A Calling

I got an email the other day from a dear friend, Lisa, who recently moved to another city. It was so good to hear from her. And I believe it was not coincidental that I got an email from both her and my dear friend, Sherri, in the same day. The Lord had been putting my name in my friends’ minds and putting me on their hearts on the day of my 2nd interview.

So as I was responding to Lisa, I just referred her here to read what’s been going on lately. She emailed me back and made an interesting observation / suggestion. And it is certainly something that I have pondered from time to time… Is the Lord calling me to ministry?

Wow. What a question. And a valid one at that. And, she is not the first to suggest such a thing. I have had several people recently say something similar such as asking if I would be applying for the open Children’s Minister position at our church (btw – I am SO not qualified for this position). I have also explored this from the aspect of trying to find a job in a ministry related area in recent months. However, none of them have been right.

While I do not rule out the possibility of working in ministry at some later point, as I discussed before, I do believe the Lord wants me, at least for this season of my life, to serve Him in a non-ministry position so that I may have the opportunity to minister to those who may not know him on a real level. I think the Lord has just clearly spoken to my spirit that ministry doesn’t just happen in the church. I need to, as our pastor says on Sundays, go and be the church outside of the walls of our church building.

So to answer Lisa's thoughtful question: Yes, I do feel called to ministry. Just not in a "traditional" ministry related job. I think the Lord wants to show me that ministry is so much bigger than just working at a church or in a para-church ministry job. I think He wants to show me what it means to be a minister in everyday life.

Ameriprise called on Wednesday and wanted me to come back in today to talk about an offer. So, I went this morning and talked to them and they gave me an offer letter that was, if nothing else, very thorough and very professional. It is a very good offer monetarily. However, the thing that has struck me the most is the confirmations that I think are coming from the Holy Spirit on both sides of the table.

• I was told this morning that they began looking at the first part of the year and yet this is the first offer they have extended. They have gone through a time of searching and asking God, “Why is it taking so long?” I, too, began to sense God telling me it was time to look for a job at the beginning of the year and struggled with why the jobs that I had looked into were never a good fit for us.


• I was also told that when they have staff meetings on Monday mornings that they gather, go through things, and pray for their clients. WOW! That’s the kind of boss (and the kind of financial planner, for that matter) that I want!


• The franchise owner told me that he had a sense from me (and from the Holy Spirit, imo) that I would appreciate knowing that while their purpose in their business is, obviously, to help people in their finances and financial position, they have a larger view of having an impact for the Kingdom. They are hiring a 4th person not to necessarily expand the business, but to spread the work around so that everyone can have the time to do the work of the Lord’s Kingdom whether that be something at church or just standing in the hallway talking to someone you’ve been praying for.

Unless the Lord really reveals something unexpected to us this weekend, I do believe this is the road he is leading us down. And I believe that if this is truly where He wants me, then all the stuff with the kids will work out fine and I have no need to be concerned about Nathan being in childcare or my volunteer time at Sarah's school or anything like that.