures.

In 1989, I taught a one-year study through the Bible at our church in Mukwonago, WI (my husband and I served there as co-pastors for 14 years). I worked 20 hours a week for an entire year putting that study together.  The next year I bought a computer and typed up my handwritten notes. A couple years later The Wesleyan Publishing House purchased my book and accompanying workbook for publication, and Bible students all over the country have been able to learn from a resource I wish I had had when I was just starting out as a Christian.

Through the Bible is a wonderful resource for gaining a panoramic view of the entire Bible, so you can see how every book contributes to the whole. You gain a whole new perspective after reading it. It is historical and practical at the same time.

Every couple years I teach through this entire study in one year at whatever church I'm pastoring (currently in Florida).  And I never tire of it. The Bible is an amazing book.  In fact, it's the most exciting book ever written. And people get excited when they go through this study.

I have had the opportunity to write for publication for over a dozen years now. I regularly write Bible commentary for Teacher Helps, a magazine for teacher's of adult Sunday School curriculum, published by The Wesleyan Publishing House. These are available on this web site for a minimal charge.

This past year I had the opportunity to write the new Lectio Divina Bible Study on the Gospel of John published jointly by The Wesleyan Publishing House and Beacon Hill Press (Church of the Nazarene).  [For more information on the ancient art of lectio divina (divine reading), visit http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.html.] This book covers every major Christian doctrine and would be a perfect study for a small group of new believers (or even nonbelievers who are struggling with the whole idea of the divinity of Jesus Christ).

With so many published works, why am I selling my writing as ebooks? Because I want to offer some good material at a more affordable price. Paper books are very expensive to produce and to distribute. Have you been in a Christian bookstore lately? Aren't you tired of paying $15 for a gift book with barely 5 full pages of text scattered across 100 pages of pictures and fancy borders? So am I. My goal has always been to teach the Bible. And this is the best way I could think of to publish Bible studies that are reasonably priced and yet still high quality.

I hope you think so, too.