Bekah's Big News!

 

I have a story to share with you today!

            The backstory to this news is long and winding, and I won’t dive into all of it today. I want to give it proper time and space to be meaningful, so I will circle back to different pieces of the story down the road just a bit. But today I want to celebrate the news!

            I have a new job.

            And it’s not just a job. It’s what I believe (and others have affirmed) God has been preparing me to do for the last, well, 46 years. I am excited, I am passionate about it, and I cannot wait to see how the Lord leads. It is the fulfillment of a calling on my life that began when God began writing the story of my days.

            Earlier this month I was affirmed by our church leadership and congregation to become the Pastor of Congregational Care within our church body.

            My fingers tingle even writing those words.

            From my earliest days, I have always sought to serve the Lord within my local church and actually started doing so in junior high – teaching kiddos during Thursday night church services. Along the way and through the years, I’ve had the chance to serve, lead, and teach in so many capacities, including: teaching Sunday School, working in the nursery, participating in special music, ushering, greeting, serving coffee, serving on committees and church boards, leading women’s ministries, teaching Bible studies, serving communion, assisting with baptisms, serving as a deacon, and probably a handful of other things escaping me right now.

            In the last five or so years, I’ve also started speaking in churches now and then, and as you might remember, I did that at our own church throughout the summer while our pastor was on Sabbatical.

            But it was just over a year ago when, during a special service at our church, I prayed for God to clarify my call to ministry, and He did! In a very mighty and unmistakable way – in that very service – I knew He intended to use me in local church ministry, and even though I didn’t know how or when that might take place, I at least knew how to pray over it.

            I began praying and researching and looking for work. I found a few job descriptions that looked amazing, but none of them were local, and one thing I knew for sure was that the place we live now is our home. Moving to another state – or even city – isn’t the answer. So I began to pray for God to open up a door within driving distance.

            The care pastor at our church is retiring at the end of this year, and they changed up the job description just a bit to include some additional duties before they posted it. The entire description made my soul SING (on key!), and I applied as quickly as I could.

            I went to an interview in October and learned in November that I would be recommended to the church as the candidate for the job. On December 8^th, the congregation voted, and I was approved for the position. I began work the very next day.

            My roles are varied, but I’ll be tending to visits and working with different teams in the church to help our congregation get involved in ways that allow them to learn and use their gifts. I’ve been making lists and reading books (and articles) and making Pinterest boards. Along the way, I’m sure I’ll share some of my projects with you, so stay tuned for that.

            Though I am so excited, I did feel sidelined with weeks of intense spiritual warfare during the application, interview, and waiting process. I cried buckets of tears, grappled with blind trust, and prayed intensely that my faith would not fail as I awaited God’s answer to this deep, deep prayer of my heart. Outside of Ryan, I’m not sure most people knew how deeply I felt this calling from the Lord on my heart, and it was hard to act as though everything was fine, when it felt deep inside like everything was on the line. A tiny little tightrope of a line.

            It wasn’t flawless. I floundered in fear a few times. But the Lord used so many people and written words to speak truth over me (sometimes SO hard to hear) and we made it through that part. I am not so naïve as to think the warfare won’t continue, but I am grateful to have this pause to celebrate the blessing of one of the biggest answers to prayer of my life – aside from finding Ryan!

            God wastes nothing, and every single experience I have had in ministry and vocation will matter in this next season. I am so grateful.