Born in Florida during the spring of 1966, Andria was the youngest of four. She remembers that her parents being very much in love. And although her dad was a military man, she spent all of her life in Central Florida with the exception of two years spent in Plattsburg. She grew up in church and public school, twirling flags and T.P.ing houses.
In 1982 she met Jason Hoag. He was a “hot,muscled, tan surfer that cried out for Jesus”. In 1988 they were married and have been working, pastoring, and popping out babies ever since. Andria describes their three kids– now 25 (Lauren), 18 (Caleb) & 7 (Eli)– as “all first-borns” and “very smart, funny and leaders in their own ways.” Andria, Jason, Caleb and Eli currently live in Ocoee, Florida on the same street Lauren grew up on twenty years ago. Jason works for an A/C company and is a worship pastor at Compass Community Church while Andria works from home writing, playing with Eli and meeting with women in the community. I asked her about future plans and she said she looks forward to growing “young” with Jason and continuing to watch her kids grow into God-fearing, wild individuals.
She studied social work at the University of Central Florida, specializing in child welfare. Since then she has been a social worker at a hospital, has advocated for lower income families needing childcare, and has overseen 15+ daycares. She’s also been a homeschool teacher (I would’ve loved to have been in her history and speech class) and substitute but if you ask her, she’ll say her favorite jobs were the two unpaid ones of 1. stay-at-home mom (we really need to come up with a term that does this role better justice) and 2. youth pastor’s wife.