My Story

In light of my previous post and to encourage others to do the same, I am posting my story.

I was raised in a Christian home and taught Christian principles from early childhood.  At a very young age, I went through the motions of joining the church and baptism without completely understanding the decision and commitment I was supposedly making.  Looking back, I feel that I was simply trying to please those around me rather than make a decision to follow Christ.  During a choir presentation at my church when I was a fifth grader, the Lord pressed upon my heart the realization that I was a sinner in desperate need of a Savior.  It was at that point in my life that I spoke with my Children's Minister and made the true decision to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.  I knew that I was a sinner who deserved death.  I believe that Christ came as the Son of God and lived a perfect life in order to pay our penalty of death and offer us salvation.  I chose then to accept that in my heart and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.  At that point, I had a full understanding of what Christ being my Savior meant, but over time, God showed me what Christ being my Lord meant.  I learned to follow Him in decisions in life as well as the way I lead my life.  It meant I was going to yield the control of my life to Christ and serving Him.

I felt a call into the ministry as an 8th grader.  At the time, I felt a clear call to serve God vocationally but didn't understand to what specific field.  It took three summers of service in different areas for God to reveal His plan.  As the time for college drew nearer, I was still unclear of where exactly God was leading me.  He made clear in my heart that I was to attend MSU and major in elementary education.  This made sense to me because I have a passionate drive and gift for working with children.  At the end of my senior year of high school, God finally placed a specific call on my life--service as a missionary in Thailand.  I didn't know when or how, but committed to follow God wherever he led.  At my college BSU, I was introduced to a summer missions program, applied, and was granted an opportunity which most Freshmen do not get--a placement at a children's dorm in Thailand.  God used that summer to grow and teach me so many things.  One specific thing I knew coming out of that experience was that although God used that time to teach me, international missions was not my vocational call.  The next summer I was given the opportunity to serve as a children's ministry intern at my home church.  Over that summer through working mostly with preschool and some children, God began to confirm in my heart that this was part of the vocational plan He had for me.  At the end of the summer, I shared with my church my commitment to follow God into vocational ministry.  The following year, literally at the last minute, I applied to serve as a counselor at a summer camp called Lake Forest Ranch in Macon, MS.  This had been a childhood dream of mine.  Amazingly, I was given a position to serve as a girl's counselor for the summer.  It was over that summer of service that God awakened my passion for counseling.    People have always naturally felt comfortable talking with me and sharing their struggles with me.  After the brief training we got, I realized how powerful counseling can be when you have the tools.  Coming out of that summer, I knew God's call for me--Children's Ministry with emphasis in Counseling.  My vision for what I would love to do one day is work within a church as a marriage and family counselor.  So many families are falling apart in our society due to divorce; I want to serve people by showing them how God is enough to hold their families together.  I also want to work with children who are dealing with grief, abuse, or other personal struggles.  Where I am from, most churches could not support a counselor on staff, so I am also interested in serving as a Children’s Minister while offering counseling to those who need it.

Now you know a little more about me and my story.  I would love to hear about yours!

What is your story?  Share it in a post on your blog and link it in a comment here or e-mail (meb88meb @ hotmail . com) me a link and I will link it here. Put MY STORY as the heading of your e-mail.

Confused?  Don't know what I am talking about?  E-mail me.