Tadpoles gave me the Holy Ghost. I bet you’re thinking that I’ve finally lost my mind. No, I was reminiscing on my baptism. I had a very public baptism in a small town in Tennessee in a dirty pond by the church. There were tadpoles and I could feel them tickling me, so I just imagine that everyone assumed it was the Holy Ghost moving. Well, the Spirit was surely moving, but so were the tadpoles! Where were you baptized? I ask because I recently joined the new members intake team at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. During the training, we were asked to take our minds back a few years to remember our experience to becoming a child of God. Without a doubt, it is the Most Important decision a Christian will make.
As many of you know, I’m no longer a mental health counselor. After 10 years of the mental health field, I find myself in a brand new career. I’m now a healthcare advocate and it’s a totally new subject matter and it’s hard. It was by God’s grace that I got this job, because I didn’t even apply for the job. After being laid off from my EAP job, my old supervisor put in a word for me and I got an interview the next week. I got the job the week after…FAVOR! I’m in a new season of my life and I’m a living witness that starting over at a late age is possible. You do remember from my past blogs that I’m on my 4th life! Lol. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be in life.
I’ve had this blog half written for weeks. My mind has been going back and forth on what to say, but today the Holy Spirit dealt with me to just write it. Someone needs a word from the Lord through my testimony. One of my favorite preachers came to my church last week and reminded me that the Lord can use your mistakes to get you where you need to be. I have said plenty of times how my last relationship was a lapse of judgment and one of my biggest mistakes. Well, in the spirit of healing from that trauma, I realize that it was for my growth. You see, without that awful encounter, I would have never moved to Houston. I was on my way back to Cali baby, but I’m so glad God derailed my plans!
One scholar says that “life is lived forward, but understood backwards.” In other words, hindsight is 20/20. It didn’t feel good going through the hard times, but it was for my development. No pain, no gain! And now I’m in this big new city and I truly enjoy it. I promised God when I got a job that I was off on weekends that I would be active in the church. I’m not used to being a pew member, so my first mind was to do what I’ve always done, which was join the choir. But when I learned about the counseling ministry, I was intrigued. But due to a delay in getting the ministry back up and running, I was told I’d be a great candidate for the new members intake team. After not hearing any updates on the training, I was going to give up and just join the choir. But something inside me was telling me that I needed to do something different and come out of my comfort zone.
In the training, it was presented to us as being frontline workers in the church. We would be Decision Counselors, helping those who are not just in need of a church home, but coming to Christ wanting to be saved. I’ll say, mental health is important, but spiritual wellbeing is so much more important. Jesus did say we were supposed to be fishers of men, so being able to directly use my gift of encouragement for the building of His Kingdom seems like a great thing. We all have our spiritual gifts and the key to utilizing those gifts is to remember they are for others. I look back and realize that my layoff was so I could do God’s work. If I’m being honest, I could have never done EAP counseling and being a decision counselor, I was in a bad state of compassion fatigue. I was over people’s problems, so something had to change and fast!
The sermon today at New Life of Memphis by Dr. Linda Willis and the sermon at my new church by guest speaker Dr. Elaine Flake really touched my spirit. The Holy Spirit will prick your heart and make you move when you’re dragging your feet. One sermon was entitled “Don’t Miss This Catch” and the other was “Do You Understand The Assignment?” Together I heard in the spirit, don’t miss this opportunity to try again in a new city doing what I’ve called you to do. This new assignment will not only be a blessing to you, but also one for God’s people, so please understand how impactful it can be. It’s time for me to stop thinking of only self, but allow God to use me for the betterment of His Kingdom. Here I am Lord, I’m ready!
Be Sweet 