Anniversary Reflection

8 years ago(yesterday) I was Ordained into the Order of Christian Ministry in the West Virginia Region of Christian Church(Disciples of Christ). It was a day filled with bagpipes and preaching, singing and laughing, praying and crying, hugging and even some dancing! It was a blessed day in my opinion and one I will forever remember in my heart, mostly because there are very few pictures. I don’t need pictures to remember the words spoken out of love for me and for the Church.

11 years ago, in August/September, I began serving in congregational ministry while in seminary, in Lexington, Kentucky. Those were 3 of the greatest years of my life. I learned so much not only in the classroom but from the congregation and friends out at the pub(LTS had Pub Theology…before Pub Theology was a recognized thing).

17(or so) years ago I stepped forward during closing vespers at CYF Conference at Bethany College, in Bethany WV to affirm and confirm God's call in my life to serve the church in some capacity, ‪of course at that time I wanted it to be as a minister of music because I was going to be a band director…God as usual had other plans(thank goodness, thinking about it now,  I don’t think I would have made the greatest band director).

You could say I was a bit oblivious to God’s call for me to serve Christ's Church and God's people, until the day I wasn’t. Sitting in the back of a classroom observing a person do the job I thought I wanted to do I heard a loud whisper say, “You won’t be happy doing this!”  After many conversations with many different people- I realized without doubt this call from God had been in my heart my entire life.

Who knew when Dorothy Brownlee let me sit up front behind the pulpit with my dad she was acknowledging that call as well. She thought she was just keeping me from talking through the entire service about how I wanted to be upfront. I am grateful for congregations who didn’t fit it when my dad cleared the bench so I could sit beside him. That is why to this day I have never been afraid of young children approaching the chancel while I am preaching- like Jesus I say “let the come!” That is another blog for another day I think.

It has not always been an easy journey, but it has been a blessed one so far...

Here are a few things “I have…” in the last 11 years of ministry

I have stumbled
I have fallen
I have picked myself back up
I have embraced change

I have daily sought forgiveness

I have daily extend forgiveness to others
I have doubted my call
I have been reassured time after time 

I have shared laughter as well as tears with some of God's most beautiful humans
I have prayed for others

I have no doubt they pray for me

I have buried too many who have gone away too soon

I have celebrated new life through births, weddings, and new relationships

I have worshiped with communities who disagree on everything…except that God is to be praised for the grace extend through Jesus Christ

I have some of the best colleagues and friends in ministry a woman could ask for, without question!

I know there are countless more things I have learned over the last 11 years.

However there is no need to go on right now except to say that the biggest thing “I have” come to know is that God continues to be at work in my far more that I can think or imagine.

These words are found in the baptism service in Chalice Worship book, they were spoken to me by my father over 20 years ago when he baptized me. I know now without a doubt they are the truest words ever spoken about my life and probably always will be.