My Life Mission Statement:
I will use my gifts of teaching, and prophecy to become an effective wife, mother, mentor, minister and counselor. I will also use these gifts to encourage ministers to return to holiness while speaking the truth in love.
The Task:
This task is not an easy undertaking. Determining a mission for my life involves so much more than just an evaluation of self. Being married and having children means that my life and the mission God has called me to must also involve my husband and children. I am grateful to have their support. Without this support I could never fully embrace all God has called me to do and to be.
Reflection:
Understanding God’s call on my life was a joyous task. I have enjoyed looking back over the past several years and recalling those times where I was most fulfilled in ministry. What I have uncovered is that my life is made up of many components, all interconnected and all important. I cannot separate one part from the other, just as I cannot divide myself into many parts and still function.
My Calling:
In all honesty I am still not certain what God is going to do with me. My experience has proven that it is not until He says MOVE that I know where I am going. However, His call on my life is certain, and rather specific. My call to ministry is “to support people who are called to ministry”. Joyfully I accept this calling and over the last several years this has meant many things. I have served as a babysitter for a Children’s minister needing to work full-time during the summer. I have served as a Ministry Assistant in a church office, supporting the staff as needed. I have done life-coaching with several students seeking to solidify God’s calling on their life. I have worked alongside those called to Pastoral Ministry as they prepared sermons and helped Youth Ministers prepare for camp. I have been a sounding board for many Seminary students as they wrestled with their calling, and their purpose. I have come alongside minsters and offered a listening ear and counsel as they worked through a difficult time in their ministries. Each of these experiences is individual, unique and very affirming in my call to ministry. It seems diversified because it is. Having a calling of this nature really allows me to find great joy in such a variety of things God has called me to do. Each of these tasks I plan to continue to participate in throughout the future. I want to be available to assist ministers and come alongside them in completing whatever tasks God calling them to carry out. A task I see as equally important, of not more so is the call to support my husband in his ministry to our family. His role as the leader of our family is one he takes very seriously. He leads us in devotion, spiritual formation, prayer, and much more. Although I am the one with the formal religious education, he is the one who is called to carry out the spiritual leadership in our home. I cannot take that role away from him and still be the woman of God I am called to be. Supporting my husband is not always a fun task, simply because it means that I have to speak hard truths to him as well, in the privacy of our time together. We have cried together, prayed together, and served together – all stemming from my husband’s leadership. His love for the Lord overflows into the love he shows me and our kids. I am supportive in the things God is calling him to do, and refrain from contradiction. This involves trust. My gifts of prophecy and teaching are also used in the home. These gifts allow me to support my husband with disciplining the children, and planning out activities for our family.
My Values and Who I am:
I am about restoration. Restoration comes when we are right with God, ourselves, one another. I am called to help bring about restoration in the Body of Christ. I am a wife, mother, student, friend, daughter, sister, mentor, minister and more. Each of these relationships is unique and individual, yet very interconnected. I embrace God’s calling on my life as a teacher and a prophet. I want to be someone worth knowing. This has little to do with me, but more to do with the God I serve. I want to point people toward God so that they too might experience the restoration that comes through a relationship with the Creator. I want to be a person of integrity, someone trustworthy and wise. I want to be a person from whom others seek counsel, and I want to be discerning when it comes to people and the will of God. I want to be a lover of people, all people, regardless of how they treat me. I want to be a leader, someone worth following.
A Lasting Legacy:
The greatest legacy I could ever leave is an impact on the Kingdom of God. I hope to participate in the restorative work of the church through ministering to those in ministry and calling them back to holiness. I want to know my work in the church has impacted lives, and made the church a healthier place, emotionally and spiritually. I want to be a mom who sets an example for her children by loving them and their father properly. I want to be a wife who serves her husband joyfully, and I want to have a marriage worth emulating. I want to have a God-fearing marriage. I want to have a family that communicates with one another. I want to have children and a husband who respect me. I want to have a home where people feel loved, cared for, and welcome. I want to be a woman of God who leads younger women in the ways of the Lord. I want to have a mentor, and be a mentor. I want to have children who love the Lord, and me. I want to have space to breath and relax in my day. I want a schedule which will allow me to redeem the time, and make the most of every moment. I want to be fully present. It would be my great joy to look back at the end of my life and see these things have happened.
Dreams, Goals, and Visions:
My dream and my passion is to eventually establish an organization allowing Ministers and their families an opportunity to be counseled in times of crisis. I see myself counseling ministers, and families of ministers through crisis –both in the church and in the family. It is my hope that through this counseling we will have healthier ministers and lay leaders in the church, making the church itself healthier. I see myself using the gift of prophecy to call ministers to return to holiness, and seek God again. I dream of meeting with ministers and their families from all over the world to share the love of Christ, and encourage them through crisis. I plan to start a non-profit organization, and a foundation specifically designed to meet the needs of ministers and their families. I will have pastoral staff, and counseling staff as well as those gifted in hospitality and encouragement. I will partner with an existing Bed & Breakfast, or build one, to house these families over the course of a week or a weekend. They will enjoy fellowship with one another, times of prayer, fasting, counseling, and encouragement. They will spend time with other ministry families who are also going through crisis. It is so important for individuals to know they are not alone in their struggles. 1 Peter 5:9 says, “Resist him (The devil), standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (NIV) This verse will serve as an anchor for the ministry provided there.
Leading myself before leading others:
I respect greatly the work of Tim Elmore. He has written several books on leadership, but those I am most drawn to are the “Habitudes” Series. These amazing and short books focus on the art of leadership. The series is broken into four distinct categories: The Art of Self Leadership, The Art of Connecting with Others, The Art of Leading Others, and finally, The Art of Changing Culture. This progression is something I have personally developed into my leadership lifestyle. I find it imperative that I know myself, and how to become disciplined before ever entering into a discipleship relationship with others. If I am not in the Word, I have no business counseling from it. If I am not praying, and seeking God’s direction, I have no business telling others how to live. Finally, if I am not spending time in God’s presence, I have no business loving others, because it will certainly not be out of an overflow. Once I have learned how to lead myself, I will be better suited to develop relationships with others, and eventually become a leader among them.
The impact:
I hope that the wisdom and discernment God has given me can be used to benefit the Kingdom. I have already seen how God uses these gifts to change the lives of those around me. Through the gift of prophecy I am able to speak words into the lives of individuals. I see the power that comes from a simple word. In addition, I am able to offer wisdom, grounded in scripture to individuals seeking advice. I am blessed with a great range of life experience from which to advise as well. Although I would not expect my great contribution to be known on a world-wide scale, I do, however, anticipate impacting one life at a time over the course of a life-time in hopes of having a world-changing impact. My heart, above all things is for the Church. I love everything about the Church, and believe if those who minister to the congregation are healthy - emotionally, physically, and most of all spiritually - our congregations will be stronger and healthier as well. This is my calling, and God’s mission for my life.
