For those of you wondering and/or those who follow my blog
at all, I’ve just come through a time of major discernment of how God would
have me serve in His Kingdom. I’ve loved
my time serving in campus ministry. It’s
been an invaluable experience and a great first two years of professional
ministry and development. I have been so
blessed by a place that has been full of relationship, worship, and mission
opportunities all centered in bringing honor to Jesus and furthering His
Name. I do strongly believe, however,
that God has used these past two years to prepare me for what’s next. I’m confident in His calling for me to be a
DCE in Arizona.
I will be serving as the first Director of Christian Education at Risen Savior Lutheran Church in Chandler, Arizona. I served there as an intern for a year about four years previous and have been delighted to see the growth and development that’s taken place since. My position is DCE of Students and Serving. I’m excited that I’ll be working with students and creating meaningful connections where they can grow in faith and life and fall in love with their Savior. I’ll also be working in a brand new area of the church, which is the serving part. I am thrilled about how God has impressed on this congregation’s heart to take bold steps in serving and honored to be part of carrying that out. The congregation wants to be intentional about serving both locally and globally. One of the ideas it seeks to explore is making a community connecting with some local Native American reservations. I will be playing a significant role in those connections and how we might partner with those communities as well as other local serving. My role in serving would also include coordinating and leading multiple mission trips each year to places around the globe.
I will be serving as the first Director of Christian Education at Risen Savior Lutheran Church in Chandler, Arizona. I served there as an intern for a year about four years previous and have been delighted to see the growth and development that’s taken place since. My position is DCE of Students and Serving. I’m excited that I’ll be working with students and creating meaningful connections where they can grow in faith and life and fall in love with their Savior. I’ll also be working in a brand new area of the church, which is the serving part. I am thrilled about how God has impressed on this congregation’s heart to take bold steps in serving and honored to be part of carrying that out. The congregation wants to be intentional about serving both locally and globally. One of the ideas it seeks to explore is making a community connecting with some local Native American reservations. I will be playing a significant role in those connections and how we might partner with those communities as well as other local serving. My role in serving would also include coordinating and leading multiple mission trips each year to places around the globe.
The older I get, the more I realize that I have a unique
heart. God has gifted me with a random
bunch of skills, passions, and gifts. (Then
there are these other things that I have not a clue about, but are exciting because
I see opportunity for God to totally show up without me trying to take credit.) I’m so excited about this new calling because
it seems that my unique heart fits in the gap of this church’s need and where
they are heading. I love diverse people
groups, orphans (both physically and emotionally), mentoring, traveling,
culture, serving, worship, teaching, and walking with people as they get
introduced to all of these things. Most
of all, I love Jesus and helping others love Him, too. This position is going to challenge me,
allow me to grow, allow me opportunities to step out in faith amidst lots of
looming fears that tell me I can’t, and this position will offer grace and
freedom to follow Jesus wherever He is leading for the sake of His Gospel. You bet, I’m a bit scared, but I’m every bit
just as excited. I’m putting on my game
face and saying, “Lord, lead on. I’m
trusting You.”
You know, a friend of mine recently told me that we’re
supposed to dream big. Where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is freedom. That
freedom that comes from the Holy Spirit brings a wildness—something massive and
adventurous—that we are incapable of. It
causes us to dream dreams that we often think “oh, that’s not reasonable or
practical.” My friend reminded me that
God doesn’t care about that. He thinks “impossible”
is fun. He does “never gonna happen” in
His spare time. We are being used and
following the Spirit when we dream so big that it draws us to our knees every
single day because we have no idea how it’s going to happen, but we know God is
working and capable. So we, eager to be
part of His creating and recreating, humbly submit to how He might use us. This is how I’m entering this new call. Excited.
Totally humbled by what I don’t know.
Expectant. Joyful. I never know what’s going to happen next, but
if I did, that wouldn’t make the adventure very exciting, now would it? :-)
Thank you for your prayers through the discernment process. I’d love your prayers as this process unfolds—as God and I begin to dream about what this next chapter of my story holds. Welcome to my new meantime.
Thank you for your prayers through the discernment process. I’d love your prayers as this process unfolds—as God and I begin to dream about what this next chapter of my story holds. Welcome to my new meantime.