Dionna Sanchez was born in Coos Bay, Oregon and grew up in Medford. She was blessed to grow up in a tight-knit Christian family, and developed a heart to encourage others early on in her life. From volunteering in nursing homes, to joining any kind of club that helped people - Dionna always wanted to impact lives for her Lord.
After high school Dionna moved to Las Vegas for two years where God strengthened and solidified her faith through her experiences and time there. She then moved to Salem, Oregon where she met her husband, Eliseo. They got married in 1994 and at the age of 23, she became a full-time custodial stepmom to her "son" Garrett. God taught her many things through those challenging years and grew in her heart a desire to encourage other moms; which resulted in the birth of the Emphasis On Moms newsletter.
In 1996 a daughter, Kamica, joined the family and about a year and a half after her birth, their family moved to Idaho for career reasons. Dionna's youngest daughter, Kayla Shaye, then joined her family in 1999. During this busy time as a mom, Dionna saw her newsletter grow and add on a website.
After a missions trip to Belgium with her husband in the summer of 2005, God began working on Dionna's heart in a new way by changing her focus and ambition with her writing. Dionna felt God call her to use her gift of writing more as a ministry and she started blogging. She only felt this calling of ministry grow after attending a Beth Moore conference in the Fall of 2006.
Dionna's deepest desire is to inspire women to embrace who God has created them to be as wives, mothers, and individual women. She wants women to let go of the world's expectations and just learn to love and see themselves as God does. She is passionate about sharing her faith and helping others grow through her writing and feels blessed that she can be used to make a difference and impact on others in this way.
Today, Dionna attends and is actively involved with her local church. She has been married for 18 years and along with raising her two daughters, she saw her stepson get married in 2006 and is now a proud mother-in-law, and grandma.
Dionna loves writing - enjoys volleyball, photography, shopping, travel with her family, blaring and belting out her favorite music, socializing with friends, and just laughing and loving on her family. She loves encouraging others and desires to live in a warm climate someday.
