Leading a Workshop in Eastern Europe
Getting connected with my dream job was a God thing.
I loved my job as a children’s minister, but I was getting a little restless. I had been speaking at women’s ministry events and leading retreats. At the time, women’s ministry was just starting to take off. I thought God was leading me to do more in that area.
I started attending a speakers group in Birmingham and went to a national speakers conference in Texas. I was asked by the national speakers conference to help with local PR with a conference in AL.
I really didn’t go to Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) that day to get a job, I went to promote the speakers conference. I had given a speech that day at my speakers group in Birmingham and I looked very sharp in my favorite red suit. I thought I would drop off a few fliers at WMU on my way home.
I knew a lot about WMU, but at the same time I didn’t know anything about the national headquarter’s organizational structure. I knew WMU had representatives that led conferences, so I asked to speak to the supervisor of that department.
I met the supervisor in the lobby and introduced myself to her and gave her my “sales pitch”. After I finished, she said “Did you say you were a Children’s Minister? We are looking for a Children’s Ministry Consultant. Could you submit your resume?”
I left that day knowing that was my job. I cried on my way home, as I saw glimpse of my past where God had prepared me for this job. God had used the Girls in Action (GA) organization when I was a child to give me a window to the world outside my own. In GA, I learned about a God who loved the world despite the lack of love I heard from sermons on condemnation. I rationalized if God loved the world he loved me.
I knew instantly that the Children’s Ministry Consultant at national WMU was the job God had for me, but it took WMU six months to come to that same conclusion.
I was young, confident, and I knew my stuff. I felt like I knew Southern Baptist missions, children ministry, and speaking/training. I dove into the job and I loved it. I was good at everything, but the writing.
At times, it was very debilitating working in publishing with my poor writing skills (My writing is the thorn in my flesh). I never recovered from the foundational years of language development that were lost to a child who suffered deafness and dissociation. Yet, my creativity made up for my writing skills and God blessed me with a great editor and copy editor.
Within 3 years of being hired as a ministry consultant, I was made the team leader of the Children’s Resource Team.
Our team thrived! We did a successful redesign of the Girls in Action and Children in Action curriculum. Together, we created and launched Children’s Ministry Day. We developed partnerships with other organizations to strengthen children’s mission education.
I had an amazing team!
I also continued in my role as the Children’s Ministry Consultant. I was in charge of programming national training events and training state leaders to train their state, association, and church leaders. I spent a lot of time traveling. And I loved it!
I loved consulting and leading the team. And I was fairly good at both. I put my heart in the ministry.
On top of this,
I got married,
wrote a book,
had a baby,
wrote a book,
had a baby,
and then…a break down…
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (ESV)
