The Encouragement Exchange

 

Last night was a sweet and special night in my life.

                I told you a few weeks ago about a meeting I had with a group of people who assembled to talk with me about my next steps in formalizing my call to ministry. Everything about that day was a mix of miraculous (in the details) and encouraging (in the happenings).

                After I completed that step, I had a dozen essay questions to answer, and it took me several weeks and pages to complete that assignment. I wanted to be thorough and thoughtful in my answers, because I felt like I owed it to the committee who would read them to see my heart.

                I’m sure it won’t surprise you to know I wrote the answers, sat on them for a while, tweaked them, sat on them some more, tried to see if I could improve them, sat on them some more…and finally told myself to JUST SEND THEM before I overthought them to the fullest.

                I sent them and for the last couple of weeks, I’ve wondered what the committee thought as they read the essays – nearly a small book – I wrote.

                Last night I learned the answers.

                Ryan and Jonathan accompanied me to my interview with the committee, which took place about an hour from where we live. It was fun driving over together and catching up on life.

                When we arrived, we all sat in a circle, and the committee took turns asking me questions based on things they’d read in my pre-interview answers.

                The questions were deep and tough, but really good. They shared words of encouragement in between questions and took time to pull out of my answers things they thought were especially worth additional pursuit.

                They invited Ryan and Jonathan to answer some of the same questions they asked me, and I enjoyed hearing their answers.

                When the interview concluded, the three of us moved into a side office to wait while they talked together, and they approved me to be licensed in ministry.

                I was thrilled with the news, yes, but what thrilled me even more than that was the encouragement of the conversation in the interview. I really appreciated the time they took to teach me from their own experiences and to share wisdom. They told me they felt I had encouraged them in the conversation, and I appreciated that, too!

                It’s a night that will be forever meaningful to my story and my journey, and the thing that mattered most was the exchange of encouragement.