Skip to main content

Obedience to His Call

After five months of shaking my head "no," I have decided to join my church's Counseling Ministry.

Truth be told, I've been very busy convincing myself that the timing just wasn't right - being a stay at home mom with small children, due with another this June.  But there was no escaping the obvious tug my heart was feeling on a weekly basis - as I heard story after story of those who are hurting, and thought about how my skills could be used to help others.  I finally realized that it does not matter what I've got going on in MY life, I am being called to do this.  And to do it now.

At first I assumed my "ministry" would be to pray for and walk along side other parents who are grieving.  Losing Gabriel has given me immense empathy for those dealing with grief and loss.  Because I've been blogging since April 2009 - I literally have pictures, words, and memories I can share with others, but I began to realize what a healing experience it would be to be able to meet with someone in person, and actually share life with them. 

The good news is that I have a degree in Social Work, life experience, and a strong desire to counsel others.  And here's the "silver-lining" way of thinking about it:  Because of the things I've endured, I now have empathy for a variety of issues and problems. Which is really important in counseling - people want to know that you understand what they're going through.

I have experience with divorce:  I'm a child of a broken home, as my parents separated the year I turned twelve, which caused many issues with male acceptance, self esteem, etc.

I have experience with unhealthy relationships:  I myself was a divorced woman by the age of 20 after experiencing a verbally, physically, financially, and mentally abusive relationship with a drug addict.  Silver lining - this lead to an awesome job doing professional counseling with abused women, before I started my family five years ago.

And, I have experience with grief and loss.  God is asking me to use my degree as well as my listening skills and empathy to serve others.  Right now.  So, I'm going to listen and obey.

And this is the kind of thing that surfaces when you pray, "This life is not my own, but YOURS." 

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"  And I said, "Here I am!  Send me!" - Isaiah 6:8 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 

I would appreciate your prayers as I begin this new chapter in my life.
That I would lean on God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide the new relationships I will be building with others.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Table for Six

Image
It's been almost eight years since we had our Gabriel.  Since we lost our Gabriel.  Over the past several years, one child in this family has continued to talk about him the most.  Joel, now nine years old and the only sibling to have the chance to actually meet his brother, doesn't often speak his name these days.  He is, however, very protective of his "Gabey Bear" that he sleeps with every night, and goes to find when he's sad or hurt.  I'm still not sure Ruby, who just turned four, completely understands that she has a brother who is no longer with us.  The only photos she's ever seen of him are obviously baby pictures from the day he was born, but she does usually ask if every random picture she sees of a baby, is our Gabriel.  But our Zoe, almost six, talks about him all the time.  She points out that there is a seat in the back row of our family car, between she and Joel.  "That's where Gabe sits."  And when she asked about the key
Read more

Horrible, Thanks for Asking

Image
Almost ten years ago, I delivered the baby boy who would die in my arms just two hours later.  But we had months to prepare for this reality.  His fatal diagnosis had come sixteen weeks before.  So there was no baby shower.  No celebration of the life about to begin.  We didn't have a nursery full of items we’d have to return with a sorrowful explanation.   That hasn’t been the case for my best friend. Two months ago today, I sat by her side as she tearfully and reluctantly pushed her baby girl into this world.   Silence.   Just the sounds of our gasps at the beauty of her perfect face.   There she was.   The miracle baby no one thought would come.  The one we were all so looking forward to meeting.    In absolute perfect form, but already gone.   It was surreal, like there was no way this was actually happening.   Not again.  Not to my Laura.   It was somehow holy, the thick presence of death also brought the sure presence of God.   It was beautiful, because here sh
Read more

My Tattoos...

Image
I wanted to give some background and explanation on my little pieces of art.  I got my first “tat” (Is it still cool to call them that?) when I was only 18.  I actually got my nose pierced on my legal birthday, and then just a month later I was ready to rebel some more.  Ah, youth…   Truth be told, if I could go back in time and never start this little body modification hobby, I would.  Once I hit my mid-20’s, I realized some of my tattoos had no significant meaning.  In the very least, they didn’t reflect the most important aspect of my life – my relationship with Jesus.   Thus starting my quest to spiritualize what I was working with.  And I can finally say I am very happy with what I have on my body right now.  I would still love a memorial tattoo for my Gabey, but every time I try to decide what to get, nothing ever seems good enough to capture his memory.  So, here’s a tour… My first tattoo is actually the only one you won’t see a picture of.  It’s a Chinese character.  On
Read more