Just a few years ago, if you’d had told me there was true joy to be found in this Christian woman journey, I would have smiled politely and nodded-and probably chimed in with some quaint Bible verse saying, “Yes! Joy is from the Lord!”
BUT INSIDE I WOULD HAVE DIED A LITTLE MORE.
I often rehearsed a conversation with God that went something like an all-out pity-party listing all the things I’d done for Him, how I’d served Him so faithfully, how I’d never asked for much…but silently I wondered if maybe He didn’t even hear me at all. (And, if He did, He was certainly unhappy with me because I was probably just being selfish and needy.)
After having grown up as a pastor’s kid and then marrying a pastor before I even graduated from college, I’d lived all my years thus far “in ministry.” It was hard to see past the ministry lens to even catch a glimpse of my relationship with the Lord apart from this identity. After almost 20 years in ministry, I felt like a hot mess, perhaps beyond repair, but in the deepest places, I knew there had to be more to this walk with Jesus and this ministry life than what I was living.
As the Lord seems to have a way of doing, He suddenly stripped me and my entire family of this all-pervading identity of “pastor’s family.” Overnight, we found ourselves out of ministry and 6 weeks later living in my parent’s basement. It was in this dark and humbling season that the Lord began His gentle, but painful, work of pruning.
As He slowly, patiently, and masterfully did His gardening work, my heart began to change. New seedlings of hope came forth and they took me by surprise. The greatest surprise of all was this new feeling I began to experience. Though my circumstances were not any easier (they seemed infinitely more difficult), I began to feel what I only could imagine was…joy! It took a while to name it that because truly, I hadn’t experienced it in years! The Lord is kind and gracious, and in the place of a bitter and resentful heart, He gave me joy!
True joy that exceeded my understanding.
If He can do it for me. He can do it for you.
Come along. I’d love to walk with you through healing so that you, too, can experience great joy in place of your hurting heart.
To better serve those I support, I have completed the following certifications:
- Masters Mental Health Coaching from AACC and Light University
- Biblical Life Coaching from Life Breakthrough Academy
- Am a member of the More to Be Coach Network
- Am a Mentor Coach with the More to Be Coach Network
- Am receiving on-going training in the area of trauma and healing approaches
