...BAM! that's ministry...

I've wanted to be in ministry ever since I was 12. I know that's not normal but that's what happened. I don't recall a definitive moment when the little cartoon lightbulb went off in my head and I knew I wanted to be in vocational ministry. That just didn't happen. It was more of a gradual process of "I want to help people" to "I can help people this way" to "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life".

I started a Bible study group at 13 years old and ran it for a good 3 years. Within that three years we went from 2 people attending to about 8 people. I focused mostly on making it a safe place for teen girls to talk about anything and everything and we'd also do a 20 minute lesson I would plan from the Bible. During this time I also helped at a GEMS program (a Christian girl guides really) and went to two youth groups.

After a difficult part of my life, I read this article about how women should not be leaders in the church. That took me back, you see, because I am a woman whose only dream is to be a leader in the church. I was frustrated and depressed, but God helped me immensely by sending a couple that changed my life. They heard how upset I was about the article and met with me at Starbucks.

During the time that they spent encouraging me to investigate the Bible further to see what I truly believe about women in leadership, I also told them that I wished I had more of an opportunity to do ministry (by this time my bible study had stopped meeting, and my church had gone through some of the toughest times). It just happened that one of them led a childrens ministry and was desperate for some help.

Coming aboard that ministry as her assistant was one of the best decisions of my life. She has a different approach to ministry than I've ever seen! She is always showing me different things she does and why she does it that way and alternative options in doing it another way.

I have started to fully comprehend the difficulty of ministry. It's a full-time job with little pay, but it is so rewarding. It's incredibly surprising and keeps you on your toes. It's hard physical, emotional, and spiritual labor - it's a constant giving of yourself. And isn't that what God has called all of us Christians to do? Whether in the church, home, or in whatever God calls you to do, we are to lay ourselves down and go into the world and get the good news going!

I have fallen in love with ministry and it will be incredible to see what God can do with this weak little girl with a heart for God's children. I don't know where in the world God will take me, if I will be in youth ministry or another type of ministry, but I know that He's got a plan for my life that's way bigger than my plan. And I might end up doing something completely different but BAM! ...that's ministry...and that's what I'm going to do. :)

(I have decided that I believe in an egalitarian position of women leading in the church. It will be something I will have to face in ministry, along with several of my fears, shyness, etc.)