Today, I attended a one-day women’s
conference, called Alive. The theme was to become Alive in Jesus, and to know
that each of us is called to use our gifts, to reach people for Jesus! Throughout
the whole day I was praying that the Lord would speak to me. During the last
session, after lunch, the band played the song “It is Well”, by Bethel Music,
and it was beautiful! The verse, “And the mountain that’s in front of me, will
be thrown into the midst of the sea”, spoke something to me. As I sang the words,
I heard the Lord revealing to me how much fear controls my life. I have always struggled with the fear of
failure. I HATE disappointing people, and feeling like I didn’t do the right
thing. But the Lord revealed to me, that with my calling to ministry, sometimes
I don’t do everything that I can, because I am afraid to fall and fail.
Sometimes I know that I should do something, but I get scared, and that’s when
the doubt comes in.
I often have heard,
“What if you fail?”, “You are too young to do that”, and “No one is going to
respond to that.” I let my fear stop me from doing everything the Lord has
called me to do.
From a very young age, I have known that I want to use my
life to serve the Lord, but I wasn’t sure what that looked like. I had so many different passions, so many
different heartbeats. I had no idea how he was going to make them all beat as
one!
I have always been drawn to broken families,
and the children who have been hurt by them. I am also very passionate about
writing, and the Lord speaks to me so much through it! I also started a
ministry at my old church, when I was interning about 4 years ago, which paired
junior high girls with high school and college age girls. We met four times a
year to talk about important topics, and just to have fun together. I felt lead
to this, because I am passionate that young girls realize their self-worth, and
I want them to never allow a stupid boy take it away from them. We talked about
beauty, and how God really sees it, because our world has skewed it so much.
The ministry was rooted in mentoring, because
a mentor can always come into your life, and change it for the better! They
will be your biggest cheerleader, the person you can call on when you don’t
know who else to turn to, and someone who will tell you the truth, even though
you don’t want to hear it.
I am also
passionate about good leadership, and good fellowship. I knew that Lord had
given me the gift of leadership, but it overwhelmed me. In high school, I was
always the one who had to plan times for our whole friend group to hang out, go
to the movies, or even plans before a school dance. They all joked if Claire
didn’t plan it, it wouldn’t happen. I love planning and organizing, and somehow,
my leadership played a role in that.
My heart beats for broken people,
who need hope. I have never been one of those girls, who got all “preachy” with
their friends, and tried to convert all of them. I believed in the power of
loving people where they are at, and showing them Jesus through your actions. I
was the girl that people called, when they needed to hear the truth, and needed
someone to vent to. My dad always called it the “dear Claire” time, because I
would spend hours talking to my friends, through whatever tragedy they were facing,
and praying with them through the whole thing. Now that I just wrote that out,
I realized that it was kind of like I was pastoring them… which is CRAZY! I knew that I was passionate about education
and curriculum, but had no desire to really be a teacher. My whole time through
college, I knew that God has called me to serve Him for the rest of my life,
but I had no idea what that looked like. I had so many heartbeats in different
places, how was there anyway that the Lord would put all those heartbeats in
one place?!? But, I am in no way
surprised that He did!
I am now the Family Ministry Coordinator
at Waterline Church, which is a church plant, that is coming up on five years
old.
I am responsible for making sure
every leader feels empowered, and every child that enters our family ministry
rooms, feels loved. Every Sunday, I get to help a team of people make a church
out of nothing, and then 8 hours later tear it all down, and make it look like
a sports complex again. Somehow, at 23 years of age, I get to help parents
spiritually develop their children at home, and know the importance of the
hours that they get with them, vs. the time that their teachers get with them
on Sunday mornings. The passion I have for families burns more than ever, because
I know these families. I know their stories, their kids, and their desires to
make sure their children know how much Jesus loves them! Every week I get to
lead a team of amazing volunteers, which go above and beyond, to make sure
every parent, child, and family, feels loved and safe, as they enter our doors.
These people are older than me, but somehow the Lord has called me to them! As
I write these out, I am so humbled, and blown away, that the Creator of the
Universe chooses to use ME, to further His Kingdom. But the coolest thing, is
that I get to lead other people to do just that! That call to lead is scary,
overwhelming, and oh so exciting! I have moments when I let fear paralyze that
call, but I know that the Lord is on my side, and I have NOTHING to be afraid
of! WITH HIM I CAN NEVER FAIL, AND NEITHER CAN YOU!! So what is holding you
back from following the call that God has put on your heart?
- ·
Do you
need to forgive someone that has hurt you?
- ·
Is He
calling you to leave behind your old life, and follow Him completely?
- ·
Are you
like me, and let something, or someone, paralyze you from reaching the full
potential, that the Lord wants for you?
I don’t know what it is for you, but just know, I am a 23
year old, newly married women, who doesn’t even have kids yet, but I am in a
position where I get to help family, parents, and children grow in their
relationship with Jesus! My heartbeat for education is beating, when I get to put
the curriculum together, using Orange (which if you aren’t using Orange
Curriculum, you are missing out on some AMAZING stuff for your families:
http://whatisorange.org). My
heartbeat for broken families is beating, every time I meet a new family, and
get to hear their stories. Sometimes they aren’t as put together, and perfect,
as they first appear, when I first greet them. My heartbeat for young girls and
mentoring, is not exactly clear yet, but I am excited to get more young people
serving in family ministry.
I hope to
have the opportunity to develop relationships with them, and more importantly,
that they develop strong relationships with other adults around them. My
heartbeat for organization and planning, is obviously beating, because I need A
LOT of that to do my job accurately. Haha.
J
My heartbeat for mentoring beats, because Danielle Freed has been the biggest
mentor to me, during this transition. She is my biggest cheerleader, always
encouraging me in the little things, that mean the most! She has taught me so
much about what it looks like to be a woman in leadership, and inspires me more
than she knows! My heartbeat for loving people where they are at, beats from
being a part of, and being a leader at, a church plant. I love Waterline’s
vision for loving God and loving others! Loving others where they are at, and
going to them, instead of expecting them to come to us! My heart is beating all
together, for the first time ever, and I have no doubt that this is what, and
where, God has called me. But that doesn’t mean that the fear doesn’t take over
sometimes. Through all of the chaos of life and ministry, it is HARD, but the
truth is: God is stronger!! So this mountain of fear that is in front of me, MY
God is going to throw it into the sea! He is going to move it for me, because I
don’t have to do any of this alone, and I CAN’T! I need Him, and He has a plan
for me. This plan, which I may only get to see a piece of. Right now, I see
this glimpse, where He has put ALL my desires in one place, and that is one
amazing plan, that only HE, the Creator of this Earth, could put together!
