Sandra Hardage

The author of FAITH Joseph’s Story a novel and Christian Bible Study available through Amazon.

Founder of My Journey of Faith Ministries

Connect with Sandra:

Sandra’s Story

My name is Sandra Lea, a name given to me by my Daddy who did the same for the other three sisters in my family.

Born in DeQueen, AR on April 23, I was the first child of my parents. I was born in the only hospital in town at 3:30 pm on Wednesday afternoon. My Grandpa just happened to be in the hospital at the same time I was born.  Grandpa was the first to see me even before my Mother.  The nurses must have loved him (I think he flirted with them) so they brought me to his room before taking me to Mother.  Every time she told me that story many years later, she would get mad because she was suppose to be the first one to see me.  After a few days we left the hospital in an ambulance that was part of a parade.  Everyone celebrated my arrival!! ☺

My parents had known each other since they were three years old, graduated from high school together and married after WW II when Daddy returned from serving in the Navy. They struggled to make ends meet after World War II.  Daddy had to work construction in another town in order provide for his young family.  Later, Daddy would go to school and learn additional skills that would lead to higher salaries and a different lifestyle for us.

I was five years old when Daddy went to work for Natural Gas Pipeline Company in Conroe, TX.  The benefits for working for the company included rent-free company housing, a company car and more.  The houses were built exactly the same, the roads were paved, and there was a playground and an assembly hall for meetings, parties and other types of get-togethers.  Everyone knew everyone else and families were encouraged to spend time with their neighbors.

We did however move from one “pumping station” to another over the years.  From Conroe, TX we moved to Searcy, AR, to Malvern, AR, to Naperville, IL and back to Malvern where I graduated from high school.

I attended college at Henderson State Teachers College (Henderson State University) to fulfill my lifetime dream of becoming a teacher.  The very last semester during the student teaching block, I met a man who later became my husband.  He is the love of my life and my best friend and has remained so even after all these many years together.

Our life together has been filled with adventure, fun, hardships, and near tragedies and still we are grateful for every day. We have a beauty family with three children-two girls and one boy and now have very special children-in-love who have blessed my life with the addition of eight grandchildren who are my delight.

I was a stay at home Mom during the early years of my children’s life and later would have a professional career in teaching and education. I taught in public school in all grade except Kindergarten, 3rd grade and 6th grade.  In addition, I have taught college classes and adult education.

I had my own business for a short time and developed a curriculum and video material for high school family consumer science classes.  I worked for Arkansas Education Television Network as coordinator of the GED-ONTV center, served as on-air talent during fundraising and produced distance-learning projects for adult education.  These jobs lead to teaching adult teachers in the areas of technology, distance learning, and media. I loved every part of my professional career but the time came when I would retire.

Retirement, I thought, would be quiet, restful and fun.  Little did I know the Lord had other plans for the rest of my life.  Almost from the moment I walked out of the building where I had spent so much of my time, I started to hear different messages that had a similar theme.  From three different sources, I heard “Christians never retire”.  And thus began the My Journey of Faith Ministry.  From myjourneyoffaith.com website and a blog, a new ministry was birthed.  Since that time, the ministry has grown in His timing and with the His blessing.  We have added many different ministries under the umbrella of My Journey of Faith Ministries.  Each ministry has the same underlying purpose of sharing personal Jesus stories in order to encourage others in their walk with Jesus Christ.